iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Let’s see how the midterms pan out

010

Middle isn't bad either tbh mailchi.mp/3bdb9e9c6d64...

YOU’RE HERE TO HAVE A BAD TIME: IT’S OUR TOP FIVE LEAST PLEASANT FREE GAMES
Picture of a highway to Hell. The ground is on fire. I am there, muscular and shirtless and wearing a hat an a stereotypically evil goatee. A sign says "STRANGE AND VILLAINOUS GAMES AHEAD"
Halloween is of course a time of lighthearted spooks and playful ghosties, not genuine nightmares and fear. We’ll get to that type of terror in a bit - for now, please enjoy this collection of horrible things that feel bad to play and offer little in the way of levity or hope.

THE WITCH HOUSE

An entirely unnecessary (and some might say actively detrimental) prequel to THE WITCH IS DEAD, THE WITCH HOUSE reveals exactly how a witch creates an intelligent animal familiar - by capturing unwilling people and forcing them into inhuman shapes until their memories wither and they become pliant pets. Can you escape? Probably not. But will you have fun finding out? Again, most likely no. But here we are.

0161

Probably my favourite intro I've written yet

Shut the windows. Bar the blinds. Drag an oversized mahogany armoire in front of your bedroom door. Lay caltrops on the mezzanine. Scatter salt around yourself in a smooth 360-degree motion and swallow a set of rosary beads whole because it’s SPOOKY SEASON BABY and we’re here to celebrate it.

Drawings of the RRD crew in halloween costumes. I am a clown, Naomi is a witch, Chant is a mummy, Elaine has a bloody knife affixed to a headband, Chris is a ghost, Jim is a bear, Maz is a devil, Mina is a gay cowboy, Jinn is in a bird mask, Alex is a sailor and Matt's wee bird is wearing rabbit ears to imply it has come out of a hat
We’re so ready for halloween we already have our costumes

“But Grant, it’s not Halloween for basically a month yet, and - “

[a picture of the RRD team in halloween costumes]

SILENCE, WHELP. Instant reprisal! I strike you hard with the back of my hand and you collapse immediately into the piles of bones and feathers on the greasy flagstones of my chamber, already blubbering apologetic excuses.

1202

3 if we're going by Christmas Carol rules, but maybe it's a body-mass thing, so you'd need more ferrets overall. Or themed ferrets. Plus do we include the haunted children from the Dickens original? How many ferrets is a child named Want? Much to think about

120

A second attempt fares slightly better, but does conjure up the image of a "one-foot relaxing game" which I DO offer but not in public and certainly not with families around

"The note invites people to find and colour in the drawing, then drop it off at the Rowan Road beard stall for the chance to win a one-foot relaxing game." It adds that the organisers have felt tense lately and are dreaming of a bonus prize or reward."

6470

Acrobat's AI offered to summarise my hand-written "Colour in a Goblin" sheet Cracking stuff lads, keep up the good work. Worth it

Colour-and-draw outline of a goblin that we bashed together for Questival last weekend. Next to it are some hand-written notes:

"THIS GOBLIN'S NAME IS ____________
AND THEY DREAM OF ___________

Win fabulous prizes!
- Finish the drawing
- Colour it in if you want
- Bring it to the RRD stall
- Win a free one-page roleplaying game!

(We have felt tip pens and that, come say hello)

Generative summary of the note which says it discusses the importance of flexible approaches, reference frameworks and adaptability in managing change and fostering growth. Which it doesn't. It's a series of instructions on how to colour in a fucking goblin

210212

Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

honestly I'd probably pit them against capitalism or something

110

Interesting game! I had a look and apparently my sticky paws are already all over it

Heresy of the Black Orchid is an expanded and richer interpretation of the "Night of Phantoms" rules, which was in turn an interpretation of the one-page game 'Honey Heist' by Grant Howitt.
HERESY OF THE
STONE COLD
UBSINIAN ORCHIN
HAS BEEN DESIGNET AND DEVELOPED BY
FOx
GAMeS
This game is released under a share-alike creative commons license.
Writing and Layout by Erin Gumiho. Released August 2025
) CC BY-SA 4.0

111

Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I’d imagine it’s much more useful for actually making a game that works than my cavalcade of nonsense, too

130

Reposted by Grant Howitt

Steph @fistfulofcrits.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Me: I have made a 32 page SRD and a workbook and this is my first time running a thing @gshowitt.bsky.social, with a single pen and paper: here is how to fight God

1327

Reposted by Grant Howitt

Michaela Joffe @joffeorama.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Gemelli has played a lot of Hollows. More than me, that’s for sure. So that’s why you should have a bash on his thorough (and, admittedly, glowing) review of our game:

Sometimes things veer into record-keeping, breaking out rulers and cone templates. Sometimes you just don't feel the sense of danger right out of the gate.
Enter the Hollows grid system, which wrestles these problems to the ground and makes them squeal:

[image of the hollows tactical grid]

48020

Reposted by Grant Howitt

not sure why I made this but now you have to see it

11096513687

Gemelli’s post celebrates the things that I really wanted to work with Hollows, so I’m glad that someone else *got* it, you know? How it’s like “tactical combat good” but also “the real Silent Hill was the dead wives we lost along the way” bit

Eventually, the players will discovert that the purpose for the Hollows -- or one
purpose, anyway -- is to transform their Lords into Effigies. The Effigies are puppets of the Malignancies, freed from the prisons of their Hollows, now able to perform their horrible works out in the real world of the isles.
Reader: I put it to you that the greatest magic trick of the Hollows system is an act of similar transformative potency. To wit: the game is designed to turn your players into GMs. And more, it's designed to turn your GMs into game designers.

0180

Gemelli has played a lot of Hollows. More than me, that’s for sure. So that’s why you should have a bash on his thorough (and, admittedly, glowing) review of our game:

48020

Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Don’t worry, he’s not here. Man’s a goddamn enigma

030

Rare example of a Helix Yikes! eraser in the wild. Overharvesting in the mid-90’s led to steep population decline but it’s exciting to see them back on our shores and, one day soon, our pencil cases

0372

Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Ooh that’s some lovely OSL there

011

Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Well, it’s difficult innit? Hard to balance. We got around that by making the game unspeakably hard if you don’t it

010

Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We genuinely wrote a game where the message is “mutual support is the only way we can save the world” and we expressed that through bonus manoeuvres granted out-of-turn by other players

1747

Reposted by Grant Howitt

Rowan Rook and Decard @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It's FREE👏SHIT👏FRIDAY👏 An absolute classic this week it's 🧹The Witch Is Dead!🧹 You are a magical woodland creature, and your beautiful witch mistress has been killed, and you are about to set out on a murder-revenge adventure in the human lands. Get it here: buff.ly/3J8O2EZ

buff.ly

The Witch Is Dead - Rowan, Rook and Decard

You are a magical woodland creature, and your beautiful witch mistress has been killed, and you are about to set out on a murder-revenge adventure in the human lands.

02311

Reposted by Grant Howitt

Pip Wren @lollibeepop.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A joyous fat bear week to all 🐻

106198606641

Very cool! Quick heads up: the rules are missing a key element (marines can increase or decrease their momentum by their initiative at the start of their activation) but I’ll put through a proper update next week

010

Goblins for colouring in, sure. But the workshop will be an hour of hard work and grift in the dice mines

130

We’ll be there too! I’m hosting my own games design session, where you’ll be given nothing and like it

1160