iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Please ask me what my weekend evening brainstorm jams are so I can recommend this album to you 💖💖💖

openmikeeagle.bandcamp.com

Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, by Open Mike Eagle

12 track album

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Just did a community Big Walk night in the Discord and we played for FOUR hours. I legitimately do not know the last time I played a video game for that long, but it's a very special communal experience that lends itself to long, meandering sessions. An absolute delight.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Behold: the face of someone who forgot to take pictures of his unpub table today! #paxwest

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

mfw the plane lands in Seattle for #PAXWest and I get an email notification that Kickstarter loves my project.

James, the designer of Monster Wasteland, standing in front of the Seattle space needle with his arms outstretched to the sky. A "Project We Love" button hovers above him.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

MONSTER WASTELAND IS NOW A KICKSTARTER #PROJECTWELOVE SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS THIS IS JUST INSANELY COOL I'M FREAKIN OUT A LITTLE BIT 💖

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I missed world hex map day 😭 Obviously my favorite hex map is my own... but aside from the shameless self-promotion, I find Ark Nova's zoo maps so charming and elegant. The different layouts are all really clever too - shoutout to Silver Lake.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

play more immsims. Specifically the ones 2HH tells you to play.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

It's faction Friday! Er, Saturday! Feast yer eyes on the factions and their mighty heroes.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Got the clearance from my surgeon - I'm recovered enough to attend #PAXWest in two weeks! See yall in the Unpub and free play areas 🎲✂️

A promotional image for Frasier, except the cast has been replaced by Monster Wasteland heroes and a monster is on top of the outline of Seattle. Text reads "Monster Wasteland will be at PAX West."

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Excited backer of this earlier today! My shelf desperately needs more combat-oriented games because Ark Nova and Forest Shuffle are fun, but sometimes you just want to feed your friends to the psychosis monolith.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Side quest over the next few weeks as the 'crowdfunding marketer' shell chitenizes over my designer flesh: play published games again. I need to put something on my table that I don't have to dissect while playing. Aside: at some point this post become insect themed. Sorry?

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

OK I *really* need to get better at Blueskying because we started our prelaunch this morning and it took me three full hours to Post about it. Turns out it's hard out there for a first-time self-publisher with a day job and a lot of anxiety 😲 At least I made a cool game you can check out!

kickstarter.com

Coming soon: Monster Wasteland: A Co-op Survival Adventure

Lead your factions through the post-apocalypse in an open-world board game of unit placement, crafting, and deep narrative flavor.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Haven't posted in a month, sorry, been busy absolutely obliterating some lung cancer. Just straight up dogwalking it out of my body.

OP in a hospital bed flashing the peace sign and hiding a game piece

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

FINAL(?) PROTOTYPE IS IN! feat. my dumb face sorry about that

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Did a quick writeup about the items in Monster Wasteland, including pics of the final designs!

monsterwasteland.com

Items of the Wasteland: A Retrospective – Monster Wasteland

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

New prototype who dis (final layouts in physical, how exciting!!!)

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Haven't posted, been away from reality in the wilderness. Here are some pics of my journeys, featuring a couple friends to keep it relevant 😁😁

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

June newsletter just dropped! Check it out for card designs, demo information, and other cool info :D

mailchi.mp

June Newsletter - Card Designs, Demos, Cons, and More!

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

We've got new card layouts (which I'll be showing off in the next newsletter) AND we're on Tabletopia now, so the game can be played in all its 3D glory, for free! Feast your eyes on the session from last night, and maybe come visit the Wasteland soon!

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Hey, I fixed the economy! In Monster Wasteland! Tonight's playthrough went at the desired pace - our heroes managed to secure a Weaponry victory, killing a whopping FIVE monsters in the end. Big ups to the group for striking the "way too excited 90s video game ad" pose at the end there 😂

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Lazy game design Sunday, nerfing my economy like a mad god. How're yall doing?

A variety of game cards with revisions made in pen on sticker paper taped over parts of the old rules.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Part of having a dog means I get about 45 minutes of design pondering time baked into every daily walk. Currently thinking about ways to jack up the difficulty of a game without restricting resources or making costs higher.

A brown dog on a walking trail by an empty floodpath, mountains and blue sky in the distance

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Normalize making a banger game with two killer DLC packs, doing other things for A FULL DECADE, then coming back for a third round.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Lot of good moments from KublaCon but far and away the best was when a designer's kid asked to join a MW game and KILLED it, making some 4D chess plays that forced me to write new corner case rules, then told his dad mine was his favorite game that weekend.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Also I playtested my FOURTH wine-themed euro engine builder of 2026. It was a great game (revolved around a tile-building + worker placement loop) but boy howdy people sure do love those old grapes!

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

If you get surprised with AI art in a playtest you reserved a slot for, how do you react? I saved the "you don't need this" for feedback, but its presence infects my perspective of the rest of the game's creation and ideation.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Cool News Piece #2 - we've got prototype box art! And a box render!! And back of box copy!!! Also, I wish I'd gotten this sorted out three prototypes ago - yet another chapter in the saga of "doing things as out of order as possible. Live and learn for next time (and I say that as a threat) 😁

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Cool News Piece #1 - as a pre-KublaCon treat, I'm going to be in Oakland Thursday night hosting games of Monster Wasteland at It's Your Move Games. Come out, ya sillies!

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

San Francisco board game people where do you like to go to play board games what is your favorite FLGS where should I visit?

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

One week until I'll be at KublaCon! Find me running Monster Wasteland games in the Protospiel area or maybe trying out yours!!!

An ad featuring the Golden Gate Bridge with Monsters from Monster Wasteland poorly photoshopped into the scenery. The text reads: "Monster Wasteland will be at KublaCon May 22-25 in San Francisco"

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Last v. of the rulebook was light on 'key concepts' - most card types weren't diagrammed til the actions associated with them were described. Surprisingly, folks said they'd rather key concepts be 3-4p longer before actions get explained. Almost done w/ revisions and keen to see if this is the case.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Lots and lots of big news coming over the next 2-3 weeks (check the newsletter/blog for some hints 😉) But for now, we relax with Onitama, one of my favorite 2p games.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Took a break to play some Flock Around with friends last night, which asks the question "Can friendslop be cozy and still be entertaining?" The answer is a resounding yes from this simple birdwatching game that is elegantly made and chock full of species to find.

A character in Flock Around looking at the camera in front of an autumn backdrop. They are shaped like a little pink rectangle and have watery eyes and a puffed up mouth. They hold a film camera in their yellow-gloved hands. A downy woodpecker sits on the character's head, also looking at the camera.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I swear to god Ron, if you keep distracting me from misplaying this turn in Wingspan, I'm cropping you out of my wedding party photos.

A satire news article from Palatte Swap titled "Guy has audacity to warmly revel in company of close friends instead of taking his damn turn"

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

The last 10 days have consisted of travel, getting sick from travel, and copy editing with a brain made out of mothballs, so I've been feeling a bit blech. Turns out a great pick-me-up is getting new layout designs in!! Here's a look at the new Monster card design, courtesy of the great Umut Çomak!

A card design for one of the Monsters in Monster Wasteland, the colossal "Plague Cloud."

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Going to the east coast for a few days and I have to fly, so I'm bringing my Emotional Support Hatethrob

The standee for the Monster Wasteland's Hatethrob in front of a large bay window overlooking an airport terminal

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

I hope I can be as kind to the world as the person who just spent two hours reviewing and making notes on my rulebook 🥹

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Reposted by Monster Wasteland

2 Headed Hero @2headedhero.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Cool event on Steam right now: youtu.be/E7Tm2Dcc0OQ?...

youtu.be

InterfaceX Trailer

YouTube video by Cobalt Lane

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

TTRPG About Me First game: D&D 3.5E Last game : ORCBORG Longest game: Session? Vampire the Masquerade Favorite game: Monster of the Week Favorite mechanic: anything where you gain XP from failing Favorite art: Morkborg or most of its variants

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

A friend just sent these photos to me of the game in its infancy - before layout, art, and new icons. When we were using bloodshot eyeballs to represent Bloodthirsty tokens... which inevitably led to googly eyes on all the Monsters. How far we've come.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Years of testing but I got a BIG one last night: "Completing Objectives feels like what we do in between having fun." They LOVED the game, one of the most positive responses I've had otherwise, and I've never heard this complaint before. It could have been one of a few things 🧵

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Talking to a dev about a fun-sounding game they're making that lines up with my vibes and philosophy, but I had a sneaking suspicion... and I was right. Generative. AI. Even with a solid (allegedly) human concept and loop, you smell that soulless garbage rotting good ideas. Disgusting.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Did a makeshift component list for the rulebook. I knew this game had a lot, but this is quite the two-page spread 😅

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

More monsterposting as I give the website and rulebook a touchup 😀 We've got two Gigantic monsters - the Glintstalker and the Willful Wisp. The first lets you negate damage if you offer up items as a trade. The second ruins the spaces it lands on and uses its powers to lure units at night 😈

Two red monster cards with inky black art and their associated tokens on a game board, the rest of the game out of focus in the background.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Whose job was it to tell me that 30% of game design is designing a game and 70% is being in some sort of logistical hell? Currently getting Monster Wasteland on Screentop, which has a 32MB limit. TOTAL. There's an "original DOOM filesize" joke here but I'm too tired.

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Protospiel only allows designers to do 5 hours of testing at an event! Which makes sense but now I have to be..... social 😱😱😱😱😱

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Took a little break from all the madness to Roll for the Galaxy tonight. This is the first game I've played in a month that I haven't been giving or receiving feedback for. It feels good to nurture the part of my brain that just sits back and builds a galactic empire.

A setup for the dice rolling game Roll for the Galaxy

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Reposted by Monster Wasteland

52 Pickup Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @52pickupstudios.com · 23/03/2026

I would prefer feedback via pigeon courier... #gamedev #indiedev #boardgamedesign 🎲✂️

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Graphic design is my passion or something like that. Also, I'll be at #KublaCon in May!!!

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Monster Wasteland @monsterwasteland.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

TokenCon recap posting! The last playthrough I hosted was an absolute delight. One of the players brought their grandma and her sister to the table, fresh off a quilting retreat! Everyone tried their hardest but eventually the Cult of Desmani player took a monster to the face and that was that 😮‍💨

OP with four players around a circular table playing Monster Wasteland.

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