iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 6m

Tabletop Tokki racks up an impressive explainer and solo score of Rune Rite from @thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social. Link to video in comments 👇 #flipandwrite #soloboardgame #kickstarter

Screen capture of Tabletop Tokki, a YouTube board game reviewer, playing Rune Rite from The Seahorse and The Hummingbird. Main frame depicts hands on the game's box, rune cards, altar and scorepad. Picture-in-picture at upper right shows Tokki reasoning her way through the game's puzzle.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Celebrity preview plays of @thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social's Rune Rite continues apace. Not a bad maiden effort, Ray. Tonight I'm teaching it to my homie @whovian223.bsky.social and R. Buckminster Fuller. #flipandwrite #kickstarter #soloboardgame

Completed scoresheet for solo play of Rune Rite from The Seahorse and The Hummingbird. Five kinds of runes are arranged in a 3x3 grid, each section of which is also a 3x3 grid. Score tabulation is at bottom.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"I retaught myself the game in a living room that was hitting 80 degrees well before noon, my head like a brick made of radioactive anxiety; new facts had to be forced in with an augur." Got a review of SETI done, at last. Give it a listen, dingus 👇 #seti #boardgames #soloboardgame

Closeup of SETI board game, showing Jupiter and a purple probe craft in foreground, then Neptune, then a pretty row of blue data markers waiting to be harvested from Sirius A.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My first game of @thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social's Rune Rite on Screentop. (Disclosure: I am working with @amanpossessed.bsky.social in formal capacity. It was an easy call. I believe in the man.) Anyway, I'm darn proud of that 4x4 of water runes I stacked in the lower right. #flipandwrite

Screen shot of a finished scorepad from a virtual tabletop solo play of The Seahorse and The Hummingbird's Rune Rite flip-and-write game. A 3x3 grid, each square composed of a smaller 3x3 grid, is filled with five kinds of symbols indicating water, air, spirit, earth and fire runes.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Thanks to those of you who sounded off on which game I should learn next from the stack. Chicago '68 by @yoyoni.bsky.social won in a squeaker from a stack of very fine games. It's punched and counted. Cops all over the place. Stay tuned.

Closeup of blue police cubes and Grant Park West location from Chicago '68 board game.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Congrats to @thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social for getting Rune Rite into the curated Witchstarter project on Kickstarter. (Launches Oct. 13) 🚨 For my tabletop media people: Hit me up if you want to preview it on Screentop and a new polyomino fits on your Sept. calendar. #flipandwrite #kickstarter

Cover of Rune Rite flip-and-write board game box on black background. A small witch in a large hat and robe raises their hands before a boulder field of glowing, icy stones.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

One of those mornings where I feel like checking out everything on every table in the flea market. No skips.

Screen cap of music streaming queue including Up, Bustle and Out, Wire, Divinyls, Skee Mask, Eazy-E, The Dandy Warhols, Slayer, Shaquille O'Neal, Lynn Tait

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Thanks to the generous, cerebral, and industrious @smolghost.bsky.social and @willjobst.bsky.social of @goodluckpress.co, who showed @liberludorum.com and I the blueprints to their forlorn houses, terrifying caves, and sinister bunkers. Link to our talk is down there. 👇 #SoloRPG #IndieRPG #TTRPG

B/W spread of interior pages of Plasmodics RPG book from Good Luck Press: At left, collage dominated by human hand with an eye in its palm. At right, text explaining how character mutations work.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Saluting Philly in 1987-88. This town was on fire. In Episode 122 I zoomed in on two specimens that I still can't stop replaying nearly 40 years after I first heard them on cassette: • "This is It (Ain't Gonna Rain)" Schoolly D • "Rockin' Music" Steady B #GoldenEraHipHop #SchoollyD #SteadyB

Cover of Schoolly D's Smoke Some Kill LP, with the three-man crew posing under streetlights at night next to a car with its left-side doors open.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Want to help pick out the historical conflict game that I fuck up in a future episode? Here are the contenders: • Rocky Mountain Man • By Stealth and Sea • Comancheria • Imperium Classics • Chicago '68 • Taifa • Shores of Tripoli Indicate your preference in the comments. Cheers.

Pile of boardgames atop an aluminum ladder: Comancheria, By Stealth and Sea, Imperium Classics and Chicago '68. Another board game visible on table in background.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Shuffle function performing a little miracle on a Saturday out of thousands of unsorted liked tracks, I didn't have to intercede once

Screen capture of music streaming playlist, showing tracks from Roots Manuva, Sly & The Family Stone, Das EFX, The Wiseguys, Frank Black, Morrissey, Dizzy Gillespie

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Join @liberludorum.com and I for a chat with @frogqueengames.bsky.social, creator of the solo journaling game, Yap. Perfect story portions. Fun menu. Five stars. Also: Pavlov's House revisited. Track of the Week is "Shut 'Em Up," The Prodigy vs. Public Enemy vs. Manfred Mann.

Screen cap of the PDF for Yap, a solo journaling game. Title of game is followed by the text "introduction" and the question, "Can you tell a story through reviews?

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

The eight of clubs indicates my character, Brian, is about to visit a plumber. The five on the die indicates he will drop a 5-star review. I'm playing Yap by @frogqueengames.bsky.social. #solorpg #ttrpg #journaling

Wooden table with a deck of red-backed playing cards, the eight of clubs rolled and showing, a black die and a pen.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Got a killer guest contribution from @natetylerwriting.bsky.social that got me thinking about that "back in the day" trope in hip hop: My two current faves for tempo and sheer style: • "Memories," Slick Rick • "Whayback," Artifacts Putting links to those below. Share one of yours. Surprise me.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Got some reps in on the @thunderworksgames.bsky.social Cartographers #flipandwrite, so I articulated my thoughts about it thus far. Also interviewed @partymeeple.bsky.social about his killer Fantasy Flight Silver Line collection. Ever played Orcz? He has, and rates the best from his stack. 👇

Rows of Edict cards (depicting scoring targets) a filled-in map from the roll-and-write game, Cartographers, and a pencil.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Tracing some of my favorite applications of the Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s well-traveled "Blow Your Head" sample. The first time I heard it was on "Public Enemy No. 1." Yo! Bum Rush the Show is still my favorite PE album. #hiphop #publicenemy youtu.be/AAWVAbUAADQ?...

youtu.be

Public Enemy No. 1

YouTube video by Public Enemy - Topic

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Feeling myself after my best Cartographers score, I instructed the townsfolk in the leftmost cottage to start a fire in their hearth to annoy the neighboring monsters. Irrelevant to the final tally, but satisfying nonetheless. #soloboardgame #cartographers #flipandwrite

Detail of a pencil-drawn map of the Cartographers flip-and-write game, showing printed borders and details of the map, plus pencil markings representing monster incursions, villages, rivers, and forests.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Club/hip hop hybrid beatmakers supreme, Mantronix, having a bit of fun building off Ian Dury and the Blockheads' "Sex & Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll." Off the 1990 LP, This Should Move Ya. youtu.be/tqKknwy2q9Y?...

youtu.be

Sex-N-Drugs And Rock-N-Roll

YouTube video by Mantronix - Topic

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I had three days to turn my pal Fritz into a Blood Angels Space Marine. He went from a dude who couldn't tell which way his Terminators were facing to doing pistolero tricks with a Storm Bolter. Episode 118 is here 👇 #warhammer40k #coopgame #spacehulkdeathangel

Middle-aged white dude in glasses and ball cap makes el mano cornuda while slightly younger white middle aged man snarls at a table in the background wearing a raglan tee.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

@liberludorum.com leads a talk with Alessio Cavatore, who helped imagine Ghost in the Shell as a new #TTRPG. Hitting this summer, with all-original art from the beloved #manga. I also chat up @yoyoni.bsky.social about the hot summer of his Chicago '68 #boardgame and what he's working on next 👇

Augmented Section 9 Ghost in the Shell agent hardwired atop a massive robot.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Bruno Faidutti’s ruthless role-selection mini-masterpiece spent a lot of time on our table during our heavy Fantasy Flight Games era. It is hard to pull a building permit for your city when you got a shiv in your ribs. #fantasyflightgames #citadels

Picture of Citadels and Space Hulk Death Angel boxes from Fantasy Flight Games' Silver Line

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Check it out, my Cartographer's name is Stafford Airbiscuit and his coat of arms is a butt that is farting. This and other accomplishments (Citadels in retrospective, Thunderbolt Apache Leader session) recorded in Episode 116. 👇 #soloboardgame #flipandwrite #podcast

Closeup of a map scoring sheet from the game, Cartographers, showing the name of the player character, Stafford Airbiscuit. His family coat of arms depicts a farting butt.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

One of the reasons I just broadcast here is because I need as much of the rest of my life as possible to coax memory in my own universe of books and games because I'm a freak and I'm tired and crossing the line into this century still feels like a colossal misstep #soloboardgame #books

A copy of James Salter's memoir, Burning the Days, atop the Thunderbolt Apache Leader solitaire board game box

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Comancheria First Look + Chaos in the Old World Retrospective + I Try to Put Motion Man on Your Indie Throwback Playlist Breakup Gaming Society Episode 115 is here 👇 #boardgames #hiphop #fantasyflightgames

An era card from GMT Games' Comancheria: The Rise and Fall of the Comanche Empire, showing dice and text describing the conditions for the game's first era, 1700-1749

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Get a load of @partymeeple.bsky.social's collection of Fantasy Flight Silver Series boxes. He's played 'em all. He can rank 'em. Keep an eye out on Breakup Gaming Society's growing Fantasy Flight Games retrospective in the future. Link to that is down there 👇

A white dude in his early 60s with glasses, a beard, and a fuschia shirt that says PLAY shows off several vintage Fantasy Flight Silver Series game boxes.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Chatted up one of the co-designers of Mix Up Fairy Tales with @liberludorum.com and learned how the concept for this family card game formed when the designer's two daughters got their hands on the prototype artwork from The British Library. Interview's down there 👇

Four cards from the family game Mix Up Fairytales from Warcradle Studios, done in collaboration with The British Library. The numbered cards contain full-color period illustrations from period fairy tale books and have snippets of the story in text at the bottom.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Chaos in the Old World joins Arkham Horror, Tannhauser and Space Hulk: Death Angel in my growing Fantasy Flight golden age retrospective, including supplemental interviews with @mattthr.bsky.social and @shelfstablecast.bsky.social's Kenny Katayama Nothing sang like the brawl in that box 👇

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

"One cuppable butt in the night would be the rondure of one perfect word in the manifold unasked questions of the savior’s tongue." Work continues in the basement of @goodluckpress.co's Dwelling solo journaling RPG. Latest session (audio and written, whatever's your flavor) down there 👇

Half open door of a soot trap set into a brick wall in a basement with piles of ash.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Metal Queens ov Skull Mountain RPG (@liberludorum.com) + My Magician Friend Mods Tarot (@phelyx.bsky.social) + Dwelling Solo RPG Session (@goodluckpress.co) + Keith Murray's Here to Make a Dollar Out of 15 Cents #rpg #tarot #hiphop #ttrpg Episode's down there 👇

B/W line drawing of woman in dramatic high collar wearing an immense skull crown festooned with roses and multiple sets of hooked, segmented horns.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

If your Thrash stats feel neglected these days, join @liberludorum.com and I for a chat about Metal Queens ov Skull Mountain, a throwback with a straight-ahead d20 system designed to help you tell legendary stories at chugging tempo.

Woman in silhouette with blowing hair and cape extending a long blade to her right and holding a shorter blade in her left.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

I wanted to know why Phelyx Hopkins was already ~500 hours in to the making of his own tarot deck. He talked to me about why he felt the need to hand-make a woodblock-style tarot mod — a deep-dive into tarot’s historical importance as a storytelling game for everyday folk. 👇 #tarot

Hands in vintage workspace hand drawing with ink pen — illustration of two people talking in the style of old woodblock-print tarot decks.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Congrats to @phelyx.bsky.social, winner of Breakup Gaming Society's indie game bundle, including the fine work of @grumpyspidergames.bsky.social, @thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social, @long-tail-games.bsky.social and @cjeggett.co.uk (who, along with Mary McGroary, comprises Ada Press).

Closeup of a blue board game box (Rucksack) and two TTRPG books: Tiny Tome 2 and Book of Wandering.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Get rekt, Trish, Zeke, and Baghead. Ava triumphs in Final Girl: A Knock at the Door. Also: Scrabble with The Moms, Fantasy Flight retrospective with @shelfstablecast.bsky.social's Kenny Katayama, and a can't miss Latifah remix I want you to hear. 👇

Final Girl solo horror game Wingard Cottage map, depicting the Final Girl (pink meeple) standing near bodies of the three Intruders (red, gray, and black meeples). Yellow victim meeples admire the handiwork from nearby rooms.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

After The Moms packed the set back into the drawstring bag, her imploring post-game question IDed the real opponent at the table: the doldrums of forgetting. “I need to ask you a question,” she said. I braced for unwanted family revelation. “Did you let me win?” Rest of the story's down there 👇

A middle-aged white dude (L) sits across the table from an elderly white lady (R). Between them on the table is a travel-sized Scrabble game board.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I picture a party banner loosening at one end in a room full of the slain. You can just make out the text before it folds over on itself: WELCOME BACK FUCKER. Ava just earned her stripes in Final Girl: A Knock at the Door.

Picture of Ava character card from Final Girl: A Knock at the Door and the bonus envelope that unlocked her new signature weapon: Ava's Nail Bat and Porcupine.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

The way the three killers at the bottom run through that house like a six-legged threshing machine is quite impressive. Final Girl: A Knock at the Door is underway. More on this in Episode 113, dropping at end of March. #finalgirl #soloboardgame #boardgamepodcast

Picture of the Wingard Cottage board from the Final Girl solitaire horror game. Center of board shows floorplan of cottage, with irregular outlying spaces representing outdoor areas. A number of multicolored meeple figures represent the hero, the killers and victims/bystanders.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

I use four monikers on the mic and can't pick one today. Want to help? Indicate your preference in the replies. I will use it in Episode 112, which is dropping tonight before bed. • Colonel Hector Bravado • The Lord Chief Rocka #1 • The Great Unclean One • Inquisitor Cinnamon Apple Cheesedick

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Got together with Human Intelligence co-founder Kira Cleveland and Kenny of Shelf Stable. Talked AI, curation, and trusting your human senses, memory, and objects of fascination on the tabletop.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

For my Chicago people who love supporting indie game designers: The Indie Boardgame Showcase is stopping at Big Star in Wrigleyville on Sunday, March 8. 15 designers will be demoing their work! Use my code (BREAKUP) and get 50% off your ticket at the Quirk Events website. 👇 #chicago #boardgames

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Sam Altman and Marc Andreessen can frolic in my pickle water. The world they’re imagining sucks. Instead come with me to Budokan in 1978, where two ninjas have to hop out of a time machine and slaughter Cheap Trick. I played @ninjaborg.com with the creators and recorded it. Link's down there 👇

Detail of masked ninja from character sheet of NINJA BORG RPG, with stat areas on his shoulder and forehead for Hubris points and Kill Count.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Can campy, violent ninjas from an indie RPG help protect small creator rights against AI? It's certainly worth a roll of the d12. Salute to @rugosekohn.com and @liberludorum.com, makers of @ninjaborg.com and the first tabletop creators to certify their work as Human Intelligence®. More info 👇

A ninja in silhouette decapitates a foe with a sweeping strike on the cover of the NINJA BORG roleplaying game.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The little thrills: Caroming through early '90s hip hop stuff on YouTube Music and stumbling across the origin of that mean, punchy vocal sample from Death in Vegas' "Dirt" It's Shanté.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Giving away some cool indie tabletop stuff I acquired from @grumpyspidergames.bsky.social, @thinkdeepplaylight.bsky.social, @long-tail-games.bsky.social and Ada Press. Ep. 110 has game descriptions and how to enter. 👇

A picture of a blue-and-yellow game box (Rucksack) and two game booklets: Tiny Tome 2 and Book of Wandering.

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TheLordChiefRockaNumberOne @natewarren.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

I'm listening to "Heatwave (JiggyJoe Remix)" by Skeewiff & Pedigree Cuts. This beat is like medicine to me. What do you have on tonight?

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