iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Pleasure! Trying to uphold the original dream of the internet.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

the devil's in the details (of the designers' personalities, methods, expertise, interests, and so on).

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

zounds I was just told we sold 750 copies of this on Amazon today

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Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

My most innovative designs have never been published. Junior game designers often massively overvalue innovation. I was no exception. I have designed at least seven "entire new genre" type of games. I think maybe two of them are any good.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Two more months have elapsed and as we prep for holiday sales, this is still the bestseller of the batch. Heartening, as I need to produce hits. In this business, if you don't make hits, you're likely not paying for yourself. Like music, tabletop games is a largely hit-or-bust business. 🎲✂️

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Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Studying marketing, as a discipline, with genuine curiosity, will make you a better game designer. Guaranteed. Or your money back.

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Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

When publishers and designers say their game has been play tested hundreds of times, they're not wrong but The published version you're playing has likely not been tested more than a handful of times, and zero times is a distinct possibility. It's not a bug, just a feature of complex iteration

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Agree (though I think "good" algorithms are theoretically possible, but they won't be based on engagement and so consequently there's no known business model to support such a thing)

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I’ll try to write a thread about it in the coming week (maybe, if I get my work done)

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in switching from hobby games to mass market games: The processes that are best for each kind of design are radically different. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

My biggest problem with Pokémon: The game can end quickly and before much interesting happens, due to pure luck. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

An interesting question to gauge the quality whatever you’re working on: If this was the ONLY work people ever saw of yours, would you be proud of it? 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I spent a few years interviewing homeschooling families about the roles games play in their lives and curricula. I learned some things that might be valuable to you. DM me if you want to chat.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The consumer mindset so many bring to games is my least favorite thing about the hobby. I believe it has led to the loss of much beauty and joy.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I owe my entire career in games to procrastination in grad school

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I'm told this game is currently the best-seller among the batch of 4 we published this year. Early days, so I don't know if it will stay that way, but I'll celebrate it as a win.

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Elizabeth Hargrave @elizhargrave.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

One major purpose of TTGDA is to help tabletop game designers negotiate better publishing contracts. We just released the rubric of what we look for -- and info on how different publishers scored on the rubric. Soon we will also release a model contract. More at www.ttgda.org/contract-bas...

Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDA) Releases Scoring Rubric and Tabletop
Market Contract Analysis to Promote Equitable Industry Standards

Bridgewater, NJ – The Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDA) today announced the
launch of their Contract Scoring Rubric and publication of its Tabletop Market Contract Analysis
– 2026, a comprehensive industry report designed to share information about contract practices
and advocate for fair treatment, intellectual property protection, and designer involvement in the
tabletop game publishing process.
The report, developed by the TTGDA contract & grievance committee—led by industry veterans
Geoff Engelstein, Elizabeth Hargrave, Matt Leacock, and James Lowder—seeks to address the
wide disparity in publishing agreements across the industry. With many first-time game
designers accepting terms that may be disadvantageous, the TTGDA has developed a rigorous,
objective scoring rubric to evaluate publisher contracts.
“Our intention is to shine a light on these industry practices and lead to more equitable
standards,” says TTGDA Vice President Sen-Foong Lim. To assist in this effort, the TTGDA will
be releasing model contracts that adhere to the criteria established in the scoring rubric.
The full report can be downloaded at www.ttgda.org/contract-basics.
Key Industry Findings
The analysis of contracts from over 50 publishers reveals several critical areas where many
standard publishing agreements fall short of fair practices:
● Advances: Only two-thirds of publishers offer a baseline advance above the
TTGDA-recommended minimum of $1,000, while 20% offer no advance at all.
● Designer Involvement in Expansions: 40% of publishers retain the right to create
expansions without consulting the original game’s designer.

Intellectual Property Rights: 75% of publishers retain the rights to a game’s name after
the publication agreement concludes and rights to the design revert to the creator.
● Financial Transparency: One-third of publishers deny designers the right to audit their
books, and 10% include non-standard deductions to revenue before royalties are
calculated.
Moving Toward Standards
The Tabletop Market Contract Analysis includes aggregate results, with summary scores for
each individual publisher available to TTGDA members. However TTGDA would like to highlight
the top five scoring publishers (alphabetically): 25th Century Games, Fireside Games, Lunar
Punk, Plaid Hat Games, and UP Games.
“These results are not a call to avoid specific publishers,” says TTGDA President Geoff
Engelstein. “Rather they are a tool for designers to negotiate terms that include fair payment,
intellectual property protection, and a meaningful role in the final product.”
The organization plans to release semi-annual updates to the Tabletop Market Contract
Analysis as more contracts are reviewed and publishers revise their standard agreements.
About the Tabletop Game Designers Association
The Tabletop Game Designers Association is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization dedicated to
supporting designers of all types of tabletop games, including board games, role playing games,
card games, miniature games, and others, whether mass market, specialty, or hobby. Learn
more about us at www.ttgda.org.

Contact:
Geoff Engelstein
President
Tabletop Game Designers Association
president@ttgda.org
www.ttgda.org

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

as usual with your stuff, I'm digging the look

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Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I feel like most modern development is adding too many rules to solve theoretical problems to please too many people too often.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Yes, I think that’s what she’s doing.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I don’t think so. It was more she felt many games are stretching to have themes that don’t really want to be games. For example she pointed to games with somewhat “inert” subjects (“look, this game is just called Cheese” - referring to Formaggio). For her, they didn’t suggest anything game-like.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

My wife (a casual-at-best game player) and I (psychotic) were perusing the shelves of a board game store this week. After looking over the games, she paused and said: "It feels like they're running out of themes." 🎲✂️

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Matthew Dunstan @matthewdunstan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

In today's video I explore an important, yet seldom noticed aspect of game design - game flow! youtu.be/JqspauIq0ls 🎲✂️

youtu.be

This is so important for game design...and you might not even know it

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan

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Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Game designers always tell me their game is “simple, everyone gets it” And then I watch them demoing at conventions doing 90% of the heavy lifting and repeating rules over and over. Your game ain’t simple, hombre. You just really like it.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

...and it has a theme I love. feels like it's kinda designed for me.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

the main reason I don't play deckbuilders in person is the shuffling drives me insane. I'm all about this.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Please keep doing this stuff so I can keep living vicariously through it.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

oh gosh, that's a big topic. I'll make a note to write a longer thing about it.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I’ve been VERY heartened by how anti-algorithm Bluesky is (since we can pick any feed we want and even design our own feeds here). Want to support that so will prob stick here unless MySpace does something extraordinary.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Very cool to open this app and see a game I designed in the first post I see!

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

For every art, it’s more valuable to try to improve than to try to be good, …because improvement can be operationalized more effectively. This includes game design. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

A lot of game designers are even worse on this score, since designers’ relationship to games is so radically different from mass customers’ relationship to games. This has certainly been a subject of immense learning since I transitioned to mass.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

A difficulty of mass market game design: The Target and Walmart buyers’ tastes sometimes differ from the end customers’. In those cases, it’s like games have to pass through a filter that selects for the wrong thing. No shade though. It’s hard for anyone to grok customers unlike ourselves. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Not surprising. It accords with my informal inquiries.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I used to work in hobby, and I switched to mass in part because I’m convinced mass games are played more.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

When I go to GenCon, I feel torn. It forces me to face the fact that my job depends on a rah-rah consumerism I reject. That ache grows heavier each year. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I'd love to write the book that's supposed to go in that box

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

One caution about such events: depending on the game, the people playing there may be super different from who the customers will be, which is another key way to get the wrong signal.

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