iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I love table photos of Decaying Orbit, especially on light tables. Look at that black and orange pop!

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I adore true hit, but I also think it's a good version of the wrong solution. Very cool, and a fine bandaid.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Fun behavioural quirk: That number isn't fixed! New players are more accepting of higher % shots failing because they're using different action paths. Experienced players are using heuristics and are waaaaay more susceptible to something not being "what they expected".

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Jaws Slayer 🎃 @jesawyer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Many people don't understand probability very well and many of them are resistant to having it explained to them. This leads some designers to creating mechanics that work like the player's instinctive (read: fucking wrong) understanding of probability, further confusing everyone.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The takeaway from Some Models are Useful is that generating certainty is a good thing! XCOM's most memetic failures (even repeated by comments to Josh's thread) is 90% shot, barrel against the face, missing. Instead we can make certainty interesting to pursue, and rewarding to attain.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Thanks for bringing this up! One of the keys to this problem is I was dealing with experts. As players become experts, they are less and less accepting of % chances interfering with strategy. I wrote about my general distrust for "lying the player" over here: waxwings.com.au/ludosophy/so...

waxwings.com.au

Some Models are Useful — Wax Wings

Players are terrible with randomness. I say that wholly and without equivocation because players are people, and let me tell you: People Are Terrible With Randomness This wouldn’t be a p...

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I absolutely will never stop admiring our ability to play at anything and everything. I think we might have a moral obligation to be absolutely stupid bastards forever.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Oh shit I'm on board for this one.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Theoretically, without hesitation. Practically...Well, it's hard because PbtA is a design philosophy and a lot of it is self-identified. But like, Grimwild doesn't feel PbtA to me from reading or hearing how friends play it. Shares some values and lineage but it doesn't share the identity imo.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Oh I fundamentally disagree that FitD is PbtA. I think Blades is! And I think some FitD are, maybe even all so far. But I can absolutely imagine Forged in the Dark that isn't PbtA at all!

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I think a part that makes it difficult is, as you say, genre. We're still in the phase where a lot of FitD is "what if different crimes". Space crimes, pirate crimes, etc. Grimwild, Band of Blades, and others are interesting because they're FitD but not BitD+ (which isn't a statement of value!)

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Mmm I'll ponder it. Maybe stress. But Band of Blades doesn't have Load and Flashbacks but is still an inner circle FitD. Again, maybe. This is all early days thinking out loud.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I don't think I agree 😁💖 Like, I think FitD "has" both of those things, but I don't think action ratings are foundational to what FitD is! It's like "setting with systems that emerge as a result" I dunno. I'm open to the disagreement! Maybe I could write a more in depth piece that would help us

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

If Powered by the Apocalypse is "an approach to system design", Forged in the Dark is "an approach to setting design".

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I have to know what the rules are on the fight. Cause, like, if they can shoot fireballs or whatever, maybe not. But if you could counter that by, I dunno, having a gun? Or is it variable based on the 'mon? Like if farfetch'd gets to bring the leek, you get to bring a bat? But machop is hand2hand

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

It was never about success or failure. It's about wringing everything out of good people and then abandoning them when the money comes in. Absolutely unforgivable. Brutal.

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Tim Clare @timclare.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

If I'm remembered for just one contribution to ludology, let it be this

A meme that says 'The Myth of Player Agency in TTRPGS'
Player: I consent
DM: I consent
d20: I don't!
Beneath, the slogan reads: Isn't there somebody you forgot to ask?

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

When I say "Friction" I know what I mean maybe 40% of the time. Certainly less than half. The other half I mean something else entirely.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

You probably don't know for some of that 80% either. It's just in the 20% you know you don't know.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Theory of Fun, The Beauty of Games, The Grasshopper, read in that order.

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🍁 Levi Kornelsen @levikornelsen.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

This isn't a critique, just... If what we collectively wanted (again, at the level of abstraction) was games that work exceptionally out of the box, we'd have moved a lot closer to that by now.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I would keep rascal way closer to "open venue". Maybe even closer to Narrowcasting. But this is a nice layout of good useful information for people trying to figure out where to spend their energy.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I've been thinking about the value of this, and how it flattens a conversation that could use some detail, and also how it says what it really means and communicates it well. But also, one of them has a little peepee and I think that's hilarious.

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Mike Laidlaw @mikelaidlaw.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Savage and accurate.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Tiiiiiiim That looks absolutely electric, mate. Thank you.

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Tim Denee @olddog.games · 31/07/2026

Followed by THE ELECTROPLASMIC ZODIAC, by the formidable @sidneyicarus.bsky.social

A spread from Blades '68; the Electroplasmic Zodiac by Sidney Icarus. 7 fictional zodiac signs are shown in a wheel.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

"A little scary, a little sad" is my new favourite phrase for Decaying Orbit.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Every time I start a design I allocate myself an "Innovation Budget", an amount of newness that I am allowed to introduce. Day two, I blow through it twice. I just watch that self-imposed limit shrink in my rearview. I live in awe of people who are great at taking those little steps.

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jenn martin is not trying so hard @tenpenjenn.com · 08/07/2026

Ai is a fake orgasm machine and the people who use it either can't tell or don't care

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Which is to say: you're not reliant on the character's health, safety, and leverage, in order to participate as a player in a fun way.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

And often gives you a pathway to narrative control that isn't dependent on character power (especially zero sum character power).

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

And explicitly divorce your ability to control the situation from your willingness to escalate the situation.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Speaking of: Lady Blackbird. Add that to this list that allows (supports, covertly requests) exactly this kind of play.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

What do you think is the thread that binds these? I have a thought but I'm not...it doesn't feel load-bearing. BW, AW, Dogs, Trav, 3:16. All games that give your characters a cultural or functional obligation that it tells you that you have to uphold, but then gives you a bunch of tools to violate.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Whoa! So glad to hear Decaying Orbit got a little of your bag space! I'd love to hear how the game hits the table for you and the Diversity crew.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Do you think it'd be the same if you played for 15 hours straight? I'm just kinda thinking around the implications

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Do you think that's a function of play time? Or how often you roll the dice or your scenes move? I'm trying to figure out what is causing that game to lift at that point in play.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

There are maybe 5 levers here. Do you think it's the number of sessions? The length of playtime? The amount of days or weeks that it occurs over? The number of moves we make? The number of threats that get built up or resolved? I'm just fascinated by this because it's a real experience.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Nobody reflect, nobody gets choked up.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Game design is easy, Sam. "Once you have playtested and eliminated bad design, whatever is left (no matter how janky) must be good design."

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I think this whole thread is a great example of iterative game design being as much about taking away or eliminating as adding or fixing

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I was in before writing directly on cards, and I loved these sheets. But writing on cards is so much better. I'm looking forward to playing with it.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Even AI thinks my designs are meaningless. 🤣

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Rob Donoghue @rdonoghue.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

But part of the temptation to try that arises from the simple fact that D&D is genuinely very difficult to explain. Not the rules. D&D itself. Do a 5 whys on any element of D&D, and the whole thing unspools. I used to think that was a problem, but these days I think it’s the point.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

If this is gettin' serious, mate, I'm seriously on board.

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Sidney Icarus @sidneyicarus.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Talking about games with Sam is one of my favourite pastimes, would you like to listen in on this conversation?

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Sam D @sam.diceexploder.com · 05/05/2026

On top of launching Band-Aids & Bullet Holes on kickstarter today, I've also got a new episode of Dice Exploder! This month I'm talking games/mechanics that inspired BABH starting with @sidneyicarus.bsky.social on character nonmonogamy: when players share control of characters. I love doing this!

diceexploder.com

Transcript: Character Nonmonogamy (Space Post) with Sidney Icarus - Dice Exploder

Listen to this episode here. Today is the launch of Band-Aids & Bullet Holes, my melodramatic action game of bloody revenge. It's a one shot, capsule game, box set, deckbuilder...

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