iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Anyway, my thesis statement is, make more tables that expand into good gaming sizes. If anyone knows of a good table of this description, please share!

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Alas, it is now in storage. I don’t have space for it, but I can’t bear to part with it.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Years ago, I found a small banquet table that cleverly expands into a square that can seat six comfortably. I think it was a custom job, I’ve never seen similar.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I am lucky to have a two person IKEA table that is nearly square. It cleverly expands into a larger table that is still nearly square. Seats five easily. I can clear my living room floor and set up gaming for a big group.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Most expandable tables are long and narrow and get longer. Few expand into a larger square. This is a shame.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Rant incoming. Many people live in small homes. Many people cannot dedicate a room to gaming. …

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Case in point. Recent discovery. Found with no sleeve at the thrift store. Apparently a cult, classic Japanese album, and actually pretty good! kind of like a Japanese jazz artist heard their first human league album.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

You know, that was harsh. I do totally put on a video about black holes or something when I do the dishes. But the sentiment stands!

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Here’s what it says on each album cover back. “Do not put on an effing podcast while you do the dishes. Do not ask Siri to play music that sounds like The Stones. That sh#t rots your soul. Listen to a record. There is a knack to this. I can’t teach it, but I know you will pick it up.”

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Scheme idea. Go to thrift stores and buy weird records, and records that don’t have proper sleeves. Listen to them then assemble and crudely draw honest album covers for them. Sell at 10 times markup.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Tarot cards, random generators, recipe books, my record player, a charging table far from my couch.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Disclaimer: I use AI in my work—not my art, but my job. It’s driven me to find analog alternatives more and more outside of work.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I guess this is my basic ritual practice. It has been off-and-on working for me for years now. Maybe 10?

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Part of today’s checkpoint: drastically redesign my task deck. I’ve trimmed it from 52 random tasks to 12 essentials (well, 11 essentials and one rando)—a renewed focus on playing and editing.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Art morning. Got a load of random playing cards from someone’s Etsy. Brainstorming a solo shopkeeper RPG that can fit in my pocket and replace doomscrolling.

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Reposted by Tony Dowler

Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

art vs artist, but it's all giant skulls on fantasy maps. #ttrpg #skull #darkart #b&wart #artvsartist

an assemblage of 8 black and white giant skulls on fantasy maps, around a selfie of me. I have long black hair and I'm wearing a skeleton mask.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

This video about the "oldest" anarchy server in Minecraft got me thinking about D&D--in a world where magic can be used to create and destroy, the end result is an apocalyptic landscape full of ruins, mystery, beauty, lore, and forbidden artifacts. youtu.be/-3eTxoWSo7c?...

youtu.be

The Entire History of 2b2t

YouTube video by PitFall

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I happened onto a copy of magic realm in my teens. That game was my white whale. I had to figure out how to play it, but it was insane!

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

That’s so awesome. I am definitely going to pull this one out the next time I meet the gaming crew for beers.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

At first glance, the Tai Pan came looks pretty promising.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I can’t wait to try this out. I was completely unaware of them. The thrift store owner was as confused as I was. These books were everywhere when I was a kid. But I didn’t know they were games.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Olympia thrift store find, two bucks!

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

One thing was proven true by our garage sale experience. Beware leaving a stack of board games unattended on the sidewalk, because you’ll come back and there will be another copy of Cards Against Humanity.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

My work filters block archive.org.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Sold so much stuff! A bunch of maps, soles great games (Thirsty Sword Lesbians, His Majesty the Worm) some 40k stuff. Great day!

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Overhead at the Cap Hill Garage Sale: “I’m getting more into records. They’re kind of expensive, but you get to keep the music.”

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I’m at the Capitol Hill Garage Sale today with some Seattle Doomsday Maps and garage sale stuff. DM me if you’re in the hood and you want the location.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

We’ll be outside with the Map plus Bikes Are Magic and a bunch of other stuff.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Want a physical Seattle Doomsday Map? Stop by 1620 14th during the Capitol Hill Garage Sale tomorrow and pick one up.

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Reposted by Tony Dowler

Tabletop Bookshelf🔜Gamehole Con @tabletopbookshelf.com · 13/08/2026

NEW: The Warren is a tabletop role-playing game about intelligent rabbits trying to make the best of a world filled with hazards, predators and, worst of all, other rabbits. It is a game about survival and community. By Marshall Miller @mease19.bsky.social From @bullypulpithq.bsky.social

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I made a post where I used AI to play my game how to host a dungeon. But I have deleted it now, while I think about the results. It was a somewhat morbid and a somewhat professional curiosity that drove me, but it didn’t give me much in the way of concrete conclusions.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

And I was going to say "don't worry about my mental health, I'm doing OK" but after the battle I had with burnout last year? I guess we all need to be super careful. Anyway, this experiment is almost over, and then I'm back to my analog pens and my record player for a recharge.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Thank you! That's a very kind response. At this point, I've had to interact a lot with AI and with the work culture it generates quite a bit. Yeah, my thoughts on that are super complicated. And I'd like to say I have a nuanced understanding of it, but does anybody?

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

It's important for me to know what AI will do. Eventually, someone's going to gleefully tell me they used AI to play my game. I want to know the score before that happens. And I'll probably delete this thread soon, but you do deserve a response.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I asked which Civilization Claude wanted to simulate. The Civs use lots of weird tables and flowcharts that I figured Claude might not be able to parse, but Claude was confident.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Claude was able to navigate the primordial age. I noticed that when given latitude, Claude put everything in the center of the level. This is fine. There are no rules here.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

But can AI *play* my game? I fired up Claude. Claude thought it was a "fun coincidence" that the designer of the game and I have the same name. How fun!

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

And the AI came up with several covers that were, in concept, better than what I had. Which filled me with spite. I channeled that spite into drawing a cover of my own. I like it. It's kind of rough in a way I like.

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Tony Dowler @tonydowler.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Asking AI to look at your own work is terrible. And yet, from an emotionally removed place, fascinating. A little background. Years ago, I asked AI to draw a cover for my game--mostly to prove that AI couldn't do it.

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Reposted by Tony Dowler

Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

The Hermit ink sketch in the tarot sketchbook. #tarot #tarotsky #sketchbook #bwart

sketchbook page photo with a black and white pen drawing of the hermit tarot card, where the hermit, wearing robes and a cloak, holds a staff in one hand and a lantern in the other.

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