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Daily Illuminator Archive for August 2025
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August 1, 2025:
Which is NOT something that you spread on bread to make it funny. Although if there were such a thing, I would totally buy it . . .
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August 2, 2025:
Hello, Indianapolis! If you're at Gen Con, come see us at booth #2401 in the dealer hall – we have Munchkin Big Box in stock, as well as a limited early supply of Purrfect Potions! The first two days of the show have been excellent, and we are looking forward to a great weekend.
I've been running one-shot RPGs from Dahlia's, and it's been a blast . . .
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August 3, 2025:
The Pyramid 1 and Pyramid 2 collections on Bundle of Holding have been so popular we've extended the sale! Through Monday, both sets of the tabletop gaming magazine from Steve Jackson remain discounted for over 90% off . . .
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August 4, 2025:
Gen Con distorts the space-time continuum such that its news comes nonlinearly. Thus – as one of the folks working the Steve Jackson Games booth this year at the beloved Indianapolis convention – I'm thrilled to report you all really love cats . . .
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August 5, 2025:
At UKGE earlier this year, one of the very neatest things I saw was Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs, from Palaeo Games. It's a sourcebook for 5e DnD or 2e Pathfinder (these are two separate editions) . . .
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August 6, 2025:
Pre-orders are now open for Munchkin: Not My Monkeys! The expansion comes with 56 all-new cards full of ape-themed puns and can be easily shuffled into any fantasy-backed deck or your favorite core set . . .
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August 7, 2025:
Our main Fantasy Trip artist, Rick Hershey, is also an indie publisher as Kids in the Attic. Rick has a BackerKit campaign going on right now for a roleplaying project, Folklore Americana . . .
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August 7, 2025:
My post below originally said you had a couple of weeks to support. Incorrect! . . .
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August 8, 2025:
We are thrilled to announce the winner of the Munchkin National Championships 2025 – Diana S.! Road to Gen Con is a year-long tournament in which Munchkin enthusiasts around the United States compete for the title of Munchkin National Champion . . .
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August 9, 2025:
During Gen Con, our friends at The Tabletop Misfits stopped by the Steve Jackson Games booth to interview Munchkin Line Editor Will Schoonover about Munchkin Big Box . . .
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August 10, 2025:
As a computer gamer at the dawn of the CD-ROM era, I enjoyed more than my share of Myst – one of the few games to showcase what the new audio-video technology could do with its access to an unfathomable 600mb of readable storage. If you, too, enjoyed your visits to the open-ended island (and its sequels beginning with Riven), then I would humbly direct your attention to this video from The Video Game History Foundation, providing an overview of the archival footage from developer Cyan that made those games possible.
Then I'd recommend going to the archive linked in that video's description, with over 200 behind-the-scenes and promotional videos from the entire series . . .
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August 11, 2025:
I wrote a provocatively-titled article about Super Mario Bros., but more broadly about the nature of rules and materiality in videogames vs. tabletop RPGs. I imagine some number of you will come to an instinctive conclusion, which is okay! . . .
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August 12, 2025:
According to an article on Scientific American, there's a technique that scientists have used to enable five test subjects to see a new super-saturated aquamarine color that's never been experienced by humans before. I'm sure tabletop gamers can imagine the possibilities of having an elite group undergoing ultra-tech methods to see outside the bounds of human perception . . .
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August 13, 2025:
What happens when one of the grandest cities on Earth becomes the center of an empire – again? The answers can be found within the pages of GURPS Hot Spots: Istanbul, 1453-1703 A.D. . . .
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August 14, 2025:
Storing playmats is one of the most oft-bemoaned conundrums in our hobby. I have a solution that works well, at least for "standard"-sized (single-player) playmats that one would use for card games, and it's an off-the-shelf product you can buy for the ubiquitous IKEA Kallax board game shelf . . .
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August 15, 2025:
After some time to recover from our recent Gen Con attendance, we had our post-convention wrap-up a few days ago. We had a good time swapping our experiences from the show . . .
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August 16, 2025:
Sometimes living in the future has very personal benefits. I've known for a little while that my hearing was going . . .
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August 17, 2025:
Many news sites (such as Fortune) are reporting that AOL is discontinuing dial-up Internet access after 30 years, ending on September 30. Like many who heard the news, I haven't thought about dial-up in years . . .
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August 18, 2025:
The Marketing Department is – paradoxically – one of the most visible yet hidden parts of the great conspiracy that is Steve Jackson Games. You may encounter it near-daily (especially if you're a fan!), but – if the department is doing their job right – you don't notice it because you're too busy being informed and enticed by awesome news and products . . .
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August 19, 2025:
Tired of doomscrolling? Tired of being jerked around by terrifying clickbait headlines that don't actually name the place that is being flooded, burned to a crisp, invaded by Russians or ICE, or just bombed into the Stone Age? . . .
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August 20, 2025:
I have a lot of favorites, but my favorite favorite may very well be GURPS Time Travel. John Zeleznik outdid himself on this one, with a futuristic super-soldier facing down a cinematically oversized Triceratops . . .
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August 21, 2025:
This text, written by author and game-world designer Jon R. Osborne, is exactly what the title promises: a medium dive into the art of creating a consistent and interesting fictional setting . . .
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August 22, 2025:
If you haven't played Last Shot yet, now is your chance to learn more about this riveting game! Several of our friends have shared their thoughts – and even how to play – on their channels . . .
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August 23, 2025:
Originally published in 1991, Tales from the Floating Vagabond was one of the first comedic RPGs. Long story short: There's this interdimensional bar in an asteroid, see, and people from all over space and time get yoinked into it, and this naturally causes them to drink heavily and have adventures. Now, that's a concept you can take to the bank . . .
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August 24, 2025:
I really like two-player abstract strategy games. When I saw High Tide at the Underdog Games booth at Gen Con on the first day of the show, my interest was immediately piqued . . .
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August 25, 2025:
Where was this book when I was eight years old? Or even when I was an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism? . . .
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August 26, 2025:
Hi folks, it's Jay here! I'm extremely honored to be traveling to Auburn University in a week as a visiting artist . . .
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August 27, 2025:
Marketing Manager Michelle Richardson (who recently chatted with us about different topics) was eager to share some of her favorite covers (like some other folks have recently):
Deadly Doodles (both editions): We say the game's goal is to defeat the dragon for points, which may make him sound a bit scary. But when looking at his picture on the cover – illustrated by Katie Cook – he instead seems silly and quite shocked that the monster is looking at him with a big smile . . . and an axe! . . .
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August 28, 2025:
After 30+ years as GURPS Line Editor, you know I'll pick a GURPS cover. We've seen one or two famously so-so ones, several merely serviceable ones, a vast number of good ones, and more than a few truly excellent ones . . .
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August 29, 2025:
This is a deep cut . . . those who joined the Conspiracy in the last couple of decades will not remember Illuminati Online, the ISP that grew out of the SJ Games BBS. It was born, it grew, it thrived for a while . . .
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August 30, 2025:
I am not generally a sports fan, but there are some things that are so visceral that they speak to your deep subconscious in an irresistible way. A race is probably one of the most basic sports-related things that we have, and I was surprised a few years ago when I saw content about inanimate objects racing and it hooked me . . .
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August 31, 2025:
A funny thing happened as we've been working on the next batch of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. I'm obfuscating this anecdote slightly to not give anything away, but the core is true . . .
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