As the launch of Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon approaches, I’ll be posting regular updates with a behind-the-scenes look at the design decisions going into the game:

• Epsilon Update 01: Epsilon overview

• Epsilon Update 02: Plant features

• Epsilon Update 03: Plant morphology

• Epsilon Update 04: Exclusion Zone map

• Epsilon Update 05: Character creation

• Epsilon Update 06: Playtesting

• Epsilon Update 07: SHX system

• Epsilon Update 08: Bloom

• Epsilon Update 09: Inventory

• Epsilon Update 10: Timeline

• Epsilon Update 11: Discovery

• Epsilon Update 12: Growth

Note that everything here is in development and subject to change. These updates are a snapshot of how things looked when they were written.

Follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page to be notified when it goes live!

Exclusion Zone Botanist Force, assemble!

In the last update, Update 12: Growth, I explained how Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon is my biggest project to date — roughly twice the size of anything else. It made me realize that Exeunt Press has grown. The size and scope of the upcoming games in the pipeline have grown. It’s a big milestone to begin working with others!

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be partnering with Lone Archivist for layout services on Epsilon. I’ve been admiring his portfolio of work for a long time, especially In Other Waters: Tidebreak. During our first call to chat about the possibility of working together, I instantly knew he and I had the same vision for the project. It’s going to be great!

Editing on Epsilon will be by Lydia Rogue. I’ve worked with Lydia twice, on We Are Mushrooms and The Walden Paradox, and I’m happy they are on board for this next, larger project. Lydia really understands solo journaling games as a player, ensuring the edits enhance that experience.

Finally, I have been talking to an artist about the project. All I can say is that I love their art so much and know they would be absolutely perfect for Epsilon. I’ll announce who it is once we have details and timing firmed up. Watch for more about this soon.

Launch timing update

Lydia and Lone Archivist are both scheduled to begin work in Q1 2027, with art to follow.

Once Epsilon is complete, I’ll share the crowdfunding launch date.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Follow Epsilon from development to launch and beyond. No matter what, you can expect an update here on the third Friday of each month!

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

While I realize that many Exeunt Omnes subscribers are also Skeleton Code Machine subscribers, I also realize it can be hard to keep up with everything. It’s easy to miss one of the posts, like the Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon development updates that only come out on the third Friday of each month.1

I’ve written some pieces recently that I’m particularly proud of and wanted to make sure you had a chance to read them. So this week, here’s a quick list of posts you may have missed that are well worth your time!

1. The (implied) author of this game hates you.

Exploring the concept of antagonistic game design and the (implied) author as player. Games that include frustration as a core element and why people play them.

I recently discovered Use & Regret, a fascinating little game by Stargazer Sasha. It’s a solo TTRPG about taking a test, but it uses antagonistic design principles in how it’s structured. This sent me down the rabbit hole of antagonistic design and types of fun that don’t neatly fit into LeBlanc’s 8 Kinds of Fun.

Read it: The (implied) author of this game hates you.

2. Can we use bingo cards in TTRPGs?

Exploring how bingo-style mechanisms can be adapted for use in TTRPGs.

I maintain a list of potential Skeleton Code Machine topics so it’s easier to know what to write about each week. I’ve had “bingo” on that list for probably a year. Recently I actually dug into the topic of bingo, the history of the game (BEANO!), and how we might use bingo mechanisms in TTRPGs. The response has been quite notable! So many people felt inspired and said they are now working on bingo-related things!

Read it: Can we use bingo cards in TTRPGs?

3. Games, lookups, and the science of interruptions

Proposing a definition for lookup events in tabletop games. Identifying lookups, qualitatively describing their factors, and using them to improve game designs.

I often get a game design idea stuck in my head that I just can’t get out. It would seem the only way to resolve it is to write about it.2 That’s what I did recently regarding my idea of “lookups” in tabletop games. A lookup is a required event in a tabletop game that causes a player (or players) to interrupt the main flow of the game to reference some information that is part of the game. Researching this, I ended up learning about the science behind interruptions and how we can use that information to make better games.

Read it: Games, lookups, and the science of interruptions

4. Tumulus 08 “Insert coin to continue.”

The latest issue of Tumulus is shipping now, packed with game design inspiration and hands-on exercises. Dead malls, abandoned arcades, rogue-likes, and the influence of video games on tabletop games.

Finally, while not a regular Skeleton Code Machine article, I really don’t want you to miss that Tumulus Issue 8 is shipping now with new 4-issue subscriptions.

I’m particularly excited about this issue and I’m really proud of how it turned out. It has contributions from Chris of Junk Food Games (Necromancer Heretic) and Greg Loring-Albright (Ahoy). There are playable games, a dead mall generator, cursed arcade games, hands-on exercises, and a mini-interview with Spencer Campbell (RUNE, NOVA) of GilaRPGs.3

Skeleton Code Machine currently has 238 posts in the archive. All for free. Nothing paywalled. A Tumulus subscription or a back issue is the best way to show your support!

Read: Tumulus 08 “Insert coin to continue.” announcement

- E.P. 💀

P.S. I’ll be at PeopleCon 3 in Takoma Park, MD, this Saturday (10/17). Please stop by and say hello! You can read more about it in my recent interview with organizer Gene Koo.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

Come to PeopleCon on Saturday

People’s Book in Takoma Park, MD (Washington, D.C. area) is hosting a free indie tabletop game market on Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 12 noon.

It’s called PeopleCon 3 and will include local game designers and an outdoor market. At 2:30 PM there will be a panel discussion with designer Talia Rosen and former federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou about how games and books depict the United States Supreme Court.

I’ll be there at the Exeunt Press table! To get ready for it, I talked to organizer and designer Gene Koo and put together a list of some of the vendors.

Meet Gene Koo

Gene Koo is the creator of The Bonsai Diary, a quiet, reflective game about growing a bonsai from a tiny seedling into a magnificent tree. The game won an ENNIE for Best Solo Game and was a finalist for the 2026 Origins Award.

I first met Gene at the Save Against Fear convention quite a few years ago.1 Since then, I’ve come to know his enthusiasm not just for tabletop games but also for building a vibrant and diverse community around them. It was his encouragement that got me to attend Unpub and playtest Ratsail there earlier this year.2

Gene is also the volunteer organizer of PeopleCon, a one-day indie game event hosted by People’s Book in Takoma Park, Maryland. I’ve had an Exeunt Press table at the event for the past two years, and I’ll be back again this year on October 17.

It seemed like the perfect opportunity to ask Gene about game design and building communities, and to give you a preview of who else will be part of this year’s indie game market!

Here are my questions and Gene’s responses:

Q1. This is PeopleCon’s third year of bringing together zines, journaling games, and board games. What inspired you to create this event, and how has your vision for it evolved?

I didn’t set out to start an event at all — all I wanted to do was to get some local designers’ games into the zine section of our local bookstore. That bookstore happens to host events regularly in their parking lot, and next thing you know they’d convinced me that we should do one focused on tabletop games. One thing led to another, and thanks to the star power of local designers like Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan, et al.) and this almost-local guy, John Mulligan, we’d attracted over 200 people on a gorgeous fall day to come explore their home-grown indie game scene.3

The event was and remains quintessentially local: it feels like a roll of the dice if the weather is good (it’s mostly outdoors) and whether people will come. But what has grown is our collective vision. From that initial event, we came together as a community to work together on projects such as a catalog of locally-designed games that we send to our local retailers, play and playtesting events, and even representing each other at game and game-adjacent fairs.

We became an artist collective.

Q2. You and I have both designed games that use drawing as a core mechanism — something not central to most traditional roleplaying games. How does drawing change the experience and what does it bring to the game that is special?

For me, one of the cool things about drawing is it takes me out of my linear, verbal brain and puts me in a more creative and fluid zone.

My hope with The Bonsai Diary had been that doing something creative, maybe even peaceful, would put players in a contemplative mood to take on the journaling part of the game. The game has no hard mechanics in terms of dice or even oracle cards: the premise is that your own drawing would set the mood for your journaling.

I put a lot of trust in players to see that connection for themselves.

Q3. PeopleCon is one of my favorite events of the year, partly because the vibes are just perfect. How would you explain the event and its mix of local community and independent creators to someone who has never been there before?

We’re a lot of fun, but we are also earnest in a geeky kind of way.

Yes, we’re all there selling our games, but no one is quitting their day job.4 So the event has that energy you feel when you’re with your people, where you let your guard down and gush about stuff only other tabletop sickos get. In other words, it’s a lot like most regional conventions!

Our special sauce comes from being just over the border from Washington, D.C.: Takoma Park is known as a net exporter of political activism (it’s not PeopleCon for nothing!). Few if any of the games we’ll have at PeopleCon are explicitly political, but many have a generous public spirit.

Who’s at this year’s indie market?

Thank you to Gene for the interview!

Here are some of the game designers, vendors, and interesting people who will be at the PeopleCon indie market tables this year:

🎪 StickerDoodle Games (Gene Koo)

I make games that spark imagination and empathy. I also organize PeopleCon.

• Why you should stop by: You love games that spark authentic creativity.

• Games to check out: The Bonsai Diary, Color Jam

• Website: stickydoodler.itch.io

🎪 Binary Star Games (Binary Star)

I design and sell TTRPGs.

• Why you should stop by: Stop by if you want tactical, dark, and/or weird games! I have long games, short games, campaign games, one-shot games, group and solo, more traditional and more out-there.

• Games to check out: Apocalypse Frame, NULL_SPACE, Trespasser

• Website: binarystar.games

🎪 Cloven Pine Games (Alexi)

I design and sell TTRPGs.

• Why you should stop by: I make low-prep/no-prep games that are easy to pick up and play, like The Great Soul Train Robbery (a Weird Western about Desperados robbing the train to Hell) and Back Again from the Broken Land (a Tolkien-esque game about small adventurers making the long walk home). Plus, there will be a prize wheel at my table!

• Games to check out: Back Again from the Broken Land, The Great Soul Train Robbery, Secret Science Sewer Siblings

• Website: cloven-pine-games.itch.io

🎪 Green Intern Games (Geoff)

I design and sell small RPGs great for a couple hours of hanging out.

• Why you should stop by: I love to talk to folks, and if you stop by my table you can draw a tiny wizard to take home or put on the Big Board.

• Games to check out: Tiny Mall Wizards, Hostile Architecture

• Website: greenintern.itch.io

🎪 Graftbound Press (Emily Entner)

I make tabletop role-playing games and stationery.

• Why you should stop by: I’m bringing new stationery and book-themed art alongside the solo and duet games, things we only have available in person not on our online store currently.

• Games to check out: Glatisant, Precious Things, and some tiny dragon enamel pins

• Website: Graftbound.com

🎪 Lawless Games (Kyle Pham)

I design and sell social deduction games and murder mysteries!

• Why you should stop by: My games are uniquely designed to spark unforgettable nights for large groups. Your friends will be screaming at each other in the best way possible! Deal or Death is a negotiation-focused social deduction game that breaks all of the right conventions, while Fungible Homicide combines thoughtful mechanics with a one-of-a-kind story. Both involve zany roles and chaotic fun. While hundreds of copies of Deal or Death have been sold, this will be the first time that Fungible Homicide will be sold in a physical format! Exclusive stickers will also be available.

• Games to check out: Deal or Death, Fungible Homicide: Murder Mystery of Multitudes

• Website: www.dealordeath.com

🎪 High Level Games (Josh Heath)

I design and sell TTRPGs.

• Why you should stop by: I’ve been a writer, podcaster, and industry professional for over a decade and I know all kinds of fun gossip. I also make some awesome games about identity due to my work designing games for intercultural dialogue!

• Games to check out: May I Enter: A Vampire Game, Calling Cards, Army Men: A Tactical TTRPG

• Website: www.highlevelgames.ca

🎪 Big Puffin Games (Deb Fuller)

I design and sell quirky, fun TTRPGs for all ages.

• Why you should stop by: Wanting to dip your toe into journaling games? Or just finished Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and want to continue the adventure? Look for the big puffin on the table and stop on by!

• Games to check out: The Dead Market, The Away Team, Goodnight Oppy

• Website: stori-lundi.itch.io

🎪 DieselShot (Lee)

I write & sell TTRPGs.

• Why you should stop by: To find a new way to play adventures beyond the stars!

• Games to check out: ChangedStars

• Website: dieselshot.bsky.social

🎪 Sly Robot Games (C.J. Linton)

Sly Robot Games sells narrative-forward TTRPGs and other craft art items including dice bags, notebooks, and zines.

• Why you should stop by: We love to chat games and you can go fishing (for crochet octopuses).

• Games to check out: Tomorrow on Revelation III, Plant Girl Game

• Website: www.slyrobotgames.com

🎪 Level Zero Gaming (Brandon Brown)

Games that aim to capture distinct essences.

• Why you should stop by: Check out Arcana: The Pursuit of Mastery, a spellcraft simulator designed to put you in the mindset of a scholar of the arcane arts. Study and experiment with a world steeped in power, and change it forever with the spells you craft.

• Games to check out: Arcana: The Pursuit of Mastery, Solitaire Scribe, Legends of the Dark World

• Website: level-zero-gaming.itch.io

🎪 Junk Food Games (Chris)

I design and sell TTRPGs.

• Why you should stop by: We make small, interesting games that are great for solo or GM-less play and short sessions!

• Games to check out: Necromancer Heretic, Moon Rings, Death Cap Sauté

• Website: junkfoodgames.itch.io

🎪 Exeunt Press (John)

Exeunt Press makes weird and wonderful games.

• Why you should stop by: I’ll have two new games for sale! We Are Mushrooms and The Walden Paradox in print, plus the classics like Exclusion Zone Botanist. Every purchase at the event will get a special something extra.5 Also, I love chatting with people who read Skeleton Code Machine! Tell me about an article you enjoyed or something you found inspiring.

• Games to check out: Caveat Emptor, Exclusion Zone Botanist, Eleventh Beast

• Website: shop.exeunt.press

As a side note, both Chris and Binary Star have been contributors to Tumulus. Bring your copy for them to sign! :)

- E.P. 💀

P.S. If you love tabletop games, you should check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with Skeleton Code Machine game design content.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

Behold, MÖRKTOBER is here!

MÖRKTOBER runs from October 1–31. Each day, make something dark and weird for MÖRK BORG inspired by the day’s prompt. If you want to share your work, post it on socials and tag it #MÖRKTOBER.

How to participate in MÖRKTOBER

The best place to start is the FAQ at www.morktober.com, but here are some of the most important parts:

• How to join: There is no registration or formal process for participating in MÖRKTOBER. Make things when you feel like it and don’t worry about missing days. Take breaks. It’s a creative exercise, so use it any way you want.

• What to do: Each day in October, use the daily prompt to make something for MÖRK BORG. It could be text, art, music, or something more complicated. Weapons, items, dungeons, monsters, or anything else are fair game. CY_BORG, Pirate Borg, and other Borgs are welcome!

• Where to share: There is no central repository for the things made during MÖRKTOBER, and that is by design. Sharing in the #mörktober channel on the MÖRK BORG Discord server is encouraged. Post on your favorite social media platform. On Bluesky, tag your work so it’s included in the MÖRKTOBER feed.

Remember, it’s chill, not a challenge. You don’t get a prize if you complete every day.

Get Tenebrous for more inspiration

Tenebrous (Print + PDF) is a 44-page guide full of random tables and inspiration to make dark and weird things for MÖRK BORG:

• Chapter 1: The Dark Fort

• Chapter 2: What should I make?

• Chapter 3: Create a monster

• Chapter 4: Choose a location

• Chapter 5: Rumors & lies

• Chapter 6: Bäncht’s Rat Box

• Appendix: Art resources, generators, inspiration

This guide includes random tables for project ideas, items, monsters, locations, rumors, and more. They can be used individually to create one-off things for use in MÖRK BORG or other dark fantasy games like Shadowdark RPG.

Make whatever you want. But remember… Make it dark. Make it weird.

Tenebrous is available as the Tenebrous Adventure Bundle (Print + PDF) at the Exeunt Press Shop. The bundle includes both Tenebrous and the Cemetery of the Silent Monks one-shot zonecore adventure.

Free sticker with EP shop purchase

To celebrate, each purchase made in October from the EP Shop will include a free MÖRKTOBER sticker while supplies last. Runs October 1–31, 2026.

There are two styles, so who knows which one you’ll get — a spooky surprise!

- E.P. 💀

MÖRKTOBER is an independent production by Exeunt Press and is not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License. MÖRK BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell. MÖRKTOBER is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

MÖRKTOBER begins tomorrow, October 1, 2026. That means 31 days of making things related to MÖRK BORG. Check the FAQ for details.

Although the event hasn’t technically started yet, I’m already thinking about what I want to do this year.1 In the past, I’ve made random items, city locations, and characters all for MÖRK BORG.

This year I’m switching things up and making something for CY_BORG. Specifically, I had an idea for an “app delivery platform” that could be incorporated into games. Sort of like Steam, but more insidious and cyberpunk.

The working title for it is Sweet.

Sweet: Delicious apps your can trust.

CY_BORG uses apps in a way that is analogous to scrolls in MÖRK BORG. They have powerful effects but are also inherently dangerous. The core rulebook (p. 70) describes apps as “custom-made cartridges and cassettes with the ability to hack tech and physically affect your surroundings when slotted into a cyberdeck.”

To use an app, you jack into your deck with your RCD and pop the app cart into your cyberdeck. Mechanically, you then Test Knowledge DR12 to see if it works or not. On a fumble (failure), a nasty little backlash fires.2 Each use of the same app makes the backlash more likely to happen.

My idea for Sweet is that instead of requiring physical media for each app, your character could load a single app instead. Get the free Sweet app and install it on your cyberdeck, and then use that app to purchase and download all the other apps you want — a unified software delivery platform and marketplace. It is, of course, owned and operated by Apiary Heavy Industries.

What happens when Sweet app won’t run on your busted old cyberdeck? In that case, you should purchase a Sweetdeck from Apiary, guaranteed to run Sweet app without a problem. Some terms and conditions apply, but that’s all fine-print lawyer stuff. You should just ignore it.

Making the prompts work for cyberpunk

The MÖRKTOBER prompts intentionally have very MÖRK BORG and dark fantasy vibes — with an appropriate amount of “spooky Halloween” sprinkled on top for the season.

It’s a little trickier to use the prompts when designing for sci-fi or cyberpunk settings. In fact, I jokingly refer to making CY_BORG stuff with them “hard mode” for MÖRKTOBER. That said, it absolutely can be done and might lead to some really fun ideas.

Take the first prompt for example: goat. While I suppose this could be an app for use on actual goats, I’d rather think about how to reinterpret it as something else. We could instead use it as GOAT — Greatest of All Time. Could this be an app that improves something or makes it better? What about software that optimizes other software? We might be on to something there!

An app a day keeps the…

So that’s my plan for this year: Make an app each day for use in CY_BORG, thematically tied to the Sweet platform.

If I were making things for MÖRK BORG, I would use Tenebrous to spark some ideas each day. It is packed with random tables that result in well over a thousand combinations.3 Alas, that isn’t going to work as well for CY_BORG.

As an internal support tool, I’ve made some lists that work with a tarot deck to generate ideas for each app. Using the suit and rank from two cards, it will give me a verb and a noun that can be combined much like the way Wizard Fuel Duel works. One card gives me a verb and the other card gives me a noun. Drawing cards might generate “activate software” or “melt battery.” Combined with the MÖRKTOBER prompt, I can then imagine what the app might be.

Using the Sweet app format keeps the scope creep under control. I only have room for about 65-150 words per app. Constraints are wonderful for creativity.

Chill, not a challenge

I always tell people that MÖRKTOBER is chill, not a challenge. I intentionally designed it so there’s no registration, no central repository, and no prize for finishing on time. I want everyone to embrace the chaos, have fun with it, and not let it be yet another source of stress in their lives.

This year, I need to also remind myself of that. I might finish all 31 prompts and end up with a complete Sweet, but I might just as likely quit somewhere before that. Maybe I’ll finish it months after October ends. Who knows!

I’ll make stuff while it’s fun and take breaks when I need them.

It’s the act of creating something that is important.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with cool stuff.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

Sweet is an independent production by Exeunt Press and is not affiliated with Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the CY_BORG Third Party License. CY_BORG is copyright 2022 Stockholm Kartell. Sweet is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press.

Get The Walden Paradox (Print + PDF) at the shop! Exeunt Omnes readers can use code PARADOX1846 for 5% off your order. Offer expires September 25, 2026.

You are Henry David Thoreau.

You came to the woods to live deliberately, in solitude — a mile from any neighbor. And yet there are more visitors each day. Each peculiar. Each obsessed with the details of your life.

Something is very wrong.

The Walden Paradox is a transcendental solo journaling game. Roll dice and draw cards for each new visitor. Watch for strange anomalies and time paradoxes. Record it all in your journal.

All you need to play is a notebook, pencil, two six-sided dice, a deck of cards, and about an hour in a quiet place.

Live Simply

A transcendental journaling game expanded

I’m not sure I recall how The Walden Paradox began. A friend and I somehow started throwing around game ideas that involved Henry David Thoreau. Not simply living in his cabin on Walden Pond, but being pursued by a time-travelling killer. The game was going to be a suspense-horror thriller.

After a few attempts, that idea never quite came together. Out of those notes, however, came a much more interesting game — one in which Thoreau is pursued not by a murderer, but instead by overly curious time tourists.

As I worked on the idea, I realized that this was potentially an even more unsettling concept. Thoreau has unknowingly become an attraction in a zoo, albeit one without cages. Visitors, perhaps admirers, pay to see him in his natural habitat.

That idea became The Walden Paradox and an entry in this year’s One-Page RPG Jam.

So much had to be cut, however, to fit into the tight space of an A4 trifold. Now, with more room, it’s the game I wanted it to become!

Expanded into a 36-page A5 zine, it now includes:

• A new Live Simply step with historically inspired activities

• Improved visitor system with names, locations, and topics of conversation

• So many more Peculiarities!

• More prompts to spark your imagination

• New (less severe) Time Anomalies in addition to Time Paradoxes

• Epilogue and concluding prompts

• Long and short game options

• Art throughout

There’s a lot that’s new, but the same core concept of the game remains.

Print + PDF included

When you order The Walden Paradox at the Exeunt Press Shop, you’ll get both the print version (staple-bound, A5, approx. 36 pages) and the digital PDF. Your order will include a printed slip when it ships containing a download key redeemable at itch.io.

If you’d prefer to get just the PDF by itself, that is also available.

Get The Walden Paradox

A more subtle kind of horror

Thoreau has unknowingly become an attraction in a zoo, albeit one without cages. Visitors, perhaps admirers, pay to see him in his natural habitat. They probe, ask personal questions, and sometimes know things they shouldn’t.

He is left wondering why they care so much about a solitary man.

My hope is that The Walden Paradox evokes the same feeling as watching an old episode of The Twilight Zone or reading a story in Weird Tales: the slow realization of a more subtle kind of horror.

Get it now at the Exeunt Press Shop. Use code PARADOX1846 for 5% off your order.

- E.P. 💀

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

As the launch of Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon approaches, I’ll be posting regular updates with a behind-the-scenes look at the design decisions going into the game:

• Epsilon Update 01: Epsilon overview

• Epsilon Update 02: Plant features

• Epsilon Update 03: Plant morphology

• Epsilon Update 04: Exclusion Zone map

• Epsilon Update 05: Character creation

• Epsilon Update 06: Playtesting

• Epsilon Update 07: SHX system

• Epsilon Update 08: Bloom

• Epsilon Update 09: Inventory

• Epsilon Update 10: Timeline

• Epsilon Update 11: Discovery

Note that everything here is in development and subject to change. These updates are a snapshot of how things looked when they were written.

Follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page to be notified when it goes live!

Bigger than just me

It is amazing to think that Exclusion Zone Botanist began as a one-page RPG — an A4 trifold, front and back. From there, I expanded it into the 28-page A5 zine that most people know it by today, with more plant features to discover.

I used Affinity Publisher to create Exclusion Zone Botanist, writing directly into layout, for both the original trifold and the later zine. It was just me working on it. No editor, no hired artist, or anyone else.

So when I began work on Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon, my plan was to do the same: handle all the design, writing, and layout myself. The big change would be to hire an artist specifically for the project.

As Epsilon has grown over the last year, I’ve come to the conclusion that I may not be able to do everything else by myself. It’s just too big of a project to handle alone.

Building an Epsilon team

I should clarify that a little bit.

It’s not that I can’t do all those things myself. It’s that there is a significant opportunity cost to doing it myself. The time and effort required to single-handedly finish and launch Epsilon will mean I don’t work on any other projects in 2027.

That would be great for Epsilon, but wouldn’t be the best thing for Exeunt Press.

So the update this month is that I plan to pull in some additional help to get Epsilon ready for launch. I definitely plan to hire an editor. I’m also seriously considering hiring someone to handle the layout — which would be a first for me.

In a way, this is a big and exciting milestone for Exeunt Press!

When I started making games, they were smaller projects that I could complete by myself. Recently, I’ve begun working with an editor on larger projects like We Are Mushrooms and The Walden Paradox.1

Epsilon is my biggest project to date — twice the size of anything else. It makes sense that the next step for Exeunt Press is to begin working with a broader team to get this new kind of project over the finish line.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Follow Epsilon from development to launch and beyond. No matter what, you can expect an update here on the third Friday of each month!

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

Harrisburg Board Game Day

Harrisburg Board Game Day was Saturday, August 29, 2026, at Strawberry Square in Harrisburg, PA. I was there selling weird and wonderful games at the Exeunt Press table all day, including the brand-new We Are Mushrooms.1

After each vendor event, I write up a short lessons learned list. It’s mostly for myself so I know what to keep or change for the next event, but many people have told me it’s helpful.

Lessons learned

Here’s the list in no particular order:

1. Make an essentials kit: I forgot to bring tape, hand sanitizer, and a few other critical items. Sure, I could make a checklist for these, but it might be easier just to make a little kit that stays with my event stuff. Can’t forget it if it’s already packed in with everything else.

2. It takes an hour to set up: As much as I try to convince myself that “it doesn’t take that long” to get the booth ready, it does indeed take a while. It’s at least an hour or more when doing it by myself.2

3. Selling Tumulus at events: While Tumulus has been a huge success, it continues to be my hardest “product” to explain in a short pitch. Games are easy: “You are a monster hunter in 1700s London.” Trying to explain that Tumulus is for designers and players, that it has articles, playable games, and design exercises, and that other designers contribute to it… that’s a lot harder. Do I work on a better pitch? Do I just not sell it in person? Not sure, but this is one I need to think about.

4. A lot to pitch: I’ve gained a lot of experience pitching my games. Each one is easy, but when I have more titles at each event, it becomes harder. Sometimes I can read the person and direct them to just the right ones, but going through them all takes time. What if I had twice the number of titles?

5. Slow warm-up for pitching: Every event, I feel like I’m relearning how to explain solo journaling games and how to pitch each game. It takes a few times before it all comes back to me and I’m rolling. It’s a breeze by the end of the day. Do I write out a script to read ahead of time as a refresher? Or just accept that it is what it is?

6. Lead with “I design…”: Possibly due to the number of titles, people were surprised to find out that I do all the design, layout, and art selection. They were much more likely to purchase, knowing I was the designer. I found that leading with “I design solo roleplaying games such as…” rather than “These are solo roleplaying games…” seemed to help. Subtle difference, but notable.

7. Maybe fewer titles: Related to the above, I’m considering bringing fewer titles to future events. I might skip Tumulus and Blackflower and simply focus on the core solo titles.3 That would, however, potentially mean I lose a few sales as I always sell some of those. It would make pitching and explaining games easier.

8. Repeat customers: My favorite part of the day was having people come to the booth who were already familiar with Exeunt Press games. They just wanted to know what was new and instantly bought those. “I already know I love your stuff!” is the absolute best thing to hear. If you were one of those people, thank you so much.

Sales were good, up 5.6% versus last year’s event which is exciting! Transactions were 82% credit card and 18% cash, which is in line with previous events.

Connecting with the local community

The other day, Spencer Campbell (GilaRPGs) mentioned how he felt after a local event: “I’m coming away with such a better energy after CIGS. There is something special about connecting with people in your local community.”

I agree with this 100%.

It’s why events like the recent Harrisburg Board Game Day are so much more than “being a vendor” to me. I meet new local game designers and players. We talk about all sorts of games. People who live in my area are excited to share their experiences with Exeunt Press games and their enjoyment of them.4

Thank you so much to everyone who came out for Harrisburg Board Game Day, and especially to those who stopped by the Exeunt Press table.

It was a great experience and will keep me energized for a long time.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. If you love tabletop games, you should check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with Skeleton Code Machine game design content.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

The MÖRKTOBER prompts are here!

As per tradition, I always share the prompts in September to give you some time to ponder them ahead of the actual event in October. They were available last week as a crossword puzzle you had to solve. Now they are available in the usual format!

I think there are some good ones in there this year, particularly “ship” and “crab.”1 The final one for Day 31 should come as no surprise to those who have participated in previous years.

This year’s prompt list is illustrated by Marie Enger, creator of Death to the Wizard Kings and Casket Land. I was thrilled to be able to work with Marie and absolutely love the art!

Read the MÖRKTOBER FAQ for all the details on how to participate!

Crossword puzzle solutions

Congratulations to everyone who solved the crossword puzzle! It proved to be far more popular than expected, and I was shocked at how many people gave it a try.

Solutions are in the image above. Spoilers if you haven’t already solved it. From what I can tell, 13 Across and 25 Down were the two most likely to trip people up.

Make weird things with Tenebrous

“A very well put together book to help any DM stuck in a creative rut.”

I made something new for MÖRKTOBER!

Tenebrous is a 44-page guide full of random tables and inspiration to make dark and weird things for MÖRK BORG:

• Chapter 1: The Dark Fort

• Chapter 2: What should I make?

• Chapter 3: Create a monster

• Chapter 4: Choose a location

• Chapter 5: Rumors & lies

• Chapter 6: Bäncht’s Rat Box

• Appendix: Art resources, generators, inspiration

This guide includes random tables for project ideas, items, monsters, locations, rumors, and more.2 They can be used individually to create one-off things for use in MÖRK BORG or other dark fantasy settings.

Make whatever you want. But remember… Make it dark. Make it weird.

Tenebrous is available as the Tenebrous Adventure Bundle (Print + PDF) at the Exeunt Press Shop. The bundle includes both Tenebrous and the Cemetery of the Silent Monks one-shot zonecore adventure.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. If you love tabletop games, you should check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with Skeleton Code Machine game design content.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

TENEBROUS and MÖRKTOBER are independent productions by Exeunt Press and are not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or Stockholm Kartell. They are published under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License. MÖRK BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell. TENEBROUS, MÖRKTOBER, and the MÖRKTOBER stylized logo are Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello at Harrisburg Board Game Day! I had a great time and met so many new people. I plan to write up my experience in a future post, including what I’d change about my table setup.

This week, I want to share two recent interviews I did. It’s not often I do things like this, so you’ll want to check them out.

The Game Thread podcast interview

Produced by Harrisburg University, The Game Thread is a game design podcast hosted by Greg Loring-Albright (Ahoy, Keep the Faith). In Episode 6, Greg interviewed me about teaching free game design classes at public libraries.1 We covered some of the challenges and how I make the class work for all experience levels.

Pit Trap Zine interview

Each quarter, Johan Nohr (MÖRK BORG) makes a little zine to include with orders from his Pit Trap Shop. In the most recent one, Pit Trap Zine #3, he interviewed me about MÖRKTOBER and Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon. The zine has a ton of other cool stuff in it and it’s free to download.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Get the 2026 MÖRKTOBER Prompt Puzzle and solve it to get early access to this year’s prompts.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

Prompts hidden in a puzzle

The MÖRKTOBER prompts are here, but you’ll need to work to reveal them. This year the prompts are hidden in the 2026 MÖRKTOBER Prompt Puzzle. Solve the puzzle and get early access to the prompts before the event begins in October.

A printable version is available on the MÖRKTOBER itch.io page linked above.

Solutions will be posted before October 1, 2026.

Download the puzzle!

What is MÖRKTOBER?

Each day in October, make something for the MÖRK BORG (or CY_BORG) roleplaying game inspired by the prompt list and share it. An item, scroll, weapon, class, dungeon room, or anything else. Use any format or medium you’d like — art, music, drawing, writing, or a mix of all of the above!

It’s chill, not a challenge. Have fun with it.

MÖRKTOBER runs from October 1 through October 31.

Some important information:

1. MÖRKTOBER starts on October 1 and continues through October 31 each year. The prompts are released ahead of time on September 1, but you should wait until MÖRKTOBER starts.

2. There is no registration for MÖRKTOBER. Make things when you feel like it, and don’t worry about missing some days. It’s a creative writing (or art) exercise, so use it the way you feel is best for you. It’s also OK to not post every day! Some people just post a few times a week if that works better for their work/life schedule. Take breaks when you need them!

3. Tag your stuff #MÖRKTOBER when sharing. You are encouraged to share your work in the #mörktober channel on the MÖRK BORG Discord server. Some people do post compilations, but it is not required and just personal preference. There is a custom #MÖRKTOBER Feed for Bluesky to find the work of others.

4. You should read the FAQ. It has answers to most questions you might have and is updated when new questions come up.

I hope to see your dark and weird creations in October!

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Tumulus Issue 8 is coming this month! Dead malls, abandoned arcades, and the influence of videos games on board games and TTRPGs. Subscribe to get it!

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

Harrisburg Board Game Day is this Saturday, August 29, 2026. The event runs from 10 AM to 8 PM at Strawberry Square in Harrisburg, PA.1

I’ll be there with an Exeunt Press table selling weird and wonderful games, including the brand new We Are Mushrooms.

Running a table by myself can sometimes be stressful, so I really appreciate the chill atmosphere of this event. It’s easy to actually have a conversation and chat for a while with everyone who stops by.2

There’s also a game library provided by The Bodhana Group, other local designers to check out, Break My Game playtesting, and a charity raffle, and chances to win board games. BrownCastle Games is also hosting a crokinole tournament!

You can find all the details at the Harrisburg Board Game Alliance website.

I hope to see you there!

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Heads up that I will probably only be at the event until about 5 PM or so. If you want to catch me, do it before then!

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

As the launch of Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon approaches, I’ll be posting regular updates with a behind-the-scenes look at the design decisions going into the game:

• Epsilon Update 01: Epsilon overview

• Epsilon Update 02: Plant features

• Epsilon Update 03: Plant morphology

• Epsilon Update 04: Exclusion Zone map

• Epsilon Update 05: Character creation

• Epsilon Update 06: Playtesting

• Epsilon Update 07: SHX system

• Epsilon Update 08: Bloom

• Epsilon Update 09: Inventory

• Epsilon Update 10: Timeline

Note that everything here is in development and subject to change. These updates are a snapshot of how things looked when they were written.

Follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page to be notified when it goes live!

Exploration and discovery

I consider exploration and discovery to be core elements of Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon. I want you to feel like you are walking into the unknown, unsure what you will find, and surprised by what is there.

One way to do this is to move to a larger, pointcrawl map as I described in Epsilon Update No. 4. Combined with primary, secondary, and tertiary objective locations defined on the map, this creates interesting routes and some tough choices.

When you move into a new node, however, you still need a way to find out what’s there. For that, I want a simple die roll system.

Here’s how it works:

1. When entering an unexplored node, roll 1d6 + Ring, where Ring is the current concentric ring that you are in on the map (ranging from 1-6). This yields a number between 2 and 12, depending on your current location on the map. Higher ring numbers (deeper into the EZ) will produce higher results on average.

2. Compare the result versus the discovery table:

   1. 2-5: Alpha Class encounter

   2. 6-9: Plant discovery1

   3. 10-12: Beta Class encounter

3. Make additional rolls as necessary to define the encounter or plant.

Let’s take a look at what each of these results mean.

Three different discovery results

The discovery roll results in one of three outcomes:

1. Alpha Class encounters are fairly routine and sometimes mundane. They include thick underbrush, annoying insects, strange smells, and unstable terrain. Some are hazardous (and trigger a challenge), a few are strange, but they are rarely unsettling or inexplicable.2 Many of them have associated journaling prompts.

2. Plant Discoveries are still the core of the game. These result in a new, undocumented plant being found. You’ll roll for plant morphology and features.

3. Beta Class encounters, on the other hand, are where things get really weird. Strangling roots, incoherent VRF event survivors, crash sites, and truly dangerous things are all in this class.3 Many of them are challenges.

This discovery system has elements of a depth crawl. Moving deeper into the EZ toward Ring 6 at the center shifts the results of each discovery roll. You can see this in the photo of my original, rough notes above.

In Ring 1, the possible results are 2-7. A result of 6 or 7 means a plant discovery. That’s 2 of the 6 possibilities or a 33.3% chance of discovering a plant. You are more likely (66.7%) to have an Alpha Class encounter. There is no risk (0%) of a Beta Class encounter in Ring 1.

You are most likely to discover new plants in Rings 3, 4, and 5 with an approximately 67% chance of finding one. The chance of finding new plants is actually a little bit lower in Ring 6 at 50%.

The more dangerous Beta Class encounters don’t show up until Ring 4 (17%) and increase to a high likelihood in Ring 6 (50%), at the remains of the VRF in the center of the EZ. In Ring 5 and Ring 6, there is no chance of a rather mundane Alpha encounter. It’s either plant discovery or a Beta encounter.

Objectives, risk, rings, and discovery

I like that this creates a natural progression of discoveries as you move deeper into the EZ. Things start pretty normal in Ring 1 and the chance of discovering a new plant is pretty low. Things get more weird and dangerous as you approach your primary objective location at the center in Ring 6.

If you were only tasked with discovering plants, you’d avoid Ring 5 and Ring 6, but the new primary, secondary, and tertiary objectives (each tied to locations on the map) force you into other rings. Suddenly routes matter, time in each ring matters, and taking the shortest route isn’t always the best plan.

That’s the feeling I want in Epsilon: a constant pressure to move, explore, watch the clock, and wonder if you have time to complete one more task before you must leave the EZ.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Follow Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon on Kickstarter. I post updates here on the third Friday of each month.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

I’ve mentioned many times that restrictions breed creativity when it comes to game design.

This was particularly true for me in this year’s Appendix N Jam hosted by Dank Dungeons. The jam requires that submissions be not more than four A5 pages or the equivalent — two A4 pages or eight A6 pages. Having never worked in an A6 format before, I thought it would be a fun challenge.

Combined with my randomly assigned title of Cemetery of the Silent Monks, I created a little, black and white, A6 adventure zine.1 It’s a zonecore one-shot for MÖRK BORG inspired by Roadside Picnic and Stalker:

“The sky over Graven-Tosk was torn asunder with blinding flame and choking, black smoke. At least that’s the way Aalgut the Gravedigger explains it. Says a Black Egg now sits just outside the main cemetery. Big as a house. Perfectly smooth. Doesn’t cast a shadow. He’s seen it himself, but refuses to go too close. He’s seen the Silent Monks that come and go from inside. He’s seen them take people inside the egg — and never come out.”

It’s got sphincters, mutating milk, and digestion machines. As one person described it: “This adventure has wonderfully grotesque imagery, but leaves out just enough detail for our imagination to fill in the blanks with something personally upsetting. Bravo!”

The constraints and that imagination came together in how I built the Black Egg artifact generator.

The Black Egg Artifact Generator

Powerful alien artifacts feature prominently in Roadside Picnic and are important to the genre. These discarded items are probably just junk to the aliens, but to humans they are inexplicable, magic-like objects.

I wanted to include them in the adventure, but with a tight space constraint, I couldn’t actually list them out in detail. While a list of D12 Black Egg Artifacts would be handy for a GM, there was simply no room.

Instead, I opted for a A+B+C combinatorial table plus a table of D6 powers that (when combined) could generate 1,296 different items.2 The specific details are left to be imagined, which can sometimes be even better.

The table has three Aspect columns (A, B, and C) of independent aspects that can be combined. The first column is an adjective, the second is a material, and the third is a physical form. They are then combined in order to create an artifact:

• 1+3+4 = humming stone needle

• 6+5+1 = spinning crystal sphere

• 5+1+5 = throbbing flesh blob

Then a power is added to the artifact with an additional d6 roll. The powers are more defined and may include mechanical effects. Examples: “Animals are terrified of it. Dogs whine. Livestock panic.” or “Will explode when struck. Test Toughness DR12 or stunned, +4DR for d4 rounds. Artifact destroyed.”

With just a few rolls, a GM can create any number of unique artifacts — some useful, some dangerous, some useless. They seem utterly mysterious to the players, and it is up to them to figure out what they do.

Less is more with zonecore

If I were unconstrained, I’d probably still be working on Cemetery of the Silent Monks. I’d be tempted to include a long list of interesting artifacts for players to find, listing out each one in great detail. Each would have a name, description, and specific mechanical effect. It would be a lot of work and fill up a bunch of pages.

And I’m not sure it would be better.

In fact, I’m quite certain it would be worse.

I think people are enjoying the artifact generator because it doesn’t indulge in excessive exposition. It doesn’t explain the artifacts in detail. By its very nature it creates a bit of mystery and unknowable information.

That captures the “unknown and unknowable” zonecore vibe far more than a detailed list of artifacts.

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Grab a free copy of Cemetery of the Silent Monks at itch.io and leave a review.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

“It was a stoop sale, which is a garage sale if you live in Brooklyn, which I do.”

— MC Frontalot

Scratched, scuffed, and playable!

Over the past few years, I’ve accumulated copies of Exeunt Press games that are lightly damaged. I can’t sell them at full price as pristine and perfect items, and yet they are too good to throw away. They are perfectly readable, usable, and playable!

The Exeunt Press Summer Stoop Sale to the rescue!

Give these books a good home. Show them that they deserve to be played just as much as other copies! And do it at a significant discount!

Shop the stoop sale!

Everything is 60% off regular prices!

Get Exclusion Zone Botanist, Blackflower, Eleventh Beast, ADVENTURE!, Caveat Emptor, Make Your Own One-Page RPG, and select issues of Tumulus for 60% off their regular prices.

What kind of damage? Examples include (but are not limited to):

• Scuffed, scratched, partially delaminated covers

• Bent, creased, or otherwise wonky (but readable) pages

• Dog-eared or bent page corners

• Dinged and damaged edges

• Minor print alignment errors

• Other cosmetic issues that do not impact playability

They aren’t perfect copies, but they are perfectly good games.

Every copy signed by me!

To make these copies a little more special, I will be signing every one that goes out. I might even include a little scribble skull drawing to go with it. Along with the scratches and scuffs, your book will be one of a kind!

Sale ends Sunday, August 16, 2026

This is a short sale and some of the titles only have one or two copies available. If you see something you want, grab it.

All Stoop Sale items are available via the Summer Stoop Sale product page. Select the item you want from the drop-down menu.

If you have any questions before ordering, let me know at games@exeunt.press.

Quantities are obviously limited. Once they are gone they are gone. All items are sold as-is, non-refundable, with no warranty expressed or implied. All sales are final, but gaming is forever.

- E.P. 💀

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2026 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

I sometimes get asked to check out people’s new one-page RPGs, particularly around this time of year during Unknown Dungeon’s One-Page RPG Jam.1 While I don’t have time for open submissions, I’m always happy to check out the games my friends are working on.2

It made me think about what universal feedback I might give for those making new games this year, particularly one-page RPGs released as PDF-only. While I talk at length in Make Your Own One-Page RPG about game design and publishing, there’s a short list of things I’d encourage all new creators to consider.

Here is that list!

I hope it helps you make your first (or next) one-page RPG.

1. Don’t rasterize your text.

This is probably the biggest piece of advice for those brand new to making games and entering game jams. While it can be tempting to work in your favorite app such as Canva or Photoshop, you should really try to create a game with selectable text.

Without getting all technical, text is usually vectorized. This means it is infinitely scalable (larger or smaller) because the letters are stored as points, lines, and curves all fitting on a grid. Depending on how you export from Canva or other applications, it might rasterize your text. Raster images are made up of individual pixels rather than curves. When you try to zoom in on them, they just get blurry.

How can you check? Open up your PDF and try to select just the text to copy and paste it elsewhere. If you can, you probably have vector text. If you can’t, it is almost certainly raster text. You can also check by opening the PDF properties and checking the list of embedded fonts. If there are no fonts listed, it might be rasterized.

Also, if you exported your game as a JPG or PNG, the text is rasterized. Please use PDF instead.

Being able to select and zoom in on text is important for people with screen readers or low vision, and for anyone who wants to read on displays of different sizes.

Can I select and zoom the text? That’s the first thing I check.

2. Tell me the hook up front.

I have a short attention span when it comes to new games, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. It’s a roleplaying game, so tell me what role I will be playing in this game!

Am I a wizard? If so, what am I trying to do? Is it a cooperative game or competitive? How long does it take? What do I need to play? What kind of fun should I expect?

The final exercise of my public library game design classes is usually a Mad Libs style game pitch. I make worksheets that allow participants to fill in blocks about their games: game name, hook, min/max players, and so on. In just three sentences, they can quickly communicate what their game is about. Almost always I’m immediately interested upon hearing the resulting pitch and want to learn more.

It doesn’t need to be a full marketing pitch, but even a one-page game should tell me why I might want to play it.

That’s the second thing I look for when checking out a new game: What’s the hook?

3. Have a clear core game loop.

No one will play your game if they can’t figure out how to play it.

Almost every game has a core game loop, even if it is not immediately obvious. Take the time to map out the loop of your game. Use a flowchart if you can — not necessarily to include in the game, but for your own edification. If you find you can’t easily build a diagram of your core game loop, you probably have a game that is too complex (or outright broken).

After you understand your game’s loop, make it clear in the game. I like to use numbered lists of steps when making one-page RPGs because space is tight. When more room is available, I include the flowchart.

Once I’ve read the hook, I want to know how to play! Show me the loop.

4. Make it printer friendly.

I love white text on a black background as much as anyone, but please remember that many potential players will want to print your game to play it. Having one or two A4 pages of black ink may discourage people from giving it a try.

Does this mean you need to use boring black text on white and ditch your vintage parchment background? Not necessarily. You can always include a printer-friendly version with the background image layers turned off.

I’m not hard-set on every game being printer friendly, but it is something to consider.

As an ancillary “Rule 4.5,” I would add that you should use high contrast text in your one-page RPGs. The tight space is already going to make you use a smaller font, so you don’t need to make things worse with heavy grunge effects and low contrast. Again, you don’t necessarily have to do this, but at least consider an alternate “high contrast” version.3

I usually print games to play them. Have mercy on my printer.

5. Include credits and contact info.

I’m always surprised at how many games don’t include credits or a copyright notice somewhere. Let me know who made the game. Tell me where I can find more of your stuff via an itch.io page or social media. This also helps me know how to credit creators when discussing games at Skeleton Code Machine.

Along with creator credits, remember to credit art and font sources as necessary. If you are using public domain art, the artists are dead and won’t demand credit… but it’s still nice to do. Some fonts, maps, SRDs, and freely available art pieces require credit to be given in the game itself. Consider using Hinokodo’s Human Made logo.

Check your licenses and give credit where credit is due.

- E.P. 💀

What do you think? What’s on your “pre-flight checklist” when doing a quick check on a game before publishing it? Let me know in the comments.

P.S. New game! Get We are Mushrooms (Print + PDF) in the shop. Be the mushroom you’ve always wanted to be. Skeleton Code Machine readers can use code IMAFUNGI for 10% off your order. Offer expires August 7, 2026. 🍄

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

I fill your pants with bees!

You and your opponent are rival wizards. Battle for supremacy by using your wizard fuel to cast spells and drain the fuel of your rival. Less fuel means fewer options for spells, so you’ll need to be creative.

Wizard Fuel Duel is a two-player, head-to-head game about casting absurd spells to drain the fuel of your opponent. It plays in about 10-20 minutes and only requires three six-sided dice (3d6) and a deck of cards.

Each round you roll three dice and assign one to Action, one to Essence, and one to Target. When combined, they create the spell that you’ll be using against your rival: Drain Energy, Infuse Object, Ignite Animal, and so on. Then you’ll describe how the spell actually works against the other wizard. Remove heat and freeze their head in a block of ice. Infuse and fill their pants with poison or bees (or both).

It’s a quick, silly game that fits on a single A4-sized page front and back. Free community copies are available! Scroll down on the game page to claim one.

Line art is by Evlyn Moreau. Color is by me.

Claim a free copy!

Join the One-page RPG Jam

Wizard Fuel Duel was created for the One-Page RPG Jam 2026 hosted by Unknown Dungeon. This is my second submission this year! Check out The Walden Paradox to see my first one.

The jam encourages participants to get creative by imposing a tight constraint: the game must fit on a single sheet of paper. I’ve found the concept so intriguing that I’ve published a guide on how to Make Your Own One-Page RPG.

This year’s jam runs from July 12, 2026 to August 16, 2026, so there’s still time to join!

- E.P. 💀

P.S. If you love tabletop games, you should check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with Skeleton Code Machine game design content.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

You are Henry David Thoreau.

You came to the woods because you wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if you could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when you came to die, discover that you had not lived.

The Walden Paradox is a solo journaling game about Thoreau’s final months at Walden Pond from May 1846 to September 1847.

Each month, a new visitor will call upon you. Converse with them. Keep a keen eye for both peculiarities and signs of time paradoxes. Record everything in your journal. The game ends either at the 6th time paradox or when your time at Walden ends in September — whichever comes first.

Then, you will write a final letter to your friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This is a journaling game for 1 player that plays in about 1-2 hours. All you need to play are a pencil, paper, deck of cards, and two six-sided dice.

Free community copies are available!1

Get The Walden Paradox

Join the One-Page RPG Jam

The Walden Paradox was created for the One-Page RPG Jam 2026 hosted by Unknown Dungeon.

It’s an annual jam that encourages participants to get creative by imposing a tight constraint: the game must fit on a single sheet of paper. I’ve found the concept so intriguing that I’ve published a guide on how to Make Your Own One-Page RPG.2

Exclusion Zone Botanist, Eleventh Beast, and Caveat Emptor all began as jam submissions. Last year’s submission was Ghost Beacon.

This year’s jam runs from July 12, 2026 to August 16, 2026, so there’s still time to join!

- E.P. 💀

P.S. I also published Cemetery of the Silent Monks this week for the Appendix N Jam — a zonecore one-shot for MÖRK BORG, inspired by Roadside Picnic and Stalker. Investigate the Black Egg that landed in Graven-Tosk! 👽🛸🪦

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

Cemetery of the Silent Monks

The sky over Graven-Tosk was torn asunder with blinding flame and choking, black smoke. At least that’s the way Aalgut the Gravedigger explains it. Says a Black Egg now sits just outside the main cemetery. Big as a house. Perfectly smooth. Doesn’t cast a shadow. He’s seen it himself, but refuses to go too close. He’s seen the Silent Monks that come and go from inside. He’s seen them take people inside the egg — and never come out.

A new zonecore one-shot for MÖRK BORG inspired by Roadside Picnic and Stalker from Exeunt Press.

Cemetery of the Silent Monks is an 8-page, A6 zine including:

• D6 Rumors & Lies

• D6 Encounters in Graven-Tosk

• Black Egg Artifact Generator1

• Silent Monk Transformation Stages

• The Black Egg Map (7 areas)

A6 is approximately 4.1 × 5.8 inches (105 x 148.5 mm). I’ve ordered a small print run which will be available in the Exeunt Press Shop in September.

Free community copies are available!2

Get Silent Monks

Join the Appendix N Jam

This adventure was created for the Appendix N Jam 2026 hosted by Dank Dungeons.

It’s an annual game jam that “pays homage to this retro pulp fantasy.” Participants are assigned a randomly generated Appendix N book title. They then create a TTRPG module (adventure) based on the given title. Submissions are limited to four A5 pages (or eight A6 pages).

Last year I made The Trench Grub’s Thirst for the jam. It’s a CY_BORG heist, inspired by The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton and the “The Last Question” short story by Isaac Asimov.3

This year’s jam runs from July 1st 2026 to August 1st 2026, so there’s still time to join!

- E.P. 💀

CEMETERY OF THE SILENT MONKS is an independent production by EXEUNT PRESS and is not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License. MÖRK BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell. CEMETERY OF THE SILENT MONKS is Copyright 2026 EXEUNT PRESS.

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press

As the launch of Exclusion Zone Botanist: Epsilon approaches, I’ll be posting regular updates with a behind-the-scenes look at the design decisions going into the game:

• Epsilon Update 01: Epsilon overview

• Epsilon Update 02: Plant features

• Epsilon Update 03: Plant morphology

• Epsilon Update 04: Exclusion Zone map

• Epsilon Update 05: Character creation

• Epsilon Update 06: Playtesting

• Epsilon Update 07: SHX system

• Epsilon Update 08: Bloom

• Epsilon Update 09: Inventory

Note that everything here is in development and subject to change. These updates are a snapshot of how things looked when they were written.

Follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page to be notified when it goes live!

Status and timeline update

Work continues on Epsilon, but at a slower pace as of late. My efforts have been focused on getting We are Mushrooms published and on two other projects to be released in September. While this update may be shorter than the previous ones, I’m happy to report that Epsilon is in a good place:

• Introduction and front matter are complete

• Character creation is done

• The improved inventory system is done

• The map structure is complete

• Encounters and challenges (SHX) are done

• Plant discovery, features, and morphology is done

• The new Bloom (corruption) system is done

It feels great seeing the whole game come together.

The challenge is that I still need to commission art and work with an editor for revisions. After that, I need to finish layout for what is easily the largest project I’ve ever done. With 167 days left in 2026, while not impossible, it feels increasingly unlikely that all of those remaining tasks will be done before the end of the year.

I know how much you are looking forward to this game, and I truly appreciate your patience. As I mentioned in the very first update, the Kickstarter will go live when it is ready. In the meantime, you can follow along with updates.

No matter what, you can expect an update here on the third Friday of each month!

- E.P. 💀

P.S. Check out this amazing Exclusion Zone Botanist scrapbook created by Vansheea and shared on the r/solorpgplay subreddit. It’s really impressive!

Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.

Written, augmented, purged, and published by Exeunt Press. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without permission. Exeunt Omnes is Copyright 2025 Exeunt Press. For comments, questions, reports from the EZ, or pro tips: games@exeunt.press