Exeunt Press year-end review 2024
Looking back at the awards, nominations, notable releases, conventions, events, newsletters, social media, and public library support in 2024
Welcome to Exeunt Omnes, the official newsletter for loyal fans and sworn enemies of Exeunt Press, creator of games such as Exclusion Zone Botanist and Eleventh Beast. You can find digital games at games.exeunt.press and physical products at shop.exeunt.press.
There are just a few days left in 2024, so it’s a good time for a year-end review. Similar to last year, here are the highlights from the last 12 months…
🏆 Awards and nominations
It was a big year for Skeleton Code Machine. Starting the year with 1,501 subscribers, the weekly newsletter about tabletop game mechanisms now has about 3,900 subscribers/followers. It was also recognized by two awards:
ENNIE Award nomination: Exclusion Zone Botanist was nominated for an ENNIE Award in 2023, and this year Exeunt Press picked up another ENNIE Award nomination for “Best Online Content” with Skeleton Code Machine.
CRIT Award winner: Exeunt Press also won a CRIT Award for “Best Blog or Article Written in the TTRPG Space” for the player agency series at Skeleton Code Machine.
Thank you very much to everyone who participated in the nomination and voting process. I really appreciate the support!
🚀 Notable releases
Progress can feel slow until you stop and look back at everything you’ve accomplished over a year’s time. That’s why I find it helpful to look back at everything Exeunt Press has released over the last year.
In total, Exeunt Press released eleven projects, two of which were full solo games:
Caveat Emptor: You are an Assistant Demon selling secretly cursed items to humans in Wittenberg, Germany. Inspired by Needful Things by Stephen King and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. (trailer | print | pdf)
Tollund: The gods demand a sacrifice to save your starving village, and you have been chosen. Inspired by the Tollund Man of Denmark, a journaling game about impossible choices in Iron Age Northern Europe. (trailer| print | pdf)
Make Your Own One-Page Roleplaying Game: This Skeleton Code Machine guide takes you through every step of the process from initial concept to publication, offering practical advice and examples you can use. (print | pdf)
BLACKFLOWER: A CY_BORG heist to steal a defective exosuit with a rogue AI that puts your crew in the middle of a revenge plot. There’s a new security corp, new gang led by Xu, new shops, and a two-level apartment map. (print | pdf)
Universal Formulary Art Assets: Figures from A Universal Formulary: Containing the Methods of Preparing and Administering Officinal and Other Medicines, published in 1859. Cleaned up and free to use in your games. (download)
Three Knife Ash: Three dice games for players of Pirate Borg and MÖRK BORG, including Three Knife Ash, Purser’s Squares, and Ship, Captain, and Crew. All games are free and only require d6 dice. (trailer | pdf)
Music in its Roar: You just haven’t been yourself since the fishing trip. Now, the faint but endless chant of the ocean calls you back. Originally published in Dead Horse magazine; now available as a stand-alone micro-game. (pdf)
Plato’s Mech: A featherless biped chicken mech paper doll. (pdf)
Bird Detectives: I was honored to work with Carnegie Mellon University and contribute a game to Roll for Learning: 51 Micro Tabletop Role-Playing Games to Use in the Classroom, published by Play Story Press. Bird Detectives is an educational micro-RPG designed to teach early literacy and phonemic awareness to students by collecting clues and solving cases. (print and pdf)
TUMULUS: A quarterly compendium of analog gaming inspiration, tools, design theory, and playable content from the award-winning Skeleton Code Machine. Each printed issue explores a different theme, with articles, games, random tables, and art interpreting that theme in unique ways. (subscribe)
While I’m extremely pleased with these projects, there are always a few games that I wish I could have completed. The two most notable ones this year were Ratsail and Medusa. Watch for those in 2025.
🎪 Conventions and events
Exeunt Press was able to be a vendor at three events this year, all of which were really successful — not just due to sales, but also for the connections made with others. I love talking to other game designers and the people who play the games I’ve created. Having someone take a moment to say they look forward to Skeleton Code Machine each week is extremely motivating!
MEPACON (Bethlehem, PA): My first time at MEPACON, a small convention with less than 400 people, but one with a dedicated following. A conversation from this con showed up in my article about fragile game design. See the lessons learned for full details.
Indie & Local Tabletop Games Fair (Takoma Park, MD): The Indie Games Fair hosted by People’s Book was my first outdoor event. Luckily we had blue skies and beautiful (albeit hot) weather, and 200+ people attending. Special thanks to Gene for organizing it and inviting me. See the lessons learned for details.
Save Against Fear (York, PA): This was my second time at Save Against Fear (SAF) hosted by The Bodhana Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to the use of tabletop gaming in therapeutic and clinical practices. I posted my lessons learned, and hope to be able to do more with The Bodhana Group in 2025.
Central PA Open Source Conference (Lancaster, PA): I presented a talk titled “Accelerating Tabletop Game Design with Python” at CPOSC. Using examples from my own experiences, I covered how some simple code can help speed up the early stages of game development and make in-person playtesting more effective.
In addition to the events where Exeunt Press had a booth, Plus One Exp sold Exeunt Press games at both Gen Con and PAX Unplugged this year.
📰 Newsletters and social media
Counting all subscribers and followers across both Exeunt Omnes and Skeleton Code Machine, the total has reached 6,264 as of today.1 Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read both newsletters! I really do enjoy writing them, and I hope that is evident when you read them.
The social media world continues to change, with this year seeing a shift from Twitter to Bluesky. Just this week, the Exeunt Press account surpassed 2,000 followers — a nice little milestone. If you haven’t already, please follow @exeunt.press on Bluesky.
Exeunt Press has just one employee (two if you count Murphdog), so it’s hard to maintain a presence on all platforms, but I am hoping to do more with the Exeunt Press YouTube channel (@exeuntpress) in 2025.2
📖 Public library support
I joined the American Library Association (ALA) as a supporter last year, including the Games & Gaming Round Table (GameRT). This year I was able to show that support in a number of ways:
Introduction to Tabletop Gaming: The free class I ran in February won the PALA’s PA Forward “Best Adult Program in Basic Literacy from the Pennsylvania Library Association.” I had so much fun running this one!
Amelia’s Auction Indie RPG Bundle: Exeunt Press contributed a Solo Indie RPG Bundle to help raise funds for the library. The auction raised $19,667 for this historic small-town library!
Donated copies: I was able to donate print copies of Make Your Own One-Page Roleplaying Game for use in programs at Mid-Columbia Libraries (Kennewick, WA), Mt. Lebanon Library (Pittsburgh, PA), and the 95th Street Library (Naperville, IL).3
How indie designers can support public libraries: If you are an indie game designer, there are a lot of impactful ways you can help your local public library beyond direct monetary donations. I shared how you can help your library.
Next year, I will be running a free “Make Your Own One-Page RPG” class at Bosler Memorial Library, but I also want to do more. If you’ve found ways to engage with your public library using board games and/or TTRPGs, please share your ideas in the comments. No idea is too weird.
Part of the proceeds from TUMULUS from Skeleton Code Machine support Exeunt Press outreach and public library programs.
⏭️ What’s next?
This year was a good one for Exeunt Press, and I’m excited to see what the next year brings. Watch for the next Exeunt Omnes newsletter to learn more!
Thanks for subscribing to Exeunt Omnes!
Check out games.exeunt.press for all the latest games and resources!
- E.P. 💀
There is overlap between the two newsletters. About 36% of Skeleton Code Machine subscribers also subscribe to Exeunt Omnes, while 68% of Exeunt Omnes subscribers also subscribe to Skeleton Code Machine.
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I don’t have a process to request donations at this time, but it is something I’d like to figure out. I’m not currently accepting requests. Keep an eye on Exeunt Omnes for updates.
Great year! Looking forward to what you'll bring in 2025.
Wow, what a year! Congratulations. :)