Amabel Holland
@amabel
She/her. "Widely considered one of today’s most innovative game designers." - The New Yorker Board games: video essays: Patreon: sidekicking:
a calculator that the author suggests might primarily be interesting as a piece of sculpture
a desk lamp with a hollow plastic spinal column to prevent the "memory problem" of metal armatures
An ergonomic betamax camera made to rest on the photographer's shoulders in various orientations
Modular chairs for outdoor seating at Harkness Plaza in NYC, linked as a chain, so they can be rearranged but not stolen
The late game designer I am researching for my next video mentioned working with Doug Cleminshaw, who had a long career in plastics and passed away last year. I got his book DESIGN IN PLASTICS on the off-chance he mentions her at all. Nope! Sometimes there's dead ends. Pretty pictures though. 🧵
more cards from "Poor Lizzie Eustace!", my game based on The Eustace Diamonds
We are about to fill out the penultimate score sheet for GWT:NZ. That's a lot of plays!
now that I'm done with my big ambitious experimental swing-for-the-fences game, it's time to make a little bauble
brought to you by the time a small video game studio emailed us about licensing our board games so I immediately googled "theo" and "alpenwolf" and it turned out it was vox fucking day 🤢 it took me ten seconds
yesterday I was rereading that GQ profile of Darnielle from last year and was once again really struck by this passage, which resonates
📌 I'm Amabel! - designed City of Six Moons & ~90 other board games - wrote Cardboard Ghosts, about using board games to make political arguments - research focused on crediting designers of the 20th Century - make videos re: history & future of games - I also talk about sex, kink, trauma, politics
this pilot is best known as starting the fine tradition of Wolverine being played by an Australian
not to besmirch composer Robert J. Walsh but I wouldn't be surprised if his X-Men theme was written while waiting in line to order lunch "Magneto's hordes are on their way to pillage, burn and plunder/ but there's one team that will not yield, the team that strikes like thunder" is splendidly dumb
I've been waiting for this - gleefully and joyfully why I've been hit with "this is not a game" before, I think this is the first time someone's actually posted a "why is this here" thread about one of my games in the database ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
look if I got through VtM:Bloodlines I could certainly get through lost expedition
It's the oldest dress I have that I still own. I certainly fill it out better than I used to - here I am four years ago!
Revisiting it now as an adult, Dragonslayer (1981) isn't very good but it does have this scene where Valerian, after pretending to be a boy her entire life, reveals to her village that she's a girl. 🧵
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CITY OF SIX MOONS! Our weirdest game to date and runaway surprise bestseller turns two tomorrow, and to celebrate, we're having a little flash sale.
The envelopes for my legacy style game Kaiju Table Battles were all stuffed by hand. And this morning, again for Swords Against, I'm also attaching an address label and stamping a warning on sealed, I sent letters my partner Samhain folded & packed for me yesterday.
A friend was kind enough to spend a few hours scoring code wheels for Swords Against with a craft knife yesterday; this morning I'm assembling them. She asked me, "Do you usually do this much physical labor for your games?" 🧵
95% of the reason why I'm still playing Squeakross Home Squeak Home is because every couple dozen puzzles it sends me an email with pictures of rodents, 10/10, GOTY for 2025 and I guess for 2026 as well