Jonathan H. Liu

@jonathanhliu

Stay-at-home dad, reader, board gamer, GeekDad Senior Editor, Etch-a-Sketch artist. (he/him) Portland, Oregon

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Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· 9d

On Saturday I hosted a game day at Lloyd Center Mall, which is shutting down for good next weekend. The food court is largely abandoned but still has a lot of tables, so I thought it would be fun to hang out and play some games and soak up the mall vibes.

Two game bags on tables in an empty mall food court.

Two kids playing Flamecraft Duals in the food court, overlooking two more floors of the mall including an ice rink on the first floor.

Various groups of people playing games at tables in the food court.

A couple playing FlipToons at a food court table, the mom holding a baby (who's holding a card). In the background, another group of four plays a game at another set of tables.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· 12d

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· 21d

So @marcelineleiman.bsky.social challenged me to draw Wildberries--voila! Coming from @allplay.bsky.social. (Original cover art by @dom2d.bsky.social)

Pocket Etch-a-Sketch drawing of Wildberries game cover: the text "Wildberries" with several little berries making faces

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· 22d

I'm not in San Diego for Comic-Con, but I am in San Diego and we were near the convention center yesterday--it was interesting to see some of the transformations going on over here.

Me and my family across the train tracks from the San Diego convention center

Workers mount a giant foam core lantern piece on top of a pillar, overlaying a Historic San Diego sign

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· 23d

It's Jimothy!

Etch-a-Sketch drawing of Jimothy, a raccoon with a very short tail, round body, and no neck

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jul 13

I drew somebody's dragon character for ArtFight and I think I did a pretty good job so now you have to see it.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jul 12

Happy Etch-a-Sketch Day!

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jul 4

Broke out Vast: The Mysterious Manor last night. Almost managed to win with the Warlock, but then the Spider slipped past the Paladin and escaped.

Vast: The Mysterious Manor board game: various plastic figurines (and spider webs) on tiles on a square grid.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jul 2

Here's something silly: years ago I got a watermelon, and my kids thought it looked like Larry the Cucumber, so my daughter made this face and taped it on. And then we've kept the face ever since and it goes on watermelons whenever I buy a seeded one (since the seedless ones are round)

Watermelon with paper eyes and mouth taped to it so it looks like Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jul 2

My daughter told me about #artfight so I guess I'm on Team Comedy and this is my original character.

Pencil drawing of a smiley face with stick arms and legs (no body), with a speech bubble that says "fight me."

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jun 30

Got to introduce my son's friend to Vast last night. I don't play it much these days but it's still a blast whenever I do.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jun 19

Chandelier!

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jun 18

I'm in Montana! Currently just walking around on some trails while my wife is attending a doctor conference.

Panorama of Montana landscape with rolling hills and mountains in the distance

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Jun 8

This weekend I had an all-day game day to celebrate turning 50 and it was a blast. We got this group photo mid-morning, but all told I think about 80 people turned up over the day. Already thinking about how to do it better next time I turn 50.

About 25 people making silly poses for a group photo

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 27

Oooh, you mean this one? :D

Cover of Diced Veggies board game from KTBG, showing a cleaver chopping through a carrot—the cross sections have holes that look like dice pips

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 26

But what if, instead, we just didn't?

Pocket Etch-a-Sketch drawing of a man in contemplation, one hand under his chin.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 25

Keep Dry. Don't Crash. Want-Want.

Photo of a pink cardboard case of drinks, with a cartoon kid above the text "Want-Want." In large letters on the top of the box it says "KEEP DRY" and "DON'T CRASH."
On the side of the box is a label: "Hot Kid Milk Flavored Drink"

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 21

Must be from Team Up!

Photo of Team Up! game, with a small wooden pallet and various differently shaped wooden blocks stacked on it and set next to it, along with a tuckbox and a few cards.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 18

Surely somebody's made this joke already, right? But I couldn't find it anywhere so, uh, here it is.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 12

Here's the only part of that whole thing worth reading:

Close-up of the wall-of-text image from the quoted post, zoomed in on the ending with "See less" circled in red

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 12

I voted!

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· May 6

There's this big concrete planter in my neighborhood that's meant to slow down traffic on the side street (where there's also an elementary school). It has rainbow stripes and a big sign sticking out of the top, but that doesn't prevent people from driving into it constantly. Now there are cones. 🤣

A rainbow-striped round planter with multiple "15MPH" signs sits in the center of a street, surrounded by several orange traffic cones.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Apr 22

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Apr 5

"And when everyone sounds like AI... no one will."

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Mar 30

Meanwhile, moss grows EVERYWHERE else. All over the tree trunk and branches. On our stone wall. On the metal stop sign. Today I spotted this little moss lump just on the sidewalk next to the recycling bin, just living its best life.

Thick moss growing on the top of a stone wall (and all over the dirt behind it)

A tree trunk and branches covered in moss

A small patch of moss about 2 inches in diameter with little stems sprouting from it, sitting in a damp spot on an otherwise dry sidewalk.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Mar 30

When we moved into our house nearly 15 years ago I tried planting some moss and some ground cover plants in the strip between the sidewalk and the curb. It was just dirt, and in the rainy season it's a muddy mess.

Photo of a dirt strip between sidewalk and curb, with tiny bits of moss in some spots.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Mar 30

Got a chance to try out a prototype of Walkable City from @drawnonward.bsky.social. The prototype and draft rules I had weren't finished yet so there were questions here and there, but I really loved working with other players to build out transit options for the residents. 🧵

Photo of Walkable City prototype, showing a grid-based map with various colored zones and icons like houses and archery targets and washing machines; colored plastic pieces mark out routes across the city, and small wooden cylinders stand on some of the locations.

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Mar 23

Had a really great time at GameStorm this weekend teaching so many games! And now to deal with the aftermath...

A poster board that says "What did you play?" with a large grid of roughly 80 game titles, each with some number of tally marks following it

Several game bags and a large IKEA bag next to an empty wire shelf

Screenshot showing Gmail and Mail icons with 74 and 73 unread messages

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Mar 19

Gaming with GeekDad is set up and ready for GameStorm!

Alex and Jonathan standing in a hotel ballroom with a lot of empty tables and a shelf of games in the background

A "What did you play?" Sign with all of the games listed so people can put tally marks next to games they've played

A shelf of games next to a small table for game returns and a little cart with pens, purell, masks, and other extras

A table tent with a "welcome to gaming with GeekDad" sign, and two "Gaming with GeekDad" menus

Jonathan H. Liu@jonathanhliu· Mar 17

Got our Gaming with GeekDad library ready for GameStorm this weekend. Here's what we're bringing—swing by and we'll teach you a game!