ars ludi

The Kingdom kickstarter is live. It has broken its chains and is prowling the city streets, possibly looking for a skyscraper to climb, to better swat passing biplanes. This thing is out of control. But if I don’t have Power, I am totally okay with having Touchstone or Perspective.

Wait, it’s September now? I better get busy. My plan is to launch the Kickstarter for the new edition of Kingdom on September 22. Of course it is 2020, which means anything that can go wrong will, but that’s my plan so set your alarms. I’m also gathering testimonials and quotes from people who have […]

After six months of great games, it’s time to wrap up the Kingdom playtest! I’ve gotten a lot of excellent feedback already, but if you’ve got more, now’s the time to let me know! Playtesters, try to send me what you’ve got by September 15. And don’t forget to include the names of everyone you […]

I sent out the June update of the Kingdom playtest a few weeks ago. The vast majority is the same as the previous version, except for the Touchstone changes I already talked about and some clarified language. But tucked in the back is a brand new thing that I’ve been keeping under wraps: Kingdom Legacy. […]

I am very happy with how the Kingdom second edition playtest is going. Kingdom has always been a fantastic game and the new version does a much better job of capturing that magic. But dear reader, let me tell you a secret: the Touchstone rules have been my cross to bear. A game design thorn […]

Hello, playtesters! I’m working on new draft of Kingdom second edition that should be ready sometime in June. So if you’ve played and you’ve got feedback for me, I can incorporate it into this revision. If not, don’t worry, there will be a call for feedback before the playtest ends. Right now most of the […]

Given all the chaos in the world, I’m keeping the K2 playtest open for the foreseeable future. Don’t worry about any deadlines right now, just play and have fun. If you have feedback or posted about your game somewhere, send it my way. But again: just play and have fun. Lots of people have jumped […]

I played another sweet, sweet game of Kingdom last night, convincing me beyond a shadow of a doubt that the new edition is ready for external playtesting. That means you! Want in? Email me at kingdom-playtest at lamemage.com or leave a comment here. There’s a hidden comment field for your email address that I can […]

I’ve had a second edition of Kingdom simmering for a while now and it’s finally in a place I’m really happy with. It’s looking very good. I love playing Kingdom. Love it. My hit rate for engaging and dramatic sessions with Kingdom has always been very, very high. The game itself is great. But the […]

“That feeling when you revise your rules and cut your page count IN HALF.” Spoiler alert: Kingdom, 2nd Edition, is in the works.

A clever player asked me an interesting question: could you play Kingdom with characters writing letters on their turn instead of playing scenes? Very unexpected and very intriguing. The more I think about it, the more I think that not only could it work, it could be fantastic. The one-sided monologue of a letter opens […]

A Jurassic Park-style Kingdom, spawning dinosaurs and showing them off to tourists: what could go wrong?!? We had a petting zoo, dammit. A petting zoo. We were so close to saving the park. So close. But even though we turned a moral corner and decided to start fresh with *natural* dinosaurs instead of the genetically […]

I’m experimenting with a new way to do Time Passes in Kingdom. I removed it for one-shot games in the latest revision, but you can use this new rule in both one-shot and multi-session games: TIME PASSES When it’s your turn to make a Crossroad, you can instead say that Time Passes. Immediately play out […]

Kingdom at Story Games Seattle. When the new Archbishop of the Church of England forbids contracts binding demons to work on Sundays, the senior partner of our firm has an inspirational meeting with one of the founding partners (whose ghost haunts our office). He gets in touch with his inner lawyer, remembers why he started […]

Over the past few years, I’ve heard from a lot of different educators who have experimented with Microscope, Kingdom and similar games in the classroom. They were each trying different approaches, but didn’t have a common forum to share what they’d learned. So when Keenan Kibrick contacted me and we talked about creating a new […]

I released Kingdom three years ago, but every time I play it I’m still looking for ways to make it better. It’s a crowd-favorite at Story Games Seattle so I’ve had a lot of opportunities to try out refinements that streamline the rules and make things simpler, faster and more fun. This rules update includes […]

Time is precious gaming treasure. To streamline Kingdom character creation, I’ve been experimenting with removing Issues and using Bonds to take over that duty. I’ve found it to be faster and actually make better characters, for reasons I’ll go into below. To use this change, simply remove the Issues step entirely. When you are creating […]

If you’re playing a multi-session Kingdom campaign, what do you do if someone can’t make it? How do you play without them? When someone asked this, my first instinct was: never play without the whole crew. Just play another one-shot if someone can’t make it. But then I thought about it a bit… and started […]

The Story Games Seattle crew delivers some stunningly good Kingdom games. This time we played a Kingdom in the style of Toy Story, if Toy Story walked in on Lord of the Flies going to third base with Animal Farm. Playtime Is Over (Kingdom) Is there an award for darkest story featuring toys? Because if […]

A small but important official change to the Kingdom rules. If you switch Roles and leave orders or predictions behind, it’s up to the players who have Power or Perspective during Crossroad resolution to decide whether they happen. Kingdom Rules Update: Uncontrolled Orders & Predictions (one-page PDF) Update: I revised and simplified the text to […]

In Necropolis, you work even after you’re dead. Your corpse is state property, reanimated as a mindless undead laborer. It is an industrialized city-state powered by reanimated perpetual motion machines. If it can be powered by crank, piston, or gear, you’ll find it worked by a skeletal hand. Ryan Deugan was one of the Power […]

For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken … we shall shame the faces of many of God’s worthy servants and cause their prayers to […]

I was reading about how during the American Revolutionary War, Henry Knox hauled an entire battery of cannons from captured Fort Ticonderoga 300 miles through the dead of winter to give George Washington’s army the artillery it vitally needed to threaten the fortified British. It sounded like an epic trek: cannons falling through the ice […]

I just sent out the sneak peek of my next game as a reward for the fine folks who backed Kingdom at the Perspective level. If you’re a Perspective backer and you didn’t get the link, let me know. I usually play my cards pretty close to the vest when it comes to projects I’m […]