Currency Quest, getting away from gold Coding Medieval Worlds, exactly that. I had the pleasure of attending Coding Medieval Worlds recently. The description from the event’s …
Gaming highlights from the last sixteen months These are the weeknotes1 on the games I’ve played since I last wrote up my weeknotes…. about sixteen months ago I think. These are …
On Agents and Avatars and Immersion and more A couple of recent comments about games, and being immersed in them, really got me thinking. Firstly - in this comment on LinkedIn, Vikki …
Smooshification If you mix all the vibrant paints together, everything becomes the same brown. As with Cory Doctorow’s enshittification it’s useful to …
Water Water Everywhere A prediction of what will be underwater when the sea rises two metres. Water Water Everywhere I helped run this session as part of the CLWG …
The Traitors TV show - but 2004 style The Traitors but concentrated. The Traitors TV show but so much faster Considering my interest in the recent series of The Traitors TV show …
"Leading the Rebellion": not what I was expecting. A review of the book "Leading the Rebellion" by Jason Kingsley.
I skipped half of this book, but you should definitely buy a copy. A review of the book "Billion Dollar Lessons" by Carroll and Mui.
Alternative operating systems for your phone A summary of URLs for figuring out if your old mobile phone is supported by an alternative operating system.
My experience of DAZN Just a quick summary of what it was like watching the new version of NFL GamePass
Time travel, contrasts, insights, and all the sports documentaries. A summary of a wide variety of things I read or watched this week, from March to August, from time-travel to sports documentaries.
Getting around a Discord problem Problem Discord I have sound issues on Discord, an occasional background humming or similar noise - that I can’t hear, and that doesn’t …
Why use dice in serious games? I was working through The Handbook of Cyber Wargames, that I co-wrote with John Curry, and came across this section on why dice should be …
How to implement a Table of Contents in the Hugo Vitae theme A quick explaination of how to implement a Table of Contents in the Hugo Vitae theme
Don't buy The Dip ( My reviews are aimed at helping you decide whether you should read something, rather than assuming your meaning of “good” or “bad” is …
A week of fun spread over months. Playing. These are the weeknotes1 on the games I’ve played2 purely for fun3 in the last few months. There’s very few listed below, which is …
Wardley Mapping Cyber On Wardley Mapping Cyber Security If you’re not sure what Wardley Mapping is, this two minute video is a good and very short summary. It’s …
My work mostly involves playing games? Prologue An intentionally browseable set of weeknotes from my previous week1 of work, with different subjects introduced by bold text. The …
My Dilemma on The AI Dilemma The AI Dilemma, some thoughts Because it was mentioned in a discussion group I’m on, I made time to watch “The AI Dilemma”. It can be found …
Game Design Manifesto version 0.7 Something I’ve been thinking on for quite a while, but reading this manifesto on the Trick’s Tales blog finally got me to write …
More whimsy, more drama Prologue This is an intentionally browseable set of weeknotes regarding things I “beheld” over the previous “week”1. I hope you find …
An old man's advice on how to break into a new industry Recently on the Generalist World Slack channel, another member asked me advice about entering a new industry. I thought through some fairly …
Some books that mean a lot to me Inspired by this toot1 from John Willshire I thought I’d also jump on this idea he references, that has its roots back in 2005. I like the …
Thoughts on The Traitors A few thoughts on the reality TV show The Traitors, that has just finished on the BBC in the UK. PLEASE NOTE I’ve made absolutely no …
What I beheld since my last weeknotes An intentionally browseable set of weeknotes for my previous “week”1. I beheld I’ve decided that “beheld” is the best word for “things I …
Things I've played since July These are the weeknotes1 on the games I’ve played purely for fun2 in the last few months. There’s very few listed below, which is very …
Looking for a new keyboard My current keyboard is a Perixx PX-1200 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard but it’s wearing out, and they don’t make them any more, so I’m looking …
Free and online cyber security solo games This is a sporadically updated list of online games that illustrate useful points about cyber security. For those I’ve tried, or intend to …
How Can We Help Each Other? How can we help each other? Introduction What’s your preferred working situation - completely alone and self-driven? As half of a pair, as …
feeling like I'm not doing enough Introduction This question was asked in the Generalist World Slack a little while ago: Quick Question - I often find myself feeling like I’m …
Lessons From Running a Hybrid Megagame Prologue: As I wrote up in my recent weeknotes, earlier this month I helped run a hybrid megagame called Bad Moon Rising, organised by South …
Battle of Tuyệt Quá HởTấn After Action Report From about July 2021 until June 2022 I played “Battle of Tuyệt Quá HởTấn”, one of the “Section by Section” games by Hearts of Oak. This was …
Mechanics & Theme: Synergies in Game Design This is a list of my thoughts on the particularly valuable points from the Georgetown University Wargaming Society (GUWS) talk: “Based on …
If only bestselling authors were employers An intentionally browseable set of weeknotes for my previous week1. I worked: Cynefin, the sense-making framework, was covered in a personal …
Another month long week I worked: I attended DSET - an online military training conference. It was good to see them go hybrid, although I found their chosen …
Weeknotes for Wargames, Wizards, and Warriors. As fifty percent of my readership complained about the breathless bulleted format I’ve been using, which is a very fair point to make, I’m …
When is a card deck a card deck? Mainly as a result of discussions at the CardStock meetups, along with Nick Kellet’s release of the Deckible platform, and a couple of …
If work is fun it's still work A summary of what I’ve done over the last month or so. I attended: I went to a Sarah Le-Fevre event where Nick Kellet demonstrated some …
Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland ( My reviews are strictly aimed at helping you decide whether you should read something, rather than assuming your meaning of “good” or …
The Lost Key Once Upon A Time I’ve updated a small interactive game I wrote, you can play the Lost Key game in a browser window. There’s a feedback form …
CyberSecurity Strategy in the New Era By Nick Drage, a cybersecurity strategist, and Indy Neogy, a coach who specialises in how we deal with the future. This is a “personal blog” …
Electricity and I are not friends The last three… threeish… weeks… I played games I finished Untitled Goose Game - well, the main storyline anyway. It’s a fun game, about …
Gossamer Aphorisms There’s a lot of “thought leadership” online, especially on Twitter. Much of this consists of what I tend to call “gossamer aphorisms”. They …
Weeks Where Decades Happen Edited highlights of the last couple of weeks or more. There’s a war on, and I’ve a few relatively well informed opinions… but so does …
The Good, The Bad, and The Meh Edited highlights of the last couple of weeks. I finally made time to attend an online meeting of Liminal again, a provider of and example …
Weeks, and therefore weeknotes, are of an arbitrary duration. The edited highlights for me over the last twenty days or so. I’m still catching up on email and Twitter bookmarks and other backlogs or …
A good film, stuck inside a bad film... Synchronic I usually think, a lot… but for me the most enjoyable films are when that stops, and they just kind of sweep me out of that …
A week too far... Highlights from the first few weeks of January I finally missed writing up a week of weeknotes, so here’s what I’ve been doing for the last …
Strategy and games in all their forms... Edited highlights of week 1 of January 2022 Putting together more thoughts around a series of impasse-breaking strategy cards, to prompt …
Megagame Adjacent Design What can Megagames learn from LARPs and Immersive Theatre? In this recorded conversation, as part of the MegaCon Mini series, experienced …
Magic Houses, Magic Swords, and Santa Claus - Crimbo Limbo 2021 Edited highlights from my previous week I finished Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie, a surprise “Jolabokaflod” present. I wrote up …
Agatha Christie, as compelling as Fortnite... On finishing Agatha Christie’s “Passenger to Frankfurt”, some thoughts… I have a huge TBR ( To Be Read ) pile of books, to the extent that …
Losing, squeezing, bending. My previous week: Teams and teamwork was a bit of a theme last week… this week, due to NFL scheduling shenanigans, the team I follow played …
Team sports as an emerging theme... My previous week: Looking back on the previous week, I only realised that “playing as a team” was a common thread through the most …
Lies and Circuses My previous week: Various tribulations with online stores. Maybe I’m getting old and weary, but it seems harder and harder to just pay for …
The future of trucks, and of photography. My previous week: I attended a really interest critical thinking exercise by Sara Penrose Optimisation Training. Myself and several others …
The Cult of the Inventor Three episodes of the WB40 podcast to listen to if you’re into Cyber Security Episode 209 - if you’re part of The Great Resignation, or …
Games, circuses, CISOs, and anti-submarine warfare. My previous week: Provided some feedback for a game/exercise design, which was enlightening because it’s rare that I’m in that situation, …
Quiet. My previous week: Thinking through different and underused game formats: board games that support simultaneous or asynchronous movement, …
A good week for games... well, mostly... My previous week: I was kind of thrown into the role of Game Control for an online playtest - which I found a little stressful, but …
Cops and Robbers Last Week: A very thought provoking conversation with a former Police officer about innovative tactics to use against organised crime. A …
Resting a little... Last Week: I used FreeBusy to schedule some meetings, there’s still some problems with the way I use it to be ironed out, but I still think …
Is it me, or is software just awful? Weeknote 25th October 2021 Taking a cue from Sara Campbell of the Foster writing community, I’ve come up with a more interesting title than …
Weeknote 18th October 2021 Last week Gave some training on common cyber security attacks, moving on to ransomware next session, where the challenge is limiting so much …
Weeknote 11th October 2021 Last week Mostly work I can’t discuss. I’m behind on a lot of meetings, and thought it would be a good time to finally look at automated …
Weeknote 04th October 2021 Last week Mostly work I can’t discuss. Worked Control for another wargame, lots of thoughts about how to run a megagame with highly variable …
Weeknote 27th September 2021 Last week I appeared on the Circuit Podcast, describing the benefits of wargaming in all forms of security practice. I had a sales call that …
Weeknote 20th September 2021 Last week I attended two days of the profesional wargaming conference Connections UK. This was well done, very interactive, with the team …
Weeknote 13th September 2021 Last week Enjoyed watching the first week of the NFL season, my team had a relatively calm beginning. Helped a friend think through their …
PC purchasing checklist I’ve just been helping a friend think through buying a new “home office” PC, mainly because I’ve got through a similar set of thoughts …
The Game Of War Thanks to Phil Huggins for putting me onto this episode of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Dan discusses his background in miniature …
Weeknote 06th September 2021 Last week Did my fantasy football draft for the year. I have less time than I’d like for following the NFL, so I find fantasy football a …
Weeknote 30th August 2021 Last week Continued thinking on the American War of Independence mashup, this rapid summary on YouTube was thought provoking Acknowledged …
Weeknote 23rd August 2021 Last week Continued thinking on a “mashup” game ( maybe manual, online, or megagame ) about the American War of Independence… but that has …
Weeknote 16th August 2021 My further attempts at “working out loud”. I realised this should be called “weeknote”, learnt from Matt Ballantine’s latest post; I appear …
9th August 2021 Looking forward and back, 9th August 2021 I’m very wary of journals and journalling, but “work out loud” keeps being recommended more and …
2nd August 2021 Looking forward and back, 2nd August 2021 I’m very wary of journals and journalling, but “work out loud” keeps being recommended more and …
26th July 2021 Looking forward and back, 26th July 2021 I’m very wary of journals and journalling, but “work out loud” keeps being recommended more and …
Playsecure Epilogue On the benefits of virtual conferences I’ve just finished helping organise the online conference PlaySecure, running mainly on top of the …
The Coxswain The ( former ) subtitle of this blog is a bit much isn’t it, “I am the coxswain on my boat of thought”. But the phrase “train of thought” is …
Feedback Welcome What do you think of the colour scheme? I like the green, black, and white - based on the graphic I chose for my Twitter avatar an age ago. …
First post The first post, while I’m setting up a new blog The new blog posts will be on this site. You should be able to subscribe to the RSS feed …
