Solmukohta, the weirdly-named Finnish edition of the Knutepunkt convention ended more than a week ago, but the symptoms of Nordic withdrawal linger. Do you suffer from this dread disease? Symptoms may include: using the prefix “knute-” for everything, regardless of appropriateness
The Solmukohta Culture Report
I’ve written about the programming that I enjoyed at Solmukohta, but I’ve got more observations scrambling to escape my noggin. Here they are, in no particular order: Travel Fatigue Foreign travel depresses my natural level of pep. There’s something about
Solmukohta Ahoy
After my stop in Denmark for Fastaval, I headed to Helsinki to participate in Solmukohta, the Finnish installation of the Knutepunkt conference that rotates its way around the Nordic capitals, changing its name according to the local languages. The event
Write a Rulebook Already
A copy of the rant I delivered at 2012 Solmukohta. Profanity included.
Five Things US Conventions Could Steal From Fastaval
Yesterday, I riffed on Fastaval, an awesome Danish roleplay convention I attended as part of my two-week Nordic roleplay junket. Today, I want to talk about a few favorite elements of the convention that US convention designers might import into their
Fastavaling
The first stop on my crazy Nordic tour was Fastaval, a convention devoted to board-gaming, larps, and freeform games. What are freeform games, you ask? No one knows for sure. They are sort of like tabletop games, except you sometimes
Excuse the Silence: My Body is Broken
In my book, I wrote of last year’s trip to Denmark that it blew my mind. Well, this year’s trip, a two-week tour-de-force to the Fastaval and Solmukohta roleplaying conventions in Denmark and Finland broke my body. A vicious attack
Eight Humbling Lessons I Learned From Writing a Book
With the publication of Leaving Mundania imminent (May 1 is the official pub date, but a few large online retailers already have it in stock!), I wanted to share a few things I learned while reporting and writing a book
Why They Larp
Why on earth do people larp? Lots of reasons. Hear them from the giant, animatronic horses’ mouths.
Link Love: Gaming As Women
Stop reading this post right now and head over to Gaming As Women, one of my favorite new reads, where bevy of incisive women gamers write about gender representation in D&D, crossplay, game design, and more. You’ll never ask, “where