Oscar – Medium

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Pinned

‘Sovereign Chess’ is a Battle Without Loyalty or Humanity

I have a terrible addiction to chess variants. My favorite variants add new and bizarre angles to the traditional game. Uncertainty, asymmetry, obstacles, new goals, or a new spacial dimension. But Sovereign Chess re-engineers the traditional game into a completely new beast.

Chess

5 min read

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Pinned

Sleeping on the Street is a Death Spiral | Cyberpunk RED

It’s terrible — Cyberpunk 2077 might be a shitshow of a game, but it was ambitious in its detail. That detail includes a ton of hostile architecture, like benches with spikes to keep people from lying down. But the game doesn’t actually address the subject of homelessness. …

Roleplaying Game

3 min read

Sleeping on the Street is a Death Spiral | Cyberpunk RED

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Pinned

‘Spire: The City Must Fall’ is a Giant Middle Finger to Tolkien and Gygax

Drow Are (Not) Terrorists — “You have joined the Ministry of Our Hidden Mistress, a paramilitary cult that worships a forbidden goddess, and sworn in blood to avenge the wrongs placed upon you and your people. …

Roleplaying Game

7 min read

‘Spire’ is a Giant Middle Finger to Tolkien and Gygax

Published in Getting Into Chess

·Sep 16

‘Chunky Chess’ is Perfect for Chess Beginners Who Hate Computers (and maybe kids*)

*i meant it might also be perfect for kids, not chess beginners who may hate kids —

Learning

2 min read

‘Chunky Chess’ is Perfect for Chess Beginners Who Hate Computers (and maybe kids*)

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Sep 14

10 Explicitly Political RPGs, because Midterm Elections

Apolitical Games are Dumb — “If your ttrpg story involves SYSTEMS OF POWER, it is a POLITICAL STORY. Any decision you make with regards to power both in character and out of character is a POLITICAL DECISION. …

Politics

12 min read

10 Explicitly Political RPGs, because Midterm Elections

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Sep 8

How to Write for The Ugly Monster

We’re the Frankenstein of Media — The Ugly Monster is accepting submissions related to just about any media on Earth. Film, television, video games, tabletop games, novels, comic books, the news, music, poetry, whatever. Reviews, analyses, game mods/hacks, guides, and even politicizations are all good. Genres range from sci-fi and horror to historical fiction and non-fiction…

Submission

2 min read

Published in Getting Into Chess

·Sep 8

How to Write for ‘Getting Into Chess’

Getting Into Chess is accepting submissions. Example topics include… News Strategy and tactics Puzzles Tournament recaps Player profiles and interviews Book reviews Reviews of TV or film that feature chess Essays about chess in media or culture Chess variants Chess in education Chess and politics Etc. So long as the…

Writing

2 min read

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Aug 31

The Ugly Monster’s Horribly Irregular Email Update

Here are our most popular reads from the summer. You should read them a lot. — Autistic Representation in Hollywood Sucks “Good autistically coded characters are where autistic people go for good representation in media because portrayals of us are so shitty.” ‘Honor Among Thieves’ Looks Way More Fun Than Actual D&D “The trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves feels NOTHING like actual D&D.

Movies

1 min read

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Aug 25

Shadowrun, Gamma World, and 7 More RPGs Should be TV Shows RIGHT NOW

D&D sucks, but the movie will kickstart a rush of RPG adaptations — The failure of Y: The Last Man on Hulu will mark the slowing of the Comic-Book-to-Hollywood pipeline. Although it was based on one of the most celebrated comic books in history, mainstream audiences were not at all interested . …

Television

8 min read

Shadowrun, Gamma World, and 7 More RPGs Should be TV Shows RIGHT NOW

Published in The Ugly Monster

·Jul 31

‘Honor Among Thieves’ Looks Way More Fun Than Actual D&D

Mazes, EZD6, and Risus do ‘Honor Among Thieves’ better than D&D. — The trailer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves feels NOTHING like actual D&D. D&D is slow and boring. The rules are overly granular and dense. The whole game is an un-fun slog. Its price-to-fun ratio is terrible. The Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit, which is only an intro game…

Roleplaying Game

7 min read

‘Honor Among Thieves’ Looks Way More Fun Than Actual D&D