Our second MAKE WEIRD GAMES class was a smashing success! A huge thanks to our fabulous instructor @natmesnard and to everyone who came out to play with us at @20sidedstore on Sunday! We developed original games together, taking inspiration from The Details of Our Escape, a collaborative zine by Tyler Crumine, Linnea Sterte, and Renee Gladman that uses dominoes to tell the story of a massive, 2000-strong caravan.
Miss the fun? You have one more chance to play with us! Join us Sunday, May 17, 1-3pm, at Twenty Sided Store for the final workshop in this three-part series. We’ll investigate Spell: The RPG by Taylor Curreysmith, a zine that outlines an evocative magic system whereby players draw random letter tiles to spell out magic abilities. How can spelling-game mechanics invoke experiences of arcane weaving?
Link in bio to register.
Maryland friends, @scryptidgames is publishing a spooky little companion zine, Real Cryptids of Baltimore, alongside our forthcoming Tales from the Cryptids anthology. Please send me your true personal accounts of supernatural experiences in Maryland. These testimonials don’t need to be high literary art and we can publish them anonymously if you prefer. Feel free to send them to the email on this flyer, to [email protected], or just DM me here. 👻
Wow! We are overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to our open call for Tales from the Cryptids, our forthcoming anthology of games, fiction, poetry, and other ephemera, and we are very excited by all the weird and wonderful submissions we’ve received so far. (Link in bio to submit.)
We already hit our planned cap of 100 submissions in the fiction category, but, frankly, @bwinterose is so delighted by what she’s read that she has decided to break her own rule and keep the portal open until we hit 200 submissions or reach our May 15th deadline. Keep those great flash pieces coming!
And the TTRPG, poetry, and weird ephemera categories are also going strong and likely to hit their submission caps soon. TBD on whether Brigitte increases the caps in those categories as well. She’s never been much of a rule follower.
We are keen to acquire TTRPGs and other narrative games that embody a sense of the liminal. We love unusual original game systems and mechanics. Send us games that could be poems and poems that could be games. Send us immersive experiences and thoughtful explorations. If we read your game and say, “Wow, is that game actually a cryptid?” you’re probably in.
For fiction and poetry, we want cryptid content that prioritizes the agency of liminal beings, places, and experiences. Your work does not need to feature a cryptid protagonist or an optimistic point-of-view, but your monsters must have agency and depth.
We are also interested in micro-submissions of uncanny ephemera to literally occupy the margins of this book. Send us cryptid scribbles, doodles, haikus, photographs, and other 2D marginalia. Even we don’t quite know what we want in this category. Surprise us.
Submissions will be open until May 15, 2026.
10 cents/word for original fiction and TTRPGs, 5 cents/word for reprints. $50 for original poems, $25 for reprints. $25 for ephemera.
We will endeavor to send responses by June 30, 2026.
This Sunday, @natmesnard is teaching a one-off Zoom workshop on #ttrpg design!
March 29, 3-5:30PM EDT
In this all-levels class, you'll take inspiration from short TTRPGs written for anthologies, legendary one-pagers, and even business cards to playstorm game concepts and mechanics for new short games.
Writing a 1000-word (or less) TTRPG is the perfect challenge for a new tabletop game designer. For experienced designers, it’s an invitation to create something fresh. Together, we’ll investigate three short games, revealing mechanics, systems, and narrative tools aligned with elegance and brevity.
Then participants will be invited to hack or otherwise play with elements of the game(s) we've discussed—developing a promising concept for a new short TTRPG.
By the end of this session, you’ll be well on your way to designing a submission for a future TTRPG anthology, such as our Tales from the Cryptids project!
Link in bio to register.
We had a blast with @natmesnard at their first MAKE WEIRD GAMES workshop last Sunday! Students gathered at @20sidedstore in Williamsburg to playstorm and develop their own original games, taking inspiration from Viditya Voleti’s Space Goblins!, a zine that creates immersion and collaborative world building through the use of legos to co-create a goblin spaceship.
Miss the first class? No sweat. Join us Sunday, April 19, 1-3pm, at Twenty Sided Store for session two of this three-part, monthly series. This time, our point of inspiration will be The Details of Our Escape, a collaborative zine by Tyler Crumine, Linnea Sterte, and Renee Gladman that uses dominoes to tell the story of a massive, 2000-strong caravan.
Link in bio to register.
Study #ttrpg design with Nat Mesnard at Twenty Sided Store in Williamsburg, BK 🎲 MAKE WEIRD GAMES is an in-person, three-session workshop where you'll take inspiration from "weird" story games and other innovative indie titles to playstorm new game concepts, systems, and mechanics for narrative tabletop games. ➡️ Link in bio to register!
Each session will investigate one or more contemporary TTRPG zines. You'll pass around tactile components, identify key pillars of design, and play with developing a piece of a larger tabletop game, or inventing an entirely new one. Leave each session with a new design!
All experience levels are welcome. Come for the full series, or drop in for one session. Each class will feature a different TTRPG zine:
Session 1: March 22, 1 – 3 PM
Legos & Space Goblins!
We'll investigate Viditya Voleti's Space Goblins!, a zine that creates immersion and collaborative "world building" through the use of legos to co-create a goblin spaceship. What mischievous feelings, memories, and design potentials lurk within interlocking building blocks?
Session 2: April 19, 1 – 3 PM
Dominoes & The Details of Our Escape
We'll investigate The Details of Our Escape, a collaborative zine by Tyler Crumrine, Linnea Sterte, and Renee Gladman that uses dominoes to tell the story of a massive, 2000-strong Caravan. How is collective travel brought to life by numbered, two-sided rectangular tiles?
Session 3: May 17, 1 – 3 PM
Scrabble Tiles & Spell: The RPG
We'll investigate Spell: The RPG by Taylor Curreysmith, a zine that outlines an evocative magic system whereby players draw random letter tiles to spell out magic abilities. How can spelling-game mechanics invoke experiences of arcane weaving?
We are beyond excited to announce that Tales from the Cryptids, our forthcoming anthology of games, fiction, poetry, and other ephemera is now open for submissions! (Link in bio to submit.)
We are keen to acquire TTRPGs and other narrative games that embody a sense of the liminal. We love unusual original game systems and mechanics. Send us games that could be poems and poems that could be games. Send us immersive experiences and thoughtful explorations. If we read your game and say, “Wow, is that game actually a cryptid?” you’re probably in.
For fiction and poetry, we want cryptid content that prioritizes the agency of liminal beings, places, and experiences. Your work does not need to feature a cryptid protagonist or an optimistic point-of-view, but your monsters must have agency and depth.
We are also interested in micro-submissions of uncanny ephemera to literally occupy the margins of this book. Send us cryptid scribbles, doodles, haikus, photographs, and other 2D marginalia. Even we don’t quite know what we want in this category. Surprise us.
Submissions will be open March 1 - May 15, 2026 or until we hit our submission cap of 100 real non-AI submissions in each category.
We will endeavor to send responses by June 30, 2026.
Scryptid Games is headed to @awpwriter in Baltimore this week!! We’re thrilled to present two panels alongside a rockstar slate of game designers, authors, and publishers. You can also find us at the Scryptid Games booth in the book fair all week long. Come say hi and learn more about submissions for both Tales from the Cryptids and our companion zine, The Real Cryptids of Baltimore. Scryptid Games’ co-founders @bwinterose and @neversaydustin are Baltimore natives, and they are pumped to share tips for exploring their favorite city!
On Friday at 12:10pm, @natmesnard ✨, @sharangbiswas ✨, Erin Roberts ✨, @slickhop ✨, and Brigitte Winter ✨ will present Poetry, Prose, and Play: Game Design as Literary Practice, exploring the literary possibilities of narrative games!
And on Saturday at 10:35am, Brigitte Winter, @domsdickey ✨, @nearfutures ✨, Nat Mesnard ✨, and @justinsirois ✨will present Story Game Presses: Pitching, Submissions, and Publishing, sharing a behind the scenes look at the unique world of narrative game publishing, submissions, and distribution.
We may even bring donuts for that Saturday morning panel...
See you soon!
With only two days left to back Tales from the Cryptids, our new anthology of cryptid-inspired TTRPGs, fiction, poetry, and uncanny ephemera, join us on our Backerkit page tonight at 7pm ET/4pm PT for a treat (and maybe a few tricks) as @natmesnard and @bwinterose chat with Will Roth of @creaturepublishing for our final Tales from the Cryptids campaign livestream! (Link in bio.)
We are thrilled to collaborate with Creature Publishing to offer a special Creature’s Cache reward tier for our Tales from the Cryptids campaign.
Founded in 2019, Creature Publishing is a rad small press specializing in feminist, queer, and trans horror, dark speculative fiction, women-driven thrillers, and spooky fantastical and literary fiction.
With this discounted Creature’s Cache bundle, you not only receive Tales from the Cryptids and three Scryptid Games releases featuring weird punk creatures and ecosystems, you also receive Mine: An Anthology of Bodily Autonomy Horror from Creature Publishing, which includes 16 original horror stories exploring the ownership and control—or lack thereof—that we have over our bodies.
Hang out with Nat, Brigitte, and Will tonight to learn more about both anthologies, hear what’s new at Creature Publishing, and nerd out about queer and feminist horror!
“Mothman is my valentine,” says Tales from the Cryptids Editor @bwinterose ✨.
“Like many queer kids who grew up on monster-of-the-week stories, I’ve always been on the side of the monsters.
“I memorized transcripts of The X-Files, started a UFO club at my local pizzeria, and met famous paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren when they toured to my small Connecticut hometown, but I was always most interested in imagining the rich inner lives of supernatural beings.
“All of this is to say that editing Tales from the Cryptids is a dream project for me, and I’m grateful to all of you for making my dream a reality.
“We will open to submissions for this anthology once crowdfunding closes in March, so get ready to send me your queer monsters, your monstrous women, your paranormal paramours. Terrify me, transport me, surprise me, move me.
“But in the meantime, tell me…
Who is YOUR cryptid Valentine?”
Link in bio to read Brigitte’s full update and take the cryptid valentine poll!
New podcast episode just dropped!
Nick Perron at @tabletoppedpod invited @bwinterose and @natmesnard to talk about Tales from the Cryptids, a new anthology of cryptid-themed TTRPGs, fiction, and poetry crowdfunding now on Backerkit (link in bio).
In this episode, hear from Brigitte and Nat about what to expect from this project, why anthologies are cool, how to get involved with Scryptid Games, and what we hope to see when we open for anthology submissions this spring!
