Randy Lubin's Avatar

Randy Lubin

@randylubin.com

Startups & Game Design http://leveragedplay.com (foresight games) http://diegeticgames.com (consumer games) http://storysynth.org (online games platform)

542
Followers
507
Following
127
Posts
17.03.2023
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Randy Lubin @randylubin.com

This is excellent and resonates deeply- I’ll be sharing it around!

26.02.2026 20:23 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Commissioning Games for Systems Change: A Field Guide A new framework for developing impactful games

There are many resources out there to help game designers, but none to help project managers design game collaborations from an institution's side.

In response to this, I’ve created this Field Guide, for oorganisations wanting to create successful games.
davidfinnigan.substack.com/p/commission...

26.02.2026 20:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Submissions to Gaming Like It's 1930

Our "Gaming Like It's 1930" jam has wrapped up with a total of 37 entries – our best year ever: itch.io/jam/gaming-l...

I'm looking forward to reading and playing them over the next few weeks!

01.02.2026 18:16 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Now pay-what-you-want! Including nothing, if that's where you're at, although all profits are donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. @randylubin.com and I really want you to gather some friends and play it.

28.01.2026 21:00 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
Preview
Honor Bound by Randy Lubin, Bully Pulpit Games Explores honor culture and toxic masculinity an old fashioned duel

Honor Bound by @randylubin.com and @jmstar.bsky.social is a live action game for exactly 6 players, and it explores honor culture and masculinity through the lens of an old fashioned duel. Play starts after a challenge is issued and the de-escalation attempts begins.

randylubin.itch.io/honor-bound

28.01.2026 20:57 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
Preview
Honor Bound by Randy Lubin, Bully Pulpit Games Explores honor culture and toxic masculinity an old fashioned duel

I wish more people would play Honor Bound, which I wrote with @randylubin.com. It's a serious game about dueling culture and toxic masculinity but it is also really fun to watch a pair of puffed-up idiots ignore every available off-ramp until they shoot each other. randylubin.itch.io/honor-bound

27.01.2026 19:37 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Gaming Like It's 1930 A game jam from 2026-01-01 to 2026-02-01 hosted by Randy Lubin & Copia Gaming. A new year means new material entering the public domain! Starting January 1st 2026, works from 1930 are free to use and remix (except for sound recor...

Happy public domain day! Come join our jam "Gaming Like It's 1930" and make games that about or inspired by works from that year: itch.io/jam/gaming-l...

01.01.2026 20:03 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Gaming Like It's 1930 A game jam from 2026-01-01 to 2026-02-01 hosted by Randy Lubin & Copia Gaming. A new year means new material entering the public domain! Starting January 1st 2026, works from 1930 are free to use and ...

Just two weeks until the start of our public domain jam "Gaming Like It's 1930" – hope to see you there!

itch.io/jam/gaming-l...

18.12.2025 19:54 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
2.5K views Β· 36 reactions | Say goodbye to gingerbread houses and hello to the charcuterie chalet πŸ§€βœ¨ See whether Edible Architecture can build a deal with the Sharks on a holiday episode of #SharkTank... Say goodbye to gingerbread houses and hello to the charcuterie chalet πŸ§€βœ¨ See whether Edible Architecture can build a deal with the Sharks on a holiday episode of #SharkTank, tonight at a special...

My wife Avital is going on Shark Tank tonight to pitch her business Edible Architecture! www.facebook.com/SharkTank/vi...

10.12.2025 21:22 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
a session of Three Generations on playingcards.io toward the end of the third era, with the map fully built out

a session of Three Generations on playingcards.io toward the end of the third era, with the map fully built out

It's now available in a free public beta and you can either grab files for print and play or play it online via playingcards-io

It plays in under an hour, is GMless, and uses card driven prompt mechanics inspired by @jmstar.bsky.social's Desperation games

Let us know if you play it!

26.11.2025 19:17 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Three Generations: The Rise and Fall of the Eternal Empire by Randy Lubin, sdunnewold Build an empire and watch it crumble

Check out the new game that @diceexploder.com and I have designed: randylubin.itch.io/three-genera...

In "Three Generations: The Rise and Fall of the Eternal Empire" you tell the story of an empire as you build a city network and tell stories of the characters who travel across its lands.

26.11.2025 19:17 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Gaming Like It's 1930 A game jam from 2026-01-01 to 2026-02-01 hosted by Randy Lubin & Copia Gaming. A new year means new material entering the public domain! Starting January 1st 2026, works from 1930 are free to use and ...

"Gaming Like It's 1930" is coming this January: itch.io/jam/gaming-l...

Come join us for our annual public domain game jam, celebrating new works that are entering the commons

25.11.2025 23:14 πŸ‘ 38 πŸ” 27 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 4
Custom Options | Story Synth Documentation How to design and publish games with the Story Synth storytelling game platform

Yup! You can use setLastCardLocation to specify the specific card location or the portion of the deck (e.g. last 20%). Read more here: docs.storysynth.org/guide/option...

05.10.2025 17:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Trust & Safety: Armed Conflict Navigate the challenging world of trust & safety amidst an unfolding armed conflict.

Some exciting news: this morning we launched a collaboration with @icrc.org: our Trust & Safety: Armed Conflict game. trust-and-safety-game.icrc.org

26.09.2025 15:53 πŸ‘ 78 πŸ” 30 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 5
Preview
Trust & Safety: Armed Conflict Navigate the challenging world of trust & safety amidst an unfolding armed conflict.

Our latest game is out! In Trust & Safety: Armed Conflict, you'll explore the challenges of running a social media company during an international conflict.

Designed with Copia Gaming and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Play it now: trust-and-safety-game.icrc.org

26.09.2025 14:46 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

For anyone who missed our Kickstarter for the very fun card game One Billion Users (or if you backed it and want extra copies) we just put up our remaining stock for sale. There are not that many, so this is your LAST CHANCE to get one. We also have a few discounted "damaged box" copies...

16.09.2025 23:03 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

In the game, players take on the roles of powerful organizations and influencers who react to an future disruption by posting to social media and spinning events in their favor.

It takes an hour to play, runs with 5-6 players (plus facilitator), and involves minimal prep. It's also 100% free!

02.09.2025 16:46 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Posting Through It by Randy Lubin, Sidney Icarus Explore the consequences of a major disruption by playing organizations and influencers posting on social media

I'm excited to share a new game called "Posting Through It" that I co-designed with @sidneyicarus.bsky.social

The game explores how online discourse changes how we experience global disruption and it's played over a fake social media platform.

Check it out: randylubin.itch.io/posting-thro...

02.09.2025 16:46 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Hey - we covered this in Trust & Safety Tycoon!

Would you make a different decision? Play here: trustandsafety.fun

23.08.2025 00:02 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 5
A case containing copies of the game One Billion Users

A case containing copies of the game One Billion Users

Just got my copies from our One Billion Users Kickstarter. They look great!

22.08.2025 01:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm on this weeks Riskgaming podcast, discussing the challenges of exploring complex risks through game design

Danny and I had a great conversation and we shared the approaches and intuitions we bring to the design process

Podcast: pod.link/1615629580/e...

Transcript: substack.com/home/post/p-...

21.08.2025 16:18 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Working the Case, my murder mystery storytelling game, is now officially out of beta!

I've tweaked the visual design of the playcards.io version and updated some of the cards content in the Cyberpunk and Space Station playsets.

Grab it now and play online! randylubin.itch.io/working-the-...

18.08.2025 18:02 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
337 - Working the Case with Randy Lubin - Party Of One ο»Ώ Something deadly has occurred on Vacation Station. A body was found amidst the hydro displays and the glitz and glamour. The cops aren’t going to be of any help. Which means it comes down to two par...

If you want to hear it in action, check out this actual play on Party of One: www.partyofonepodcast.com/2022/08/04/3...

@jeffstormer.gobirds.online and I had a great time creating a Columbo inflected space mystery on a decadent vacation station.

31.07.2025 04:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Our session was so much fun!

31.07.2025 04:03 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Working the Case – Digital Beta by Randy Lubin A collaborative mystery game where you uncover evidence, narrow down suspects, and catch the culprit.

You can finally get "Working the Case" on Itch: randylubin.itch.io/working-the-...

It's a 30min gm-less murder mystery game in a fantasy, space, or cyberpunk setting. Play as investigators and match evidence cards to suspects, describing scenes along the way.

It's a blast!

30.07.2025 23:35 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
RPG – Serious Games Pt.2 – The Game Design Roundtable

Part 2: thegamedesignroundtable.com/episode/rpg-...

16.07.2025 04:19 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Season: RPG – Serious Games Pt.1 – The Game Design Roundtable

The latest episode of The Game Design Roundtable is about Serious Games. Come listen as @jmstar.bsky.social, Kathryn Hymes, and I discuss how we approach making games that are designed for education, training, and social impact: thegamedesignroundtable.com/episode/seas...

09.07.2025 00:01 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2

There are also other tabs that control static game values, initial game state, and selector logic that we sometimes use to determine which screen to show next (using flags or game state)

07.07.2025 21:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A screenshot of one dilemma in a spreadsheet, with different rows for response options

A screenshot of one dilemma in a spreadsheet, with different rows for response options

There's a main tab that contains all of the possible game screens with content columns for the main text, player options, and decision results. There are also helper columns for changing game state, pointing to the next screen, and setting criteria for if options are visible and/or locked.

07.07.2025 21:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Trust & Safety Tycoon Manage your team, set policies, make investments, and tackle the challenging world of Trust & Safety

I can talk about building an interactive fiction engine powered by Google Sheets and optimizing the sheet workflow so non-designers can effectively collaborate on content and mechanics.

The case study game would be trustandsafety.fun where the spreadsheet ended up running over 27,000 words

07.07.2025 20:30 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0