(he/him) Author, podcaster & tabletop games writer. Books: The Game Changers, Coward, The Honours & The Ice House. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-game-changers-how-playing-games-changed-the-world-and-can-change-you-too-tim-clare/7687024
I really want to find 3 people to try Finnish trick taker Ristikontra with, especially the Ristiklappi variant, where loss conditions for your team include a 'piss game' & 'being sent to Lapland'. You can tell it was created by Finnish loggers in the winter. www.pagat.com/sedma/ristik...
Ristikontra - card game rulesHow to play Ristikontra, a Finnish card game for four players in fixed partnerships, in which each trick is won by the last card of equal rank to the card led.www.pagat.comYour question hits upon something quietly powerful — the idea that my crime debut is itself a crime: deception. You're right to push back on this. That's sharp. I'll explain why it was written by me — a human — and not a machine. No excuses. No LLM-generated rhetoric. Just me, a real living human.
The BooksellerUncertainty and trepidation is the dominant theme of the literary agents following news that a crime novel sold in a 14-way auction in the US for $2.4m was withdrawn by its primary agent on Friday (31st July) due to suspected AI use. 👇
Thank you for the lovely questions! I really appreciate your indulging me
Tim ClareI have a long train journey today, & got intensely overwhelmed before leaving the house this morning. I'd love to answer some questions / offer some advice etc to distract me a bit! Any takers? I have specialist areas (tabletop games, Mario, mental health, neurodiversity, writing) but please AMA
Oh man so many but I love Don't Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton right now. It's a very sweet story about Very Big Crab taking Little Crab on a trip to the sea. The visuals are gorgeous & the rhythm of the story is lovely. King Baby by Kate Beaton is also a house favourite.
Stephen LongWho are your favourite children's authors? I want more books to read to my son (getting on three years). There's so much terrible stuff out there, almost as if publishers believe it's ok for it to be bad because the kids won't know the difference. Anyway, anything you'd recommend?
Depends on the game - with some games this is a design flaw, where turns are long & too much changes to make planning for one's next turn feasible. So to start with, choose games with simultaneous turns, short turns, or dynamic turns where I might get something from your actions (e.g. Concordia)
QuantumWhat's the best way to keep players engaged when it's not their turn, specifically inexperienced players who are grappling with the rules so are slower?
Either my complete Saki or my selected Damon Runyon, I think. Assuming we're excluding like the complete Grimms' (which I'm close to finishing). Runyon is terrific fun, & I find Saki very rewarding on the line. Susanna Clarke's Ladies of Grace Adieu crushes, too.
Micky PenguinsWhat’s your favourite collection of short stories? Lately I always have one novel and one short story book on the go depending on my mood, underrated medium
So there are multiple canons. There's no consistent lore, a bunch of stuff got introduced in manual translations, there's the early Dic cartoons, the comics, the RPGs. We have to treat any answers as corrigible & not final. Even ones in interviews from Shigeru Miyamoto.
Jacob BurgessHappy to! Honest Mario lore questions. Do goomba's relate to Toads in any meaningful way? Has there ever been any information on Bowser's mate? Where do Wario and Waluigi fit in? Sorry, three questions. The 'tism got out. Please do not feel obligated to answer all or any.
Anything that feels unprecedented usually isn't - that feeling is rather an expression of my ignorance. & I'm glad I work in a field where my reach exceeds my grasp & it's too diverse & rich a world for me to exhaust. ('work in a field'? I play games. Come on, Tim)
Calum Novak-MitchellHave you seen anything that you think feels like an Excitingly Brand New Innovation in tabletop games in the last year?
Amazing, & I love being reminded of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey which is one of the best sequels Hollywood ever did. I'm actually not great at many games despite playing them all the time. I lack a certain killer instinct. Maybe Netrunner because I do have a freakish talent for psi games.
Olivia Online 🌐If you were in the position of playing for your life against/with the grim reaper; what tabletop game would you like to play?
Holy crap thank you. Sunshine. It's my current favourite. I love FLUUD, I love power washing things, the levels are delightful, the music slaps, the dynamic between Bowser & Jr is weird & sweet, & Mario is an absolute joy to pilot. You have loads of freedom & it feels expensive & gorgeous.
tinymattressesTell me about why your favourite Mario game is your favourite Mario game and do you ever think there will be an Odyssey 2?
I have never talked about my writing choices easily & clearly in my life. Whenever I describe a work in progress I sound like I'm at the crescendo of some long brewing mental health catastrophe. My proof of authorship is how slow I am & my tears when you ask 'how's the WIP?'
Ann LeckieFor writers worried that they won't be able to "prove" their work isn't Spicy Autocomplete--worry not. You thought about every choice and will be able to talk about those choices easily and clearly. Folks who used the slop machine didn't make choices and won't have anything to say about why