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Daily Illuminator Archive for June 2026
All Archives
June 1, 2026:
A recent paper published on Cell Press proposes that our pineal organ is a modified primitive eye. This eye was once used to detect light and dark by some of our most ancient monocular ancestors . . .
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June 2, 2026:
A (properly) suspicious fan forwarded us this mail. Is it bogus? . . .
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June 3, 2026:
My house is definitely decorated in Early Dungeon, at least to the extent that dungeons also feature stacks of books, boxes of games, and random tech stuff. I'm always looking for ways to make it dungeon-ier . . .
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June 4, 2026:
I had a sitcom-esque moment the other day, when I learned my in-laws were going to be coming into our house with zero notice, after a family dinner out turned into a "let's swing by your house to play games" situation. This wouldn't be a problem normally, except our gaming table – a.k.a. "our dining-room table" – was in the midst of a weeks-long RPG campaign . . .
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June 5, 2026:
This Dork Tower strip by John Kovalic is presented without comment. No . . .
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June 6, 2026:
Last month, I succumbed to the tiny e-reader hype I'd been seeing online and ordered an XTEink X4. I've been holding out on writing a review of it until I'd been using it for a few weeks, but since it arrived on 5/3 (and I'm writing this on 5/26), that time has now come . . .
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June 7, 2026:
Or at least a new way to use an old toy. It turns out that Delta (at least) has wi-fi in flight now . . .
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June 8, 2026:
A friend sent me a link to this delightful blog where doodled characters are given ratings in Chuckability, Engaging, Squishiness, Splorpability, Bones, and Media Literacy. Here's the character sheet:
But when I went to check out the blog, the pinned post had another character sheet . . . one that's eerily familiar.
My curiosity was officially piqued, but I found that while GUYS ®2E is partially archived, it seems most of the site is lost to the sands of time . . .
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June 9, 2026:
With Last Train To Bremen available for purchase on Warehouse 23, I wanted to write a Daily Illuminator about this beautiful game and what brought it to Possum Creek.
Caro and I have been friends since I started in TTRPGs, back when they were working on I'm Sorry Did You Say Street Magic and I was first publishing Sleepaway. I was lucky enough to get to schedule a playtest of Last Train To Bremen in 2024 the week or so before it was first released . . .
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June 10, 2026:
We're deep within Pride Month, and we hope all who celebrate are doing so with . . . um . . . pride! If you'd like to combine flying the rainbow colors with your love of Steve Jackson Games, we humbly offer a few possibilities: the Rainbow Eye-in-Pyramid Pride Pin, the Rainbow Eye-in-Pyramid Pride Shirt, and the Gaymes Rainbow Eye-in-Pyramid Pride Shirt . . . note the spelling in that last one's proclamation of "STEVE JACKSON GAYMES"! . . .
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June 11, 2026:
It's time to make your pledge for an all-new GURPS book – GURPS Ring of Fire, only on BackerKit! It's based on Eric Flint's 1632 series (also known as Ring of Fire), which encompasses hundreds of books, magazines, and anthologies, making it the largest alt-history setting ever created!
Residents of a small town – Grantville, West Virginia – are transported back in time and space to 1632 Germany during the Thirty Years' War . . .
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June 12, 2026:
As of about noon EST today (June 12), you can (finally) buy the complete Squarescape and Hexscape STL dungeon-building sets on Warehouse 23. I apologize for the multi-year delay since I first told you about this project . . . we've taken a long time making it as good as we could, and 2024-2025 were Interesting Years . . .
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June 13, 2026:
What if you wanted a new roleplaying game? What if you wanted a lot of new RPGs? . . .
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June 14, 2026:
I recently had the pleasure of doing an interview with Manny Ortiz of "Really Dicey." And, to make a long story short, it's right here. We talked about the Ring of Fire campaign that has just launched on BackerKit . . .
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June 15, 2026:
Just when you thought it was safe for your Dunegon Fantasy Roleplaying Game adventurers . . . wait. Why would you think that?! . . .
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June 16, 2026:
In Part I, I revealed one thing I do that has no connection to working on or playing games: study and dance Argentine tango. I pointed out that when you look past tango's exaggerated romantic image, it's a surprisingly geeky pastime, perfect for a nerd like me . . .
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June 17, 2026:
If you follow crowdfunding news, the word "scam" may have passed through your mind when you read the headline. That might not be the right word . . .
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June 18, 2026:
Back in a previous millennium, All of the Above was the standout GURPS fanzine. Edited by Brett Slocum, AotA contained just what the title said . . .
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June 19, 2026:
This is just on the cusp of "maybe a too different kind of geeky for these parts," but I was enthralled, so maybe you will be, as well. A video from YouTuber Kosmic shows how the discovery of a glitch in the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2 by a casual player led to a search for a new hack in one of the most-understood bits of computer code: the original Super Mario Bros. for the original Nintendo Entertainment System . . .
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June 20, 2026:
Sir Ian Livingstone is working with Peasoup to create "Smart Books" for the Fighting Fantasy series . . .
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June 21, 2026:
I've mentioned the really nice moduar hex-terrain tiles that Lorescape is turning out. And I've mentioned that I'm so much of a fan that I invested in the company . . .
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June 22, 2026:
If you're a fan of beloved Munchkin artist John Kovalic and/or his long-running Dork Tower comic (or long out-of-print game), you probably have feelings of some kind for Igor (mentioned not too long ago right here on the Daily Illuminator). Well, John Kovalic based that character on one of his oldest friends: Scott Olman . . .
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June 23, 2026:
I feel like I might have shared this tip before, but I'm not finding it on the Daily Illuminator archives, so hopefully it's new to you. I play a lot of games that use small decks of "shuffled" cards . . .
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June 24, 2026:
Do you like to contemplate your plate? Do you love email about scale? . . .
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June 25, 2026:
I have just revised our illustration contract with a flat prohibition against the use of generative AI. I'll work on our writing contracts next . . .
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