52 Pickup Studios 🎲🃏♟️

Our new chess variant game zine, Zolt Chess, is available and free for a limited time! Use your future reading powers to outmanoeuvre your opponent and claim victory. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/52-pickup-issue-170779873 #chess #tabletop #zine #indiegame

It's only a short amount of time until Zolt Chess is no longer free, make sure to download your copy of the rules now! A future predicting chess variant that uses playing cards to build a time line of upcoming moves.

I have been corralled into taking part in a spearhead doubles tournament. I have only played two games of spearhead, and I believe the army I have is not very competitive so we'll see how this goes

A commission for a trick taking friend. Nh38 movement, sapphire crystal, enamel card suit dial, stainless steel case and band. I am really pleased with how elegant this one game out.

everybody already has nice six sided dice right, that's a relief

We love the Minnesota State Fair, and this year's cake decorating theme was board games! Here are a few of our favorites for #NationalCakeDecoratingDay.

Zolt Chess, our precognition based chess variant is now also available on itch! www.52pickupstudios.itch.io/zolt-chess #indiegame #chess #tabletopgame

Wrote up a bit of a retrospective for the Fivedeck and its design: Check it out if you're interested :) boardgamegeek.com/blog/11828/b...

Zolt Chess uses a both playing cards and a chess set to simulate having powers of precognition (for those of us that can't see the future). Using a set "Future Line" the psychic player can choose their next move with knowledge about what their opponent will play next. Free in the link below!

Check out the 52 Pickup games browser to find which of our 40+ tabletop games is waiting for you! From TTRPGs, board games, card games to party games we've got something for everyone, and it's all played with stuff you'll already own. www.52pickupstudios.com/games #indiegame #boardgmae #TTRPG

New designer notes blog post about our latest game Zolt Chess. In this edition we delve into identifying your game design patterns, and what you may want to do once you've found them out. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/designer-notes-171351727 #gamedev 🎲✂️ #indiedev #gamedesign

The count down for our Zolt Chess rules explainer video has begun! About 4 days until it drops. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/rules-explainer-171360421

We've just mailed out prints of 52 Pickup issue #42, 'Zolt Chess', a two-player chess variant played with a chess set and standard playing cards, to our amazing Patreon Insiders! patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/physical-mini-171090427

The DEAD LETTER (solo TTRPG) zine covers arrived from the printer today! This is our first-ever white-on-black print. I’m sooo pleased with how they came out! Thinking about new things we can do with this new printing technique… Watch this space! patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/170400092

There is still a little left of September, you can still download a copy of Dead Letter the solo TTRPG for FREE!

Our new solo journaling TTRPG game, Dead Letter, just dropped, FREE for the first month! Each session is one shift at the Post Office of Dead Letters, where you decide what to do with letters between the living and dead. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/52-pickup-issue-168075077 #ttrpg #indiegame

Did someone say game zine giveaway? Well we sure did! Details in the linked post. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/mini-z...

Kiwi RPG peeps, here's some TTRPG events across the country to enjoy! www.kiwirpg.com/blog/2026/09...

Dead Letter was really fun to develop as a TTRPG as it's a mash of different genre and theme. Loved mixing gothic horror, with bureaucratic absurdism.

Our solo journalling TTRPG, Dead Letter, is now also available on itch. Each session is one shift at the Post Office of Dead Letters. You get six letters, you decide what happens to each one before you know what is inside it. 52pickupstudios.itch.io/dead-letter #indiegame #ttrpg

After releasing 40+ TTRPGs, board games, and party games, Dead Letter is our first ever solo role playing game (about time!). It's free for the first month so we'd love if you checked it out!

Our new solo journaling TTRPG game, Dead Letter, just dropped, FREE for the first month! Each session is one shift at the Post Office of Dead Letters, where you decide what to do with letters between the living and dead. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/52-pickup-issue-168075077 #ttrpg #indiegame

at one point, I had read every single book in our library system that was even tangentially a nonfiction book about games. I guess since last I searched the catalogue, a new one snuck in. Excited for it, I’ve heard good things.

Check out my news!!!

Rule explainer video for our flag making party game Flagrant! Pick up from Patreon or itch for fun night of vexillology with your friends. #indiegame #tabletop #partygame

The next issue of the 52 Pickup tabletop game series is coming very soon!

It's the last few days to pick up Flagrant for free! One of our easily accessible larger group party games about the art of making a flag (by committee).

Thinking of making a mint tin game, but the mint tins are the game and not the box the game comes in

Playing some Warcraft wrath of lich king (basically Warcraft pandemic) tonight, victory for the first game! #boardgame

The eternal struggle of fluff vs concise in TTRPG rule book writing...

Flagrant is currently FREE for a limited time! Link below 🔗 #indiegame #boardgame #partygame

This meme personally attacks me often. It works for all of these: Steam games➡️Unplayed Board game purchases➡️Unplayed Board game design➡️Undesigned Books➡️ Unread Movies➡️Unwatched TV shows➡️Unwatched Albums➡️Unlistened Maybe I should actually finish things, huh?

#gamedev #indiedev 🎲✂️

Flagrant is also available on itch! Comes with everything available on the Patreon and is yours to download and keep forever. 52pickupstudios.itch.io/flagrant-a-g... #indiegame #boardgame #cardgame

Our latest party game, Flagrant, comes with free game sheets for designing your flag and for quick references. We’re experimenting with new ways to make key rules more visible to players around the table, preventing the need to constantly bring up and flick through the rulebook during gameplay.

To do something special for our 40th issue (and because we couldn't decide between blue & purple) we're using this very unique card stock for our hand made game zines! Love how they look like shiny trading cards. Pick one up by joining our Patreon or finding us at a market in New Zealand.

the many tasks of the indie dev... #indiedev #gamedev

Flagrant contains a full playing card sized (52 entries) random table for secret mandates, the largest random table we've been able to get into a zine so far! We even have 3 more for different themes (pirates, cults, and coats of arms) but those didn't fit in the zine....

Every nation needs a flag. Every flag needs a committee. Every committee is lying to each other. Introducing ‘Flagrant’, our new party game for 4-8 players. One person holds the pencil, everyone else has a secret hidden up their sleeve. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/52-pickup-issue-164778421

#indiedev #gamedev

What games are in the free collection right now? Well... we've got: - Tinhorn Tell - The Black Spot & Captain Seven's Doubloons - Sentience - Guinea Pig Baseball - Dust Highway

If you like FREE tabletop games we've got something for you, we've just refreshed our free games collection! Get a selection of 5 games from the 40+ game 52 Pickup back catalogue. Includes: - a TTRPG - card games - board game - solo game - newest game patreon.52pickupstudios.com/collection/91203

What have we been up to this month? Check out The Deal to find out, but some highlights: - NEW GAME: Tinhorn Tell the poker drafting card game - A new rules explainer video for Tinhorn Tell - Refreshed free collection on the Patreon patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/deal-july-2026-164131336

We couldn't fit this into the zine template, so we've published the 2-player rules for Tinhorn Tell for FREE! Tinhorn Tell is a card drafting game for 2-7 where players pass hands of cards, picking one to build a poker hand. patreon.52pickupstudios.com/posts/tinhorn-tell-two-163396554

Rolling for initiative? How about rolling for executive function...

New intro time! I'm Chris (he/him) and I make ttrpgs with my friends as Junk Food Games. I design small, self-contained solo and gm-less zine games with big moments and quiet introspection. Find me on itch! junkfoodgames.itch.io I'm also in a local design collective! www.designedinthedmv.org

Manufacturing and distribution challenges is one of the reasons why we make Standard Games now. If you're a board/tabletop game designer traditional boxed games aren't the only way to get your designs out! Whether Standard Games, Print & Play, or in a tabletop sandbox you have many options 🎲✂️

With over 40 issues of our original tabletop zine game series, 52 Pickup, it can be a bit overwhelming to decide what game to play! Try out the game browser on our website to easily search through all of our original TTRPGs, board and card games. Let us know your fav! www.52pickupstudios.com/games