The Thornwatch “design team” is really just five people. There’s me obviously but I've got help from Kiko, Jamie, Fehlauer, and Kenneth. It’s still sort of a side project so a lot of the work we do on it happens over lunch. We pick a restaurant near the office and work out whatever design issues need to get resolved. I did not plan it this way when assembling my team but they are all very different types of gamers and so we end up getting a lot of really great points of view. Kiko and Kenneth are all about clear and concise rules and mechanics while Jamie and Feh tend to be more interested in the “feel” of the game and the story elements. I usually end up listening to both sides and then make a final decision. I have my own ideas about how the game should work but I honestly really love being convinced of a better solution.

The kids on the server made their statues out of wool, presumably for the wide range of colors. Their intense flammability was, we can guess, not conscious portion of the decision matrix.

My son Gabe has a Minecraft Realm that he and his friends play on. It’s a service that Mojang offers allowing you to rent a private server. You need to specifically invite people to the server otherwise there is no way for them to join. As a Dad, I like this much better than having him out there playing on public servers. It’s not full weirdos who might be preying on kids, but it is full of 9 year olds and that presents its own problems.

Just as in days of old, the resting position of my hand on the keyboard naturally conforms to the QWER required for at-any-moment League of Legends play. It's got that kinda cats paw thing dialed in and I'm ready to hit them in my warded brush with my E, pop W on my way in, and Q anyone else fancy enough to remain. I don't give a shit, that's fine. I can dig two holes.

We’re preparing the Thornwatch playtest adventure for PAX Prime and it’s going really well. At PAX East we had people play the game, but it was really just a combat scenario. It was designed to test our card mechanics and our Momentum deck which manages initiative as well as monster damage. It was a great test and we got a lot of really useful feedback. Now with PAX prime coming up we’re ready to show off a more complete picture of what playing Thornwatch will really be like.

Playing as much Fates Forever as we did, those familiar lanes and interactions ultimately rekindled some kinda Goddamn LOL thing. It's sort of like how there are always collectible card games of one kind or another coming out, and they are good for whatever reasons that particular one is good, and then a new Magic release crops up and now you're fucked again. All paths wind up the hill, back to the Old Temple.

Pax Prime is coming up quick but there’s another PAX on the horizon as well. On October 31st we’ll all be heading down under for PAX Australia. I’m really excited for this show as we’re moving into the larger Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. This is a beautiful venue and you can actually still get Sunday and Friday tickets if you’re interested in joining us.

I went back into that Silent Hills "experience" and I think it was mostly a good idea to do so.

There is a lot about being a man I've never understood, a lot of specific phrases that I'm supposed to understand, a lot of stances I supposedly hold, when as a generality I'm only trying to decouple the Hot Pocket from its little microwave holster thingy. The "actuator," I think it's called. But the thing about legs going up never made any sense to me, not that I especially want it explained, because interpreting it literally is actually way better.

My wife Kara took a photo of me this past weekend that I think is pretty profound. I was sitting in the dining room fiddling with my new Oculus Rift. I finally got some cool stuff running on the DK2 and I was having a blast.

PAX Prime is less than three weeks away! I feel like we were just PAXing it up in Boston and here we are about to do it again in Seattle. If you’re coming to the show you can start planning your weekend now by checking out the schedule and figuring out what you want to see. There’s all kinds of awesome stuff happening this year but here’s a quick list of the Penny Arcade related content you’ll find at PAX Prime 2014:

I'll never be there again, as an attendee or as a vendor; that part of my "career" has been decoupled by the charges and will be entirely consumed by re-entry. You will have to watch stock footage to know that it had ever occurred at all. Not because of stuff like this, not exactly. But I won't miss it.

Kris Straub ("Krasp") and I have reached equilibrium. It did not start well. Whatever we are, I would have a hard time describing it.

We have an incredible assortment of pins at PAX Prime this year! Here’s the list for all you Pin Pals.

One of the prizes for winning Strip Search was office space. Not the movie. Like, space in the office. Katie's room is on the way to mine, and she is usually there in the dark, headphones on - a white pair of Sony MDR-V55's, I think - with a look like she is attempting psychically bore her way through the drafting table.

I would say that the best part of being "Tycho" is that I get to meet interesting people who are always doing amazing shit. Tabletop legend Mike Selinker is in that elite cadre of Amazing-Shit-Doers.