While Evan's away, Hannah reflects on the announcement that Hampshire College, an unconventional school founded in the 1970s, is closing its doors. It was flawed, idealistic, and not always what was promised. But it was a special place that encouraged weirdos to be weird, and paved our own winding path to game design.

Hampshire College Workers' Emergency Relief Fund

Help Hampshire workers faced with sudden job loss:

https://www.helphampshireworkers.com/

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/hampshire-college-workers-emergency-relief-fund

Turtlebun Links

Turtlebun Discord:⁠⁠ ⁠https://discord.gg/ajP36nzPb2⁠⁠⁠

Turtlebun on Patreon:⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Turtlebun webstore:⁠⁠ ⁠https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost:⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado:⁠⁠ ⁠https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky:⁠⁠ ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠⁠⁠

We've always struggled to juggle multiple projects at a time. Right now, finishing the design on Escape from Wonderland is the top priority. But we don't want to set aside every other game and dream. What would it take to do two things at once?

Links & Credits:

Turtlebun Discord:⁠ ⁠https://discord.gg/ajP36nzPb2⁠⁠

Turtlebun on Patreon:⁠ ⁠https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Our website, for games/art/zines:⁠ ⁠https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost:⁠ ⁠https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado:⁠ ⁠https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky:⁠ ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠⁠⁠

How many generations does it take to get into a canoe-making class? In this episode we go on a quest to redesign a queue system for a local craft school and quickly find that you cannot make a perfect queue without systemic social change.

Episode Mentions:

Hill Institute (With their mission right there on the front page)

What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael J. Sandel, 2013 (This link takes you to bookshop.org supporting one of our local bookstores—you can set your own!)

Happy Rex Manning Day!

We are having a game sale! Visit ⁠turtlebun.com⁠ for 20% off TTRPGs and ⁠turtlebun.itch.io⁠ for 35% off PDFs.

Links & Credits:

Turtlebun Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/ajP36nzPb2⁠

Turtlebun on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Where to buy our games: ⁠https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: ⁠https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado: ⁠https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠⁠

A discussion about how to design a liminal zone in a TTRPG leaves us trapped in an in-between place.

Episode mentions:

r/backrooms

House of Leaves (2000 - Horror novel by Mark Z. Danielewski)

The Last Unicorn (1982 - Animated movie based on 1968 book by Peter S. Beagle)

Ultimate Haunted House (1994 - Point-and-click video game with art by Gahan Wilson) Play it on archive.org here.

Links:

Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/ajP36nzPb2

Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Where to buy our games: https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠

In this episode, we talk fatigue. Is fatigue something to conquer, or is it a warning sign on the way to a physical and emotional crash? Evan is tired, but we’ve got strategies! After years of learning what the burnout cycle looks like while working on a game, we’re eager to intervene before exhaustion gets the best of us.

Episode mentions:

Ever so briefly, The Witness (2016 video game, Jonathan Blow)

Snowpiercer (2013 movie, Bong Joon Ho)

Links:

Join us on Discord! ⁠ https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz

Support our work Patreon: ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Buy our games online: ⁠⁠https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: ⁠⁠https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: ⁠⁠https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: ⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠

Game design questions can be longer and more complex than their answers. In this episode, we initially set out to do a live-design session tackling an issue from our latest playtest, but discovered that describing the question required revisiting nearly every other part of the game. Join us for a chat about Twilight rules, open-eyed investigations, and escaping a cursed amusement park.

Links:

We have a Discord! Come talk about Design Doc and Star Trek. ⁠https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Turtlebun on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Our games: ⁠https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: ⁠https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: ⁠https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠

Who designs the game? Is it the players, who make decisions in real time at the table? The GM, who’s at the ready to suggest ideas or dole out consequences? Or the designers, who… well… make the game? In this episode, we talk about when and how to distribute control of the experience between the players, the GM, ourselves as designers, and random rolls of the dice.

Links:

Join the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/ApNfNvUk

Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Check out our games: https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠

Hannah watched 51 movies in 2025. Not all of them were helpful for game design, but there was inspiration to be found everywhere—in the form of left-behind robots, edgy existential planets, sci-fi noir, and Mother. Mother? Mother!

Follow along and find every movie mentioned in the episode here:

https://letterboxd.com/hanbandit/diary/films/for/2025/by/added-earliest/

Watch movies through your library on Kanopy:

https://www.kanopy.com/

More Links:

Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz⁠⁠⁠⁠

Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Our games: https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠

Sometimes a design problem can't be solved in any straightforward way. You need an epiphany! That can't be forced, but it can be encouraged. Hannah and Evan talk about the epiphanies that shaped their previous games and how to attract those mysterious flashes of insight.

Links:

We have a Discord! Come talk about Design Doc and Star Trek. https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz⁠⁠⁠⁠

Turtlebun on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Our games: https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠

As the year draws to a close we talk about New Year's resolutions. Hannah makes them every year, Evan does not. Hannah shares her elaborate system for setting goals of masteries, experiences, and skills. And together, we consider Turtlebun's upcoming year.

Links:

Join the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz⁠⁠⁠⁠

Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Buy our games: https://turtlebun.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠

Conventions are an opportunity for us to get our games in front of a bigger audience, and PAX Unplugged is our biggest show. The stakes feel high, and we have to balance our ambitious goals with practical preparations. In this episode, we talk about what we were proud of, what we wish we’d done differently, and how every year we get a little better.

Episode mentions:

Thoughtcrime Games - https://thoughtcrimegames.itch.io/

Elliot Davis - https://www.moreblueberries.com/

World Champ Game Co. - https://www.worldchamp.io/

Links:

Public Guest 5: https://turtlebun.com/products/public-guest-5-notebook

Worldbuilding Art Print: https://turtlebun.com/products/worldbuilding-art-print

Join the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz⁠⁠⁠⁠

Support Design Doc on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Credits:

Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get in touch:

Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com

Instagram: ⁠⁠instagram.com/turtleandbun⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/turtlebun.com⁠