PNP Friday for May 1, 2026 - Q&A with Designer/Artist Nathan Meunier. Plus PNP news.
Jason interviews Nathan Meunier and learns all about the upcoming Write and Erase Game series, as well as the new free edition of The Blessed Dark.
Welcome to Print & Play Friday! It’s May 1st and we’ve got a fresh batch of print and play news and games for your reading (and playing) pleasure.
Table of Contents
Main Feature: Q&A with Designer/Artist Nathan Meunier
New Games This Week
Community Spotlight: Tabletop Tolson looks at Townspire
Crowdfunding News (PNP Previews & Campaigns)
Where Are They Now?
Q&A with Designer / Artist Nathan Meunier
JASON TAGMIRE // MAY 1, 2026
Today we have a little Q&A with Nathan Meunier. You may know Nathan as the designer of Doom Machine, a super popular PNP (and physical) game from 2021. But you may also know Nathan’s art from the same game! And many more. Nathan is one of the lucky few (as I call them), who are greatly talented in both design and art. That combo is really helpful for a PNP publisher, not only to help offset costs, but also to really just go all in and make games both look and feel like they are uniquely yours. If anything, you can spot a Nathan Meunier game from a mile away, which is very special in world of print and play.
Let’s ask Nathan some questions!
1) Which 3 games would you say were most inspiring to you as a designer at the time that you started designing games?
Though I play a lot of heavy euros these days, I grew up playing Magic: The Gathering back when it first launched (yeah, I’m old), so my first few designs were definitely influenced by that for sure. Ironically, I would say much heavier worker placement and engine building games like Russian Railroads were a big influence when I started designing, even if those elements didn’t show up in my first few games. I mostly design solo games now, so I also found a lot of inspiration in Deep Space D-6 and dice-heavy games, too.
2) What is your favorite part of the design of The Blessed Dark?
I really enjoyed the physicality of working on a game by hand. The Blessed Dark was one of the first analog games I made after creating and launching several digital games, and I loved the speed of iteration and getting from idea to a playable prototype that making small board games affords you. It’s such a different vibe from coding.
The Blessed Dark was particularly fun for me because it married my interest in darker occult themes with my love of card and dice games. Folks tend to gravitate towards my creepier game designs, and this is the one that sort of kicked all of that off for me. It was also a fun challenge designing a game to fit inside a mint tin. Creating from constraints has always been a key element of my design process.
3) What is something interesting that was cut from one of your games?
I have an upcoming/unreleased mint tin game called Dead Machine Gods that I recently got the rights back to and will be bringing to Kickstarter later this year. The original version (which is the version I’ll be releasing) is a 1-2 player cyber-occult worker placement and tableau builder with complex euro scoring. When it got picked up to be published, I worked on developing it further into a 1-4 player game that had more components and moving pieces. This included adding a dice bumping mechanic, where you could stack and play your D6 worker dice on other players’ dice to trigger and occupied worker slot, and it would give them a boost, letting them positionally shift a D4 on their player card to gain some extra bonus resource of their choice within a triangle matrix that left two of three options uncovered for selection.
It was a super cool system that worked great when the game was aimed at a larger box with more components. But the publisher is no longer, and since I got the rights back, I’m going to be launching the original mint tin design — which is still pretty complex and thinky, but didn’t need the extra layers — which wouldn’t fit in the mint tin anyway.
4) What is your prototyping process? Are you cutting and printing? Using digital tools?
Since I do all the art and graphic design for my own games, I’m a very visual oriented designer, and I find having at least something nice looking on the cards and components I’m working with is a key part of my process. I’ll usually start my designs by selecting a limited number of target components for the game (18 cards, some dice, and a dry erase marker, for example). From there, I’ll begin playing around in Affinity Designer laying out elements and kitbash some kind of visual card elements until I have something that is ugly but functional looking. I’ll often throw some placeholder art in just to help me get a vibe and theme going.
Then I’ll usually print it out, cut and sleeve the cards, and gather the components so I can start kicking the tires and testing if the design works at all. I design and iterate very quickly when I find a groove. Getting a game prototype to the table as fast as possible is the best way to see what works (and what’s utterly broken and needs fixing). Once the proof of concept is there, I’ll make adjustments, write on the cards or take notes on changes, re-print out builds and keep tinkering until the bones of the game are solid. Sometime I’ll do this digitally using Tabletop Simulator, but I prefer testing my solo games physically most of the time.
That’s usually when I start actually making the final art. For some people that’s the last step, but I find that making the game look finished even before the mechanics and tuning are 100% final makes me more inclined to finish the game. It also helps with playtesting, since I’ve found a lot of people are somewhat less enthusiastic about trying out games that clearly look like prototypes than they are more polished near-finished projects.
5) Tell us about a great game store you’ve visited. What is special about it?
When I worked with CGE, I went to GAMA one year in Reno, Nevada. While I was at the show, I met some really cool folks who turned out to run a nearby game shop called The Glass Die. While we were chatting, I learned they were Doom Machine fans, which was a super cool surprise. My co-worker ended up having a birthday gathering at the shop a few days later, and we hung out and played games and vibed with the owners and a handful of other industry peeps. It’s a lovely game store, and I super like its rad DIY vibe and the fact it has a cool mini-bar with great micro brews. If you’re in the Reno area, I highly recommend stopping by, it’s run by some great folx.
6) What is a game theme that you’d love to design for?
I’m a total slut for foraging, crafting, and survival games. Legit. I play a lot of video games in that vein, and I’ve been dying to make something analog that combines those mechanics with some of the more horror themed stuff I generally gravitate towards making. I’m planning to take a stab at making an 18 card game in the genre as one of my next few projects.
7) Where do you struggle the most as a designer?
Life is hard. I find that keeping my creative momentum going amidst big sweeping life changes has been extremely difficult the last 5-6 years. Also, while my ADHD/Autism brain can have its super power moments, it sometimes gets in the way of getting things done in the timeframe I’d like. I’m either going from a prototype to a completed game in a month or taking 2 years to finish a design. I’ve been on a bit of a game release hiatus the last couple of years to get my personal world a bit more solidified than it has been, even though I’m sitting on a half dozen finished or near finished games. It’s only recently that I’ve started dusting things off, working to rebuild lost momentum, and prepping to get some of those games lined up for release. It’s fun to be designing again, too, but it can be hard to start things up and try to rebuild momentum after taking a long break.
8) What was the last game that really wowed you?
Kabuto Sumo. I bought it on a whim at Gen Con a few years back, but didn’t get it to the table until this year. While it’s a super straightforward game with a cute theme, I really love how wild and intense the matches get. I’m also a fan of how tactile the experience is — it’s very different from a lot of games I normally play.
Bonus question: What else are you working on?
I’m currently prepping to launch a new print-and-play focused game project called the Erase and Write Solo Series. It’s a series of 18 card solo PNP micro games that utilize plastic sleeved cards, several dice, and a dry erase marker. Each game utilizes the cards in different ways, with writing (and erasing) info on the cards as a core element. The games will initially be 18 cards each, but are designed to be expandable through micro expansions.
The first game in the series, Morbid Fortress, is a grim crafting, base building, and defense game where you are a necromancer attempting to build and defend a gnarly unholy stronghold to withstand invasion from meddlesome crusaders.
The second game in the series, tentatively titled Doom Machine: Death Hack, is a spinoff of my popular mint tin game Doom Machine. It utilizes some similar elements of Doom Machine, but incorporates a lot of roll-and-write elements as you attempt to hack and destroy parts of the machine before it destroys you.
I have other games planned, but those are the first up. Morbid Fortress will be launching first, with Doom Machine: Death Hack coming up next. Folks can join my newsletter at https://doomthoughts.com to be the first to get notified when the series kicks off.
Thanks Nathan! Really excited for all of this. Make sure you click on the links above and grab the new free release of The Blessed Dark below!
Each week we share the new releases in the world of Print and Play. Here’s what’s new this week:
The dark is calling... Gather blood, complete rituals, cast spells, and summon demons in a bid to gain the favor of the ancient ones. Will you become the chosen? The Blessed Dark is a cult-themed mint-tin card and dice game that features a mix of push your luck and light take that elements. Players work to build out a Grimoire of spells, gather the blood resources to power them, and conduct rituals (rolling the dice) to see what primordial energies that can harness to summon demons or trigger spells.
Grab the free print and play game at www.doomthoughts.com
Next up, we have two free Button Shy PNP previews, all part of their Spring Collection Campaign.
The new quarterly release games are coming from Button Shy! First up is Everything Machine a 2-6 player game by Connor Wielgosz featuring art by Adi ‘HW’ Sukondo.
Query rows and columns for clues to the hidden attributes. Guess quickly and accurately to earn a better score!
Itch.io Link.
The Game Crafter Link.
Also coming from Button is the game Shaper, a 2-6 player game designed by Mark Tuck with art by Filip Popovic.
Create unique images to communicate your secret clue in this cooperative picture-making game. Take turns channeling your inner artist to complete all the clues and win!
Itch.io Link.
The Game Crafter Link.
Dungeon Pages: Underboss - Dire Golem: The year-long set has been updated with the newest boss and dungeon. Introducing the Dire Golem. With a smaller battle grid this boss will be able to hide a bit but also Smash! Link.
Publishers / designers submit your new PNP releases here: PNP Arcade Submission Form.
A Look at Townspire
Kimberly at Tabletop Tolson does an a great job of introducing games. In this video we get a look at Townspire from Radosław Ignatów. This roll & write offers two options for the cards in the game (printable or app-based).
Here are a few PNP-related crowdfunding campaigns that we thought you might find interesting:
Inspired by the TTRPG Bookmark Jam on Itch.io, Nightbird Games set out to create bookmark‑sized games of their own—each with distinct mechanics and human‑made artwork.
Designed by Cody Spears, brought to life with artwork by Chris Mullins.
The Gods Laugh At Your Spoils
Reel-Time Fishin’
Star Freighter
Dearly Departed
Mourningsyde (Inspired by Phantasm)
We’ve mentioned our next PNP Arcade Publishing project here previously, but it's getting closer and closer, and we’re getting more and more of the artwork in place.
In The Weekly Haunt you will take on the role of a monster hunter. Slay beasts and terrors with supernatural powers. Battle terrifying monsters while racing the event track. All the while a complication is making your job harder. Oh and don’t forget to save the innocent civilians who are oblivious to the dangers all around them!
As a variable style game you will be able to swap out any of the components for a new game experience as we release a new component each week for the 3 months following the campaign.
Follow along the campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jasongreeno/theweeklyhaunt
…but while you are there, we have a little surprise for everyone.
Free games!
We’ve made the core sets for our three Pages games (Dungeon Pages, Dangerous Space, and Power Creep) all free at the page. Some of these have never been available for free before. Save $12 to get them for free, but make sure to follow along the page too!
Submit your PNP crowdfunding projects here:
PNP Arcade Submission Form.
Are you looking for your favorite publishers from PNP Arcade? Check out this list.
New this week:
The Forgotten Tower is the second mini-expansion to The Lost Village, adding 9 new cards to the game and greatly increasing the challenge.
And some previous additions to the list:
Alexander Shen: If you’ve never played Quests Over Coffee or any of Alexander’s other fun games, be sure to check out his stuff on Itch.io. Link.
Button Shy Games: With hundreds of games on PNP Button Shy started uploading games on Itch.io and The Game Crafter. Expect regular releases of the older library of games as well as new content to come. Itch.io Link. The Game Crafter Link.
Cezar Capacle: Brazilian game designer, graphic designer, architect and musician. He’s been creating unique games for the past five years, on a variety of genres. Link
Clearly Sharp: Home page for Daniel Young, the designer of Gem Getter and Forest Floor. Link
Daws of Darkness: The Lost Village and its mini-expansion are now available at itch.io. The thick line art style of these co-op games really makes them stand out. Link
Epic Endeavor Games (Jason Greeno): The independent games by JG can be found on his Patreon page. Link.
Grimscribe: If you are looking for the year-long Grimlore series, you can find those here. Publisher Website. PNP Stash.
Jack Neal Games: Jack’s games about power, value, and systems (Rust and Revenue and Charters: Profit Through Public Works) are now available at JackNealGames.com. Link.
Jason Greeno / Epic Endeavor Games: Jason hosts his collection of games like Night Class (superhero roll and write) and The Cursed Menagerie (haunted cards and dice) at his new Itch.io page. Link.
Kealf Games: The new location for all things from Kelvin Soong of Kealf Games. PNP Stash Link.
Mark Tuck: Mark has brought his collection of PNPs (from the beloved Orchard to Pocket Aquarium, and many more) to the Game Crafter. Link.
Nathan Meunier: Featuring many of his games in both physical and PNP, you can now grab Doom Machine, Mindbenders, Hot Garbage and more at doomthoughts.com. Link.
PNP Arcade Publishing: For everything Dungeon Pages (and more to come) check out the PNP Arcade page at Itch.io. Link
Shiny Pigeon Games: PNP Arcade previously hosted Around The World In 15 Minutes, but at their site you can pick up Starfront Scouting Academy and the Packing Party series of games. Link.
We Heart Games: The Itch store for Mike Berg’s games (Crownfell, Exobase, Exoship) has the entire catalog of games. Link.
Would you like to submit a PNP Game?
With the help of publishers, designers and the community we will continue to share PNPs with all of you.
Click this link to submit information about a game
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Games featured in these posts are not sponsored.