The hottest Games Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Art & Illustration Topics

On going first

Infinitely More • 12 implied HN points • 30 May 25
📖 Philosophy Games
  1. In many games, going first can give a big advantage, which isn't always fair. It's important to find ways to balance the game for both players.
  2. Rules like the 'swap rule' in games like Hex can help make things fair, but they may not always work perfectly for every game.
  3. For games like Go, figuring out the right value to give the second player can be tricky, and the common values used might not actually be the best.

Chomp

Infinitely More • 20 implied HN points • 31 Jan 25
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. The game Chomp involves two players taking turns biting from a chocolate bar, and the goal is to avoid being the one to take the last bite. Players remove chocolate squares from the lower-left, taking away everything above and to the right of their chosen square.
  2. Winning strategies in Chomp can depend on whether you're going first or second, especially based on the size of the chocolate bar. Players need to think carefully about their moves to ensure they don't end up losing.
  3. Chomp is not just a fun game; it also teaches lessons about strategy and decision-making in game theory. Understanding how to analyze your options can give you an edge in winning.

On attack, defence and the beautiful game

The Jolly Contrarian • 19 implied HN points • 01 May 23
🎾 Sports Games
  1. Different values are placed on attack and defence in sports like football based on the asymmetry of payoffs between the two roles.
  2. Defenders focus on conservative, coordinated actions to maintain the status quo, while attackers take big risks to improve the position.
  3. Infinite games, characterized by complex systems and unpredictable outcomes, require the ability to adjust, react, adapt, and capitalize on opportunities in a changing environment.

Board Game Boy

Devansh’s Newsletter • 5 implied HN points • 30 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Board games can create lasting memories and connections with family and friends. They often become part of our personal history.
  2. Some games can spread quickly and become favorites, even being played in unexpected places like during road trips.
  3. There's a deep emotional satisfaction in sharing games you love with others and teaching them new ones.

A new game: A Gathering Storm for Cairn

Seedling Growth Zone • 19 implied HN points • 11 Jun 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Games
  1. A Gathering Storm for Cairn game is now available in multiple stores like itch.io and Third Kingdom games.
  2. The creator is working on character retirement mechanics, worldbuilding about cities, and generators for Cairn game.
  3. The creator is also creating an adventure for Cairn jam and planning to publish printable bestiaries.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

straight outta tartarus

visa's voltaic verses ⚡️ • 17 implied HN points • 27 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Losing is a natural part of the learning process. It's important to keep trying and learn from our experiences, just like in the game Hades where you often die but keep getting better.
  2. Your focus should be on the journey and process, not just the outcome. Celebrating small improvements, like getting better at a game or mastering a new skill, is key to building persistence.
  3. Finding deeper meaning in your creative efforts can lead to better results. Just like in a game, you have to be open to discovering hidden insights and emotions in your writing or projects.

The game of Nim

Infinitely More • 10 implied HN points • 07 Feb 25
🚌 Education Games
  1. The game of Nim is based on a smart mathematical strategy that lets informed players almost always win against those who don't know the trick.
  2. In Nim, players take turns removing coins from piles, and the goal is to take the last coin to win.
  3. Anyone, even kids, can learn the winning strategy and easily beat more experienced players who don't know it.

Recursive Chess

Infinitely More • 12 implied HN points • 19 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Recursive chess is a new twist on the traditional game where pieces must play their own mini-games before capturing. This makes each capture more complex and interesting.
  2. The rules of recursive chess are still being debated, with no clear answer on how to play. Different interpretations could lead to many unique gameplay experiences.
  3. Exploring the rules of recursive chess invites deeper discussions about game theory and the nature of games themselves, making it a fascinating topic for anyone interested in strategy.

Are the Denver Nuggets a Public Team?

House of Strauss • 24 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🎾 Sports Games
  1. The Denver Nuggets surprisingly had four games reaching a viewership of 2 million this season on cable, which is a rare achievement in today's media landscape.
  2. Viewership for NBA games on ESPN and TNT can be challenging to reach the 2 million threshold, but the Nuggets achieved it multiple times.
  3. Reaching 2 million viewers on cable for NBA games is not common, making the Denver Nuggets stand out for their significant viewership numbers.

The Gold Coin game

Infinitely More • 7 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. The Gold Coin game involves two players trying to get a valuable gold coin while moving other coins on a board. Players can either move a coin or take the leftmost coin in their turn.
  2. The game is strategic and requires understanding the best moves to win. Knowing winning moves can make the game easier to navigate.
  3. Practicing the game with a partner helps improve your skills and understanding of the rules, making it more enjoyable to play.

Word Games

John Mayo-Smith's Substack • 2 HN points • 22 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Games
  1. Transforming words using matrices in language models is similar to transforming objects in games.
  2. Context is crucial in language understanding like camera view settings are in games.
  3. Adding nuance to language is akin to adding texture to 3D models in games.

Athletes Play Coordination Games – Coordination Part III

Living Fossils • 6 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🎾 Sports Games
  1. Sports are a way for humans to measure and compare abilities, leading to the motivation to compete and demonstrate skills.
  2. Different sports have different rules to solve coordination problems - the rules must be agreed upon to accurately measure abilities.
  3. Penalties and fouls in sports serve two main purposes: maintaining the integrity of the game as a measurement tool and deterring harmful actions.

Applications of induction

Infinitely More • 5 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🚌 Education Games
  1. Induction is about the impossibility of minimal counterexamples, and it comes in various forms like common induction and strong induction.
  2. Flexible use of induction is key - choose the valid form that best fits your proof.
  3. Differentiate between examples and proofs - examples can provide insight but don't prove universal statements.

The World as Data

Donkeyspace • 4 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Rambalac's Tokyo walk videos provide a unique cinematic experience that is meditative and haunting.
  2. Backrooms videos and Rambalac videos offer a different take on anti-cinema, creating a vacuum for personal reflection.
  3. MonsterTrack bike race videos on YouTube blend high-speed excitement with the joy of extreme sports, offering a game-like viewing experience.

Behold the World

Donkeyspace • 3 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. GeoGuessr is a game that highlights the beauty and complexity of perceiving and interpreting the world through online snapshots.
  2. GeoGuessr is a game that relies on skill and intuition rather than complex strategies, making it unique from traditional esports.
  3. GeoGuessr serves as an example of how games can evolve and fill educational voids by engaging players in new ways of navigating and understanding data.

On the Properties of Great Card Games

Matt’s Five Points • 19 implied HN points • 16 Sep 11
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Great card games need meaningful and complex strategies. The best games allow skilled players to win more often while still giving everyone a chance to have fun.
  2. Rule simplicity is crucial. If a game takes too long to learn, it's not likely to be played often, so the rules should be easy to understand quickly.
  3. Games should have low downtime and be scalable for different numbers of players. Everyone should be involved and able to play, and the game should work well whether you have three or seven players.

How Games Will Save the World (Again)

Donkeyspace • 1 HN point • 22 Jun 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Games
  1. Games have a unique ability to help us navigate crises by offering new ways of thinking beyond formal models.
  2. Art, including games, plays a significant role in shaping human values, perspectives, and cognition.
  3. Through games, we engage in problem-solving, skill-building, and self-modification, which can be beautiful, pleasurable, and essential for understanding complex concepts.

A hard way to make an easy living

Matt’s Five Points • 0 implied HN points • 26 Jul 10
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Emotion control is key in poker. Staying calm helps you make better decisions and avoid losing money.
  2. Playing at comfortable stakes is important. If you're worried about the money, it's harder to think clearly.
  3. Find joy in the game beyond just winning money. Enjoying the puzzles and challenges keeps you engaged and focused.

On Jim Joyce and this generation's Harvey Haddix...

Matt’s Five Points • 0 implied HN points • 03 Jun 10
🎾 Sports Games
  1. Perfect games are really exciting to watch and can turn a boring game into something thrilling. People will often go out of their way to watch every pitch of these games.
  2. The missed call by umpire Jim Joyce during Galarraga's near-perfect game is one of the most tragic moments in baseball history. Many think it marks the worst missed call in a regular season game.
  3. People might remember Galarraga's name for years, but it may not carry the same weight as Harvey Haddix's legendary 1959 performance. There’s a unique story about Haddix that adds to its memory.

Zoom games

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 04 Dec 20
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Predict where someone walking during a Zoom meeting will end up for a fun game that boosts meeting energy.
  2. Observe signs to tell if someone is paying attention in a Zoom meeting, like mismatched emotions or frequent video turning off.
  3. Notice private chats happening in Zoom by observing people's reactions and then publicly calling them out to see their response.

There's Math Behind Dobble

tbg/public • 0 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
🔬 Science Games
  1. Dobble game uses math with 55 cards having a single common symbol when paired.
  2. Having fewer symbols affects deck size in the game, leading to balanced card distribution.
  3. Dobble's structure is related to finite projective planes, creating a symmetrical large deck.

Calculating the Sharpness of Different Players

Chess Engine Lab • 0 implied HN points • 19 Apr 24
🎾 Sports Games
  1. The sharpness score can be used to assess chess players' gameplay, comparing their style and strategic decisions.
  2. To calculate a player's sharpness, looking at the change in sharpness after each move can help isolate individual performance.
  3. Analyzing sharpness in matches between players can provide insights into their contrasting styles and performance evolution over time.

Hate-heart

Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends • 0 implied HN points • 03 Nov 15
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. Trolling used to be more about humor and skill rather than harassment and meanness. We should bring back the art of clever trolling.
  2. In the social media world, there are unique individuals like Crosby Tailor who not only model but also sell cookies claimed to help burn fat.
  3. Playing digital games like Tetris might have lasting effects as some individuals see the game when they close their eyes, and scientists are still exploring the reasons behind this phenomenon.

Your own wikileak cable

Matt’s Five Points • 0 implied HN points • 20 Dec 10
🎭️ Culture Games
  1. The game 'Diplomacy' is special because winning relies more on negotiation than just strategy on the board. You have to really work with others to succeed.
  2. Playing the game online brings a new level of intrigue because all conversations happen through messages, making it feel more secretive and strategic.
  3. The online format allows for longer times between moves, which encourages deeper conversations and planning among players, enhancing the overall experience.