I have already written about the tragic ending of PnP Arcade as a digital shop. The closing of its doors was a sad moment for the PnP hobby. For someone like me, who was a customer, it was quite the handy resource. However, it was an even bigger blow for PnP game designers. It was a place where they had a chance to get noticed in the vast and seemingly endless and definitely uncaring sea of the internet.
However, the dream of PnP Arcade isn't completely gone. It lives on as a weekly newsletter Substack, which has forced me to learn of the existence of Substack. Which has been a whole adventure in and of itself lol
This isn't the first PnP newsletter. For a while, there was a blog called Print and Play Games News on BGG that I actively followed. That was one handy resource but it was also a colossal amount of work to produce. I can scarcely blame its creator for hanging up their hat in 2020. Nothing lasts forever and there's no denying that it takes a lot of work to keep a PnP resource going.
The PnP Arcade newsletter comes out every Friday. There are articles about the PnP world, links to new products and crowdfunded games that are either PnP or have PnP options, and links to active creators. Plenty of links to itch io, which I am convinced to the Etsy of game developers.
And, no, it's not the same. A one-stop shopping space with a vast and varied catalog was a powerful resource. A newsletter is not going to offer as much.
However, as I said before, it is obvious that PnP Arcade was a labor of love and required a lot of labor. I also doubt it made much money (please prove me wrong) Having it for as long as we did was great. And a weekly newsletter is still a good thing and heaps better than nothing.
I'll be reading the PnP Arcade Newsletter on a regular basis and I hope it keeps on going for years to come.
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