September 20, 2026: Y'all May Enjoy This Quiz

You may be an English speaker. You may be in (or from) the United States¹. Even if both are true, there are lots of other English speakers from the United States who don't sound anything like you. And that's pretty neat – because you can use those regional variances to narrow down where you're from.

One such quiz can be found at New York Times. It's from 2013, but it came to my attention thanks to some discussion about a similar viral quiz making the rounds.

I thought more about how I speak after the handful of minutes it took me to participate in this quiz than I have in many moons. (How do I pronounce "caramel"?) Also, I'm pretty sure there are actually more than the 25 questions in the quiz, so if you take it multiple times, you'll probably get some different options each time.

Interestingly enough in my case, the pinpointing wasn't very accurate; it thought I was from Wisconsin . . . [more]

September 19, 2026: Sit, Uno, Sit . . . Good Dog

I can't control what my brain thinks. So when my cranial clump suddenly came up with the question of "What game names would also make good names for pets?" . . . well, what choice do I have but to share with you?

Then I imagined a cat christened Jenga, a ferret named after Scrabble, and – of course – any diminutive critter called Munchkin. I think a raven might even appreciate being bestowed the name Illuminati.

Personally, I tend to most associate pet names with what can I comfortably shout out when they're being naughty. I can see me yelling "Hacker!" from across the room, or beseeching Ogre not to make another mess.

If you have your own favorite game that's perfect to call a pet, I'd love to hear about it on the forums or privately – and that goes double if you actually did name your pet after a game. In the meantime, I need to go feed Gelatinous again today and ask if he knows . . . [more]

September 18, 2026: Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19!

Arrr! TLAP Day be comin' up soon. Not that ye scalawags needs ta hold off on yer piratey talk, if ye please an' I hopes ye does. But on the 19th of September it be mandatory.

We gots a bit of an early start here. The Talk Like A Pirate Sale already be runnin' on Warehouse 23. Ye can gets good deals on all our piratey games an' our purty ocean-themed dice ta boot.

We useta run up the pirate flag on our office flagpole every TLAP Day. Until some scurvy barsteds stole th' flagpole! No kidding. Cut it off at th' ground an' abscondified wif it. I hope it chokes 'em. So now we just goes ARR a lot an' hangs th' flag here at Wizard House (otherways knowed as th' Hotlanta office of th' Illuminati).

In other piratey news, ye should totally go over ta 9th Level Games an' check out our matey Irene's RPG, Scurvy Buggers. Even if they spelled her name wrong in th' credits. Th' life of . . . [more]

September 17, 2026: Tribes Online Play

Are you a fan of Tribes, the game about prehistoric humanity that I co-authored with Dr. David Brin?

Rejoice!

Kevin Mitcham has been developing an online version for quite some time . . . now he tells me, and I quote:

"The game is much nicer than it was:

http://kevinmitcham.com/tribes (with annoying cert error) and the same thing with a less friendly url https://profound-anabel-kevinmitcham-a2b7d84f.koyeb.app/ is ready for beta-testers . . ."

This is a group game – you'll need to drag some friends along. They'll like it. Feel free to use the forums to organize a tribe or two!

-- Steve Jackson

September 16, 2026: More Virtual Art For Your Real Gaming Inspiration

While taking a jog down memory lane with long-time GURPS contributor Matt Riggsby's recollection of the HTML era of Pyramid, I stumbled across another banger of a thread that he posted in response to a different Daily Illuminator entry. (Honestly, you could do worse than following Matt on Bluesky; his posts are well worth the cost of a free Bluesky account.)

In response to my chatting about the Van Gogh Museum's archival uploads, Matt notes in his thread that art archives are a great source of inspiration for games – including fantasy or otherworldly cultures. He provides some great pics from and links to his own go-to art sources – with a special shout-out to Europeana's art-source aggregation.

Tabletop RPGs are always hungry for fresh inspiration, and I heartily recommend that thread for a few more links to consider adding to one's artistic arsenal.

-- Steven Marsh

Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule

The Klingon commands the highest cork. September 20, 2026: Y'all May Enjoy This Quiz You may be an English speaker. You may be in (or from) the United States¹. Even if both are true, there are lots of other English speakers from the United States who don't sound anything like you. And that's pretty neat – because you can use those regional variances to narrow down where you're from. One such quiz can be found at New York Times. It's from 2013, but it came to my attention thanks to some discussion about a similar viral quiz making the rounds. I thought more about how I speak after the handful of minutes it took me to participate in this quiz than I have in many moons. (How do I pronounce "caramel"?) Also, I'm pretty sure there are actually more than the 25 questions in the quiz, so if you take it multiple times, you'll probably get some different options each time. Interestingly enough in my case, the pinpointing wasn't very accurate; it thought I was from Wisconsin . . . [more] September 19, 2026: Sit, Uno, Sit . . . Good Dog I can't control what my brain thinks. So when my cranial clump suddenly came up with the question of "What game names would also make good names for pets?" . . . well, what choice do I have but to share with you? Then I imagined a cat christened Jenga, a ferret named after Scrabble, and – of course – any diminutive critter called Munchkin. I think a raven might even appreciate being bestowed the name Illuminati. Personally, I tend to most associate pet names with what can I comfortably shout out when they're being naughty. I can see me yelling "Hacker!" from across the room, or beseeching Ogre not to make another mess. If you have your own favorite game that's perfect to call a pet, I'd love to hear about it on the forums or privately – and that goes double if you actually did name your pet after a game. In the meantime, I need to go feed Gelatinous again today and ask if he knows . . . [more] September 18, 2026: Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19! Arrr! TLAP Day be comin' up soon. Not that ye scalawags needs ta hold off on yer piratey talk, if ye please an' I hopes ye does. But on the 19th of September it be mandatory. We gots a bit of an early start here. The Talk Like A Pirate Sale already be runnin' on Warehouse 23. Ye can gets good deals on all our piratey games an' our purty ocean-themed dice ta boot. We useta run up the pirate flag on our office flagpole every TLAP Day. Until some scurvy barsteds stole th' flagpole! No kidding. Cut it off at th' ground an' abscondified wif it. I hope it chokes 'em. So now we just goes ARR a lot an' hangs th' flag here at Wizard House (otherways knowed as th' Hotlanta office of th' Illuminati). In other piratey news, ye should totally go over ta 9th Level Games an' check out our matey Irene's RPG, Scurvy Buggers. Even if they spelled her name wrong in th' credits. Th' life of . . . [more] September 17, 2026: Tribes Online Play Are you a fan of Tribes, the game about prehistoric humanity that I co-authored with Dr. David Brin? Rejoice! Kevin Mitcham has been developing an online version for quite some time . . . now he tells me, and I quote: "The game is much nicer than it was: http://kevinmitcham.com/tribes (with annoying cert error) and the same thing with a less friendly url https://profound-anabel-kevinmitcham-a2b7d84f.koyeb.app/ is ready for beta-testers . . ." This is a group game – you'll need to drag some friends along. They'll like it. Feel free to use the forums to organize a tribe or two! -- Steve Jackson September 16, 2026: More Virtual Art For Your Real Gaming Inspiration While taking a jog down memory lane with long-time GURPS contributor Matt Riggsby's recollection of the HTML era of Pyramid, I stumbled across another banger of a thread that he posted in response to a different Daily Illuminator entry. (Honestly, you could do worse than following Matt on Bluesky; his posts are well worth the cost of a free Bluesky account.) In response to my chatting about the Van Gogh Museum's archival uploads, Matt notes in his thread that art archives are a great source of inspiration for games – including fantasy or otherworldly cultures. He provides some great pics from and links to his own go-to art sources – with a special shout-out to Europeana's art-source aggregation. Tabletop RPGs are always hungry for fresh inspiration, and I heartily recommend that thread for a few more links to consider adding to one's artistic arsenal. -- Steven Marsh Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule		Latest Videos You are the 1294th superior mutant here today. (33482047 since August 1, 1995)