Blog
Things I'm building, playing, and figuring out
Writing on board game rules, building small apps solo, and making technology that respects the person using it.
I'm Autumn. Right now most posts are about board game rules and building Rule Referee. As I make new things, they'll show up here too.
Latest posts
What Happens When You Roll a 7 in Catan? Hand Limits and Robber Rules Explained
Rolled a 7 in Catan? Everyone over 7 cards discards half first, then the robber moves, then you steal one card. Here is the exact order and the edge cases groups argue about.
Why I Didn't Build Rule Referee with AI
An experiment with two memory structures, the research on RAG hallucination rates, and why a rules app needs verified answers instead of generated ones.
What Happens When Your Game Night Stalls Over a Rules Argument?
A cabin in the Black Hills, no signal, and a Betrayal haunt nobody could decode. One confusing night can be the last impression a great game makes.
Why Don't People Play Board Games More Often?
65% of Americans like board games, but most rarely play one. The data points to a friction problem publishers can actually solve.
How Do You Play Sushi Go?
Fast, chaotic, and someone is always annoyed by the end. A plain-English walkthrough of the card game that almost broke up my family lake trip.
Why Can't I En Passant? The Chess Rule Explained in Plain English
Pawn disappear sideways? Think the computer cheated? Here is the exact en passant rule in 30 seconds, including the one turn limit most beginners miss.
The Story Behind Rule Referee
How a non-coder built an App Store app because nobody at game night could remember the rules.
Rule Referee Was Built to Be Safe, Not Just Smart
It started with Mexican Train. A rulebook that came out more than the dominoes did. And a question I couldn't stop thinking about.
How I Designed Rule Referee's Engine Around Human Thought
A look at the four-layer engine behind Rule Referee: semantic memory, intent normalization, deterministic retrieval, and clarification. Built to be consistent, not clever.
Got a rules question right now?
Rule Referee answers rules questions for 65 board games, works offline, and doesn't guess. 5 games are free.