It’s a beautiful day outside... birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like this, kids like you should be reading up on some site news for April!

---

• 

  

Last month, we asked: How exactly was the world destroyed before the events of MOTHER 3? Our winning theory was from ltSkell, who explained that perhaps the Nowhere Islands might have once been.... the Nowhere Mountains? Read their submission here, and a big thanks to everyone who participated.

For April, we’ve got a new topic for you to dig your teeth into. Who’s been leaving all these present boxes around in EarthBound? There are no wrong answers in Theories! Whether it’s a gripping, emotional story or a comedic commentary, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Head over to this month’s thread here.

---

• 

  

Last month, Riddles were full of neck-and-neck battles for their respective first-place positions! Congratulations to LadyTe, HCchicken, and Lav-199x for winning UT/DR, M3, and M1 Riddles. If you want a nice badge like theirs, don’t be shy and submit some guesses!

This month, for the first time in a long time, we have Riddles for all MOTHER games and Undertale/Deltarune. We’re offering EarthBound Riddles, hosted by Ostricho, MOTHER Riddles, hosted by Lav-199x and Drake Inferno, MOTHER 3 Riddles, hosted by maximuspinpoint, Undertale/Deltarune Riddles, hosted by the [BIG SHOT] Spamton himself, and new “TV Riddles”, covering twentieth-century television, hosted by Tenna. There’s a prize with your name on it, if you’re willing to try!

---

• 

  

Great news! We can confirm that a new mafia game is in the pipeline. The upcoming game will be a nine-player “mini mafia” setup taking place in the world of EarthBound Beginnings. Ninten and his friends embark on a cabin trip in the woods, only to discover that something’s amiss. Will they be able to see through the illusions and find the truth in MOTHER: Apparitions?

Keep your eyes peeled for this new opportunity to play mafia in the near future. There won’t be many player slots available, so when signups appear in General Discussion, time will be of the essence. Questions? Send a PM to user Ultimate-Gamer or LadyTe.

---

• 

  

Catch new chapters of long-running series on our Writing board. In MOTHER: Origins, there’s trouble as the heroes cross the swamp leading to Ellay. Teddy’s lost his mind to the alien’s brainwashing signal, and in his stead, the kids will have to rely on the assistance of... Lloyd’s dad? Can this grown-up weakling help them fight their way through the bogs leading up to the sprawling metropolis?

Meanwhile, in EarthBound: Faraway Skies, a young girl named Wren teams up with Aloysius Minch to frame Ness for cheating in a professional baseball game. The stakes are high, but the good news is that you’ll be safe and sound as you read about these scenarios from the comfort of your own home.

---

• 

  

Last month’s prompt was Remembrance. From a blank to a blank, this month’s submissions were certainly ones to remember. Have a minute? Read over last month’s submissions, and if you feel so inspired, post your Review of someone else’s work. By doing so, you’ll work towards our time-honored Review Badge! You are welcome to review prompt posts, Theories submissions, any of our ongoing fanfiction series, and more. Click here to learn more about reviewing.

This month, Xedic Zyvis continues to host. The prompt is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. Feel inspired? Put pen to paper and share with us here!

---

• 

  

Keep an eye on the forum front page for a new board, because as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of MOTHER 3, a brand new funfest is soon to get started! For those of you scratching your head, a funfest is where we gather as a site to stream gameplay, submit fanworks, and earn prizes aplenty. More info will come out soon, but check out our Bluesky for some fun M3 facts leading up to the funfest.

Boots’ Avatar Frenzy continues! For those looking to get an avatar, head on over to the thread to earn your own! For those of you already holding an avatar, maybe it’s time for some spring cleaning and a fresh new avvie!

---

Do you feel like you or someone else accomplished something that should be featured in the Starmen.net newsletter? Please contact maximuspinpoint, Ostricho, or Xedic Zyvis with your suggestion for a potential future feature.

As always, we hope to see you around the forums this month. Catch you next month for another edition of the newsletter!

Brought to you by maximuspinpoint, Ostricho, and Xedic Zyvis.

Welcome back to the Starmen.net Newsletter! At this point, you already know what this is all about. So we won’t prattle — let’s leap right into our regularly scheduled news:

---

• 

  

Last month, we asked: What exactly was the technology that George stole from Giygas’s race? The winning entry goes to ItSkell, who provides an explanation that, surprisingly, relates to a hovering black crystal Ninten encounters at a specific tombstone. Read their deep dive here, and a big thanks to everyone who participated.

For March, we’ve got a new topic for you to dig your teeth into. Leder says that humans destroyed the world in MOTHER 3, but how exactly did they destroy it? Remember, there are no wrong answers in the Theories section. Give us a serious take on this topic, or spin a ridiculous yarn if that’s more your style. It’s up to you how you participate!

---

• 

  

Another month means more riddles and a fresh scoreboard for you to put your name on. Last month, LadyTe, HCchicken, and rakethelawn wiped the board in UT/DR, EB, and M3 Riddles, respectively. If you want to be this month’s winner, you’re in luck! For March, the site is offering Undertale/Deltarune Riddles, hosted by Tenna himself; MOTHER 3 Riddles, hosted by Ostricho; and EB Beginnings Riddles, hosted by Drake Inferno.

Here’s a special "trial" Undertale Riddle: “A smiling face / Or even cackling / This ambitious plant / Almost always attacking”. Think you know what it might be? Head on over and submit your guess for the "Newsletter Riddle" to score some points!

---

• 

  

After a month of excitement, Chopping Block has reached its conclusion — and what an ending! The town successfully hunted down two of the three mafia members. At that point, it was up to forum user PKFP to somehow stick the landing and outnumber the town. Against all odds, she pulled it off, emerging victorious from a battle among the last three players. She is now only the third in Starmen’s history to win as mafia in the final three. Because of this feat, PKFP walks away with a shiny new MVP badge.

Although Chopping Block is over, you can read the story and see how everything went down in the Mafia Archives. And keep your eyes peeled for new mafia games in the future! It’s only a matter of time before the next go-around is ready for sign-ups in General Discussion. Questions? Send a PM to user Ultimate-Gamer or LadyTe.

---

• 

  

The Writing board is ready to keep your eyes busy, too. In MOTHER: Origins, an EarthBound Beginnings novel on our Writing Board, Ninten and his friends have driven the alien invaders out of Youngtown and even had a telepathic episode with the Garrickson baby. Meanwhile, EarthBound: Faraway Skies — a series about two psychic kids and their Octobot buddy — returns after a hiatus! Both of these projects feature illustrations by the talented artist and forum user Zonsai.

Finally, why not swing by the PK Hack board and see what our resident ROM hackers have been cooking up? Though it’s a bit late for Valentine’s Day, love is still in the air when spring rolls around. May we suggest playing EpicSignal’s EarthBound Valentine's Day Hack? Help Ness deliver a lost Valentine’s card to Paula and figure out why Escargo Express deliveries have ground to a halt! If you need any help getting the hack set up, feel free to seek help on the PK Hack Board.

---

• 

  

This March, Monthly Prompt Posts returns! In this old Starmen.net tradition, you’re given a one-word prompt, and you’ll write a story, poem, essay, or article about the provided theme. It only takes a short while to participate, and by continuously submitting entries to this activity, you’ll eventually earn a snazzy badge. This month’s prompt is: Remembrance. To submit, head on over to this month’s thread.

We also want to encourage you to read and review other users’ submissions. By doing so, you’ll work towards our time-honored Review Badge! You are welcome to review prompt posts, Theories submissions, any of our ongoing fanfiction series, and more. Click here to learn more about reviewing.

---

• 

  

Avatar Czar Boots has an extra-special announcement: for a limited time, if you fulfill an avatar request over at the Fanvatar Thread, you’ll instantly earn the rights to your own avatar.

Normally, you need to fulfill four requests to earn these rights. This special event won’t last forever, so mosey on over and see what you can do. And if you already have avatar rights, now’s the time to request a new design!

---

That’s all this time, folks. Have a wonderful March, and we’ll see you when the next newsletter drops in the sunny month of April.

Brought to you by maximuspinpoint, Ostricho, and Xedic Zyvis.

Hey, folks, and welcome to the Starmen.net Newsletter, a new monthly publication giving you a glimpse of what’s happening on the site! Instead of beating around the bush, let’s leap right into things — starting with a few site activities.

---

• 

  

Theories returns as a monthly activity on the Writing board. That’s right — you have all month to write your theory and submit it. This February, your topic is: What exactly was the technology that George stole from Giygas’s race?

A lot of people still say that George “stole PSI” from the aliens, but is this really true? It’s ultimately up to you to give us your two cents! It can be short or long, and it can be goofy or serious. You can participate in Theories however you want! And when March 1 rolls around, you’ll get to see whose theory was selected as the winner. With multiple badges up for grabs, you won’t want to miss the return of this long-time Starmen.net activity. You can participate in Theories however you want, and winning gets you a groovy Octopus Badge!

---

• 

  

For the first time in a long time, you’ve got your choice between three different riddles games! If you have never played Riddles before, give it a whirl. It’s actually quite simple. You’ll be given clues in the form of rhyme, and you’ll need to figure out what character, setting, or other aspect of the game is being alluded to. Earn points, compete against forum-goers, and go for gold!

Swing by the MOTHER boards to play EarthBound Riddles (hosted by Drake Inferno) and MOTHER 3 Riddles (hosted by Ostricho). Or, visit the Undertale board and play Undertale/Deltarune Riddles, hosted by none other than Tenna himself. The winner of Riddles gets a neat badge, and you can jump in with a guess at any time, so give them a try!

---

• 

  

The time-honored tradition of Starmen.net mafia continues with Chopping Block. This twelve-player mafia game is down to the final three players. Watch the action unfold and follow the story of Chef Penneziti, the disgraced television host who can’t seem to keep his contestants from vacating the show en masse.

What makes mafia so exciting is that it’s a deduction game and full narrative rolled into a single package. So, whether you want to follow the in-fighting or just need something else to read, Chopping Block has something for you. More mafia games are in the works, so keep your eyes peeled for signups later this year, which will be posted in General Discussion.

Questions? Send a PM to user Ultimate-Gamer or LadyTe.

---

• 

  

Starmen.net remains a gathering place for talented individuals within the fandom. Discover eye-catching art in our MOTHER fan art thread. Or explore MOTHER: Origins, an EarthBound Beginnings adaptation on our Writing board, where Ninten and his friends are currently exploring Youngtown. With the psychic child Trip Garrickson missing and the town besieged by flying saucers, something needs to be done before the other children are swooped off the map.

And speaking of EarthBound Beginnings adaptations, follow the long-running MOTHER Remake project, aiming to reconstruct this classic game in the EarthBound engine. With over a decade of development history, this reconstruction has been eagerly awaited by generations of Starmen.net users. The hack is posed to finally reach completion this summer and will surely make waves through the MOTHER community.

---

And that’s all for this month’s newsletter! We hope to catch you next month, but until then, enjoy some time on the forums!

Brought to you by maximuspinpoint, Ostricho, and Xedic Zyvis.

Hello Starmen.netters! The holidays are coming, and to start them off right, here's a quick news roundup of everything happening on Starmen.net:

Forum user gdnspk performed a remarkable feat, successfully completing a NO-HIT RUN of EarthBound! You read that right: this wasn't just an ordinary challenge run; the name of the game was to not get hit even once! This incredible achievement naturally merits a well-earned reward. Check out the details of the run in the forum.

Bound to the Dark World, the much anticipated hack from Chromadeline and her team, has formally released! As stated in the original post, this hack is "[a]n Earthbound romhack that recreates Deltarune Chapter 1 in its entirety!" A true labor of love, this hack has been two years in the making and is now available to play. Give it a look!

The pumpkin carving contest has concluded, with our winning gourd belonging to KTPDREEMURR! Congratulations! Judge U-G had this to say: "Oh wow! Not only is the design VERY clean but I absolutely love the use of the scrap in the eyes and the strings hanging out of the mouth. Gives it a very striking look. Very creative; not something typically seen in an ordinary pumpkin carving." See the prizewinning pumpkin for yourself (and all of the other wonderful entries) in the thread.

And last, but certainly not least... the god of baseball steps up to the plate once more to challenge the good people of Starmen.net. Brush off your Mr. Baseball caps and equip your Casey bats as you face off against one of the most torturous trials we have to offer... an Adobe Flash game from the late aughts! Baseball is back, so give it your best--and perhaps win a prize. Be sure to post your progress in the thread!

_{Do not be fooled by the bright colors and beloved characters. Pooh's Home Run Derby is NOT for the faint of heart.}

See you all soon, and keep your eyes peeled for more events happening on Starmen.net!

2025 Starmen.net Carving Contest!

Hello Trick or Treat Kids and Smilin’ Sams alike! We’re proud to announce the 2025 Starmen.net Carving Contest!

Pick up a pumpkin (or another festive gourd of your choice; maybe a turnip if you wanna be traditional!) and show us your carving skills. Your design can be whatever you like, MOTHER-related or otherwise!

You can send in your pumpkin pictures either in the forum thread or in our discord server. We’ll pick the best pumpkin of the patch, and the winner will receive a badge of YOUR prize pumpkin! Send in those glamour shots by NOVEMBER 4th at 11:59 PM EST. Can’t wait to see your gorgeous gourds!

Hey sm.netters, the mods and staff have some bittersweet news concerning recent changes we have had to make to the forum.

If you've been using the forum lately you are probably already aware of the problem; overwhelming numbers of AI bots & web scrapers have been rendering our forum practically unusable, DDOS'ing us in slow motion as they vacuum up 20+ years of posting history...

In order to keep the site at least somewhat stable, we have unfortunately had to take drastic measures to protect the web server from these bots and have been forced to restrict forum access to members-only for an indefinite period of time. This was no one's preferred outcome, but the overwhelming deluge of bots slowed our server response times to a crawl; just posting a single comment was taking upwards of 1.5 minutes, and that's if the web servers didn't overload and prevent you from reading a thread entirely...

Our hope is to find a solution in the future that lets us reverse this change, and allows members and lurkers alike to read our forum just like the good old days of internet past. For the time being though, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for understanding.

AAAaAAAAAaaaaAAAAAAA

Is it true??? Have we returned????? We haven't had an outage like this in quite some time... I sincerely apologize if any of you were forced to postpone events, go outside, visit not-20-year-old-websites, or otherwise not hang around here for 3-4 days.

MOST IMPORTANTLY THOUGH

SOUND OFF IF YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!