Do I like game design? Yes, indie'd! A podcast of bitesize interviews with indie tabletop roleplaying game creators about their work and game design theory & practice. Releases every two weeks.
You can support this show on Patreon!In this episode, we talk to Luke Jordan aka Wildwood Games, a queer non-binary game designer, writer, editor, performer, and professional GM. Their own games often combine a poetic sensibility, spooky themes, high emotion, and light mechanics. They've contributed to games like Girl by Moonlight published by Evil Hat and Koriko and The Slow Knife by Mouse House Press. Today, we're talking about two of their games that were crowdfunded in a double-barrel campaign with Possum Creek Games in late 2023. Grand Guignol, a second version of their game of queer gothic horror, and Harvest, a brand new folk horror set on some unnamed British isle. Harvest / Grand Guignol on Backerkit: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/jay-dragon/grand-guignol-harvest Wild Wood Games on itch: https://gamesfromthewildwood.itch.io/harvest Luke Jordan on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wildwoodsgames.bsky.social Show Notes:The Picture of Dorian GrayDraculaJekyll and HydeFrankensteinPenny DreadfulThe Wickerman The Apostle (2018)Blood on Satan's ClawWitchfinder GeneralWoodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (documentary)MidsommarThe Dark Is Rising by Susan CooperGames MentionedApocalypse WorldDream Askew/Dream ApartWanderhomeStonetop (with annotated actual play)If you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon!Spoilers for Andor S2 from 04:30 to 10:30Spoilers for Rogue One all through the episodeIn this episode, I speak to Jess Levine. She is a teacher, organizer, writer and game designer. She publishes RPGs under the label, Jumpgate Games. Her work includes I Have the High Ground—a game of "banter, posturing, and capes"—and her satirical military scifi game PLANET FIST. Today we'll be talking about going rogue 2e, an award-winning game of war, rebellion, and sacrifice.Galactic & Going Rogue's crowdfunding campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/galacticgoingrogue/galactic-and-going-rogue-two-ttrpgs-of-war-among-the-stars?ref=97zzps Jess Levine's bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jessfrom.online Show Notes:A More Civilized Age's actual playGuide to the BDS BoycottAA Voigt's video about Going RogueGramsci?Roleplay Public Radio actual playGames Mentionedhook, line & cyb3r by wicked glitch gamesA Quiet Year by Avery AlderDream Askew/Dream Apart by Avery Alder and Benjamin RosenbaumIf you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon!In this episode, I speak to Navaar Seik-Jackson who is a game designer, writer, and the host of the Secret Nerd and other podcasts. Navaar makes action drama games — his The Last of Us inspired survival game, The Corrupted, is published by Plus One Exp through their Zine Club programme. You can listen to a lovingly produced actual play of the game called The Ties That Bind run by Navaar on the Secret Nerd podcast. He's currently working on Soothwardens, a diceless monster-hunting game of warriors eternally bound together.Navaar's itch page: https://navaarsnp.itch.io/The Secret Nerd podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/secret-nerd-podcast/id1576080929 Show Notes:Rowan Zeoli talks about The Corrupted on PolygonTransplanar, actual play showBloodhounds, TV ShowCastlevania and Castlevania NocturneGames MentionedGodkiller by Connie ChungIf you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon!In this episode, I speak to Paul Czege, a game designer with a deep catalogue that is hard to pin down. An article on RPG.net from 2009 reads "Paul himself defies any sort of easy classification" . It continues, "Depending on your viewpoint, Paul is either one of the most prolific of the Gaming Outpost/Forge designers or one of the least. Also, depending on you how look at it, his best contribution lies in a single game (the still popular My Life With Master) or in the thought and effort he has put into the hobby of role playing and the practice of game design." Apart from LWM for which he won the Diana Jones Award in 2004, he also designed the melancholic minotaur game, The Clay That Woke. Recently, he's been writing about solo journalling games, publishing two zines, The Ink That Bleeds and Inscapes about how to play them, as well as some actual games including the Balsam Lake Unmurders, about catching a necromancer in Minnesota who keeps bringing people back to life, which is crowdfunding on Kickstarter.Paul Czege's itch page: https://paulczege.itch.io/ The Balsam Lake Unmurders on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/252728880/the-balsam-lake-unmurders Show Notes:Mosaic StrictThe interview on the Indie Game Reading ClubCarl Jung, The Red BookClose Encounters of the Third KindM John Harrison's ViriconiumGames MentionedEarthdawnThe Clay That WokeThe Ink That BleedsInscapesTraverser (unreleased)Earth Mother, Sky FatherA Viricorne GuideIf you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon!In this episode, I'm talking to Viditya Voleti, a game designer and interactive artist. He's a visiting instructor at the Pratt Institute in NYC. He's freelanced for Paizo, Possum Creek Games, Evil Hat, and RRD. His own tabletop designs include vampire cowboy game, Bloodbeam Badlands, GMless optimistic scifi game, Space Between Stars (forthcoming from Possible Worlds Games), and A Land Once Magic, a post fantasy worldbuilding game currently crowdfunding on Backerkit.Viditya's itch page: https://vidityavoleti.itch.io A Land Once Magic on Backerkit: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/moreblueberries/a-land-once-magic?ref=yesindied Show Notes:Action Button Reviews Tokimeki Memorial (6 hour video essay)Kekkai Sensen // Blood Blockade Battlefront (anime)The original post coining the term Fruitful Void by Vincent Baker++ Here's a good Levi Kornelsen article about whether D&D has oneLudonarrative DissonanceGames MentionedIthaca in the Cards by Aaron Lim, crowdfunding on Kickstarter Free from the Yoke (Legacy) by Mina McJandaIf you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon!In this episode, I'm talking to Gabriel Robinson, a writer and game designer. He's the lead writer on the Silt Verses, an RPG published by the Gauntlet press adapted from the hit audio series. He's contributed to a number of other Gauntlet publications like Trophy, Brindlewood Bay, and more. Through his own imprint Glowing Roots press, he's published Token, a two-player tragic fantasy game, and Candlelight, a GM-less game of lost spirits revisiting their final moments. His games often have a folk horror aesthetic, dark and mysterious but usually stopping shy of macabre.Gabriel's website: https://glowingroots.carrd.co/Gabriel's bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glowingroots.bsky.social Show Notes:The Silt Verses, horror-fantasy podcastThe Dark Is Rising by Susan CooperGames MentionedSilt Verses RPGThe Wassailing of Claus ManorIf you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon!In this episode, I'm joined by Caro Asercion, who is an interdisciplinary artist, game designer, and theatre person. They do a lot of work in theatre as a dramaturg and producer of various kinds. In games, they're best known for im sorry did you say street magic, a game of cities and their secrets, based on the classic world building game, Microscope. They've also co-designed supplemental material for Beam Saber with Rufus Roswell, coining the mantra, "bangers only", which was all about how much a precise and skillful use of language gives to game design. Last year, they released Last Train To Bremen, a 4 player game of doomed musicians trying to outrun a deal they made with the devil.Caro's itch.io page: https://seaexcursion.itch.io/ Show Notes:Chase Carter's review of Last Train to BremenArticle about all the Rascals playing the gameCheap Bots Done QuickGames MentionedCJ Linton's Prince of Nothing Good (unreleased, work in progress)Space Between Stars by Viditya VoletiIf you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon! On this episode, I'm joined by Levi Kornelsen, previously known as Amagi Games. He is a Canadian designer who's been part of the scene for a long time. He's designed a bunch of games like the Schema framework and the recent Saints of the Empty Throne but is probably best known for his RPG theory, such as the essential Manyfold Glossary. He's a big open source advocate and most of his work is distributed for free under a creative commons license. Everything he writes on his itch page is worth reading for designers looking for language and tools to diagnose or just better understand what it is exactly they're doing. Blog: https://levikornelsen.wordpress.com/ Itch store: https://levikornelsen.itch.io/ Show Notes: Praxic Compendium (by Levi Kornelsen) Manyfold by (Levi Kornelsen) Rec.games.frp.advocacy rpg.net The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust (novel) Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell (novel) Games Mentioned (Too many to list them all) Saints of the Empty Throne Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple The Whispering Vault League and Fathom Castle Falkenstein Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast Under Hollow Hills If you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
You can support this show on Patreon! On this episode, I'm joined by Meguey Baker. She's the designer of PsiRun and 1001 Nights, published under her label, Night Sky Games. She's also the co-designer of Apocalypse World, which started the fundamental Powered by the Apocalypse design movement. She wrote the influential Fair Games blog with Emily Care Boss for many years. She's a textile conservation specialist who works with museums, a quilter, a trained sex ed teacher, and a breast cancer survivor. Meguey and Vincent Baker's patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lumpley Blog: https://lumpley.games Itch store: https://lumpley.itch.io/ Show Notes: Children's Books Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran and Barbara Cooney (read aloud) Dragon Scales and Willow Leaves by Terry L Givens (read aloud) A Hole Is To Dig by Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak (read aloud) Once Upon A Pirate Ship by Mircea Vasiliu Games The Old, The Cold and the Bold by Whitney Delaglio / Little Wish Productions If you liked this podcast, check out the weekly Indie RPG Newsletter
Bonus episode, where guests from across the year chime in with games they've played that they loved and want to talk about. Games mentioned: Hannah Shaeffer recommends The Beast Evan Rowland recommends Usagi Yojimbo Quinns recommends World Wide Wrestling Aaron King recommends Saga of the Icelanders Max Lander recommends Blood Feud Graham Walmsley recommends Lumberjills Sidney Icarus recommends Bump in the Dark jay dragon recommends Last Train to Bremen Tom McGrenery recommends Wolves Upon the Coast Mint recommends Bones Deep, Moth-light and Spectaculars Aaron Voigt recommends Subway Runners Huffa recommends here there be monsters and many other games B Marsollier recommends Anamnesis J Strautman recommends Rom Com Drama Bomb MV Soumithri recommends Stonetop Zoheb Mashiur recommends After the Mind, the World Again Marsh Davies recommends No-tell Motel Jim Rossignol recommends Agon
You can support this show on Patreon! On this episode, I'm joined by Quinns from Quinns Quest as we look back on the last year together. Show Notes: Rascal News Indie RPG Newsletter Quinns mentioned Mythic Bastionland, Good Society, Public Access, The Siltverses, Blood Borg Thomas mentioned Hearts of Wulin and its expansion, Numberless Secrets Also: Draw Steel, Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast, Triangle Agency Jubensha video on People Make Games Street Fighter RPG from White Wolf Mothership Month Stream where Matt Colville talks about sending Quinns' Draw Steel Cain and the week that was all Tom Bloom Reach out at thomas by writing to notrueindian at outlook.com
On this episode, I talk to Marsh Davies and Jim Rossignol. Jim was the co-founder of videogaming website Rock Paper Shotgun, where he worked for many years. He's also the author of This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities. Now, he does things like write the Ludocrats with Kieron Gillen and develop indie games through his company, Big Robot. Marsh is a writer and illustrator who has written about video games at RPS and PCGamer and was former head of creative writing at Minecraft developer Mojang. He's also part of the Crate & Crowbar, a weekly PC gaming podcast, that has more than 400 episodes and we can all agree might be too many. Their itch page: https://teethrpg.itch.io/ You can support this show on Patreon!
On this episode, I speak to Elliot Davis, an artist, podcaster and, game designer. He's one of the co-founders of Many Sided Media, a podcast production company behind shows like My First Dungeon, Bitcherton and Talk of the Table. His games include Rom Com Drama Bomb and solo timetravel game, Project Ecco. He's currently crowdfunding his latest game, The Time We Have, a tragic game about two brothers, one of whom is slowly but inevitably turning into a zombie. Show Notes: 03:09 - The Time We Have: brothers, using a door as immersion, and other design tweaks 18:00 - Becoming a full-time games person 37:40 - Infectious Enthusiasm: They Came To Play Ball by Adira Slattery 38:50 - Tyranny of Numbers 40:53 - RePlay 43:22 - All Advice is Advice For Myself You can support this show on Patreon!
You can support this podcast on patreon! On this episode, I talk to MV Soumithri and Zoheb Mashiur who are cast members of Desperate Attune, a Blades in the Dark actual play set in Uduasha, a Middle Eastern/South Asian inspired alternative to Duskwall. They've now released a free supplement called Sunmirror, which brings a re-imagined city of gods and magic to the table.
You can support this podcast on patreon! On this episode, we talk to J Strautman and B Marsollier. J Strautman is a bass player, composer, sound designer, game designer, and podcaster. B Marsollier is an illustrator, voice over artist, game designer, podcaster and former antique rug salesperson. They are the co-DMs of the D&D actual play podcast, Planet Arcana. The podcast is fully sound designed and scored with original music by J. Last year, 2023, Planet Arcana received 9 nominations at the New Jersey and Minnesota Webfests, winning 3 awards, 2 for “Best D&D Actual Play” and 1 for “Best GM”. They're about to launch their crowdfunding campaign for their newest game, A Fool's Errand, a tarot-based game of being fools, dealing with gods, becoming who you are, and saving the world from a second Big Oops. Show notes: 03:24 - Introduction to the game and its podcast roots 10:55 - Using tarot to build a meddling pantheon 18:57 - Making a fool in Fool's Errand 35: 14 - The setting of the game and the campaign 40:01 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Anamnesis, Rom Com Drama Bomb 42:28 - Tyranny of Numbers 49:58 - RePlay 52:21 - All Advice is Advice for Myself
Support this show! On this episode, I talk to Ara Winter, who has spent the last few years playing old and out of print tabletop games. What did he learn from this? Let's find out! Show Notes: 05:03 - Ara's antique gaming 19:14 - Discussing Bifrost (1977) 33:55 - Discussing Shadowrun 2nd Edition (1992) 48:58 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Fantasy Medieval Campaigns 50:14 - Tyranny of Numbers 52:08 - RePlay 54:18 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support this show! Aaron Voigt is a writer, game designer, podcaster and critic. You can find his video essays about tabletop games like They Took Our War, Heart, & Spire on his YouTube channel AA Voigt. He has two podcasts: one discussing Christian media called Bible Boys and one discussing sometimes-bad media called Mortified: The Friendship Quest. He's a first reader for Khoreo Magazine, an ignyte winning and Hugo nominated magazine for speculative fiction from immigrant and disapora authors. Today we'll be talking about his game Detente for the Ravenous which is based on a to-be self-published fantasy novel of the same name. You can check out the game and the novel here Show Notes: 02:27 - All about the novel 12:27 - Adapting the novel into a game 16:29 - Digression into history of Christianity in India 20:00 - Religious and monstrous themes in the novel 28:34 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Subway Runners 29:56 - Tyranny of Numbers 31:44 - RePlay 33:02 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support this show! Huffa is a game designer and art historian. You can find her work at: https://huffa.itch.io/ Between the Skies @ Exalted Funeral Show Notes: 03:06 - Introducing Between the Skies 11:50 - Working with Exalted Funeral 15:45 - The joys of playing without systems 40:00 - How does this relate to old school d&d? 48:63 - Art history and RPGs 54:42 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Wanderhome, here there be monsters 57:41 - Tyranny of Numbers 59:28 - RePlay 1:03:18 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support this show! Joshua McCrowell is the designer of new tarot-based dungeoncrawler His Majesty The Worm, published by Exalted Funeral. He's also the current editor of Knock Magazine, the OSR focused anthology zine that has quickly became a fan favourite, and a blogger at riseupcomus.blogspot.com where he talks about everything from how to adapt tolkien in games to what makes a good social encounter. Show Notes: 02:22 - Running a game for 8 years 05:39 - Dungeoncrawling in 2024 16:46 - The design of His Majesty The Worm 36:13 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Vermis, Black Sword Hack and Valley of Flowers 38:14 - Tyranny of Numbers 42:05- All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support this show! Mint is an rpg designer and blogger from New Foundland, Canada. She runs There's a TTRPG For That, an rpg recommendation blog on tumblr, which has lists for all kinds from the general to the very specific, "games that are grunge" to "two player games" to "games where you don't need to write anything down". She's currently working on a game called Protect the Child, a game of monster babysitters, that is equal parts comedy and queer found family. You can find the Protect the Child playtest server here. Show Notes: 02:53 - Getting started with Lady Blackbird 10:18 - RPG scene on tumblr 17:03 - Protect the Child's themes 26:44 - Protect the Child's design 39:09 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Bones Deep, Mothlight, Spectaculars 42:07 - Tyranny of Numbers 44:38 - Re:Play 45:59 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show! Prismatic Wasteland aka WF Smith is the prolific blogger behind prismaticwasteland.com and the creator / writer of Ennie award winning fantasy adventure, Barkeep on the Borderlands. He's also running a game jam where participants create their own pub or tavern, which is live as this episode comes out and runs until August 15th 2024. Show Notes: 02:02 - Producing Barkeep on the Borderlands 10:03 - The design of the adventure 16:41 - Good random encounters and tracking time 25:60 - The political side to the adventure 34:19 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Vampire Cruise by Amanda Lee Franck 35:56 - Tyranny of Numbers 39:43 - Re:Play 41:59 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show! Tom McGrenery is an RPG writer and translator from Hong Kong, who publishes under the banner, Porcupine Publishing. He's contributed to products like Feng Shui and Night's Black Agents as well as designed his own games like his hack of the Drama System featuring brazilian layabouts and swashbucklers, Malandros. In 2020, he translated and published the Brazilian rpg, the Elephant and Macaw Banner. He's also the co-host of the long running podcast, Fear of a Black Dragon. Show Notes: 07:48 - One Shot Saturday in Hong Kong 12:09 - Fantasy Non-fiction 19:41 - Revolution Comes To The Kingdom 31:10 - Games about war 36:45 - More RCTK 46:36 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Wolves Upon The Coast 55:11 - Tyranny of Numbers 57:04 - RePlay 58:26 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show! Jay Dragon is a queer disabled game designer behind such games as summer camp horror game, Sleepaway and the pastoral fantasy indie darling, Wanderhome. Jay is the editorial director at Possum Creek Games. As of publishing this episode, they print version of Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast has come out. It's a project of immense scope and skill that is clearly full of love and artistry. Show Notes: 05:14 - Introducing Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast and how it started with specific characters 15:02 - The three elements of the game 20:36 - Chapters as self-contained games 31:15 - Characters arcs or journeys 44:40 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Last Train to Bremen by Caro Asercion 45:51 - Tyranny of Numbers 47:23 - RePlay 49:36 - All Advice is Advice for Myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Because of some travel, instead of an interview, something from the patreon feed makes it way into the main feed. This is a round-up of 2023's answers to the question, "What is something you're trying to do better at the gaming table?" Enjoy!
Support the show! On this week's episode, I talk to Sidney Icarus, a game designer of, among other things, the scifi horror game, Decaying Orbit, published by Storybrewers Roleplaying, which won the 2023 ARPIA Game of the Year. But I first heard of them as the fantastic host of the now-concluded Hard Move, a wonderful podcast where every episode, Sidney and a guest analysed one move from a PbtA game. Show Notes: 03:12 - RPG Descriptivist 14:49 - The "Who Says What When" Framework 22:06 - What is Action Paths? 32:04 - Analyzing Decaying Orbit using Action Paths 1:08:46 - Sidney's next game: The Most Dangerous Game 1:12:03 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Bump in the Dark 1:13:50 - Tyranny of Numbers 1:16:50 - RePlay 1:18:14 - All advice is advice for myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show! On today's show, we're talking ship with Sebastian Yue, a game designer, writer, and editor. Apart from their own self-published games and DMs Guild modules, They work full-time at Hit Point Press which is best known for various very succesful third party D&D 5e products like Heckna and Humblewood. They've also contributed as a designer to some wonderful projects like Apocalypse Keys, Cloud Empress, ennie-award winning Uncaged Goddesses anthology, and the currently in-progress official Tomb Raider RPG. Show Notes 04:18 Getting started with game design 15:18 Working full-time at Hitpoint Press 22:10 Being in both the D&D and indie game communities 24:15 All about editing: style guides & more 29:50 Future plans 34:07 Advice for aspiring game designers 36:56 Infectious Enthusiasm: Ingkit by Pukepeku Games 38:15 Tyranny of Numbers: Annual earnings 42:15 RePlay 43:43 All Advice is Advice for Myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show! Today, we're talking to Graham Walmsley, the celebrated game designer behind tabletop RPGs like Cthulhu Dark and A Taste for Murder, larps like Will That Be All, and lovecraftian scenarios for games like Trail of Cthulhu. He's also the author of two non-fiction books called Stealing Cthulhu about telling lovecraftian stories and Play Unsafe about techniques for being a better player of tabletop games. This year, he's got two new games out, Cosmic Dark, a sequel to Cthulhu Dark about corporate employees in space, and Darkenwood, a GM-less game about a nightmarish forest. Show Notes: 01:41 Introducing Graham 03:07 Starting with Lovecraft 12:08 What is weird fiction? 16:55 All the cool stuff in Cosmic Dark 26:24 Rules, advice, setting 39:22 Infectious Enthusiasm: Lumberjills by Moira Turkington 41:50 Tyranny of Numbers 43:44 RePlay 46:25 All Advice is Advice for Myself The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support this show! This week, we're talking to Nico MacDougall and returning guest Tan Shao Han about The Awards, an alternative tabletop RPG awards project. Show Notes: 03:56 Introductions 13:31 Being a judge 16:09 The process of picking a winner 21:30 Who should be a judge? 25:36 Infectious Enthusiasm 27:59 Tyranny of Numbers: Breaking down submissions to the Awards 31:02 All Advice is Advice for Myself
Support this show! Today we're talking to Max and Aaron from RTFM. Maxwell Lander is a game designer, photographer, visual artist, and also musician with an album of dungeon synth. Aaron King is a game designer whose works including Patchwork World Sixth Edition. They are both the co-hosts of RTFM, an RPG book club podcast. Show Notes: [00:02:49] Why start an RPG bookclub podcast? [00:14:43] What each person brings to the table [00:28:47] Critiquing RPGs as an artform [00:41:24] Infectious Enthusiasm: Sagas of the Icelanders, Bloodfeud [00:45:03] Tyranny of Numbers [00:50:08] RePlay [00:53:13] All Advice is Advice For Myself: Prep more, be less? Other Links: It's up to you really, an all vtuber actual play of Patchwork World
Support the show! Today, we're talking to Quintin Smith aka Quinns, who has been reviewing boardgames for more than a decade with the iconic show, Shut Up and Sit Down. Then about 3 years ago, Quintin joined People Make Games to cover everything from Roblox's relationship to child labour to the battle for ownership and control of Disco Elysium, from the revival of kabaddi in India to phenomenon that is jubensha in china. Now, he's gone and started Quinns Quest, a new youtube channel to review tabletop roleplaying games that feels like a lot like that one weird show where William Riker from Star Trek looked at the camera and asked us if we believed in ghosts. Don't worry, listeners, we're going to ask the question on everyone's mind: why? Show Notes: [00:02:00] What makes a good review? [00:08:02] Horror versus Tension: one of the challenges of reviewing RPGs [00:16:12] Would you ever do a bad review? [00:23:22] Why playing games are vital for reviews [00:40:44] Infectious Enthusiasm: World Wide Wrestling by Nathan Paoletta [00:43:26] Tyranny of Numbers: Youtube drop-off [00:45:12] Replay [00:50:31] All Advice is Advice For Myself: Use your hands? Other references: I mentioned an article by Quinn Murphy which talks about promises, consistency and economy, you can find that here If you liked this podcast, you'll probably love the Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show! On this episode, we have Hannah Schaffer and Evan Rowland, the two creators behind indie game design outfit, turtlebun. They've published games like Questlandia, Noirlandia, Damn the man save the music, Mud: a golem memoir, and many more. You can find more about those games at turtlebun.com. Evan and Hannah also co-host a podcast called Design Doc , which is in their own words, about "trying to make a living as people putting things out in the world". If you read any reviews of that show, you'll hear it being described with words like honest, vulnerable, caring, friendly. It's one of my favourite podcasts in the world and you should listen to it. Then, you can too get vulnerable insights into the daily practice of being a game designer and you can also learn that Carrie Fisher once overtweezed Hannah's mom eyebrows at a workshop. Follow them on Instagram Show Notes: 02:46 Getting started (Evan reinvents microtransactions) 09:07 Going from making big things to making medium-small things 11:30 Getting deep with Design Doc 25:00 What is collaboration and how do you even do it? 36:25 Infections Enthusiasm: The Beast and Usagi Yojimbo 39:40 Tyranny of Numbers 43:46 RePlay 45:33 All Advice Is Advice For Myself Some of my personal greatest hits from Design Doc : Burnout A Cat in the Lap and Other Good Things The Work of Games is Not Just Making Games The Games You Want To Make The Life You Want To Live
A guest episode on the feed today as I share with you something from the folks over at Playing at the Hearth, the podcast from the Open Hearth gaming community. It's a nice, welcoming online place where people from all over the place get together and play games. It's like having access to a convention all year round. If you'd like to join, head over to their website. This episode has members of the community sharing their favourite games played in 2023. Lot of cool games mentioned and I add my 2 cents at the very end but I also got to play in two campaigns mentioned by other people which was Capitalites and Nahual.
Support the show on PatreonIn this round-up episode for 2023, every single one of my guests sounds off about one game that they want to recommend to you![00:02:05] Judd Karlmann recommends Into the Odd, The Between, and As The Sun Forever Sets [00:05:55] Lowell Francis recommends Eclipse Phase 2nd Edition [00:08:27] Jahmal Brown recommends Legacy: Life Among The Ruins 2nd Edition[00:12:05] Indrani Ganguly recommends Alice is Missing, Blase Monotony, and Bubble Bubble [00:13:55] Tan Shao Han recommends The Nightmares Underneath [00:17:07] Fiona Hopkins and Stephanie Burt recommend Wool of Bat and Monsterhearts [00:20:20] Paul Beakley recommends a|state and Fellowship [00:24:08] Becky Annison recommends Escape from Tentacle City [00:27:38] Emily Friedman recommends The Quiet Year [00:29:46] Chris Chinn recomends Errant [00:31:58] Josh Fox recommends Microscope and Microscope Union [00:35:23] Evan Torner recommends PrismListen to the other round-up episodes of 2023 on the Yes Indie'd patreon!Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonEvan Torner is the Associate Professor of German Studies and Film / Media Studies at University of Cincinnati. He's the Director, UC Game Lab and has a co-edited volume (with William J. White) entitled Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Role-Playing and Participatory Media. He's also co-founder and one of the editors at Analog Game Studies, which has been publishing research into RPGs and larps for more than ten years, and the Golden Cobra Challenge, which is a larp competition. He's a lifelong game master and a game designer and larpwright including his freeform scenario “Metropolis” was nominated for an award at Fastaval.Show Notes:[00:02:38] Starting out as a GM[00:10:02] Railroading Is Good Actually[00:22:20] Actor stance is "commercially default, not culturally default"[00:29:43] Where do tabletop RPGs stand in game studies?[00:39:55] Game design as media analysis[00:45:19] Infectious Enthusiasm: Prism by Whitney Delaglio[00:46:54] Tyranny of Numbers[00:49:17] RePlay[00:51:21] All Advice Is Advice For Myself Transcript of the entire episode can be found here.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonThe is the second in a series of special episodes meant to teach some of my favourite indie RPGs. Tune in to hear Andrew Gillis, designer of the stunning Girl by Moonlight. In Girl by Moonlight, you play a group of magical girls resisting an oppressive society. It explores the heartbreak of denying who you really are, and the transcendent power of relationships and community. It's one of the best games to come out of the lineage of Blades in the Dark and will undoubtedly inspire a slew of games in its own right. You can learn more on the Evil Hat website or on the Backerkit page. Transcript of the entire episode can be found here.Chapter Markers:[00:05:32] Introduction to Girl by Moonlight, Series Creation, [00:11:12] Character Creation: Playbook, Roles, Backgrounds [00:18:24] Character Creation: Obligation, Actions, Attributes, Promises [00:35:29] Cycle of Plays, Obligation Phase [00:46:46] Downtime Phase [00:49:49] Mission Phase, Engagement Roll, Action Roll, Position/Effect, Resistance Roll [01:16:57] Fallout, Campaign TracksSupport the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonJosh Fox is the award-winning designer of Flotsam: Adrift Amongst The Stars and Last Fleet. He's the co-designer of the highly influential GMless mystery game, Lovecraftesque alongside Becky Annison. And the two of them together run Black Armada Publishing, a UK-based publisher which has been putting out inventive roleplaying games for more than a decade. Josh is also the editor and cast member of Black Armada Tales, an actual play podcast that features a bunch of different indie games.Lovecraftesque 2e is crowdfunding on BackerKit right now.Show Notes:04:18 - How Black Armada Began (2012)08:17 - Lovecraftesque (2015)25:34 - Lovecraftesque in Italian + Blacklight/UV Artwork30:10 - Gaps in releases (2015-2017) 33:16 - Flotsam (2018)41: 41 - Collaborations + Bite Marks (2019)45:01 - Last Fleet (2020)1:00:44 - Financial Side of Publishing1:05:44 - Lovecraftesque 2e (2023)1:14:15 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Microscope Union1:16:39 - Tyranny of Numbers: Backerkit Advertising1:22:33 - All Advice is Advice For Myself: Speaking Out LoudSupport the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Hello! A cross-post in the feed today. This in an episode I did with Sam Dunnewold for his podcast, Dice Exploder, where every episode is a deep dive into a single RPG mechanic (usually) from a specific game. I talk about the Secondary Mission roll from Band of Blades which is a very cool mechanic that I love to think about. It basically inspired me to make a whole game at one point. This is an early release of the episode. It'll only be on Dice Exloder's feed by the end of the month. It's a great podcast and I totally recommend subscribing on your podcatcher of choice. Sam is also crowdfunding a third season of Dice Exploder, so check that out as well. Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonThe first episode in a series of special episodes meant to teach some of my favourite indie RPGs. Listen in to hear Rae Nedjadi, designer of Apocalypse Keys, teach you how to play his game. In Apocalypse Keys, you play OMEN-class monsters working for an organisation named DIVISION tasked with holding back the apocalypse. Inspired by Hellboy and BPRD, the players struggle to find Keys before the villainous Harbingers unlock the Doors of Power and bring doom on the world. You can learn more on the Evil Hat website or on the itch page. Transcript of the entire episode can be found here.Timestamps:[00:05:36] Part One - Introduction[00:12:46] Part Two - Character Creation: Name, Origins, Prophecy[00:24:19] Part Three - Darkness Tokens, Powers of Darkness, What the Darkness Demands[00:35:28] Part Four - Basic Moves, Conditions[01:00:00] Part Five - Ruin, Ruin Moves, Bonds, End of Session[01:13:53] Part Six - Building out DIVISION, Running A MysterySupport the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonLayla Adelman, who goes by the handle pandatheist in RPG spaces, is a rpg designer, writer, and serial twitter thread writer. She's one of the co-designers of the Illuminated Worlds system for Critical Role's Darrington Press. This is the system which powers Candela Obscura and potentially other unannounced games. She was an Ennies judge two years. She blogs over at Bone Box Chant at wordpress.com, including a major series collating and analysing statistics around Kickstarter's ZineQuest and a series of interviews with TTRPG editors. You can follow her on BlueSky and Mastodon.Show Notes:01:04 - Layla's Introduction08:18 - Masks of Nyarlathotep and GMing like an editor15:53 - Layla's approach to reviewing29:26 - Tips for writing a good rulebook35:48 - Games Layla is excited about39:54 - Tyranny of Numbers41:11 - All Advice Is Advice For MyselfSupport the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on Patreon Dave is a youtuber, reviewer and game designer. His Youtube channel, Dave Thaumavore RPG Reviews, currently has about 180 videos and more than 25,000 subscribers. He's also got a great newsletter where he publishes written interviews game design luminaries. Links to all of this stuff will be in the show notes. He's designed supplements for the Index Card RPG but his most recent standalone game is Fluxfall Horizon, a zany, scifi PbtA game of dimension hopping do-gooders (and some potential do-badders). Show Notes:00:52 - Introducing Dave01:56 - Youtube journey and the challenge of constant comparison with other creators09:29 - Dave's process15:34 - Making sponsored content16:55 - Favorite games to review21:43 - Do reviewers have to play games?35:52 - Advice for reviewers38:12 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Wanderhome39:22 - Tyranny of Numbers41:45 - All Advice is Advice for MyselfSupport the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonChristopher Chinn is the blogger behind the long-running and well-loved Deeper in the Game blog. He's probably best-known for the Same Page Tool. But started in 2007, the blog has 15 years of thoughtful and insightful writing and advice on RPG design and play. Show Notes:01:17 - Introducing Chris02:54 - The origin of the blog (also "rules are for preventing bitterness between friends")9:56 - How Chris learned to ditch the railroad and embrace improvisation23:34 - On playing with and writing for geeks of color26:35 - Why the Same Page Tool shouldn't exist37:38 - Advice for new bloggers41:29 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Errant43:37 - Tyranny of Numbers46:20 - Replay: Tenra Bansho Zero48:49 - All Advice Is Advice For MyselfSupport the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonEmily C. Friedman is an associate professor of English at Auburn University and director of 18thconnect, a website dedicated to scholarship of the 18th century. Though an 18th-century literature scholar and critic by training, Emily is now one of the foremost chroniclers of the phenomenon we call actual play. She teaches games and actual play in the classroom and regularly writes about actual play on gaming website, Polygon. In fact, as of recording this, we're close to the one year anniversary of her first piece on Polygon, about New York by Night, a Vampire the Masquerade AP. She's also working on a book titled Improvised Worlds: Digital Storytelling Through Play. Also, here's her youtube channel, CriticalProf.Show Notes:00:46 - Emily's bio02:28 - How did you start working on actual play?09:22 - What is actual play anyway?15:39 - The state of actual play today23:07 - Examples of actual play that break the form36:52 - Infectious Enthusiasm: The Quiet Year38:42 - Tyranny of Numbers40:07 - All Advice Is Advice For Myself If you'd like a written transcript for this episode, you can find it here. Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonOn this episode, I'm talking to Becky Annison, the co-founder of UK-based design company, Black Armada Games. She's the award-winning designer of When the Dark Is Gone, part of the Seven Wonders anthology from Pelgrane Press. And is probably best known for the high drama werewolf game, Bite Marks, and GM-less mystery game, Lovecraftesque, on which she's the co-designer. When she's not working on games, she's a lawyer who works on high level climate change issues. Check out Wreck This Deck on Backerkit.Show notes:00:41 - Becky's Introduction05:25 - Being the UK's Queen of the Werewolves10:18 - Wreck This Deck20:18 - Favourite Demon27:43 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Escape From Tentacle City30:47 - RePlay35:30 - All Advice Is Advice For MyselfIf you'd like a written transcript for this episode, you can find it here.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonThis week, we're talking to Paul Beakley has been involved with the games industry since at least the mid 1990s. He's a Game Chef finalist, a Golden Cobra honourable mention, and an official designer/adventure module writer for games like Deadlands, Earthdawn, Mutant Chronicles and more. He's also been writing about games for a long time, across various websites, forums, and magazines like Pyramid and Inphobia. But we're here today to talk about the Indie Game Reading Club, which began on the long lost shores of GooglePlus in 2015. It's now a standalone website and slack community where there's a lot of great writing and discussion of small-press storygames. I love reading it and you will too!Show notes:1:38 - Starting the Indie Game Reading Club16:32 - Why do we write about games?21:31 - Roleplaying as faith practice26:03 - How to be critical without being mean38:02 - Who is your audience?43:54 - Infectious Enthusiasm: a|state, Fellowship49:58 - Tyranny of Numbers: the economics of criticism51:53 - RePlay59:30 - All Advice Is Advice For MyselfThis episode was edited by Gabriel Caetano.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonOn this episode, I'm chatting with Fiona Hopkins and Stephanie Burt, who are the co-hosts of Team Up Moves, a podcast about playing and discussing superhero tabletop RPGs. I'm a big fan of the podcast and so I reached out to the two of them. Apart from RPGs, Fiona is a front-end software engineer by trade who worked at Google, Twitter, the City of Boston and now the Democratic party. Stephanie is a poet and a professor of English at Harvard University. She's also a critic, who has published a number of books, which you can read about on her Wikipedia page, which she has. Show Notes:00:43 - Introducing Fiona and Stephanie01:51 - Why supeheroes?13:28 - Analyzing superhero RPGs34:01 - Picking games for the podcast44:02 - Infections Enthusiasm: Wool of Bat, Monsterhearts 250:21 - Tyranny of Numbers52:13 - All Advice Is Advice For Myself You can find a written transcript of the episode here.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonOn this episode, we're talking to Tan Shao Han, a TTRPG designer, writer, and cultural consultant from Singapore. He's contributed words to various Paizo Pathfinder books, including Lost Omens: Impossible Lands, new Dagger Isles supplement for Blades in the Dark, and other games like Monster Care Squad and ARC.He's the co-founder of Curious Chimeras, a company that makes games and games-adjacent interactive experiences. Shao Han interestingly did his Master's Thesis on tabletop role-playing games and their ability to engage, empower and educate.Show notes:00:27 - Shao Han's bio01:41 - Learning D&D from videogame manuals08:01 - Merging gaming and history and mythology23:08 - Da Xia, a WIP game of folk heroes in WW2 Singapore24:04 - Showcasing indie RPGs in the community33:42 - Infectious Enthusiasm: The Nightmares Underneath36:28 - Tyranny of Numbers37:48 - RePlay38:46 - All Advice Is Advice For MyselfYou can find a written transcript of the episode here.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonOn this episode, we're talking to Indrani Ganguly who is the marketing manager for Hunters Entertainment, the publisher of Kids on Bikes, Alice is Missing, among other games. She is also the co-founder of Desis n Dragons, probably India's largest community of tabletop roleplayers. Of which, I am a humble member. Indrani is also a dicemaker, an artisan, making beautiful and custom math rocks under the name Nonagon Dice. She was a part of last year's Big Bad Con PoC Leadership Team and expertly organized the India programme where three people from India were invited to attend Big Bad Con 2022. She is an inductee of the TheGameAwards Future Class of 2022. Show notes:00;30 - Indrani's bio02:24 - Getting started08:26 - Starting Desis & Dragons14:14 - The vision for the community24:04 - Showcasing indie RPGs in the community30:03 - Marketing TTRPGs35:50 - Up All Night, a game of bargaining with your brain for one night's rest37:29 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Alice is Missing, blase monotony, Bubble Bubble38:54 - Tyranny of Numbers40:24 - RePlay41:52 - All Advice Is Advice For MyselfYou can find a written transcript of the episode here.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonOn this episode, we're speaking to Jahmal Brown aka Mad Jay Zero. Jay is a podcaster, designer and rockstar GM. His podcast Diceology features interviews with folks from the RPG scene as well as fun recaps of his various games in Last Week in Gaming. As a game designer, he's contributed words to books like Pathfinder's magnificent Mwangi Expanse as well as designed his own games, Lifted Vol 1: Indomitable, a people with superpowers game primed by cortex. He also did some Pro GMing before it became cool when he kickstarted a West Marches campaign called Into the Mad Lands.Show Notes:01:05 - Introduction to Jay04:13 - About the Diceology podcast (talking to Mike Pondsmith and Sarah Doombringer)06:19 - Jay, on playing with kids10:45 - Jay's 30+ session Twilight 2000 campaign14:16 - GMing Practices21:50 - Running West Marches28:36 - Lifted Vol 1: Indomitable37:43 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Legacy 2e: Life Among The Ruins41:09 - Tyranny of Numbers: Kickstarter Advice47:40 - RePlay: Jay shares story from Lifted/Champions Now about every table making corporate superhero teamsYou can find a written transcript of the episode here.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonOn this episode, we're speaking to Lowell Francis the writer behind the Ennie award winning RPG blog, Age of Ravens, which you can find at ageofravensgames.com. He's the co-designer of the fantastic Hearts of Wulin, a PbtA game of wuxia melodrama. He is also the Gauntlet Gaming Community Manager and co-host of Gauntlet Podcast. He is a comics author (he wrote Superman!), met his wife playing Magic the Gathering, and got knocked over by the fifth Dr. Who at a signing event. Show Notes:00:45 - Introducing Lowell02:56 - Discussing Age of Ravens07:08 - Reviews12:12 - RPG Chronology Lists15:43 - Post-Apocalyptic Games20:57 - GMing Styles26:54 - PbtA and Hearts of Wulin34:20 - Community Management41:04 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Eclipse Phase 2nd Edition42:44 - Tyranny of Numbers: GMing 200 Games a Year48:05 - RePlay: Scott Pilgrim via Hearts of WulinThis episode comes with a transcript automatically. If your podcast reader does not display the transcript, you can find a version here.Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
Support the show on PatreonOn this episode, we're speaking to Judd Karlman, the podcaster behind Daydreaming about Dragons, my personal favourite source of GM advice. Every episode of his podcast has two parts: table techniques, where Judd talks offers techniques to play roleplaying games, and inspiration goat, where a real goat recommends media to Judd and he explains how that media can inspire your game. Judd is also the author of gaming supplements, most notably Dictionary of Mu, a setting for Sorcerer written like a dictionary. And you can find Judd's blog at GithyankiDiaspora.com. Also on reddit, where he's often on DM advice subreddits helping new DMs picking up D&D for the first time.Some helpful timestamps:00:54 - Introducing Judd02:24 - Talking about Sons of Kryos, an early experiment in RPG podcasting06:38 - Talking about friendly versus snarky advice, and generally the problem of talking on the internet11:47 - My favourite episodes of Daydreaming about Dragons: Episode 85. Playing Chess With Villains and Episode 70. Making World History Relevant. 24:45 - How Judd preps for games26:10 - Using socialism to find the fun in dungeons (the municipal, unionized dungeon-delving actual play with Sean Nittner)31:19 - Infectious Enthusiasm: Judd recommends The Between, Into the Odd, and As The Sun Forever Sets34:48 - Tyranny of Numbers: Judd shares his podcasting statistics37:30 - RePlay: Judd shares a Dictionary of Mu gaming storyIf your podcast player supports transcripts, you should see one automatically. Otherwise, please go here for a full transcript. Support the showThe Yes Indie'd Website // The Indie RPG Newsletter
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