BACKSTORY: Recent Episodes
Alex Roberts
BACKSTORY is an ongoing series of interviews with game designers and other notable members of the role-playing community, hosted by Alex Roberts. This show is all about the person behind the work: how did they get into gaming? Why did they start designing? What are they most excited about for the future? Alex loves getting to know people, and you'll love coming along for the ride.
On the final episode of Backstory, designer and publisher Cat Tobin talks pushing things forward, leaving things behind, and publishing original Irish language RPGs!
Talk to you later, heroes.
Cat's Twitter
Pelgrane Press
Feminism
The Erotic Art Games Anthology
Alex's Patreon
Game designer Lucian Kahn talks magic, humor, and some exciting game anthologies. Would you rather be a Visigoth or a Mall Goth?
Lucian's Twitter
Lucian's Games
You & I
The Erotic Art Games Anthology
Psychologist Diana J Leonard shares her work on the life cycle of play communities.
Diana's Website,
Diana on Twitter,
The Dynamic Life Cycle of Live Action Role-Play Communities,
Conflict and Change: Testing a Life-Cycle-Derived Model of Larp Group Dynamics,
Living Games Conference Keynote: Promoting Healthy Communities in Larp
Ben Chong, aka swordsnflowers, joins us to talk about his experience teaching analog game design, developing the TTRPG scene in Malaysia, and his Sword Dream.
Ben on Twitter
Ben's games on itch.io
Alex on Patreon
Game designer and translator Sangjun Park talks about Moonflower, game translation, and his hopes for the future of the Korean TTRPG scene.
Sanjun's Twitter
Alex on Patreon!
Larpwright and sex educator Jon Cole on teaching with larp, designing in collaboration, and creating space for Real Talk.
Jon's Games,
Jon's Newsletter,
Still Life,
Alex on Patreon!
Historical game developer Catherine Ramen talks the New York crossdressing scene in the '90s, a nineteenth century Socialist commune in Paris, and more - as if we needed more when those first two things are so very very good???
The Aviatrix Games website,
Cat on Twitter,
Alex and Cat on She's a Super Geek,
Alex on Patreon!
Game developer Jenn Sandercock talks experimentation, balance, collaboration, and edible games.
Jenn’s Website,
Jenn on Twitter,
The Edible Games Cookbook,
Making Games That Give Me Hugs,
Alex on Patreon!
A very enthusiastic chat with ONE SHOT Network co-founder, podcaster, improviser, game designer, and professional goof boy James D'Amato. Plus a special announcement: our host is now on Patreon!
The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide,
James on Twitter,
ONE SHOT,
CAMPAIGN,
Alex on Patreon!!!!!!!!!!!!
Game designer Camdon Wright joins us for a chat about designing for emotion, GMing outside your comfort zone, and being a fan of stuff, not people.
Camdon's website,
Camdon on Twitter,
Dialect,
Star Crossed,
For the Queen
Game designer and illustrator Whitney Delaglio on intimacy and problem-solving in games. Also: consensual storytelling is a sandwich; pass it on.
Whitney's website,
Whitney on Twitter,
Prism the RPG,
Whitney has a stretch goal coming up in the Kickstarter for Bite Me!
Game designer and wandering Kiwi Lauren McManamon talks about applying discursive analysis to the gaming table, roleplaying desire, and the strange birds that help us get through it all. We also discuss Lauren's academic work on the treatment of sexual assault complainants in the legal system, so please take care if and when you decide to listen.
Girl Underground on Kickstarter,
Lauren on Twitter,
Lauren's Masters' Thesis,
The Final Girl: a Game of Love,
Hot Guys Making Out: Sherlock.
Writer and designer Becky Annison joins us to talk gaming in the UK, werewolf romance, and an essential source of game design inspiration: reality television.
Bite Me! on Kickstarter,
Becky Annison on Twitter,
Black Armada (Becky's publishing company, co-owed with Josh Fox),
Black Armada on Twitter,
Seven Wonders: a Story Games Anthology.
Games journalist and co-runner of the Role Over Play Dead blog, Kai chats with Alex about tabletop and live-action gaming in Malaysia.
Role Over Play Dead,
Kai on Twitter,
Kai on Instagram,
D&D and the Tabletop Gaming Industry in Malaysia.
In honour of the show's third anniversary, producer Alex Sisk interviews the creator and host of Backstory. Learn about the process behind the show, how she prepares for and conducts interviews, and her plans for the future - in podcasting and beyond. Thanks for sticking with us, friends. It's been a wonderful time.
Alex's website,
Star Crossed,
For the Queen.
James Mendez Hodes is a Filipino-American writer, game designer, cultural consultant, and martial artist who knows which kind of sword Alex should use. If you're curious about Heian or Sengoku period Japan, or about playing other cultures or historical periods in general, listen in!
Consider this a companion piece to an upcoming episode of ONE SHOT in which Alex will be running Kagematsu!
Mendez's website,
Mendez on Twitter,
Support the hip hop translation of Homer's Iliad!,
Thousand Arrows,
An extremely useful post on best practices for historical gameplay,
Fist City,
Kagematsu.
Game designer and artist Albert Kong joins us for a talk about parkour, the art of gathering, and other ways to open the potential for play in the world around you.
Albert's website,
Albert on Twitter,
Albert's Inbox Zine,
Mt. Caz,
The We-Ness,
A Pattern Language,
Tom Sachs,
The Dispossessed
Game designer and co-creator of She's a Super Geek, Senda Linaugh, talks gaming, creativity, and community connection. Content note for discussion of abusive relationships.
Senda on Twitter,
She's a Super Geek,
Pandas Talking Games,
Love & Justice,
We Can Once More Ascend,
Senda on Gnome Stew
Award-winning larp designer Jeff Dieterle joins us for a talk about music, magic, stupid games, and kiss jail.
Jeff on Twitter,
My Jam is now on Kickstarter!,
Wigilia,
Long Time Listener, Last Time Caller,
A Hundred Years Adoring You,
Meet My Friends the Friends,
Best Show with Tom Scharpling,
The Campaign for North Africa.
Design strategist Andrea Morales Coto is bringing the magic of live-action game design to new avenues, from distribution methods to cryptoeconomic systems and beyond. Learn along with Alex!
Andrea's Website,
Andrea on Twitter,
"I Owe Us" cryptoeconomic prototype,
"Following the Green Light: Designing Inclusion in Game Distribution,"
The Golden Cobra Game Design Challenge.
Podcaster and Unofficial Larpwright of the Olive Garden chain of restaurants Jeff Stormer joins us for a nice chat about professional wrestling, karaoke, and other roleplaying games.
Jeff's Website,
When You're Here You're Family,
Alex's Guest Spot on the Party of One Podcast,
Big Bad Con 2018
Gamer, editor, and improv performer Karen Twelves joins us for a talk about performance, play, and the importance of trust.
Karen's Website,
Karen on Twitter,
Improv for Gamers will be out this November!,
Improv for Gamers on Twitter,
Syntax & Semicolons: An Interview With Karen Twelves,
Karen also copyedited Star Crossed: The Two Player Game of Forbidden Love, which you can pre-order until October 1st!
Games scholar Jose Zagal starts a new semester of Backstory, with discussions of Role-Playing Games Studies, the intricate web of influence among different game media, and identifying the ethical frameworks in Animal Crossing. If Emmanuel Kant made a videogame, what would it be like?
Jose at The University of Utah,
Jose on Twitter,
DiGRA,
Foundations of Digital Games Conference,
Role-Playing Games Studies: Transmedia Foundations (Use code FLR40 for a 20% discount!),
Videogames and the Ethics of Care (with John Murphy),
The Videogame Ethics Reader,
Ludoliteracy,
Examining 'RPG Elements': Systems of Character Progression (with Roger Altizer),
Pre-Order Star Crossed!
Co-organizer of the long-running campaign Shadowmoor, Casey Hardy tells us about sustainability, growth, and change in a larp community.
Shadowmoor,
SOLAR,
NERO
Game designer, streamer, RPG theorist and you new favourite podcast host DC joins us to talk about twitter threads and forging in the dark.
Mutants in the Night,
DC on Twitter,
DC on Twitch,
DC on Patreon,
Ropecon 2018,
[ONE SHOT Network on Patreon6
Magdalene Loh is making live-action career design games in Singapore! And stay tuned for some special announcements.
Magdalene Loh on LinkedIn,
What Color is Your Parachute?,
Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences,
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character,
Ropecon 2018,
[Star Crossed: Now on Pre-Order
Larpwright and organizer Betty Bong on translating play across cultures.
Cozy Larp LA,
B Studio,
Empresses in the Palace,
Snow White, by J Li,
Drink Me, by Betsy Isaacson,
Inheritance, by Luke Crane,
Star Crossed
14 Days, by Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland,
Ghost Court: The Improvised Musical,
Bully Pulpit Games at Origins,
Big Bad Con 2018 Kickstarter
Game designer, crafter, and powerful scrum master Stephanie Bryant brings us a kinder, gentler post-apocalypse.
Threadbare,
Stephanie's Blog,
Best Friends,
Radio Free Kaiju
Children's author and game designer Terri Cohlene shares her insight on designing for kids, introducing roleplaying, and working in co-creation.
Terri's Website,
BFF is now on Kickstarter!
Star Crossed Story Time comes to a close with Sean Nittner and Kira Magrann re-telling a tale as old as time: a barely-contained love ensnared between warring clans of werewolves and vampires.
Star Crossed is on Kickstarter until May 10th!
Thanks to all our backers for making this mini-series possible <3
The penultimate Star Crossed Story Time features Sarah Lynne-Bowman and Jessica Schoolman reminiscing about a truly bad romance - bad for their stuffy business careers, to say the least.
Star Crossed is on Kickstarter until May 10th!
Thanks to all our backers for making this mini-series possible <3
Star Crossed Story Time is back! Erika Chappell and Lexi Tripp are gushing about their baroque romance between the daughters of two rival noble houses. Remember Rose of Versailles? Yeah.
Star Crossed is on Kickstarter until May 10th!
Thanks to all our backers for making this mini-series possible <3
In our first Star Crossed Story Time, Morgan Ellis and Andy Munich tell the story of their wuxia-inspired romance between members of the Xiaolin and Wudang schools.
Dungeon World co-designer and game streamer Adam Koebel shares insight on the relationship between design and play, and the future of streaming and game publishing.
Adam's Website,
Adam on Twitter,
Adam on Twitch,
Dungeon World
Game designer and graphic artist John Harper shares his journey with Blades in the Dark, and with designing and iterating over a long and storied career in independent publishing. (You know, long in RPG years.)
John's Website,
John Harper on Twitter,
Blades in the Dark,
Liz Chaipraditkul, independent publisher and designer of WITCH: Fated Souls, gives us the low down on working freelance, working for yourself, and navigating this wacky thing we call the tabletop RPG industry. (Remember: hire a proofreader!)
Familiars of Terra is now on Kickstarter!,
Angry Hamster Publishing,
Liz's Website,
[Liz on Twitter] 4
Game designer and interactive media writer Clio Yun-su Davis talks podcasting, immersive theatre, and the beauty of K-Pop.
Clio's Website,
The Golden Cobra Challenge,
Living Games Conference,
Larpwright, librarian, and community organizer Kate Hill on welcoming newbies, character theme songs, and making sure that people are more important than the game.
Kate on Twitter,
Kate on Instagram,
The #Resistance Anthology,
WINTERHORN,
The Golden Cobra Anthologies,
Living Games Conference
Leaving Mundania's Larp Resources,
Measured in Cups,
Game designer Julia Ellingboe shares her thoughts on designing from the margins, expanding inclusion, and role-playing via playlists and packages.
Julia on Twitter,
Steal Away Jordan, via Indie Press Revolution,
Full Frame Initative,
Living Games Conference
Game designer, project manager, community manager and all around interesting guy Nathan Black talks codes of conduct, selling a punch, and larping the everyday.
Living Games Conference,
Burning Wheel,
Big Bad Con
Game designer, writer, and researcher Jonaya Kemper leads us down the winding path of larp ethnography and emancipatory bleed.
Jonaya's Website,
The Battle of Primrose Park: Playing for Emancipatory Bleed in Fortune & Felicity,
Announcement: Jonaya to Keynote at Living Games 2018!
Larp educator Jeeyon Shim on survival skills, planning scenes, and the secret life of trees.
Jeeyon's Website,
Jeeyon on Twitter,
Trackers Bay
Join award-winning game designer Jackson Tegu on a meandering chat through envelopes, CDs, and posters on telephone poles.
Jackson's website,
Jackson on Patreon,
Jackson on Twitter,
Archaeologist and professional GM Daniel Kwan talks holiday games, Dramatic Managers, and building social skills through role-play.
Daniel's Website,
Curiosity in Focus,
Level Up Gaming,
Dundas West Games
Bait Byout co-founder Fatima Abdul Karim on the birth of larp in the Arab world.
Bait Byout,
Bait Byout on Facebook,
Book: The Birth of Larp in the Arab World
Award-winning RPG designer Aleksandra Sontowska on sex, horror, and unsettling self-knowledge in games.
Aleksandra's Blog
Aleksandra on G+
The Beast
It's an episode of unabashed sincerity with artist and coach Tania Carriere of Advivum Journeys.
Writer, designer, and noted gastropod enthusiast Darcy Ross talks evolution, community, and shining a spotlight on the things you love.
Game designer and publisher Epidiah Ravachol talks playstorming, the games you love to teach, and the unheralded joy of double-entry bookkeeping.
Dig 1000 Holes
Epidiah on Twitter
Worlds Without Master
Dread
Sagas of Sundry
Project Alpha
RPG Solitaire Challenge
Across the Table Podcast
3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars
Swords Without Master
Vegan Blueberry Muffins
The Beast
Urban Jungle and the Usagi Yojinbo RPG
Designer Jenn Martin on witches at work, manic pixie dreamgirling, and larp impostor syndrome.
Jenn Martin on twitter
Jank Cast
Fall of Magic
Definition: Manic Pixie Dream Girl
Feminism: A Nano-Game Anthology
Limbo, in Larps From The Factory
Let's be Dinosaurs
Glass Ceiling
The Sword, the Crown, and the Unspeakable Power
Crone-spiration Board
Night Forest
Inheritance
Minnesota Long Con
Big Bad Con
Metatopia
Peggy Klinplatz on Sex and Aging
Larpwright Alex Rowland on designing opportunities for care, queering boffer, and the time for subtlety.
Alex Rowland on twitter
Nordic Larp article
New World Magischola
Event Horizon
The "Black Box" Technique
Games on Demand
Here is my Power Button
Old Friends
Hlasko
Monsterhearts
A Place to Fuck Each Other
Out of Dodge
Contrapposto
Golden Cobra Challenge
Privilege, Power, and Dungeons & Dragons
Game designer and Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Jessica Hammer explores how we can take a more precise approach to transformative play through research and iteration.
Jessica's website
Jessica Hammer on Google Scholar
Scott Nicholson on "Playification"
Mary Flanagan's Tiltfactor Game Lab
Treehouse Dreams
Erika Chenoweth's research on civil resistance
Video artist and freeform designer Banana Chan talks haunted dolls, designing for anxiety, and new models for publishing larp. (Also! See you at Gen Con, nerds!)
Game and a Curry
Banana Chan on YouTube
Wandering Tribe Games (the creators of Yeah! Diamonds):
The Impostors
Golden Cobra Honorable Mention "The Other Place"
Kat Fajardo
VidCon
Mo Mo O'Brien
The Itras By Menagerie
Before and After Silence
Designer and long-time small-time con organizer Jay Treat joins us to talk cards, larps, and the careful calibration of tone.
Treat Games
Merchants of Araby
Strange Gravity
Damned Love
Psychic Detective Agency
Sociologist and podcast co-host Todd Nichols joins us to talk making stuff, putting it out there, and encouraging other folks to do the same.
Writer, designer, and #Feminism co-editor Misha Bushyager joins us to talk worldbuilding, YouTube, and blending the personal and historical in game design. Also: Alex learns what a Steak-umm is.
Misha on G+
Misha on Twitter
War Birds
Feminism
Earthdawn
Shadowrun
Rolemaster
The Duvet Trick
Apocalypse World
14 Days
The Watch
Epyllion
Fastaval
Chill
Lovecraftesque
Masks
Chain World
Female Re-Enactors of Distinction
In this episode: exciting announcements, horror and disco, tango and cooking, and award-winning game designer and author Graham Walmsley's realizations about Lovecraftian gaming had while watching Iron Fist!
Big Bad Con
Fairweather Manor
College of Wizardry
Play Unsafe
We Are Roommates Now
Will That Be All?
Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men
"Impro" by Keith Johnstone
Cthulhu Apocalypse
A Taste for Murder
Disco World
Just a Little Lovin'
Just a Little Lovin' USA
Turn the Beat Around: The Rise and Fall of Disco
Love Saves the Day: A History Of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979
Cthulhu Dark on Facebook
Graham on G+
Graham on Twitter
Stealth designer and prolific hacker Kim Lam joins Alex to talk playing by post, making games that aren't products, and origami. We also discuss Kim's upcoming larp about the legacy of the Cambodian genocide, so please listen with care.
The 200 word RPG challenge
The Sundered Land: A Doomed Pilgrim in the Ruins of the Future
Atop a Lonely Tower
Cleanse By Claw and Talon
Skinchangers
Misspent Youth
S21 - The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
Kim on G+
Researcher and larpwright Brodie Atwater brings a lively perspective on larp accessibility, marginalization in gaming communities, and the importance of staying hydrated.
Social Mechanics: A Study on Inhibition and Intersectionality in Larp
We Need to Talk: A Literature Review of Debrief
The "Ok" Check-in System
Psychodrama
Bread and Puppet Theatre
The Icarus Project
In Residency
Her
Here is My Power Button
Stick it to the man! Game designer Robert Bohl talks Misspent Youth, Demi-Humans, and Bitch Goddesses. A little SALT with your usual Backstory sweetness.
Misspent Youth
Game Chef
The Forge
Burning Wheel
Tabletop with Wil Wheaton
Rob on G+
Sebastian Baker on Patreon
Apocalypse World
Le Tigre - Get off the Internet
Designer Caitlynn Belle joins Alex to talk about creating, refining, mentoring and problem solving. But more importantly: dying in space and bug sex.
WISCON
Caitlynn's website
Caitlynn's Patreon
Caitlynn's Games
Fiasco
Indie Groundbreaker Awards
Singularity
Designer and theorist Emily Care Boss joins us this episode to talk Living Games, loving games, and being vulnerable in play. Can role-playing be therapeutic? How do we unite disparate gaming communities? What larp-adjacent practices can we learn from? What's physi-ing??? You'll have to tune in to find out!
Gather 'round as designer and educator Josh Jordan tells us about about the unstoppable force of creativity, candy as cultural exchange, and collaboration as the cure for impostor syndrome. Should larpwrights be keeping an eye on reality TV? Well, probably not, I guess...
Josh's Website
Living Games
Tyrkisk Peber
Sarah Lynne-Bowman on Backstory
Evan Torner's "Literary and Performatice Imaginaries - Where Characters Come From"
Sons of Kryos
Teacher Has Personalized Handshakes With Every Single One of His Students
Parsley Games
Doll
Heroine
Vast & Starlit
Dangers Untold
Banana Chan's "They're Onto Me"
Caitlynn Belle's Patreon
Jackson Tegu's Patreon
The Upgrade!
A Short Film
Versed
Kimmy Walters' "Uptalk"
Jordan Stewart's "When We Were Young" is out of print
The Impostors will be on Kickstarter Soon!
Researcher, educator, writer, and President of LearnLarp LLC, Maury Brown joins Alex to talk safety, empowerment, and empathy in live-action play. If you've been curious about New World Magischola, come hear Maury describe the larp that's not about being a wizard, but "becoming the kind of wizard you want to be."
Learn Larp
New World Magischola
Maury's Living Games Keynote: "People-Centered Design"
New World Magischola's Safety and Calibration Techniques
College of Wizardry
Dystopia Rising
Edgeworld
Larpwright J Li joins Alex to talk emotional immersion, user-centric game design, and engaging in a fictional dialogue with the space around you. Curious about pervasive games, and one-player games? This one's for you.
J's website
J's Keynote at Living Games
Argentin
Twain
Magician
Mermaid
Big Bad Con
What is a "Secrets and Powers" Larp? with Susan Weiner
A Pattern Language for Larp
Ars Amandi Videos
The Golden Cobra Challenge
Teen Witch, by Avery Alder
J's Blog
Artist and GM Rachel Khan joins us to talk about running an RPG campaign based on Persian mythology at the Aga Khan museum in Toronto. Isn't that the coolest thing ever? We also discuss illustrating for games and the magic of dice bowls. Warning: major spoilers for a thousand-year-old poem!
Weald Comics
Rachel on Patreon
The Aga Khan Museum
Shahnameh
Gumshoe
The Drama System
Dungeon World
Pathfinder
Swords Without Master
Glorantha
Call of Cthulhu
Sword & Backpack
The Royal Ontario Museum
Opeth
To celebrate one year of Backstory, Alex brings on indie legends and Apocalypse World co-creators Meguey and D. Vincent Baker. Topics range from sex education to censorship to masonic initiation ceremonies and quilt preservation - and yes, it's all related to game design.
Lumpley Games
Vincent on G+
Meg on G+
Apocalypse World
Urban Shadows
Monsterhearts
Monster of the Week
The King is Dead
The Princes' Kingdom
Shadowrun
Cyberpunk 2020
Ars Magica
Our Whole Lives
The Vengeful Demon of the Ring
"Games as Folk Art" on Indie+
Dogs in the Vineyard
Shock: Social Science Fiction
Beloved
MASHED
Dialect
The Play Generated Map & Document Archive
Game designer Ole Peder Giæver, co-creator of Itras By (with Martin Bull Gudmundsen) and Old Friends (with Jason Morningstar) joins Alex for a dreamy chat about magic, masks, and Norwegian folklore. Also: an exciting announcement.
Ole Peder's G+
Condensed Chaos, by Phil Hine
Old Friends
Impro, by Keith Johnstone
Archipelago Cards
Whimsy Cards
Interview with Ole Peder on Analog Game Studies
The X-Card
Fighting Fantasy Books
Knutepunkt
Itras By
RESISTOR
Lovecraftesque
They're Onto Me Trailer
Lady Blackbird
Draug II
Let The Right One In
Ship it Like FedeXXX
Larpwright and publisher Mo Turkington on larping theatrically, embodiment and immersion, and "the unbearable weight of representation."
Unruly Designs
Mo's Keynote at Living Games
The Climb, by Jason Morningstar
Big Dicks, by The Countess Dillymore
New World Magischola
Just a Little Lovin'
Summer Loving
Ars Amandi
Prolific and influential game designer Avery Alder joins Alex to talk about re-entering game design with collaboration and care at the forefront. We also talk queerness, monstrosity, and kids in rpgs. Lots of other stuff too. It's a good chat.
Monsterhearts 2 on Kickstarter
Avery's Website
RIFTS
The Quiet Year
A Place to Fuck Each Other
The Rentpunk Game Jam
Game designer, writer, and consultant Whitney "Strix" Beltràn talks designing with fairy tales, role-playing with archetypes, and keeping mythologies alive.
Strixwerks
Bluebeard's Bride
The Golden Cobra Challenge
Weekly Affirmations on Hyper RPG
Whitney's esearch on Academia.edu
Mulaka, by Lienzo Studios
Twine
Strix on Twitter
Professional organizer Ben "Books" Schwartz talks larping with kids, larping with different traditions, and larping when it's your actual job.
Event Horizon
Ben on Twitter
Trackers Bay
The Wayfinder Experience
College of Wizardry
Living Games
New World Magischola
Magischola's Houses
Brute Force Design in Larp
The Monitor Celestra
Planetfall
What happens when you publish your own game from scratch? How do we welcome new players to the table? Game designer Hakan Seyalioglu on game publishing, community building, and the beautiful collision of the obvious and the unexpected.
Thorny Games
Big Bad Con
Old Friends
Juggernaut
Games within Games
Morgan Stinson and Joe Greathead's Fedora Noir will be available soon!
Roses and Thorns
Mouse Guard
Dread
The Prisoner GURPS
Kathryn Hymes on Backstory
Games on Demand
CAT
The Quiet Year
Do maps make statements, the way games do? Game designer and cartographer Mark Richardson joins Alex to talk publishing games, being sober, and running Vampire larps in the '90s.
Mark on Twitter
Green Hat Designs
Inuktitut Syllabics
7th Sea
Urban Shadows
Project: Dark
King Wen's Tower
Fastaval
Headspace
Apocalypse World
Fiasco
Mind's Eye Theatre
Inheritance
Metatopia/Dreamation
F.A.T.E.
What do digital and tabletop roleplaying have in common? Can worldbuilding in a game help us change the real world? And just what is the "real world" anyway? Scholar and critic Katherine Cross is here to talk digital citizenship, identity plurality, and more.
Katherine on Twitter
On Patreon
On Gamasutra
World of Warcraft: Night Elves
The New Laboratory of Dreams: Roleplaying as Resistance
and Ethics for Cyborgs: On Real Harassment in an "Unreal" Place
Knights of the Old Republic II
Big Bad Con
Gen Con
Epyllion
Cartel
Fall of Magic
How do you teach analog game design? What makes a game "for kids?" How does the context in which we encounter games influence how we play? Designer and community organizer Ross Cowman talks design, play, music, and more.
Heart of the Deernicorn
Fall of Magic
Arbutus Folk School
Fabricated Realities
Monsterhearts
Living Games
What role can Larp play in education across the lifespan? Can it help us develop responsible, reciprocal relationships with our land, waters, and communities? Gabriel de los Angeles joins us to discuss his work integrating role-playing into STEAM education.
NDN Players Research Group
Red Eagle Soaring
Storyteller Roger Fernandes
Sakura Con
Northwest Nerdcast
Dr. Sarah Lynne-Bowman
Gabriel's Living Games Keynote
Gabriel's research presentation at the Education and Simulation Pre-Conference
Dr. Megan Bang
United Indians for All Tribes Foundation
Native Girls Code
Analog Game Studies
SPITE
Klaus Raasted's interview with Gabriel
Evan Torner on Backstory
Is Pokemon Go a larp? What's the difference between torturing your characters and torturing your players? Can game design help you conquer your fears - or just spread them around a little? Larpwright Jacqueline Bryk is here to pose all these questions and many more. We may answer a few of them, too.
Jay Sylvano
MagFest
Double Exposure Conventions
Games on Demand
The Queer Gaymes Anthology
K. N. Granger
David Schirudan's 200-Word RPG Contest
Julia Ellingboe
Brie Sheldon
Kat Jones on Backstory
Damocles Thread
Monsterhearts
Graham Walmsley
Stacey Dellorfano, founder of ConTessa
Sugar Coated: a great documentary on Lolita fashion in America
Larpwright and theorist Katherine Castiello Jones talks sexuality, intimacy, feminism and other hot topics in game design. Can a game about painting your nails make a point about intersecting axes of oppression? We certainly think so.
Kat's Living Games Keynote
Julia Ellingboe
Cady Stanton's Candyland
What is "Parlour Sandbox?"
Swords Without Master
Evan Torner
Intercon
Slash: The Card Game
There's a Fan Fic For That
The #Feminism Anthology
Millian Kang's "The Managed Hand"
A "Revived" Play Report
The Queer Gaymes Anthology
Mo Turkington
Just a Little Lovin'
Experience designer, broadcaster and author Johnna Koljonen joins us to talk about the difference between role-play and character play, between feeling safe and being safe, and between design and tradition.
Johanna's Blog: Participation Safety
Introduction to Nordic Larp
The "Everyman's Right" or "Right of Public Access"
SCA: The Society for Creative Anachronism
Burning Man
Alibis for Interaction
Cut and Break
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Johanna's Living Games Keynote: Opt-in/Opt-out Design
Inside Hamlet
Knutepunkt/Solmukohta
Halat Hisar, a Finnish-Palestinian Larp
College of Wizardry
Odysse Participation Design Agency
What do game design and education design have to say to each other? How about larp and VR? Larpwright and academic Evan Torner joins us to talk uncertainty, ideology, transparency, and other fun things hiding in your games.
Evan's website
Evan on twitter
Evan's talk on Teaching German Literature Through Larp
Eirik Fatland
What's a "nanogame?"
Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther"
Larps from the Factory
The #Feminism Nanogames Anthology
The Golden Cobra Challenge
What's "Jeepform?"
DiGRA
Ernest Hemmingway's "The Old Man and the Sea"
Dante's Inferno, from The Divine Comedy
Dante's Inferno, the video game
Robin D. Laws' "Hamet's Hit Points"
Mary Flanagan
Ian Bogost
Lizzie Magie's "The Landlord's Game"
The Wyrd Con Companion Books
Greg Costikyan's "Uncertainty in Games"
Inside Hamlet
Treasure Trapped
Darkon
Uber Goober
Delirium
College of Wizardry
EVE Online
Undertale
Slayer Cake (and many more!)
Analog Game Studies
Gone Home
Can games unite the mystical and the digital? Writer, game designer, and cyberwitch Kira Magrann is here to talk magic, technology, and her new digital zine, RESISTOR.
Kira on Twitter
Kira on Tumblr
RESISTOR
A Cyborg Manifesto
Eliza Gauger's Problem Glyphs
The Witch (2016)
Aleister Crowley
Meg Baker on Rituals in Play
Mad About the Boy
Origins Game Fair
Vampire: The Masquerade
White Wolf
Strict Machine, in the Indie Mixtape Megamix
Mistress Matissse
Blue Rose
Just a Little Lovin'
I Say a Little Prayer
Night Witches
Coming Out Under Fire
Daughters of Bilitis
The War Birds Anthology
Freeform designer Sara Williamson chills and chats with Alex about co-designing, designing for bleed, designing adaptations, and the potential of touch as a game mechanic. Also: a few very exciting announcements.
Sara on Twitter
Sara on Google+
Gen Con Industry Insider Featured Presenters
New World Magischola
Babycastles
Sleep No More
Double Exposure Events
Fastaval
See Me Now
183 Days
Group Date, in the 2014 Golden Cobra Anthology
6 Months, 3 Days by Charlie Jane Anders
Shelter and Darlin' Corey, in the Indie Mixtape Megamix Anthology
Liz Gorinsky
The Clay that Woke
Twine
Freeform NYC
Emily Care Boss on Bleed
The Skeletons
Podcaster and Big Bad Con organizer Sean Nittner shares his love of Actual Play reporting, staying positive, and making gaming events safer and more inclusive. Key quote: "If you feel awkward or like you're going outside your comfort zone... you're probably on the right track."
Sean's website
Big Bad Con Kickstarter
Have Games, Will Travel
Blades in the Dark
Fiasco
Mage: The Ascension
Adam Koebel on Twitch
George R. R. Martin's LiveJournal
Narrative Control
Katanas & Trenchcoats
Big Bad Con
Double Exposure Envoy Program
Social Deduction Games
One-Night Werewolf
Coup
FATE
Good Omens
Call of Cthulu
Hero System
Ars Magica
Iron Heroes
Castles and Crusades
End Game
Magic: The Gathering
Katherine Cross
Dungeon World
Welcome to Night Vale
Dread
Pronoun Badge Ribbons
Whitney "Strix" Beltrán on Getting Women and other Minority Folks to Write for Your Game
Tanya D
Game designer and computational linguist Kathryn Hymes shares her love of locksmithing, larpspotting, and the incredible power of play. Is this the golden age of gaming? We certainly think so.
Thorny Games
Star Wars RPG by West End Games
The Battlestar Galactica Board Game
Games on Demand
CAT
Sign
The Golden Cobra Challenge
Big Bad Con
Dialect
Conlanging
J Li
Jason Morningstar
Metatopia
Xenolanguage
"Stories of Your Life" by Ted Chiang
"The Dispossessed" by Ursula LeGuin
Notre Dame de Paris (French Rock Opera)
Agglutinative Language
Living Games
New World Magischola
Game designer Glenn Given joins Alex to talk about the theater, philosophy, taxonomy, loving analog games in a digital world, and the curious gratification found in following the rules. Want to hear Alex call Wittgenstein a dirty word? You should hear what she says about Hegel. This episode comes with a content warning for brief discussion of self-harm. Take care, heroes.
Games by Play Date
Metatopia and Dreamation
XCOM
Majestic
The Golden Cobra Design Competition
Nemesis 382, in the Seven Wonders Anthology
Just a Little Lovin'
Bad Habit
Pleasant Dreams
Hearts Blazing
Slash
Editions of Dungeons & Dragons
Shanna Germain, co-founder and Creative Director of Monte Cook games, joins Alex for a deep dive into her creative process and bevy of current projects. We chat about everything from the challenges and rewards of designing games for kids to the interesting parallels between the role-playing and kink communities. What could be more intriguing than that?
Shanna Germain's Website
Monte Cook Games
The Numenera Kickstarter
Digipen
No Thank You, Evil
The Cypher System
Bunnies and Burrows
Hero Kids
Faery's Tale
Adventure Maximus
Predation
The Strange
The Poison Eater
This episode we're joined by game designer, graphic designer, illustrator, and Director of Marketing at Magpie Games: Sarah Richardson! She chats with Alex about designing, GMing, and what is really at the heart of the OSR movement. Plus: two very special announcements about two very special events!
Sarah's website
Magpie Games
Ken Hite on Twitter
The Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN)
Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Fire on the Velvel Horizon, by Scrap Princess and Patrick Stuart
Indie+ Spotlight on Sarah Richardson
Apocalypse World
Frank Mentzer
Jim Ward
A quick guide to the editions of D&D
Shadowrun
Earthdawn
Dread
Fiasco
Kristin Firth
Bluebeard's Bride
Emily Care-Boss and Tanya D's Our Many Games
Jean Wells' Palace of the Silver Princess
The Work of Erol Otus
TSR
Lilian Cohen-Moore
Meg Baker's 1,001 Nights
The Con Crash Zine
Pandemic
Women Write About Comics
Strix
Elsa Henry's Dead Scare
Nicole Winchester and Cheyenne Wall-Grimes
Faster, Pussycat, Kill, Kill!
Switchblade Sisters
Frontier #2 by Hellen Jo's
Dungeon World
Sarah Lynne-Bowman, PhD, sits down with Alex to chat about educational larps, transformational larps, and what place words like "fun" and "self" can have in role-playing discourse. We also take a moment to defend that Lightning Bolt guy. See you at Living Games, heroes.
Sarah's website
Living Games Conference
The Functions of Role-Playing Games
Østerskov Efterskole
Kapo, the Danish Prison Larp
Shoshanna Kessok's Nordic Larp Talk
X-Card
College of Wizardry
Wyrd Con Companion Book
Trols Pedersen on Safety Culture
Dystopia Rising
This Miracle
RuPaul's Drag Race
Jung's "Personae"
Erik Erikson's "Ego Identity"
Analog Game Studies
Keith Johnstone's Impro
Chuubo's Marvellous Wish Granting Engine
Amtgard
Treasure Trapped
Planetfall
Mind's Eye Society
New World Magischola
Role Models
"The Nordic Convention"
Fastaval
Nordsplainer vs Amerijerk
Designer and artist Laura Simpson chats with Alex about too many things to list! Highlights include her upcoming game Companion's Tale, designing in community, and pretending to be a vampire on the internet. If you remember what a MUSH is, you're in luck.
Laura's Website
http://www.laura-simpson.com/
Laura's Twitter
https://twitter.com/labmouse
What's a MUD/MUSH?
http://www.topmudsites.com/article01.shtml
Changeling: The Dreaming
https://rpggeek.com/rpg/426/changeling-dreaming
Mind's Eye Theatre
http://www.bynightstudios.com/products/about-minds-eye-theatre-vampire-the-masquerade/
Planescape
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape
Dungeon World
http://www.dungeon-world.com/
BESM
https://rpggeek.com/rpgfamily/327/besm-big-eyes-small-mouth
Dev Purkayastha
http://devpurkayastha.com/
The Dance and the Dawn
http://ndpdesign.com/the-dance-and-the-dawn/
Elizabeth Sampat
http://www.elizabethsampat.com/
It's Complicated
https://www.nobleknight.com/ProductDetail.asp_Q_ProductID_E_2147439062_A_InventoryID_E_2147747520_A_ProductLineID_E_2137424806_A_ManufacturerID_E_2145084393_A_CategoryID_E_12_A_GenreID_E_
Shreyas Sampat
https://summerbird.wordpress.com/
Emily Care-Boss
http://www.blackgreengames.com/
Breaking the Ice
http://www.blackgreengames.com/shop/breaking-the-ice-pdf
Meg and Vincent Baker
http://www.nightskygames.com/
Michael Miller
https://stalwart1000.wordpress.com/
Julia Ellingboe
http://www.stoneskinpress.com/index.php/authors/julia-bond-ellingboe/
Metatopia, Dreamation, Maelstrom conventions
http://www.dexposure.com/home.html
Tabletop game deigner Hannah Shaffer chats with Alex about collaborative design, collaborative worldbuilding, and finding one's place in the roleplaying game community. We also briefly attempt to define the word "game," but thankfully give up quickly.
Works Cited
Hannah's website
http://makebigthings.com/
Hannah's twitter
https://twitter.com/hanbandit
Games People Play
http://makebigthings.com/games-people-play-podcast/
Tabletop Superhighway
http://thetabletopsuperhighway.com/
14 Days
http://makebigthings.com/14-days-a-game-about-life-with-migraines/
Questlandia
http://questlandia.com/
Evan Rowland
http://smallflygames.com/
Microscope
http://www.lamemage.com/microscope/
Apocalypse World
http://apocalypse-world.com/
Monsterhearts
http://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts/
Game Chef
http://www.game-chef.com/
Metatopia
http://www.dexposure.com/m2015.html
Dreamation
http://www.dexposure.com/d2016.html
It's a very larpy episode with author, journalist, and larpwright Lizzie Stark. She shares her experiences and insights from long-form boffer campaigns, experimental Nordic larps, and much more.
Lizzie's blog
http://leavingmundania.com/
Lizzie's book
http://leavingmundania.com/the-book/
This Miracle
http://leavingmundania.com/2015/04/06/this-miracle/
The Curse
http://leavingmundania.com/2013/05/28/the-curse-a-freeform-game-about-brca/
Larps from the Factory
http://larpfactorybookproject.blogspot.ca/
Knight Realms Campaign Larp
http://www.knightrealms.com/
Markus Montola
http://www.markusmontola.fi/
Emily Care Boss on "Bleed"
http://www.blackgreengames.com/terms/
Sarah Lynne-Bowman
http://www.sarahlynnebowman.com/home/
Anna Westerling
http://annaw.org/
For our inaugural episode, Alex chats with Fiasco creator Jason Morningstar. We discuss his early forays into game design, his philosophy of play, and exciting happenings in the world of larp. Have you gone to Ghost Court? You will.