The Podcation Episode

June 25th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  57 mins 38 secs

train of thought

In this laid-back episode we chat about greeting cards and inspiration from non-games for game formats, follow a train of thought about using Valentine's Day exchange as a game mechanic, and check in with each other about how ideas and inspiration from previous episodes are coming together for new game projects.

The Nat Barmore Episode

June 11th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 21 mins

arcane gems, game discovery, visiting scholar

In this episode, we welcome Dread co-creator Nat Barmore to the show, try to surprise each other with Arcane Gems from deep cuts in our collections, and talk about Nat's current projects. We talk about Dread, keeping horror campaigns going in long-term play, and approaching real-world cultural conflicts in game design. Thanks for joining us, Nat!

The White Whale Episode

May 28th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  50 mins 41 secs

game design

In this episode we talk about our "white whale" game design projects, both those we're currently in pursuit of and those we managed, at long last, to catch.

The Hidden Information Episode

May 14th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 5 mins

arcane gems, game discovery

In this episode we give a production update on the Annual 2025 before measuring our shelves for game discovery. Our homework happened to have a shared theme of hidden information, and we end up discussing the idea of "sleight of hand" to create moments of magic in play.

The Trends Episode

April 30th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 1 min

arcane gems, game discovery

In this episode we come back from game discovery sabbatical to talk about some esoteric picks from our itch.io libraries, and then discuss how we approach and interact with trends in the larger ttrpg industry, in game design, and in how those intersect for us.

The Ritual Episode

April 16th, 2025  |  Season 1  |  57 mins 11 secs

design, train of thought

In this episode we talk about building rituals in and for play, follow a train of thought about building in "blessings" for each other into gameplay, discuss the joy of dice, and come back from sabbatical to assign game discovery homework.

Reminder: The Adventurer & Hobbyist Annual 2025 Kickstarter is live through the end of April!

The Annual 2025 Episode

April 2nd, 2025  |  Season 1  |  57 mins 27 secs

annual, design, promo

Welcome to the Adventurer & Hobbyist Annual 2025! In this episode, we discuss the scenarios in our inaugural Unwritten Earths Symposium publication, design considerations for making these "system-adventurous" scenarios, and the origins of the project. Check out the show notes for a link to the Kickstarter, and thanks for all your support so far!

The Eras Episode

March 19th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 20 mins

arcane gems

Oops, all Game Discovery! In this episode we do a brief overview of the history of TTRPGS (truly-true roleplaying games), each picking a game to highlight from our birth years in each decade from the 1970s to the 2020s. We delve into some 2010s highlights for Arcane Gems, but this is a good framework for us to talk about our personal game histories as well as chart high-level changes in game design since the beginning.

The Convention Slot Episode

March 5th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 7 mins

arcane gems, conventions

No, it's not a 4-hour episode! After talking about our game discovery homework guided by games we'd be excited to play at a convention (or elsewhere), we dive into how our experiences going to conventions and playing games in specific time slots has shaped our game design.

Plus Expenses #87

February 26th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  50 mins 36 secs

plus expenses

Here's an episode of our patron-exclusive podcast Plus Expenses, where we talk about things that aren't roleplaying games (but do still end up talking about roleplaying games). You can get Plus Expenses at every level of our Patreon, or check it out with a 7-day free trial. Thanks for listening!

The Constraints Episode

February 19th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  1 hr 14 mins

arcane gems, listener questions

In this episode we discuss the arcane gems found within games we would play with our moms, give some updates on what's happening in the discord, and field a great question about productive constraints in design and play.

The Groundhog Day Episode

February 5th, 2025  |  Season 0  |  52 mins 50 secs

listener questions

In this episode we talk about a Groundhog Day-inspired convention concept, some thoughts on setting design, where we're at with tricking each other into designing a game, and we field some listener questions about where to stay on top of TTRPG happenings and constraints on the design process (more of which we'll be talking about next time).