The Haters Episode

Unwritten Earths Symposium — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:00:00 -0700

No, this isn't about games we don't like; following up on a question from our Wisdom Episode, we talk about the parts of making games that are not fun, from merely boring all the way to actively hate. This turns into a conversation about how we get through those periods, how the unique nature of truly true roleplaying games makes perfection impossible, and harnessing the hate that flows through you for good. We balance that out with an update on something we're loving right now, the incoming artwork for Swords Without Master!

Nathan's game Mortal Skein is out! Here's the playtest materials on itch.

Show Notes:

Great Courses: English Grammar Boot Camp
CSS
Tailwind CSS
Pomodoro Technique
Forest Timer App (the tree-growing one)
Will Jobst's Plasmodics: Mutant Freaks in the Weird Future

Swords Artists:

Shel Kahn
Jabari Weathers
GORAN
Simon Roy
Big Bluesky Thread of the Swords artists

And there's more:

The (First) Mailroom Episode

Unwritten Earths Symposium — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0700

In this episode, we visit the mailroom to field some listener questions! We discuss design rituals that we each have, the experience of having games or mechanics fall flat for us in play, and some potential homework for future episodes. The conversation includes digressions into spinner design, playtesting our way out of mechanics that don't work, and how we approach disappointing experiences as something to learn from. Thanks for all the mail!

Shoutouts to: Playtest Tuesday, The Imaginauts, and Paul Czege

Games Mentioned:

Bullwinkle & Rocky Role Playing Party Game
Slugblaster
Prince Valiant: The Story-Telling Game
A Sword Points South (a work-in-progress from Eppy)
Night’s Black Agents / Dracula Dossier
GURPS
Wushu: The Ancient Art of Action Roleplaying
Imp of the Perverse

And there's more:

Unwritten Earths Symposium - Episodes Tagged with “Mailroom”

The Haters Episode

The (First) Mailroom Episode