Dice Exploder Sam Dunnewold

Transcript

For Ken Lowery’s Disc 2 jam, I decided to finally release the game I’ve been working on for nearly four years: Space Fam.

This is a game about, you guessed it, found family in space. In particular, it takes a lot of inspiration from The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet in that you’re the crew of a ship escorting a traveler from point A to point B, and along the way you deal with your feelings of guilt and stress about living under an oppressive government.

It’s a hack of Our Traveling Home by Ash Kreider, and it’s like 90% of the way to really great. But that last 10% is always the hard 10%, and I decided it was time to let this game just be what it is and push it out into the world.

As a part of that, I wanted to look back on the design process. What went well, what didn’t, what would I change if I was going to spend another 30 minutes or 30 years on this thing. To do that, I sat down with two of my friends who playtested the game, and we talked about all things Space Fam.

Further Reading

Space Fam on itch

The Disc 2 jam.

A commentary podcast episode for Space Fam is available here.

I wrote about the design of Space Fam's "scenes menu" here​.

I wrote about the design of the Space Fam character sheet here​.

Our Traveling Home by Ash Kreider

Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern by Takuma Okada

Space Post by Jason Morningstar

The Watch

Night Witches by Jason Morningstar

Socials

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

The first ever Dice Exploder game jam came to a close about a month ago, and today I sit down with the three hooligans from the discord who put it together and go through some of our favorite entries. If Dice Exploder is a show about concrete examples, this episode is as Dice Exploder as it gets.

All the games we talk about are pretty short, so it should be easy to follow along at home. Check out all the jam submissions here.

Thanks to Audrey Stolze (aka Lady Tabletop), Chris Greenbriar, and Sam Roberts for running the jam!

Further Reading:

Game Exploder full list of entries

Sam D's late entry: World Ending Game (Sam's Version)

Socials

Sam D on Bluesky and itch.

Sam R's game Escape from Dino Island.

Audrey on ⁠Tumblr⁠, and her podcast ⁠Alone at the Table⁠ about solo games.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

What if your D&D adventuring party settled down and opened a tavern, and the vibes went from dragon murderers to Bob’s Burgers? That's my pitch for Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern, one of my favorite RPGs. It's currently on Backerkit, and you should check it out.

This week I'm talking about a super simple unnamed mechanic from Stewpot, and presumably other games before it, that's inspired much of my own work: everyone goes around and adds a detail about the scene at hand or whatever we're talking about. Simple but effective.

I think of this mechanic, and Stewpot generally, as especially welcoming to people new to the hobby. And so I brought on my favorite new to the hobby person: Lee Conrads, acclaimed theater director (there's a lot of theater and audience theory in this one) and also my spouse. It's a very special episode.

Further Reading:

The Stewpot backerkit campaign

Circle X theater company

Great Reckonings in Little Rooms

Comedy Book by Jesse David Fox

Socials

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

Is sharing music with your friends an RPG? It sure is when you're playing Avery Alder's game Ribbon Drive. Takuma Okada, the designer of Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern (⁠on Backerkit right now⁠), joins me this week to talk about music, contemplation, and unconventional ways to inspire players.

Further Reading:

⁠Ribbon Drive⁠

⁠Spindlewheel⁠

Everything Is Illuminated, the book and film

⁠Ten Candles⁠

⁠Dread⁠

⁠Star Crossed⁠

⁠Our Radios Are Dying⁠

⁠Void 1680 AM⁠

Sam’s ⁠playlist⁠ from playing Ribbon Drive

⁠The Awards⁠ website

⁠The Awards interview on Yes Indie'd⁠

Socials

Takuma on Twitter and Bluesky.

Sam on ⁠Bluesky⁠ and ⁠itch⁠.

The Dice Exploder blog is at ⁠diceexploder.com⁠

Our logo was designed by ⁠sporgory⁠, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the ⁠Dice Exploder Discord⁠ to talk

Transcripts are available at diceexploder.com

People talk a lot about how and whether RPGs emulate TV and movies, but this week cohost Meguey Baker (Apocalypse World, Under Hollow Hills) brings in a game that takes that sentiment to a compelling meta level. Fan Mail, from Primetime Adventures by Matt Wilson, is the core of the game's key metaphor: that players are simultaneously writers of a TV show, fans watching that show, and the characters portrayed on screen. We talk about the storygame scene in the early 2000s, how Primetime Adventures has influenced Meg's work, and how different this mechanic can feel in a one shot vs a full campaign.

This game feels like a classic. I wish I'd known about it ten years ago.

Further Reading:

Primetime Adventures by Matt Wilson

The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall

Inspecters by Jared Sorensen

A Thousand and One Nights by Meguey Baker

Ritual in Game Design by Meguey Baker

Meguey & Vincent’s new game Under Hollow Hills

Socials

Meg on Twitter and Bluesky.

The Baker family blog and games.

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.

Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!

Transcript

What's the deal with Playbooks? That's a question that's way too big for one episode. But Moe Poplar, of the RPG Academy podcast Show & Tell, had a very particular effect of playbooks that he wanted to talk about on the show today: how playbook choice can be a line of communication between players, GM, and designer.

This is one of those episodes that's as much play advice as it is about design. I should do more of those.

Further Reading:

Monster of the Week

Blades in the Dark

Socials

Moe’s website, including his games.

Moe’s podcast via The RPG Academy, Show & Tell

Sam on Bluesky and itch.

The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com

Our logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!