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