Episodes
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The Bad Ideas Episode
We kick off our new season by brainstorming bad ideas for games! Unwieldy mechanics, onerous requirements, obtuse premises; we cover a bunch of bad ideas because we know that inside every bad idea is a good idea waiting to be freed. Show Notes: Minimalist TTRPG Jam 5 Electric Football Games...
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The Season Two Finale Episode
Nathan and Eppy discuss transitioning out of the second season of the show. This is a meta episode where we talk about the show, and why it feels right to divide what we're doing in it into seasons. We toss around some ideas for homework for the next season, discuss how it'll line up with our…
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The Other Tracy Episode
We welcome friend and fellow Tracy Barnett (the Other Tracy) to the show! We discuss his games (Iron Edda, School Daze, and more), his trajectory as a game designer, changing practices for getting games out into the world, the many benefits of zines and low-fi creation, writing directly into...
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The Gregor Hutton Episode
We welcome long-time friend and crackerjack game designer Gregor Hutton to the show! This far-ranging discussion includes his games (3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars, Remember Tomorrow), all the ways we work on games while not Working On A Game, keeping the joy alive, the evolving landscape for the...
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The Aesthetics Episode
In this episode we get fancy and talk about the aesthetics of truly-true game mechanics. The same probabilistic outcomes and mechanical functions can be served by many different styles of rule. We talk about different ways to appreciate the form of a game mechanic as well as think about how the...
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The Fun Episode
It's finally time for us to seriously address the elephant in the room for truly-true roleplaying games: fun. We talk about how hard it is to describe fun, what elements of gameplay (can) lead to or combine to create fun, and why "make it fun" isn't a very fruitful design goal. Look, we're game...
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The Diction Episode
In this episode, we carefully consider our words in order discuss the different purposes served by creating abstractions with your game rules, and how word choices can both result from and drive game design. Remember, 90% of game design is naming things! Games Mentioned: Swords Without Master...
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The Small Changes Episode
In this episode, we talk about being at the top of the truly-true Design Ziggurat where small changes have big effects. Specifically, one of the signs that a game is close to done is when enough of the design is settled that an insight that leads to a significant change is just a small thing that...
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Plus Expenses #118
Plus Expenses is our bonus show for Patrons, dropping every other week between our regular episodes. This one is on the public feed for everyone, to round out our Origins Interviews episode with our reflections on the convention. Thanks so much for listening - if you dig this, you can get it for...
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The Origins 2026 Interviews Episode
We went to Origins Game Fair! It was a great time, and we were lucky enough to catch up with old friends and chat with new ones for the show. This episode consists of 6 in-person interview/conversations with game designers, GMs and publishers about Origins, Games on Demand, boothing, and game...
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The Sexy Episode
It's the summer, which means time for a sweaty, exciting episode about... distribution platforms! A new challenger has entered the arena, and we discuss the role of these digital marketplaces as part of actually getting games into peoples hands, the features and constraints they each have and how...
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The Prompts & Standards Episode
We come back from a brief sabbatical to consider a bundle of topics from our Scholars. We talk about prompts in truly true roleplaying games (and reclaiming them from their AI-related meaning), things in our lives we've adopted from games and that we adapt into our game design, and different...
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The Works In Progress Episode
Nathan and Eppy finally turn in their spring semester homework, discussing where they are at with The Marian and Robin Roleplaying Party Game (and spinners!), and Fair Winds and Following Seas (and music!), respectively. Informed by both formal exploration and input from Scholars over at our...
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The Haters Episode
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...
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The Wisdom Episode
As is tradition on this first day of April, we're going through some of the wisdom we've accumulated as self-publishers over the years, in hopes it'll help out those who are starting their game design journey. We try to address some of the basic questions that you might not know you should be...
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The (First) Mailroom Episode
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,...
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The Hacks Episode
In this episode, Nathan and Eppy report back about their "do this with that" homework assignment. Eppy debuts The Marion and Robin Party Roleplaying Game, and Nathan outlines how Remember Tomorrow reconfigures Fair Winds and Following Seas. Then, we reflect on how using other games as the basis…
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The Mind-Blown Episode
Nathan and Eppy assigned homework off-mic, to discuss some games that showcase thinking about games in a way we never would have, or that made such an impression on us that we've made them part of our toolkits. We discuss what we mean by our minds being blown, then go over our lists. Then, we...
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The Survey Episode
In this episode, Nathan and Eppy respond to listener feedback, talk about a recent play experience, and then go through some of the projects we're each working on or thinking about that are not the One Without Master. It's a high-level survey of where we're at, game-design-wise, going into 2026!...
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The Shel Kahn Episode
In this episode, we sit down with friend, artist, game designer and art director for Swords Without Master Shel Kahn to talk about... all of those things! We touch on the different roles of art in game design, working with abstract imagery, refining your taste as a chooser-of-images even if...
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The Constraints Episode
In this episode, Eppy brings a discussion of "technological" creative constraints in game design. We talk about what this means in the context of tabletop, how constraints surface through the design, and how we handle them as designers. This builds on our recent episode about design surfaces, and...
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The Reflection Episode
In this episode, Nathan and Eppy reflect on the first year of this podcast, talk about how things change in the doing, and discuss how creating a community is part of the overall endeavor. This leads into a survey of feedback tools and frameworks that can be used to reflect on your game sessions...
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The Surfaces Episode
In this episode, Nathan and Eppy report back on their recent work on PET CRIMES, centering on making digital tools for play. This leads into a discussion of the concept of designing the "surfaces" of your game - what are the things (physical, relational, temporal) that you need to design in order...
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The Card Concepts Episode
In this all-homework episode, we each bring an initial sketch of the cards that could drive each of our card-based game concepts. Nathan's "Big Lore" game explores using card decks to reveal things about the game world and guide character progression, while Eppy's "Exploration Legacy" game uses...
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The Season Two Premiere Episode
We're moving into the next season of our podcast! In this one, Nathan and Eppy talk about how we're turning from the scholarly side of our project to the instructional side, and how our show homework is changing to match. What this means for our listeners is that you'll be hearing more about new...
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The Episode Without Master
The Season of Swords is upon us! Nathan and Eppy talk about Eppy's sword & sorcery classic Swords Without Master, how it came to be, how it works, and what's next for the game: a full standalone release, coming early 2026! Show Notes: Swords Without Master is in Worlds Without Master, Issue 3…
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The TBR Pile Episode
In this episode we tackle our to-be-read piles of recent game acquisitions for our homework, highlighting more recent work that we've both been digging and finding some common themes across different genres and types of game. We then talk about "instructional" and "non-instructional" text in…
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The Playtesting Episode
In this episode Eppy leads off with a hot take about playtesting, leading us to a discussion of the multiple purposes of playtests, playstorming, techniques for effective playtests, and an introduction of a new feature of the Unwritten Earths Symposium Discord: Playtest Tuesdays! Show Notes:...
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The Ludography Episode
In this episode we do our game design homework of looking through game ludographies to chase down a chain of influence. It's a fun journey and we end up in very different places for our arcane gems! We also give an update on the Adventurer & Hobbyist Annual 2025, coming out soon! Show Notes: You...
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The Sailing Episode
In this episode we talk about handling multiple ongoing projects as full-time working creative people, and then Nathan brings a game idea for discussion: a game that creates or invokes the simultaneous closed-in-ness and open-ness of sailing. We have some fun ideas for creating slow-burn drama…
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The Spiralbound Episode
In this episode we go to the copyshop to dig up spiralbound games for our game discovery homework, and get deep into the weeds on both format and substance of our picks. Games Mentioned: Black Cadillacs (Steel Toe'd Edition) (here's the Wayback Machine archive of the game page) Tunnels & Trolls,...
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The Podcation Episode
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…
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The Nat Barmore Episode
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...
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The White Whale Episode
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. Show Notes: We talk about these Robin Hoods: Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire (1883)…
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The Hidden Information Episode
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. Games Discussed: Lacuna…
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The Trends Episode
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. Show Notes: We are now recording on...
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The Ritual Episode
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…
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The Annual 2025 Episode
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...
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The Eras Episode
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...
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The Convention Slot Episode
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. Out inaugural project,...
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Plus Expenses #87
In this Plus Expenses we talk about:Articulating the Unwritten Earths Symposium and how it gives us productive constraints, repetition is the brevity of the soul, Voyagers!, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, King Con by Stephen J. Cannell, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Samurai Champloo, coming...
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The Constraints Episode
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. Show Notes: Iron Game Chef: Historical - Summary Iron Game Chef: Historical…
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The Groundhog Day Episode
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…
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The Purple and Yellow Episode
In this episode we do our color-guided homework, explore the realm of rpg fiction written by people who haven't played rpgs (?), and talk about Epidiah "The Night Writer" Ravachol's handwriting strategy. Show Notes: Hobgoblin by John Coyne Witch and Wombat by Carolyn Cushman The CATS method is by...
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The Coffee & Game Design Episode
In this episode we lay out the template for Coffee & Game Design, assign some homework, delve into the archives for some Arcane Gems, share a war story and field a listener question about promoting our games. Show Notes: Color Contrast Bot on Mastodon Spencer Campbell's Unsung Hero thread on...
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The Cursed Episode
In this Cursed Episode, despite being interrupted by a power outage we talk about some juicy Arcane Gems within our game discovery homework, and talk about our current works in progress. Show Notes: From the Guardian: "‘It’s game over for facts’: how vibes came to rule everything from pop to...
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Mounts, Death and Music
Show Notes: Horse Armor (from Elder Scrolls, not World of Warcraft) The box that turns itself off is also called a useless machine Eppy tried to calculate the number of deck shuffle possibilies in The Shrike but it was too many Games We Talked About: The game where you play a sword is Wield by…
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Plus Expenses #81
In this Plus Expenses we talk about: It’s the official “crossover” Plus Expenses, James Garner handing off a baton to a wizard, feelings about ending Two Hundred a Day (but Two Hundred a Day will remain!), actually ending a thing, starting a new podcast: Unwritten Earths Symposium, how Plus...
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Enter the Symposium
Welcome to the Unwritten Earths Symposium Podcast! On Episode 0, game designers Nathan D. Paoletta and Epidiah Ravachol introduce themselves, talk about the Symposium, and then uncover some arcane games from their game discovery homework. Have we designed a game yet? In this episode, we…
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