What are Role-Playing Games?

Today, we’re diving into one of the most fascinating - and frankly, most misunderstood - forms of interactive play: Role-Playing Games, or RPGs. So what are RPGs? Are they just about dice rolls and dragons? Are they all swords and stats? Or is there something deeper, and something profoundly human, about stepping into someone else’s shoes in a world that is not quite our own. Well, pull up a chair, and maybe grab your character sheet, and let’s explore what it really means to play a role, and why that matters now more than ever.

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Also make sure to visit University XP online at www.universityxp.com

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Also, feel free to email me anytime at dave@universityxp.com

Game on!

Get the full transcript and references for this episode here: https://www.universityxp.com/podcast/156

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Amber Sewell on Games as Information Literacy

In this episode of Experience Points, Dave Eng talks with Amber Sewell, a Teaching and Learning Librarian at UNLV, about using games to teach information literacy. Amber shares how her classroom activity Authority Argle Bargle turns debates about academic majors into playful, critical discussions on credibility and source evaluation. She also reflects on how games and podcasting—like her own LibParlor Podcast—help make scholarship more accessible by blending pop culture, pedagogy, and real-world relevance.

If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing.

Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll get the next episode of Experience Points delivered directly to you.

I’d also love it if you took some time to rate the show!

I live to lift others with learning. So, if you found this episode useful, consider sharing it with someone who could benefit.

Also make sure to visit University XP online at www.universityxp.com

University XP is also on Twitter @University_XP and on Facebook and LinkedIn as University XP

Also, feel free to email me anytime at dave@universityxp.com

Game on!

Get the full transcript and references for this episode here: https://www.universityxp.com/podcast/155

Support the show

Victoria Banks on Dungeons, Dragons, and Discourse

In this episode of Experience Points, Dave Eng interviews Victoria Banks, a Clemson University PhD student and video game scriptwriter, on using Dungeons & Dragons–inspired course design to engage students. She explains how mechanics like levels, boss battles, and character creation boost motivation and agency, while linking game rhetoric to classroom design. Sharing stories of students tickling dragons or exploiting overpowered abilities, Victoria reflects on balancing play and structure. The episode shows how games transform classrooms into spaces of creativity, choice, and discovery.

If you liked this episode please consider commenting, sharing, and subscribing.

Subscribing is absolutely free and ensures that you’ll get the next episode of Experience Points delivered directly to you.

I’d also love it if you took some time to rate the show!

I live to lift others with learning. So, if you found this episode useful, consider sharing it with someone who could benefit.

Also make sure to visit University XP online at www.universityxp.com

University XP is also on Twitter @University_XP and on Facebook and LinkedIn as University XP

Also, feel free to email me anytime at dave@universityxp.com

Game on!

Get the full transcript and references for this episode here: https://www.universityxp.com/podcast/154

Support the show