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 Discord, both of these games are starting to get somewhere.

Show Notes:

• Two Hundred a Day "Live" Episode with Emily Care Boss
• Numberphile "Cones Are Messed Up" (Martini Glass Video)
• Maid Marian and Her Merry Men (BBC series)

Games Mentioned:

• Remember Tomorrow
• Bullwinkle & Rocky Role-Playing Party Game
• Jason Morningstar’s The Skeletons
• Rogue Trader (2009), but Nathan was probably playing Dark Heresy (2008)

And there's more:

• Unwritten Earths Symposium
• Our Patreon
• Join the Discord
• Nathan's games
• Eppy's games
• Music by Will Jobst

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:

• Unwritten Earths Symposium
• Our Patreon
• Join the Discord
• Nathan's games
• Eppy's games
• Music by Will Jobst

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 asking, and talk about the core work of finding an audience, benefits and drawbacks of different kinds of conventions, designing your business like it's a game, and starting small in order to give yourself the space to learn and grow. If there's any fools today it's going to be us, but hopefully this is helpful - and if raises further questions, please get in touch so we can continue this conversation!

Show Notes:

• Tabletop Game Alliance of Washington State
• Heart of the Deernicorn
• itch.io
• Drivethru
• Indie Press Revolution
• Payhip
• 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars
• FreeTaxUSA
• Vast and Starlit

And there's more:

• Unwritten Earths Symposium
• Our Patreon
• Join the Discord
• Nathan's games
• Eppy's games
• Music by Will Jobst