Backstory

Designer Caitlynn Belle joins Alex to talk about creating, refining, mentoring and problem solving. But more importantly: dying in space and bug sex. WISCON Caitlynn's website Caitlynn's Patreon Caitlynn's Games Fiasco Indie Groundbreaker Awards Singularity

Designer and theorist Emily Care Boss joins us this episode to talk Living Games, loving games, and being vulnerable in play. Can role-playing be therapeutic? How do we unite disparate gaming communities? What larp-adjacent practices can we learn from? What's physi-ing??? You'll have to tune in to find out!

Gather 'round as designer and educator Josh Jordan tells us about about the unstoppable force of creativity, candy as cultural exchange, and collaboration as the cure for impostor syndrome. Should larpwrights be keeping an eye on reality TV? Well, probably not, I guess... Josh's Website Living Games Tyrkisk Peber Sarah Lynne-Bowman on Backstory Evan Torner's "Literary and Performatice Imaginaries - Where Characters Come From" Sons of Kryos Teacher Has Personalized Handshakes With Every Single One of His Students Parsley Games Doll Heroine Vast & Starlit Dangers Untold Banana Chan's "They're Onto Me" Caitlynn Belle's Patreon Jackson Tegu's Patreon The Upgrade! A Short Film Versed Kimmy Walters' "Uptalk" Jordan Stewart's "When We Were Young" is out of print The Impostors will be on Kickstarter Soon!

Researcher, educator, writer, and President of LearnLarp LLC, Maury Brown joins Alex to talk safety, empowerment, and empathy in live-action play. If you've been curious about New World Magischola, come hear Maury describe the larp that's not about being a wizard, but "becoming the kind of wizard you want to be." Learn Larp New World Magischola Maury's Living Games Keynote: "People-Centered Design" New World Magischola's Safety and Calibration Techniques College of Wizardry Dystopia Rising Edgeworld

Larpwright J Li joins Alex to talk emotional immersion, user-centric game design, and engaging in a fictional dialogue with the space around you. Curious about pervasive games, and one-player games? This one's for you. J's website J's Keynote at Living Games Argentin Twain Magician Mermaid Big Bad Con What is a "Secrets and Powers" Larp? with Susan Weiner A Pattern Language for Larp Ars Amandi Videos The Golden Cobra Challenge Teen Witch, by Avery Alder J's Blog

Artist and GM Rachel Khan joins us to talk about running an RPG campaign based on Persian mythology at the Aga Khan museum in Toronto. Isn't that the coolest thing ever? We also discuss illustrating for games and the magic of dice bowls. Warning: major spoilers for a thousand-year-old poem! Weald Comics Rachel on Patreon The Aga Khan Museum Shahnameh Gumshoe The Drama System Dungeon World Pathfinder Swords Without Master Glorantha Call of Cthulhu Sword & Backpack The Royal Ontario Museum Opeth

To celebrate one year of Backstory, Alex brings on indie legends and Apocalypse World co-creators Meguey and D. Vincent Baker. Topics range from sex education to censorship to masonic initiation ceremonies and quilt preservation - and yes, it's all related to game design. Lumpley Games Vincent on G+ Meg on G+ Apocalypse World Urban Shadows Monsterhearts Monster of the Week The King is Dead The Princes' Kingdom Shadowrun Cyberpunk 2020 Ars Magica Our Whole Lives The Vengeful Demon of the Ring "Games as Folk Art" on Indie+ Dogs in the Vineyard Shock: Social Science Fiction Beloved MASHED Dialect The Play Generated Map & Document Archive

Game designer Ole Peder Giæver, co-creator of Itras By (with Martin Bull Gudmundsen) and Old Friends (with Jason Morningstar) joins Alex for a dreamy chat about magic, masks, and Norwegian folklore. Also: an exciting announcement. Ole Peder's G+ Condensed Chaos, by Phil Hine Old Friends Impro, by Keith Johnstone Archipelago Cards Whimsy Cards Interview with Ole Peder on Analog Game Studies The X-Card Fighting Fantasy Books Knutepunkt Itras By RESISTOR Lovecraftesque They're Onto Me Trailer Lady Blackbird Draug II Let The Right One In Ship it Like FedeXXX

Larpwright and publisher Mo Turkington on larping theatrically, embodiment and immersion, and "the unbearable weight of representation." Unruly Designs Mo's Keynote at Living Games The Climb, by Jason Morningstar Big Dicks, by The Countess Dillymore New World Magischola Just a Little Lovin' Summer Loving Ars Amandi

Prolific and influential game designer Avery Alder joins Alex to talk about re-entering game design with collaboration and care at the forefront. We also talk queerness, monstrosity, and kids in rpgs. Lots of other stuff too. It's a good chat. Monsterhearts 2 on Kickstarter Avery's Website RIFTS The Quiet Year A Place to Fuck Each Other The Rentpunk Game Jam

Game designer, writer, and consultant Whitney "Strix" Beltràn talks designing with fairy tales, role-playing with archetypes, and keeping mythologies alive. Strixwerks Bluebeard's Bride The Golden Cobra Challenge Weekly Affirmations on Hyper RPG Whitney's esearch on Academia.edu Mulaka, by Lienzo Studios Twine Strix on Twitter

Professional organizer Ben "Books" Schwartz talks larping with kids, larping with different traditions, and larping when it's your actual job. Event Horizon Ben on Twitter Trackers Bay The Wayfinder Experience College of Wizardry Living Games New World Magischola Magischola's Houses Brute Force Design in Larp The Monitor Celestra Planetfall

What happens when you publish your own game from scratch? How do we welcome new players to the table? Game designer Hakan Seyalioglu on game publishing, community building, and the beautiful collision of the obvious and the unexpected. Thorny Games Big Bad Con Old Friends Juggernaut Games within Games Morgan Stinson and Joe Greathead's Fedora Noir will be available soon! Roses and Thorns Mouse Guard Dread The Prisoner GURPS Kathryn Hymes on Backstory Games on Demand CAT The Quiet Year

Do maps make statements, the way games do? Game designer and cartographer Mark Richardson joins Alex to talk publishing games, being sober, and running Vampire larps in the '90s. Mark on Twitter Green Hat Designs Inuktitut Syllabics 7th Sea Urban Shadows Project: Dark King Wen's Tower Fastaval Headspace Apocalypse World Fiasco Mind's Eye Theatre Inheritance Metatopia/Dreamation F.A.T.E.

What do digital and tabletop roleplaying have in common? Can worldbuilding in a game help us change the real world? And just what is the "real world" anyway? Scholar and critic Katherine Cross is here to talk digital citizenship, identity plurality, and more. Katherine on Twitter On Patreon On Gamasutra World of Warcraft: Night Elves The New Laboratory of Dreams: Roleplaying as Resistance and Ethics for Cyborgs: On Real Harassment in an "Unreal" Place Knights of the Old Republic II Big Bad Con Gen Con Epyllion Cartel Fall of Magic

How do you teach analog game design? What makes a game "for kids?" How does the context in which we encounter games influence how we play? Designer and community organizer Ross Cowman talks design, play, music, and more. Heart of the Deernicorn Fall of Magic Arbutus Folk School Fabricated Realities Monsterhearts Living Games

What role can Larp play in education across the lifespan? Can it help us develop responsible, reciprocal relationships with our land, waters, and communities? Gabriel de los Angeles joins us to discuss his work integrating role-playing into STEAM education. NDN Players Research Group Red Eagle Soaring Storyteller Roger Fernandes Sakura Con Northwest Nerdcast Dr. Sarah Lynne-Bowman Gabriel's Living Games Keynote Gabriel's research presentation at the Education and Simulation Pre-Conference Dr. Megan Bang United Indians for All Tribes Foundation Native Girls Code Analog Game Studies SPITE Klaus Raasted's interview with Gabriel Evan Torner on Backstory

Is Pokemon Go a larp? What's the difference between torturing your characters and torturing your players? Can game design help you conquer your fears - or just spread them around a little? Larpwright Jacqueline Bryk is here to pose all these questions and many more. We may answer a few of them, too. Jay Sylvano MagFest Double Exposure Conventions Games on Demand The Queer Gaymes Anthology K. N. Granger David Schirudan's 200-Word RPG Contest Julia Ellingboe Brie Sheldon Kat Jones on Backstory Damocles Thread Monsterhearts Graham Walmsley Stacey Dellorfano, founder of ConTessa Sugar Coated: a great documentary on Lolita fashion in America

Larpwright and theorist Katherine Castiello Jones talks sexuality, intimacy, feminism and other hot topics in game design. Can a game about painting your nails make a point about intersecting axes of oppression? We certainly think so. Kat's Living Games Keynote Julia Ellingboe Cady Stanton's Candyland What is "Parlour Sandbox?" Swords Without Master Evan Torner Intercon Slash: The Card Game There's a Fan Fic For That The #Feminism Anthology Millian Kang's "The Managed Hand" A "Revived" Play Report The Queer Gaymes Anthology Mo Turkington Just a Little Lovin'

Experience designer, broadcaster and author Johnna Koljonen joins us to talk about the difference between role-play and character play, between feeling safe and being safe, and between design and tradition. Johanna's Blog: Participation Safety Introduction to Nordic Larp The "Everyman's Right" or "Right of Public Access" SCA: The Society for Creative Anachronism Burning Man Alibis for Interaction Cut and Break Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Johanna's Living Games Keynote: Opt-in/Opt-out Design Inside Hamlet Knutepunkt/Solmukohta Halat Hisar, a Finnish-Palestinian Larp College of Wizardry Odysse Participation Design Agency