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 assign homework for next episode: to sketch out what one of our works-in-progress would look like, if we used one of our mind-blowing influences as a model! We're still aiming to make new games this season, and this was a really productive conversation to help us both along.

Show Notes:

• Friday the 13th: The Series
• Everything Everywhere All At Once
• Avery Alder
• Central Michigan University Press is republishing The Mountain Witch Art & System: Games for Expanded Play

Games Mentioned:

• The Mountain Witch
• Teen Witch
• Still Life via Golden Cobra
• Remember Tomorrow
• Bullwinkle & Rocky Role-Playing Party Game
• 1001 Nights
• Black Sun Deathcrawl
• Darkpages (Aschan)
• Apocalypse World (Read a Sitch, specifically)
• Urban Jungle

And there's more:

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

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!

Check out Soapbox Game Mechanics! It's from All My Friends Are Stories (Patreon), they have some of the games for sale here, and here's the youtube channel. Eppy's episode hasn't been posted at the time of recording, but should be up eventually!

Show Notes:

• At the Edge: Art of the Fantastic (Allentown Art Museum)
• Bryant Johnson
• Jennifer Adcock - check out The Price of Coal and Dollhouse D.R.A.M.A.
• Kenny Omega vs Haruka (age 9)
• Invisible Man vs. Invisible Stan (TWO invisible wrestlers!)
• Apple Human Interface Guidelines

Games Mentioned:

• Quest RPG
• Mork Borg - Bare Bones Edition (the plain text version)
• Necronautilus
• Gamma World 7E
• Prince Valiant Storytelling RPG
• Five Star Match
• Plasmodics: mutant freaks in the weird future

And there's more:

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

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 commissioning original art isn't realistic, and the ways artwork and visual design elements help out the game design endeavor. Art... it's good!

Show Notes:

• The Swords Without Master Kickstarter - funded now, runs through February 13th 2026!
• Shel's website and webcomics
• Buy By Crom!
• The Beguiling Bookstore
• Elemei (our glyph artist for Swords)
• Movies: Captain Blood, Don Juan and Troy

Games Mentioned:

• Traveller and GURPS Traveller
• TORQ
• Shel’s Pocket Dungeons
• Wolfspell

And there's more:

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