Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

Jonathan Levstein joins the conversation on Monster Care Squad from Sandy Pug Games. How many player choices are too many? How does layout affect the reading experience? What's the best monster, and why is it the one who wants people to live in it?

If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord.

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

Haunted house time! Natalie Zina Walschots joins us to talk about Bluebeard's Bride. What's the deal with men? Can you consent to a book? Can tone go too far?

If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord.

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

As monster season continues, Dia Lacina joins us to talk about Wet Grandpa by Evey Lockhart. What's the best way to write an adventure? Do vibes rule everything? And why do we end up talking about '90s RPGs?

If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord.

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

Dan Phipps of Gem Room Games is here to talk about Blood Feud from Blackfisk Publishing! It's the start of our new season. The theme is "monsters," and we talk about the biggest monster of all: toxic masculinity. 

If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord.

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

This is the final mini-sode exploring the influences behind the games we're Kickstarting. First up is Kismet by Cezar Capacle, a deceptively simple game with revolutionary mechanics. Then we talk about The Invisibles, a comic by Grant Morrison and a whole host of artists. Discussion ranges from designer toolboxes to messy queer narratives and ends in an invitation to work sex magic so that our Kickstarter funds.

We also mention Tunnel Goons by Nate Treme.

Check out our Kickstarter here. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord!

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual  so that you don't have to.

With our Kickstarter running, we wanted to do a series of shorter  episodes focusing on the various inspirations for our games. It's movie night! With Battle Royale and The Matrix. We talk about subtext, text, and supertext and just sort of compliment both movies.

Check out our Kickstarter here. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord!

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual  so that you don't have to.

With our Kickstarter running, we wanted to do a series of shorter episodes focusing on the various inspirations for our games. First up is Cybermetal 2012 by Adam Vass. What has Max repeatedly saying "Fuck you, Adam" (respectfully)? How can a game be both inextricable from its mechanics but webbed to them? Why should we make weird & personal shit?

Check out our Kickstarter here. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord!

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

We look back at this season's games, rank them, and chat about our upcoming season three.

Check out our Kickstarter here. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord!

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

We return to R. Talsorian Games and Mike Pondsmith in order to talk about CyberGeneration! We cover regretting and correcting their creative decisions, punk and optimism, and malls. Also, R. Talsorian keeps their out-of-print books available as print-on-demand, so you can get CyberGeneration and read along.

Check out our Kickstarter here. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord!

Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.

We continue our slow exploration of D&D editions with the First Quest box set for AD&D 2nd Edition. Is the box set the ultimate expression of the RPG? Do more RPGs need to hire child actors to pretend to play the game? 

If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord!