Dice Exploder
Episodes
2025 Year End Bonanza
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIt's the Dice Exploder 2025 year end bonanza! This year I'm joined by Lin Codega and Diogo Nogueira t...
Inventory Tetris (Mausritter) with Quinns
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comMausritter is an old school dungeon crawling game where instead of playing as elves fighting dragons, you pla...
The Brainer VS The Brain-Picker (Apocalypse World 2e/3e) with the Bakers
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comApocalypse World 3rd edition is on Kickstarter right now. In many ways, it hasn’t changed much. In many way...
Actual Play: Void 1680 AM Community Broadcasts (with Ken Lowery)
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comTo close out this miniseries on actual play, I wanted to feature a game that I think uses actual play as a ga...
Actual Play: 4AM at a Diner (Last Train to Brooklyn) with Linnie Schell
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comLast Train to Brooklyn is an actual play from Twice Rolled Tales where they play Last Train to Bremen on a Ne...
Actual Play: An Uncomfortable Offer (Maia's Game Room: The Electric State) with Maia Wilson
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comOne of my favorite parts about these episodes where I'm highlighting a single moment from an actual play ...
Actual Play: A Tree Shanty (My First Dungeon: The Wildsea) with Brian Flaherty and Elliot Davis
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIn The Wildsea, you play as sailors on a sea of trees in a climate post-apocalypse where the climate won. And...
Actual Play: The First 30 Minutes (My First Dungeon: Orbital Blues) with Rowan Zeoli
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIt's a new series on Dice Exploder all about actual play. For five episodes, instead of breaking down one...
You Will Die In This Place with Merrilee Bufkin and Jay Dragon
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comLast summer a hot new game hit the indie rpg scene: You Will Die In This Place, a surreal and experimental......
Love, Sex, and Romance: The War (Will That Be All?) with Kim Lam
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comToday we’re wrapping up the Dice Exploder series on love, sex, and romance with Will That Be All? by Graham...
Love, Sex, and Romance: Big Chunky Prompts with Tasha Robinson
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comI’m back! Alex and Sharang have done an amazing job talking love, sex, and romance over the past month but ...
Love, Sex, and Romance: Physical Touch with Alex & Sharang
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIn this final episode hosted by Sharang and Alex, perhaps their climactic episode, they are turning up the he...
Love, Sex, and Romance: The Phallus with Alex & Sharang
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comOur series on game mechanics centered around sex and romance continues with returning champions Alex Roberts ...
Love, Sex, and Romance: Roll to Seduce with Alex & Sharang
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comAlex Roberts and Sharang Biswas are back for round two, this time with “roll to seduce,” that classic act...
Love, Sex, and Romance: Sex Moves (Apocalypse World) with Alex & Sharang
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comLove, sex, and romance: huge human topics, wildly under-discussed in roleplaying games. At least in my opinio...
Rolling the Dice... On Camera! (The Die Guys) with Moira Joy Smith
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comMoira Joy "MJ" Smith is the Dungeon Master for the Try Guys D&D actual play show "The Die Guy...
Afterimage: City of Winter
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dice Exploder: Afterimage is a new show format I'm trying, a mashup of This American Life with a play report.I have a box full of memories that li...
Afterimage: Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dice Exploder: Afterimage is a new show format I'm trying, a mashup of This American Life with a play report.When I was in the third grade, there ...
Party by the Apocalypse preview: an Apocalypse World sex scene
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hello and welcome to Party by the Apocalypse, an actual play miniseries where we play Apocalypse World while breaking down how it works and the choice...
Announcement: Dice Exploder joins the Many Sided Network
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today the folks over at Many Sided Media, the production house behind My First Dungeon and Talk of the Table, are launching a new podcast network... a...
Clarity (Changeling: the Lost 1e) with MintRabbit
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIn the unreliable urban fantasy world of Changeling, Clarity is a mechanic that measures... well, for now let...
Question Oracle (Stoneburner) and rolling the dice again with Ray Chou
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comFor the two year anniversary of Dice Exploder, my first ever cohost Ray Chou returns for what starts off as a...
10 Candles (10 Candles) with Jay Dragon
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comThis is, at long last, the end of this Dice Exploder miniseries on larp. And I wanted to send it off by retur...
Experience Design with Caro Murphy
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comHere near the end of Dice Exploder's larp series, I wanted to have on Caro Murphy (Galactic Starcruiser) ...
Safety Tools, and Players Are More Important Than The Game, with Sarah Lynne Bowman
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comSafety in RPGs and larp is a huge topic, one I’ve wanted to cover on Dice Exploder for a long time, but one...
Beats (Heart: the City Beneath) with Aaron Voigt
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comLast week, indie rpg YouTube essayist Aaron Voigt and I delved into Heart: the City Beneath, a surreal and ma...
Zenith Abilities (Heart: the City Beneath) with Aaron Voigt
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comHeart: the City Beneath. It’s a surreal and bloody dungeon crawler full of so much to love… plus some bit...
Elf Motors with Chris Duffy
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comOver on the Dice Exploder discord, we welcome new members by asking them what their favorite mechanic is. It’...
Fateplay Scenes (House of Craving) with Sharang Biswas
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comLast week was a show about how it might work to frame a scene when you get to decide whatever you want that s...
Spotlight Scenes with Moyra Turkington
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comWhen you’re playing roleplay-heavy D&D, what does a scene look like? Since the game doesn’t give you ...
Shadows with Elin Dalstål
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comShadows are a metatechnique in larp where you have players in the role of something other than a traditional ...
Workshops with Marc Majcher
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comThere's this period of time between when we've all agreed we're going to play a game now and when...
Dice Exploder is on Patreon, plus Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comThe show is on Patreon! There's not going to be a lot behind the paywall, but there is right now a pilot ...
Embodiment with Kate Hill
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIn a lot of tabletop rpgs, to do something in the fictional world, we engage with abstraction: to pick someon...
Just Read the Card (Ghost Court) with Randy Lubin
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts are available at diceexploder.comLarp! It’s that thing where you dress up like wizards, go into the woods, and hit each other with stick...
Mule (Last Train to Bremen) and Pregenerated Characters with Aaron Lim
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comPregens! They're not just a tool to get started playing quicker, they're also a way for a designer to...
Coloring Book Character Sheet (Two Hand Path) with Jeeyon Shim
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comWhat’s the best way to convey the emotional experience of being a post-apocalyptic demon-fighting wizard ac...
Flauros the Demon (Wreck This Deck) with Audrey Stolze
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comDon't you hate it when one card in a deck gets a little bent? You ever have someone spill their coffee on...
2024 Year End Bonanza
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts can be found at diceexploder.comIt's the Dice Exploder 2024 year end bonanza! This year I'm joined by Aaron Voigt, Rowan Zeoli, an...
The Challenge Deck (Wickedness) with Audrey Stolze and Seraphina Garcia Ramirez
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comA few weeks back, a conversation on the Dice Exploder discord lead to a new game jam: the Femininomenon Jam, ...
AMA with Merrilee Bufkin
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comI usually like to think of Dice Exploder as a pretty focused show with a pretty tight format. Yeah we may spr...
Deep Cuts with John Harper
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comIt’s a Dice Exploder EMERGENCY POD! Less than 24 hours ago as of recording, John Harper, designer of Blades...
Dice Forager: a Dice Exploder zine
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts available at diceexploder.comHello from the between-season malaise! Today I'm joined by Aaron King, back again, who interviews me abou...
The Sooth Deck (Invisible Sun) and Custom Oracles with James D'Amato
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week I’ve got James D’Amato (Campaign: Skyjacks, the Ultimate RPG book line, and the upcoming Oh Captain, My Captain) here to talk ...
Keys (Keymaster) with Caro Asercion
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptToday, Caro Asercion (i'm sorry did you say street magic) brings us a game and mechanic all about instinct and physical embodiment: Keys...
Love Letters (Apocalypse World) with Aaron King
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThrilled this week to have on one of my favorite movewrights, it’s Aaron King of the RTFM podcast. Aaron brought on Love Letters from Apoc...
Speak Your Truth (Desperation) with Jeff Stormer
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptIt’s the crossover event of the season! This week I’m joined by Jeff Stormer of the Party of One podcast to talk about the core mechanic...
THAC0 (AD&D 2e) with my dad
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptFor this final episode of the Dice Exploder D&D miniseries, I wanted to go back to the source, to my first experiences playing the game....
Rule Zero (D&D) with Em Acosta
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptI have a list of mechanics I’d like to cover on Dice Exploder, and I’d say about a third of them are jokes. One of those jokes is Rule Z...
Prestige Classes (D&D 3e/3.5e) with Sam Roberts
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Back Dice Exploder season 4 on Backerkit now!TranscriptThis episode I'm joined by Sam Roberts (Escape from Dino Island) to talk abo...
The Adventuring Day (D&D) with Tristan Zimmerman
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Back Dice Exploder season 4 on Backerkit now!TranscriptWelcome to the D&D miniseries! I wanted to kick this off with a look into the mechani...
D&D Miniseries Intro (Homage to the Player's Handbook)
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Back Dice Exploder season 4 on Backerkit now! Transcript Today I'm kicking off a miniseries of Dice Exploder episodes all about the Tarrasqu...
The Queen Is Under Attack (For The Queen) with Kimi Hughes
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Back Dice Exploder season 4 on Backerkit now!TranscriptAmong my favorite RPGs is Alex Roberts' triumph of minimalistic, elegant design: For The Qu...
Designer Commentary: Northfield (with Jason Morningstar)
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptIt is still designer commentary season on Dice Exploder, and today I'm talking with Jason Morningstar (Fiasco, Night Witches, a million ...
Designer Commentary: Space Fam (with Claire and Caveat)
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptFor Ken Lowery’s Disc 2 jam, I decided to finally release the game I’ve been working on for nearly four years: Space Fam.This is a game ...
Game Exploder Jam Roundup
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThe first ever Dice Exploder game jam came to a close about a month ago, and today I sit down with the three hooligans from the discord who ...
Everyone Adds a Detail (Stewpot) with Lee Conrads
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptWhat if your D&D adventuring party settled down and opened a tavern, and the vibes went from dragon murderers to Bob’s Burgers? That&#...
Playlists (Ribbon Drive) with Takuma Okada
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptIs sharing music with your friends an RPG? It sure is when you're playing Avery Alder's game Ribbon Drive. Takuma Okada, the designe...
Fan Mail (Primetime Adventures) with Meguey Baker
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Transcripts are available at diceexploder.comPeople talk a lot about how and whether RPGs emulate TV and movies, but this week cohost Meguey Baker (Ap...
Playbooks and Communication with Moe Poplar
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptWhat's the deal with Playbooks? That's a question that's way too big for one episode. But Moe Poplar, of the RPG Academy podcast...
Exploding Dice with Mikey Hamm
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, now that the part of season 3 that was funded by Kickstarter is over, I’ve got a treat for you: the backers-only bonus episode ...
Innovation in Game Design with James Wallis
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week's cohost is James Wallis, cohost of the Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast, a show a lot like this one that's Kickstarting t...
Lyrical Ludology: A New Show About Lyric Games
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week I'm bringing you an episode from the new podcast Lyrical Ludology with host Logan Timmins, a show all about lyric games. I'm very ex...
Solo Game Prompts with Seb Pines
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptIt’s the solo games episode! Hopefully the first of many. I’m joined by Seb Pines, designer of The Awards winning game Dwelling and have...
Character Sheets with Emanoel Melo
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis is an intensely visual episode. If you'd like to follow along with the sheets we mention and get some extra commentary from me, you...
Pity Points (Kagematsu) with Alex Roberts
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptAlex Roberts, designer of Star Crossed and For the Queen, joins me to talk about pity points from Kagematsu, a mechanic that doesn't act...
Third Party License (Mork Borg) with Strega Wolf van den Berg
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week I've got designer and illustrator Strega Wolf van den Berg on to talk about money and the Mork Borg third party license. What,...
Rumor Tables (Lorn Song of the Bachelor) with Nova
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week I've got Nova, aka Idle Cartulary, of the excellent Playful Void blog among other places linked below. Nova's one of my fa...
The Risk Sheet (Psi*Run) with John Harper
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptOn the season 3 premiere, I’m joined by John Harper, designer of many games featured on past episodes of Dice Exploder including Blades in...
Dice Exploder: Season 3 Trailer
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thursday January 25th Dice Exploder is back with an all new crowdfunded-by-listeners season! The lineup includes John Harper, Alex Roberts, James Wall...
2023 Year End Bonanza
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptHello and welcome to the Dice Exploder 2023 end of year bonanza! I love me a good ranked list of movies on an end of year movie podcast, but...
Designer Commentary: i know the end (with Nico MacDougall)
04 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptToday I’ve got for you another between-season bonus episode. This time we’re breaking format to talk about i know the end, a module I pu...
Accessibility and Graphic Design (Mork Borg) with Marc Muszynski
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptIt’s a bonus between-seasons Dice Exploder! Wowie!As promised back in my episode with Gem Room Games about Mork Borg, today I’m talking ...
Customizing Games for Your Table with Nychelle Schneider
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptOn this episode I’m joined by Nychelle Schneider, also known as Mistletoe Kiss, a moderator from the Blades in the Dark discord and contri...
Secondary Missions (Band of Blades) with Thomas Manuel
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThomas Manuel of the Indie RPG Newsletter and the Yes Indie’d podcast joins me to talk about Secondary Missions, a mechanic from Band of B...
A Five and a Half Foot Long Hand-Printed Scroll (Fall of Magic) with Tasha Robinson
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week I’m joined by Tasha Robinson, film editor at Polygon, Games on Demand aficionado, Golden Cobra honorable mentionee, and author o...
Blaseball with Chris Greenbriar
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptIn the year of our lord two thousand and twenty, many things occurred. But one of those things was the cultural event known as Blaseball.Bla...
Transparency with Jason Morningstar
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week Sam is joined by Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games, known for Fiasco, Night Witches, and many other excellent games.Jason br...
Graphic Design // The Calendar of Nechrubel (Mork Borg) with Gem Room Games
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptDouble the cohosts, double the mechanics, double the Kickstarters to back! This week, Sam talks with Kali Lawrie and Dan Phipps of Gem Room ...
Stress (Brinkwood) with Tan Shao Han
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Tan Shao Han about stress from Brinkwood by Erik Bernhardt, a character resource originally from Blades in the Dar...
[redacted word] (We Are But Worms: A One Word RPG) with David Block
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with his middle school buddy David Block about We Are But Worms: A One Word RPG, other lyric games, and experimental ar...
Fate Points and Aspects (Fate) with wendi yu
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with wendi yu about the Fate Point economy, a meta currency system from Fate by Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue and publish...
Cramped Quarters (Uncharted Worlds) with Morgan Nuncio
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Morgan Nuncio about cramped quarters, a move from Uncharted Worlds. Some topics discussed include:* Travel in stor...
The Hex with Clayton Notestine
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Clayton Notestine about hexagons and hex maps. Some topics discussed include:* The birth of RPGs out of wargaming*...
Dice Exploder: Season 2 Trailer
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Coming August 17th, 2023: DICE EXPLODER SEASON 2.(Here’s a transcript of this trailer.)That’s right, we are back next week with an all new season....
Pick Lists with Ash Kreider
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Ash Kreider about character creation picklists, a common feature of most (all?) PBTA games, as well as many others...
Whispers (The Wildsea) with Ryan Khan
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Ryan Khan about Whispers, a player resource from The Wildsea by Felix Isaacs, but really about a whole bunch of me...
Divine Favor (Agon 2e) with Greg Soper
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Greg Soper AKA sporgory about Divine Favor, one part of the dice pool mechanic from Agon second edition by Sean Ni...
Change The World (The Watch) with Ema Acosta
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week on the Dice Exploder podcast, Sam talks with Ema Acosta about Change The World, a move from The Watch by Ash Kreider.Some topics d...
Theorize (Brindlewood Bay via Oli Jeffrey) with Victor Lane
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Victor Lane about the Theorize move, originally from an idea by Oli Jeffrey and popularized in Brindlewood Bay by ...
Devil's Bargains (Blades in the Dark) with Pam Punzalan
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Pam Punzalan about Devil’s Bargains, one part of the dice pool mechanic from John Harper's game Blades in th...
Composure (Antiquarian Adventures) with Michael Elliott
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week, Sam talks with Michael Elliott about Composure, a player resource mechanic from Ash McAllen’s game Antiquarian Adventures.Micha...
Rolling The Dice (Lasers & Feelings) with Ray Chou
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
TranscriptThis week’s cohost is Ray Chou, who brings Rolling The Dice from John Harper’s iconic one page RPG Lasers & Feelings.Topics discusse...
Dice Exploder: Season 1 Trailer
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Coming June 2023: DICE EXPLODER, a new podcast where each week we break down a tabletop RPG mechanic as deep as we possibly can, with Sam Dunnewold an...