September Roundtable: Changing Seasons

September Roundtable: Changing Seasons

I can’t speak for the whole of Sidequest, but when I feel the first day of crisp autumn air or see the first morning with a dusting of frost, something changes in me. The transitory seasons are where it’s at, in my opinion, and while games may not have mastered the art of pumpkin-flavored everything or the itchiness of spring allergies, they nonetheless have done a pretty good job of exploring the beauty of seasonal changes. This month, we’re talking about gaming seasons—the literal and the figurative.

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January Roundtable: Renewal in Games

January Roundtable: Renewal in Games

Calendars are an arbitrary measure of time, but I think we can all agree that leaving 2020 behind is something of a blessing, right? So this month, let’s talk about games that center around renewal as a theme. (more…)

5 Low-Prep, GMless Games to Play from Far Away

5 Low-Prep, GMless Games to Play from Far Away

Welcome to the quarantimes. All across the land, folks are starting remote D&D games in an effort to find something to do with their distant friends, and you’re starting to think a tabletop RPG sounds like fun, too. But wait! You don’t have a friend you can easily designate as DM (or GM, as the case may be), and you certainly don’t want to put in that kind of planning time.

Well, good news: You don’t always need a GM to play TTRPGs. I love telling stories with my friends, but I’ve never in my life been able to commit to GMing… so I’ve built up a stable of GM-less games that I can pull out and play with zero prep. (more…)

September Roundtable: Politics and Games

September Roundtable: Politics and Games

We talk a lot about politics in games. We’re not of the opinion that anything can be truly apolitical; people create games, and people have beliefs and ideologies that inform what they create. This often causes friction, as sometimes a game we enjoy may rub up uncomfortably against our own beliefs, or a game may attempt itself to brand itself as apolitical when it’s clearly anything but.

But some games embrace politics, leaning hard into exploring a tricky idea, a creator’s identity, or other elements that encourage the player to think more deeply about whatever issue the game is tackling. The Sidequest crew sat down to talk about what these games are doing well, and how games that play with politics can be both interesting and fun. (more…)

Why I Game: Gaming Helps Me Tell Stories

Why I Game: Gaming Helps Me Tell Stories

2017 was a long, brutal year. On top of political strife, industry shenanigans, and personal/professional chaos, it was also the first full calendar year I spent out of school and thus removed from automatic contact with a big group of my friends. But in the last few months, games not only gave me an explicit reason to reach out and connect with a group of people whose company I cherish, but also an outlet to explore stories I would never otherwise have told.

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