Welcome to the Imaginarium. A space to explore the words and games of others, curated for you.
Essays on fiction and games
Fiction and Narrative
"On Fairy Stories," by J.R.R. Tolkien (from Essays presented to Charles William, 1947)
"A Few Words to a Young Writer," by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Criteria from How to Tell the Difference: A Guide for Evaluating Children’s Books for Anti-Indian Bias, based on Through Indian Eyes by Beverly Slapin, Doris Seale (Santee/Cree), and Rosemary Gonzales (Ojibwe). See also Oyate’s Additional Criteria.
"Reading Romance Novels: An Application of Parasocial Relationship Theory," by Ann Burnett and Rhea Reinhardt Beto, North Dakota Journal of Speech & Theatre, V. 13, 2000.
"Narrative, Interactivity, Play and Games: Four naughty concepts in need of discipline," by Eric Zimmerman (from First Person, 2004)
"The definitive history of games and stories, ludology and narratology," by Jesper Juul (from The ludologist, 2004)
"In Praise of Fanfic," by Cory Doctorow (from Locus Magazine, 2007)
"Transracial Writing for the Sincere," by Nisi Shawl (from Science Fiction Writers of America, 2009)
"The Functions of Language," by Louis Hébert (from Signo, 2011)
“Decolonization is not a Metaphor,” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang (from Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, Vol.1, No.1, 2012, pp.1-40, 2012, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0)
"Story Structure 101: Super Basic Shit," by Dan Harmon (Channel 101 Wiki, 2012)
"Story Structure 104: The Juicy Details," by Dan Harmon (Channel 101 Wiki, 2012)
"Reading other minds, Effects of Literature on Empathy," by Maya Djikic, Keith Oatley and Mihnea C. Moldoveneau of the University of Toronto, in Scientific Study of Literature 3:1, pp. 28-47, 2013.
"A Too-Coherent World: Game Studies and the Myth of 'Narrative' Media," by Edward Wesp (from Game Studies, The International Journal of Computer Game Research, Vol.14, Issue 2, 2014)
A guide to fanfiction for people who can’t stop getting it wrong,” by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw and Aja Romano (from The Daily Dot, 17 June 2014)
"Standard Patterns in Choice-Based Games," by Sam Kabo Ashwell (from These Heterogenous Tasks, Jan 2015)
"The Student of Color in the Typical MFA Program," by David Mura (from Gulf Coast, a journal of litrature and fine arts, April 2015)
"New Rules of Fantasy: The Tyranny and Power of Defaulting," by Quinn Murphy (from Thought Crime Games blog, 2015)
"Diversity Panels I'd Like to See," by Annalee, (from The Bias, Sept 2015)
"No More Diversity Panels, It's Time to Move On," by L.E.H. Light (from Black Nerd Problems, Aug/Sept 2015)
"Diversity Panels Are the Beginning Not the End," by Michi Trota (from Uncanny Magazine, 2015)
"Appropriation," by J Li (part of J Li's works on Medium, 11 September 2015)
"Style Guide for Writing About People with Disabilities," by Jacob Wood (from Accessible Games blog, September 2015)
"25 Things Writers Should Know About Theme," by Chuck Wendig (from terrible minds blog, Sept 2015)
"Mathematicians mapped out every Game of Thrones relationship to find the main character," by Adam Epstein (from Quartz, March 2016)
"Everything You Need to Know to Read Frankenstein," by Iseult Gillespie on Ted-Ed Originals.
"Weaponized Narrative is the New Battlespace," by Brad Allenby and Joel Garreau (from Defense One, 3 January 2017)
"What is LitRPG? A Definition," from LitRPG Reads website (14 Jan 2017) The
"The GLLI-PR Collaboration on Chinese Literature, Feb 2017 (List of All 28 Posts)", by Helen Wang London (from Global Literature in Libraries Initiative, Feb 2017)
"The Future of Free Speech, Trolls, Anonymity and Fake News Online," by Lee Rainie, Janna Anderson and Jonathan Albright (from Pew Research Center, 29 March 2017)
"Uncovering the African Presence in Medieval Europe," by Adam Simmons (from The Public Medievalist, 27 April 2017)
"Film Dialogue from 2000 Screenplays, Broken Down by Age and Gender," by Hanah Anderson and Matt Daniels, (from The Pudding)
"The Story of Arc Symphony, A Game About A Game That Doesn't Exist," by Julie Muncy, (from Wired, 24 May 2017)
"Race: the Original Sin of the Fantasy Genre," by Paul B. Sturtevant (The Public Medievalist, 5 December 2017)
"Coffee & Content - Dan Harmon's 8 Steps to Better Stories and Editing Cuts & Transitions," by Richard "RB" Botto (Stage 32, 5 August 2018)
“From the Trenches to Mordor and Back: World War I and British Fantasy Literature,” by Iskander Rehman (War on the Rocks, 25 October 2018)
“Sparkling Dialogue: A Master Class,” presentation by John Ingold (at AdvX 2018 talks, 1 December 2018)
“Publishing Legend Betty Ballantine dies in Bearville 99,” by Tad Wise (hudson valley one, 18 February 2019) - obituary of influential publisher of 20th century sci fi, fantasy and genre fiction.
“Dear Tolkien Fans: Black People Exist,” by Christina Warmbrunn (The Public Medievalist, 24 September 2020)
The Life and Death of Fandom Platforms | LiveJournal, Archive of Our Own (AO3), Tumblr and ???, video essay summarizing research by Casey Feisler (Casey Feisler Youtube Channel, 25 September 2020)
“Writing Fantasy Lets Me Show the Whole Truth of Disability,” by Ross Showalter (Electric Lit, 1 October 2020)
“Fanfiction comments and their relationship to classroom learning,” by Lauren Rouse (Transformative Works and Cultures, Vol 35 (2021): Fan Studies Pedagogies / Theory. article in html, 15 March 2021)
“Every King Arthur Retelling is Fanfic About Who Gets to Be Legendary,” by Tracy Deonn (Tor.com, 23 March 2021)
“Elizabeth Minkel On Fanfiction, Culture and Platforms,” interview by Uri Bram. (The Browser, 10 Nov 2021)
“Through Fanfiction, I Learned the Machinery of My Mind,” by Yasmin Roshanian. (Catapult, 21 June 2022)
“Making long-form webcomics is like,” by medli20 (Look at all this dumb art Tumblr site, 14 September 2022)
“Building Better Worlds,” by Javier Grillo–Marxuach. (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 50, Free edition 7 February 2023)
“How U.S. Copyright Law Fails Fan Creators,” by EarlGreyTea68. (Fansplaining, 28 November 2023)
Photo and Narrative Documentation of Games
Xin Li's Flickr albums (European larp 2009 - present, Public Domain) CC license.
Larp House Blog documentation collection (Minnesota, US) Contact for permissions to use.
Johannes Axner's Flickr albums (Palestine larp, 2013) CC by attribution.
All For One. Ian Thomas (Medium post, July 26, 2019) Contact for permissions to use.
Communities of Play
Tabletop Gaming, itch.io Community.
Grants, Aid, Advocacy and Foundations
I Need Diverse Games, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming.
Pathways Fellowship - board games, mentorship, playtesting, travel to conventions.
Inclusive Games, a network of game designers, community managers, educators, researchers, developers, game players, and students who are interested in creating a caring, inclusive, cozy gaming community that is accessible and equitable to all.
Game Design, Play, Analysis and Community Building
"Therapy is Fantasy: Roleplaying, Healing and the Construction of the Symbolic Order," by John Hughes, in pdf form (paper from Australian National University in 1988, circulated by Myth-o-Logic.org)
Archive of Metagame, The Journal of the Society of Interactive Literature, 1989-1996. (Posted by Gordon Olmstead-Dean and Stephen Kohler)
"The Hidden Art: Slouching Toward a Critical Framework for RPGs," by Robin D. Laws (found in Inter*Action, InteractiveFantasy, Vol 1, 1994-5. )
"System Does Matter," by Ron Edwards (from The Forge Articles, 1999)
"Rounds, Levels, Waves: The Early Evolution of Gameplay Segmentation," by José P. Zagal, Clara Fernández-Vara and Michael Mateas (from Games and Culture, V3, N2. April 2008)
"The Same Page Tool," by Chris Chinn (from Deeper in the Game blog, 2010)
"Zero-Player Games, or: What We Talk about When We Talk about Players," by Staffan Björk & Jesper Juul (from jesperjuul.net, Presented at the Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, Madrid 2012
"Volatility in Game Design," by James Ernest (Lecture notes from GenCon 2012, talk with Jason Morningstar)
"Play Boldly--Let Yourself Be Vulnerable," by Elin Dalstål (from Gaming as Women, September 2012)
"Dealing with the Aristotealian Curse," by Eirik Fatland (from The Larpwright blog, 2013)
"Notes on Kutt, Brems and Emotional Safety," [Cutting and Braking] by Eirik Fatland (from The Larpwright blog, June 2013)
"Cultural Languages of Role-Playing," by Angelina Illieva (from International Journal of Role-Playing, Issue 4, September 2013)
"Rules Engines and Licensing," by Jim White (from Wombat's Gaming Den of Iniquity, October 2013)
"Larp House Notes: When Your Larp Upsets Someone," by Adam McConnaughey (on Medium)
"On Mid-Medieval Economics, Murder Hoboing and 100gp," by Emily Dresner (from /project/multiplexer blog, 2014)
"A Primer on Safety in Role Playing Games," by Lizzie Stark (from Leaving Mundania blog, February 2014)
“Examining 'RPG elements': Systems of character progression,” by Zagal, José Pablo and Roger Altizer. FDG (2014).
"Pillage the Vikings!" The Dummies’ Guide to Nordicizing Your Larp Scene for Fun and (No) Profit, by Ole Peder Giæver and Mo Holkar (from Nordic Larp .org, 2014)
“Thirty Years of King Arthur Pendragon: Interview with Kenneth Hite,” Greg Stafford interviewed by Kenneth Hite at GenCon 2014 (from The Stafford Codex, August 2014)
"Best Practices for Information in Tabletop RPGs," by Brennan Taylor, Matt Wilson, Meredith Reitman, Krista White and John Stavropolous (from Genesis of Legend Publishing RPG Design Panelcast, talk given at Metatopia Panel, November 2014)
“Harvesting Interactive Fiction,” talk by Heather Albano (GDC Narrative Summit, 2015)
"The F&F Manifesto: Fail Better, Forgive Better," by Lizzie Stark (from Leaving Mundania blog, 2015)
"Lighten Up," by Ronald Wimberly (from The Nib, 2015)
"This Cake is an Awful Soup: 5 Tips for Taking Playtest Feedback," by Daniel Solis, (from Daniel Solis. Art Director by Day. Game Designer by Night blog, 2015) Summarizing The Game Design Round Table podcast, Episode #122: Feedback.
"What it means to 'hold space,' plus eight tips on how to do it well" by Heather Plett (from Heather Plett's blog, March 2015)
“Styles of larp,” by Nat Budin, (from Alleged Entertainment blog, 8 March 2015)
"Advanced Designers and Dragons #4: Women in the Roleplaying Industry, 1974-Present," by Shannon Appelcline (RPG.net, August 2015)
"Don't Punch the GM: Adventures in Game Therapy," by Wheelhouse Workshop with Johnny Spangler, Adam Johns, Adam Davis. (PaxPrime, August 2015)
"Looking Back on the Backwards Survey," by W. Caleb McDonald (from his personal website, August 2015)
"DIY Tutorial - Mini Doll Houses," by Elizabeth Chaipraditkul (Epic x Cloth blog, September 2015)
"Rolling the Twenty Sided Dice," by Eric Molinsky featuring Lev Grossman, Paul La Farge and Richard Valazquez (from Imaginary Worlds podcast, September 2015)
"Not a manifesto; on game development as cultural work," by Robert Yang (from Radiator Design Blog)
"A Guide to Awesome Playtests," by Hanna Shaffer (from Contessa Blog, November 2015)
"How to Give and Receive Critique," by Hannah Shaffer, Rachel E. S. Walton and Joshua A.C. Newman (from Genesis of Legend Publishing RPG Design Panelcast, talk given at Metatopia Panel, November 2015)
"What is Social Fiction?" by Quinn Murphy (on Thoughtcrime Games blog, January 2016)
"What is a Storygame?" by Sam Kabo Ashwell (from These Heterogenous Tasks, Jan 2016)
"26 Game Studies Quests," by Evan Torner (from Guy in the Black Hat blog, Jan 2016)
"Been There Done That: Advice for Women in the Industry," talk by Katie Chironis, Amy Kalson, Ellen Marett , Kim McAuliffe, Trevoli Ponds-White, Elizabeth Sampat, My N. Tran (from Game Developers Conference, March 2016)
"Women and Minorities Are Penalized for Promoting Diversity," by Stefanie K. Johnson and David R. Hekman (from Harvard Business Review, Mar 2016)
"Workshop Practice, in Practice -- A Functional Workshop Structure Method," by Mo Holkar (from Nordiclarp.org, April 2016)
"Is immersive theatre broken?" by Alice Saville, Duncan Gates, Rosemary Waugh, Tim Bano, Natasha Tribney, Stewart Pringle, Laura Mooney, and Rafaella Marcus (from Exeunt Magazine, May 2016)
"Teaching Representation in Games," by Mattie Brice (from Mattie Brice Alternate Ending blog, May 2016)
"Designing the Job -- Part 1: What Does a Game Cost a Designer?" by Daniel Solis (from Daniel Solis blog, June 2016)
"A Proceduralist View on Diversity in Games," by Gillian Smith (from Journal of Games Criticism, July 2016)
"Perezhivanie and the study of role-playing games," by Wagner Luiz Schmit (available via Sage Journals online service. Published in Culture & Psychology, August 2016)
"If you went to my larp and didn't like it, here's what I'd like you to do," by Claus Raasted (posted on Medium, August 2016)
"The 4 Cs of larping love," by Oliver Nøglebæk (on Olivers tegninger om rollespil, August 2016)
"Be Vulnerable: Emotional Play and Toxic Masculinity," by Kate ("Blue") Bullock (from Bluestocking's Organic Gaming blog, October 2016)
"OK Check-In," Standards, The Imagination Nation, December 2016.
“Foucault’s Heterotopias as Play Spaces,” by Tim Hutchings and Jason Giardino (from International Journal of Role Playing, Issue 7, December 2016)
"The Self-Reflexive Tabletop Role-Playing Game," Evan Torner, GAME, n. 5/2016, Vol 1., 2016 (Journal, peer-reviewed.) The Italian Journal of Game Studies.
"How We Design Games Now and Why," Katherine Neil, Medium, 10 December 2016 (orig. in Critical Hits: An Indie Game Anthology, Aug 2016).
"Mind the Gap," Ian Thomas, from Winged Monkeys blog, (18 Dec 2016)
"Allies and Dice: Creating Diversity as a GM," Kate Bullock, from Bluestocking's Organic Gaming blog, (11 January 2017)
"Winning the Larp," by Eric Molinsky featuring Lizzie Stark, Evan Torner, Caroline Murphy and Eirik Fatland, (from Imaginary Worlds podcast, 26 January 2017)
"Food for Thought: Narrative Through Food at Larps," by Rosalind Gothberg and Siri Sandquist, (from NordicLarp.org, February 2017)
"'American Larp - A Primer,'" by Kelsey Desrosiers, (from Seed and Sword, February 2017)
"Keeping Volunteers Alive," by Agata Świstak and Claus Raastad, (from Nordic Larp.org, February 2017)
"Telling Character Stories," by Monika Weißenfels, (from Nordic Larp.org, February 2017)
"Discussion Episode - (Live!) Pheno! This Thing We Do," (from Prof Jimbles Dicebag podcast, March 2017) Discussion of Australian systemless play.
"Drawing East Asian Faces," A Brief Guide by Kat Tsai (chuwenjie), (from Kat Tsai tumblr, March 2017)
"The Consent and Community Safety Manifesto," by Maury Brown, (from NordicLarp.org, March 2017)
"How to Record What Your Playtesters are Doing in Your Unity or Twine Games," by Max Seidman, (from Tiltfactor, May 2017)
"Player vs. Character (Key Terms)," by Zardoz the Magnificent (from Zardoz the Magnificent's Dungeons and/or Dragons Super Show!, May 2017)
"I Rolled a One and I'm Dead: Person Reference Across the Multiple Worlds of Tabletop-Roleplaying Games," Thesis by Catherine Leanne Cook, Monash University, May 2017.
"RPG Design Curation - Likes for Wisdom," meme created by Ewen Cluney, Tweets and participation Storified by Jason Pitre (June 2017)
"Dungeons & Dragons Wouldn't Be What It Is Today Without These Women," by Cecilia D'Anastasio (from Kotaku, June 2017)
"The untold origins of Gamergate -- and the gaming legends who spawned the modern culture of abuse," by John Adkins (from Multiplayer, 12 July 2017)
"Playing God: Sub Creation, Rules, and Role-Playing Games," thesis by George Evans (University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2017)
"Gaming-A Hero for Depression," by Keisha Howard (from Sugar Gamers, July 2017)
"Play, Performance and Participation: Boundary Negotiations and Critical Role," by Robyn Hope, Thesis. (from Concordia University Library, Nov 2017)
"Why People Play Table-Top Role-Playing Games: A Grounded Theory of Becoming as Motivation," by Darrin Coe (in The Qualitative Report V22, N11, Art 1, 3 Nov 2017)
"Role Playing Group Styles," by Wendelyn Reischl (from Gnome Stew, The Gaming Blog, 1 January 2018)
"A Millenial's Appendix N," by James Introcaso (from his Worldbuilder Blog, 1 February 2018)
"More Than a Seat at the Feasting Table," by Jonaya Kemper (from Nordic Larp .Org, 7 February 2018)
“RPG Theorizing by Designers and Players,” by Evan Torner, Chapter 10 of Role Playing Games Studies: Transmedia Foundations (4 April 2018)
“The techniques and aesthetics of love in the age of big data,” by Lee MacKinnon, Nanna Bonde Thylstrup and Kristin Veel. (Journal of Aesthetics & Culture. Volume 10, 2018 - Issue 3: Special Issue. Pub 18 May 2018.)
“How Neopets has influenced a generation of game developers,” by Emma Kidwell (from Gamasutra, 15 August 2018)
“Before You Make a Thing,” by Jentery Sayers (from ts200v2, Fall 2018)
“Solo Board Gaming: An Analysis of Player Motivations,” by Dale Leorke (from Analog Game Studies, 2 December 2018)
“Three for Thursday: Classifying Role Playing Games,” by Eric Schmidt (from Unpossible Journeys)
“Discord Moderation Procedures,” by Takuma Okada (circa 2019)
“Playstormosophy,” by Epidiah Ravachol. (from Dig a Thousand Holes Publishing blog, January 2019)
“Why are queer people so mean to eachother?” by Kai Cheng Thom (from Xtra* Magazine, 16 August 2019)
“Paradox and Promise of ‘Physical Games’ on itch.io,” by Evan Torner (guest post on Center of Excellence in Game Culture Studies, 20 September 2019)
“On the Importance of Queer Romances - Role Play as Exploration and Performance of Sexuality,” by Tanja Sihvonen and Jaako Stenros, Widescreen (7 November 2019)
'“Playing at the Margins: Colonizing Fictions in New England Larp,” by Zoë Antoinette Eddy. (Humanities, 9(4), 143. Pub. 14 Dec 2020)
“Esports fandom in the age of transmedia: the reception of the overwatch league,” by Maria Ruotsalainen and Tanja Välisalo. (Eracle. Journal of Sport and Social Sciences 4 (1), 11 - 35. 2021)
“Who’s Playing Dungeons & Dragons These Days? The Usual Fans, And Then Some,” by Amelia Diamond. (New York Times, 21 May 2022)
“The Golden Cobra’s Online Pivot,” by Evan Torner. (Japanese Journal of Analog Role-Playing Game Studies, 2:51e-55e. 20 Dec 2021)
“LARPing Goes to Disney World,” by Neima Jahromi. (New York Times, Dept. of Gaming, 30 May 2022)
“Real Enough,” by Lucrécia Ludovico Alves. (Split/Party, Substack. 16 June 2022)
“Larping’s reality bleed: ‘I’m basically falling in love with a person that does not exist,’” by Jenny Valentish (The Guardian, 18 June 2022)
“Finding Safety to Explore Identity Through Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Gaming Community,” by Abigail Ruhman. Recorded interviews. (NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, 9 September 2022)
“Why Race is Still a Problem in Dungeons & Dragons,” by Linda Codega. (Gizmodo, 15 September 2022)
“Dance like you’re in Bridgerton, play Squid Game: why are immersive experiences booming?” by Amelia Tait. (The Guardian, 14 October 2022)
“As Iranian youths protest, cafes filled with board games and D&D provide community,” by Kamiab Ghorbanpour. (Polygon, 17 Oct 2022)
“LARPing and Violent Extremism,” (an explainer by the FBI for US law enforcement - on distinguishing recreational larp from fascist organizing), by Reid Meloy, Ph.D., Molly Amman, J.D., and Phil Saragoza, M.D., (Law Enforcement Bulletin, Articles. 5 April 2023)
“Can the Arts Fortify State Economies During Times of Financial Crisis? Yes, Apparently,” by Sunil Iyengar. (National Endowment for the Arts/NEA blog, 7 Mar 2024)
Game and Design Courses
”Paper Computers,” by Jentery Sayers, syllabus and readings from English 508 course taught at University of Victoria. Reflection document from this course completed in Dec 2018.
“Games Literacy,” by Anna Anthropy, slides and topic list from introductory course taught at DePaul College of Computing and Digital Media. (from w.itch.io, 6 December 2018)
Certificate in Applied Game Design, sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning through Games and Simulations (CLGS) and Gen Con.
Publishing and Creator Rights
"How to Make Your Own Role-Playing Game (Cheap)," by Clinton R. Nixon (Dreisbach) (from The Forge Articles, 2001)
"A Game Developer's Bill of Rights," by Eric Zimmerman (presentation for Montreal International Game Summit, 2005)
"Kickstarter: Plan for Worst Case Success," by Fred Hicks (from Deadly Fredly blog, March 2012)
"Hitchhiker's Guide to Game Manufacturers," by James Math (from James Mathe -- Entrepreneur, Designer, Publisher blog, Nov 2013) - list and reviews of printers and game manufacturers (card, board, rpg)
Machinations: Game Feedback Diagrams, design analysis tool created by Joris Dormans (jorisdormans.nl, 2013).
"Diversity is Not Enough: Race, Power, Publishing," by Daniel José Older (from BuzzFeed Books, April 2014)
"Self-Publishing 101," by Andrea Phillips (from andrea phillips World*Culture*Interaction blog, April 2014)
"Advice for women looking to get into game design: Part 1," by Anna Kreider (from her blog Go Make Me a Sandwich: a (mostly) humorous look at how not to sell games to women, February 2015)
"Advice for women looking to get into game design: Part 2 [LONG]," by Anna Kreider (from her blog Go Make Me a Sandwich: a (mostly) humorous look at how not to sell games to women, February 2015)
"Advice for women looking to get into game design: Part 3 [LONG]," by Anna Kreider (from her blog Go Make Me a Sandwich: a (mostly) humorous look at how not to sell games to women, February 2015)
"Crowdfunding Is Driving A $196 Million Board Game Renaissance," by Oliver Roeder (from 538, August 2015)
"The Secret to getting a game funded on Kickstarter," by Hayley Tsukayama (from the Washington Post, August 2015)
"Kickstarter Tips for Role Playing Games," links aggregated and maintained by the denizens of Flick.com
"Toward a Larp Organizers' Bill of Rights," by Lizzie Stark (from Leaving Mundania blog, February 2016)
"When We Talk About Cultural Appropriation, We're Missing the Point," by Ijeoma Oluo, (from The Establishment, February 2016)
"PDF Products vs Physical Products as Revenue Generators," by Fred Hicks (from his Deadly Fredly blog, February 2016)
"Hobby Games Market Nearly $1.2 Billion in 2015," by Milton Griepp (from ICv2: The Business of Geek Culture blog)
"An Authoritative Look at Publishing Startups," by Thad McIlroy (from The Future of Publishing site, 10 January 2017)
"Kickstarter in 2016 - Deep Dive into the Games category," by Thomas Bidaux (from ICO Partners, 31 January 2017)
"The Player Organizer Contract," by Lizzie Stark and Tor Kjetil Edland, (from Leaving Mundania, February 2017)
Kickstarter Skepticism: Why we're not eager to play that game you backed..." by Chris Wray and Jeff Lingwall (from Opinionated Gamers, May 2017)
"The Importance of Reference Images (Art Direction)," by Dougas Cole (from Gaming Ballistic, 5 July 2017)
"The value of positive reinforcement for indie creators (and how to get it)," by Ben Wasser (from Ooblets Patreon, 3 Sept 2017)
"ICV2 Interview: Asmodee Execs on the State of the Market, Pt. 1," by ICv2 (from ICv2, December 2017)
"Dungeon Fantasy RPG: Aftermath of Report to Stakeholders," by Douglas Cole (from gamingballistic.com, 17 February 2018)
“A Unified (QT)POC Standard Requirements.” Proposed standard freelance contract for QTPOC and all intersections within the tabletop roleplaying game community. (2018)
“The Online Free Speech Debate is Ragin in Fan Fiction, Too,” by Elizabeth Minkel (from The Verge, 8 Nov 2018)
Collections, Reference Sites and Journals - larp, rpg, games/narrative theory, inclusion, accessibility & equity
2-Player RPGs, by Make Big Things.
40 Top Sites for Storytelling GMs, by Phil, on Tales a GM.
Accessibility in Gaming Resource Guide by Jennifer Kretchmer (Free Edition, for further resources see Patreon Edition)
Actual-play roleplaying games and books you need!, by staff of Washington County Cooperative Library Services, posted by Hillsboro_Brendan, on WCCLS online library catalog. Links to influential actual-play streams and game texts available at this library.
Age of Ravens blog, by Lowell Francis, collection of lists & historical retrospectives of rpgs.
Analog Game Studies, analysis and documentation of analog games. Collected Volumes: I (2016)
American Journal of Play, discussion of history, science and culture of play.
ArtsEdge Games, collection of games from The Kennedy Center a new method of classroom learning that leverages gaming methodology mapped to existing curriculum as a way of teaching the literary and dramatic arts.
Brian Sutton Smith Library and Archives of Play, (about) A multidisciplinary research repository devoted to the intellectual, social, and cultural history of play.
Coblis Color Blinder Simulator, from Colblindor, tool for accessibility analysis of products.
Committee for the Advancement of Role Playing Games (CAR-PGa), studies, case law and other literature about rpgs.
Creator’s Catalyst Project, professional support for small and marginalized roleplaying game creators.
Digital Ludeme Project. A computational study of the world's traditional strategy games throughout recorded human history.
Doris Seale's Writings about Native Peoples in Children's Literature, a bibliography. Compiled by Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children's Literature site.
Fan Studies Journals, open access and other journals & collections of works on fan studies.
G|A|M|E, The Italian Journal of Game Studies, a journal dedicated to a comparative, critical and theoretical analysis of videogames (includes analog games).
Games That Make You Think: A crash course in TTRPG design, a list of games, commentary on their design and recommended practices, curated by Takuma Okada on Itch.io.
Games to Grow Project, vidcast featuring a rotating panel of experts discussing the applications of role-playing games for therapeutic growth and change in individuals, families, and communities.
Game Wrap, yearly publication focusing on the art and craft of live action role playing games.
ICv2 Markets, posts and entries summarizing sales and trends in games, comics and other geek related industries.
Inclusive Gaming Network, blog and community, supports the mission of Reach-Out Role Playing Games and encourages and supports an atmosphere of inclusivity in gaming culture.
Interactive Fantasy: The Journal of Role-Playing and Story-Making Systems, published by James Wallis and Hogshead Publishing, (1994-1995).
The Interactive Fiction Archive, The contents of the IF Archive -- including thousands of text adventures, text adventure development tools, articles, essays, hint files, walkthroughs, jokes, and sly references to Greek politics -- are contributed by the interactive fiction community, past and present. Adopted by the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation.
International Journal of Computer Game Research, crossdisciplinary journal dedicated to games research (2001 to 2014).
International Journal of Role Playing, interdiscplinary platform for discussion of role playing games.
Journal of Games Criticism, bi-annual non-profit, peer-reviewed, open-access journal on games as cultural artifacts, including traditional academics and popular bloggers.
Journal of Popular Romance Studies, a double-blind peer reviewed interdisciplinary journal exploring popular romance fiction and the logics, institutions, and social practices of romantic love in global popular culture.
Knutepunkt, conference proceedings, videos, annual conference (1997 to present).
Larping.org - community, posts and listings for larp games all over the world.
LitRPG Reads, defintion, author lists and collections of works.
Living Games Conference Hub, talks, panels, workshops, edularp conference and networking for larp and game communities. (2012 to present)
New England Larp List - boffer larps offered in the New England area.
Reading List on Play and Design of Games, Joe DeSimone, personal collection.
Oyate - Native organization reviewing children’s literature and advocating for appropriate representation. Books, reviews, articles, workshops.
Queer Tabletop Resources, by Riverhouse Games, communities, list of games and anthologies, videos, articles and websites.
RPG Design Panelcast, by Genesis of Legend Publishing, collection of talks and panels on game design.
RPG Research Community Website, long term research and studies on therepeutic and educational aspects of role playing games.
Role-playing game theory, definition and links to various schools of thought. Journal of Retro Culture.
Session Zero. A discussion podcast that seeks to explore the psychology of role-playing by Porter Green and Steve Discont. Part of the One Shot Podcast Network.
Sons of Kryos RPG Podcast. Analog game related interviews and discussion by Jeff Lower, Judd Karlman and Storn Cook. Approx. (2006-2009)
Support Tools Compilation by Natalie @rpgnatalie. A compilation of tools that help you learn how to support your friends in roleplaying.
Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association (ToDigra), dedicated to research on and practice in all aspects of games.
The Trans Language Primer, A guide to the language of gender, sexuality, accessibility, and acceptance. Patreon. (2016-present)
Women in Games, Conference proceedings, blog and links (2006-2011).
Writing with Color, a group Tumblr blog with resources for writing, centered on racial, ethnic and religious diversity.
"Writing With Diversity: Resources", collated by Malinda Lo, Feb 2017.
WyrdCon, WyrdCon Companion books, conference links and videos (2009 to present).
Recorded and Streaming Game Play, Discussion and Creation
Podcasts
Backstory, an ongoing series of interviews with game designers and other notable members of the role-playing community, hosted by Alex Roberts.
Design Doc: Welcome to Questlandia Hannah and Evan embark on a journey to redesign their first roleplaying game. Hannah Shafer and Evan Rowland.
Improvised Radio Theater - With Dice, a role playing podcast with Roger and Mike.
Misdirected Mark: a Blog and Podcast to talk about Gaming, Gamemastering, and anything else we felt like talking about. Chris Sniezak, Phil Vecchione, Bob Everson and many hosts.
Spawn on Me: is the internet’s definitive video game podcast featuring and spotlighting gamers of color. Tanya DePass.
Twitch Streams
Acegiak Twitch.tv Ashton McAllan
Anarisis Twitch.tv (art & games)
BasiliskOnline Twitch.tv (Art & games)
Cypheroftyr Twitch.tv #INeedDiverseGames
DumpStatCharisma Twitch.tv (games & discussion)
Chrismmp Twitch.tv Misdirected Mark
GGameKnights Twitch.tv (ttrpgs and video games)
Girlybits Twitch.tv (art)
Hijosdelrol Twitch.tv (spanish language ttrpgs and discussion)
ShamayzingDM Twitch.tv (games)
ShamBazzleGames Twitch.tv (game prep & running advice)
Texts
Procedural Content Generation in Games, a textbook and overview of current research, by Noor Shaker, Julian Togelius and Mark J. Nelson. 2016.
Role Playing Game Studies, edited by José Pablo Zagal and Sebastian Deterding. 2018. “Originally conceived during discussions amongst the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Role-Playing Studies Special Interest Group, this impressive volume represents an essential collection of essays and perspectives for any scholar currently researching, or thinking about researching, Role Playing Games (RPGs).” quote from https://mmgamecentre.org/blog/book-review-role-playing-game-studies-transmedia-foundations
Larp Design: Creating Role Play Experiences, edited by Teoksen toimittaja(t), Johanna Koljonen, Jaakko Stenros, Anne Serup Grove, Aina D. Skjønsfjell and Elin Nilsen. 2021. “More than 60 larpwrights from ten countries contribute concise and informative advice on bespoke larp design to this practical and instantly useful book.” Free pdf
Game Subscription Services
Plus One Exp: RPG Zine Club, monthly subscription to receive indie rpg zines by international designers.