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“To buy D&D, you went to the store that sold the trains…”

I love when interviews stop being “interviews” and turn into conversations about the things we love. That’s exactly what happened during this chat with Craig Shipman on the Third Floor Wars podcast. A very fun time! Third Floor Wars Podcast, Tabletop Talk with Ben Robbins We cover a whole range of stuff, from when I […]

Ben Robbins | December 11th, 2023 | , , , , | 1 comment

“The rules are there to help you get the most out of your time”

A quick interview with the nice folks of Pizza Games in Milan: I would definitely double down on the idea that the purpose of game rules is to help us get the most out of our time. All the other stuff — having fun, getting on the same page, being clearly written — comes back […]

Ben Robbins | July 18th, 2022 | , , , , | 2 comments

“And then later they high-five each other in the hallway”

This interview I did with Dave Pruner on Electric Dice was a ton of fun. Is it gaming advice? Is it advice for living your best life? Who says it can’t be both!?! Note to self: do more interviews and panels. Talking about all the awesome games and all the awesome gamers is always fun. […]

Ben Robbins | May 21st, 2020 | , | 1 comment

Live Interview on Electric Dice

I’m going to be doing a live interview / chat with Dave Pruner on Twitch this Thursday. We may be talking about everything from Microscope to West Marches, and if you show up you can spam chat with your own deeply thoughtful questions. Electric Dice on Twitch Thursday May 7 7 PM EDT If you […]

Ben Robbins | May 3rd, 2020 | ,

“But we know… they’re gonna die” (Games and Education Interview)

I got to chat with Keenan Kibrick on his new podcast, talking about Microscope, games in the classroom, and (spoiler!) how Romeo and Juliet ends… Games and Education: Interview With Ben Robbins of Microscope Keenan’s being doing great work adapting games for education. Kids playing Lord of Flies as a Kingdom game? Yep, that was […]

Ben Robbins | June 12th, 2018 | , , ,

“I just like saying ‘overthrow the government'” (GMless RPGs, ECCC 2017)

Delving into the secrets of GMless role-playing games at Emerald City Comicon. No that recording is not speeded up, that’s just how fast I talk about these things. I’ve got just one hour and a lot of ground to cover! http://arsludi.lamemage.com/static/eccc-2017-gmless.m4a (or download the file if you prefer) There’s a natural tendency, when examining GMless […]

Ben Robbins | April 10th, 2017 | , , , | 2 comments

Emerald City Comicon: Attack of the Story Games!

Going to Emerald City Comicon? Want to play some story games? Well, once again, we’ve got you covered. Our team of crack facilitators is setting up shop in WSCC 208 to bring the fun. Straight from the schedule: Story Games Come play story games! Build a world or epic drama together… and then watch it […]

Ben Robbins | February 18th, 2017 | , ,

“You know why I got the funny voices? Years of GMing”

Back with the fine folks at HyperRPG, talking about Microscope. And a bit about Follow. And West Marches. And Braunstein. And Pokemon Go. We cover some territory, we do. The bad news is, I have no idea why there is jazz playing the whole time. We couldn’t hear it in the studio. Yeah, it’s kind […]

Ben Robbins | July 25th, 2016 | , , ,

“I have never been so proud of her…”

I was on my way to make a surprise appearance on Strix’s Weekly Affirmations show on HyperRPG when it occurred to me that in the seven years I’ve been playing Microscope, I had never recorded a session I played. Ever. So if you’ve been curious to see how I play and teach Microscope (with occasional […]

Ben Robbins | July 5th, 2016 | , , , | 2 comments

Coffee & Kickstarters

Yesterday we brewed the strong coffee (and tea) and sat down and talked about the wonders and woes of Kickstarters. (depicted: me doing some kind of magic trick, apparently) There’s an audio malfunction for about a minute towards the end that gives my voice a robotic, destroy-all-humans quality. You can’t make it out, but I […]

Ben Robbins | May 17th, 2016 | , ,

ECCC: A fireside chat about GM-less games

If you’re going to Emerald City Comic Con this weekend, swing by Friday night and I’ll talk your ear off about the glories (and pitfalls) of that most magical and mythical of beasts, the role-playing game that has no GM! GM-less Role-Playing Games GMs have been an integral part of role-playing games since the beginning, […]

Ben Robbins | April 3rd, 2016 | , ,

“If you like role-playing games, you have to like people” (GMless RPGs, PAX 2015)

When I saw the slot for my talk about GMless RPGs at PAX, I was pretty skeptical whether anyone would be there. Friday morning, an hour after the doors opened? Would the crickets even show up? I think the first few seconds of the audio should answer that question… http://arsludi.lamemage.com/static/pax-2015-gmless.mp3 (or download the MP3 if […]

Ben Robbins | September 1st, 2015 | , , ,

PAX: Talking ’bout GM-less Games

There is life after kickstarter! I’m chugging away getting the sneak previews of Microscope Explorer material ready for backers. I’ll be at PAX next week playing games at the indie RPG games-on-demand area and I may have some cool new Microscope tools in-hand. I’ll also be giving a talk about the secrets of GM-less games, […]

Ben Robbins | August 17th, 2015 | , ,

“Arrr why won’t my kids grow up faster?!?”

It’s always fantastic to chat with RpgGamerDad. After he invited me to talk about Microscope back in January I promised I’d come back when the Microscope Explorer was underway. So I did! RpgGamerDad Podcast: Ep 43 – Sunny Seattle Special RpgGamerDad also talked a bit about Microscope Explorer and his plans to run Microscope with […]

Ben Robbins | August 3rd, 2015 | , , , , ,

“The people at the table are what matters”

Story games documentary time! https://www.lamemage.com/friends/Story_Games_by_Film_342.mp4 [ don’t be alarmed, the first thirty seconds or so is black, but if you have trouble here’s a direct link ] That’s me, J.C. and Natalie playing, plus Ashley and Ed at the interview table. The background action is all the awesome folks of Story Games Seattle playing at […]

Ben Robbins | January 26th, 2015 | , , , | 2 comments

“What do people that play Microscope need?”

Really fun interview I did on the RPG Gamer Dad podcast is now online. I talk about Microscope, Kingdom, the wonders of gaming with kids, the eternal font of fun that is Story Games Seattle, and some of the cool new stuff being crafted by Marc and Caroline. And yeah, I drop a few hints […]

Ben Robbins | January 19th, 2015 | , , , ,

“Bring me the finest gamers in town! Bring them on a platter!”

Meaty, behind-the-scenes documentary examining how our dark and epic Salem Fiasco game was translated into a movie, The Devil Walks in Salem: [ direct link ] Tons of fantastic moments with Caroline Hobbs, Jerome Virnich and Pat Kemp talking about our session and story games in general. Some great examination of the wheels-within-wheels that make […]

Ben Robbins | September 30th, 2014 | , ,

Terraforming VikingCon

May 3rd I’m heading up to Bellingham to attend VikingCon. I’ve never been. Will there be actual Vikings? Horned helmets, longships and kenning skalds? I’m kind of hoping. In between hunting down authentic recitations of the Prose Edda, I’ll also be doing a panel: Terraforming the Tabletop: World-Building in Tabletop RPGs (Sat 3-4 pm) Tabletop […]

Ben Robbins | April 10th, 2014 | ,

My Emerald City Comic Con Schedule

Emerald City Comic Con approaches. I happen to know there is a whirlwind of behind-the-scenes activity as enthusiastic gamers get ready to man the battle stations of the Indie Games on Demand area in the Sheraton Hotel. Morgan and his team of ninjas are going to be using the same model they used at PAX […]

Ben Robbins | March 21st, 2014 | , ,

LUG Con Microscope Interview

Great interview with Tre’ and Pete for LUG Con (“Let Us Game”), an online gaming convention. We pre-recorded it back in August, but it just went online. We were supposed to talk for 30 minutes but we got on a roll and time slipped by and then the sun came up. Tre’ also hosted a […]

Ben Robbins | September 22nd, 2013 | , ,

ConTessa: Collaborative World-Building

The video from our Collaborative World-Building panel at ConTessa is up: I think we could have talked about this for hours. And hours. And then a few more hours. Thanks to Meguey Baker, Brad Murray, Lowell Francis, and our host Sherri Stewart for a very fun and insightful discussion.

Ben Robbins | June 23rd, 2013 | , ,

Six Years of Power

Michael over at Futile Position had a few short questions for me about Kingdom and Microscope. Unfortunately for him I had a few very long answers: Interview with Ben Robbins about his new world-building story game Kingdom (Futile Position) As a special bonus this interview also includes a recap of almost the entire second Crossroad […]

Ben Robbins | June 19th, 2013 | , , ,

Such a rare and sacred time

“When you’re sitting at the gaming table, it’s such a rare and sacred time…” You know how you think you don’t have much to say about a topic but then once you get started you go on and on and on and then before you know it you’re jumping around waving your arms to emphasize […]

Ben Robbins | June 17th, 2013 | , , ,

Kingdom Q&A

A ways back I did a Share A Game thread about Microscope on RPGGeek. And despite the resulting lawsuits, civil unrest and stock market crashes, they’ve graciously allowed me to come back and talk about Kingdom. All those questions you’ve had about how Kingdom actually works? Now’s your chance to ask: Share A Game: Kingdom […]

Ben Robbins | June 13th, 2013 | ,