[insert Quest Here]

It's been a hard for me to work on the podcast the last few weeks. I've been struggling with organising content for months, and the current global crises just made me collapse inward. But on Friday morning I woke up determined to record something, and after racking my brain a bit I realised that the game I wanted to play...hadn't been written yet. I spent friday morning writing an playtesting a hack of LLDR where you play as a spaceship. And I thought, I'd share that live playtest with you all. Let us know what you thought, do you have any ideas for prompts?

This week I play another Ritual game. This time I'm a wizard trying to change themself into something new, in an attempt to overcome the past. This is a lovely, poetic, and kind of cossy little game. It's intimate and tender, yet also brooding and ominous. It's a game by Luke Jordan, and outstanding Australian creator who I've interviewed twice! Luke's having a sale on their game store right now, so buy this game or another by following the link. https://gamesfromthewildwood.itch.io/

Meinberg is a designer from the states making some interesting work, we sat down to talk about what motivates thons creative process. We also talked about thons zinequest project, inspired by the Oz series. EDIT: there was an issue with the original file where some audio from the end of the interview went missing. We've restored the missing audio and reuploaded it. itch https://goat-song-publishing.itch.io/ blog https://goatsongrpg.wordpress.com/ kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/talesoz/the-new-tales-of-oz

This week we have a lovely conversation with Taylor LeBresh, one of the many people working on the upcoming RPG release Descent Into Midnight. The game focuses on community, family, and hope. Set in a technologically advanced aquatic civilization whose culture has never been touched by humanity. Players take on the roles of guardians, defending their community from a physical, emotional, and even existential threats. Taylor and I had a lovely long discussion about how the team itself was built around those themes, and how they are bringing the game to life. You can find out more about Descent Into Midnight on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rkreutzlandry/descent-into-midnight Or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dimrpg Follow Taylor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeviathanFiles

An interesting solo rpg that prompts you to delve deeper into yourself, and come out stronger on the other side...while also fighting capitalism with your cyborg psychic powers. If you'd like to get the game for yourself, you can buy it here: https://goat-song-publishing.itch.io/psyber-knights

CW: Extreme Violence and Animal Cruelty. The Sun of God is about to kick some vampire ass! VanJesus is an over the top adventure rpg where you play as archetypes of Jesus (or other biblical archetypes.) You hunt vampires in over the top adventures, and try to make the world a...well not safer place. A less Vampire filled place? It's a Wild game, and it was a blast getting to play it with Sofi and Wilfred. Get your own copy of VanJesus here. https://micah-anderson.itch.io/vanjesus

First interview of the new year, and this is a follow up to last weeks Actual Play. Matthew Gravelyn is a game maker/writer with a varied background. Having worked on Humblewood, Mall Kids, and of course Legacy of Steel. We talked about his experience with zines, his process as an artist, and his future projects. Speaking of future projects, check out his Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mrmatthew/mall-kids-more-malls-more-kids-zinequest2 If you'd like to buy Matthew's games, find them here: https://mr-matthew.itch.io/ Follow him on social media over here: https://twitter.com/mrmatthew

CW: Death, War First episode back for the new year! We're playing a solo game. Legacy of steel allows you to build/explore the background of a mech. Detail some of its history and can be a companion tool for other games. https://mr-matthew.itch.io/legacy-of-steel

We talk to Luke about their new Utopian game, the need for hopeful fiction, and I finally find out what a Belonging Outside Belonging game is. All that and more in our final public episode of the year. We'll be back with more content in January, or subscribe to our patreon to get one more episode of Quest Markers before the end of the year.

After a short break in our schedule to do a family emergency, we return with another lovely Solo Actual Play. A lovely ritual by Jamila, that asks us to make tea for a demon, ask them questions about what troubles us, and listen to what they have to say. Perfect way to analyze what is weighing heavy on one's mind. If you enjoyed this, get your own copy here: https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/tea-with-demons

To help me get back into the swing of things, and explain why I've been unable to post, I went back and visited something from our Solo Series. I wanted to talk through what has been keeping me from making. Also thought it would be a good way to show off the kind of content I make for [Quest Markers] our Patreon exclusive podcast. So in this week's episode I talk through my recent run of bad health, explain one way to get back into creating, and I do all while playing My Favourite Pilot!!

This week's episode of solo is a super short one! We're playing a single person graffiti RPG. It asks you to put yourself in the role of a pilot, likely about to die in battle, writing your final goodbye on the inside of your giant robots cockpit, like all those that came before you. And you do this by writing poetry on a building. You can see what the finished poem looked like by checking out the album art for this track, or heading over to our website.

CW: Alcohol In following with the example set by the festival. I would like to acknowledge the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, who are the traditional custodians of the land the festival was held on, and that this podcast was made on. I pay respect to their elders past and present as well as to any listeners with a connection to the world’s oldest continuing culture. I would also like to acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded and this always was and always will be Aboriginal land. National Young Writers Festival happens every year in early October, in Newcastle Australia. It is part of a collection of arts festivals that happen as part of This Is Not Art festival. It's free to attended, and offers workshops, panels, comedy sets, poetry readings, and more! It's made up of artists from all over the place, getting together, and sharing their creative energy, insight, and skills with each other and the public. I want more game makers to attend, and more importantly; I want them on panels! Let us see if I

In following with the example set by the festival. I would like to acknowledge the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, who are the traditional custodians of the land the festival was held on, and that this podcast was made on. I pay respect to their elders past and present as well as to any listeners with a connection to the world’s oldest continuing culture. I would also like to acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded and this always was and always will be Aboriginal land. The first in our series of content recorded for, about, and at the National Young Writers Festival here in Newcastle. This is an Actual Play of hacked version of Ash McAllan's game Oracle. Elyce Phillips, Soo-Min Shim, and Chloe Alison Escott, join Ray on a journey to find Arts Funding. Recorded in front of a live audience, it was a hilarious adventure as well as being full of many firsts. We hope you enjoy. [Note: we did our best with the editing of the sound quality, but it was a noisy space.]

This week we have a special interview with my partner, and collaborator Rae. We've been working on a poetry board game together. In it you write poems about the rooms of a house you imagine yourself to be exploring. There are prompts about the contents of the house to help you, and at the end you do a reading of your house poems. It's called Architype and we thought interviewing Rae would be a fun way to introduce it to you. https://twitter.com/wings_humming https://raycox.itch.io/architype

This week were talking to Blake. Blake is a creator from the Seattle area of the US. They've recently been growing their presence in the game design community by taking part in a lot of game jams. I've been enjoying following their work, and hearing their voice in the community. Twitter https://twitter.com/fencedforest Itch https://fencedforest.itch.io/

In The Ocean is a micro rpg with prompt cards that ask you to answer questions about the world, or play out scenes from your past. In it you play as a mech pilot stranded on an ocean planet, watching the battle overhead. As you wait for rescue you remember your past. It's a pretty excellent game, and I hadn't thought about it during the recording but it could be an excellent way to build the setting for a more expansive mech game. If you'd like to get a copy, you can find it on itch: https://marzipanstorm.itch.io/in-the-ocean

Just a little quick update about why we were unable to post a new episode this week.

Soup is the creator of As I Imagine The Falling Rain, an RPG we played on Solo. We had a lovely discussion about the layout of the game, and how that informs your play. We also talked about the RPG design course that pushed Soup to start making more games. Itch: https://literalsoup.itch.io/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiteralSoup Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0nPdOEG7UF9KSk4BiAb2Sc?si=05gmPUP_QUSZn5o8z2R4Yg

This week is a bonus episode of solo a RPG about a mech being rebooted after a long time alone. We'll explore that loneliness, andand the new world our mech awakens in. If you want to play Reclaimed for yourself, you can buy it here: https://elibees.itch.io/reclaimed