Podcasts by One Shot Test Kitchen

Episode 24 - Dungeons and Dragons OGL from 2023-01-24T11:00:41

The tabletop world has been shaken by a leaked draft of D&D's new Open Games License, a set of rules that defines how users can create new content around the system. The legal questions are ...

Episode 23.2 - Stillfleet (Interview) from 2022-08-18T10:30:58

Having returned from H'rabdin, space slug in tow, Mike sits down with Wythe and Ethan to talk about the genesis of Stillfleet. They have a wide-ranging conversation about the optimism of games, ...

Episode 23.1 - Stillfleet (Gameplay) from 2022-08-16T10:30:22

We enter the world of Stillfleet, a game where fantastical alien races work for The Company on an ancient/futuristic space station called Spindle. It's a vast and colorful world where the wonder...

Episode 22.1 - CBR+PNK (Review) from 2022-07-13T10:00:39

Mike opines about the aesthetics and themes of cyberpunk while Samara digs deep into the Forged in the Dark system in our review of CBR+PNK. 

CBR+PNK and Mind The Gap (the specific r...

Episode 22.1 - CBR+PNK (Gameplay) from 2022-07-12T10:00:52

We jack into a cyberpunk world as we try out CBR+PNK, a one-shot game based on the Forged in the Dark system. Our runners are sent out in one last job to deliver an important package. But all is...

Episode 21 - Sports are Just Numerology from 2022-06-07T10:00:37

This week we delve into the high-stakes world of competitive bocce. No, you read that right. We try out Sports are Just Numerology, a quick game with an intriguing central mechanic. We also expo...

Episode 20.2 - Stewpot (Review) from 2022-05-04T10:00:53

We've created our tavern, told some tales, now we try to puzzle out how we ultimately feel about Stewpot. 

The zine that Samara references is called Synthesis, by Riley Rethal ( Listen

Episode 20.1 - Stewpot (Gameplay) from 2022-05-03T19:23:01

This week, we become adventurers retiring to run a tavern in a small fantasy town. Samara and Mike are joined by special guest Jared as they prepare exotic foods, serve drinks, and gather round ...

Episode 19.2 - Lady Blackbird (Review) from 2022-03-30T08:00

Our adventures have brought us to this point. Mike and Samara debrief on their time spent soaring through the skies. We consider participatory worldbuilding, how to inhabit characters, and the i...

Episode 19.1 - Lady Blackbird (Gameplay) from 2022-03-29T11:00

We take a journey into the Wild Blue Yonder for a tale of high adventure amongst sky pirates. Will the debonair Lady Blackbird and the goblin pilot Snargle find a way to free their crew from the...

Episode 18.2 - Cozy Town (Review) from 2022-01-12T12:00

We have finally come home from the cozy town of Coral Gardens, and we have a lot of thoughts. Samara and Mike discuss worldbuilding games vs "tradtional" RPGs, the value of a game throwing you c...

Episode 18.1 - Cozy Town (Gameplay) from 2022-01-11T12:00

Welcome to our cozy little town! Mike and Samara are joined by special guest Kate as we create a thriving little village where everyone looks out for each other. Join us for a warm fuzzy time in...

Episode 17.2 - Spoken Magic (Review) from 2021-12-15T12:00

Off of our gameplay session of Spoken Magic, we discuss the highs and lows. Samara and Mike have a wide-ranging conversation about the nature of language, the dissonance between narrative and me...

Episode 17.1 - Spoken Magic (Gameplay) from 2021-12-14T18:29:30

Words have power, and this week we speak magical phrases as a trio of adventuring mages who journey across the land to find themselves. What dangers and wisdom awaits?

Spoken Magic is m...

Episode 16.2 - Trophy Dark (Review) from 2021-11-10T12:00

We've emerged from the dangers of the forest after playing Trophy and talk about how we feel. We discuss the interplay of joint authorship, the nature of horror gaming, and Mike's opinions on Fr...

Episode 16.1 - Trophy Dark (Gameplay) from 2021-11-09T12:00

The forest is dark and full of terrors. This week, we play Trophy Dark, a mind-bending game about doomed treasure hunters and a forest that seeks to protect itself from all invaders. Will our pl...

Episode 15 - Our Mundane Supernatural Life from 2021-10-07T11:00

She's a product manager living in Brooklyn about to wed the love of her life. However, she's got to survive her off-kilter sidhe grandmother who has come back from beyond the divide! Hijinks ens...

Episode 14.2 - Umlaut: Game of Metal (Review) from 2021-07-14T11:00

So that was a thing. Did Umlaut live up to their lofty ambitions of letting us live out our metal dreams? Or is the shine on this game a bit dulled? Mike and April-Lyn do a deep dive on what did...

Episode 14.1 - Umlaut: Game of Metal (Gameplay) from 2021-07-13T11:00

This week we enter the world of face melters, sick beards, and rock gods as we strive to become the greatest metal bands the world has ever seen. We are also joined by two incredible metalhead g...

Episode 13.2 - Fiasco (Review) from 2021-06-16T11:00

We've wrapped our Fiasco in London, and get together to discuss how we felt about it. Does Fiasco do enough to actually push the characters we created into a big beautiful mess? How do we feel a...

Episode 13.1 - Fiasco (Gameplay) from 2021-06-15T11:00

We return to one of the most seminal games of modern TTRPGs and have ourselves a Fiasco. Follow the trials and travails of the Windsleydale twins and Caelan Pope as we play as bookhounds in Depr...

Episode 12 - Kiss Her Before The World Ends from 2021-05-25T11:00

We're back!

And boy do we have an episode for you today. We take on Kiss Her Before The World Ends, a deeply emotional game about people trying to connect in a terrible situation. This ...

Episode 11 - 2020 Games in Review from 2020-12-14T12:00

The year is drawing to a close, so we gather everyone around the hearth in the Test Kitchen to talk about the games we played. Now that we've tried out a ton of systems and settings, how do we f...

Episode 10.2 - Last Shooting (Review) from 2020-11-24T12:00

Samara and Mike review their experience with Last Shooting, and talk about the vulnerability and trust of a 2-player system, resolving combat without a combat system, and the role mechs play as ...

Episode 10.1 - Last Shooting (Gameplay) from 2020-11-23T12:00

Samara and Mike take on a unique two-player RPG this week, with Last Shooting, a game about two mech pilots and their encounters in war. We play out the story of PJ and Kal, people from very dif...

Episode 9.2 - Cyberpunk RED (Review) from 2020-11-03T12:00

We may be Samara-less, but April-Lyn and Mike examine their experience with the Cyberpunk RED system. They also give movie recommendations at the end, and you should go watch Blade Runner 2049 l...

Episode 9.1 - Cyberpunk RED (Gameplay) from 2020-11-02T12:00

We head to the dark future with the latest version of the RPG classic Cyberpunk 2020, called Cyberpunk RED. This update comes alongside the highly anticipated release of the Cyberpunk 2077 video...

Episode 8 - Risus from 2020-10-19T11:00

The Test Kitchen takes on Risus, a 4-page game system initially published in 1993(!), which Mike definitely knows is the year Doom came out. This barebones system calls itself an "emergency" RPG...

Episode 7.2 - Golden Sky Stories (Review) from 2020-10-06T11:00

After our sojourn in the world of the henge, we come back together to discuss the highs and lows of Golden Sky Stories.

Golden Sky Stories is available for purchase at http://...

Episode 7.1 - Golden Sky Stories (Gameplay) from 2020-10-05T11:00

We're dealing with some lighter fare these days as we try out Golden Sky Stories in the test kitchen. Inspired by the works of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki, we dive into some heart-warming role-pl...

Episode 6.2 - Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall (Review) from 2020-09-22T11:00

Following our gameplay session, we sit down with Sen and Banana in the Test Kitchen to learn a little bit more about what went into making Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall. We also give our r...

Episode 6.1 - Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall (Gameplay) from 2020-09-21T11:00

This week, we are joined by Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim, creators of Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall,  to play through their upcoming game about a Chinese family making their living b...

Episode 5.2 - Murderous Ghosts (Review) from 2020-09-09T11:00

We've emerged from the Murderous Ghosts mansion, and review how we felt about it.

Murderous Ghosts is available at https://lumpley.itch....

Episode 5.1 - Murderous Ghosts (Gameplay) from 2020-09-08T11:00

Join us on a trek into a haunted mansion in upstate New York as we confront some Murderous Ghosts.

CW: Arachnophobia, descriptions of violence

Murderous Ghosts is available at Listen

Episode 4.2 - Night Witches (Review) from 2020-08-25T11:00

We've returned from the front lines of Pashovskaya. April-Lyn, Mike, and Samara get together to discuss their feelings about Night Witches.

Night Witches is available for sale at  Listen

Episode 4.1 - Night Witches (Gameplay) from 2020-08-24T11:00

This week on One Shot Test Kitchen, we play Night Witches, a game about the Soviet airwomen who fought on the Eastern Front.

Special guest: Katie Tejedor (@krrtejedor on Twitter)

N...

Episode 3 - Peril from 2020-08-10T11:00

This week, we try out Peril, from worldchampgame.co. Three deities try to solve the problems of the world. And succeed. Or fail?

At the end of t...

Episode 2.2 - Lasers & Feelings (Review) from 2020-07-28T11:00

After our adventures on the Raptor, April-Lyn, Mike, and Samara get together to discuss what they liked and didn't like about the Lasers & Feelings game system. 

Lase...

Episode 2.1 - Lasers & Feelings (Gameplay) from 2020-07-27T11:00

This week on One Shot Test Kitchen, we play Lasers & Feelings. 

Special guest: Xavier Rice (@mr.mamma_rice on Instagram) 

Lasers & Feelings is available for free ...

Episode 1 - The Sundered Land from 2020-06-19T15:32:03

Welcome to the first episode of One Shot Test Kitchen! We're a group of nerds who wanted to try out a bunch of really neat indie RPGs, so we made a podcast!

This week's game is The Sunder...