PAX Unplugged 2025: RPG Designer Meet & Greet
In between my panels at PAX Unplugged 2025, I was able to stop in at one of the RPG Designer Meet & Greet sessions to see some indie tabletop games and RPGs and meet their designers!
I wasn’t able to go to both sessions as I had panels right up against this, but it was great to see some new indie games and hear about them directly from their creators. Some are already out for sale while others have crowdfunding campaigns.
Since the vertical video social media sites won’t really let you do links, here are some social media links for the designers and direct links to their games.
Betty Stanton / The Open Book
Players take on the role of Bibliomancers, those special few who use books in the practice of divination. How this makes sense in your game is fueled by the world you create. It could mean that the Bibliomancers are simply people who love reading and use it for insight in their day to day lives, or that they are deeply embroiled in arcane or divine magic that grants them the ability to draw great magic from certain books.
Chrys Sellers / Hectic Electron Games
Defy the Gods is a queer sword & sorcery adventure-romance set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. It’s inspired by Clash of the Titans, Conan and Princess Mononoke. Fight jealous gods and cruel tyrants in a world of blood and bronze. Win hearts, betray them, give your own, and slowly rise to monstrous, godlike power.
Mike A Pratt / MAP Boardgames
An independent self-producer of tabletop games. Over the next few years, we will be privately and crowd-sourcing 65+ new games. Life is a game. Games are life.
Jordan Dube / Goosepoop Games
We’re not your typical game studio. We’re scrappy, we’re silly, we’re honkalicious. We do more than go outside the standard game norm, we focus on creating games that are easy to learn. Whether you’re on the go or spending time with friends & family, Goosepoop Games is your gateway to Good Times.
Brie Allen & Bluu Smith / Jelli Ghouls Studios
Intergalactic Teaz takes place in a galaxy where no two planets are alike. You are part of ‘House RoyalTea’ from the planet Estree; where Black Trans Queer joy is in abundance and community is of the utmost importance. Intergalactic Teaz is a love letter to ballroom culture: rooting yourself in community, defying oppression, and celebrating queer joy and art, whatever form that may take.
I wish I’d gotten to attend the second PAX Unplugged 2025 session, but that’s when my own panels were getting started for the day. I invite you to check out the list of creators for both sessions (one and two) to check out all of their work! A big thank you to Brian Liberge with Games on Demand for the heads up about the event.
One of my to-do list items for 2026 is to play other TTRPGs, not just the Dragon game, so it’s nice to have other options, things I can play online with friends, or while streaming with chat, or solo/journaling RPGs.
I took way too many pictures and videos at PAX Unplugged 2025, so look for more posts coming soon–as soon as I can get them organized! I got to see so much and ran into so many friendly faces this year, it was a lot, but a good time and I can’t wait for next year. 
