
Weak, Strong, and Regular Moves (Dream Askew / Dream Apart) with Austin Walker
From Dice Exploder by Sam Dunnewold
April 14, 2026 · 58 min · Season 8 · Episode 8
About this episode
Austin Walker discusses his game Realis and its influences, particularly the mechanics from Dream Askew and Dream Apart.
Transcripts available at diceexploder.com Austin Walker's new game Realis is on Kickstarter now, and it's been making splashes in the indie rpg scene since last year when the ashcan came out. The game's core mechanic, Sentences, feels like the exact kind of mechanic I love covering on this show. But where did it come from? I asked Austin to come talk to me about it and bring one of his influences, and he came back with another diceless, GM-less resolution mechanic: the token economy of weak, strong, and regular moves from Dream Askew / Dream Apart. So today we're completing Dice Exploder's accidental Dream Askew / Dream Apart trilogy (paired with the episodes on lures and setting elements from the past couple months) and then digging into what makes this system work and what Realis learned from it. Further Reading Realis is on Kickstarter now ! Follow Sam’s game Band-Aids & Bullet Holes on Kickstarter ! Dream Askew / Dream Apart by Avery Alder and Benjamin Rosenbaum Socials Austin on Bluesky Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Credits Our logo was designed by sporgory , our ad music is…
People in this episode
Host: Sam Dunnewold
Guest: Austin Walker
Topics covered
- indie RPGs
- game mechanics
- diceless games
- GM-less games
- token economy
- Dream Askew
- Dream Apart
Keywords
- Realis
- Dream Askew
- Dream Apart
- game mechanics
- indie RPG
- token economy
- diceless
- GM-less
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Dice Exploder
Products: Realis
Books & works: Dream Askew, Dream Apart
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