What are Role-Playing Games?

What are Role-Playing Games?

From Experience Points by Dave Eng, EdD

January 25, 2026 · 12 min · Season 1 · Episode 156

About this episode

The episode explores the nature and depth of Role-Playing Games, challenging common misconceptions.

What are Role-Playing Games? Today, we’re diving into one of the most fascinating - and frankly, most misunderstood - forms of interactive play: Role-Playing Games, or RPGs. So what are RPGs? Are they just about dice rolls and dragons? Are they all swords and stats? Or is there something deeper, and something profoundly human, about stepping into someone else’s shoes in a world that is not quite our own. Well, pull up a chair, and maybe grab your character sheet, and let’s explore what it rea...

People in this episode

Host: Dave Eng

Topics covered

  • Role-Playing Games
  • interactive play
  • gaming culture
  • human experience
  • storytelling

Keywords

  • RPGs
  • interactive play
  • gaming
  • storytelling
  • dice rolls
  • character sheet

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Role-Playing Games

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