Jenga as Game Design: A conversation with Epidiah Ravachol & Quinn Murphy: Ep 91

March 16, 2026 · 51 min · Episode 91

About this episode

Ben Riggs interviews Epidiah Ravachol and Quinn Murphy about innovative tabletop RPG design.

My first guest tonight is one of the great mad scientists of tabletop gaming. Epidiah Ravachol helped create Dread, the game that made a horror RPG out of a Jenga tower. It's brilliant, cruel, elegant game design that makes players sweat before anything terrible has even happened. He's just launched a sword & sorcery RPG called Swords Without Master. Please welcome Epidiah Ravachol! My next guest is Quinn Murphy, the creator of COMMUNITY RADIO, an improv-driven RPG about a weird town, dark humor, supernatural trouble, and the public radio station trying to narrate its way through the madness, which, frankly, is an incredible pitch. He's also the founder of Thoughtcrime Games, which is a ten-out-of-ten company name. An editor and contributor and layout designer of the GRIOT ANTHOLOGY of African-American game designers. Please welcome Quinn Murphy! Support Epidiah's SWORDS WITHOUT MASTER here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unwrittenearths/swords-without-master Pickup COMMUNITY RADIO here! Enjoy the GRIOT ANTHOLOGY here!

People in this episode

Host: Ben Riggs

Guests: Epidiah Ravachol, Quinn Murphy

Topics covered

tabletop gaming
RPG design
horror games
improv-driven RPG
game creation

Keywords

Jenga
Dread
Swords Without Master
COMMUNITY RADIO
GRIOT ANTHOLOGY
tabletop RPG
game design

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Thoughtcrime Games

Products: Swords Without Master, COMMUNITY RADIO

Books & works: GRIOT ANTHOLOGY