Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Total monthly reach
Estimated from 6 chart positions in 6 markets.
By chart position
- 🇺🇸US · Games#1745K to 30K
- 🇩🇪DE · Games#1945K to 30K
- 🇭🇺HU · Games#4410K to 30K
- 🇿🇦ZA · Games#1003K to 10K
- 🇫🇮FI · Games#184500 to 3K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
12K to 53K🎙 Weekly cadence·86 episodes·Last published 2w ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
24K to 106K🇺🇸28%🇩🇪28%🇭🇺28%+3 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
9.6K to 42K
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
Recent episodes
RTFM: Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game
Apr 29, 2026
Unknown duration
RTFM: Almost
Apr 16, 2026
Unknown duration
RTFM Interview: Prismatic Wasteland
Feb 26, 2026
Unknown duration
RTFM: Doll.Bod
Feb 7, 2026
Unknown duration
RTFM: This is Where the Stars Died
Jan 19, 2026
Unknown duration
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| Date | Episode | Description | Length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/29/26 | RTFM: Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game | Sam Dunnewold of the Dice Exploder podcast joins us to talk about the Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game. We also discuss Sam's currently crowdfunding Band-Aids & Bullet Holes.Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 4/16/26 | RTFM: Almost | Logan Timmins joins us to discuss "Almost" by Jay Dragon. We discuss lyric games in general, close reading, and kissing. And check out Logan's podcast, Lyrical Ludology, now crowdfunding a second season.Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 2/26/26 | RTFM Interview: Prismatic Wasteland | We're talking to WF Smith, a.k.a. Prismatic Wasteland, the blogger and game designer behind Barkeep on the Borderlands and the currently heistfunding Into the Oddish. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 2/7/26 | RTFM: Doll.Bod | Doll.Bod by Wendy Ribston Pippin is a cyberpunk game about exploited bodies, but what do you focus on in a queer cyberpunk RPG? How do you mechanize non-combat gaming while focusing on other aspects of life?Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 1/19/26 | RTFM: This is Where the Stars Died | This is Where the Stars Died by Scott Malthouse is a narrative war game, but what the heck does that mean? What is a war game even? Is it where you have to paint small men?Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 10/4/25 | RTFM: Praise the Hawkmoth King | Praise him like you should! We're talking about Praise the Hawkmoth King by Sage the Anagogue, a PbtA game about teenagers, demons, and messed up sex. So yeah, there are some trigger warnings. (Praise the Hawkmoth King is coming to Backerkit on October 31.)Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 7/9/25 | RTFM: The Effies | Welcome to the only RPG awards in the world: the Effies.Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 5/21/25 | RTFM Interview: Kali Lawrie | We interview game designer Kali Lawrie of Gem Room Games, talking Letters to Sandra, fiber arts, and curation and archival work.. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 4/30/25 | RTFM Season 6 Finale: Ranking of the Games | Box season is over, so now we must rank the games. Which boxes are best? Which are worst? (They're actually all pretty good.) Plus we announce next season's theme: no game only PDF.Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 3/26/25 | RTFM: Triangle Agency | You have been selected to work at the Triangle Agency. Game designer Sam Leigh joins us to talk about this corporate horror RPG by Caleb Zane Huett. Is corporate horror for the youths? Does metafiction have a place in RPGs? And who is the yellow voice?!Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
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| 3/12/25 | RTFM: The Zone | Prepare to enter The Zone by Raph D'Amico. We compare the gamefeel of cards versus tables. We talk mutations. And we talk shit about the Southern Reach Trilogy.We're talking the Possible Worlds series by Tyler Crumrine, six discreet games boxed together. We have them fight to the death until only the best emerges victorious. Just kidding, we loved them all.Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 2/26/25 | RTFM Interview: Austin Walker & Tyler Crumrine | The RTFM interview series continues. We talk to Austin Walker and Tyler Crumrine about Realis, the meaning of "ashcan," and Wawa versus Sheetz.Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 2/19/25 | RTFM: Possible Worlds Series | We're talking the Possible Worlds series by Tyler Crumrine, six discreet games boxed together. We have them fight to the death until only the best emerges victorious. Just kidding, we loved them all.Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to.If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 2/5/25 | RTFM: Dragonlance Fifth Age | Fantasy soap opera in a box? That's what you get in Dragonlance: Fifth Age. We talk about Dragonlance in general, card-based RPG mechanics, and kender genitals. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 1/8/25 | RTFM: A Guide to Casting Phantoms In the Revolution | Box season continues with A Guide to Casting Phantoms In the Revolution by Adam Vass & Will Jobst. We're talking mechanical crunch in narrative structure, scene-based roleplaying, and breaking Kickstarter. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 12/25/24 | RTFM: Pendragon | It's a holiday miracle! This Christmas, we're covering Pendragon, the classic RPG of chivalric knighthood. Can the game split the difference between history and fantasy? What can you learn by staring at bees? And would you like to roll on the cuck table? Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 12/10/24 | RTFM No Promises: Traveller | Just Aaron today with a stopgap episode covering session planning and playing Traveller. Why run an incomplete game? Is the military bad? How can you get a horse with an exoskeleton? Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 11/27/24 | RTFM: Mausritter—The Estate | Today we're covering Mausritter: The Estate, a box set of adventures and setting materials for teeny tiny mice adventures. What makes for a good adventure? Are you a filler-inner or a chipper-awayer? How do you deal with an evil cat wizard? Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 10/30/24 | RTFM Interview: Daniel Kwan | Today, we interview game designer and podcast Daniel Kwan. We talk games in museums, wuxia movies, and smelly Toronto. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 10/10/24 | RTFM: Dragonbane | We're back with another box set. This time, it's the Swedish Drakar och Demoner, or as it's known in English, Dragonbane. Who is this game for? Why can't indie devs get a big box budget? And why am I now keeping track of every person who's ever harmed me? Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 9/25/24 | RTFM: Game Design as Practice | A guest had to reschedule, so Max and Aaron had to scramble and invent a whole new schema through which to observe RPG discourse. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 9/11/24 | RTFM: The Green Knight | Books are out, boxes are in. That's the philosophy behind this latest episode, covering the Green Knight starter set, direct from A24. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 8/27/24 | RTFM Interview: Will Jobst | RTFM is back from hiatus! And this time, it's personal. We'll be alternating our regular book reviews with interviews, and to usher in this new era, we have Will Jobst, designer of Torq and the currently crowdfunding Plasmodics. We talk about game design, learning new skills, and mutants mutants mutants. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 6/19/24 | RTFM: Game Design & Immersive Experience | Who even has time to read? Not us! So today, we're talking about our own game design. Then we get sidetracked into discussing immersive experiences. Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
| 5/28/24 | RTFM: Let These Mermaids Touch Your Dick Maybe | This episode is brought to you by No-Tell Motel from Bannerless Games, a solo murder mystery game. It rules! Our sex game trend continues with Let These Mermaids Touch Your Dick Maybe from Riverhouse Games. Want to slap a dildo with a sticky hand? Is it a lyric game? Has anyone played it? Max Lander and Aaron King dig through RPGs of yore to bring you valuable nuggets of mechanics, lore, and strangeness. They read the fucking manual so that you don't have to. If you want to chat about the episode, join our Discord. And check us out on Patreon for extra episodes! | — | ||||||
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Chart Positions
6 placements across 6 markets.
Chart Positions
6 placements across 6 markets.