Rebecca:            00:08          Hello and welcome to Playability where we hold conversations at the crossroads of gameplay and accessibility. I'm your host, Rebecca Strang, and I'm joined today by Jacob Jackson. He and his mom, AnnaMaria Jackson-Phelps coauthor a blog series called Game Bites. Today, we're going to be talking about that blog series and Jacob's thoughts on accessibility, inclusion, and gaming. Welcome to the show Jacob.

Jacob:              00:34          Hello.

Rebecca:            00:35          Very happy to have you here today. So to get started, can you tell us how you got into gaming?

Jacob:              00:42          So, aside from the large sum of video games I played, and still play, I mostly did puzzles or puzzle like games frequently when I was younger. I didn't really play proper board games until much later after that. Starting with things like Uno or card games like President, if you've heard of that.

Rebecca:            01:00          Sure.

Jacob:              01:00          I also played D&D around the same time, and I quickly got into the game itself and the mechanics, I really like it. And now a days I actually GM for some of my friends.

Rebecca:            01:10          That's awesome. And can you tell our listeners about the blog series that you write with your mom?

Jacob:              01:17          So the blog series that we write together, it's called Game Bites its primary focus is finding games that more accessible to non-neurotypical people. It's also done with a food based games since I plan on going into the culinary line of work and I'm writing a cookbook involving gaming and food as well.

Rebecca:            01:36          That's really cool. So, do you have a bunch of recipes lined up that you're waiting to match games with, or do you find the games and then match them to the recipes after?

Jacob:              01:45          So yeah, we have a bunch of games and then we'll match recipes to them and do the recipes with the Games.

Rebecca:            01:52          That's really cool. Having a game recipe book would be awesome too. So, can you tell us about one of your favorite games and what you like about it?

Jacob:              02:01          Let's see. Aside from video games, it's a hard choice between Uno, D&D, and Sheriff of Nottingham for me. Sheriff of Nottingham because it's fun and very straight forward bluffing games that leads to a lot of fun with friends. There's not a ton of skill involved as well. So everyone is on equal playing field with each other. Uno because it was a classic, everyone knows Uno. And it's a good party game for everyone. It's easy to learn and not very language dependent because all the cards, like they have pictures of the numbers, the wild cards pretty much tell you what you have to do, all of that stuff. And D&D because both as a DM and a player, it lets your creativity flow, role-playing and setting things up for a party of friends is really fun to do, especially when everyone enjoys it. And then not to mention it helps with socializing with other people as well.

Rebecca:            02:49          Yeah, definitely. Would you mind sharing what one of your favorite moments was a DM has been when you're playing D&D?

Jacob:              02:57          Hmm, that's a hard one. Let's see. Probably um, I've developed our barkeep in the current campaign we're doing and my friends really love him. He's called Björnmuid and currently he's kind of really mysterious right now and can't speak. So he has to actually use signs that he makes himself to try and tell people what he means and stuff.

Rebecca:            03:18          That's really cool. So your players would then only get the signs from you when he's communicating with them?

Jacob:              03:24          Exactly.

Rebecca:            03:25          That's awesome. Building characters like that is really cool and it's fun when you have a group that's, receptive to playing open games like that too. So, if you were introducing someone who hasn't really played games before, they're not familiar with the tabletop hobby, what would you tell them about why you love the hobby?

Jacob:              03:46          For me it's just straight up fun hanging out with a bunch of friends in-person or online and play a game with them. Cause everyone enjoys it. All of us have a common interest with them. It's just completely fun in the end.

Rebecca:            03:58          Mmm-hmm

Jacob:              03:59          And in particular it's an easier way of socializing with people. You all get to learn a game together with a common interests, which can, if you don't even know them, like, eventually it can lead to a nice friendship and then...

Rebecca:            04:12          Yeah, that's one of my favorite things about playing games, too, is I, you know, I've met so many people, whether it's people who come over to game days that I host and they come as guests of people I already know, or meeting them at conventions for the first time and playing games. There's a lot of potential for meeting people that you wouldn't meet kind of in your normal day to day life. But then when you all come to the table together and you find you have this common passion, it's a lot of fun.

Jacob:              04:42          Yup.

Rebecca:            04:43          So, for people who want to check out your blog series, where can they find that online?

Jacob:              04:51          So, it's at http://www.GirlsGameShelf.com, that's where you'll find all the stuff we write together.

Rebecca:            04:58          Awesome. And so what's one of the things that you like about coauthoring with your mom?

Jacob:              05:04          Well, I love my mom. I love doing stuff with her. I love writing things, so it's all great.

Rebecca:            05:11          Yeah, you guys make it pretty good team. I love reading those entries when they come out and seening what games you're picking and what recipes he's come up with to match them with. It's always, it's always a good read.

Jacob:              05:22          Thank you.

Rebecca:            05:22          And is there anything else that you would like to add for our listeners?

Jacob:              05:25          Yes, actually. We will be doing a game called Newfoundland Jam next, and I'll be making some various types of jams for it, like strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry jams as well.

Rebecca:            05:37          That sounds delicious. Blackberry is my number one jam. And so for our listeners, if you have any questions or comments that you would like to share with us, you can email us at PlayabilityPod@gmail.com and you can find us on major social media platforms @PlayabilityPod. Thanks again for listening and I hope this episode helps you play with a new perspective.