Welcome home. This is Audio EXP, the weekly podcast from Geek Native. I am your host, Girdy, and today is the 22nd of August, 2026.
[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #345]
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If you have been checking your podcast feeds over the last few weeks, you will know that we have had our longest hiatus in the show’s history. We ran completely out of time amidst the lovely chaos of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and I forgot to give you all advance warning. We’ve been busy, with over 100 reviews. For example, at the time of recording, I have watched 57 shows and filed 61 reviews, some of which are live on Geek Native and our sister properties, but the vast majority of our theatrical coverage lives over on Edinburgh Reviews. So consider this our bumper “Fringe Special” catch-up edition.
Before we dive into our festival highlights and the wider industry backlog, a quick community reminder: Table Cat Games are our celebrated honourees for the August RPG Publisher Spotlight. I have our deep-dive Q&A ready and waiting, so look out for that going live on the site next week.
Now, let us dig into the theatrical magic and comedy we caught across Edinburgh’s festival spaces. First up, we sat down with former tech engineer Irene Woo to discuss trading a six-figure Big Tech salary for the comedy stage in her debut Fringe show. We gave the performance three stars, reviewing how she uses analytical frameworks and software metaphors to unpack punchlines. On a similar technical theme, we checked in with real-life butler Mike McAlpine to explore how artificial intelligence and automation are colliding with traditional white-glove service in his three-star show, The RemAIns of the Butler.
On the roleplaying stage, we caught the wonderful chaos of Dungeons & Shakespeare, rating the improvised tabletop performance a stellar 4.5 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy retro staging, we also explored Planet of the Grapes, which revives Victorian toy theatre on the Fringe stage and picked up three stars in our review. But our absolute festival favourite was author and illustrator Olaf Falafel. We awarded his performance a glowing five stars and published a fantastic interview with Olaf Falafel on collaborative storytelling and overcoming creative blocks – complete with his sage advice that hopping into the shower is the fastest way to crack tough writing problems.
Turning back to the broader gaming landscape, extreme weather delivered a sharp wake-up call over in Indianapolis. Severe flooding hit the Indiana Convention Center during Gen Con 2026, highlighting the increasing strain of climate disruptions on major conventions. While the convention centre drainage failed during torrential downpours, our view is that climate disruption will increasingly hit the event circuit through transport logistics and travel delays, alongside intense in-hall heat issues in regions like the UK where venue air conditioning remains rare.
The convention also played host to the prestigious 2026 ENNIE Awards. Daggerheart took Gold for Best Game, with Legend in the Mist securing Silver in a triumphant night for independent systems. The results saw widespread acclaim for Son of Oak and Darrington Press, while Dolmenwood walked away with several major setting and cartography prizes.
Meanwhile, corporate licensing has left us wondering what’s going on with the future of certain games. Following Wizards of the Coast revealing a Star Wars D&D crossover for 2027, Edge Studio has remained silent while community administrators step in to address the future of the official Star Wars RPG. While official channels have stayed quiet, internal insiders indicate that Edge still retains the dedicated tabletop license.
In digital ethics and marketing, Geek Native teamed up with Surfshark to investigate how artificial online hype and purchased social followers are distorting tabletop marketing data. The practice of botting follower counts is bad form, misleading independent publishers and creating unfair hurdles for genuine content creators.
On the retail and digital distribution front, Paizo has expanded its digital partnership with DriveThruRPG, adding over 1,200 rulebooks and supplements to the digital storefront. After navigating a tough financial year, the publisher is leveraging the platform’s wide reach to get Pathfinder and Starfinder into the hands of more players. In collectable dice, Sirius Dice is rolling forward with fresh Critical Role partnerships, revealing Mighty Nein sets following their Vox Machina line.
For fiction enthusiasts, signed copies of Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan’s The Dungeon Book have gone live for pre-order at Forbidden Planet. The community reaction online has been remarkable, and we expect this clever megadungeon inversion to sell out quickly. Meanwhile, retro sci-fi horror is finding new life on crowdfunding as Dark Conspiracy returns with a brand-new edition powered by the Traveller rules engine.
Finally, a quick date for your diary: Tabletop Scotland is returning to Edinburgh in the first week of September, bringing gaming tables, seminars, and charity fundraising to our doorstep.
That is it for our bumper catch-up. Thanks for listening to Audio EXP. For all the links, festival reviews, and full stories, head over to Geek Native. Until next week, stay geeky.
