What is Wayside Games?

Wayside Games is an indie tabletop studio! Right now, we publish a newsletter about how to be an effective Game Master, and we sell terrain & props to help give physical texture to your tabletop roleplaying games. Soon we're releasing our first written product, an adventure for D&D 5e that'll release alongside a set of corresponding props.

Our core values are twofold: make stuff that matters, and get that stuff made. We write games that will impact those who play them more than fleetingly. We make art with something to say. We use our artmaking (and business) to pursue justice and equity. When we commit to doing things, we get them done. We seek out new tools and resources to help us get things done.

Why Wayside?

We chose the name Wayside because we are one stop on your path through the tabletop space. We want to encourage you to stop with us for a moment. It will make your journey better.

Where can you find us?

This website is the hub around which Wayside Games' presence turns, but you can find us all over the internet. Our most active social presence is on our newsletter platform, Substack. Following us there, you'll get sneak peeks into our process and articles about the craft of GMing. Our Instagram hosts process pictures and updates about Wayside.

What's coming next?

Right now, our focus is on maintaining consistency and quality in our current content. We publish a weekly newsletter at a very high standard of quality, and we sell carefully crafted, handmade products.

Our next priority is written tabletop content. We are currently playtesting a ruleset for monster hunting in D&D 5e. We're really excited about it, and if you might be too, you should go read our newsletter.

Sam Sparkman

Founder of Wayside Gaming

Sam founded Wayside Gaming in 2024, but he's been writing adventures and selling handmade terrain for years.

Outside of tabletop, Sam is an avid actor-combatant. He has trained primarily through the Society of American Fight Directors and is an aspiring Fight Director himself. You can see his Fight Direction in the UW Undergraduate Theater Society's Production of Macbeth, opening this December.

If you want to see some of Sam's stage combat, check out his Instagram. If you want to work with him, check out his LinkedIn.