May 18, 2026
Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide, behavioral design applied to real products: professorgame.com/WildCD
Episode Summary
Victoria Ichizli-Bartels, author of fourteen books on gameful living and coiner of the term "self-gamification," explores how the role of the tabletop RPG game master maps onto the inner conversation we have with ourselves. She walks through Jill Bolte Taylor's "brain huddle" concept (a 90-second pause that resolves inner conflict by letting the 12 different players in our heads come to the table), three diagnostic questions for stressful moments ("what is happening inside myself," "who is talking," and "what is the goal of this person"), and a Justin Alexander hack borrowed from RPG handbooks: instead of treating a stressful thought as a crisis, respond with "yes, this can happen, now what do you do?" Listeners come away with practical reframes for daily self-management and a clearer way to spot which inner player is driving a given thought.
About the Host
Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A globally recognized gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
Key Takeaways
- Jill Bolte Taylor's "brain huddle" concept proposes that 90 seconds of pause is enough to resolve inner conflict, by letting the different characters in our heads (which Victoria counts as roughly 12 distinct players, including self-leader, self-coach, game designer, and game master) come together and find an appropriate response.
- The single most useful diagnostic question for a stressful moment is "what is happening inside myself," followed by "who is talking" and "what is the goal of this person" — the third one usually reveals that the inner voice is trying to protect or train you, not sabotage you.
- Justin Alexander's RPG game master hack, "yes, this can happen, now what do you do?", reframes intrusive or stressful thoughts (like "I want to quit my job") from a crisis into an exploration, which usually reveals you don't want the extreme outcome — you want a smaller change.
- RPG handbook rules ("respect your co-players, be patient, be curious, be open-minded") map directly onto self-talk. Open-mindedness toward your own impulses is the rule most people break without noticing.
- Victoria connects RPG engagement to Core Drive 7 (Unpredictability and Curiosity): players love active play and surprise inside games but resent it in life, even though the underlying motivator is identical. Recognizing this changes how you experience unexpected events.
- The strategic-game metaphor of map exploration ("the land becomes lighter as you pay attention") and cool-down phases (planting crops after taking a castle) gives a concrete vocabulary for energy management between high-output and recovery days.
Topics Covered
- 0:00 — Opening hook on RPG surprise
- 0:25 — Welcome and guest reintroduction
- 1:51 — 14 books in and still surprised
- 4:06 — Writing about TTRPGs without playing them
- 6:47 — The game master inside your head
- 9:48 — Why RPGs are collaborative storytelling
- 12:22 — Is there a map of the mind
- 16:47 — Rules of the inner RPG
- 18:29 — The 12 players inside us
- 19:05 — The 90-second brain huddle
- 23:30 — Self-care hacks from RPG handbooks
- 25:37 — The yes-this-can-happen reframe
- 26:56 — Closing thoughts and what is next
Get the free Core Drives in the Wild guide, behavioral design applied to real products: professorgame.com/WildCD
About Victoria Ichizli-Bartels
Victoria Ichizli-Bartels is a writer, coach, and consultant with a background in semiconductor physics, electronic engineering (Ph.D.), information technology, and business development. While not a traditional gamer, Victoria coined the term "self-gamification," a gameful, playful approach to self-care and self-help that combines anthropology, kaizen, and gamification to enhance quality of life. With over a decade of experience living gamefully, she is the author of fourteen books and the instructor of two online courses on turning life into fun games. Victoria grew up in Moldova, lived in Germany for twelve years, and since 2008 has been based in Aalborg, Denmark, with her husband and two children.
Find the Guest Online
- Website: https://www.victoriaichizlibartels.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriaichizlibartels/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/optimistwriter
- Substack: https://selfgamificationclub.substack.com/
Mentioned in This Episode
- Be Your Best Game Master by Victoria Ichizli-Bartels (the book this conversation is built around)
- So You Want to Be a Game Master by Justin Alexander
- Whole Brain Living by Jill Bolte Taylor (the "brain huddle" concept and the four-characters model)
- The 5-Minute Perseverance Game by Victoria Ichizli-Bartels (her first book, published 10 years ago)
- Actual Real Life Role-Playing Games by Victoria Ichizli-Bartels
- 10,000 Hours of Play by Yu-kai Chou
- A.J. Jacobs and his life-as-experiment / puzzler books
- Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and tabletop RPGs in general
- Story Cubes (the dice-and-pictures storytelling game)
- Core Drive 7 — Unpredictability & Curiosity (Octalysis)