How the first decade of actual play has defined the template

polygon.com:

Actual play is growing up. Or, as actress and producer Jennifer Kretchmer puts it, “Actual play is going through puberty, and we’re having to figure out how to adult.”

The first recognizable forms of streamed actual play date to the early 2010s, fueled by the rising popularity of Twitch and YouTube. Search either platform for actual play tabletop shows these days, and you’ll quickly notice two things. One, there are a lot of shows to choose from — on one ordinary weekday afternoon, nearly 70 tabletop role-playing game sessions were streaming on Twitch, in a half-dozen languages and even more countries. And while the language, the system, and the stories may vary widely, the looks of these streams often share a common vocabulary.

For the vast majority of these shows, you’ll see a lot of boxes arranged on screen: one for the Storyteller or Dungeon Master, two or more for the players, either separately (in remote shows) or in groups (in studio). Another box may display character art, battle maps, sponsors, or other information. As producer DC Lasair says, “Faces are interesting to look at, so I want my overlays to show off as much of the talent as possible.” Grid-like overlays also allow space for interactive elements, sponsors, and branding. Josh Simons, community and content manager at tabletop service company Demiplane, says that such overlays are one of the first ways he can tell whether professional designers have been involved in a show’s design, though even shows with very small budgets often invest in them.

This signature look was born from a combination of inspiration from other shows and practical necessity. Actual play researcher Alex I. Chalk points to J.P. “itmeJP” McDaniel’s RollPlay, which followed common