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If your Instagram reels are as full of weird little TTRPG skits as mine are, you might have first seen the folks from Legends of Avantris in their Adult Swim-esque animated forms. The hugely popular D&D actual play series has produced such iconic animated sequences that, at gaming conventions nation-wide, you wouldn't be hard pressed to find their little critter characters cosplayed by a number of fans. But that's no surprise to the Avantris folks themselves.

The way they tell it, animation and TTRPGs go pretty well hand-in-hand.

Particularly, they were opining on the subject at PAX Unplugged 2025, where cast members Mikey Gilder, Kelsey Flynn, Richie Gilder, Derek Hudson, Mace Caffrey, and Andy Flynn were taking part in the 'Avantris and Chill' panel, a fan Q&A that touched on just about every aspect of their series. And at one point, Mikey Gilder gave attendees an inside-basebell opinion on why the shows animated sequences perform so well.

"I always thought the best introduction to the hobby of tabletop gaming is animation," said Gilder, "Because it does the heavy lifting of imagination for an audience. They get to say, 'Oh that's what role-playing is. We are all imagining this.'"

To Gilder's point, there's a TON of visual imagination that goes into a standard game of D&D, and the sprawling fantasy realms created therein can be difficult to keep in one's head. Sure, they can be recreated for live-action if you have, say, a billion-dollar movie studio behind you, but for most folks out there, seeing those worlds is a lot more likely in animated form.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but take a look at Critical Role right now. How many fans who count themselves as full-on Critters now came into the franchise (or the TTRPG actual play medium as a whole) thanks to Prime Video's animated Legend of Vox Machina? How many more will join the ranks thanks to The Mighty Nein?

And we're just saying, Netflix, there's a whole legion of Curse of Strahd players who would be very interested in seeing what the Castlevania folks could come up with.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
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And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.