Meet the Designer – Fruitbowl Dice – The Game Expo 2026

There’s a very specific moment at The Game Expo before the doors open and the crowds roll in, tables are neatly set, dice are perfectly stacked, and everyone still has a coffee in hand instead of a queue behind them. That’s exactly when I caught up with Jess from Fruitbowl Dice, alongside Dungeon & Dragons Australia, tucked inside a booth that looked less like a convention stand and more like a jungle expedition waiting to happen.

Dinosaurs loomed, dense forests surrounded us, and the calm-before-the-storm energy was very real. This wasn’t just about selling dice or running games; it was about welcoming people in. New players. New Dungeon Masters. Anyone who’s ever been curious about D&D but didn’t quite know where to start.

From community‑first design philosophy to beginner‑friendly modules, affordable dice, and a genuine love for bringing people together at the table, this chat quickly became less of a traditional interview and more of a shared appreciation for what tabletop gaming does best: creating space for everyone.

So before the event initiative trackers came out and the dice started rolling, we sat down to talk dinosaurs, D&D editions, relic dice from a lost age, and why sometimes the most important thing at a table isn’t what you roll, it’s that you’re welcome there in the first place.

Ben: I’m here with Jess, who’s here with Dungeon & Dragons Australia (DDA) and Fruitbowl Dice here at the Game Expo. How you doing? 

Jess: Really good. I’m feeling fresh, feeling ready to go. Right now, on Saturday morning, before the crowds come pouring through. 

B: What are we doing here this weekend? 

J: We are running a module that I actually wrote myself, and we are selling it in the store. It is designed for new players and also new Dungeon Masters. We got tool tips all the way through to help people through, things like, oh, no, what happens when my players go off the rails? We got you. 

B: Oh, they’ll never go off the rails. 

J: No, never! The module is tied into the theme. (Looking around the booth, it’s a jungle with dinosaurs and lots of deep, dense forests) I’ve kind of themed things similarly. 

B: What is D&D Australia?

J: We run games at conventions, and the aim is to bring people together in a community place and just bond over our love for D&D and obviously bring new people into the game. 

B: Are you playing the 2024 edition? 

J: I’m still running 2014. Because I don’t like change. You know, how long it took me to get from 3.5 to 5? 

B: Don’t talk about 4th either. 

J: 3.5 Was peak D&D. 

B: It really is. 

J: With that being said, the module is able to be run either way because there’s not that much of a difference. I made all the stat blocks. I will eventually get onto it (2024 edition) into the change. 

B: I love that you’ve got Brain Beast Studios player screen, which is awesome. I know Shaun, he spent a lot of time developing these. They are great for beginners or people who just want to be able to have that information on hand, straight away, not to flick through the book. 

J: They are awesome. Great, as you said, for new players to come in. It has all their conditions and all the information they need as players. The unforeseen benefit of these as well is sort of designating a play space for people, so that people aren’t just taking over the whole table. 

That’s your zone there (gesturing to the space created by the player’s screen). That’s you there. Some people will get little initiative trackers, or, for players, it could be more like spell slot tracks that they can sort of pop along the top and hit track of things. So you’ve got more table space. 

B: Oh, it’s awesome. I love them.  In terms of playing the games here over the weekend, is it bookable, or do people just rock up and have a go? 

J: It’s good to book it in. We’ve got games starting at 10.30 am, 1.00 pm, and 3.30 pm all weekend. That being said, if you were to rock up and we are half an hour in, I’d slot you in, for sure. 

I’ve got a player character sheet in there that would be perfect for someone who just stepped in. 

B: A sacrificial lamb, maybe? 

J: How about we call them the wild card? 

B: The wildcard. Yeah, I like that. Can you tell me a little bit about Fruit Bowl Dice? 

J: Fruit Bowl, we’re brand new. We’ve only been around since May last year, and similar to DDA in the sense that we’re focused on the community. We want to help out as many people as we can, which is why we joined in with DDA in the first place. We’re happy to promote other businesses in our store.

The whole thing for us is that no matter what your budget is, we’ve got something for you. We’ve got Lucky Dip starting at $7, full set starting at $10. No matter what, we’ve got you covered, because we don’t want to be… Sort of like everybody elsewhere. 

Dice are sort of extremely expensive, and it’s like, no, there’s some lower-end stuff to get you in, because if you’ve never played before or you’ve only just started, you do not need the most expensive dice on the market. 

B: I do miss the red dice from the starter box setting. 

J: I have something for you. (Jess calls out to a colleague in the store and passes me a Magical D20) 

So this is like the old school dice, it’s actually kind of cool because it’s basically a 2 in one dice. As you can see, it’s got two of each number 1 thru to 0. You colour in one set with a pencil, then you decide which the teens and which isn’t. Otherwise, it’s also a D10. That’s what they used to do back in the day because they couldn’t make too many dice. 

B: I think that might even be before my time. Was that early AD&D? 

J: Yeah.

B: That’s awesome. 

J: A relic of a lost time, so I remade it.

B: Thank you so much (treasuring my new polyhedral joy bringer). What materials are your dice? Resin, metal, glass?

J: We don’t do metals yet. We do acrylic. We’ve got resin, gemstone, glass, and crystal. We got a little bit of everything. 

B: So do you manufacture them all yourselves? 

J: No. That’s part of the whole pricing thing. Because if we were to manufacture ourselves, I mean, 25 bucks an hour is minimum wage, and it’s like, how many facets on there? We would not be able to sell dice at a price that people would be able to buy. 

We’d love to be able to change that in terms of the resins and be able to fill in a gap; there’s a bit of a gap in the $60 – $70 bracket. That’d be an awesome place to put that in. But that’s that’s a goal for later down the line. 

B: You said you’re brand new. When did you launch? 

J: In May last year, this is our 2nd year coming up to here. 

B: The one year anniversary. Congratulations.

J: That’s it. It’s been really good. Everybody’s been so welcoming, and one of our mottos is that we try to help as many people in the community. 

A good example was there was somebody who was struggling with tarps the other week, we’re over there to help you. You see somebody on their own. Or you need advice. We got you. 

It’s all about community and collaboration for us. That’s the most important thing. 

B: Thank you for your time. Now I have to check out these dice.