The closest I come to gaming on the table-top is chess, and my on-line gaming life is more about casual FOSS games than PC gaming. But even as a non-gamer, I really enjoyed this episode. 

It spoke to me because it reminded me how much I like science fiction novels better than science fiction on film. Like the tabletop games in your story, the power of imagination in a sci-fi story trumps, for me, even the most well-done special effects in a science fiction movie.

You make at least 7 good points here, in a show I found a good listen.