The Game Design Round Table

Soren Johnson returns to the show to discuss progression systems with Jon and Dirk, with a special focus on technology trees. What are the advantages and disadvantages of abstraction? How do Diablo 2 and 3 and Civilization 4 and 5 differ? What is At the Gates doing with Romanization Perks? And hell, what makes for a good progression system anyways? All of these questions - and more - are answered within!

Jon and Dirk are joined by Tomislav Uzelac, designer of the amazing WW2 strategy game ‘Unity of Command’ and studio lead for 2x2 Games. They dig into the title’s superb AI, its innovative supply system, building a streamlined strategic experience and the challenges of running a game studio from Croatia.

Jon and Dirk discuss a few games they’ve played lately which make good first impressions but ultimately fall short: ‘Don’t Starve’, ‘Shogun’ and ‘Wiz-War’. They then transition over to talking about what they’ve been working on, including AI character personality and AI design in ‘At the Gates’, getting into the meat of development with ‘Futbol Strategy’ and switching developers for ‘War Stories’.

Jon, Dirk and David discuss tactics in a more general sense. What is a tactical game? What problems does the genre have? Why does Jon hate basically all of them? And is it the players’ fault if their tactical choices aren’t as interesting as they could be?

Jon and Dirk are joined by David Sirlin, designer of tabletop titles Puzzle Strike, Yomi and Flash Duel. The group discusses his past games, future plans, building a tabletop company, David’s interesting journey from the Street Fighter community into design, and the vital importance of balance and asymmetry.

Jon and Dirk finally get around to discussing ‘Solium Infernum’, a tabletop-digital “hybrid” strategy title where you aim to become the lord of hell. They wheel around and talk about the light worker placement game ‘Stone Age’ and why it might be a great entry point for casual fans. After our hosts wrap up what they’ve played with a brief revisiting of ‘Command and Colors’, Dirk reveals his newest tabletop project, ‘Futbol Strategy’, and Jon provides an update on ‘At the Gates’ and his plans to revisit the game’s victory conditions and strategic trade-offs.

The usual three-man crew discusses - debates, even - the ways in which we win games. The first half of the show is dominated by dissecting the pluses and minuses of victory points, whether they’re inherently arbitrary, and if they might even be a sign of lazy design. In the second half our hosts talk specifics, analyzing how victory does (and could) work in ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘At the Gates.’

Dirk (the solo host for this week) sits down with acclaimed game designer Martin Wallace of Tree Frog Games. Martin’s star-studded resume includes Railroad Tycoon, A Few Acres of Snow, Waterloo, and the Discworld licensed games.

A lengthy episode where Jon and Dirk cover a variety of topics. First, they discuss the superb ‘Puzzle Strike’, basically “‘Dominion’ done right.” The conversation shifts to ‘Magic’ and the pluses and minuses of an immense learning curve. Our hosts then provide updates on their ongoing projects, and wrap up the episode with a realistic (some might say sobering) look at what it’s like becoming - and being - a game designer.

David Heron, Jon and Dirk noodle over the role of information and obfuscation in game design. Why does ‘Persona 4’ work when the BioWare games do not? And when can hiding info be GOOD for a game?

Trademark specialist and actual lawyer-type Dave Fitzgerald joins the show to discuss legal issues relating to games development. Topics covered include the difference between patents, trademarks and copyrights, what you need to set up a company and common mistakes made by developers.

Dirk shares his first ‘Magic’ drafting experience, and why the game and format now has its hooks into him. He and Jon then step back and evaluate the drafting mechanic and ponder whether the reason why it works is BECAUSE of a steep learning curve. They then go on to discuss the recent re-release of ‘Age of Empires 2’ and ‘War of the Roses’ before providing brief updates as to what’s new with ‘At the Gates’ and ‘Tomorrow’.

The team is joined by Colby Dauch, president of Plaid Hat Games, the developer behind Summoner Wars and the upcoming Bioshock Infinite board game. These games are discussed, as well as the story behind Plaid Hat’s founding, Colby’s approach to business and design, and whether or not the digital/tabletop convergence is real.

New occasional co-host David Heron rejoins the show to analyze the impact of Free to Play (F2P) from a business and design perspective. The group discusses the philosophical implications of F2P, along with real life examples that include Banner Saga: Factions, World of Tanks and League of Legends.

Jon and Dirk are guest-free this week and provide an update on what they’ve been working on and playing. On the Kickstarter front, ‘At the Gates’ has wrapped up and ‘War Stories’ will soon be doing the same. A recent playtest of ‘Tomorrow’ and Jon’s thoughts on a recent version of the game. They also discuss some of the games played at ‘Abnercon’, including ‘The World Cup Game’, ‘Railroad Tycoon’ and ‘Mare Nostrum’.

With the sad passing of Allan Calhamer, Dirk and Jon felt it appropriate to honor his memory and the legacy left behind by his finest work: Diplomacy. They are joined by Jim Burgess, a distinguished member of the Diplomacy community. The crew discusses what’s made it a gaming favorite for fifty years, a few ideas for improvements and what the future holds for the title.

This week Jon and Dirk are joined by Derek Yu, designer of Spelunky. He shares his design approach, the importance of challenge and permadeath. Derek also describes what it’s like to be a designer/artist hybrid, as opposed to the designer/programmers that this show has tended to focus on more in the past. He also touches on his unique development cycle where he oscillates between PC freeware and professional, for-purchase titles.There are a few small spoilers, so beware, should you have any interest in exploring the game’s nuances for yourself!

With the At the Gates funding campaign coming to a close, Jon and Dirk are joined by the timely Fred Hicks of Evil Hat to talk about launching and running a Kickstarter drive. They delve into the demands and challenges of Kickstarter, and Fred shares the success story and design behind his latest project, Fate Core.

Jon and Dirk are joined by Michael Tan, lead designer of War Stories, a new tabletop wargaming franchise that just launched on Kickstarter. Michael and Dirk talk about the experience of remotely designing a game together, and share many of the exciting and innovative features that help it stand out from other wargames.

In this week’s episode Jon and Dirk discuss two of their favorite tactical combat games: Relic’s Company of Heroes, and Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Our hosts discuss what these games did well, poorly and what changes they would make to them.