Ludology

Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome guest Matt Leacock, co-designer of new #1 game on Board Game Geek, Pandemic Legacy. We get into the spoiler-free details on designing a Legacy game. What are the special design considerations for Legacy games? What worked and what didn't? How do production considerations enter into the design process? Duration: 56:16

In this classic GameTek, Geoff takes a look at the question of how much you can copy a game and still call it 'new'. Duration: 06:06

For our annual State of Games episode, Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome back Stephen Buonocore of Stronghold games, to discuss the state of the board game industry. Duration: 1:14:20

In this classic GameTek, Geoff takes a look at research performed in China on Rock, Paper, Scissors. Duration: 06:02

Mike and Geoff take a look at the Deck Building mechanic.  How has it evolved over the last    Duration: 1:18:45

Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome special guest Jamie Madigan, author of the Psychology of Video Games blog, and author of the just released Getting Gamers. Our topic is Avatars, and player representation in games. How does the role we take on in a game affect our experience and behavior? Duration: 1:16:48

In this classic GameTek Geoff takes a look at the math behind the popular game Werewolf. Duration: 06:35

During BGG.CON 2015, Mike asked several publishers the same question: How do you decide what games you want to publish? With the myriad of pitches and submissions that publishers receive, it is vital for designers to understand what attracts someone's eye. Publishers interviewed: Stronghold Games Dice Hate Me / Greater Than Games R&R Games Portal Games Arcane Wonders Crash Games Gamelyn Games ZMan Games Duration: 01:07

New Content! Geoff interviews Barry Joseph and Eric Teo about the game Gutsy. Barry is the Associate Director of Digital Learning at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and as part of a new exhibit on the human microbiome the team at AMNH worked with Eric Teo, to develop the card game Gutsy. Many of you know Eric Teo as the host of the Push Ur Luck Podcast, and he is also a graduate student studying game design at the NYU Game Center. Why do a card game? What do they hope to teach, and what other roles do games have to augment museum exhibits? A Print & Play copy of Gutsy can be downloaded at the AMNH website! Duration 25:45

Mike and Geoff take a look at "Take That" games. When does this mechanic work, and when does it fail? Duration: 1:13:34

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about the revolutionary studies about the human microbiome, and what that can teach us about playing and designing games. Duration: 06:13

What changes are usually made between a first and second edition of a game? And what does that teach us about the design process? Mike and Geoff are joined by guest Paul Grogan, who was heavily involved in the new edition of Through The Ages with CGE, to examine these questions. And since we're talking about Through The Ages, we had to invite Ryan Sturm to come back for an encore visit to the program. Duration 01:21:00

Geoff gives a quick report on his play of Advanced Civilization last week. Duration: 08:17

Mike and Geoff talk CHAOS! Mike loves it in his games. Can he convince Geoff of its charms? Duration: 1:04:37

In this classic GameTek, Geoff discusses the Sunk Cost Fallacy. Duration: 05:05

What games cross over into traditional retailers like Target and Barnes and Noble? Mike and Geoff are joined by Andrew Lupp, National Sales Manager of PSI, to learn the ins and outs. Andrew works with big chains to help them decide which games will sell to the general public, and walks us through the process. Duration: 1:18:15

NEW CONTENT! Geoff interviews Vlad Niculae of Cornell about his recent research on predicting betrayal via written communications. The foundation of the study? An only repository of 300 Diplomacy games and all 150,000 messages they generated. Vlad's new project is the online game StreetCrowd, which is also exploring communications and team dynamics. Duration: 20:27

Mike and Geoff select their top 10 entries from the Ludology contest, and reveal the winner! Duration: 1:04:57  

In this classic GameTek Geoff looks at memory, and how games work with or against it. Duration: 06:10

Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome pinball game designer Keith Johnson, designer of games such as Simpsons Pinball Party, Revenge From Mars, and Lord of the Rings. What are the special design techniques used for designing a pinball game? How do you keep players engaged? How do you make the fixed physical layout feel different in different modes? Duration: 01:05:40