Ludology

Erica and Sen meet up with Jason Perez (Shelf Stories, cultural consultant on Puerto Rico 1897) to talk about cultural consultation, define some of the most prominent terms, and talk about how we can design better games while considering cultural impact.   Timestamp Note Link 00:00:50 Shelf Stories https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnaZ7055IWOdm8XCJfFRDcw  00:01:20 Puerto Rico 1897 https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/367272/puerto-rico-1897  00:09:30 Uncle Ben dies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dre4TsXm_68  00:09:35 Batman’s parents get shot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAyxY5hF3ZE 00:12:58 Andreas Seyfarth https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/117/andreas-seyfarth  00:13:01 Reiner Knizia https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/2/reiner-knizia  0015:05 Jason’s critique of Lost Ruins of  Arnak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU7Mqg3XS4U  00:15:15 Feast for Odin https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/177736/feast-odin 

Sen and Erica chat with Roberta Taylor about her games, diving deeper into Creature Comforts and the upcoming Maple Valley, specifically. They discuss cozy games and Roberta's philosophy towards design. Roberta's BGG Page: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/12374/roberta-taylor

Geoff discusses what he calls the "Sweet Spot" in games, and how it can help your design.

Sen and Erica chat with Brian Neff, the freelance developer who currently handles the Unmatched System for Restoration Games, about the process he uses for playtesting and balancing a game with an ever-expanding roster that boasts just under 40 playable characters to date. They chat about how both quantitative and qualitative data drive the development process and how the game's loyal community has been an invaluable part of the process. Timestamp Note Link 00:01:05 Restoration Games https://restorationgames.com/  00:01:49 Unmatched Game System https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/295564/unmatched-game-system  00:02:18 Bruce Lee https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/279645/unmatched-bruce-lee  00:02:19 T-Rex https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284778/unmatched-jurassic-park-dr-sattler-vs-t-rex  00:04:45 Alice https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/274637/unmatched-battle-legends-volume-one  00:04:48 Moon Knight https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansio

In this classic Biography of a Board Game, Scott takes a look at how the horror game Betrayal at House on the Hill came to be.

Erica and Sen talk with Spenser Starke about his game, Alice is Missing, and it's jump to the big screen. They discuss how to design cinematic narrative structure into tabletop games, calibration tools, and more! Timestamp Note Link 00:01:05 Alice Is Missing https://www.huntersentertainment.com/alice-is-missing 00:01:17 Kids on Broom https://renegadegamestudios.com/kids-on-brooms/ 00:01:20 Icarus https://renegadegamestudios.com/icarus-a-storytelling-game-about-how-great-civilizations-fall/ 00:02:51 Dread https://dreadthegame.wordpress.com/about-dread-the-game/ 00:02:53 The Quiet Year  https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year 00:06:47 Life Is Strange https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/319630/ 00:06:49 Oxenfree https://store.steampowered.com/app/388880/Oxenfree/ 00:06:50 Firewatch https://store.steampowered.com/app/383870/Firewatch/ 00:08:25 Vox article https://www.vox.com/culture/21656220/alice-is-missing-rpg-text

Geoff takes us through the history of the color blue, namely how difficult it is to make as a dye, and considers if we should value it above all other player colors.

Erica, Gil, and Sen discuss some of the tools and processes they use at the various phases of designing a game from their varying perspectives of an in-house designer, a publisher, and freelance designer/developer.  SHOW NOTES: 00:08:31 DDS is an acronym for Detailed Design Specification 00:11:38 LucidChart browser-based flowcharting and more www.lucidchart.com 00:18:43 Canva free online graphic design tool www.canva.com 00:19:13 Tabletop Simulator is a virtual tabletop (VTT) run on Steam www.tabletopsimulator.com  00:19:14 Tabletopia is a browser-based VTT www.tabletopia.com 00:21:26 Also known as an MVP - a “Minimum Viable Prototype” 00:21:45 Filemaker Pro is a relational database www.claris.com  00:21:57 Nandeck is cardmaking software www.nandeck.com  00:22:05 Component Studio is a full game design suite that is hooked up to the Game Crafter https://component.studio/ 00:26:06 Adobe Creative Suite is the industry standard for the industry in terms of graphic design www.adobe.com  00:27:54 Photopea is an o

In this classic Biography of a Board Game, Scott takes us through the history of the game Cluedo, better known to Americans as Clue.

Erica and Sen chat with game designer Mondo Davis about how to market yourself in the game industry.

Continuing the previous GameTek Classic, Geoff returns to the subject of AI in first-person shooters. Last time, we learned that researchers had engineered an FPS AI that could beat the best humans. This time, Geoff dives into the different strategies the AI tried, how it shifted over time to prefer distinct strategies, and what we can learn from this.

Gil and Sen meet up with James Hudson of Druid City Games to discuss the pleasure of games that are big, sprawling productions.

Scott takes us through the history of Kill Dr. Lucky, a game where, instead of trying to deduce the murder of a wealthy old man, you're trying to actually do the deed.

Erica and Sen talk with Dr. Tanya Pobuda about her groundbreaking research of representation in board games, the purpose of journalism, and her work in academia. SHOW NOTES 2m01s: Emma and Gil chatted with Dr. Mary Flanagan on Ludology 226 - Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo. 7m37s: Two seminal works in the theory behind fun and play are Johan Huizinga's Homo Ludens and Roger Caillois' Man, Play, and Games. 27m05s: Analog Game Studies provides an academic, analytic look at non-digital games. 39m12s: Leonard Anetta's research paper The "I's" Have It: A Framework for Serious Educational Game Design. 43m34s: Elizabeth Sampat's book Empathy Engines: Design Games that are Personal, Political, and Profound.

In GameTek Classic 275.5 - MENACE, Geoff discussed a simple machine that anyone can build that can learn how to play tic-tac-toe competitively. Here, Geoff continues the conversation, this time with modern researchers using a neural network to teach a machine to play a first-person shooter video game, and the tweak they needed to make to see their AI become competitive with human players.

Erica and Gil discuss Erica's time so far working at Spinmaster, making mass-market games for kids and families. How is it different from making games for the hobby market? SHOW NOTES 0m43s: We recently chatted with Sydney Engelstein of Indie Boards & Cards in Ludology 274 - Indie 500, and with Carol Mertz of Exploding Kittens in Ludology 277 - Combustible Felines. 7m28s: The Rubiks brand of puzzles, toys, and games, centered around the world-famous Rubik's Cube. And the legendary brand of Gund plush toys. 19m04s: Kinetic Sand 33m39s: The marvelous game designer Maureen Hiron. 42m00s: Splendor, 7 Wonders, Sushi Go 56m10s: Busen Memo

In this classic GameTek, Scott tells us about the history of Agricola, which sparked new life in worker-placement games.

Sen and Gil have a talk with game reviewer and critic Daniel Thurot of the marvelous game review site Space-Biff! about his distinctive style of writing, the difference between review and criticism, and theming in games. SHOW NOTES 4m48s: The Settlers of Zarahemla 5m26s: Roger Ebert was a movie critic; Gil remains a big fan of his writing. Also: Tom Chick (whom Dan interviewed on his own podcast), Tom Francis 14m55s: Fort 29m35s: The recent film Men 31m56s: Sen and Jay's game MIND MGMT 34m37s: Sen may be referring to The Long View Podcast  35m40s: Mike Barnes, There Will Be Games 44m06s: Frontierland is indeed a part of Disneyland (California), as well as the Magic Kingdom in Disneyworld (Florida) 49m12s: Dan's review of Heading Forward. We had publisher Amabel Holland on Ludology 262 - This Guilty Podcast. 50m27s: Pope Alexander VI, Antipopes 52m37s: Charlie Theel, Matt Thrower, Thinker Themer 53m04s: That's about 1.2x1.2x0.9 meters.

Geoff tells us about big changes in store for Tabletop Network 2022, and why he's so excited for it! This is an amazing show for game designers, and you can easily stay for BGG.CON immediately afterwards. Please consider attending!

Sen and Gil chat with game designer Carol Mertz, senior game designer at Exploding Kittens. Carol has worked on many Exploding Kittens games, like Hand To Hand Wombat, Exploding Kittens: Recipe for Disaster, and Exploding Kittens: 2-Player Version. She's also known for her own designs, especially the wildly creative HELLCOUCH, the only couch co-op that uses an actual couch. SHOW NOTES 2m28s: We chatted with Sydney Engelstein of Indie Game Studios recently, on Ludology 274 - Indie 500.  17m28s: But Wait There's More, Bad Medicine 25m40s: We spoke with Mike Elliot in Ludology 256 - You're Big in Japan, and with Justin Gary in Ludology 207 - Card Advantage. 39m26s: Inhuman Conditions 45m08s: Pass the Buck: A Game of Corporate Responsibility Management 48m25s: The Pixel Pop festival. 57m02s: Hellcouch, and the customizable hardware board Arduino.