The Game Design Round Table

We're back! Dirk, David, and Rob are here again to talk about game design after a flurry of activity and travel. David is knee-deep in Star Trek Timelines and Rob is pleased with the success of Pandemic Legacy. Meanwhile, Dirk was invited to the laboratory of Thomas Edison thanks to the work he did with his game Tesla vs. Edison.---------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com-------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:34 - Star Trek Timelines 0:07:02 - Game pacing 0:17:49 - Risk Legacy and Pandemic Legacy 0:27:48 - Expertise, failure, and learning 0:35:53 - Edison Innovation Foundation 0:47:59 Chronicles 0:48:00 - Disruptor Beam

Dirk and Rob sit down with game designer Isaac Childres to talk about his self-published and Kickstarted game Gloomhaven. Rob seems to have found the game he's been looking for all along and has plenty of questions for Isaac, who has published several games on his own and appears to be looking at a hit with Gloomhaven.--------------------------------------------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com Isaac Childres - @cephalofair, cephalofair.com--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:19 - Gloomhaven 0:06:43 - Retirement mechanic 0:14:06 - Inspirations for Gloomhaven 0:27:40 - Publishing 0:33:12 - Previous games 0:42:51 - Publishing lessons learned 0:50:23 - Upcoming games

Dirk, David, and Rob get together to talk about what happens when the game has shipped and there's still more to do. Post-launch support can come in the form of features that were originally left on the cutting room floor, expansions to existing content, or continuations of a line with new product. All three of our panelists have experience with expansion content across different industries and share their insights with the listeners.-----------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com-----------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:51 - Content at the end of the game design 0:08:03 - Business models and design 0:23:51 - Expansion design for tabletop 0:31:51 - Who's doing expansions right? 0:38:27 - Map expansions

This week Dirk and David are joined by game designer Alex Kevern. Alex has followed the path from gamer to designer and brought several different games to market with a myriad of publishers. He offers his experiences dealing with different publishers as well as modifying themes for games and working on Kickstarter.-----------------------------------------------------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Alex Kevern -@alexwithideas--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:16 - Alex's background 0:03:54 - Daxu 0:11:17 - Changing themes 0:16:05 - World's Fair 0:24:50 - Kickstarter 0:27:45 - Expansions 0:34:01 - Gold West 0:39:46 - Working with publishers 0:46:12 - Future projects

Rob is back from vacation and it's time for some more listener mail. Is it possible to play a game that is fun but not good? Should you share your ideas with people before publishing your game?-------------------------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com-----------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:36 - Pitching to publishers 0:16:52 - Fun games that aren't good 0:25:44 - The goals of game design 0:32:18 - How much do you share an idea before publishing? 0:40:47 - How do you take on choices in design?

Dirk and David talk to game designer David Somerville about his game Trove and experiences publishing his first game. David shares his insights as far as community management, how to hand things over, and pitching your games. Other David shares that he really, really wants to be a cave.----Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron David Somerville - @thisistrove------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:18 - Dave's background 0:02:31 - Trove: The Crystal Caverns 0:13:04 - Staying current while designing 0:15:21 - Getting set up with a publisher 0:26:20 - Earlier games 0:39:18 - Advice 0:51:28 - Pitching your game

We're back! After a brief hiatus due to the craziness of Gen Con the crew is back to tell their stories and get caught up on all the new developments. Dirk, David, and Rob talk about Gen Con, the new collaboration between Dirk and David, and answer a little bit of listener mail.------------------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com-----------------------------Episode Outline 0:05:48 - Seafall update 0:09:16 - Chronicles 0:22:51 - Star Trek 0:30:26 - Gen Con 0:40:09 - Return on investment vs artistic statement

Dirk and Rob sit down with game designer Daniel Solis to talk about his background with card and microgames. Daniel's games can be played all over the world and he shares his experiences with international publishers as well as crowdfunding and print-on-demand.---------------------------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com Daniel Solis - @DanielSolis, http://danielsolisblog.blogspot.com/------------------------------------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:26 - Daniel's background 0:07:01 - Card counts 0:11:10 - Sharing ideas 0:15:27 - Playtesting 0:18:31 - Kigi 0:22:04 - Publishers in different regions 0:33:39 - International legal matters 0:39:49 - Royalties and crowdfunding 0:53:58 - Upcoming projects

Dirk, David, and Rob are back to answer more listener questions about budget, toolsets, and more.------------------------------------------------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Rob Daviau -@RobDaviauGamer, rob.daviau@ironwallgames.com Episode Outline 0:02:12 - Budget for art and assets 0:06:29 - Marketing and Kickstarter 0:21:18 - Meaningful early game moves 0:40:17 - Toolsets for game development 0:49:13 - Feedback for feedback

This week, Dirk and David chat with Meg Jayanth to talk about her experiences as a writer in the games industry. Meg's prose is probably most well known in the story-heavy gameplay of 80 Days on mobile devices and Sunless Sea on the PC. Meg shares her background, what it's like to create oodles of content characters may never see, and the benefits of working in pajamas.-----------------------------------------------------------------------Contact Info Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com David Heron - @DavidVHeron Meg Jayanth -@betterthemask, www.megjayanth.com------------------------------------------------Episode Outline 0:00:18 - Meg's background 0:08:17 - Samsara game 0:15:14 - Content that characters may or may not see 0:36:18 - Writing processes 0:42:41 - Working remotely 0:47:16 - Current projects