The Game Design Round Table

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.

Soren Johnson, the brilliant designer behind Civilization IV, joins the hosts to dive deep into the world of 4X games. They discuss the allure of historical versus space-themed 4X titles and share personal anecdotes about the Civilization series. Key insights include the importance of player agency and the intricacies of turn-based versus real-time strategies. The conversation also touches on persistent endgame issues and inventive solutions to enrich late-game experiences. Finally, they explore the unique challenges of bringing 4X gaming to mobile platforms.

Lucky #13! In this week's episode, our hosts discuss Jon's new game: 'At the Gates,' a 4X strategy game where you play as a barbarian tribe during the fall of Rome. They discuss the background for the game's development, as well as the design thinking that went into many of its features. 'At the Gates' will be available on Kickstarter from February 6th until March 8th, so please check it out!

Jon and Dirk are joined by designer David Heron to discuss his work on the Legend of the Five Rings CCG (Collectible Card Game). Along the way, they examine the business side of building a CCG. The discussion then shifts to deckbuilding and drafting games, with a particular focus on Dominion and 7 Wonders and the design flaws that prevent Dirk and David from enjoying them. At the end of the episode Jon teases a big announcement that will be made next week.

Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin, both game designers at Telltale Games, delve into the art of storytelling in games like The Walking Dead. They discuss the unique challenges of narrative-driven game design versus traditional formats. The duo shares their collaborative experiences, emphasizing the blend of writing and visual design in crafting emotionally resonant stories. Listeners gain insights into the iterative feedback process and the evolution of adventure games, showcasing the balance between player engagement and innovative gameplay.

An intimate show this week where Jon and Dirk cover a variety of topics ranging from the new Battle of the Bulge iOS game to Jon's recent article contrasting turn-based and real-time games. Dirk also provides an update on the progress of his current game, 'Tomorrow', and our hosts even spend a few minute discussing another project on Kickstarter that they're not exactly enamored with.

This week Jon and Dirk are joined by Jesse Howard, an academic turned part-time tabletop designer - at age 40. They delve into Jesse's ongoing journey to develop 'Ploy', a promising and innovative abstract card game. The design of Ploy is a very interesting case, as Jesse began with mechanics and only later added theming, which is the opposite approach of our hosts. Along the way, the group explores what they believe to be THE key to game development success.

In the final episode of 2012, Jon and Dirk hand out the first annual TGDRT Game Design Awards. Our hosts highlight some favorites from past episodes but also share their thoughts on a few newcomers - their Games of the Year might come as a bit of a surprise!Happy New Year everyone, and thanks for being a part of the TGDRT community!

This week Jon and Dirk are joined by Firaxis designer and programmer Scott Lewis. He comes on the show to jump into a discussion about "experience" games, which target the player's first experience, and replayable games, which are designed to hold up over the long haul. Along the way there's plenty of talk about roguelikes and Spelunky in particular, one of Scott and Jon's favorites. Unfortunately, the quality of Scott's audio is a bit suspect, so we apologize for that.