Design Doc
Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland
Come along with Hannah and Evan in a living documentation of the game design process, from the first spark of an idea, to every disastrous surprise. It’s not an instruction manual, but a travel guide, with lots of unexpected stops along the way.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 17, 2018 • 36min
Making Things in Hard Times
How do you keep making things when life throws the unexpected your way? We're learning what that looks like now.
Jul 13, 2018 • 42min
Social Dynamics at the Table
A good GM can step up to manage social dynamics at the table. But in Questlandia 2, there is no GM, so the rules we write need to do that work. How can we keep the excitement and ideas flowing without leaving quieter players out of the fun?
Jun 18, 2018 • 47min
You Can Kill a King, but You Can't Make a Marinara
What happens if a player achieves their big character goal in the very first scene of the game? We found out.
May 18, 2018 • 39min
Romancing the Wall
With no GM, players in Questlandia 2 are responsible for framing their own scene types. As a result they animate objects, make holy voyages, and befriend a sentient wall.
Apr 23, 2018 • 42min
The Worst Ideas We've Had so Far
Good games are often built on an avalanche of bad ideas. We talk about the worst ideas we've had so far, and how to turn them into something useful.
Mar 23, 2018 • 40min
Deadline Motivated
We talk about deadlines, and the whooshing noise they make as they go by.
Mar 4, 2018 • 39min
Mosslickers
The first playtest that takes us all the way through character creation. Meet beasts of burden, puppeteers, and the queens who inhabit Mosslicker Alley.
Feb 16, 2018 • 45min
The Symbol Reader
We experiment with a customized alethiometer to explore stories and build new worlds.
Jan 25, 2018 • 49min
Collaboration
The Make Big Things team talks about making games as a cooperative.
Dec 28, 2017 • 44min
The First Playtest
With one playtest down, we talk about what went right, what went wrong, and what we'd like to change.
