Ludology

Sen and Erica welcome designer and Dice Tower member Roy Cannaday to the show to tell us about his experience at Gen Con 2023 that was made extra special because it was also the official launch of his first game, Last Light.

Guest host, Sarah Shipp, discusses Artistotle's Classical Unities and explores how unity of action, time, and place can be used to design a more cohesive game.

Erica and Sen discuss their comings and goings over the past few months. Sen attended Origins in June and Erica went to SDCC in July. So before they both head to Gen Con in August, they figured they should touch base and see what each other were up to!

In this episode, Steph talks about their use of safety tools and how they modified some for use with their son.

Erica and Sen welcome designer, author and game studies professor, Gordon Calleja to the show to discuss his book "Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design" from the MIT Press (ISBN 978-0-262-54395-8). Gordon gives a chapter-by-chapter rundown of the book that will be the focus of our first Ludology Book Club event - stay tuned for further information!

Dive into the intriguing world of immersion in tabletop games with Sarah Shipp. She contrasts absorption and transportation, exploring how players engage differently. You'll learn how flow theory links to player attention and discover resonance—the thrill of familiar yet surprising elements. Examples like 'Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes' showcase thematic transportation's power. Sarah also discusses design strategies, emphasizing the need to balance mechanics with thematic elements for deeper player immersion.

Erica and Sen welcome Danielle Reynolds and Nick Bentley to the show to talk about how HerStory from Underdog Games was designed.

Join Steph Campbell of TTRP Kids as they delve into the difficult topic of kids wanting to do "bad" things when playing TTRPGs. How can parents and educators deal with this in a constructive way. Is the child actually being "bad" or are they just inquisitive? How can we determine this and what learning can occur from "bad" behavior? (Sound Effects from Pixabay)

Nicholas Yu, a renowned tabletop game designer known for tactical games like Adventure Tactics and D&D: Onslaught, joins the hosts. He shares insights into the balance of competitive wargaming and player agency, revealing the differences between puzzle-focused and cinematic players. Nicholas dives into the importance of playtesting, the influence of video games on tabletop design, and strategies for onboarding D&D players. He also discusses faction identities in Onslaught and the advantages of established IPs while hinting at exciting narrative developments ahead.

This segment features guest host Sarah Shipp of Shippboard Games. For the next year, Sarah will be taking a look at aspects of game design that go beyond the basics of rolling dice or drawing cards. In this introductory monthly mini-sode, Sarah posits that the question of theme first or mechanics first is a false dichotomy.