RPG Design Panelcast

Cinematic Plays Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Will Hindmarch What are cinematic game mechanics? What makes a game cinematic and what do we call it when a game is not cinematic? In this presentation, writer/designer Will Hindmarch examines the languages of film and what we can borrow from cinema when we make our games, our adventures, and our plays at the table. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 81: Cinematic Plays Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (336)  

Game Distribution Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Brian Dalrymple and Darren Watts An overview of the 3-tier system (Publisher to Distributor to Retailer), following the course of a game after production (solicitation to wholesalers, trade shows and open houses, discount structures, buying patterns and reorder cycles, the preorder system, flooring, and more…), and covering how stores discover, order, stock, and merchandise, as they try to put them in customers’ hands. Viable alternatives to the 3-tier system are also discussed. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 80: Game Distribution Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (296)

Agile Design and Publishing Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Rob Donoghue and Emily Dresner Join our panelists for a discussion of how nerdy business concepts such as Agile software development to can be applied to your gaming experience. Key concepts of agile software design include rapid and flexible response to change – let’s talk about how to apply them to running games. More about Agile from Rob over on his site, at this blog post! Yes You Kan(ban)     You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 79: Agile Design and Publishing Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (354)

Creativity In Business: Pixar’s Success and Lessons For Tabletop Publishing Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Jeff Tidball, Cam Banks Managing a company of creative people can be challenging. New ideas are always being introduced into structured spaces that resist change and fear innovation and imagination. Tabletop game publishers and managers can learn from the success of Pixar, Inc, who have mastered the art of ushering in and protecting the new, releasing their employees from common limits on creativity, and not being afraid to try things in often radically different ways to create bigger and better projects As a fine example of creativity in business, the kickstarter for Unknown Armies 3rd Edition is currently up. Dig into the occult weirdness from Atlas Games! You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 78: Creativity in Business Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (195)

Project Budgeting For Tabletop Games Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Jeff Tidball, Cat Tobin & Justin Jacobson The process of producing a board game, card game, or role playing game is lousy, with opportunities for financial disaster. Learn what financial factors you should take into account when planning a game production, and walk through a spreadsheet that’ll help you plan your own projects by estimating their profitability (or lack thereof). You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 77: Budgeting for RPGs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (248)

Formalizing Your Game Business Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Fred Hicks, Steve Segedy, Darren Watts and Brennan Taylor Is your company ready to take the next step? We’ll discuss how to turn a tiny game company into a slightly-larger game company. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 76: Formalizing Your Game Business Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (217)

Matters Of Scale: Running A Small Gaming Business Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue and Steve Segedy Game publishing is a very different beast depending on how new you are to the industry and how much reach you and your game might have. Small press and independent creators will find that which printers, distributors and fulfillment channels they might use varies wildly depending on their goals and how much risk they’re willing to take. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 75: Matters of Scale Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (262)

Genius Loci: Your Setting is the Character Recorded at Metatopia 2014 Presented by Will Hindmarch Places, rather than protagonists, are often what RPG campaigns have in common because the characters are bespoke but the setting is shared. How does your game’s space inform its setting – and vice versa? How does setting pose and reflect theme? Settings can be characters in their own right, tuned and portrayed through your design to dramatize the themes and issues at the heart of your game. In this seminar, I’ll share some of what I set out to do and some of what I’ve learned designing Project: Dark and its play spaces. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 74: Genius Loci Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (300)

Opacity, Transparency, and Player Incentives in Your Strategy Board Game Recorded at Metatopia 2014 Presented by Gil Hova Do people understand what’s going on in your game? Not just the rules, but can they tell who’s winning? If they should watch out for a dangerous player? If they know exactly how their move will impact their next few turns? Join designer Gil Hova as he discusses transparency and opacity in strategy board games. We will discuss what makes a game mechanism transparent or opaque, how they work (or fail) in existing games, and how to use them to incentivize players to make interesting plays. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 73: Opacity Transparency [ 52:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (264)

Lovecraft WTF Recorded at Metatopia 2014 Presented by Julia Ellingboe, Kenneth Hite, Darren Watts & Bill White. H. P. Lovecraft is one of the grandfathers of weird fiction and horror. His racist and anti-Semitic beliefs are no secret. They are the foundation of his fictional worlds. They are interwoven throughout his work and for many readers, impossible to separate from the genius of his writing. Can a Lovecraft-inspired game make his work more accessible? It’s okay to like problematic things. This panel will be neither an attack nor a defense of Lovecraft’s work. In a broad sense, it will be a conversation about how designers might interpret or use source material with themes or images that are problematic. Apologies for sound quality issues. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes   Episode 72: Lovecraft WTF Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (295)