Erica and Sen welcome Matt Leacock to talk about one of the hobby's staples - Pandemic. First published in 2008, the Pandemic system has been expanded and used to fight viruses, rising tides, Elder Gods, and now - the forces of evil that seek the One Ring. They talk all things Pandemic, from it's ideation to its many iterations, from fighting back chain reaction of diseases on Earth to fighting back hordes of orcs and other minions of Sauron in Middle Earth.
Apr 14, 2025•41 min
This week, special guest host Steph Campbell discusses the importance of why learning should be fun and how TTRPGs can bring fun to what can be a very complex situation.
Apr 06, 2025•9 min
Erica and Sen talk to Matt Gubser, modeler and comedian, about his work in the tabletop industry and the shift from traditional to digital modeling techniques.
Mar 29, 2025•1 hr 9 min
In this special guest episode, Sen and Erica welcome Sarah Shipp to talk about how designers can raise the stakes to strengthen a game's hook, taking it from bland to bold!
Mar 18, 2025•7 min
Sen and Erica welcome Evan Derrick from Van Ryder Games to discuss the past, present, and future of Final Girl - a highly expandable, solo, horror boardgame co-designed by Evan and AJ Porfirio. Evan talks about the game from inception to evolution and gives us some insight into what makes it tick.
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 6 min
Steph Campbell brings their segment, TTRPGKids, to Ludology. This week, they breakdown their TTRPG "Photosynthians" that they made as a resource to demonstrate how to teach science with TTRPGs and how to integrate lesson plans and other classroom basics into the game itself for designers. The game is free and part of the classroom-ready toolkit that Steph made and is available here: https://ttrpgkids.itch.io/the-classroom-ready-ttrpg-toolkit (name your price)...
Mar 02, 2025•8 min
Sen and Erica welcome guest host Sarah Shipp to her segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms. In this installment, Sarah looks at designing games that ask players to be creative. Sarah examines some of the common pitfalls you can encounter when you ask players create content for the game and discusses how to avoid them.
Feb 17, 2025•6 min
Sen and Erica welcome Professor Camilla Zamboni to discuss "Roll for Learning", a book she co-edited that contains 51 microRPGs that are intended for use in K-12+ classrooms in fields as diverse as STEM, SEL, and the Humanities. You can download the pdf of the book for free here: https://playstorypress.org/books/roll-for-learning/
Feb 09, 2025•1 hr 9 min
In this episode of TTRPGKids, Steph Campbell provides excellent ideas on how to use TTRPGs to teach STEM subjects in the classroom and at home.
Feb 03, 2025•9 min
In this Host Roundtable, Erica and Sen talk about the importance of understanding who the audience for a specific game is during the design, development, and publication process. They discuss some of the ways in which they determine who the audience is and how knowing the key characteristics and desires of the demographic can help them make a game that satisfies the core consumer by design.
Jan 26, 2025•1 hr 4 min
On this month's installment of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, special guest host, Sarah Shipp, dives into the mechanism of bluffing and gives her thoughts on why it's more that merely mechanical.
Jan 21, 2025•6 min
Sen speaks with Nick Yu while their families are on vacation together in the Berkshires - so a very smol con, indeed. They discuss an IP they are working on with the creator called Tankhead by Emerson Tung ( www.emersontung.com/tankhead). The two discuss their journey in designing a series of games for potential self-publication along with a plan to document their progress in a short form monthly podcast series.
Jan 12, 2025•57 min
In this episode of TTRPGKids, Steph Campbell differentiates between an RPG that could be used in an educational setting and an one that is classroom-ready! Steph provides a list of all the things you need to move from A to B in about an hour!
Dec 22, 2024•12 min
Sen and Erica welcome Jay Cormier of Off the Page Games to the podcast to talk about his penchant for making puzzley games that make players feel clever while giving them a sense of exploration and adventure, Jay discusses his first time at PAXU as well as his newest releases, Corps of Discovery and Design Your Destiny.
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr 6 min
In this installment of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, Erica and Sen welcome host Sarah Shipp to talk about failure and how loss can drive gameplay.
Dec 10, 2024•6 min
Have you ever wondered what it takes to keep a FLGS afloat in this age of online retailers and Amazon Prime? Sen and Erica welcome Caleb Wunderlich, Assistant Manager at Millennium Games in Rochester, NY - the biggest game store in the USA - to talk about building community, running events, and catering to customers' needs.
Dec 01, 2024•54 min
Erica and Sen welcome guest host Steph Campbell to talk about Arithmagine ( https://luckoflegends.itch.io/arithmagine), a setting-agnositic TTRPG focused on teaching mathematics, on this episode of TTRPGKids.
Nov 24, 2024•8 min
Sen and Erica welcome former host Scott Rogers back to the show to dive into his latest book, "Your Turn: The Guide to Great Tabletop Game Design" and tell us what he's been up to as of late.
Nov 20, 2024•50 min
Sen and Erica welcome special guest host Sarah Shipp for her segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms. In this episode, Sarah discusses Game Theory and the importance of studying the design of tabletop games in a more academic manner.
Nov 10, 2024•7 min
Erica and Sen welcome Theresa Duringer to talk about her role as a tabletop game app developer at Temple Gates Games. They discuss what it takes to make an app translation of a tabletop hit, what some differences might be between the physical and digital versions, how the AI opponents are trained, and more!
Nov 03, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Sen and Erica welcome Dr. Mary Flanagan and Max Seidman from Resonym Games to talk about their latest game, Phantom Ink, that has generated a lot of buzz around the industry as it made the SdJ short list for 2024. They discuss design, international licensing, and even the afterlife!
Oct 27, 2024•48 min
Sen and Erica welcome special guest host Steph Campbell who brings you their latest segment, TTRPGKids. This week, Steph talks about how to incorporate math into games in the classroom and at the dinner table.
Oct 23, 2024•8 min
In this episode of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, Sen and Erica welcome guest host Sarah Shipp as she takes on the contentious issue of Take That mechanicsms but frames it in terms of player investment to shed light on when the mechanism in question might rub people the wrong way and when it might be exactly what's needed to spice up a game.
Oct 13, 2024•7 min
Sen and Erica talk to Jonathan Chaffer, designer and illustrator of the Holiday Hijinks series of 18-card puzzle games. We chat about Jonathan's take on puzzle design, his use of technology to drive the component-light system, and his opinion on things like clues vs. hints and the concept of red herrings.
Oct 06, 2024•1 hr 13 min
Erica and Sen welcome guest host, Steph Campbell, as they talk about how parents and educators can use TTRPGs to foster a love of learning in young students in this 16th installment of TTRPGKids.
Sep 29, 2024•12 min
Sen and Erica welcome Daniel Cunningham (AKA Iron Kitten Games) to discuss his role as a mechanical engineer and how he parlays those skills into helping publishers design storage trays, dice towers, and cardboard constructibles for modern tabletop games.
Sep 22, 2024•56 min
Erica and Sen welcome special guest (and new mom!), Sarah Shipp, back to her role on the Ludology Network as the host of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms. In this episode, Sarah talks about the concept of perception and how game designers need to hone their skills in this area, particularly when it comes to playtesting.
Sep 15, 2024•7 min
Erica and Sen talk to Michael Orion of www.rollingwizards.com about his recent move to Vietnam and his thoughts on the country's developing game design scene and, more broadly, the tabletop scene across South East Asia.
Sep 08, 2024•50 min
In this episode of Pros and Cons, Sen talks to Steph, Gordon, and Liam at Origins 2023 as they were getting ready for their biggest Kickstarter to date: Mistwind designed by Daryl Andrews and Adrian Adamescu which is currently making a splash!
Aug 18, 2024•1 hr
In this interview, Sen talks to Jessica Geyer, President of the Indie Game Developers Network ( https://www.igdnonline.com/) at Origins 2023 to find out what the IGDN can do for indie game devs and how that differs from the Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDN) would like to offer members.
Aug 11, 2024•59 min
