GameTek Classic 153 - Arkham Horror
Scott Rogers joins us with a new Biography of a Board Game - Arkham Horror! Duration: 6:16
Jun 11, 2017•6 min
Ludology
Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the how’s and why’s of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, and discusses game history, game design and game players.
Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.
Episodes
Ludology Episode 153 - Tie One On
Gil and Geoff tackle ties in games. How important are tiebreakers? What are good and bad ways to design them? Duration: 1:18:18
Jun 04, 2017•1 hr 18 min
GameTek Classic 152 - Spoilsport
In this classic GameTek, Geoff discusses the difference between a cheat and a spoilsport, and what that means for society. Duration: 05:49
May 28, 2017•6 min
Ludology Episode 152 - The Better Angels Of Our Nature
Gil and Geoff are thrilled to welcome Chris Cobb from Riot Games, creator of the number one online game in the world, League of Legends. Until recently Chris was the technical lead for the Player Behavior team, which was tasked with designing in-game and out-of-game systems to encourage players to be nicer to each other, and deal with players who don't. Over the years, what did they learn about behavior, and how to design systems to encourage it to improve? Duration: 1:02:29
May 21, 2017•1 hr 3 min
GameTek Classic 151 - Risk
Ludology welcomes Scott Rogers and his Biography of a Board Game segment! This episode he traces the history of Risk, from the early 20th century to today. Duration: 09:10
May 14, 2017•9 min
Ludology Episode 151 - High Definition
For their first show as a duo, Gil and Geoff revisit the question posed in the very first episode of Ludology - What is a game? The answer may surprise you. Duration: 1:23:24
May 07, 2017•1 hr 23 min
GameTek Classic 150 - VirZoom
New Content! Geoff interviews Eric Janszen, the CEO of VirZoom . VirZoom makes a Virtual Reality exercise bike, that interfaces with all the major VR platforms, and uses games to keep people exercising. What lessons have they learned about gaming and engagement? Duration 25:39
Apr 30, 2017•26 min
Ludology Episode 150 - Mike Drop
Changes! We bid a fond farewell to Mike, and a big hello to Gil! Duration: 1:25:22
Apr 23, 2017•1 hr 25 min
GameTek Classic 149 - Procedural Narrative Generation
New content! Geoff interviews Rogelio Cardona-Rivera, a researcher at North Carolina State, about Procedural Narrative Generation - systems that can create and manipulate story structure in a game on the fly. For more information, please check out http://rogel.io and http://storygen.org Duration: 32:58
Apr 16, 2017•33 min
Ludology Episode 149 - Blast From The Past
Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome Justin Jacobson from Restoration Games, to talk about what they've learned from bringing older games back for a modern audience. Duration: 1:01:35
Apr 09, 2017•1 hr 2 min
GameTek Classic 148 - Teamwork
In this classic GameTek, Geoff looks at games that help improve teamwork. Duration: 05:41
Apr 02, 2017•6 min
Ludology Episode 148 - Half-Baked
Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome guest J.R. Honeycutt, to discuss the role of the Developer in the game design and publication process. Duration 59:25
Mar 26, 2017•59 min
GameTek Classic 147 - Estimating
In this classic GameTek Geoff discusses some techniques for estimating things in your head. Duration 6:19
Mar 19, 2017•6 min
Ludology Episode 147 - Listen Up!
Mike and Geoff field a bevy of listener questions. Duration: 1:10:21
Mar 12, 2017•1 hr 10 min
GameTek Classic 146 - Betrayal
In this classic GameTek Geoff looks at how the language people use can give clues to their treachery. Duration: 6:32
Mar 05, 2017•7 min
Double Take
Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome designer Andrew Parks to discuss taking a second shot at a design, whether it's revisiting a mechanic or taking an entire system into a new direction. Duration: 1:15:42
Feb 26, 2017•1 hr 16 min
GameTek Classic 145 - Red vs Blue
In this classic GameTek Geoff looks at how choosing a color may affect how you play. Duration: 06:17
Feb 19, 2017•6 min
Ludology Episode 145 - Six Ways From Sunday
Mike and Geoff discuss multi-use cards - their history, and how they can be used by designers. Duration: 1:03:53
Feb 12, 2017•1 hr 4 min
GameTek Classic 144 - Singular They
In this classic GameTek, Geoff discusses the use of pronouns when writing rules. Duration: 06:17
Feb 05, 2017•6 min
Ludology Episode 144 - The Edge of Seventeen
Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome returning guest Stephen Buonocore of Stronghold Games to discuss the state of the gaming industry going into 2017. Duration: 1:19:43
Jan 29, 2017•1 hr 20 min
GameTek Classic 143 - Nash Equilibrium
In this classic GameTek Geoff pays tribute to game theorist John Nash. Duration: 06:35
Jan 22, 2017•7 min
Ludology Episode 143 - Two Players! Three Players! Four Players! Bwahahah!
How do different player counts affect the design process? How important is it that a game support a variety of player counts? Duration: 1:08:06
Jan 15, 2017•1 hr 8 min
Ludology Episode 142 - Slots O Fun
Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome slot machine game design Jeremy Hornik. Jeremy has been designing slots for over 15 years, including Money Burst, Willy Wonka, Monopoly, and Baron von Bacon's Million Credit Bonus. What are the special considerations for slot machine design, and what do they learn from video and board games? Duration: 1:16:28
Dec 11, 2016•1 hr 16 min
GameTek Classic 141 - Game States
In this classic GameTek, Geoff wraps up his discussion of entropy and statistical mechanics by exploring the way that disorder and energy flow through a game system. Duration: 6:19
Dec 04, 2016•6 min
Ludology 141 - The Realtime Housewives of New Jersey
Mike and Geoff dive into real time games. What design techniques work for this mechanism? What does it do to the player experience? Duration: 1:00:50
Nov 27, 2016•1 hr 1 min
GameTek Classic 140 - Statistical Mechanics
In this classic GameTek Geoff continues his exploration of thermodynamics by talking about Statistical Mechanics and what it tells us about the world. Duration: 7:05
Nov 20, 2016•7 min
Ludology Episode 140 - Training Day
Mike and Geoff are thrilled to welcome guest Mark Herman to the program. Mark is the designer of a slew of games, including the first Card Driven Game (CDG) We The People . His latest design is Churchill . However the focus of our conversation is on Mark's work designing and executing simulations for the military and businesses, to test out their assumptions and strategies. He details these in his book Wargaming For Leaders . Duration 1:16:59...
Nov 13, 2016•1 hr 17 min
GameTek Classic 139 - Entropy
In this classic GameTek, Geoff looks at the scientific concept of entropy. Duration: 5:32
Nov 06, 2016•6 min
Fog of Wallace
Mike and Geoff take a deep dive into Martin Wallace's latest game, Via Nebula. They look at all the design choices, from game play to theme to production. Duration: 1:09:04
Oct 30, 2016•1 hr 9 min
GameTek Classic 138 - Lead Changes
In this classic GameTek Geoff looks at lead changes, and some simple mathematical models that reveal some surprising truths. Duration: 06:31
Oct 23, 2016•7 min