Biography of a Board Game 204.5 - Dune & Rex
Scott covers the history of the seminal board game Dune, its legal tangles with its IP, and its retheming as Rex: Final Days of an Empire.
Jul 21, 2019•11 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 204 - The Eyes Have It
Daniel Solis (@danielsolis) joins Gil and Emma to talk about graphic design from a nuts-and-bolts perspective. What are the elements of graphic design that game designers should be aware of? During the show, Daniel mentions the website https://blambot.com for fonts, and https://game-icons.net and http://thenounproject.com for icons. We also bring up his Bird Bucks ( https://www.drivethrucards.com/product/128925/Bird-Bucks ) project that replaces generic paper money in games....
Jul 14, 2019•59 min
GameTek 203.5 - Asmodee Research
In this special GameTek, Geoff sits down with Micha Le Bourhis of Asmodee Research to discuss how Asmodee scientifically studies people's interactions with board games. For more information, go to the Asmodee Research website here (French only, at the time of this episode release): https://www.game-in-lab.org/
Jul 07, 2019•16 min
Ludology Episode 203 - Winging It
Elizabeth Hargrave (@elizhargrave) joins Gil and Emma to discuss the design of her hit strategy game Wingspan. We start by discussing engine-building games, but we'll also touch on the benefits of a rigorous playtest schedule, the best ways to prepare a prototype, scaling to a good player count, working with Stonemaier Games, and the range of things people can really say with flowers.
Jun 30, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Biography of a Board Game 202.5 - Icehouse
Scott tells us about Icehouse, the real-time game that's celebrating its 30th birthday this year, and whose distinctive plastic pyramids launched an entire game system.
Jun 23, 2019•10 min
Ludology Episode 202 - Forgive Me Not
Jeroen Doumen, co-founder of Splotter and co-designer of games Food Chain Magnate, Antiquity, and Roads & Boats, joins Gil and Emma to discuss the design of unforgiving games. What choices do you have to make when making a game that can be harsh to mistakes? We also talk about testing, publishing, and of course, hamburgers. You can reach Jeroen by emailing him at [email protected].
Jun 16, 2019•57 min
GameTek Classic 201.5 - The Yips
Geoff discusses an unusual and somewhat tragic condition in sports called "The Yips." Is it mental, or does it have a physiological basis?
Jun 09, 2019•7 min
Ludology Episode 201 - Are We Having Fun Yet?
Gil, Emma, and Scott talk about fun and meaning in games. What is fun, and how can we achieve fun in our games? What are games that try to balance fun within a more serious topic? And how about games that are not meant to be fun at all; how do they provide meaning for their players? During the episode, Scott discusses Marc LeBlanc's 8 Types of Fun, which you can read more about here: https://theangrygm.com/gaming-for-fun-part-1-eight-kinds-of-fun/ Note: In the last 20 minutes of the episode, be ...
Jun 02, 2019•1 hr 26 min
Biography of a Board Game 200.5 - Cluedo
Scott discusses the history of the legendary deduction game Cluedo.
May 26, 2019•12 min
Ludology Episode 200 - Auld Lang... Engelstein?
After 200 episodes, Geoff has decided to step back from Ludology to focus on game design and book writing. So we've gathered previous co-hosts Ryan Sturm and Mike Fitzgerald, as well as future co-host Emma Larkins and future contributor Professor Scott Rogers, for a big slam-bang going away party! You'll continue to hear Geoff with his GameTek segment every 4 weeks. And if you'd like to stay in touch, follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gengelstein...
May 19, 2019•1 hr 3 min
GameTek Classic 199 - Crystallography
Geoff discusses the art of x-ray diffraction, and how it relates to board games.
May 12, 2019•6 min
Ludology Episode 199 - What's In the Box?
Gil and Geoff discuss uncertainty in games, using Greg Costikyan's _Uncertainty in Games_ as a guide. What kinds of uncertainty are there in games? How do they affect the game experience?
May 05, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Biography of a Boardgame 198 - Othello
Scott takes a deep dive into the twisted and fascinating history of the game Othello.
Apr 27, 2019•10 min
Ludology Episode 198 - Inspired
Gil and Geoff are delighted to be joined by Anthony Giovannetti, one of the designers of the popular video game Slay the Spire, a deck-building rogue-like dungeon crawl. How did the board game concepts of deckbuilding translate into a computer game? What advantages did the solo roguelike format give the designers?
Apr 21, 2019•56 min
GameTek Classic 197 - Drinking Games
Geoff takes a look at the long history of drinking games.
Apr 14, 2019•9 min
Ludology Episode 197 - Empires Up In Arms
Gil and Geoff welcome Mikael Jakobsson and Rick Eberhardt from the MIT Game Lab to discuss their research into colonial themes in board games, and the game design workshops they run in former colonial countries.
Apr 07, 2019•47 min
GameTek Classic 196 - Apples Against Humanity
Scott Rogers is back with a new Biography of a Board Game, this time looking at Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity.
Mar 31, 2019•16 min
Ludology Episode 196 - Word Up
Gil and Geoff welcome guests Allison Parrish and Tim Szetela, designers of Rewordable, to discuss word games. What particular design techniques are required for this type of game?
Mar 24, 2019•1 hr 6 min
GameTek Classic 195 - Ritual
In this GameTek, Geoff explores the connection between Ritual and Play.
Mar 17, 2019•8 min
Ludology Episode 195 - Value Added
Gil and Geoff discuss valuation within games - what are the different ways of determining resource value? How does value flow and change over the course of play?
Mar 10, 2019•1 hr 7 min
GameTek 194 - The Hanabi Challenge
In this new interview, Geoff talks with Nolan Bard from Google Deep Mind and Jakob Foerster from Oxford University about their proposal to use the card game Hanabi as the next frontier in Machine Learning and AI research. The original paper can be found at https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.00506 .
Mar 03, 2019•34 min
Ludology Episode 194 - Lifting the Fog
Gil and Geoff are live at ToyFair NY with the designer of Fog of Love, Jacob Jaskov. What was his development process like for this innovative design? What does that tell us about creating narrative inside games?
Feb 26, 2019•1 hr 2 min
GameTek Classic 193 - Merchant of Venus
Scott Rogers is back with the biography of Merchant of Venus!
Feb 16, 2019•7 min
Ludology Episode 193 - Lean and Mean in 2019
Gil and Geoff welcome back Stephen Buonocore from Stronghold Games for their traditional annual State of the Industry discussion. What trends did we see in 2018? What do we see for the future of tabletop gaming?
Feb 10, 2019•1 hr 7 min
GameTek Classic 192 - Ties
In this classic GameTek Geoff talks about ties and tie-breakers. What makes a good tiebreaker?
Feb 03, 2019•6 min
Ludology Episode 192 - Loops I Did It Again
Gil and Geoff talk about Game Loops and how they can be designed to accomplish a variety of goals.
Jan 27, 2019•54 min
GameTek Classic 191 - Schelling
In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about the work of Thomas Schelling.
Jan 21, 2019•8 min
Ludology 191 - The Life of the Party
Gil and Geoff welcome Scott Rogers to discuss party games. What features make for a good party game? What are the dos and don'ts for designers?
Jan 13, 2019•1 hr 15 min
GameTek Classic 190 - Ameritrash
Scott Rogers is back with Part 2 of his Eurogame-Ameritrash series!
Dec 30, 2018•13 min
Ludology Episode 190 - Diabolus in Ludica
Gil and Geoff discuss the idea of Ludonarrative Dissonance. What is it? How can it sink a game or make it soar?
Dec 16, 2018•56 min
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