This is the 50th Biography of a Board Game episode! To celebrate, Scott takes us through the history of his first board game, Rayguns and Rocketships . BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A BOARD GAME 0m36s: Video game publisher THQ 0m51s: God of War , Pac Man World , Soul Blade 1m37s: The Star Wars Album 1m43s: The legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa , and Republic Pictures , responsible for many well-remembered serials 5m17s: More info on Hodgkin's lymphoma 8m22s: More info on the new Gamemaster film...
Aug 16, 2020•10 min
Emma and Gil welcome game designer, educator, and birder Chidi Paige to discuss how games and play benefit education, how she designed her bird-themed game Birdwiser, and how competitive birdwatching has affected her as a person. SHOW NOTES 0m22s: From educationcloset.com : "STEAM Education is an approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking." It is an evolution of the older...
Aug 09, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Geoff muses on the difference between explicitly calling out the way a game system works, versus letting players implicitly discover how the players discover how the system works. Is one clearly better than the other? Tell us how you feel in the Ludology forums ! Here's more information about Geoff's game Versailles 1919 .
Aug 02, 2020•6 min
Emma and Gil invite award-winning game designer, teacher, and not-scholar Sharang Biswas to the show to discuss verbs in games. What actions do we actually perform when we play a game, what actions do they represent, and how does that impact the game experience? You can find Sharang on Twitter or on the web . Here is his itch.io store . CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains references to sex and sexuality. Show Notes 2h31m: Sharang teaches at The International Center of Photography (Bard Colleg...
Jul 26, 2020•1 hr 26 min
Scott takes us through the rise, fall, and rise again of the game Vinci , which designer Philippe Keyaerts and publisher Days of Wonder re-implemented as Small World . Bibliography of a board game Text: Meepletown interviews designer Keyaerts . Text: Boardtime interviews designer Keyaerts (the site is Polish, but the interview is in English). Text: Related Small World products from publisher Days of Wonder . Text: Tabletop Gaming magazine September 2019 - How We Made Small World (paywall) Text: ...
Jul 19, 2020•10 min
Emma, Gil, and Scott go back to a topic that Ryan and Geoff discussed earlier in the show's history: Deckbuilding! With all that's changed (including Emma having designed a deckbuilder), what has changed, and what have we learned? 0m41s: The episode that Ryan and Geoff did was Ludology 119 - Deck the Halls . 0m46s: Dominion (which did come out in 2008) 2m39s: StarCraft: The Board Game , which is generally believed to be the first game with an in-game deckbuilding component (if we assume that Mag...
Jul 12, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Geoff uses an interesting bag-building example to discuss how a mechanism that is designed to be fair and equitable to all colors in the bag winds up favoring a single color over time. This example has incredible significance to our hobby, and our world. You can reach out to Geoff via Twitter or email ([email protected]).
Jul 05, 2020•6 min
Emma and Gil welcome Banana Chan: game writer, larp/RPG designer, board game publisher, horror movie buff, and pop-up museum aficionado. We talk about writing for all kinds of games, how game mechanisms support intense experiences in larp and RPG, the effects of emancipatory bleed, and the effect of moving roleplay online. Content warning: we discuss games with intense themes, like human sacrifice. 4m29s: The Spire RPG 5m59s: The Circle is a reality show in which contestants are isolated in thei...
Jun 28, 2020•59 min
Scott takes us through the twisted history of the classic game Twister. How did it overcome its risqué premise to become a perennial favorite? Bibliography of a Board Game: Video - Twister was created 55 years ago Video - Ren Guyer: The Man Who Invented Twister & Nerf Video - Original Twister Commercial Video - Twister Mania for Xbox 360 review Text - Ren Guyer's story of Twister from his official website Text - Twister on Board Games Galore Fandom Wikia Text - Patent information on Twister Book...
Jun 21, 2020•12 min
Emma and Gil moderate a roundtable on safety tools in games, with guests Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk (creators of the TTRPG Safety Toolkit ) and John Stavropoulos (creator of the X-Card ). We discuss consent and safety in games, starting with tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), but expanding to all sorts of games. How can safety tools help in games, and in what ways do they help? Content Warning: this episode mentions occurences of consent violations, domestic abuse, and sexual assault. ...
Jun 14, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Geoff discusses the phenomenon of counterfeiting in game production. How prevalent it it, and how badly does it affect game publishers? Here's the ICV2 interview he mentions.
Jun 07, 2020•6 min
Emma and Gil welcome Dr. Mary Flanagan, designer of Monarch , Visitor in Blackwood Grove , Buffalo , Awkward Moment , and plethora of other games in a myriad of styles and platforms, from party to strategy on digital in tabletop. Dr. Flanagan is also an artist, having exhibited works (many game-related) all around the world, and teaches game design at Dartmouth, who also hosts her game design and research lab, Tiltfactor . We discuss designing games from the perspectives of fun and meaningful ch...
May 31, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Join Scott as he recounts the history of the game that blurred the line between a game and a toy: Mousetrap. Bibliography of a Board Game for Mouse Trap It’s All a Game by Tristan Donovan A World Without Reality: Inside Marvin Glass’s Toy Vault by Bill Paxton Mental Floss – Mouse Trap Game Facts Chicago Tribune – Toying with Success Best Play – History of Mouse Trap: Murder, Playboys and Plagiarism Google Patents Rube Goldberg.com Smithsonian Mag – Teaching physics with a massive game of mouse t...
May 24, 2020•13 min
Today, we put Emma in the spotlight to find out what went into designing her newest game, Abandon All Artichokes , how many cards she actually designed for it, and how the game was almost derailed by an Infinite Potato Problem. SHOW NOTES 5m44s: Magic: The Gathering and the marvelous deckbuilding video game Slay the Spire . Also check out Ludology 198 - Inspired , featuring Slay the Spire's co-designer Anthony Giovannetti. 6m00s: Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing , two video games where the pla...
May 17, 2020•59 min
Geoff ruminates on the limitations of using AI to balance games. Why can't we use machine learning to fully balance a game experience, and finally make a game that everyone on BGG will find perfectly fair on the first play? SHOW NOTES 1m17s: For more on this subject, check out our two GameTek episodes on AlphaGo : GameTek Classic 218.5 Alpha Zero , and GameTek Classic 222.5 Alpha Zero, Part 2 . 2m00s: Geoff's game The Expanse . 5m29s: The fantastic trading game Sidereal Confluence (which will so...
May 10, 2020•9 min
Emma and Gil sit down with Chris Rowlands of Funko Games to discuss the design of IP-based games, and what it's like to design as part of a group collective. SHOW NOTES 0m00s: Playtest safely online with Gil and Emma ! 4m11s: Mox Boarding House is one of the premier board game stores in Seattle. (Here's hoping they can stick around until everything is able to reopen!) 12m21s: The Frosthaven Kickstarter project. 16m45s: Personal plug: Abandon All Artichokes is Emma's newest game. 19m47s: Power Gr...
May 03, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Scott goes into the checkered history of The Game of Life , which has had many inspirations and incarnations, and is still going strong. (Content warning: this episode contains quick, passing references to sex and suicide.) 0m00s: Join Gil's and Emma's remote playtesting groups! 1m44s: A Little Pretty Pocket Book . Fun fact: this book contains the first appearance of the term "base-ball," although that term at the time was an alternative regional name for the sport now known as Rounders. 2m37s: ...
Apr 26, 2020•18 min
Emma and Gil welcome Anya Combs and Luke Crane from Kickstarter to discuss how crowdfunding is changing, especially in light of recent events. Anya: [email protected], [email protected], @anyayna Luke: @burning_luke, burningwheel.com Note that this episode was recorded on March 25, 2020, so if we talk about things happening "a few weeks ago," we're referring to late February/early March. This wouldn't normally be an important detail, but things are changing a lot quickly these days. SHOW ...
Apr 19, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Geoff continues the discussion about Alpha Zero, this time pointing out the impact a self-learning AI can have on an established tournament meta, like Magic or Hearthstone. Show Notes: 0m47s: More info about Agent57 , the DeepMind AI that can beat humans at 57 different Atari 2600 games. 1m52s: The Ares Project , Geoff's first published board game (designed with his son Brian) 2m15s: More info about the Halifax Hammer strategy from A Few Acres of Snow. 2m29s: The current list of banned cards in ...
Apr 12, 2020•6 min
Emma and Gil welcome accomplished designer Cole Wehrle , designer of Root , Oath , and Pax Pamir (Second Edition) , back to the show (Cole previously appeared on Ludology 163 - A Pain in the Asymmetry ). We discuss fairness in games. Has it been around for as long as we think it has? What can an "unfair" game do that other games can't? Cole is a staff designer at Leder Games , and co-founded Wehrlegig Games with his brother Drew. SHOW NOTES 2m18s: You can watch Cole's GDC talk here . 12m02s: Lea...
Apr 05, 2020•1 hr 14 min
In today's Biography of a Board Game, Scott takes us through the long history of The Game of the Goose , which became a template for almost every roll-and-move game into Victorian times and beyond. Show notes: 1m49s: The ancient Egyptian game of Mehen 2m04s: History of the labyrinth 2m24s: The Discus of Phaistos , also known as the Phaistos Disc 2m50s: Games mentioned The Mansion of Happiness The Checkered Game of Life 3m33s: Bibliothèque curieuse et instructive de divers ouvrages anciens et mod...
Mar 29, 2020•9 min
Emma and Gil welcome Jonny Pac , designer of Coloma and other games set in the Gold Rush West. Our main topic of discussion is multiple paths to victory: what it brings to a game, what kinds of games need it, what kinds of games don't, and how to avoid the dreaded "point salad" effect. Jonny's published games: Hangtown Coloma A Fistful of Meeples Sierra West Lions of Lydia ( on Kickstarter as of the release of this episode!) Merchant's Cove Show notes: 06m28s: Jonny likens Scythe to a race game....
Mar 22, 2020•1 hr 21 min
Geoff welcomes Dr. James Wootton , quantum computing expert and one of the people behind the digital game Hello Quantum , which is made to teach its player about the fundamentals of quantum computing. Here is Dr. Wootton's blog . Here is the Quantum Information Science Kit (QISKIT) blog Dr. Wootton mentioned. If you're technically inclined, here is Dr. Wootton's GitHub repository . And if you want to take a quantum computer out for a spin, here is the cloud-based service Dr. Wootton mentioned ....
Mar 15, 2020•21 min
Emma and Gil welcome Jennifer Ellis and Keith Baker of Twogether Studios . We discuss their approach for integrating stories into their game, whether directly embedded in their game, letting them emerge from the players, or evoked from the look of the product. Show notes: 05m03s: Check out Keith and Jenn's games: Gloom Illimat Action Cats Phoenix: Dawn Command 17m04s: Keith and Jenn's forthcoming Adventure Zone game is based on the Adventure Zone D&D actual play series . 36m46: More info about D...
Mar 08, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Scott leads us through the history of Trivial Pursuit, from its conception from two Canadian journalists after trying to play a game of Scrabble with missing pieces, to a full-fledged global 80s fad, to a billion-dollar empire.
Mar 01, 2020•12 min
Professor Scott Rogers joins Gil and Emma once again! This time, we're discussing Scott's time as an Imagineer designing games and experiences for Disneyland, and his subsequent work designing VR attractions. It's a fascinating topic, with a surprising amount of overlap into any kind of game design! Show notes: 05m45s: More info about Disney Play here. 08m06s: Scott is right, sportscaster Al Michaels was indeed traded for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit . 18m16s: Ludology 189 - Missing Selinker , wherei...
Feb 23, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Geoff discusses Alpha Zero, a neural net that can play Go, Chess, and Shogi better than anyone in the world. It defeated the best AI in those respective games (each of whom had previously defeated the best humans in the world) with only a few hours of training. What does this spell for the future of AI, and the future of game design?
Feb 16, 2020•7 min
Emma and Gil welcome Geoff Engelstein and Isaac Shalev back to the show to discuss their new book Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design . This is a reference of board game mechanisms that any designer, new or experienced, can use to look up different tools they can use to solve problems in game design. Games and other things mentioned in this episode: 19m30s: Kraftwagen Glen More Francis Drake Egezia High Rise 19m39s: Opinionated Gamers article on time track vs. one-way track Patchwork Thebes ...
Feb 09, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Scott uncovers the history of the classic game Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, which has been delighting kids (and kids-at-heart) since 1964. He discusses the influences that converged in making the game, why the combatants are robots, and how it's influenced everything from video games to real-life combat robotics.
Feb 02, 2020•11 min
Legendary Interactive Fiction writer Andrew Plotkin joins Gil and Emma to talk about text-based stories that players can participate in. We explore the form's history and unique strengths, and discuss what good writing can bring to a game's experience. Interactive Fiction platforms mentioned in this episode: Inform Twine ChoiceScript Ink Check out some of Andrew's IF work: Shade Spider & Web Hadean Lands Other video games mentioned in this episode: Colossal Cave Adventure Zork Donut County 80 Da...
Jan 26, 2020•1 hr 5 min
