We're back with a very special episode, as co-host Ryan Anderson walks us through their design methodology for the combat in Wintermoor Tactics Club. We break down how Ryan intentionally approached Wintermoor so that it would introduce new players to turn-based strategy games, and we use those same lessons to analyze how Fall Guys, One Night Werewolf, and Good Sudoku function as introductions to their own genres. Wintermoor Tactics Club is out now on PC, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One....
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 27 min
Jon and Kyle sit down to discuss player proactivity in tabletop roleplaying. What is the difference between proactive and reactive play? Why is proactivity important for collaborative storytelling? And how do you create a space where your players feel comfortable and encouraged to be proactive? We answer all these questions and more in this jumbo-sized Roleplay extravaganza.
Sep 09, 2020•1 hr 43 min
The gang breaks into Death Stranding and Animal Crossing, two games that are perhaps more similar than they first appear. We discuss how adding friction to mechanics can make the player feel more present in the game world and debate whether there is such a thing as a wrong way to play a game.
Aug 02, 2020•35 min
The gang digs into the audacious design of Doom Eternal, which manages to be too similar to its predecessor for new players to learn, yet is also too different for some existing fans to enjoy. You can punch the ribs out of a giant brain with a gun bolted on top, though, so Jon and Rob love it anyway.
Jun 10, 2020•23 min
After taking a few months off, we're back ready to discuss the latest and greatest in digital games... by talking about a five-year-old mobile game. Rob's been grooving on Clash Royale's clan battles, and the gang discusses how these types of alternate game modes can expand a game's audience by providing multiple modes of play that appeal to different players.
May 25, 2020•31 min
We're back with another dive into the fascinating world of tabletop roleplaying! This time, Jon comes to Kyle with a problem -- he feels anxious that the last session he GMed didn't go so well, and he's not sure how to deal with this in a constructive way. This sparks a long discussion about the importance of creating intentional spaces that invite feedback and sharing, and the risks and potential toxicity of making assumptions about the expectations of your fellow humans around the table....
May 04, 2020•1 hr 5 min
We're back to discuss more of the hows, whats, and whys of GMing tabletop roleplaying games! This time, Kyle and Jon discuss how to get your players to engage their imaginations and provide more colorful contributions to the ongoing story. Among other things, we cover the importance of making your players feel safe at the table, how to create opportunities for players to showcase their imaginations, and how to get your players to build out the elements of their characters that will fuel the stor...
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 11 min
We're trying something new! While video games are cool and all, we've been spending a lot of our design energy recently playing, running, and thinking about tabletop RPGs. RPGs are some of the most fascinating and unique gaming experiences you can experience today. They're intricate machines that synthesize the efforts and desires of the players, the game master, and the game's original designer to create something that none of them ever expected. They simulate complex worlds that exist only in ...
Mar 15, 2020•1 hr
It's the end of the 2010s, and the gang is looking back to try and make sense of what just happened. Join us for a jaunt down memory lane that is almost as insightful as it is exhausting. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll be amazed at how many games we're still playing today came out over a decade ago. Happy new year, and here's to another decade of great games.
Jan 01, 2020•2 hr 37 min
The gang discusses Really Bad Chess, which is actually really good. We dig into how developer Zach Gage made a classic game more fun and accessible, and Rob expresses his surprisingly deep love for Backgammon.
Nov 11, 2019•21 min
The gang discusses the gorgeous visual album game Sayonara Wild Hearts, heaping praises upon its aesthetics but picking apart its bizarre relationship with its scoring system.
Nov 04, 2019•13 min
The gang discusses comedy in games and how Untitled Goose Game and What the Golf? each tackle this difficult design area.
Oct 21, 2019•25 min
The gang discusses Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the latest entry in the long-running tactics RPG series. We dig into how Three Houses uses its character development mechanics to encourage the player to invest in their characters both mechanically and emotionally. We then contrast this approach with those taken in XCOM 2 and Darkest Dungeon to see how each game uses its systems to reinforce its unique themes and tone.
Sep 20, 2019•30 min
We discuss Fantasy Flight Games' recent 'unique deck game', Keyforge, in which every deck you buy is a randomly generated, unique, and unchangeable combination of cards. We look at how this system makes the game more approachable than traditional trading card games, how it affects high level and competitive play, and what other developers can learn from this approach, even if they don't have access to FFG's custom printing processes.
Sep 03, 2019•32 min
The gang compare the card combat systems in Steamworld Quest and Slay the Spire and analyze how one simple difference massively changes the focus of each game.
Aug 13, 2019•22 min
We're super excited to be joined by Alex Beachum, creative director of Outer Wilds, the time-looping space exploration game that won the Independent Game Festival's grand prize back when it was still a student project. Together we explore the story of the game's seven year development cycle before diving deep into how Alex and the team at Mobius Digital created a mystery game that spans an entire solar system. How did they make sure that players would be motivated to investigate each separate pl...
Aug 05, 2019•1 hr 13 min
Jon and Rob discuss how the developers of 2016's Doom reboot pursued a philosophy of 'push-forward combat', utilizing smartly-design systems and AI to give the player a sense of agency and empowerment. (We also referred to Doom 2016 as Doom 5, thinking that there had been a previous, underwhelming Doom 4. No such game was ever release -- we were probably thinking of Quake 4 instead. Our bad!)
Jul 01, 2019•29 min
Jon and Rob are back from vacation, and we're ready to deliver some spicy hot takes! This time: Jon can't stand playing Dungeons & Dragons, despite loving lots of other tabletop RPGs. Improv comedy technique, homebrew magic systems, and bad fantasy novels are all discussed within.
Jun 24, 2019•22 min
This week we're discussing one of the most important skills for a professional game designer to cultivate -- workplace communication! We share thoughts and personal anecdotes on how to clearly get your ideas across, how to foster a non-toxic work environment, and how to align your whole team behind the same set of goals.
May 06, 2019•30 min
Continuing on from last week's discussion of non-standard RPG stats in games, we dig into the confusingly named stats that make up Bloodborne's progression system. Designs will be analyzed, honor will be challenged, and in true From Software fashion, one of our hosts will die.
Apr 30, 2019•22 min
The gang discusses Digimon World's Brains stat and how it allowed the designers to tutorialize the game's combat by abstracting the player's access to each monster's moves until they had gained a certain level of familiarity with them. Also: the start of a bitter feud that threatens to tear the world of Pretentious Game Ideas apart.
Apr 22, 2019•19 min
We're back with a new interview episode! Special guest Casey Yano drops by to discuss the experience of developing his hit game Slay the Spire using early access development, in which a game is made available for play and purchase while it is still being actively built by the developer. Together we explore how to recognize if early access is right for your project, what value it can create for you as a developer, how to convince your players to pay for an unfinished game, and strategies for avoi...
Apr 15, 2019•51 min
Rob and Jon take to the mics alone to discuss Ladykiller in a Bind, Christine Love's 2016 visual novel about queer romance and mistaken identities. Specifically, we're digging into Ladykiller's innovative dialogue system, breaking down what makes it work so well and what other games can learn from it.
Apr 08, 2019•16 min
Ryan's computer is down for the count, so Rob and Jon go it alone to discuss Beat Saber's campaign mode and how its modifier-based system makes it both more fun and more educational than other rhythm games' campaigns.
Apr 02, 2019•15 min
The gang discusses Mario Kart 8's various gameplay assistance features and how they manage to walk the line between making the game more accessible while still maintaining its competitive spirit.
Mar 18, 2019•15 min
Ryan leads the gang through a discussion of healthy work-life practices for game designers. How can you change your work habits to optimize your productivity, focus your creative energies where they're most important, and avoid the dreaded burnout? All will be revealed!
Mar 11, 2019•19 min
The gang digs into Mysterium's clairvoyancy token mechanic. What does it add to the game? Does it have to be so dang complex? How did it become part of the design in the first place? And could all of this be the work of malicious spirits influencing the designers from beyond the grave?
Mar 05, 2019•20 min
The gang talks about Supergiant Games' new early access roguelike Hades and its excellent Boon system, which allows players to temporarily increase the game's difficulty for the chance to earn a permanent bonus.
Feb 25, 2019•14 min
The gang discusses Matt Leacock's 2013 cooperative board game Forbidden Desert. Although the game is considered by many to be a modern classic, we're digging into its Meteorologist class, and how one of its abilities is just... not fun?
Feb 18, 2019•14 min
The gang discusses Final Fantasy Tactics Advance's unique judge system, which imposed various restrictive laws on players during battle to force them to diversify their tactics. While this mechanic is a common one in tactics games, FFT:A took it one step further by personifying the laws as living NPCs: judges who could be attacked, distracted, and, most importantly... blamed.
Feb 11, 2019•10 min
