Host Ellie Dix sits down with Danielle Reynolds to dive deep into the art of pitching tabletop games. Danielle shares what draws her to the process, the essential skills designers need, and how to approach pitch decks (and their alternatives). They also discuss common prep mistakes and get to know Danielle beyond the pitch. Whether you’re new to pitching or looking to level up, this episode is packed with insight and practical advice.
Jun 19, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 355
In this episode, we are joined by Randy Lubin, a well known game designer who has had experience in RPGs, Tabletop gaming, and Mega games. We will dive into the complexities of Mega games as well as what it means to develop games with big world thinking, such as political themes - bringing real world problems to the world of gaming.
Jun 10, 2025•49 min•Season 1Ep. 353
Today, Ellie Dix and Dave Neale dive into the complexity of forming publisher relationships, as well as choosing the correct publisher. Taking a perspective from both experienced designers and beginner designers, creating a roadmap for finding and establishing these relationships based on many of the past experiences they both have encountered.
Jun 03, 2025•44 min
Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron look back on TGRT’s most recent topics, along with taking time to dive into many of the conversations brought up by Ellie Dix in BtC. Sharing thoughts about co-design and comparing the communities in tabletop and digital design, which Ellie has brought up with past guests. The two also look back on some of the bigger ideas brought up by conversations in their RPG season.
May 27, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 351
Today, Ellie Dix and Isaac Vega take a deep dive into what it means to self publish, both the struggles and the benefits. Touching on collaborating with others on projects, along with devoting your time and energy into being a publisher.
May 21, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 350
An in depth dive into the makings of Burden of Command, along with the strategies and tools used to create the realistic nature of the game. Conversations about using the right assets and tailoring your game in a way that it resembles the time period that it’s trying to convey. Luke Hughes, along with Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron, dissect the things that make Burden of Command so unique.
May 15, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 349
Ellie Dix is joined by Richard Heayes, former design director for Hasbro and current co-founder of 7pips. They discuss the ins and outs of trademarking, idea infringement, and the benefits of freely sharing your ideas. Topics include trademark law, game submission portals, when and how to share your designs, and why it’s important the game design community remains free.
May 06, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 348
Dirk and David are joined by Ben Robbins, designer of Microscope and many other narrative games. They discuss the play culture of Microscope, the differences between it and trad TTRPGs, and the ways games of Microscope can flourish or break down. Topics include expected participation, growing pains in trying new TTRPGs, and what even is an RPG?
Apr 29, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 347
Ellie Dix is joined by Mandela Grandon, designer of Glasgow, Overstocked, and The Shakespeare Game. They talk about the benefits and process of co-design, the difficulties in working with another person, and how to even get a co-designer. They also discuss the finer points, like how to address experience gaps, outline goals and partnership structure, and when it doesn’t work out.
Apr 22, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 347
The season of RPGs starts off with flare! Dirk and David are joined once more by Andrew Fischer, here to discuss his experience designing the Cosmere RPG. They discuss the difficulties in adapting the expansive work of Brandon Sanderson, the unique mechanics developed for the system, and the difficulty in bridging the gap between readers new to RPGs, and experienced gamers with no knowledge of The Stormlight Archive. They also discuss introducing narrative mechanics to a crunchier system, what A...
Apr 15, 2025•48 min•Season 1Ep. 346
In this episode, Ellie chats with Rikki, creator of Coup, The Chameleon, and Melee, about his inspiring journey in design. He highlights the importance of process and how a supportive community has influenced his path. They discuss what makes the design community unique and the benefits of connecting with fellow creatives.
Apr 08, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 345
TDGRT kicks off its first season on RPGs with a discussion on Dirk and David’s experiences, and where they want to take the season from here. They talk about the pros and cons of modern Dungeons and Dragons, and alternative styles of game design that better suit different genres of play.
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 344
Ellie Dix is joined by Adam Porter, designer of Kompromat, Pikoko, and Doodle Rush. Together, they discuss the playtesting process, why it’s so important, and the biggest mistakes people make while playtesting. Topics include tracking confusion during sessions, structuring how and what feedback is given, and being a good playtester.
Mar 25, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 343
Dirk and David continue their discussion in part 2 of TGDRT’s Civilization Series Finale! They dive into many of the systems that didn’t work for them, and what they wish had been done instead. Topics include religion and trade, the problems with Civ VII’s map generation, and the costs associated with stripping away flavor in favor of starker mechanics. They also talk about what’s next for TGDRT, and wrap up the Civilization series. Most importantly, is David actually done with Civilization game...
Mar 18, 2025•58 min•Season 1Ep. 342
Ellie Dix is joined by Scott Rogers, designer Alien: Fate of Nostrodomo, Pantone the Game, and Marvel Villainous and writer of many books on game design. Together, they discuss how to build the prototype for a game, how to decide whether to continue with a design, and what makes a prototype attractive for publishers among other topics.
Mar 11, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 341
The time has finally come; Civilization VII is out! After many hours with the game, Dirk and David come together to share their thoughts on the game. Did it live up to the hype? How does Civ VII stack up to previous games? Will David ever play another Civ game again? All these questions and more on part 1 of 2 for TGDRT’s Civ Series Finale. Topics include the power of the butterfly effect, the loss of narrative and flavor, troubles with map generation, and the sum effects of the new systems....
Mar 04, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 340
Ellie is joined by Peter Hayward, designer of games such as Robotopia, Fiction, and That Time You Killed Me. Ellie and Peter discuss not only the process for naming a game, but also how names affect pitching and publishing, naming your prototypes, and how the process works for indie and mass market titles.
Feb 25, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 339
Civilization 7 approaches! As we prepare to share our thoughts on Civ 7, we answer another round of listener questions. Topics include Dirk and David’s ideal Civ game, how to approach kingmaking in multiplayer games, and why diplomacy in Civilization is often so underwhelming.
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 338
This week on Behind the Cardboard, Ellie is joined by Sen-Foong Lim, ENNIE winner and designer of Mind: MGMT, Corpse of Discovery, and The Revenant Society.
Feb 11, 2025•46 min•Season 1Ep. 337
The Civilization Series returns with Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civilization IV, Offworld Trading Company, and Old World. They discuss the teasers for Civilization VII, what they’re excited for, what they’re worried about, and what they hope will change about the series. They also discuss the 4X releases since their last meeting, including Humankind.
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 336
Ellie Dix is joined for the inaugural episode of Behind the Cardboard by Daryl Andrews, designer of Sagrada, The Real Truth, and Kodama 3D among many others. Together, they discuss Daryl’s career, how he comes up with new games, and how he pitches to publishers. How long to stick with an idea, where to put them, and how should you keep track of them? All this and more in Behind the Cardboard.
Jan 29, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 335
2024 was an excellent year for game design, and 2025 is looking to be even better. As time moves forward, TGDRT must evolve just as our favorite games do. Dirk and David discuss the state of the show; what worked, what didn’t, and what the future holds for the show. They also announce TGDRT’s brand new programming, Roundtable Retrospective and Behind the Cardboard with Ellie Dix, discussing the exciting new content focused on the behind the scenes of making games.
Jan 21, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 334
Dirk and David are joined by Andrew Fischer, lead designer of the Cosmere RPG. In this first of two interviews, the crew discusses Andrew’s career, from working at Fantasy Flight Games to being the lead designer of the world’s biggest Kickstarter game. Topics include the pros and cons of app-integration for games, surprise elements in RPGs, and the GM-less nature of games like Gloomwood.
Jan 07, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 333
The Game Design Round Table rounds out its best year yet with another set of Listener Questions! Dirk and David are joined by Ellie Dix once more to answer your questions about hidden information, designing for different group sizes, and exploring a world in which you only played board games once.
Dec 24, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 332
Dirk and David are joined this week by Justin Gary, founder of Stone Blade Entertainment and co-designer of Solforge Fusion. They discuss the life, death, and rebirth of Solforge, as well as its unique approach to content generation. Topics include the history of Solforge, how the usage of the Blockchain affects monetization, the community of Solforge, and how the game successfully incorporates procedural generation into its card design.
Dec 03, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 331
This week, Dirk and David are joined by Kathryn Hymes, co-owner of Thorny Games and former co-host of the show. Together, they discuss Kathryn’s new game Xenolanguage, a roleplaying game where players take the role of humans tasked with deciphering an alien language. They give their thoughts on designing GMless games, especially focusing on how to facilitate interesting experiences within the rules. Topics include an in-depth look at Xenolanguage’s design, the breadth in experience of GMless gam...
Nov 19, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 330
This episode, Dirk and David are joined by Ellie Dix, owner of The Dark Imp and author of The Board Game Family. They discuss Ellie’s career and path into game design, as well as the intricacies of how she manages to design so many games. Topics include managing small projects, how to choose which designs to focus on, the importance of managing a playtest group, and the worth of games as educational tools.
Nov 05, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 329
Dirk and David convene once more to discuss the release of Ara: History Untold by Oxide Games. They analyze the game’s strengths and weaknesses, how it feels to play, and how it compares to the actual Civilization series of games. Topics include managing expectations, the clunkiness of the crafting and relationship systems, performance and technical issues, what it does right, and who Ara is even for.
Oct 22, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 328
David is at the helm this week, joined by Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan, Mariposas) and Mark Wooton (Legend of the Five Rings, Mariposas). The trio discuss Elizabeth and Mark’s new game Undergrove, a resource management and tile placement game about building a mycelial and arboreal network. Topics include how Undergrove was developed, designing for the mushroom theme, Mark and Elizabeth’s relationship with nature, and how a competitive game can be developed without encouraging antagonistic relati...
Oct 08, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 327
Dirk is joined by Daniel Hand, therapeutic counselor and author of “Role-playing Games in Psychotherapy: A Practitioners Guide”. Together, the pair discusses Daniel’s journey into TTRPGs and his process of introducing them into his practice, and eventually designing his own game for therapeutic purposes. Topics include adjusting crunch, the benefits and difficulties of using games in therapy, what kinds of issues they can help with, and what the future of this treatment modality might look like....
Sep 24, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 326
