This week on the pod, Jim Dietz (@foundationdietz) talks about the work he's doing with The Dietz Foundation, both in support of education and in support of games with interesting things to say. Learn more at https://dietzfoundation.org/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/de...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, Lamaro Smith, an artist and graphic designer, tells us about his work in board games—and gives us insight into what his course for CMU's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations will be about. Check out his work at www.lamarosmith.com. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/college...
Oct 03, 2022•40 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, Deborah from Geek Gamers returns to talk about her new book, the Solo Game Master's Guide! Check out her channel, Geek Gamers, to see how to get a copy: https://www.youtube.com/c/GeekGamers01 Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx Monumental Co...
Sep 26, 2022•45 min•Ep 90•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, our special guest is Dan Bullock (@bublublock), designer of games about North Korea, Iran, weapons contracts in Afghanistan... and stalker violinists? We had a lot of fun recording this. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx Monumental Consequence ...
Sep 19, 2022•51 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast This week's special guest is Ada Sayin, a Turkish game designer who works for women's rights NGO Kiz Basina and created Hybrid Threat Rising as part of their mission! https://www.kizbasina.com/women-in-command-hybrid-threat-rising/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/def...
Sep 12, 2022•36 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast This week's special guest is Paul Wright, a professor at Cabrini University who is deeply involved with Reacting to the Past and who looks for novel ways to incorporate board games into his classes. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BIG NEWS: CLGS is now doing ...
Sep 05, 2022•51 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast This week, the original board game YouTuber, Scott Nicholson (@snicholson), joins the podcast to talk about his work on using escape rooms in the classroom, even with very limited resources. You can check out his newest project, EscapeIf, here: https://sites.google.com/view/escapeif/home Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www....
Aug 29, 2022•53 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, Ray Kimball (@42edgames) joins us to talk about his experience teaching at West Point, his use of games in the classroom, and his new company, 42EdGames, which seeks to help teachers implement game-based learning. Check him out at https://42ed.games/. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colle...
Aug 22, 2022•56 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Prof. Bret Devereaux (@bretdevereaux) talks about the ways in which historical video games can form players' thinking—for better and for worse. Find his blog, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, here: https://acoup.blog/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/...
Aug 15, 2022•47 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Qamar discusses his upcoming game, After the Last Sky, which is about the First Intifada. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BIG NEWS: CLGS is now doing online game design classes that you can take from home, and they will have several new offerings ...
Aug 08, 2022•43 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, Damon Stone and Ted Torgerson are here to discuss their upcoming game, Free At Last. This game focuses on the Civil Rights Movement and can be played cooperatively or semi-cooperatively. Most importantly, there is a ton of history packed into it! Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/c...
Aug 01, 2022•52 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast This week involves a discussion of amazing female pilots of WW2—and a major news announcement from David Thompson and me! Season 5 is starting off strong. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BIG NEWS: CLGS is now doing online game design classes that you can take ...
Jul 25, 2022•55 min•Ep 81•Transcript available on Metacast For the final episode of Season 4, Geoff Engelstein (@gengelstein) and David Thompson (@djackthompson) come on to talk about their upcoming game from GMT, which focuses on Zheng He, a Chinese explorer and courter, Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BIG NEWS: CLGS...
May 09, 2022•49 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast Charles Cartier, professional wargamer, joins us on the pod to talk about his work—at least the parts that aren't classified. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BIG NEWS: CLGS is now doing online game design classes that you can take from home, and the first...
May 02, 2022•48 min•Ep 79•Transcript available on Metacast Professor Scout Blum (@scoutblum) joins the pod to talk about her upcoming game, Rising Waters, which focuses on the self-empowerment of African American laborers during one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in American history. Get updates about Rising Waters: https://www.cmich.edu/academics/colleges/liberal-arts-social-sciences/central-michigan-university-press/games-for-learning/games/rising-waters Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center...
Apr 25, 2022•43 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast Joe Schmidt (@josephnschmidt) and Taylor Shuss (@drawnonward) come on to discuss The Sacred Band, a game they are developing about a group of elite warriors from Thebes, made up of 150 pairs of male lovers. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BIG NEWS: CLGS is now...
Apr 18, 2022•44 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast This week has both a special guest and a bonus appearance from a friend of the show! Jason Perez of Shelf Stories joins me in a conversation with Zoe Antoinette Eddy, an anthropologist who studies LARPing communities in the Northeast. LARP Article: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/4/143/htm Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast This week's special guest is Eloy Lasanta (@eloythesaint), owner of Third Eye Games, designer and player of MANY tabletop RPGs, musician, and teacher of an upcoming game design class at Central Michigan University! Eloy's Games: https://www.thirdeyegames.net/ Geek Therapeutics: https://www.geektherapeutics.com/ Eloy's Music: https://straysoftheworldmusic.com/ Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simul...
Apr 04, 2022•41 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, James Fielder, AKA Pigeon, talks about how he uses games to help students understand various theories of international relations. His work can be found at jdfielder.com. Find him on Twitter @j_d_fielder. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BI...
Mar 28, 2022•50 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast This week's guest is Tim Hutchings (@TimHutchingsFTW), designer of Thousand Year Old Vampire and professor of game design at Bradley University. In this episode he talks about his game design process, some upcoming projects, and how he teaches design to his students. You can check out his website here: https://thousandyearoldvampire.com/ Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be bo...
Mar 21, 2022•59 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast This week's special guest is Kathryn Hymes, who talks about her work for Thorny Games, a publisher dedicated to making games that explore language. Check out Thorny Games' work at https://thornygames.com/. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx All episodes...
Mar 14, 2022•44 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast This week's guest is Ev Davis, aka Whistler, who is an artist, LARP expert, and author of a new tabletop RPG called Rapscallion. We had an awesome conversation about what RPGs can do, how to run them well, and more. Rapscallion: https://magpiegames.com/products/rapscallion-ashcan-edition-print-pdf Ev's art site: https://evanleigh-davis.format.com/ Twitter: @artofwhistler Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games an...
Mar 07, 2022•59 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast This week's special guest is Professor Mary Flanagan (@criticalplay), who teaches at Dartmouth and runs ambitious gaming research and publication projects. She has a lot to say about how games are fun, but also a way to change the way we think. Her latest game, Retrograde, is a real-time roll and write that is currently on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maryflanagan/retrograde-4?ref=discovery&term=retrograde Tiltfactor: https://tiltfactor.org/ Resonym: https://resonym...
Feb 28, 2022•48 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, Professor Emerita Mary Jane Treacy speaks about her work with Reacting to the Past games and the challenges of bringing history to life in the classroom. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx All episodes of my podcast are available here: https...
Feb 21, 2022•56 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, game designer and Ph.D. candidate Greg Loring-Albright talks about his academic work and his role as co-designer of the third edition of Bloc by Bloc. It hits Gamefound on Feb. 15: https://gamefound.com/projects/draft/zxc58ag7firw48g1aggj8ue80qo Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/college...
Feb 14, 2022•45 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast This week's guest is Ricky Royal, who kindly shared updates on his solo game designs and talked about his approach to design in general. If you haven't yet, check him out on the Box of Delights YouTube channel—his work is a must-watch for solo gamers. https://www.youtube.com/c/BoxofDelights Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out h...
Feb 07, 2022•51 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast This week the pod has TWO special guests! Professors Paul Booth (@pbooth81) and Aaron Trammell (@aarontram) drop by to talk about a book series they are co-editing, which will focus on board games and be published by the University of Michigan's academic press. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges...
Jan 31, 2022•46 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Talia Rosen tells all about First Monday in October, a game about the Supreme Court and its development over time. It will eventually be published by Fort Circle Games, and I personally can't wait. Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx All episodes o...
Jan 24, 2022•45 min•Ep 65•Transcript available on Metacast This week's special guest is Patrick Rael, a history professor at Bowdoin who specializes in African American history, teaches history through games, and is also at work on a design of his own. You can see what he's up to here: https://www.bowdoin.edu/profiles/faculty/prael/index.html Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: h...
Jan 17, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast This week on the pod, Non Breaking Space (@nbsp1618) tells us about his upcoming game from GMT, Cross Bronx Expressway. In it, he invites players to build up the Bronx from 1940-2000, while also trying to serve their own factional interests. This game is currently available at a discounted price through GMT's P500 program, and will soon go to print: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-953-cross-bronx-expressway.aspx Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Cent...
Jan 10, 2022•42 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast 
