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PODCAST

The Game Design Round Table

Dirk Knemeyer & David V. Heron

Covering the full breadth of digital, tabletop, and role playing games, The Game Design Round Table inspires and educates aspiring and experienced game designers.

arts design

All Episodes

01:04:35

#237 Old World: Utilizing Playtesters Effectively

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/04/28

Soren rejoins Dirk and David to discuss what’s new with his 4X game Old World—including a new name! The trio talks about publisher changes, how playtesting has incrementally improved the game, and some of the unique mechanics that Old World brings to the 4X table.

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48:17

#236 Tanya X. Short Makes Game Systems Obvious

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/04/15

Tanya X. Short talks with Dirk and David about her design axiom: if the player doesn’t see it, it might not exist. They discuss both some of the games Tanya has worked on, as well as other games that contradict or reinforce this rule. One key point of the discussion is how complex (and costly) systems created by the designers might go completely unnoticed by players if the user interface or the game’s objectives don’t align well with the system.

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01:06:10

#235 Diving Into MOBA Foundations

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/03/31

Dirk and David team up with show producer Skye to dive into the MOBA genre, a first in a series meant to explore the design of this popular genre. They discuss the genre’s roots in real-time strategy game mods and give an overview of the most popular MOBAs on the market. Additionally, the trio talks about tabletop and mobile MOBAs, and why they haven’t taken off (at least in North America, that is).

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56:07

#234 Sen-Foong Lim Designs Edge Cases Out of the Game

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/03/17

Sen-Foong Lim rejoins the show to chat with Dirk and David about his design axiom: design edge cases out of the game. The definition of an edge case is explored at length, and the importance of context when discussing edge cases is emphasized. Sen talks about what types of games can afford to include edge cases, and why he usually opts to either remove them or turn them into features of the game.

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01:08:56

#233 Round Table on the Challenges of Pleasing Customers

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/03/04

Kathryn returns to the show to chat with Dirk and David about the last three episodes of the Designing Thematic Games series. The group chats about hybrid games, designing additional content for games, and handling criticism. They also answer some listener questions about remote work and art contracts. Overall, a great deal of this episode focuses on the customer level and the difficulties (and joys) of designing with customers in mind.

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56:30

#232 Chris Bourassa Talks Darkest Dungeon

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/02/18

Chris Bourassa joins Dirk and David to discuss his work on the indie hit Darkest Dungeon. They talk about the inspiration for some of Darkest Dungeon’s characters, enemies, and mechanical systems. They also cover the game’s difficulty and learning from some of the public outcry during the game’s early access stage.

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54:43

#231 Tim Fowers Talks Burgle Bros 2

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/01/28

Tim Fowers, a guest on the show in 2016, returns to talk with Dirk and David about designing heist games. He discusses the thematic and mechanical design decisions made in both the original game as well as his upcoming sequel. Other topics include hybrid games, sequels versus expansions or new editions, and the burgeoning Tabletop Network Conference.

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53:41

#230 Rob Daviau Talks Return to Dark Tower

The Game Design Round Table ·

2020/01/14

Former host Rob Daviau returns to the show to catch up with Dirk and David and talk about Restoration Games and their next big project: Return to Dark Tower. He discusses the decisions made when updating the 1981 game to capture the same eye-catching experience in 2020.

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01:11:16

#229 Round Table on the Essence of a Theme

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/12/24

Kathryn rejoins Dirk and David to talk discuss the past few episodes in the Designing Thematic Games series. The trio talks art budgets, terminology, and thematic mismatches. They also answer listener questions about designing around themes. Much of the discussion explores the distinction between an essence of a theme and the broader theme itself.

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57:52

#228 Shawn Main Talks Legends of Runeterra

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/12/11

Dirk and David discuss the card game Legends of Runeterra with designer Shawn Main. This upcoming game will be Riot’s follow up to the wildly popular League of Legends. They chat about capturing some of League of Legends’ thematic and gameplay beats despite the completely different game genre, and Shawn finishes up with a brief discussion of his time working on Magic the Gathering.

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53:46

#227 Meguey Baker Talks Apocalypse World

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/11/27

Dirk and David chat with Meguey Baker about her tabletop RPG Apocalypse World and writing in general. The discussion covers Apocalypse World’s approach to the post-apocalyptic theme and how the writing and mechanical design helps players feel like they are the movers and shakers with a vision to change their post-apocalyptic world.

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48:55

#226 David Dunham Talks Six Ages

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/11/12

Dirk speaks with David Dunham, the designer of Six Ages and its predecessor, King of Dragon Pass. These narrative strategy games, built from the Glorantha universe of Greg Stafford, use specific mechanics to invoke the theme of clans and struggling to survive and form a foothold in a mythical world.

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01:00:16

#225 Round Table on Thematic Games #1

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/10/29

Dirk and David speak with former cohost and friend of the show Kathryn Hymes. Together, the three of them discuss important questions and lessons learned from the first four episodes in the Designing Thematic Games series.

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01:04:07

#224 Scott Nicholson Talks Escape Rooms

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/10/15

Dirk and David discuss escape room design with Scott Nicholson, a game designer and professor who has studied escape rooms extensively. Scott talks about the predecessors to escape rooms, the thematic threat of ludonarrative dissonance, and the importance of asking “why?” with every component of a game’s design.

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57:16

#223 Kynan Pearson Talks Nintendo Themes

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/10/01

Dirk, David, and designer/artist Kynan Pearson discuss what goes into designing games for Nintendo’s popular themes. Kynan talks about his role on both the Metroid Prime series as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns, and he also touches on his work with the non-Nintendo property Halo and its differences from fellow sci-fi shooter Metroid Prime.

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48:28

#222 Elizabeth Hargrave Talks Wingspan

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/09/17

Dirk, David, and designer Elizabeth Hargrave discuss the hit game Wingspan: how she decided on the unique theme, why that theme might have been so successful, and when she had to choose fun or function over thematic fit.

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55:15

#221 Nikki Valens Talks Eldritch Horror

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/09/03

Dirk, David, and designer Nikki Valens kick off the Designing Thematic Games series with a discussion about the highly thematic games Nikki worked on at Fantasy Flight Games: Eldritch Horror, Arkham Horror, and Mansions of Madness.

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52:31

#220 New Directions with Dirk and David

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/08/20

Dirk and David catch up with each other and what’s new in their game design careers. They talk about the new direction for the show and announce a new series for the podcast: “Designing Thematic Games.”

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01:00:44

#219 Cole’s Thoughts on Pax Pamir: Second Edition

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/08/06

Dirk catches up with Cole Wehrle, designer of Root, and they discuss Cole’s latest game Pax Pamir: Second Edition. Cole also talks about starting Wehrlegig Games with his brother while continuing full time with Leder Games.

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42:17

#218 Geoff Engelstein and Isaac Shalev: Building...

The Game Design Round Table ·

2019/07/23

Dirk speaks with game designers Geoff Engelstein and Isaac Shalev about their co-authored book, Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: an Encyclopedia of Mechanisms.

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376 results

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