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PODCAST

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast

Michael Bonet & Alex Erde

On Who, What, Why? I discuss game design with those who make games and try to learn more about the game design process. Each episode I interview a designer, publisher, developer, artist, etc. of tabletop games such as card, board, or role playing. Some episodes discuss big ideas in design rather than individual games. I have both mainstream and independent developers as guests.

games & hobbies other games

All Episodes

01:09:46

Who, What, Why? S16.E10 :: Let's Take Some...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/05/25

Nate C. Murray who works with IndieGoGo's board game outreach joined the pod for a chat about crowdfunding. We delved into some of the things IndieGoGo has been doing to attract more creators, explored some games that Nate loves playing, and even discussed whether we are in a miniatures bubble. We ended the episode with a thorough description of what a designer should do to approach Nate to pitch a game. This episode runs the gamut of topics, and it's always great to have a smart guy like Nate for

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48:52

Who, What, Why? S16.E09 :: Mansions of the Imperial...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/05/16

Henning Ludvigsen comes all the way from Norway to spend some time chatting with me about the beautiful art he creates for board games. Henning is perhaps most well-known for creating the artwork for the tiles in Descent: 2nd Edition, Imperial Assault, and Mansions of Madness first edition. His artwork is highly detailed and uses light to create a rich world for our board games to exist in. Not only do we discuss board game artwork and how he creates his, but we also discuss the burgeoning

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51:22

Who, What, Why? S16.E08 :: What's The Deck You Draw...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/04/29

Andrew Innes, designer of Anomia, joined me to discuss his neat little game that will have plenty of people yelling the wrong word aloud. Anomia is a card game where each player has a card in front of him or her that has a symbol and a category on it. During a turn, one player will draw from the deck looking at the symbol present. Anyone who has the same symbol in front of them needs to call out an item from the category in front of an opponent. For example, you and I might be playing the game and

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01:13:54

Who, What, Why? S16.E07 :: Hang Ten, Dudes!

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/04/18

Cody Miller, owner of Far Off Games and designer of Tavarua, joins the podcast to talk about his absolutely bodacious game about shredding waves. Tavarua has an unexpected theme (surfing) and pushes players to take risks in this risk management game. It has some elements of pushing your luck, but mostly focuses on managing risks to score the best runs on either a long board or short board. The genesis of this game is an interesting story and one that I'm glad Cody had a chance to share. If you like

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32:58

Who, What, Why? S16.E06 :: The Filler King Makes His...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/04/07

Steve Finn, a designer local to me, joins the show to discuss how he approaches game design. Steve Finn has often been described as the king of the filler game. He produces quality games that take 30-60 minutes to play and offer loads of depth and replayability. Steve has created 12 games over the years. We focused our discussion on games like Biblios, Herbaceous, and Cosmic Run among a few others. If you like what you hear and want to learn more then visit DoctorFinns.com. Image credited to Julia

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52:02

Who, What, Why? S16.E05 :: News Alert: Massive...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/03/27

Kevin Riley, designer of Aeon's End, came on the show to discuss the impressive new game that came out recently. It's an interesting take on the cooperative deck-building genre that incorporates a neat breach system where players can prime spells that can be used or held onto adding to the depth of strategy. Aeon's End brings in many big bad guys for the players to work together to prevent from destroying Gravehold. If you are interested in the game, it is up on Kickstarter right now with an pair

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56:02

Who, What, Why? S16.E04 :: This Game is Truly Epic

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/03/17

Isaac Childres designed Gloomhaven to capture the feel of a role-playing game and a dungeon crawler. He saw some things he wanted to fix in the dungeon crawlers around him and decided that this massive experience would suffice. Board gamers are better off for his effort. Gloomhaven incorporates a campaign, character levels, and an intricate card system that can be difficult to grok but rewarding once learned. One to four adventurers travel the land seeking out fame and glory while upgrading their

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53:02

Who, What, Why? S16.E03 :: You Are Alive When the...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/03/06

In 1993, Steven Spielberg released one of the most influential movies of my childhood. Jurassic Park is one of the few films I've seen multiple times in the theater. Despite its scientific inaccuracies, I was drawn to the move for its excellent story, characters, and dinosaurs. Since then, I've hoped for a good board game based on Dinosaurs. Few have tried but even fewer have succeeded. Jon Gilmore stopped by the show to talk about Dinosaur Island, a game about owning a dinosaur theme park, building

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01:08:15

Who, What, Why? S16.E02 :: The Best Mix of the 60s,...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/02/25

Justin Jacobson convinced Rob Daviau to join his crazy venture of restoring old games from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. The venture should pay off this GenCon when Restoration Games brings Stop Thief, Indulgence, and Down Force. This venture is right up Rob's alley considering his experience with licensed games back at Hasbro. Justin and Rob came on the show to talk more in-depth about their process for restoring games, the restoration of the upcoming titles, and the future of the young company. If

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55:55

Who, What, Why? S16.E01 :: Magical University Voting...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/02/18

Trey Chambers, designer of Argent: The Consortium, joined the show to talk about his awesome worker placement game about becoming the head of a magical university. This game takes the worker placement genre and turns some of it upside-down. The game seems like it is inspired by Harry Potter, but actually came to Trey in a dream (listen to learn more). Trey talks about how he connected with Level 99 and what parts of the game were dreamlike and what parts were developed. Trey also talks about ideas

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10:38

W3.E30 :: Who, What, Why and Diane Sauer

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/01/27

In this episode with Diane Sauer I renamed the segment Designing Games with Game Designers to Board Game Brainstorm. Diane Sauer, co-owner of Shoot Again Games and designer of Pinball Showdown, joins me to tackle the challenge of designing a good card game version of the classic arcade game Joust. You know, the one starring knights with lances riding ostriches trying to kill pterodactyls. That one.

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01:17:53

Who, What, Why? S15.E10 :: Empires of Energy

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/01/24

Luke Laurie appears on the show to discuss his co-designed (with Tom Jolly) game Manhattan Project: Energy Empire. This one is a fantastic worker placement game about creating an efficient engine that offers the players a lot of payoff. One reason that Luke started designing this game was because too many other engine building games don't give the players enough time to play with the engines they spend so much time building. This game was a response to that. Luke and I also discussed how he got

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54:53

Who, What, Why? S15.E09 :: Pinball For Your Tabletop

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2017/01/14

Diane Sauer of Shoot Again Games is bringing Pinball Showdown to Kickstarter. Imagine that you are one of the balls during multi-ball trying to pick up speed and slam as many targets as possible. That's an awesome theme. Diane and I discussed the origins of this game and the interesting way speed and control are intertwined in the game. The faster you travel, the less control you have. We also discussed Diane's professional life, which is as a pinball machine restoration specialist. This game is on

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51:06

Who, What, Why S15.E08 :: Board Game Off the Port Bow!

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2016/12/29

Nat Levan, designer of New Bedford, joined Alex and I for a discussion about his Euro game about a controversial topic: whaling. Theme aside, this game is a nice little Euro that presents some interesting challenges for players. Scoring is tight and the paths to victory are plentiful. We discussed the origins of this game and its historical ties. We also discussed Nat's new venture in designing 1 or 3 card games like Nantucket. If you like the game and wish to learn more then visit

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54:10

Who, What, Why? S15.E07 :: And Let Loose the Pod's of...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2016/12/21

Grant Rodiek, designer of the hit game Cry Havoc, joins me for a discussion about the game. We talk about where the game came from, and I learn it was originally themed 1800s European military. We focus on the difficulty in designing asymmetric powers and making those different enough to give each player its own feel. Finally, we spend some time discussing Portal's influence on the final product and their eagerness in continuing to support it. If you like the game, please visit your local game store

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59:48

Who, What, Why? S15.E06 :: TMNT: Heroes In a Dice Shell!

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2016/12/13

Kevin Wilson, designer of Descent 1st edition, Android, and Arkham Horror, joins me on the podcast to discuss his latest game TMNT: Out of the Shadows. We discussed what it was like working with an IP as large and nostalgic as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Kevin is no stranger to IP work, so for a veteran game designer such as himself, this was never a daunting task. We also talked about the levers and dials Kevin built into the game to allow him the freedom to build scenarios and add content with

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01:12:01

Who, What, Why? S15.E05 :: Pow! Thwack! Smash! Wham!

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2016/11/24

Nate Murray is the man charged with bringing new ideas to IDW's sizable creative enterprise. One of Nate's tasks is to bring in board games that may be a great fit for IDW. So far, I think Nate and IDW are doing an excellent job bringing new and exciting games to the market. We sat down to discuss IDW's new foray into board gaming. This was a fun interview to record. Credit for comic image goes to Carlo Carino at NounProject.com

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32:06

Who, What, Why S15.E04 :: When Theme Meets Emotion

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2016/11/24

Christopher Chung, designer of Lanterns, joins the show to talk about the game that has garnered many awards and praise. The game is an interesting mix of theme and emotion. The theme is the lantern harvest festival where paper lanterns floating across the water's surface, and the game plays with the same calming, zen-like feel that the them evokes. Check out the interview to hear more about how this game went from flowers to lanterns. If you like the game, please visit Foxtrot Games.

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46:07

Who, What, Why S15.E03 :: Beware the Deadly Venom in...

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2016/10/27

Cardboard Edison, the husband and wife pair who host the game design blog of the same name, also design their own games, and one of those games is currently on Kickstarter. Cobras is a trick-taking card game about feeding the market with cobras to collect on the reward for catching cobras. If the magistrate closes the bounty when you're left holding a pile of cobras, you could be in for an unpleasant time. The game rewards players for both winning and losing tricks, which adds an intriguing layer of

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11:12

W3.E29 :: Who, What, Why and Chris Chung

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast ·

2016/10/25

Who, What, Why presents our twenty-ninth episode of Designing Games with Game Designers featuring Chris Chung, designer of Lanterns. In this episode we discussed the idea of a board game about Dust: An Elysian Tale. Chris provided most of the background to the game itself while I did a lot of the "designing." The reason for this is, as I state in the episode, that I have never played this game, so I know nothing about it.

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