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The monthly game design podcast that you haven't been waiting for! Join us as we discuss, explore, and get out of our depths in a new game design topic every episode.
We're back with a very special episode, as co-host Ryan Anderson walks us through their design methodology for the combat in Wintermoor Tact...
Jon and Kyle sit down to discuss player proactivity in tabletop roleplaying. What is the difference between proactive and reactive play? Why...
The gang breaks into Death Stranding and Animal Crossing, two games that are perhaps more similar than they first appear. We discuss how add...
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...
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 mobi...
We're back with another dive into the fascinating world of tabletop roleplaying! This time, Jon comes to Kyle with a problem -- he feels anx...
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...
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, an...
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 th...
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 acc...
The gang discusses the gorgeous visual album game Sayonara Wild Hearts, heaping praises upon its aesthetics but picking apart its bizarre re...
The gang discusses comedy in games and how Untitled Goose Game and What the Golf? each tackle this difficult design area.
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...
We discuss Fantasy Flight Games' recent 'unique deck game', Keyforge, in which every deck you buy is a randomly generated, unique, and uncha...
The gang compare the card combat systems in Steamworld Quest and Slay the Spire and analyze how one simple difference massively changes the...
We're super excited to be joined by Alex Beachum, creative director of Outer Wilds, the time-looping space exploration game that won the Ind...
Jon and Rob discuss how the developers of 2016's Doom reboot pursued a philosophy of 'push-forward combat', utilizing smartly-design systems...
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,...
This week we're discussing one of the most important skills for a professional game designer to cultivate -- workplace communication! We sha...
Continuing on from last week's discussion of non-standard RPG stats in games, we dig into the confusingly named stats that make up Bloodborn...
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...
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 Spi...
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 iden...
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 ma...
The gang discusses Mario Kart 8's various gameplay assistance features and how they manage to walk the line between making the game more acc...
Ryan leads the gang through a discussion of healthy work-life practices for game designers. How can you change your work habits to optimize...
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 bec...
The gang talks about Supergiant Games' new early access roguelike Hades and its excellent Boon system, which allows players to temporarily i...
The gang discusses Matt Leacock's 2013 cooperative board game Forbidden Desert. Although the game is considered by many to be a modern class...
The gang discusses Final Fantasy Tactics Advance's unique judge system, which imposed various restrictive laws on players during battle to f...
We're back, and we're trying something a little different this time! It turns out that some design topics don't necessarily justify a full h...
How do you turn an idea into a game, and how do you make sure that game maintains the spirit of that idea as you develop it? We're joined by...
It's been a little while since we got everyone together in front of the mic, so we're taking it easy this episode to catch up and talk about...
The classic trio is back on the mics, and we're celebrating by diving into that most classic of game mechanics — grinding! Join us as we deb...
How do you make games that feel competitive for players of all skill levels, while still feeling fair to the players with the most experienc...
How do you open your game with a bang, hold the player's attention through hours of gameplay, and wrap things up in a way that feels satisfy...
More is always better, right? Wrong! We're joined by games critic and all-around smart egg John Brindle to discuss his Waypoint article anal...
Everyone plays games, but games aren't always designed with everyone in mind. In this episode, we're joined by [Dee Del Rosario](https://twi...
We talk a lot about how to make your games better, but how do you make yourself better? Emma Larkins joins us to discuss honing your analyti...
We're back with the next episode of our increasingly numerically fraught Reading List subseries! This time Ryan, Rob, and Jon are joined by...
We embark on an epic quest as Riot Games' own Brian 'FeralPony' Feeney joins us to share the secrets of designing characters for hero-based...
Let's get this party started! We're joined by friend of the show Matthew Moore (Do Better Games) to discuss what goes into making a great pa...
This month we're joined by the brilliant Lucas J.W. Johnson as he gives us a crash course in narrative design! Join us as we learn about the...
This month we cover one of the most important skills for a game designer: how to prototype and iterate on your game ideas! We discuss tips f...
We're doing something a little different this month! Instead of tackling a topic ourselves, we've invited ten of our favorite designers onto...
We go back to the reading list as we analyze 3 recent releases that have managed to breathe new life into their long-running franchises. Did...
Different players want different things from their games. How do you make sure that your game caters to as many of them as possible, without...
Multiplayer games have the rare opportunity to feature multiple modes, distinct ways to play that can provide wildly different experiences....
Everyone knows that feeling — you die in a game, you respawn, you try again, you die again. You attempting the same section, stuck in a loop...
It's well known that co-op makes just about every game more fun. But how do you design a game that takes good advantage of its co-op, and ho...