The Game Design Round Table

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.