Ludology

Erica and Sen welcome artist Kwanchai Moriya to the show to discuss his process, his advice for new artists trying to break into the tabletop industry, his take AI Image Generators, and his New Year's Resolution for 2023.

Erica and Sen talk to Michelle Rundbacken and Yacine Merzouk, the fine purveyors of the Society of Curiosities, about their bespoke puzzle experiences that bridge the gap between the physical and the digital as well as their up-coming B&B escape experience!

Where are some of the places that game design skills come in handy? Erica and Sen talk to Nick Metzler, who has designed games for traditional publishers like Spin Master, murder mysteries in a castle for over a hundred wedding guests, and challenges on reality TV shows like Survivor!

Erica and Sen discuss how "Boop!", a new cat-themed 2-player game, became rethemed from an abstract game with the game's designer, Scott Brady. Scott tells us how the theme was integral in shaping the final product.

Sen and Erica talk with Pat Marino, designer behind Cup Head: Fast Rolling Dice Game and other titles from The Op, about translating videogames over to the hobby gaming and mass market gaming spaces.

Erica and Sen meet up with Jason Perez (Shelf Stories, cultural consultant on Puerto Rico 1897) to talk about cultural consultation, define some of the most prominent terms, and talk about how we can design better games while considering cultural impact.   Timestamp Note Link 00:00:50 Shelf Stories https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnaZ7055IWOdm8XCJfFRDcw  00:01:20 Puerto Rico 1897 https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/367272/puerto-rico-1897  00:09:30 Uncle Ben dies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dre4TsXm_68  00:09:35 Batman’s parents get shot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAyxY5hF3ZE 00:12:58 Andreas Seyfarth https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/117/andreas-seyfarth  00:13:01 Reiner Knizia https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/2/reiner-knizia  0015:05 Jason’s critique of Lost Ruins of  Arnak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU7Mqg3XS4U  00:15:15 Feast for Odin https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/177736/feast-odin  00:15:20 Raiders of the North Sea https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/170042/raiders-north-sea  0016:40 Puerto Rico’s Power Outage Issues https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/12/power-outages-puerto-rico-hurricane-fiona  00:24:15 Cafe con leche https://www.food.com/recipe/cafe-con-leche-puerto-rican-cafe-latte-114354  00:24:34 In The Heights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CL-ZSuCrQ 00:29:21 “I Wish” songs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_Want%22_song  00:29:49 Boriken https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/361178/boriken-taino-resistance  00:30:01 The Taino people https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/what-became-of-the-taino-73824867/  00:32:06 Risk https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/181/risk  00:33:01 Liz Davidson (Beyond Solitaire) https://www.youtube.com/c/BeyondSolitaire  00:33:06 Jason Matthews (Twilight Struggle) https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/3877/jason-matthews  00:36:43 Chip Theory Games https://chiptheorygames.com/  00:37:53 Unconscious Mind https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/329500/unconscious-mind  00:40:06 Jason’s Discussions re: the Designer Diary for Gorinto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNMzATMGYc8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1wAgg99O0w 00:46:00 Dicetower’s Skymines vs. Mombassa Comparison  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n-vJbGqctE  00:48:27 Ludology Episode with James Mendez Hodes “Orc-kay Computer” https://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-247-orc-kay-computer  00:49:56 Root https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/237182/root  00:50:16 Tauren and Native American Imagery https://www.academia.edu/13052741/World_of_Warcraft_the_Tauren_and_Native_American_Imagery  00:52:01 Owl Pizza Chef https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-illustration-owl-chef-pizza-cute-image-white-background-funny-cartoon-vector-illustrations-picture-memes-jokes-image69033436  00:52:16 The X-Men as :GBT Champions: From Outcasts to Elites https://rabbitholemag.com/the-x-men-as-lgbt-champions-from-outcasts-to-elites/  00:55:02 Bruno Faidutti’s article on Postcolonial Catan  https://faidutti.com/blog/blog/2017/06/02/postcolonial-catan/  0055:28 Cascadia https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/295947/cascadia  0056:43 Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmcA9LIIXWw  00:56:45 Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nXGPZaTKik  00:57:18 The Wedding Singer’s rendition of “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB3PdPMjeIY  00:57:30 Howard Zinn’s “The People’s History of the United States” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767.A_People_s_History_of_the_United_States  00:58:28 The Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8r-tXRLazs  01:01:24 Tostones https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16768/puerto-rican-tostones-fried-plantains/  01:01:33 Maduros https://www.dulcetscintilla.com/platanos-maduros-aka-fried-sweet-plantains/  01:02:39 Greg Loring-Albright https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/89308/greg-loring-albright  01:03:01 One Stop Co-op Shop https://www.youtube.com/c/OneStopCoopShop 

Sen and Erica chat with Roberta Taylor about her games, diving deeper into Creature Comforts and the upcoming Maple Valley, specifically. They discuss cozy games and Roberta's philosophy towards design. Roberta's BGG Page: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/12374/roberta-taylor

Geoff discusses what he calls the "Sweet Spot" in games, and how it can help your design.

Sen and Erica chat with Brian Neff, the freelance developer who currently handles the Unmatched System for Restoration Games, about the process he uses for playtesting and balancing a game with an ever-expanding roster that boasts just under 40 playable characters to date. They chat about how both quantitative and qualitative data drive the development process and how the game's loyal community has been an invaluable part of the process. Timestamp Note Link 00:01:05 Restoration Games https://restorationgames.com/  00:01:49 Unmatched Game System https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/295564/unmatched-game-system  00:02:18 Bruce Lee https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/279645/unmatched-bruce-lee  00:02:19 T-Rex https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284778/unmatched-jurassic-park-dr-sattler-vs-t-rex  00:04:45 Alice https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/274637/unmatched-battle-legends-volume-one  00:04:48 Moon Knight https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/326933/unmatched-redemption-row  00:07:00 Cerebus System https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/23550/game-cerberus-engine-heroes  00:08:03 Star Wars Epic Duels https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3284/star-wars-epic-duels  00:08:43 Tannhauser https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25261/tannhauser  00:0901 Magic: The Gathering https://magic.wizards.com/en  00:09:02 Yu-Gi-Oh https://www.yugioh-card.com/en/  00:09:03 Hearthstone https://hearthstone.blizzard.com/en-us  00:09:13 Mondo https://mondoshop.com/  00:16:36 Noah https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/75911/noah-cohen  00:16:41 Rob Daviau https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/442/rob-daviau  00:16:46 Justin Jacobson https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/4083/justin-d-jacobson  00:17:20 The Invisible Man https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/294484/unmatched-cobble-fog  00:18:21 Dr. Ellie Sattler https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284778/unmatched-jurassic-park-dr-sattler-vs-t-rex  00:19:10 Beowulf https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/325635/unmatched-little-red-riding-hood-vs-beowulf  00:19:51 Yennenga https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/335764/unmatched-battle-legends-volume-two  00:21:11 Little Red Riding Hood https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/325635/unmatched-little-red-riding-hood-vs-beowulf  00:23:57 Daredevil https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/326934/unmatched-hells-kitchen  00:29:01 Restoration Games Discord Server https://discord.gg/TcprtQESad 00:30:55 Medusa https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/274637/unmatched-battle-legends-volume-one  00:30:56 Bigfoot https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/274638/unmatched-robin-hood-vs-bigfoot  00:31:10 Sherlock https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/294484/unmatched-cobble-fog  00:32:57 Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Cloak & Dagger https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/326936/unmatched-teen-spirit  00:34:55 Elektra https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/326934/unmatched-hells-kitchen  00:40:14 Bovine University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlGC8YnfhN8  00:41:59 Colossus https://x-men.fandom.com/wiki/Colossus  00:43:49 Wakka https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Wakka  00:44:34 Unmatched Maker https://unmatched.cards/  00:46:27 When I Was A Young Warthog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EILeWQEDtMw  00:46:42 Slice & Dice https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.com.tann.dice&hl=en_CA&gl=US  00:48:03 Jawn https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Jawn  00:49:25 Willow Nightingale https://twitter.com/willowwrestles  00:5024 Juice Robinson https://prowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Juice_Robinson 

In this classic Biography of a Board Game, Scott takes a look at how the horror game Betrayal at House on the Hill came to be.