Ludology

Erica and Scott welcome Ryan and Malorie Laukat, the couple behind Red Raven Games. Ryan is known as the designer and illustrator for games like Eight Minute Empire, Above and Below, Near and Far, Islebound, Empires of the Void, Artifacts Inc., Megaland, and the forthcoming Now or Never. They are also the subject of an upcoming documentary, Crafting Arzium.  Ryan is often seen as the sole force behind Red Raven Games, but Malorie and the whole Laukat family do a lot of work behind the scenes. We talk about the challenges and opportunities of making games as a family, how to maintain a work/life balance, and how to get your kids to playtest your latest game. SHOW NOTES 27m32s: Tales of the Arabian Nights 38m59s: We discussed the different markets you can sell your game in on Ludology 246 - Cornering the Market. 51m14s: You can hear the Laukats' original music in their Sleeping Gods Kickstarter trailer. 1h07m24s: Here's the Red Raven website, their Twitter, their Facebook, and their Instagram.

Scott takes us through the history of El Grande, from its beginnings as a game about the Trojan War to its influence on the current board game scene. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A BOARD GAME https://opinionatedgamers.com/2015/07/27/sdj-re-reviews-18-el-grande/ https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/82783/interviews-optimist-73-wolfgang-kramer-el-grande https://www.mechanics-and-meeples.com/2014/09/08/el-grande-the-art-of-majority-control/ https://brettspielbox.de/interview-mit-wolfgang-kramer-teil-2/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTKYuVmOooQ

On a special milestone episode of Ludology, Gil Hova and Scott Rogers say goodbye to our beloved Emma Larkins, as she departs as a co-host after 50 amazing episodes. Geoff Engelstein drops by to check in on us. And we're also joined by new co-hosts Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim! SHOW NOTES 05m02s: Emma has earned quite a few awards for her game Abandon All Artichokes: the Golden Geek Light Game of the Year, the American Tabletop Award for Early Gamers, and yes, the Parent's Choice Silver Award. 07m25s: Here are Emma's favorite episodes: Ludology 247 - Orc-kay Computer with James Mendez Hodes Ludology 244 - Games Brought to Life with Jeeyon Shim (her Kickstarter for her new game The Shape of Shadows that Emma mentioned will be running for another week) Ludology 240 - Are You Receiving Me? with Adrienne Smith (a slight correction: Adrienne has won IFAF gold medals in international competitions, but has yet to win the Super Bowl) Ludology 233 - A Sporting Chance with Omari Akil Ludology 231 - STEAM Engine with Chidi Paige Ludology 228 - The Roles We Play with Banana Chan Ludology 214 - Escape From Reality with Hayley E.R. Cooper and Cameron Cooper of Strange Bird Immersive Ludology 212 - Inventing Play with Kim Vandenbrouke Ludology 203 - Winging It with Elizabeth Hargrave Ludology 209 - The 6 Zones of Play, a roundtable episode with Emma, Gil, and Scott. 15m06s: The two books Geoff mentions are Achievement Relocked: Loss Aversion and Game Design, and Game Production: Prototyping and Producing Your Board Game. 16m30s: More information about the Zenobia Award. 19m56s: Here's the most recent episode we did with Sen, Ludology 236 - Role With It. 20m38s: More information about the Meeple Syrup Show. 21m59s: "Jay" is Sen's longtime co-designer Jay Cormier. Jay joined Mike and Geoff in Ludology 134 - There's No "I" In Team. "Jessey" is game designer, developer, and Meeple Syrup co-host Jessey Wright. "Helaina" is Helaina Cappel, who runs publishing companies Burnt Island Games and Kids' Table Board Gaming.  26m13s: "Daryl" is prolific game designer and former Meeple Syrup host Daryl Andrews. (The shout you hear in the background is one of Sen's sons playing Magic.) 31m41s: Here's Emma's streaming co-host Javion Smith. 32m10s: Here's Emma's list of games: Board Games 7 Summits One Deck Dungeon War Chest The Duke Dune: Imperium Video Games Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes Roundguard Pawnbarian Return of the Obra Dinn Outside In What the Golf? 41m06s: Renys is very much a Maine thing. 43m20s: Sue Grafton wrote the "alphabet mystery series" of detective novels featuring investigator Kinsey Millhone, starting with A is for Alibi and ending with Y is for Yesterday. She sadly never got to the last letter, passing away in 2017. Her daughter said since Grafton never finished what was to be the final book in the series, Z is for Zero, and they did not wish to hire a ghostwriter, "as far as we in the family are concerned, the alphabet now ends at Y." 44m59s: Emma’s pen of choice, the Pilot Precise V5 Rollerball Extra Fine. 46m18s: Sen recommends jetpens.com for all your writing needs. 47m13s: Here's what we're all working on! Sen My Singing Monsters: The Board Game Erica Rat Queens: To the Slaughter Scott Alien: Fate of the Nostromo Gil The Rival Networks Weird Stories (which now has a cover!) High Rise: Ultraplastic Geoff Triumvir Super-Skill Pinball: Ramp it Up Nova League  Emma Abandon All Artichokes on Tabletopia Tea & Me 50m03s: Emma's Twitter, Twitch, and web site.

Geoff parachutes into the world of battle royale games like Fortnite, and how they eclipsed MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games like Heroes of the Storm. Is there something special about battle royales that we can study as general lessons in game designs?

Emma and Gil welcome returning guest Eric Zimmerman, who last appeared on the show on Episode 79 to discuss the magic circle in gaming. This time, Eric discusses his idea of the 21st century being a "ludic century," and what makes games especially important today. We also discuss how games' powers can be used for evil, if tabletop games can become more environmentally sustainable, and see if there can be an equivalent to farmers' markets or slow food in tabletop game. SHOW NOTES 1m26s: Eric's previous tabletop games: Quantum, The Metagame (with Colleen Macklin and John Sharp). He also mentions Gamelab, Diner Dash, Sissyfight, Dear Reader, NYU Game Center (where Gil and Geoff are also adjuncts), and Rules of Play. Eric also mentions his large-scale art installation games that he's done with his partner Nathalie Pozzi. Here are a few of them: Interference, Starry Heavens, and Waiting Rooms. 5m34s: Here is Eric's original Ludic Century essay/manifesto, published in 2013. 16m27s: More info about Bernie De Koven and his influential book The Well-Played Game. 18m13s: More info about the slimy practice of gerrymandering. Eric also mentions the board game El Grande. 21m45s: More info about systemic racism. 24m17s: More info about Ultimate, also known as Ultimate Frisbee. 25m53s: One thing to note here is that impartial referees in sports are a relatively recent development. In the mid-19th century, both baseball and association football (soccer) originally had each team bring their own umpire, who would attempt to agree on calls. Back then, umpires did not make calls proactively; players had to appeal to the umpire in order to get a decision.  This changed as teams got more competitive and team-based umpires failed to be impartial. Both sports brought in a neutral referee who could resolve disputes between the umpires; baseball in 1857, soccer in 1881. Eventually, the team-based umpires were dropped entirely, with soccer keeping the single referee (though they eventually added two linesmen to help make calls) and baseball renaming the referee back to "umpire" and adding three additional umpires to handle calls at each base. (Sources: Strike Four: The Evolution of Baseball, Richard Hershberger, and The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer, David Goldblatt.) 30m52s: Jane McGonigal's book Reality is Broken. 36m34s: The influential behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner. 48m32s: Cheapass Games has made many of their older "envelope" games available as print-and-play downloads. 49m00s: The gone-and-gladly-forgotten CD longbox. 50m15s: The Zoomable game RATS: High Tea at Sea by Eric and Josh DeBonis.  55m42s: More information about the environmental concerns around cryptocurrency. 1h03m10s: Slow Food is an organization related to the slow movement that pushes back against the fast pace of modern life. 1h09m35s: The game Gil mentions is Avatar Stalker, from the folks at Project Avatar. He also mentions The Nest, which was first mentioned on the show by Hayley Cooper of Strange Bird Immersive on Ludology 214 - Escape from Reality. 1h12m27s: Eric mentions the artists Alex Katz and Kara Walker. 1h15m55s: Eric’s website, the NYU Game Center, and Eric's partner Nathalie Pozzi.

Scott takes us through the history of the bizarre drinking game Pass-Out, which is arguably a direct predecessor to the modern risqué adult party game.  (Note: We at Ludology do not condone binge drinking, especially when prompted by a game. If a game tells you that you have to drink, but you feel that you need to stop drinking, you should stop playing the game.) BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A BOARD GAME https://punchdrink.com/articles/house-rules-pass-out-board-game-1960s-drinking-game/ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19910806&id=G1pYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DvoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7002,621780&hl=en https://boardgames.com/designer/frank-bresee#google_vignette

Emma and Gil sit down with Carla Kopp of Weird Giraffe Games and Galactic Raptor Games to discuss designing solo modes for games, the merits of "bots" in solo games, and how these bots tend to be named "Steve." SHOW NOTES 2m00s: Carla's first published game Super Hack Override. 4m53s: We spoke with Morten Monrad Pedersen on Ludology 154 - Leave Me Alone! about using Automa to make solo versions of games. 7m02s: Sarah Reed is a game designer, disability advocate, and all-around excellent person.  11m00s: The Cat Lady implementation for iOS and Android. 18m20s: Just a quick reminder that we’re talking about the digital implementation of the game Cat Lady, as opposed to Carla’s tabletop AIs. AI difficulty levels are more common in apps than they are in tabletop games.  19m45s: The Splendor digital implementation is sadly no longer available. 20m34s: Gil mentions the solo mode that comes in the tabletop version of It’s a Wonderful World. Emma mentions the solo mode from the Galaxy Trucker app. 21m13s: Calico 21m47s: Gil forgets to mention that Friedemann Friese included an “achievement sheet” in Copycat. 23m49s: Race for the Galaxy. We chatted with Theresa Duringer, CEO of Temple Gates, who developed the app, in Ludology 177 - AI AI, Captain!  24m26s: We're talking about the COIN (Counterinsurgencies) series of games, which have asymmetry built into them. Usually, each faction has a bot that allows many or all factions to be present in the game, even at a low player count. We talked to Volko Ruhnke, who began the series, in Ludology 178 - COIN Operated. 24m56s: The virtual gaming platform Tabletop Simulator. 26m54s: The three-body problem. 27m19s: Power Grid: The Robots 28m33s: Dune: Imperium, Smartphone Inc. 29m21s: Gil's second published game Battle Merchants. 31m24s: The Networks 33m10s: The underrated but absolutely amazing Fantasy Realms.  34m49s: Seven Wonders and Alhambra. We discussed desicion scales in games with Matt Wolfe in Ludology 157 - Come Scale Away. 35m36s: Abandon All Artichokes 36m51s: Skull, Space Dealer 37m33s: Weird Giraffe's upcoming games: Sara Perry's Gift of Tulips, and Fertessa Alysse's Wicked & Wise. 40m12s: Tokaido 48m02s: Carla's company with Dan Letzring, Galactic Raptor. Dan also runs Letiman Games. 51m45s: Bunny Kingdom, Root. We interviewed Root's designer, Cole Wehrle, most recently on Ludology 222 - Johnny Fairplay. 53m07s: Charterstone, Feudum 55m48s: The free cardmaking program nanDECK. 56m59s: The often-linked conditions of Narcolepsy and Cataplexy. 1h05m58s: "Tony" here is designer, podcast host, and excellent person Tony Miller. 1h09m09s: Carla’s website, Discord, and Twitter.  

Geoff talks about how games benefit when designers use familiar terms to describe familiar concepts. He also dives into the term "mana," tracing it back to its indigenous origins, and explains how it became a popular gaming term to track how much magic a character can expend.

Emma and Gil sit down with James Mendez Hodes to discuss his work as a cultural consultant, and the series of "orcticles" he wrote describing how the depiction of orcs in fantasy games can bring up problematic real-world stereotypes. CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes many references to racism and a section discussing sexual assault. SHOW NOTES 01m55s: Orcus, a god of the underworld. 04m29s: J.R.R. Tolkien's Urak-hai, the strongest kind of Orc in Middle Earth. 27m49s: The Marathi people from India. We also get into the thorny, complicated, and vitally-important subject of intersectionality. 32m57s: Here is the Adam Ruins Everything episode on the "model minority" myth. 34m30s: Gil meant the "domino theory," a Cold War idea that suggested that one country that became communist would inevitably make its neighbors, and those neighbors, communist as well. 38m04s: More information about James Baldwin's writings on race. 45m19s: We had John talking safety tools on Ludology 227 - Respect the X. 53m03s: Edward Said’s Orientalism is an important analysis of how a group of colonizing nations perceive the nations they colonize. 57m56s: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story  1h06m28s: Here is the comic Gil and Mendez are talking about, as well as the Sam Sykes tweet that inspired it. 1h11m43s: Here's another link to Jiangsi: Blood in the Banquet Hall (which seems to come up every episode!). We spoke with Banana in Ludology 228 - The Roles We Play, and Sen most recently in Ludology 236 - Role With It. Of course, you will hear a lot more from Sen soon on this very show! We also mention the RPG Agon. 1h14m43s: Blaise Pascal first expressed the sentiment in his 16th Letter from his lettres provinciales: "Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte." Mark Twain wrote out a similar thought two centuries later: "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." 1h19m08s: More information about Maria Dahvana Headley's modern-day vernacular translation of Beowulf. Also, Eric Zimmerman's plea to keep games away from art, because in his words, "enshrining something as art is death." 1h22m47s: Mendez' website, Twitter, and Patreon.

Scott describes the history of Quarriors!, which became the base system for both the Marvel and DC Dice Masters games, among other licenses.  BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A BOARD GAME Tabletop Gaming Magazine issue 3 “The Making of Marvel Dice Masters” by Owen Duffy https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/30410/designer-diary-dice-masters-no-catchy-title-just-b https://thegaminggang.com/game-news/table-top-gaming/the-gaming-gang-extra-77-interview-with-game-designer-mike-elliott/ http://www.ludology.net/ - episode 13 https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134033-Marvel-Dice-Masters-Meets-Incredible-Response-Sells-Out-Rapidly