

Ludology
Erica Hayes-Bouyouris, Sen-Foong Lim
Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the how’s and why’s of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, and discusses game history, game design and game players.
Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.
Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 11, 2015 • 6min
GameTek Classic 113 - Sunk Costs
In this classic GameTek, Geoff discusses the Sunk Cost Fallacy.
Duration: 05:05

Oct 4, 2015 • 1h 18min
Ludology Episode 113 - Crossover
What games cross over into traditional retailers like Target and Barnes and Noble? Mike and Geoff are joined by Andrew Lupp, National Sales Manager of PSI, to learn the ins and outs. Andrew works with big chains to help them decide which games will sell to the general public, and walks us through the process.
Duration: 1:18:15

Sep 27, 2015 • 20min
GameTek Classic 112 - Betrayal
NEW CONTENT! Geoff interviews Vlad Niculae of Cornell about his recent research on predicting betrayal via written communications. The foundation of the study? An only repository of 300 Diplomacy games and all 150,000 messages they generated.
Vlad's new project is the online game StreetCrowd, which is also exploring communications and team dynamics.
Duration: 20:27

Sep 20, 2015 • 1h 5min
Ludology Episode 112 - MechaTheme
Mike and Geoff select their top 10 entries from the Ludology contest, and reveal the winner!
Duration: 1:04:57

Aug 30, 2015 • 6min
GameTek Classic 111 - Memory
In this classic GameTek Geoff looks at memory, and how games work with or against it.
Duration: 06:10

Aug 23, 2015 • 1h 6min
Ludology Episode 111 - Silver Ball Playbook
Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome pinball game designer Keith Johnson, designer of games such as Simpsons Pinball Party, Revenge From Mars, and Lord of the Rings.
What are the special design techniques used for designing a pinball game? How do you keep players engaged? How do you make the fixed physical layout feel different in different modes?
Duration: 01:05:40

Aug 16, 2015 • 6min
GameTek Classic 110 - Luck
In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about luck and what increases or decreases it.
Duration: 06:13

Aug 9, 2015 • 56min
Ludology Episode 110 - The Battle Begins
Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome guest Richard Borg to discuss the art of designing war games with mainstream appeal. Mr. Borg is the designer of the Command and Colors series of games, which includes Memoir 44 and Battlelore. What are the features of an entry-level wargame? How can you simplify but still capture the essence of a battle?
Duration: 56:06

Aug 1, 2015 • 8min
GameTek Classic 109 - Power
In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about making the player feel powerful.
We also launch our part of the big Dice Tower Network contest!
Duration: 7:42

Jul 26, 2015 • 1h 9min
Ludology Episode 109 - We're Listening
Mike and Geoff open up the mailbag and answer difficult and interesting listener questions!
Duration: 1:09:26