Ludology

New Content! Geoff interviews Barry Joseph and Eric Teo about the game Gutsy. Barry is the Associate Director of Digital Learning at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and as part of a new exhibit on the human microbiome the team at AMNH worked with Eric Teo, to develop the card game Gutsy. Many of you know Eric Teo as the host of the Push Ur Luck Podcast, and he is also a graduate student studying game design at the NYU Game Center. Why do a card game? What do they hope to teach, and what other roles do games have to augment museum exhibits? A Print & Play copy of Gutsy can be downloaded at the AMNH website! Duration 25:45

Mike and Geoff take a look at "Take That" games. When does this mechanic work, and when does it fail? Duration: 1:13:34

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about the revolutionary studies about the human microbiome, and what that can teach us about playing and designing games. Duration: 06:13

What changes are usually made between a first and second edition of a game? And what does that teach us about the design process? Mike and Geoff are joined by guest Paul Grogan, who was heavily involved in the new edition of Through The Ages with CGE, to examine these questions. And since we're talking about Through The Ages, we had to invite Ryan Sturm to come back for an encore visit to the program. Duration 01:21:00

Geoff gives a quick report on his play of Advanced Civilization last week. Duration: 08:17

Mike and Geoff talk CHAOS! Mike loves it in his games. Can he convince Geoff of its charms? Duration: 1:04:37

In this classic GameTek, Geoff discusses the Sunk Cost Fallacy. Duration: 05:05

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

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

Mike and Geoff select their top 10 entries from the Ludology contest, and reveal the winner! Duration: 1:04:57  

In this classic GameTek Geoff looks at memory, and how games work with or against it. Duration: 06:10

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

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about luck and what increases or decreases it. Duration: 06:13

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

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

Mike and Geoff open up the mailbag and answer difficult and interesting listener questions! Duration: 1:09:26

In this classic GameTek, Geoff takes a look at the debate that raged in the 1990's between Narratologists and Ludologists. Duration: 05:59

Geoff is pleased to welcome Scott Rogers, designer of video games such as Darksiders and God of War, and author of the books Level Up! and Swipe This! The discussion centers around the concept of a 'level' as popularized in video games. Why is it such a popular way to organize games? What advantages does it give the designer? And what is the analog in the boardgame world? Duration: 01:16:05

In this classic GameTek, Geoff looks at how a good analogy can dramatically simplify learning a game. Duration: 06:00

Mike and Geoff take a deep dive into the Antoine Bauza game Seven Wonders. What works? What doesn't? What drove the design decisions? Duration: 01:16:26