Know Direction Network

Latest Episodes:

Game Design Unboxed 107: Monkey Palace Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

In episode 107 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with David Gordon about his co-design Monkey Palace, the new LEGO game! Learn about how he and TAM took a design brief given to them and designed an engine building game about building temples to upgrade your engine to earn banana points. Also, hear about the constraints that come with designing under NDAs on this and other games.

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Featuring:

David Gordon – Guest

Danielle Reynolds – Host

Digital Divination 127 – Making Monsters for Starfinder 2E Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

John, Ron, and Jason talk about crafting monsters for Starfinder 2nd Edition.

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Ron Lundeen is an employee of Wizards of the Coast and his opinions are his own.

Intrepid Heroes 150 – Something Oozy Going On Here Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

Look out for grabby oozes dropping from above!

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Game Design Unboxed 106: Tír na nÓg Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

In episode 106 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Jason Slingerland about his co-design Tír na nÓg. When Jason started designing in 2012 there weren’t many resources for designers so he started the Building the Game podcast with a friend. He used the podcast to help himself and other designers learn more about games, the industry and design. Through the years Jason gained experience and had his 9th game Tír na nÓg released with Grand Gamers Guild. The game used a straddle draft mechanic mixed with different scoring mechanics to form a great entry-level game. It was used by the publisher to test Gamefound’s crowdfunding platform and had a decent first print run but it sold out quickly thanks to reviewers which caused them to quickly put a second print run onto Kickstarter with extra content!

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Featuring:

Jason Slingerland – Guest

Danielle Reynolds – Host

Know Direction Beyond 92: SF2 In Review Jan 11, 2025

Show notes

Alex and James recount their experiences running and playing in Starfinder 2e playtest sessions.

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Digital Divination 126 – Can’t Wait for Starfinder 2E! Jan 09, 2025

Show notes

John, Ron, and Jason talk about some of the latest news coming out about Starfinder 2nd Edition.

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Ron Lundeen is an employee of Wizards of the Coast and his opinions are his own.

Intrepid Heroes 149 – Catwalks and Couriers! Jan 06, 2025

Show notes

Our heroes encounter dangerous creatures and ghost couriers as they travel the catwalks of the ghost levels.

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Game Design Unboxed 105: Omicron Protocol Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

In episode 105 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Bernie Lin and Brendan Kendrick about their first design Omicron Protocol, a skirmish miniatures game designed to help bring more people to the love of miniatures. They were inspired by a convention panel to self-publish knowing they wanted to create an “intra-apocalyptic”, cyberpunk-themed world for 1-4 players. Through designing they added a co-operative mode for the game that helped them teach the game to players new to miniatures games at conventions. Some of their favorite moments were hearing how nice it was to see Asian miniatures and females with different body types. They wanted all different kinds of players to be able to see themselves in the game.

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Featuring:

Bernie Lin – Guest
Brendan Kendrick – Guest
Danielle Reynolds – Host

Upshift 039 with Jim Sorenson Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

Transformers historian and super fan Jim Sorenson tells Ryan about joining the Essence20 writing team on Enigma of Combination and Technorganic Secrets.