Stay ConnectedWelcome 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.
Copyright: © Geoff Engelstein, Sen-Foong Lim, and Erica Bouyouris
In this classic GameTek, Geoff takes a look at car washes and the Endowed Progress Effect. How can we use it to get players more engaged in a game?
Duration: 05:30
Ryan and Geoff tackle the concept of an 'objective' in a game - not just end game objectives, but techniques for building a series of mini-objectives to keep the player engaged and the game moving forward.
What types of objectives work well? What is the difference between public, private, and hidden objectives, and how do those interact?
Duration: 01:17:54
In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about how businesses are trying to use games to appeal to customers.
Duration: 07:25
Licnesed games like X-Wing and the upcoming Star Trek: Attack Wing are hugely popular. But how is designing a game with a license different? Ryan and Geoff are pleased to welcome back guest Andrew Parks to delve into these questions. Andrew is the designer of a wide variety of licensed games, including The Nightmare Before Christmas TCG, 300, Hogwarts House Cup, Hunger Games District 12, and the upcoming Star Trek: Attack Wing.
How do you invoke the theme of the licensed property? Does it make game design simpler or more challenging? How much is dictated by the licensing company?
Answers to all of these questions, plus tons of spoilers about Attack Wing and a very special Core Worlds reveal!
Duration: 01:02
In this classic GameTek, Geoff looks at intransitive dice - Dice where die A tends to beat die B, which tends to beat die C, which tends to beat die A.
This was a big topic of discussion on the Dice Tower form when it was first released, so please continue the conversation over on the Ludology forums!
Duration: 08:28
Ryan and Geoff reivew the status of "Trading in the Mediterranean", their publicly-developed board game. After talking about the current version and how it has evolved, they talk about what's working and what's not, and how to fix it.
Duration: 01:13:50
This episode of Ludology is sponsored by Sissyfight 2000, now on Kickstarter!
In this classic GameTek, Geoff interviews Gil Hova, who designed the game Prolix, about the different concerns in designing a word game versus other genres of games.
Duration: 26:35
Ryan and Geoff discuss the interplay between short and long-term objectives in games. How can designers use these to create a richer game experience? What impact do they have on complexity and the learning curve?
Duration: 01:04:15
This episode of Ludology is sponsored by Relic Expedition, currently on Kickstarter!
In this classic GameTek, Geoff continues talking about Entanglement and quantum physics by introducing the game Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe. Check out the full rules on Wikipedia, which also links to several online implementations.
Duration: 06:54
This episode of Ludology is sponsored by Relic Expedition, currently on Kickstarter!
This special episode of Ludology is a recording of a game design panel Geoff particiated in at PAX East 2013, in Boston. The topic was "Impact of Video Game Design Techniques on Board Games".
Joining Geoff were Christopher Badell, designer of Sentinels of the Multiverse, Colby Dauch, designer of Summoner Wars, Matt Morgan, writer for Wired GeekDad, and Russ Wakelin of the D6 Generation.
Duration: 1:05
This episode of Ludology is sponsored by Relic Expedition, currently on Kickstarter!
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