The Covenant Cast

Latest Episodes:

149: How to Ruin a Game, Part 6 - Communication Aug 31, 2020

Show notes

In our final episode of the "How to Ruin a Game" series, and our final episode of Season 3, we embrace one of the most sacred necessities of any modern business - what to say, how to say it, and perhaps most importantly, when to say it. It's particularly relevant for community-driven games, where even a day of silence can compromise everything.

We'll be back after a few weeks with Episode 150 to kick off Season 4!

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

148: How to Ruin a Game, Part 5 - Marketing Aug 24, 2020

Show notes

The ultimate buzzword for any business, marketing is yet another way that tabletop games can fail - and effective marketing is a particularly unique quandary in this industry. Join us for an exploration of marketing considerations for every publisher, from our perspective as an online and local retailer.

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

147: How to Ruin a Game, Part 4 - Production Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

There's a hard reality behind every expandable game. The system can be perfectly designed without extraneous, floating information and rules bloat. The content can stick to first principles while adding exciting new decision points. The organized play program can be robust and focused on the right things. But if production is erratic, delayed, and uncertain, none of it matters.

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

146: Ashes Relaunch and the PDP System Aug 08, 2020

Show notes

Expandable card games thread the middle ground between the fixed costs of board games and the evolving meta of collectible games, but non-cooperative titles have struggled to survive in the standard three tier system. Join us for a discussion about the fundamental reasons for this difficulty, and a potential solution to them - one we're pioneering in partnership with Plaid Hat Games.

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

145: How to Ruin a Game, Part 3 - Organized Play Aug 01, 2020

Show notes

Organized play is so much more than tournaments, and so often a tremendous source of dysfunction for the long-term health of an expandable game. It's incredibly important, and surprisingly simple - but few publishers understand that it's as critical as the content being printed.

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

144: How to Ruin a Game, Part 2 - Random Access Memory Jul 26, 2020

Show notes

On our second installment of this hyperbolically titled mini-series, we spotlight how information can build during the course of a game - or even before it begins - to the point that meaningful decisions cease to exist. Stacking an ever-growing burden of need-to-remember information does not give a game more depth, just as taxing a computer's RAM is usually a crutch for sloppy development. Will new games like Skytear and Flesh and Blood keep things clean, or, as many others, will they fall into the trap? Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

143: How to Ruin a Game, Part 1 - First Principles Jul 11, 2020

Show notes

So you get excited for an expandable game, buy in, and fall in love. Each new expansion opens up new, unexplored ways to play. Time passes, players come and go, and then suddenly you find yourself sitting down to play and realizing that you don't really enjoy it much anymore. Something about the game just isn't what it used to be, and you long for the magic of those first moments.

Sound familiar? Join us for a discussion about one reason this happens - a breaking of the "first principles" that make a game what it is.

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

142: The Collectible Format ft. Flesh and Blood Jul 07, 2020

Show notes

Collectibility is usually a divisive topic - with some claiming the format is predatory and ethically dubious. But what happens when you view the model as something more productive than a convoluted and expensive way to get everything? Lessons from the past may well cause a realignment of expectations, and a much more enjoyable - and sustainable - approach to a game like Flesh and Blood. Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

141: Starting Games Jun 28, 2020

Show notes

Publishers and retailers face a big challenge in onboarding players, the former typically leading the charge through the products that they make. Having recently experienced the classic, random cards approach of the 90s, as well as the somewhat revolutionary, "brand new system and expandable line" approach of Infinity CodeOne, we discuss starter products with a newfound appreciation.

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

140: Carcosa Reflections Jun 21, 2020

Show notes

After eight weeks of cooperative campaign play through Arkham Horror's Path to Carcosa, there's simply no comparison to the experience. This might be the best that cooperative tabletop can be.

Find all previous casts, as well as learning content and products, on our website: https://teamcovenant.com

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