The Game Design Round Table

Latest Episodes:

#38: Polish, Penalties & Updates Jul 30, 2013

Show notes

Jon and Dirk discuss several games at length this week, namely: Monaco, the new Walking Dead chapter, Super Crate Box for the Ouya and Civ 5: Brave New World. Topics covered include how penalties can improve a game, the importance of polish, and why diplomacy in 4X games always seems to be bad.

#37: Failure, Punishment and Learning Jul 23, 2013

Show notes

Jon, Dirk and David discuss the role of failure in games and how it ties in with how people learn how to play. What does punishment add, and where can it go wrong? How do you effectively teach players strategy games? What do PLAYERS get out of failure? And how the heck do you learn a tabletop game without tooltips?

#36: Occult Chronicles & Life as an Indie. With Vic Davis Jul 16, 2013

Show notes

Dirk sits down with game designer Vic Davis of Cryptic Comet games to talk about life as an indie designer, Vic's dark game design decisions, and his new game 'Occult Chronicles'.

#35: Ethics in Design, Hotline Miami & Updates Jul 09, 2013

Show notes

Jon and Dirk cover a variety of games they've played lately, including the new 'Walking Dead' expansion, 'Ascension' and '1775'. The discussion gets serious when 'Hotline Miami' comes up, and the crew debates the role of ethics in game design. They wrap up on a lighter note, describing the challenge of integrating mechanics and UI in a tabletop game, and how to instill life into fictional characters.

#34: Progression Systems. With Soren Johnson Jul 02, 2013

Show notes

Soren Johnson returns to the show to discuss progression systems with Jon and Dirk, with a special focus on technology trees. What are the advantages and disadvantages of abstraction? How do Diablo 2 and 3 and Civilization 4 and 5 differ? What is At the Gates doing with Romanization Perks? And hell, what makes for a good progression system anyways? All of these questions - and more - are answered within!

#33: Unity of Command. With Tomislav Uzelac Jun 25, 2013

Show notes

Jon and Dirk are joined by Tomislav Uzelac, designer of the amazing WW2 strategy game 'Unity of Command' and studio lead for 2x2 Games. They dig into the title's superb AI, its innovative supply system, building a streamlined strategic experience and the challenges of running a game studio from Croatia.

#32: Don't Starve, Shogun, Wiz-War & Updates Jun 18, 2013

Show notes

Jon and Dirk discuss a few games they've played lately which make good first impressions but ultimately fall short: 'Don't Starve', 'Shogun' and 'Wiz-War'. They then transition over to talking about what they've been working on, including AI character personality and AI design in 'At the Gates', getting into the meat of development with 'Futbol Strategy' and switching developers for 'War Stories'.

#31: Tactics & Repetition Jun 11, 2013

Show notes

Jon, Dirk and David discuss tactics in a more general sense. What is a tactical game? What problems does the genre have? Why does Jon hate basically all of them? And is it the players' fault if their tactical choices aren't as interesting as they could be?

#30: Design Lessons & Sirlin Games. With David Sirlin Jun 04, 2013

Show notes

Jon and Dirk are joined by David Sirlin, designer of tabletop titles Puzzle Strike, Yomi and Flash Duel. The group discusses his past games, future plans, building a tabletop company, David's interesting journey from the Street Fighter community into design, and the vital importance of balance and asymmetry.

#29: Solium Infernum, 'Futbol Strategy' & More May 28, 2013

Show notes

Jon and Dirk finally get around to discussing 'Solium Infernum', a tabletop-digital "hybrid" strategy title where you aim to become the lord of hell. They wheel around and talk about the light worker placement game 'Stone Age' and why it might be a great entry point for casual fans. After our hosts wrap up what they've played with a brief revisiting of 'Command and Colors', Dirk reveals his newest tabletop project, 'Futbol Strategy', and Jon provides an update on 'At the Gates' and his plans to revisit the game's victory conditions and strategic trade-offs.

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