Three Moves Ahead

Latest Episodes:

Three Moves Ahead 187: Faster Than Light, Slower Than Death Sep 25, 2012

Show notes

Michael Hermes joins Rob, Troy, and Julian to talk about FTL. Why FTL understands why we like space, its lovely simplicity, and why unfairness is cool.
Read Troy on FTL, then read Rob on his rendezvous with death.

Three Moves Ahead 186: Playing at the World Sep 19, 2012

Show notes

This week, Troy and Bruce talk to Jon Peterson, author of the epic gaming history tome, Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures from Chess to Role-Playing Games. They talk about the turning points in the evolution of wargames, when a wargame becomes a role playing game and the important task of collecting and compliling gaming’s long and often small scale history.

Three Moves Ahead 185: Class is in Session Sep 10, 2012

Show notes

This week, Troy, Julian and Bruce welcome back frequent guests Rob Daviau and Bill Abner to talk about the touchy subject of trying to teach games. Though the focus is on board gaming, there are useful lessons about how to approach communication, building the right mindset for the pupil and the challenges of trying to read, teach, play and compete all at once.

Three Moves Ahead 184: Best-Case Scenario Sep 04, 2012

Show notes

Julian and Rob are wrapping up their vacation when they realize they should probably record a show. An underwhelming board game and their simmering frustration with long campaigns leads to a discussion of what they want from scenario design. They consider the tension between their desire a self-contained, quick-playing scenario and their resentment of puzzles and narrow solutions.

Three Moves Ahead 183: Taking Command for Bull Run 2: Run Harder Aug 28, 2012

Show notes

Bruce, Troy, and Rob discuss Take Command: 2nd Manassas and why it is one of the best tactical Civil War games ever made. Along the way they discuss what they want from wargames, mission structure, and how few games really address the real challenges of battlefield command. The group lapse into a Tim Stone-induced reverie as they discuss games that have dealt with command and control from the perspective of a Napoleon or Lee. Apologies for sound quality issues: Rob’s microphone was having a disastrous day.

Three Moves Ahead 182: Three's a Crowdsourcing Aug 21, 2012

Show notes

Bruce, Troy, and Rob discuss the changing landscape of game financing, or at least they try to. The end up discussing Kickstarter almost exclusively, the return of Tom vs. Bruce, and their feelings of optimism about what crowd-funding can mean. Troy douses them with the cold water of reality. They also contemplate the strange meta-game of Kickstarters, and Ian Bogost's skepticism. Nobody can pronounce OUYA.

Three Moves Ahead 181: Blendo Games Aug 14, 2012

Show notes

Blendo Games' Brendon Chung joins Rob and Julian to talk about Flotilla, Atom Zombie Smasher, Gravity Bone, and his approach to design. Rob and Julian are fascinated by his willingness to conclude a game when it is at its best, and Brendon explains why that is and the things from his own games that he wants to revisit. Rob is crushed to hear of the lost, X-COM style metagame for Atom Zombie Smasher.

Three Moves Ahead 180: Thinking Machines Aug 06, 2012

Show notes

Soren Johnson and Cryptic Comet's Vic Davis return to talk about artificial intelligence, its limitations, and their changing views on what to do about it.

Three Moves Ahead 179: Spy Games Jul 30, 2012

Show notes

Soren Johnson returns to talk spies, espionage, and covert action with Rob and Julian. They then subject espionage mechanics to forty minutes of interrogation, torture, and unkind words. Then they remember the one game they've played that has spies and espionage that they don't hate. Suspiciously, Rob's microphone fails midway through the show. Happenstance or sabotage from an enemy agent?

Three Moves Ahead 178: Unit Customization and Game Design Jul 23, 2012

Show notes

Sixth Beatle Soren Johnson returns along with new guest, Cliff Harris from Positech - designer of Gratuitous Space Battles and the new Gratuitous Tank Battles. This week, how does the idea of unit customization fit with general design principles? At what point is this mechanic an intrusion into good 4x game design? Where do designer and player expectations collide?

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