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This week, you were asked to find and listen to any episode of The Game Design Roundtable podcast that struck you as especially interesting.

Before 11:59 pm on Friday, post a reflection of your listening experience here. Include (1) the episode you listened to, (2) why you selected it, (3) what you learned, (4) who you would recommend check out this particular episode.

Then, before 11:59 pm on Monday, September 26th, respond to at least two of your classmates. Remember to be conversational! (What did you find surprising or interesting about the podcast they listened to? Does it relate to your own interests? Does this mirror your strengths as a game designer, or does it tap into an area that is outside of your expertise?)

Spoiler alert: Next week, you’re going to be asked to listen to a podcast FROM THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE IN THIS FORUM. Keep that in mind as you review everyone’s reflections! And have fun!

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I listened to episode #214: Game Theme with Will Thompson on The Game Design Round Table Spotify. I originally selected this episode because it discusses Game THeme, which is something that we just discusses last week; however, after looking at the description, I really wanted to watch it to learn about the controversy surrounding the game, Scramble for Africa.
After listening, I have learned so much about not just Scramble for Africa but the historical contexts of many gaming scenes. Scramble for Africa is a game that focuses on European colonization, as many games do, of Africa. However, what separates this game from many other games, is that Scramble for Africa makes the player have the European mindset, which basically dehumanizes and falsely portrays Africans as people who need saving and civilizing. In addition, the game also lacks information on how certain African communities successfully fought off colonization, such as the people of Ethiopia. This episode made me realize how many games take this idea of colonization and romanticize it, which further contributes to ideas of racism and dehumanization of indigenous, African, and minority communities.
I would highly recommend this podcast episode to anyone who is interested in social justice and reinventing the (gaming) world to not use other people’s struggles as sources of entertainment. I would honestly recommend that everyone listen to this episode as it discusses real-world issues and how gaming can be used to be proactive in social equality and recognition.

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Hi Gabrielle!
I’ve never heard of Scramble for Africa, but it doesn’t sound like anything I’d like. Honestly, it kind of reminds me of Risk. My brothers love the game because they like the political intrigue and discussions that come out of it. I, however, always get a queasy feeling in my stomach thinking about wanting to compete for world domination, especially because I usually think of it as glorified colonialism. Yes, the players are competing to win their war, but in taking over territories in the way they do, if the game was real, they’d be potentially killing, pillaging, and ruining hundreds of thousands of lives. I’m definitely going to check out this episode!

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Hi Gabby!

I found your post to be really interesting because this is the first time I’m hearing of this game and it’s crazy to see how games, created for people to have fun, sometimes do the opposite of its intended purpose. I agree with Anna; the game doesn’t sound like something I’d enjoy either. This game uses a historical theme without considering precisely what the game mechanics say about that theme. It’s acceptable that game designers and publishers make mistakes, but those mistakes must be confronted. Only by demanding better games and better people playing them can we confront these issues.

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Hi Gabby!

This sounds like it was a really interesting episode of the podcast, I might have to check it out for next week’s discussion. I’ve never heard of this game before, but just by looking at your post it sounds like a much more demeaning and condescending version of Risk. But, I would have to agree that games like this definitely romanticizes colonists and racists all over. I don’t think I would enjoy playing this game because of the sole fact that I would probably just get so angered by the false representation of African culture and the praising of colonization.

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The episode that I listened to was #197 Megagames with Ben Kanelos and Leslie Loy. This title stood out to me at first because I started thinking of what could be considered a megagame (it really is kind of a funny name)– is it a physically large size game, almost like the games out of the infamous gameshow Family Game Night? Or is it ‘mega’ in the number of players playing at once, like the cultural phenomenon of Pokémon Go? Well, Leslie Loy, who is part of West Coast Megagames, a coalition of megagame organizers for the West Coast, describes it as a ‘large scale simulation with anywhere from 10 to 100, or even 300 players playing in person for 2 to 8 hours’. Leslie mentions that the 10-100 is kind of like a ‘sweet-spot’ for the number of players who can actively play and have a role in the megagame, which made me think about the Schell lenses of space from this week’s reading. For a megagame, space is a valuable resource; it seems like everybody is moving and participating at the same time, which means the game structure would turn into chaos with thousands of people. Another interesting point Leslie makes is that there isn’t really a single experience for one who plays a megagame. One of the major identifiers of a megagame that I learned is that since megagames have so many players, individual players never have all the information about the state of the game, often relying instead on hierarchies from different subteams and information trickling down to understand the larger context of the game or the status of other sub-teams. I also learned what it’s like to be a ‘gamemaster’ for a megagame, as Leslie and Ben both share their experiences in the episode. Leslie mentioned that this kind of experience lets her learn the values and intricacies of other people, especially since the simulations tend to model real-world scenarios. For example, Watch the Skies deals with international relations, conflict and high level diplomacy. I thought this was interesting as it tied back to the concept of human nature and instinct coming out during gameplay in previous readings. I feel like watching someone in a megagame could reveal a lot about their personality and the way they think, which would be really quite interesting. Part of the fun of megagames is also the social aspect of the controllers; Leslie said that megagames attract a diverse player range, since they blend together role play and other gaming formats. Thus, someone who doesn’t like sitting down and reading complex rules wouldn’t be drawn away from a megagame, making it an enjoyable experience for lots of different people. I really enjoyed learning about how modern technology is used to augment the megagame experience. For example, there are groups using apps to go along with the game experience, and although this isn’t common place, the use of graphics and digital components is picking up in the megagame world. I wonder what the megagame experience was like during the Covid-19 pandemic, when that face to face interaction wasn’t possible. Lastly, the podcast ended by mentioning what a first-time megagame experience was like. Ben described it as running a marathon: sweating, exhaustion, etc after 8 long hours on play. This really shows the intensity of the megagame experience. They mention that people often spend 30 min-1hour debriefing the game, and even ‘retire to a bar after to continue talking about it’, which emphasized how invigorating it can be to play a mega game.

I would recommend this podcast episode to anyone who is interested in ‘non-traditional’ game formats. I know that for myself, I don’t consider myself an avid gamer and I have no interest in video games. So, listening about an in-person gameplay experience was quite interesting. I’d also recommend this podcast to someone who is interested in psychology, as the episode dives into what kind of character archetypes (introverts, extroverts) etc. thrive in megagames and how different kinds of people can find their space in the megagame world.

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Hi Maria!
I never knew there was a specific definition of these kinds of games! I always thought LARPing was a category in itself, but this has really opened my eyes! It also made me want to see a megagame in person now! I feel like being around all that energy and passion is a really cool experience, especially for people who don’t feel it in many other spaces. I’m also slightly apprehensive; I don’t know if I would fit in, honestly. So much love for an experience feels kind of intimidating from an outside perspective. I’m also curious about how the different character archetypes react to that kind of atmosphere; since I define myself as an ambivert, I wonder how I would feel.

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I listened to the episode “#199: Tabletop Game Designer – Scott Almes,” which I chose because I wanted some more insight into what goes into tabletop games (my brothers are really big D&D fans, and they keep trying to get me into it). Almes talked a lot about his perspective as a freelance game designer since he spends his day job as a mechanical engineer. These jobs go hand in hand a lot, according to him, since both strive to complete their end goal of creating something functional, and in the case of games, fun and functional. He also talks a lot about the process of coming up with the idea for a new game, not in the way Schell does, but talking about the discussion that happens between designer and publisher. Publishers’ end goal is usually to make a game that will sell well, but designers will usually prioritize making something they are passionate about. However, Almes says he is lucky that he and his publisher enter conversations really early on in the process until they are both satisfied with the final idea, which Almes says is necessary since games can take years to develop; if you’re not passionate from the get-go, the next few years of your life will be unbearable.
I would recommend anyone who struggles with failure listen to this episode; Almes goes in-depth about how failure is necessary for both of his jobs and how helpful it can be for the process. I struggle with failure a lot, but Almes makes it not only seem necessary but a wanted thing in the process of making a game. I really enjoyed that new perspective.

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Hi Anna!!
I love tabletop games, and it’s really interesting how they brought up the idea of mechanical engineers and how designers have to think similarly. I never thought about the relationship between the publisher and designer. As someone who hopes to work in marketing, I think it’s important that relationships be established early in the process to avoid wasting time on ideas that won’t work for either party. In the past, I have definitely had to turn down some ideas that I didn’t think would work for whatever project I did, and it was really sad to see hard work go to waste. However, as you said, establishing these relationships early can allow both publisher and designer to collaborate and not get too far ahead of one another.
This seems like an episode I would probably watch since failure has always been an issue for me. I am a huge people pleaser, so I do whatever it takes to make someone like me or view me in a good light. Ultimately, you can’t please everyone, and I have met failure quite a few times and struggled to regain myself. Almes talking about his journey with failure makes me feel a bit better on my path to success and gives me hope that someday this will all pay off!

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Hi Anna!
I really liked that you brought up how the game designer is a mechanical engineer and designs games in his free time. I’m an engineering major, so it would be cool to learn how he’s able to use his technical background as an engineer to help him with his game design skills. It also seems like this episode dives deeper into the industry of game design and how marketing and selling a game is also a factor in the game design process. This is something that wasn’t really discussed in any of the Schell readings but I definitely had questions on it (at the end of the day, money makes the world go round and it definitely must be a driving factor in the game design space). I think this episode would definitely align with my interests since I am interested to hear about the business side of game design. I wonder, did Almes talk about any challenges or ‘secrets’ about the industry and working with publishers? That would be another interesting point.

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Hi Anna,

The idea that failure necessitates success is definitely reflected in Schell’s text when he details game development as a cycle that can fall back to earlier phases as many times as it needs to, similar to Almes. For any prospective creator of a game, whether it’s a video game or a board game, returning to the drawing board after playtesting is understandably often the key to success. Also, the point about having passion for what is worked on is interesting to bring up, because Schell I think only discusses the purpose of it towards the beginning of his text. Part of being a game designer is most likely developing one’s own passion for an idea that is not entirely yours, and I would expect board games are no different in needing this quality to succeed.

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For the podcast, I listened to episode #252: Board Game Production and Operations with Nicole Cutler. The title itself really caught my attention because I was curious to know what goes into board game production and how the process works. To begin with, Nicole Cutler joins Dirk and David to discuss her roles in operations and production in the tabletop industry. They discuss some of the production choices made when developing Gods Love Dinosaurs from Pandasaurus Games. The game Gods Love Dinosaurs is a streamlined experience about the ecosystem and finding a balance between predators and prey. Nicole is a production/operations manager herself and she discusses how the role of project management often gets overlooked in board game design, as that role is absorbed by other positions. I do believe that the business aspect of board games tends to go unnoticed because people often put emphasis on the designers first but in reality, designers, manufacturers, production, marketing, operations, management, etc… all play an important and equal role in the success of the game. All companies have project managers and that role is crucial because keeping the project on track requires a strict management of metrics and project goals that extends across the project team and out to suppliers, contractors, the client and the stakeholders. Something that really struck me in the podcast was when they said how creatives are hostile to people from operations interfering with the creative process. Nicole explains how as an operations manager, she’s equipped with sufficient knowledge to determine how a game might sell based on different price points, and how it may interfere with the creative process because essentially, project and operations managers work to cut costs on projects that may potentially fail. I recommend this podcast to anyone that’s interested in learning more about the production side of board games. It was a very interesting and informative podcast on how the business units are involved in game production.

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I think that this is an amazing think to really consider for any creative field. No matter what, business and creativity will clash. It’s always such an incredibly hard field to manage, but the problem is creating things can get expensive, so the money needs to be managed in some way. This will always cause problems, but it’s a necessary thing to be able to work around. Creators and artists will sometimes need to be flexibly in order to complete a project. It may hurt on the inside to change something that you are passionate about, but if it will help the overall production, then there might not be another way.

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Hi Meteeka,

That’s super interesting. I admit, I don’t know too much about the operations/project management side of gaming. I always hear how brutal the business of gaming is, and it definitely seems like there could be some sort of clash between the business and creative side. I may have to check out this episode when I have time!

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Hi Meeteeka!

This sounds like a really interesting and informative podcast! I never really thought about the project management and more business like processes of gaming, I’ve always heard about the struggles in the industry, but I’ve never really sat down and thought about it. It sounds like both a stressful yet intriguing career field to look into. The mix between the creativity and business aspects of games look like they can sort of overlap which is really cool to think about.

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I listened to episode #63 of the podcast, titled Theme. I decided to listen to it for a better understanding of the importance of theme in a game, as I feel it should vary depending on the type of game. It turns out that some of the game designers, such as Dirk, believe that the more a game can portray a theme, the better. Rob agrees to an extent, as he finds that often times he involves too many clunky mechanics that can often steer a game away from its theme. This leads me to believe that there actually can be such a thing as “too much theme,” as overdoing the mechanics may end up being confusing to the player. Dirk goes on to mention that when he first started designing games, when coming across a tough decision between theme and playability, he always prioritized the development of his theme. Overall, it seems that there is such a thing as overdoing it when it comes to portraying your theme, and game designers must ensure that all elements of their game are working in harmony to deliver a great experience to the players.

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Hi Altay!
Theme is a really important aspect of this class and game design in general, so it’s really cool that you chose a podcast to match. I think I agree more with Rob than Dirk because I have played games that are really intense with the theme but are just simply unenjoyable due to issues with playability. For example, in games where the screen goes scratchy when you mess up or in Mario Kart when the ink splatters the screen, it actually makes me frustrated (I get very competitive if you can’t tell). I understand that these elements are meant to enhance the theme, but when it comes to the point that it makes the game unenjoyable, I think it’s too much. Personally, I’d rather have a really good quality theme than a theme with too much going on.

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Hi Altay!
Your description of this podcast made me think about my Analytical Adventure draft. I really struggled to pick out a specific theme for the game I chose to write about, since the game doesn’t take place in a whimsical fantasy world or really follow any sort of storyline. This podcast would definitely reassure me of my analysis of the game I chose, since I tried to emphasize that the lack of theme/complicated mechanics is what actually enhances the game experience. It would also be interesting to see how the podcast’s ‘definition’ of the perfect balance of theme aligns with Schell’s perspective, since Schell put so much emphasize on aligning every component of a game to a unified theme.

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I don’t know if I would call it too much theme. I think in the instance of clunky mechanics, that is more of an example of not connecting to the theme. While there should be a good balance, I do think that if these mechanics were polished rather than clunky and related to the theme, there wouldn’t be a problem. The game would feel unified and the player would never be taken out of the experience. This is rather an example of the elements of the game not working together in harmony.

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Hi Altay!

I agree with Chris and think that involving too much of one thing is the opposite of the purpose of the Elemental Tetrad. One element should not be prioritized over another, which is something that Dirk did. Everything should be balanced in a game, ensuring that it is equally contributing to a positive and enjoyable game experience. I think a lot of designers do get caught up and often overdo one or more elements of a game.

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I agree with Chris and Meteeka! I remember I responded to a post last week or the week before about Cyberpunk 2077. The original poster said that they felt CP2077 did not have enough mechanics to make the game interesting. However, I felt the game had too many mechanics that were underdeveloped; they felt shallow and tacked on. It’s definitely a balance issue. We need fun in games, and interesting mechanics provide that. However, too many can create the illusion of depth, when in reality, this leads to a less cohesive and enjoyable experience.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Archive.

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Hi! I love the conversation you all have going here! I just wanted to point out that while yes, “too much theme” can often just be the mechanics not matching the theme, I do think there is something as too much theme. I feel that when the basics of a game are so complicated that the whole thing is confusing can be categorized as “too much theme.”

For a class in elementary school, we were expected to come up with a board game and include candy prizes for winning. Of course, at 9 years old, my brain was a little too hyperactive to come up with a tasteful, sensible, and fun board game. The ones we came up with weren’t bad, but they were often just like what you described: “too much theme” and “clunky mechanics.” I know it’s possible to have both of these things because I have played these games made by myself and other 9-year-olds that had both. I feel it just takes some beta testing and a few iterations to iron it out.

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Hi Altay!

This was an interesting concept to write about, in my opinion. I am inclined to agree with Chris’s reply to this, I don’t know if it would be “too much theme” per se, but more of the mechanics not being designed properly. I personally can’t think of a game that is trying to implement too many themes or is overdoing the theme, but I can think of a few where their mechanics can definitely be improved. I feel like game designers are trying to include so much at a time that sometimes they lose vision of the harmony between the elements, and then the mechanics get all screwed up.

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I listened to episode 272. As soon as I saw the name Charlie Cleveland, I got excited. He was the person who created Subnautica. I will say I don’t very often get really excited to play a game, but this is one of those rare cases. It was so interesting the hear about the inner working of the production of the game. It originally started as a space game, but so many other space games were coming out that they decided to pivot their direction. They decided to go with an underwater game, but with that game so many challenges. They had to figure out how to make it interesting instead of just endlessly floating around in the vast expanse of the sea. It was originally supposed to be a sandbox game. I thought that was so cool. It took a completely different turn. During the beta testing, the developers realized the potential of the horror. There was only one creature in it, but the responses by players were that the creature scared them. At that point, they realized what they needed to do, and the start of subnautica was born. They also mention a single point that I never really thought about, but this is one of few survival games where you can’t attack. Creatures will come towards you, and your only option is to run away. It was a great discussion to listen to.

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Hi Chris,

I’ve never played Subnautica but I’ve always seen posts about it on social media and it always shows up on game stores, etc. I’m really curious about how the design process changed, as the game completely shifted genres; was it a gradual thing or a sudden thing based on beta testing? Sandbox games are still extremely popular: so many people still play Minecraft and GTA V, and even games like Watch Dogs have a big audience. On the other hand, I would consider horror a niche, so that’s a pretty interesting direction to go.

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Hi Chris,

I have also never played Subnautica before, but based on what you said I guess I will have to check it out! I liked what you pointed out about what makes this game different than other games, the fact that you can’t attack the creatures coming towards you, that you can only run away. People being scared of the creature really sets the scene for both the design and the story of the game, it seems like. I have played many of the current-day zombie games and things like that, but this team of designers were very clearly listening to their beta testers, so I would love to get acquainted with this game.

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Hi Chris,

It is pretty cool that you were able to connect at a deeper level with the podcast> In terms of the podcast itself, I find it very interesting that they mention feedback as one of the key elements to help develop a game. Betas are a great way to receive feedback as customers can share what they like and don’t like. Due to this, the game has more success on a monetary stance point and hence is able to create great revenues. If feedback would not be taken into consideration then the game would limit itself.

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Hi Chris! It’s cool that they decided to pivot and go in a different direction with the game. That part about not being able to attack is a bit frightening to be honest, but I think it enhances the feeling of being trapped. I haven’t played Subnautica, and I’m not into horror, but it sounds like a game I’d like to try.

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Hey Chris, it’s really cool that you got to hear from the creator of one of your favorite games in one of these podcast episodes. Personally, I have a terrible fear of the deep sea, so it seems Subnautica is a game I should try this Halloween, haha. I always think about the creative processes behind my favorite games, but it never occurred to me until now that they could have started with an entirely different setting or purpose altogether. It seems the developers did a good job taking note of player reactions to the sea creature and moving the game into the direction of horror.

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I listened to “#250 Alisha Thayer Uses Exceptions in Design Systems,” mostly because it had Tomb Raider on the cover and I’m a huge fan of the recent trilogy. Alisha is a game designer who has worked on games like Red Dead Redemption and Rise of the Tomb Raider (both outstanding games that I’ve really enjoyed). She defines an “exception” as a violation of a system’s rule. Exceptions create possibilities; a system with little to no possibilities will be highly predictable, whereas a system with many possibilities will be more random.

I found it really interesting; early in the episode, Thayer talks about testing Red Dead Redemption, and how her quest givers in a particular region would keep fleeing when she approached. She debugged the AI and spent hours trying to understand why this was happening, until she realized that AI snakes were spawning in the region and hiding in tall grass, generating “threat”, which in turn caused the quest givers to flee. While this is potentially annoying and game-breaking, it’s clear that on a smaller scale, these exceptions could create variety in the game world.

Thayer states that as a game designer, she quickly realized that the unintended effects of a system were often as fun, if not more, than the intended effects. Her role was to create systems, put them together, and then “bend them to [her] will” in order to create the optimal player experience. Throughout the episode, Thayer discusses how exceptions can properly be used to enhance the player experience. She also acknowledges games in which exceptions are very minimal, like in Detroit: Become Human, a fun but linear story-based game, but are still effective and fun.

I would highly recommend this episode to anyone interested in game design at all. Toward the end of the episode, Thayer talks about how her ideals could apply to tabletop games as well. I thought the episode would bore me, but I actually found myself really enjoying it — learning from someone who has created games that inspire me was a great experience.

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Hi Evan, this sounds like a really interesting podcast. I would definitely give it a shot if I get the opportunity. I have heard a lot of good about Tomb Raider but forgot much of it besides it being similar to the Uncharted series. It was really interesting – even in real life as well! – how unexpected effects often cause the best of innovations. This is definitely something to keep in mind when designing our games. If we run across an error, rather than getting frustrated we should be glad that this is a chance to both learn how to get around the error and possibly stumble upon something unexpected like Thayer.

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I think that even the simple problems like snakes causing the quest never to be completed as a positive attribute to the game. I feel like as though the design failed it, it was the overexposure of snakes that made it happen, not because the game was not built properly. I think that most game designers are not applauded for the sheer size of the realm they create, while hundreds of characters can flow perfectly the one mistake is what designers really pursue after.

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The podcast that I chose to listen to was #224: Scott Nicholson Talks Escape Rooms, which is part of the Designing Thematic Games Series. I chose this podcast because I absolutely LOVE escape rooms myself, and I have been been to many escape rooms before in my life, having both succeeded and failed at solving them. Also, it was crazy to stumble upon this, especially right after going over Schell’s problem-solving lens and the pleasure that it gives players to basically solve this “puzzle”, because that is essentially what an escape room really is. I learned quite a bit about escape rooms and the designs behind them, for example, designers that Nicholson has talked to took their inspiration, not from just other games, but actual movies. Indiana Jones was a popular answer for the old western type of escape rooms, and it gave people a chance to reenact that movie without staring at a screen, and actually be able to cooperate with another person or group of people. A part of this podcast that I found interesting is when Nicholson talked about the challenges of designing and creating the escape rooms. He talked about cultural bias, such as having to acknowledge language barriers when making this escape room, especially because people that are not familiar with English, so they weren’t able to understand the hints and other clues given to them by their gamemaster. They ended up being more confused than anything, and had to pull out Google Translate and basically their game became more of trying to learn English than anything else. Also, he talked about how a group from Germany came into their escape room, and pressed the “X” button that deleted information, because the “X” means accept in Germany, not delete, so their whole game ended up being spoiled. So, they switched to adding game video snippets to reduce cultural bias, and were able to accomodate more of a variety of people into their escape rooms. I would recommend this podcast to anyone that is interested/are pondering going to escape rooms, that are wary of escape rooms, and anyone really interested in solving puzzles or reenacting a popular movie that they like.

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Hey Jaz, I have always been very interested in going to escape rooms, as I would love to work with others and solve different fun puzzles. I have played a game before with a similar concept, called Superliminal. This is a typical puzzle game where the player must find creative ways to make their way through each room, but objects shrink and enlarge when they are held, based on depth perception.

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Hi Jaz. I like escape rooms, too! Oh, that’s interesting about Germany. Didn’t know the “X” meant accept instead of delete. It’s good that they took the language barrier into account as well. I used to think a lot about accessibility when it comes to games. I thought that it would be a good idea to check whether the graphics are suitable for colorblind people as well. Another thing to check for is sensitivity; maybe there is some flashing that would be dangerous for certain people, or the sound effects are distracting.

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Hi Jaz,

Your analysis on the podcast episode was very good. Escape rooms are fascinating to me as well and I never thought about the issues that game designers would run into in terms of language barriers. It’s so important to make games accessible to everyone.

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I listened to #173: Game Design Axioms. The interviewee is a game designer at Hasbro. One axiom he explained is that you should never have a player lose a turn, instead punish them inside the game. This is because you don’t want them to disengage with the game, you want them to feel punished but still care about the game. The other interviewee claimed that all game design should be based on psychology and biology, so a player should never be asked to remember more than they can biologically do. Maybe ask people to remember things in 3s. Or make sure that the player can handle paying attention for however long the game is.

This podcast is very interesting because it talks about all of Schell’s Lenses in such a real world way. I would recommend this to all future game designers, because it makes you realize how different it is to design, test, and play a game. They say that sometimes the designer has to sacrifice some things they want just to make the game experience more fun. Sometimes they had to adjust the game rules after play testing so that the game still works, but the players are happier with it.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Archive.

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Hi Valika,

It is interesting that players are purposely “punished” in-game in order for them to be engaged. As a gamer myself, playing a game that is not too complex is very important to me as I am able to enjoy the game. However, I never thought about the punishment factor, but now that it has been brought to light, I have played many games where I’ve been “punished”.

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Hi,
I really like how you related this episode to Schell’s teachings! My favorite part about the episode you are describing has to be the whole punishing factor. Upon some thinking, I also agree that the best way to make a player really pay attention is to keep their interest on a higher prize, so punishing them makes the player want it even more. Great episode!

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Hi Vallika!

I have never thought about the term “punishment” referring to games before, I think this is really interesting and actually makes sense for some games that I have played. I really like how you made a reference to Schell’s lenses by using this podcast, that was really cool. I really loved your wording of how game designers have to make “sacrifices” and adjustments to make players happier, and I totally agree with this point!

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Hi Vallika! The attention span of players is something important to consider, indeed. Another reason is that if people are made to remember more than a few things, they might end up writing them down or searching the internet for answers, and this sometimes spoils the game.

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Hi Vallika, great post! Like you, I noticed the podcast hosts made many references to Schell’s lenses without explicitly stating so. I thought this was awesome because it goes to show how much we are picking up from his chapters. He speaks so eloquently, when other game designers start alluding to game-design-ways-of-thinking, I really do feel like one!
Something else I really appreciated from your post is the idea that games shouldn’t ask you to do anything you wouldn’t be able to do biologically. I tend to get very frustrated with myself if a game is exceeding too much from me, as it makes me feel inadequate! Then, the whole experience is tarnished and I give-up on the game.

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The episode that I chose to listen to is episode #214 Game Themes With Will Thompson. I chose to listen to these episodes because, in my paper, I discuss about themes and their importance to games. Essentially, this episode is about the misrepresentation of Natives in games. Game designers follow the perception and single-sided story of conquerors and tell it in the game as their theme. During this time, in 2019, this became an issue as Natives were not properly represented. In the podcast, Will Thompson, mentions that the narrative told in these games is not adequate to the Natives’ culture. He suggests a great solution to the misrepresentation problem in the gaming industry. He suggests promoting diversity within the gaming industry for Native game designers and other marginalized and misrepresented groups, to tell their stories through their own lenses. I recommend social change advocates check this episode out as it is cool that change is also brought within the gaming industry.

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Hi,
That was a great choice! It really coincided with what we did last week with the themes of games and how they lead to better gameplay as it allows for a simple narrative that will keep players interested. I also like how you go in depth with what they talk about in the episode and started off by relating to the analytical adventure paper as well. Will be listening to this episode for some insight into my paper as well!

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Hi,
I took a while to figure out which episode to listen to but I eventually landed on Episode 6: RUNNING A GAME COMPANY WITH UWE EICKERT. This episode interested me because of the prospect of running a company (I am pursuing a business degree and I own and operate companies so I wanted to learn some more about them!) and how it brought in the founder of academy games. Upon listening at first, I was very confused as it talked a lot about dice and physical items so it took me a bit of research into academy games to find out that it is an online board game retailer. Once I understood that, I understood what Uwe was talking about. My favorite portion on the podcast was between 6-13 mins as that is where he talks about how he goes by designing his games/products. Additionally, I also liked the portion at about an hour or so where he talks about my favorite part: how they make their money. Uwe adds on how many overhead costs he has to put up with from the 34% he makes per game, which is honestly astonishing because I didn’t think there were this many costs to making a board game. He also talks a lot about how even payment processing from online websites is a big hit. I have a lot of experience with random and unforeseen costs so I definitely recommend this episode to people who have not ever thought deep into how much truly goes into designing a product and then even selling it.

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Hi Jaskaran!

That’s so cool, I’m pursuing a business degree too! I totally agree it is really interesting to really see the “behind the scenes” of designing a product and then actually going to sell it, there are many things that I didn’t think about when I originally thought about designing and selling. I can’t believe that he gets 34%, that seems like an ungodly amount of expenses for a boardgame, that’s crazy. I might have to check out this podcast for next week’s discussion.

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Hi everyone! For the podcast, I listened to #244 on Matching Player Expectations with Katherine Hines and David Heron. I picked this one because I think this is something I have to think about a lot when choosing which games to play: has the game designer had a game player like me in mind?

All three of the podcast speakers made really great points about the dynamic nature of games and how they compare to other works of art. Initially, they posed the question to Eric Lang, a Tabletop designer, “what would you change about your game,” to which he replied, “nothing; a game is of a time, space, and context.” I think this is such an awesome point because when people ask that, they take away the art-form. To bring the conversation back around, the podcast hosts reframe the question to: knowing what you know now, how could you make this better? This is a much better way to frame it because the next question is: would you ask a painter to repaint an original? Absolutely not!! This is exactly what Eric Lang means when he says “a game is of a time, space, and context.” However, because a video game is dynamic and interactive the want to change it altogether is tempting.

Another interesting concept they touched on, which I have never had the words to express, is “toxic gameplay.” The opposite would be a game that incorporates collective story-telling and is fundamentally collaborative. It allows players to make meaningful decisions together for one goal. The hosts even use Schell’s Lens of Problem Solving (although not explicitly mentioned) and talk about how game designers can problem-solve for these unintentional “bad-player” behaviors by using the aforementioned mechanics.

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Hi Kattie! This episode sounds really interesting. It brought a few questions to mind. Specifically, when Eric Lang said that games were “a game of a time, space, and context”, and that you would not “ask a painter to repaint an original”. I thought this was intriguing because recently, there has been a trend of big gaming companies recreating/remastering their old classics. One prominent example I can think of is the Resident Evil remakes (Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes, with Resident Evil 4 remake on the way). I personally really enjoyed the Resident Evil 2 remake because I thought it brought a lot of new elements to the game and made an overall much better experience. However, I don’t want these companies to fall into the trap of simply recreating old games without innovating anything new. I think the reason the Resident Evil remakes have been successful is because they’re not just “repainting” the original, they’re making a completely new game based on the original. It’s interesting to discuss the merit (or lack thereof) of remaking games.

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Hi Julia, thanks for your reply! 🙂 Totally get what you’re saying about remakes. For what it’s worth, I feel like the question “knowing what you know now, how could you make this better” better addresses your concerns! The reason I think so is because designers are forced to think what, if anything, has changed since the launch of their game: politics, technology, game-type, etc.? Like this, they can improve on what they’ve already had instead of “repainting.” Especially when it comes to older games. For example, I looked up when the original Resident Evil came out and it says 1996! It would’ve been so disappointing if the game designers didn’t take the opportunity to improve your gaming experience with the number of innovations in gaming technology/consoles in general.

I agree with you, though, no need to simply remaster a game. To take the easy route, I think is to also miss the point. You mentioned wanting a new experience based on the original one and I think thats the point.

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For the podcast, I listened to #221 on Eldritch Horror with Nikki Valens, David Heron and Dirk Knemeyer. I chose this episode because I’m a huge fan of horror games & consider the psychology that goes into horror game design one of the most intriguing processes of any game genre. Although this episode focuses on eldritch, or Lovecraftian horror, a lot of what is professed is applicable to horror as a whole: media intended to cause fear, dread & disgust. Specifically, Valens worked on a board game titled Eldritch Horror, which embraced its titular theme in order to create mechanics evocative of H.P Lovecraft’s writings. A mechanic central to the game that was discussed throughout the episode was the “Omen Track,” which is a wheel on the center of the board that once spun determines which part of the board players should focus on in order to avert a very negative detrimental effect from occurring. This plays into the idea of existential dread and looming disaster, which is a strong theme in Lovecraft’s writings.

I am actually not too familiar with horror board games; I played a zombie themed one once but it focused more on action and “survival horror,” or resource management. However, I learned from this episode that like video games, board games have multiple ways that they can shock & strike fear into their players. As such, many board game players might not feel comfortable playing a game like Valens’ “Eldritch Horror.” I would recommend this episode to someone who is interested in the psychology behind horror games.

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Hi Kwabena! I’m also a huge fan of horror games and have played a few based on Eldritch Horror/Lovecraftian Horror. One of my favorite games, Night in the Woods, in based on Lovecraftian horror. I have never heard of a horror board game before but this sounds super interesting! There must be many unique challenges when creating a horror board game — I wonder how Valens overcame these challenges. I will have to look into this game further!

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Hi Julia,

Night in the Woods is one of the quintessential narrative-driven indie games in my opinion — despite not being a horror game, it uses cinematic techniques to deliver emotional impact to its audience through building sympathy and attachment to the main cast & subverting it in the face of conflict. I actually consider the psychology behind it to be quite similar to horror games in that overcoming the bad delivers a feeling of relief, which in turn causes player satisfaction. Even in Eldritch Horror the game, this holds true in the face of an unidentifiable threat.

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Hello,
I think this insight is really interesting. I’ve personally really don’t like playing horror games, so I was always confused as to why Horror games were so popular apart from influencers wanting to gain more viewership. I’m also really curious about Horror board games. How does one make a board game seem scary? With video games and other types of media, you can show really intense art coupled with music, but I’m curious about the way board games can become a horror board game.

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I listened to episode #272 – Charlie Cleveland Talks Subnautica. I chose this episode because I’ve heard a lot about Subnatuica and have wanted to play it. Further, Subnautica is an underwater survival game that is also part of the horror genre. I am very interested in horror games/learning about how horror games are made, so I decided to listen to this episode.
One thing discussed in this episode that I found very interesting was the different challenges that came with making an “underwater” game. The host commented that many games in the past have tried to have an underwater theme but none of them were able to succeed. Thus, making an underwater game poses a huge and unique challenge. Cleveland lists a few of the issues in they faced when creating an underwater setting: how do you tell the player where to go? How do you not make it feel slow? How do you explain the lack of oxygen? Subnautica had to overcome these issues by inventing solutions. For instance, Subnautica solved the problem of “telling the player where to go” by creating a more natural, open navigation system. There are no explicit quests or navigational markers, but certain rewards/hostile mobs entice players to explore in certain directions. I thought this was really interesting because Subnautica was able to not only overcome their issue but use it to add to the overall experience of their game. Through this, I learned that the best solutions to game design problems will also be beneficial and that you should always look for a solution that can reinforce your game’s theme.

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Hi Julia!

I’ve never heard of Subnautica, that sounds really cool, an underwater game? Count me in. I agree though, there must be so many challenges that come with designing a game like that, especially the safety concerns. I think that it is really interesting that there aren’t any actual quests, but actual incentive to get to a part of the navigation system, it sounds like a fight or flight response to the “hostile mobs” that are a part of this game. I can’t imagine having to design an underwater game, but it always goes back to reinforcing the game’s theme.

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Hi Julia. I remember hearing of Subnautica but had forgot what it was about, so thanks for sharing!I can definitely see how making an underwater game would be challenging. In the game “Uncharted 4” there was a short underwater component which I really enjoyed, but I did notice the controls were only slightly difficult. How did they go about the controls in Subnautica?
Also what type of person would you recommend this podcast to?

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For the podcast, I listened to #271 Lauren Ino Talks The Season. In this episode, Lauren Ino talks about her game called The Season involving the Regency era. She starts off by talking about how marriage was the one way in that era for women to really climb up that social ladder because there weren’t a lot of careers available. She also reflects on authors like Jane Austen and Mary Shelley whose work got published during that era but it actually took place before it. She goes into how her game reflects the historical setting of the regency era because learning about the Regency society and period dramas was one of her interests. She wanted to think of a different type of game which wasn’t that common, kind of like a sims game in the Regency era. In the game you have like three daughters and have to marry them off. She envisioned that a skill should be like a deck of cards. You have your deck which is your education and your hand is which skills you are showing off aka the initial first impression. In the game there are suitors and what they are looking for, and you use your deck to attract suitors in the game. I had no idea a game like that existed that reflected the norms of the Regency era specifically around women. It’s interesting to think about that time in history and how people can immerse themselves into it and feel the societal issues through a game.

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I listened to Episode #224 “Scott Nicholson Talks Escape Rooms” mostly due to the idea on Escape Rooms. I was always really interested in Escape Rooms in High school so I thought it would be interesting to learn more about Escape Rooms. Some of the things that I learned was that there was a lot of precursors to the modern escape room. According to Scott Nicholson, there used to be a BBC show that was pretty much the same as the modern day escape room with a script. I actually find that interesting since I remembered that I watched a Netflix south Korean Variety show where the members would try to solve puzzles in different scenarios. The show was called Busted, and there was a story, but the puzzles was why I initially watched the show in the first place. He also talked about how escape rooms is basically larping. North America doesn’t tend to be less acceptable to larping while Europe was more open to it. The idea of Ludonarrative dissonance “defined as the thing you are being told to do and the thing you are actually doing don’t match”. Something really interesting I heard was that most likely, the percentages you see of how many players got out of the rooms are lies. They are low because if they get out, then the players will feel good about themselves since they achieved something most people couldn’t. If they couldn’t get out, then players won’t feel too bad about not making it out.

Something really important in this episode was “how do escape rooms help stuck groups and prevent drop dead points”. That’s something I’m really curious about because there is a steam game I play called Escape Room. In that game, there are the escape rooms created by the developers, and there are the ones created by users. Normally, the user created ones are the beset in a lot of games, but the developer escape rooms tend to be more fun, and less tiring. What Nicholson said was that hints could be ways to make sure players don’t get stuck. Depending on which place you go to, how many hints you get and what kind of hints you get will differ. The people that run escape rooms who believe that it is them vs players is not something you want with escape room design. It’s always better to make the player feel smart by making easier puzzles. The real way that alot of escape rooms solve the drop dead points is by making the puzzles easier and easier.

One last thing that Scott mentioned was that the best thing for the escape room is if the players were able to get out within one minute of the time they had remained. So if the escape room was set for only 60 minutes, they made it out at like minute 59 and 25 seconds. When he said that, I remembered the one time I was with friends and managed to get out of the escape room with 1 second on the clock. At the time I felt great. Another part to this is that, Nicholson mentions that some escape rooms cheat with the time, and make it seem like they made it out within that minute mark. I’m guessing that the escape room I went to, we had probably gone over the time, but they could’ve counted slower or pretended we got out within the timeframe. This puts a completely different mindset I have for escape rooms. I was under the impression that it was us vs the escape room designers. However, it could be that they don’t care about beating us, they just want us to have a good time so we come back. This is something I hadn’t considered before.

I think that anyone would enjoy listening to this episode. Escape rooms are pretty well known among most people, and I think going to escape rooms are a fun exercise for like groups. It’s interesting to hear about the design process that goes into escape rooms.

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Hi Drew!
I love escape rooms! So many puzzles in one place make my brain happy, I guess. I like that you mentioned how escape room designers would slow time down for us, so we enjoy the game more. I’ve never thought about that possibility, and part of me is a little disappointed by it; I feel like now, in the back of my mind, in every escape room I do, I’ll always doubt I actually got out in time. I totally understand the reasoning behind it, but it also will probably make me feel like every future win is a little cheap. Or maybe I’ll just have to start timing myself to be sure; that should work! I think it says a lot about the time mechanics in games; designers are always thinking about how they can manipulate time to make their games more enjoyable.

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I listened to podcast episode 267, Crowdfunding on Kickstarter with Anya Combs.

I found it surprising that it is recommended to launch on same day as a big game on Kickstarter. Their reasoning was that big games draw a lot of traffic, and when people return to Kickstarter, they check out other projects while they’re there.

I was taking in the information they discussed, hoping to put it to use in my projects. They mentioned a few times that it costs a lot of money and a lot of time to make a video game. Some of their tips for beginners are 1) have a prototype and 2) have a community. They recommended going on Twitter to build a community and to give and not just receive when interacting with people on there. They compared crowdfunding tabletop games to crowdfunding video games. They also said that kickstarter is reward-based.

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The podcast I listened to this week was “Episode 7: Experience & Replayability. With Scott Lewis” which covered how replayable video games are. I chose this particular podcast because as someone who played a great deal of video games in the past, I often found myself playing one game for a very long time and then getting bored of it and moving on to something else. I wanted to gain further insight on how game developers attempt to lengthen the lifespan of their game and if certain aspects such as nostalgia play a factor.

Scott and Dirk break down games into two categories: replayable games and experience games. They mention that unexpected events which the player does not expect engages a player, and if a game only has events where if a player finishes and there is nothing new, the player is not likely to come back to the game. Replayable games, on the other hand, continue delivering unexpected events to keep the player hooked and coming back.

Though replayable games may have a player coming back, experience games can be more memorable and full of rich experiences. Certain games, such as The Walking Dead, require a lot of money to produce the game, so to keep pushing forth new content would be very challenging. Replayability, if implemented to a great extent, can make a game, or aspects of the game, bland- as seen with the quests in Bethesda’s Skyrim. An analogy that comes to mind here is quality vs quantity; though experience games may have less events, the quality of these events can often surpass many replayable games with a greater amount of events.

I recommend this podcast to anyone who is getting into gaming and is wondering which genre of games would interest them the most. Through this, they can decide which type of games they would be more interested in- for example whether they would enjoy memorable story-based games or online multiplayer games with many new events which keeps a player coming back for more.

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Hi Mahir! Thanks so much for sharing, I will consider listening to this episode! The idea of making games which are replayable is a new concept to me because I always thought it was boring to do that. To me, its like reading the same book or watching the same movie over again- I already know what’s going to happen! At the same time, though, when I think about which shows I’d like to rewatch- it is those which made me feel a certain way. To your point, the experience I had when watching is what I am trying to “replay.” As such, I can see why experience games are filled with rich, memorable flashbacks.

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Hello,
It’s interesting to hear your point of view on the Replayability and experience for games. I actually think I do something similar where I will play games for a really long time and then move onto the next. However, there are some games where I will always be willing to replay them again. A game like that that comes to mind is Minecraft. I have play Minecraft for a really long time so the nostalgia of just opening the launcher can make me happy again. It’s also interesting how experience games wouldn’t try to push out new content. I was always under the impression that they should push out new content to bring life to the game again or make the game more fun for current players.

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Hi Mahir,

I definitely want to listen to this podcast now if it covers the different genres of games and if it will help me figure out what type of game I would enjoy the most. I think your analogy of quality vs quantity is very fitting too and I agree that quality of experience events can often surpass many replayable games that include a greater amount of events. Nostalgia I think plays a big role for some people for. how replayable a game is and it varies from person to person.

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I listened to #240 RYAN SCOTT AIMS FOR BALANCEABLE, NOT BALANCED, I personally chose this podcast for its relatability as a gamer. Balancing a game is difficult, especially in a game like Valorant, certain characters have powers and. buffs over others. However, the game designers have focused on making other character counter these such problems. However, in games where there are not specific advantages or disadvantages for players, the balance-able aspect can quickly disappear. Call of Duty has this problem where guns become too strong and than must be nerfed in order to fix the gaming situations. A few months ago Warzone had a problem where dual sawed off shotguns could one shot a whole team of 4. At the peak of unbalanced games, Warzone attempted to add perks and new abilities to target these problems. I personally thought the process was pretty easy and fixable but the designers make a good point. By the time they fix and nerf a character, a new problem arises and the player base is still upset and is now even more upset that the original character was nerfed.

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