Geoff tells us about the curious effect of endowment, and describes how both the game show Deal or No Deal and the video game Portal use it to enormous effect.

Ludology

GameTek Classic 267.5 - Endowment

It's an annual Ludology tradition to invite The Podfather of Gaming, Stephen Buonocore, to the show at the start of each year to discuss trends in the industry. As always, Stephen flashes his business acumen and deep insight into what he thinks the industry is in store for in 2022.

Ludology 267 - I'm Looking At You, 2022!

In this re-air of a Biography of a Board Game from September 2017, Scott slices open the history of the game Operation. Note: Even though Scott has stepped away from the show, we will still be publishing classic Biography of a Board Game episodes for the time being.

Biography of a Board Game Classic 266.5 - Operation

During our winter break, our co-host Scott Rogers pounced on a new job opportunity that he couldn't pass up. Sadly, this means he has to step down as Ludology co-host. In this episode, we'll chat with Scott about his time at Ludology, and ask him what awaits in the future. Because Scott's job commitments have already begun, we couldn't find a time when we could all meet. So Erica, Gil, and Sen all recorded their questions in one recording session, and Scott recorded his answers in another recording session.

Ludology 266 - Getting Out Scott-Free

Erica, Gil, Scott, and Sen wrap up 2021 with a roundtable discussion on the hats we wear as game industry professionals. What are all the skills we bring to bear to make games, and how do we feel about them? This is the final Ludology episode of 2021. We're taking our annual winter break. We will be back on January 23, 2022 with the next episode of Ludology. In the meantime, there will be no Ludology, GameTek, or Biography of a Board Game episodes.  From all of us at Ludology, have the happiest of holidays, and here's to a productive 2022! SHOW NOTES 5m12s - Alien: Fate of the Nostromo 12m27s - “Spin” is Spin Master, where Erica works as an on-staff game designer. 25m54s - Route 66 28m14s - Gil should have said “at the start of the pandemic,” as we’re still in the pandemic! If you'd like to join his remote playtesting group (which he will hopefully be attending again soon), click here. 33m51s - Unity, a platform mainly used to develop video games. 38m57s - The Affinity suite. 51m38s - Here's more info about Amber Seger, Weird Stories' awesome graphic designer. 54m40s - Scott’s flat cap, Gil’s HUGE hat

Ludology 265 - Hold Onto Your Hats!

In this re-air of a Biography of a Board Game from July 2017, Scott takes us through the history of former Ludology co-host Mike Fitzgerald's Mystery Rummy series of games.

Biography of a Board Game Classic 264.5 - Mystery Rummy

Gil and Sen welcome game designer, manufacturer, publisher, game cafe owner, and convention runner Kenechukwu Ogbuagu ("KC") of NIBCARD Games to the show. From his home city of Abuja, KC has built up the board gaming scene in Nigeria almost singlehandedly, recently winning the prestigious Diana Jones award for his efforts.  SHOW NOTES 12m46s: Hobby World, Spyfall, Viceroy, Cosmodrome 14m58s: KC mentions the classic board game Ludo, which was based on the Indian game Pachisi. The American games Parcheesi, Sorry, Aggravation, Headache, and Trouble were based on Ludo or Pachisi; British people may know it as Uckers, while Canadians may know it as Tock. 22m07s: NGOs are Non-Governmental Organizations. In the US, most of them tend to be non-profits.  25m58s: See the Smart People Play Chess TV trope  34m08s: Bastard Café in Denmark, one of NIBCARD Cafe’s supporters  44m20s: Designer Eric Lang will be at AB Con, the convention that KC organizes in Nigeria. 45m36s: InstantSync 46m08s: Legendary designer Reiner Knizia 46m52s: Village War 54m12s: Kuli kuli, Okpa, Akara

Ludology 264 - NIBCARD-ed

Geoff discusses one of the most feared characteristics of early RPGs: the loss of a level. Why is this mechanism so hated and feared among players?

GameTek Classic 263.5 - Losing Levels

Erica and Sen chat with Shing Yin Khor, game designer, installation artist, illustrator, award-winning cartoonist, and Bunyan-ologist. Shing Yin is the designer of the game A Mending, in which players literally sew their actions into cloth, and co-designer (with Jeeyon Shim) of the game Field Guide to Memory. Shing Yin calls both games "keepsake games," as they both leave artifacts of play that tell the story of the game experience. SHOW NOTES 4m15s: Gasha/gacha machine  7m05s: We chatted with Jeeyon on Ludology 244 - Games Brought to Life. 10m04s: The Oraclebird 12m17s: Gnomes, a Dutch book written by Wil Huygen and illustrated by Rien Poortvliet. 16m21s: In games, diegesis refers to anything that fits within the narrative world. If a video game wants characters to move right on the screen, they can do it diegetically by showing objects being blown to the right, or non-diegetically by flashing an arrow on the screen pointing to the right. Examples of board games that use diegesis well are Inhuman Conditions and Ca$h 'n Guns. 17m05s: Space Gnome Space 19m05s: Paul Bunyan 25m17s: We discussed audience agency with Haley E.R. Cooper and Cameron Cooper of Strange Bird Immersive in Ludology 214 - Escape from Reality. Shing Yin mentions Sleep No More as an example of immersive theater. 26m49s: Geoff and Gil wrestled with the definition of "game" in Ludology 151 - High Definition. 30m34s: The RPGs For the Queen and The Quiet Year 34m55s: We chatted with the tireless Banana Chan in Ludology 228 - The Roles We Play. The game they made with Sen is Exquisite Crime. 39m39s: A helpful visual: 41m37s: Car Wars

Ludology 263 - Keepsakes and Tokens

Scott Rogers takes us to the inception of the legacy game, and the one that started it all: Rob Daviau's Risk Legacy.  BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A BOARD GAME: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-04-03-the-legacy-of-rob-daviau-the-man-who-helped-flip-boardgames-on-their-head https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024259/Legacy-Games-From-Risk-to https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/22740263/risk-legacy-sequel-shadow-forces-announcement-release-date-price https://boardgamedesignlab.com/designing-legacy-games-with-jamey-stegmaier/ 

Biography of a Board Game 262.5 - Risk Legacy

Erica and Gil are delighted to welcome designer Amabel Holland of Hollandspiele, known for making games with challenging themes using an unconventional publishing model.  SHOW NOTES 0m58s: Supply Lines of the American Revolution, Table Battles, Irish Gauge, This Guilty Land, Nicea, The Vote. 7m08s: Amabel is talking about her forthcoming game Eyelet. 15m02s: This is Geoff's game Versailles 1919, co-designed with Mark Herman. 17m28s: Benedict Arnold 18m34s: The Shackleton Expedition 21m16s: The Vote 28m22s: Nicea 31m38s: Irish Gauge, Northern Pacific, Iberian Gauge 32m29s: Winsome, Rio Grande 34m23s: Chicago Express 34m55s: Meltwater, An Infamous Traffic 36m11s: RIBBIT: The Jump, Move, and Block Game, Table Battles 38m51s: New Mill 43m45s: Westphalia 48m18s: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae 49m52s: Cheapass Games 53m46s: Tobacco misinformation campaign 54m37s: Gil was thinking of Brandolini's Law, aka the BS Asymmetry Principle. 57m55s: Horse & Musket 59m03s: Deinocheirus, Pterodactyl, Therizinosaurus

Ludology 262 - This Guilty Podcast

Geoff explains a mathematical algorithm that can help potential roommates figure out how to split the rent, if an even split would be unfair and the roommates do not value the rooms the same way. This mechanism is just dying to be used in a game!

GameTek Classic 261.5 - Rent

Gil and Scott are delighted to welcome Martin Wallace back to the show. Martin was first on the show on Ludology 46 - Getting Down to Brass Tacks back in 2012 with Geoff Engelstein and a very enthusiastic Ryan Sturm. In this episode, we catch up with Martin to see what he's been up to in the last 9 years. Martin is the designer of many well-loved strategy games, like Brass, Age of Steam (and all its related games, like Railways of the World), London, A Study in Emerald, AuZtralia, and A Study in Emerald. Technical note: Martin's recording has some dropouts in it; unfortunately, those seemed to come straight from his microphone, so there wasn't much we could do about them. We hope you enjoy the episode anyway! SHOW NOTES 1m25s: Lords of Creation 4m31s: Gloomhaven, the North Sea Trilogy from Garphill Games, Jamey Stegmaier. 8m06s: The Exit games, and the Unlock! games 11m53s: Games Workshop, Ian Livingstone, the British Steve Jackson, the American Steve Jackson, and the Fighting Fantasy books. 16m18s: Anno 1800 20m08s: Catan, Dune Imperium 23m55s: Age of Industry 25m18s: "Canal holidays" 27m28s: The World Transplant Games 32m46s: A Study in Emerald 34m18s: Gil regrets not pushing back on this point a bit harder; he doesn’t think turning indigenous people into monsters is as effective a technique as Martin does. For a good perspective, check out Dan Thurot’s post about this on his excellent blog Space-Biff. 35m53s: Terry Pratchett and Discworld 38m41s: Martin is referring to the events of May 68 in France.  43m53s: Imperium Legends, De Vulgari Eloquentia 45m28s: Ankh: Gods of Egypt, Medina, and “zugzwang”  48m40s: Our favorite Star Wars clones: Starcrash, Battle Beyond the Stars, and a special shout-out to Fugitive Alien. 49m10s: Carcassonne 53m03s: Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, Doctor Who: The Card Game 55m13s: Disclaimer: Many of us on Ludology are pretty down on the HP series these days, due to the bigoted views of its author.  56m59s: The video game Stellaris, the fantasy series His Dark Materials, and the fantasy collection The Silmarillion. 1h00m05s: Rocketmen 1h00m57s: The humble pasty 1h03m32s: Hobo code

Ludology 261 - Tinner's Tips and Tricks

Gil and Scott are delighted to welcome Martin Wallace back to the show. Martin was first on the show on <a href= "https://ludology.libsyn.com/webpage/ludology-episode-46-getting-down-to-brass-tracks"> Ludology 46 - Getting Down to Brass Tacks</a> back in 2012 with Geoff Engelstein and a very enthusiastic Ryan Sturm. In this episode, we catch up with Martin to see what he's been up to in the last 9 years. Martin is the designer of many well-loved strategy games, like Brass, Age of Steam (and all its related games, like Railways of the World), London, A Study in Emerald, AuZtralia, and A Study in Emerald. Technical note: Martin's recording has some dropouts in it; unfortunately, those seemed to come straight from his microphone, so there wasn't much we could do about them. We hope you enjoy the episode anyway! SHOW NOTES 1m25s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8/lords-creation">Lords of Creation</a> 4m31s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/174430/gloomhaven">Gloomhaven</a>, the <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/27177/series-north-sea-trilogy-garphill-games"> North Sea Trilogy</a> from Garphill Games, <a href= "https://stonemaiergames.com/">Jamey Stegmaier</a>. 8m06s: The <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/36963/series-exit-game">Exit</a> games, and the <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/39442/series-unlock-space-cowboys"> Unlock!</a> games 11m53s: <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_Workshop">Games Workshop</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Livingstone">Ian Livingstone</a>, the <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_(British_game_designer)"> British Steve Jackson</a>, the <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_(American_game_designer)"> American Steve Jackson</a>, and the <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy">Fighting Fantasy</a> books. 16m18s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/311193/anno-1800">Anno 1800</a> 20m08s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/catan">Catan</a>, <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/316554/dune-imperium">Dune Imperium</a> 23m55s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/65901/age-industry">Age of Industry</a> 25m18s: "<a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canals_of_the_United_Kingdom#Growth_of_leisure_use">Canal holidays</a>" 27m28s: The <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Transplant_Games">World Transplant Games</a> 32m46s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/178054/study-emerald-second-edition"> A Study in Emerald</a> 34m18s: Gil regrets not pushing back on this point a bit harder; he doesn’t think turning indigenous people into monsters is as effective a technique as Martin does. For a good perspective, check out <a href= "https://spacebiff.com/2021/08/12/greenwashing-history/">Dan Thurot’s post</a> about this on his excellent blog Space-Biff. 35m53s: <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett">Terry Pratchett</a> and <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld">Discworld</a> 38m41s: Martin is referring to the events of <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_68">May 68</a> in France.  43m53s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/318182/imperium-legends">Imperium Legends</a>, <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/275010/de-vulgari-eloquentia-deluxe-edition"> De Vulgari Eloquentia</a> 45m28s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/285967/ankh-gods-egypt">Ankh: Gods of Egypt</a>, <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/167270/medina-second-edition">Medina</a>, and “<a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugzwang">zugzwang</a>”  48m40s: Our favorite Star Wars clones: <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starcrash">Starcrash</a>, <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Beyond_the_Stars">Battle Beyond the Stars</a>, and a special shout-out to <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wolf_(TV_series)">Fugitive Alien</a>. 49m10s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne">Carcassonne</a> 53m03s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/91312/discworld-ankh-morpork">Discworld: Ankh-Morpork</a>, <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/125675/doctor-who-card-game">Doctor Who: The Card Game</a> 55m13s: Disclaimer: Many of us on Ludology are pretty down on the HP series these days, due to the bigoted views of its author.  56m59s: The video game <a href= "https://www.stellaris.com/en">Stellaris</a>, the fantasy series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials">His Dark Materials</a>, and the fantasy collection <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silmarillion">The Silmarillion</a>. 1h00m05s: <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/283387/rocketmen">Rocketmen</a> 1h00m57s: The humble <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty">pasty</a> 1h03m32s: <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo#Hobo_signs_and_graffiti">Hobo code</a>

Ludology 161 - Tinner's Tips and Tricks

For this week, we're replaying the very first Biography of a Board Game that aired on Ludology. In it, Scott talks about the classic game that got so many fans and designers into the hobby: Risk.

Biography of a Board Game Classic 260.5 - Risk

Welcome 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.

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