Brendan discusses the difficult process of making rulebooks work well and teach well. Part 1 - how to interpret comments about rulebooks.

Brendan continues his discussion of the difficulties of crafting a usable rulebook. In this episode he considers more closely the difference in what hard-core gamers and casual gamers want from rulebooks, and also the difference between the feedback you get from hard-core gamers and from casual gamers.

Games mentioned: Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Anachrony, Olympus
Have a comment about the episode? Join the conversation over on BoardGameGeek in our guild, #3269

In this episode, Brendan talks about the way that theme and mechanisms integrate. In particular, he asks how the two go together in weird or unusual games.  Post your thoughts on our Board Game Geek guild ( https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/3269 ).

Brendan provides his “hot take” on Sagrada, and then talks a bit about Area Control as a game mechanism.

Brendan shares a bit about the podcasts he listens to keep himself in the loop in the hobby.

In this episode, Brendan reflects on the nature of creativity and remix in the boardgame design sphere, and the games Insider and Werewords.

Brendan continues his discussion of the idea of free riders and how they appear in games.  He ponders the fact that games allow for a different moral or ethical code to come into play, and wonders if that alternate code makes free-riding something very difficult to include in a design.

In this first of two part episodes, Brendan talks about the "free-rider" economic model and the nature of freemium programs, donor programs, and the relationship of content to cost.  In episode two, he'll talk about how the free-rider model can (or does) function in board games.

Brendan discusses games he has that have elaborate components and what effect those components have on the experience of playing them.

Brendan shares his system for managing and tracking his gameplays, and introduces a new monthly segment, Top of the Stack. (Nod to Podcast of Nonsensical Gamers for their creation of this segment.)