Space-Biff! Space-Cast!

Ever developed a robust opinion about the possibility of intercourse with a robot? And we're not talking about conversation here. Neither had Summer,  Brock, or Dan. Good thing we read Autonomous by Annalee Newitz! Now we're bubbling over with perspectives on robo-love, pharmaceutical monopolies, and how to make pharma pirates seem boring.

For today's "podcast," our topic of discussion is everything about Mind MGMT by Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier. Over the course of a single episode, we discuss Sen and Jay's psychic powers, origin stories, and the process of designing, iterating, and activating latent psychics — sorry, I mean adapting Matt Kindt's comic series.

This week on the Space-Biff! Space-Cast!, we're joined by Ryan Laukat to discuss his latest game, Sleeping Gods! In the process, we also discuss open-world video games, open-world board games, and how to adapt the former into the latter.

If our last episode left you confused, today we're doubling down! Twice the confusion! Double! Times two! Continuing the futuristic saga of a golden age on the brink of disaster, we discuss unreliable narrators, miracles real and invented, and what happens when you name your sniper character Sniper. Come along as we dive into Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer.

This month on the Space-Cast!, we're investigating a difficult topic — the representation of slavery in board games. To help navigate these waters, we're joined by Patrick Rael, Professor of History at Bowdoin College, to discuss how board games have depicted slavery in the past, what they're doing right now, and how we can use them to learn about sensitive historical issues.

As promised, today we're talking about nothing but tech trees — specifically, Dennis Chan's Beyond the Sun, a game about exploring the far reaches of the galaxy by climbing the branches of the humble technology tree. Along the way, we discuss some of Dennis's inspirations, favorite tech systems, and whether Dan is bad at traversing outer space.

Smooch! For the Space-Biff! Space-Cast!'s decepisode, today I'm joined by Ben Madison to discuss The Mission: Early Christianity from the Crucifixion to the Crusades. Along the way, we discuss religion as an inspiration in game design, including an examination of what happens when playthings, religious beliefs, history, and personal faith journeys intersect.

At last! A book written for Dan and nobody else. Join Brock, Summer, and Dan as we discuss utopias, renaissances, and golden ages, along with theology, miracles, and messiahs both unapproachable and childlike. It's Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer.

I'm as surprised as you are — it's the ninth episode of the Space-Biff! Space-Cast! Today I'm joined by Armando Canales, Lyndon Martin, and Brian Willcutt, the designers of this year's controversial title The Cost. We discuss the game itself, along with broader concepts of moral game design and how to focus a game's intended story on the elements that matter most.

Today on the Space-Biff! Space-Cast!, Dan is joined by physicist, inventor, and game designer Janice Turner to discuss Assembly and Sensor Ghosts, the constraints and possibilities of smaller design formats, and designing with a mind toward disability and accessibility.