That's Barely a Game

This week on the podcast we are joined by designer Katie Allred. Katie is a mom and designer currently infatuated with deduction games. She is the designer of Persuasion, a courtship deduction game inspired by Pride and Prejudice and Unraveled, an asymmetric adventure between conspirator and investigator. 

We had a wonderful conversation about representation and community in gaming and her insights into how and why she designs the game she does was a treat, as is her website which you SHOUD 100% VISIT and you can use to find all the places you can, and should, follow Katie. 

This week on That's Barely a Game, we're joined by John Wood. John is an incredible leader in the game design community, offering his extensive experience as a mentor in the Tabletop Mentorship Program. John loves to design fast, fun games and I've loved bouncing ideas off of him. On this episode John talks about why he "began" designing, his work of pursuing this work as a career, and the general concept of board game designers as immortals. 

John has a number of games in various stages of publication and if you'd like to know more about John and his work, follow him on Twitter @JDWBoardGames.

On this week’s episode we’re joined by my first mentor in the Tabletop Mentorship Program, Jamie Sabriel Flez. Jamie is the founder of Triple Rainbow Games, the designer of Fight Sequence (which will be launching on Kickstarter later this year),and a generally marvelous and wonderful human being. This week we talk about Jamie’s design history, why they believe inclusion should be built-in instead of added on, and why they love sharing their passion for game design with everyone within (internet) earshot.

This is a fantastic conversation and whether you’re a new designer or an old pro, there is something here for everyone. To learn more about Jamie, their company, and their game, follow them on Twitter @TriRainbowGames and Instagram @TripleRainbowGames and learn more about their game by visiting FightSequence.com

This week on the podcast, it's a community reunion as we're joined by Riley Stock, game designer and host of the Board Game Community Show. Riley joins us to discuss his love of cooperative games, where he goes for inspiration and what he's working on. Riley is building an incredible community for people that love board games and I'm sure that you'll love this episode.   

If you're interested in learning more about Riley and the community that he's building, check him out on twitter. 

This week on the podcast, as lockdown continues and my children continue home schooling in a language I don't speak... you're stuck with me again. This week I talk about my recent adventures in contests and what I want to work on in the coming weeks/months. 

I also mention a few contests during this episode and wanted to link to them here. 

Small Box Challenge

Are you a human game designer interesting in talking to other human game designers about games?

This week on the podcast we talk to Phil Amylon. Phil is a founding administrator at Heavyweight Championship Playtesting, a game designer, and bicycling enthusiast. In June of 2021, Phil will be cycling across the United States and playing board games on the way but before he leaves, we sat down to discuss playtesting, imposter syndrome, snakes and ladders, and game design identity. This was a wonderful conversation and if you want to learn more about Phil you can find him at;

Board Game Bike

This week on the podcast we shift to focusing on me, your lovely host. With lockdown bringing about online schooling using technologies I don't understand in a language I don't speak... I sit down with... me to talk about what I'm working on this week when it comes to game design. From some systems you should use to some tricks I've found helpful to some bad ideas I'm currently pursuing, this episode is... something.

Some Things You Should Pay Attention To

Listen to Board Game Design Lab

On the very first episode of That's Barely a Game, we're joined by Elena Sanchez. Elena is a game designer and educator currently working on her "first" game, a fun foray into party planning. We discuss how Elena came to design games, the impact games have had on her life, and how she sees games as fitting into the world as a whole. 

If you'd like to learn more about Elena, you can find her on twitter: www.twitter.com/ElenaCSanchez and discord as @Cosmender#4816

What does it look like to design a game?

How do you get started? What next?

These are the questions we will ask and answer on That's Barely a Game