The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast

Jonny and Jeff joined me on the show to discuss less popular mechanics, at least, according to us. We went through three mechanics: area enclosure like in games Through the Desert, simultaneous action selection like in games Wallenstein, and threat tracks like in games the Battle at Kemble's Cascade. It was a fun discussion to explore mechanics we thought were less popular than the rest of the hobby thinks.

I received a very unique text one day from my father-in-law. One of his patients had designed a game, and he shared with her that his son-in-law (yours truly) was a game podcaster. So, we connected, and I invited her and her co-designer onto the show. Here is that show.

Anna Purves and David Schwittek joined me to discuss Dead Poets Rise, a unique game about writing poetry. I had the pleasure of watching some games take place at a library near me. Funny enough, David lives close to where I live, and Anna lives close to where I work. The game brings players into a world where they are trying to resurrect a dead poet from obscurity. The game uses a Chinese checkers style board with marbles and two decks--The creation and chaos decks-- to bring the players into a world of poetry writing.

The conversation was a really interesting one, especially talking with two designers who exist outside of the normal circles of designers who I tend to engage with. If you are interested in learning more about the game, please visit Dead Poets Rise.

Warning: I had a cough during the recording that I couldn't escape. It turned out I had strep throat, which took me out of commission later that week. I did my best to edit the coughing fits out.

Kelp me! Kelp me!

All joking aside... this is a serious podcast...

Carl Robinson, the designer of the 2-player game Kelp, joined me to talk more about his games and expand upon frustrating games in general. We discussed his game in detail, but we also branched off into games that use frustration in good and bad ways.

Check out Kelp, live on Kickstarter right now if this sounds like something you are interested in.

Joe Slack, a frequent guest of the show, joined me once again to help me dip our toes into the conversation about AI art in board games. We did our best to explain AI art from our knowledge base and to explore some of the uses of it so far and even what future uses should look like.

I have an ongoing cough, so I did my best to remove those loud coughs.

I asked ChatGPT to write me a script for a podcast about AI art. I will release that as an episode in December.

Also, I asked ChatGPT to create an Arkham Horror trick-taking game. The game is enclosed in quotation marks.

"Absolutely! Let's call it "Eldritch Echoes: Arkham Trickery." Here's a basic idea for how the game might work:

Number of Players: 3-5

Objective: Players aim to gather Eldritch Echoes, fragments of cosmic knowledge, by winning tricks through strategic card play.

Setup:

1. Deck: A custom deck with suits representing different aspects of the Arkham Horror universe (e.g., Mysteries, Artifacts, Creatures, Spells).
2. Eldritch Echoes Cards: Special cards with varying point values representing the cosmic knowledge players seek.

Gameplay:

1. Dealing: Deal a set number of cards to each player, creating their starting hand.
2. Trick-Taking: Players take turns playing cards to form a trick, following suit if possible. The highest-value card of the leading suit or the highest trump card wins the trick.
3. Eldritch Echoes: Certain cards hold Eldritch Echoes values; winning a trick earns those points for the player who won it.
4. Special Cards: Include special cards that can alter gameplay (e.g., Ancient Tome that acts as a wild card, Shub-Niggurath as a powerful trump card).
5. Strategic Elements: Introduce elements like sanity cards or mythos cards that add unpredictability or risk, affecting the outcome of tricks or forcing players to discard.

Winning:

1. The game can be played over several rounds or until a set score is reached.
2. The player with the highest accumulated Eldritch Echoes at the end wins.

Strategy:

1. Players need to gauge when to play their powerful cards strategically to win high-value tricks.
2. Balancing the use of trump cards or Eldritch Echoes cards with keeping useful cards for later rounds becomes crucial.

Thematically: Incorporate elements of Arkham Horror lore, where players are investigators seeking cosmic knowledge, encountering mystical artifacts, eldritch creatures, and otherworldly spells.

Remember, the fun in trick-taking games often lies in their simplicity and the layers of strategy that develop as players become more familiar with the deck and its nuances. Adjustments and balancing may be needed through playtesting, but this framework could provide a solid foundation for an Arkham Horror trick-taking game!"

Jason Peercy, co-designer of The Real Thing RPG, joined me to talk about the expansions he is crowdfunding titled Angel Dust and King For a Day. You might remember The Real Thing RPG as the Faith No More inspired RPG. Jason and his co-designer Jason took the themes and stories they heard in Faith No More's The Real Thing album and created an RPG system out of it. Well, they are back at it again expanding the world they created through 2 new books. We discussed the reaction to the game, working with a band as an IP holder, and more.

If you are interested in the game, please check it out on BackerKit.

I planned to have on Jeff Warrender to talk about his game Lost Adventures, out on Kickstarter now, but Jonny Pac and the always fun Ben Maddox happened to join the podcast. We had a blast on this one. We mostly stayed on topic focusing on some of the interesting design decisions in Lost Adventures.

If you have any interest in this game, check it out on Kickstarter now.

Becky Annison, designer of Wreck This Deck and co-owner of Black Armada Games, joined me to talk about her latest design up on BackerKit right now. Wreck This Deck is a solo-journaling RPG where you trap demons in playing cards and wreck those cards in all sorts of artistic ways, whatever you fancy. You can burn cards, fold them, paint them, cut them, etc. Becky encourages players to go ham on that deck. She sees the game as an opportunity for players to let their creativity fly.

We discussed the genesis of the game and how it developed and is still developing. We also talked briefly about Legacy games and how those influenced her design.

Check out Wreck This Deck if you have an itch to get destructive to a deck of playing cards.

Sam and Ed Stockton... or Ed and Sam Stockton... joined me to talk about their newest game live on Kickstarter right now. Forges of Ravenshire is a unique dice worker placement game where you are crafting items and using dice, but the hitch is that the dice aren't owned by one particular player. We talked about a lot of topics here from the allure of dice to the intricacies of worker placement, a genre rife with games.

Check out the Kickstarter if you are interested.

Wrestling fans and gaming fans! I have a guest to unite you both. Steve Resk, designer of The Super Show, joined me to talk about how to keep LCG/CCGs alive and well. We explored how the Super Show grew from just a couple of decks with a small fanbase to a community with its own regional federations and belts. We also talked about some of our favorite wrestling storylines from the past.

Check out the Super Show here. And they have a convention coming up this weekend (March 17) in Cleveland.

Jonny Pac and Jeff Warrender return for another episode about a topic in game design. In this episode we discuss competitiveness in games. We focus on games with a lot of direct interaction compared with games with indirect interactions (like Multiplayer Solitaire games). No, we do not come down on "which is better," but we muse on what makes each of these styles interesting.

Remember: today is the last day to submit your game to the Cardboard Edison Award. Go do it!