Beyond Solitaire

This week, Professor Adrienne Shaw joins the pod to talk about video games, representation, and how and why it matters. To read more of her work, check out her book, Gaming at the Edge.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cm...

This week, Dr. Jason Cox joins the show to talk about his upcoming game, Five Hundred Year Old Vampire, a cooperative role playing game that is inspired by Thousand Year Old Vampire. It will be published through CMU Press, so look out for the KS campaign in the coming months! Learn more about Jason here: https://www.utoledo.edu/al/art/faculty/cox.html Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Centr...

Welcome back to the Beyond Solitaire Podcast! We are kicking off Season 6 with Julián Pombo, both because today is his birthday and because he has interesting things to say about thematic Euro games. His recent design, Pampero, provides fascinating insights into the development of wind farming in Uruguay.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learn...

I never thought I would get to 100 episodes of this podcast, but here we are! In this episode, I celebrate with a series of mini-interviews from: Volko Ruhnke (@Volko26) Jason Perez (@ShelfStoriesGBL) David Thompson (@djackthompson) Amabel Holland (@amabelholland) Cole Wehrle (@colewehrle) Christienne Hinz (@xpelicious) Sebastian Bae (@sebastianbae) Dan Thurot (@danthurot) Beyond Solitaire is prou...

In this episode, special guest Kathleen Mercury speaks about her extensive experience as a gifted educator and game design teacher. She is also a designer herself! Kathleen's website: https://www.kathleenmercury.com/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling....

Professional wargamer Emily Yoder stops by the pod to discuss Malign, a game that simulates countries' attempts to influence each other and for which she is a member of the design team. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://ww...

In this episode, Amabel Holland  (@amabelholland)  Hollandspiele (@Hollandspiele) joins us on the pod to talk about her upcoming solo game, Endurance. Get ready for a brutal and deeply human gaming experience about surviving an Antarctic expedition.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be...

This week on the pod, Beth LaPensée discusses her game designs, their use in educational and social settings, and their expression of different ways of knowing. http://www.elizabethlapensee.com/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https:...

Favorite contributor Jason Perez of Shelf Stories(@shelfstories) drops by the pod to discuss his experiences as a board game cultural consultant.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Page...

This week on the pod, Tory Brown (@torylynn) discusses her upcoming game, Votes for Women, and how her passion for activism and history inspired her to design it.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/...

This week on the pod, Fred Serval (@fredserval)  drops in to talk about his game, Red Flag Over Paris, about historical games in general, and about his excellent YouTube channel, Homo Ludens. https://www.youtube.com/c/HomoLudens1871 Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and c...

This week on the pod, Jim Dietz (@foundationdietz) talks about the work he's doing with The Dietz Foundation, both in support of education and in support of games with interesting things to say. Learn more at https://dietzfoundation.org/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both pla...

This week on the pod, Lamaro Smith, an artist and graphic designer, tells us about his work in board games—and gives us insight into what his course for CMU's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations will be about. Check out his work at www.lamarosmith.com.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations,...

This week on the pod, Deborah from Geek Gamers returns to talk about her new book, the Solo Game Master's Guide! Check out her channel, Geek Gamers, to see how to get a copy: https://www.youtube.com/c/GeekGamers01 Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Che...

This week on the pod, our special guest is Dan Bullock (@bublublock), designer of games about North Korea, Iran, weapons contracts in Afghanistan... and stalker violinists? We had a lot of fun recording this.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them o...

This week's special guest is Ada Sayin, a Turkish game designer who works for women's rights NGO Kiz Basina and created Hybrid Threat Rising as part of their mission! https://www.kizbasina.com/women-in-command-hybrid-threat-rising/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both play...

This week's special guest is Paul Wright, a professor at Cabrini University who is deeply involved with Reacting to the Past and who looks for novel ways to incorporate board games into his classes. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out her...

This week, the original board game YouTuber, Scott Nicholson (@snicholson), joins the podcast to talk about his work on using escape rooms in the classroom, even with very limited resources. You can check out his newest project, EscapeIf, here: https://sites.google.com/view/escapeif/home Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games a...

This week on the pod, Ray Kimball (@42edgames) joins us to talk about his experience teaching at West Point, his use of games in the classroom, and his new company, 42EdGames, which seeks to help teachers implement game-based learning. Check him out at https://42ed.games/.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations...

In this episode, Prof. Bret Devereaux (@bretdevereaux) talks about the ways in which historical video games can form players' thinking—for better and for worse. Find his blog, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, here: https://acoup.blog/ Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both p...

In this episode, Qamar discusses his upcoming game, After the Last Sky, which is about the First Intifada.  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.aspx BIG NEWS: CLGS is now do...

This week on the pod, Damon Stone and Ted Torgerson are here to discuss their upcoming game, Free At Last. This game focuses on the Civil Rights Movement and can be played cooperatively or semi-cooperatively. Most importantly, there is a ton of history packed into it!  Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, whe...

This week involves a discussion of amazing female pilots of WW2—and a major news announcement from David Thompson and me! Season 5 is starting off strong.  Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Cent...

For the final episode of Season 4, Geoff Engelstein (@gengelstein) and David Thompson (@djackthompson) come on to talk about their upcoming game from GMT, which focuses on Zheng He, a Chinese explorer and courter, Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Chec...

Charles Cartier, professional wargamer, joins us on the pod to talk about his work—at least the parts that aren't classified.  Beyond Solitaire is now proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations, where learning can be both playful and compelling. Check them out here: https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/class/Centers/CLGS/Pages/default.a...