The Misplay

We are joined by Micah Heiselt to celebrate and continue promoting the success of his new game, Bucket List. They learn about Micah's journey from graphic designer to game designer. Micah shares insights into what success looks like for Bucket List’s Kickstarter campaign. Jason even manages to sneak in a few more questions about the business end of shipping and fulfillment.

We sat down to test and theory-craft a couple of possible 11th hours changes to Under One Sky. First we talked about the changing the art for one of our tiles. Then we discussed playtest feedback that led us to an introduction of 3 new tiles to the game. Later we went over the pros, cons, and action items if we were to go forward with those changes.

We step outside the usual program for a different perspective. Jason’s partner, Monica, joins us from the car on our road trip to The Cruz Room in Santa Cruz to talk about what it’s like to live with someone designing an indie board game and making a podcast. We talk finances, scheduling, marketing, and all the other ways a hobby can take over your life.

We sat down with Ben Bertoli of Radish Games for a crash course in Kickstarter, prelaunch marketing, and—much to Mark’s dismay—shipping. We also talked launch timing and the revised Kickstarter timeline for Under One Sky.

We had author, board game designer, and board game design teacher, Joe Slack join us on the show. We got to learn about Joe's board game design story, ask questions about game design theory, and ask all the last minute questions we have about launching our kickstarter campaign. it was like getting a high quality preview class of the online board game design course that Joe teaches on his website.

We discuss the feedback from the First Exposure Playtest Hall and events we ran at Gen Con this year. We share notes from blind playtests, quotes from our wonderful players, and plot out our next steps for Under One Sky. With our Kickstarter launch coming up we also go over our plans for the local events we will be organizing to promote the game's launch on kickstarter.

We sat down on the 50 yard line again of Lucas Oil Stadium to reflect on Gen Con 2026. We recapped the different types of events we ran over the weekend in the First Exposure Playtest Hall, the event halls, and event the hotel lobby. We also told stories about the new friends and familiar faces we got to see and spend time with over the course of the weekend.

We preview The Misplay's trip to Gen Con 2026—including the itinerary of the formal events we'll be running during the weekend. We also talk about our marketing strategies, metrics, and goals. At the end of the show we spotlight fellow game designer Mike C's game “Avarice”. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/themisplay/under-one-sky

Jason took The Misplay on the road to the 2026 Bay Area Protospiel and he came back with a bounty of feedback for Under One Sky, live audio from his introduction to board game design workshop, and good vibes. We assess the feedback and celebrate Jason's growth as a game designer.

We happily welcome our illustrator, Zeta Gaston, to the podcast to share the story of how she became the artist behind Under One Sky. We talk about the creative journey, the revisions, the tools, and the process that brought the artwork to life.

Jason and Mark took a pause from all the business and logistics talk surrounding Under One Sky. They sat down together to develop an old game concept. They outline the reason for beginning development of another game and learn about 18-card card games. They touch on what's coming up next for Under One Sky.

Jason and Mark go through the logistics and planning leading into Jason's weekend at KublaCon and the 3rd annual Misplay trip to GenCon. They give in depth updates about Under One Sky's, art, manufacturer, logistics, and next steps. Jason gives a special thanks to Game Crafter for a donation towards the summer board game design program Jason will be teaching this summer.

Jason and Mark discuss the possibility of pitching Under One Sky to publishers. Mark shares an outline for how to go from concept to submitting to publishers. Jason explains the reasons why The Misplay never considered looking for a publisher. He also shares a little glimpse into the plan for the summer after a sit down with Randy O' Connor before KublaCon later this month.

We were fortunate to have Dan Thurot of Space-Biff join us for a conversation. Dan shared his thoughts on his ethics based approach towards reviewing games. He also broke down the difference between previews, reviews, and how to play videos and shared his insight into the nuances and objectives of each from his perspective. https://spacebiff.com/

We took a half step back to review our work on the constellation cards for Under One Sky. The constellation cards have always been challenging to the game's design and we are coming up to the deadline we need to meet to continue moving forward with the game's art. Jason is still millimeters deep into working out the physical dimensions of the game board for the manufacturer.

We took the podcast and Under One Sky down the road to San Jose for the March edition of Game Market West. Jason manned our table and got to teach the game to another group of playtesters. Mark continued learning about manufacturing by interviewing designers that had games for sale at the event. The Misplay would like to extend it's appreciation for the organizers at Golden Gate Game Makers and Gu...

We follow up our components exploration with some in depth discussion of the decisions around our tiles and board for Under One Sky. The questions we grapple with will have implications for our search for a manufacturer and influence the continued direction we ask the artist to go for us. Later, Jason tells some stories from his visit to GDC.

We just turned the page on two milestone opportunities in the development of Under One Sky. We found out if we made the cut or not for the Cardboard Edison finals and Jason ran a set of blind playtests. We took turns running each other through the feedback we received from each event and debriefed in real time about what the feedback means for our game going forward.

We took a field trip to local game café The Game Parlour to look at, handle, and study the components of a variety of games. We broke down boards, tiles, counters, and unique pieces in search of the materials and aesthetics that best serve Under One Sky . The Game Parlour was incredibly generous in giving us the time and space to work and record in one of their highly sought-after gaming rooms, an...

We recount the steps we took to prepare our submission for the prestigious board game design competition Cardboard Edison. We dig into how we crafted the game’s written description, planned and filmed our introduction video, and refined the rulebook to present the strongest version possible. At the end of the episode, we reveal the official title of The Misplay’s debut board game.

We interview graphic designer Drew Corkill, whose passion and talent for designing board games shapes his thoughtful approach to the craft. He shares insight from his experience working at the intersection of board game production and graphic design, unpacking the practical and creative decisions that bring a game to life.

Season 3 of The Misplay starts now! Same game. More mistakes. For new listeners, we recap the first two seasons to get you caught up. Join us on the path to crowdfunding!

This is it—the end of Season 2. We look back on how we got here and share highlights from the year, including our recent two-player meetup. Are we ready to launch a crowdfunding campaign for our abstract game? Will there be a Season 3?

We ask ourselves every episode, “Where are we?”—and today we really mean it. We take stock of our abstract tile-placement game and ask the big question: Are we ready to move into Season 3 or head toward crowdfunding?

At Kublacon, we asked the ultimate question: Would you play the game again? Hear what playtesters told us, our responses to their feedback, and how their honest insights may shape the next version of the game.