Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication

In episode 19 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk about Bez Shahriari’s game Kittycataclysm. From trimming down the design to make a quicker playing game to interweaving cat puns into a mechanically solid design. We learn about deciding to balance versus leaning into the power of a card. As well as learning empathy for designers/publishers especially in relation to Kickstart...

In episode 18 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Maxine Ekl, the designer of Think Ahead, High & Low Poker, Dual Value Playing Cards, and Stripes! Maxine is one of the co-organizers for Chicago's Protospiel and co-owner of Clever Playing Cards. She’s a large fan of designing card games and her game Stripes even got the Dice Tower’s Seal of Approval! Maxine found that h...

In episode 17 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Daryl Andrews designer of Sagrada, BOSK, 7 Summits, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Kodama 3D, Back to The Future Outatime and so many other games. Daryl shares his insights on going from hobbyist to designer thanks to an amazing local community of designers. Learn how he has worked with different design partners, theme...

In episode 16 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Ryan Costello the designer of Orphans & Ashes, LFG Storytime with Dick, and a writer for various RPGs. Ryan pitched, designed, and developed Orphans & Ashes for Blind Ferret Entertainment based on their webcomic series Looking for Group. He worked to capture the dark humor and quirkiness of the webcomic characters to bui...

In episode 15 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Josh Wood, a developer at AEG and game designer of Santa Monica, the Tiny Towns Expansions, and Cat Lady. Josh talks about the differences between developing and designing games as well as the heartwarming stories from Cat Lady’s design journey.    Featuring:    Josh Wood - Guest  Danielle Reynolds - Host Denice - Host

In episode 14 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Erica Hayes-Bouyouris about her co-design BOSK by Floodgate Games. Erica shares her insights on how to find a good co-design partner and what it was like as a woman diving headfirst into game design with the Canadian “Big Dogs”.    Featuring:  Erica Hayes-Bouyouris - Guest  Danielle Reynolds - Host Ben Moy - Host Denice...

In episode 13 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Zachary Connelly on his game LOTS: A Competitive Tower Building Game. Zach speaks about designing his game with his son in mind. Plus, mistakes he made over various Kickstarters including the importance of having multiple people spell check your game. He also discusses how designing and redesigning games with component p...

In episode 12 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Julio Nazario about his design CTRL by Pandasaurus Games. Julio has worked to make his designs language-independent as well as use his engineering background to design in a 3-D space. Learn about his quick turnaround for CTRL and the lessons he learned as a newer designer.    Featuring:  Julio Nazario - Guest  Danielle R...

In episode 11 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Justin De Witt , co-owner of Fireside Games and designer of Castle Panic . Castle Panic is one of the most well known cooperative games to this day and is what launched Fireside Games as a company. Justin talks about the base game, expansions, variations and IP based sequels. From talking through starting his company alo...

Episode 10: ArchRavels In episode 10 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Adam McCrimmon, Jordan Miller and Lauren Nepomuceno of XYZ Game Labs about their newest release ArchRavels, a crafting themed tabletop game. They took a deep dive into the crafting community inorder to fully embed the theme into every pore of their game. Playtesters hugged, crafted and thanked them...

In episode 9 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Gil Hova owner of Formal Ferret Games about his game the Networks. During the creation of the Networks he struggled to ditch a mechanism that wasn’t working in the game but once he did the design thrived. Through massive edits during playtesting he created a hit that launched his company through the use of Kickstarter. He...

In episode 8 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Emma Larkin on how to design a game based on a name first. Abandon All Artichokes began with a list of funny alliterative names and a few people on social media saying “I’d buy that game”! From there Emma paired the game with a deck building/wrecking mechanic and redesigned over 100 times! Hear her story on how she worked...

In episode 7 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we speak with Jason Serrato on how to design and publish a controversially themed asymmetric take-that board game. Going from playtesting to Kickstarter to a documentary the game has been met with many challenges. Listen to Jason discuss all things Thug Life!   Featuring: Jason Serrato – Guest Danielle Reynolds – Host Ben Moy – Host T...

In episode 6 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Michael Langford, the designer of Misdirection, a Kickstarter that was fulfilled in 2019. Micheal decided to Kickstart his game after joining many Kickstarter Facebook groups like Board Game Spotlight and learned a lot of lessons between how to market, work with manufacturers in china and what to do when you end up with a...

In episode 5 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Charlie Bink the designer behind the Trekking the National Parks and World games. Charlie and his family worked to Kickstart the original edition of Trekking the National Parks which won a Mensa award in 2015. Charlie later partnered with Underdog Games to create a second edition and spiritual sequel to the game. Charlie...

In episode 4 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Pam Walls about her Hasbro party game Hold That Face which was featured in the short lived Hasbro subscription box. Learn about her experience building the community Board Game Broads, starting up Protospiel Toronto and creating her own opportunities which led her to sign with Hasbro and later other publishers.   Featurin...

In episode 3 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication, we talk with Eric Slauson about his party game Tattoo Stories published by Bicycle Games. Eric managed to design not one but two drawing games in the same year that allowed players that had limited art skills a chance to win using creative storytelling and memory. Tattoo Stories uses a combination of 5 elements to make up a tattoo th...

In episode 2 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication Danielle, Ben, and Denice talk with Peter McPherson on his first published game, Tiny Towns from AEG. The game was initially inspired by games like Minecraft with a spatial mechanic that is easy to understand but hard to master. Tiny Towns quickly shot up in popularity being one of the most sought after games in 2019. It was up for ma...

Danielle, Ben, and Denice speak with Alex Cutler, designer of Expancity by Breaking Games. Alex also co-designed “Before There Were Stars” by Smirk and Laughter, “Team 3” by Brain Games, and develops games for Pandasaurus. Alex talks about his journey of spending years working on his SimCity inspired game, from prototyping using Legos to learning how to 3-D print his building pieces. Alex took his...

In episode 0 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we meet Danielle, Ben and Denice the hosts of the podcast. They discuss what listeners will come to expect on the podcast in future episodes. They talk about their backgrounds, why they joined the show and what their hopes are for the future of the podcast.  Featuring: Danielle Reynolds – Host Ben Moy – Host Denice – Host