Ludology

Ryan and Geoff are joined by John Meindersee of Campfire Creations, to talk about the special challenges in creating digital versions of boardgames.  Campfire Creations developed the iOS version of Stone Age, and John shares the details of the challenges and opportunities that presented. Duration: 1:16:04

Meaningful decisions are what drive deep strategy games. But can there be too much of a good thing? Can having too many choices hinder our ability to make good, or any, decisions? Duration: 06:42

In this third listener question episode, Ryan and Geoff respond to a veritable panoply of user questions, and field them with their usual combination of aplomb and pithy aphorisms. Duration: 1:04:57

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about PokerBots: How they are programmed, why they're a problem, and how to detect them. Duration: 04:54

Rules! Every game has them, but they are a big source of gamer frustration.  Ryan and Geoff put their heads together to come up with rules for rules. What makes for a good set of rules? What are common pitfalls? How should they be structured? What should be highlighted?  Duration: 01:13:35

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about the difference between playing a human vs an AI opponent. Do we act and feel differently about the game? If so, why? Duration: 5:58

As humans we overvalue losing something and undervalue gaining it. This is called Loss Aversion, and is a well studied psychological effect. How do games incorporate Loss Aversion? How does it affect us as players, and how can game designers use it to create a more emotional and engaging experience?  When can Loss Aversion hurt a game rather than help it? Duration: 58:22

In this classic GameTek episode, Geoff discusses long games and how to keep players engaged for many hours. What are the different types of engagment, which are effective, and which are mentally taxing? Duration: 05:52

Ryan proposes a radical change to the mechanics of Trading in the Mediterranean to simplify and smooth our the gameplay, and Geoff wants to talk about it.  Will it throw the baby out with the bathwater? What is the heart of the game? Duration: 1:16:05

In this classic GameTek, Geoff takes a look at car washes and the Endowed Progress Effect. How can we use it to get players more engaged in a game? Duration: 05:30

Ryan and Geoff tackle the concept of an 'objective' in a game - not just end game objectives, but techniques for building a series of mini-objectives to keep the player engaged and the game moving forward. What types of objectives work well? What is the difference between public, private, and hidden objectives, and how do those interact? Duration: 01:17:54

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about how businesses are trying to use games to appeal to customers. Duration: 07:25

Licnesed games like X-Wing and the upcoming Star Trek: Attack Wing are hugely popular. But how is designing a game with a license different?  Ryan and Geoff are pleased to welcome back guest Andrew Parks to delve into these questions. Andrew is the designer of a wide variety of licensed games, including The Nightmare Before Christmas TCG, 300, Hogwarts House Cup, Hunger Games District 12, and the...

In this classic GameTek, Geoff looks at intransitive dice - Dice where die A tends to beat die B, which tends to beat die C, which tends to beat die A. This was a big topic of discussion on the Dice Tower form when it was first released, so please continue the conversation over on the Ludology forums ! Duration: 08:28

Ryan and Geoff reivew the status of "Trading in the Mediterranean", their publicly-developed board game. After talking about the current version and how it has evolved, they talk about what's working and what's not, and how to fix it. Duration: 01:13:50 This episode of Ludology is sponsored by Sissyfight 2000 , now on Kickstarter!

In this classic GameTek, Geoff interviews Gil Hova, who designed the game Prolix , about the different concerns in designing a word game versus other genres of games. Duration: 26:35

Ryan and Geoff discuss the interplay between short and long-term objectives in games. How can designers use these to create a richer game experience? What impact do they have on complexity and the learning curve? Duration: 01:04:15 This episode of Ludology is sponsored by  Relic Expedition , currently on Kickstarter!

In this classic GameTek, Geoff continues talking about Entanglement and quantum physics by introducing the game Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe.   Check out the full rules on Wikipedia, which also links to several online implementations. Duration: 06:54 This episode of Ludology is sponsored by  Relic Expedition , currently on Kickstarter!

This special episode of Ludology is a recording of a game design panel Geoff particiated in at PAX East 2013, in Boston. The topic was "Impact of Video Game Design Techniques on Board Games". Joining Geoff were Christopher Badell, designer of Sentinels of the Multiverse, Colby Dauch, designer of Summoner Wars, Matt Morgan, writer for Wired GeekDad, and Russ Wakelin of the D6 Generation. Duration:...

In this classic Gametek, Geoff talks about Entanglement, Quantum Mechanics, and why our intuition about probability can be woefully incorrect. One of Geoff's favorite episodes! Duration: 09:00 This episode of Ludology is sponsored by Relic Expedition , currently on Kickstarter !

This episode Ryan and Geoff tackle games that feature negotiation, either as a designed-in feature, or a by-product of the player interactions. What features make for a great negotiation game?  What types of player experiences can they engender? Can Ryan get Geoff to agree to anything? Duration: 1:13:10 This episode of Ludology is sponsored by Relic Expedition , currently on Kickstarter!

In this classic GameTek, Geoff examines regret - why we would rather not make a choice at all, rather than make it and have it not work out. Duration: 6:26

Ryan and Geoff return with the second half of their new games for 2012. Plus their top picks for the year! Duration 1:20:55 This episode is sponsored by the game  Influence , now on  Kickstarter !

In this classic GameTek, Geoff introduces the Monty Hall problem, an old chestnut that never fails to amaze those who have not heard it before. Duration: 08:25 This episode is sponsored by the game Influence , now on Kickstarter !

To celebrate the 50th episode of Ludology, Ryan and Geoff talk about 50 games that were new to them in 2012:  The good, the bad, and the design features that stood out. Duration: 1:10 This episode is sponsored by the game Influence , now on Kickstarter !