Nerdlab Podcast

In today’s episode, I’m going to walk you through the results of a Mindbug survey we ran last year, and explain how those insights shaped some of the most important design decisions we made for the future of Mindbug. This is a great example of why I believe it’s incredibly important to involve your players

In this episode, we explore why some card games thrive for years while others disappear after just a few releases. We break down the key drivers behind long-term success in card games: from metagame evolution and strategic depth to community engagement, competitive play, and emotional connection. And then we make it practical: How can these

Welcome back to The Nerdlab, where we transform our love for gaming into powerful game designs and uncover the secrets of what makes games truly shine. In this special episode, things are a little different: Marvin hands over the microphone to Chris, who takes the lead as interviewer. Why? Because today, the spotlight is on

Chris, a podcast listener and fellow game designer, reached out wondering why there hadn’t been any new episodes lately. He generously offered to take on the role of interviewer for this episode, giving listeners an exclusive behind the scenes look at what’s been happening at Nerdlab Games over the past two years. I am incredibly

In this episode, I discuss with Richard Garfield, Skaff Elias and Christian Kudahl about the design process of Mindbug Beyond. Support our Current Kickstarter Campaign for Mindbug Beyond: Mindbug Beyond Kickstarter Campaign  

Hello everyone and happy new year. Today we have January 2nd and I have a special guest today. It is my co-designer and friend Christian Kudahl. Hi Christian and welcome to the show. Today we're going to be looking back at the year 2022, and reflecting on our very first Kickstarter campaign for the game,

It's been over half a year since I recorded the last podcast episode. That's definitely far too long. I hope that I will be able to record new episodes much more often in the future. Because I really missed being able to exchange ideas with other game designers and to delve deeply into specific game

A lot has happened in the last couple of months in the Nerdlab. Christian and I got the chance to work with industry veterans Richards Garfield and Skaff Elias on our Game Mindbug. In this podcast episode, I talk about the things I have been working on with regards to Game Design, Game Development and

Today we have a great guest on the show and I am really excited to learn more about his game. He is the designer of AracKhan Wars, a strategy card game that just got successfully funded with more than 100k on Kickstarter last month. It’s a highly strategic game about card placement, positioning, and maximizing

Today we have a great guest on the show. Gary Dworetsky is the designer and publisher of the very successful game Imperium: The Contention. The game has an incredible 8.1 rating on board game geek and is a 4-X card game about deploying fleets, moving ships into the right position, and then crushing your opponent

This week I had the chance to talk to Carlo Bortolini, a fellow game designer (Memoarr and Riftforce). Riftforce is a dueling card game that involves factions, drafting, combos, and different strategies. All the good stuff I love so much about card games. So I was very happy to talk to Carlo Bortolini and

This week I have the incredible honor of hosting one of the best game designers in the world. He has designed countless games and it doesn’t seem like he is going to stop :-) And the majority of them are incredibly successful. For example he designed Kingdomino, Five Tribes, Seven Wonders Duel, Shadows over Camelot,

This week I have the honor of hosting Tom Lehmann, one of the best game designers in history. I wanted to talk to him for quite a while and am very happy that I now have the chance to do so. He has been designing many many games over the last 20 years. What makes

This week follow up on the topic of E-Mail Listbuilding as a Game Designer. Last week I talked about why you should start an E-Mail List. This week the focus is on how to do it. In the podcast, I cover the high-level process of: Creating a Lead Magnet and a nice Pitch Setting

This week we tackle a very important topic. Last week I talked about why it is important to pput yourself out there and be active in the board game community. This week I am going to talk about why I think it is super important to create a relationship with the people you get in

This week I talked about the importance of being part of the community and why it is so important to give without asking for anything in return. These are some of the topics we talked about on the show:   Why I started the podcast and the nerdlab community What I got back from

If you want to join our Nerdlab Game Design Mastermind Groups, you can apply here:   Join a Mastermind Groups   This week I have the honor of hosting one of the best game designers in history. Without overstating, I can say that he and his games are the reason I got interested in

Fantasy Realms on Boardgamegeek Fantasy Realms on Wizkids Today we have a great guest on the show. One of his earlier games is an industry highlight and has won a Gamers' Choice Award for the Best Board Game in 2004. One of his newer creations is a super cool fantasy-themed card game with an

This is the second part of me applying the Blue Ocean Strategy to Board Game Design. In this week I go through the methodology step by step and try to explain how to come up with innovative new ideas for the board game industry.   Do you want to use the Blue Ocean Strategy

Do you want to use the Blue Ocean Strategy for your Game? Check out the Slides I prepared for you   In today's episode, I asked myself: Why are new games developed? How does it start? And how do the groundbreaking successes differ from less successful games?   I think many games are created

Today's episode will be a bit different from the other episodes. Usually, I interview experienced game designers or do a lot of research about a topic before I cover it here on the show. Today it's more of a discussion I'd say. But since I'm alone today calling it a discussion is kind of

Today's episode is about point-scoring mechanics. I went through different games like Sushi Go, Cat Lady, Point Salad or Go nuts for donuts. What do those games have in common? They all have some form of card distribution mechanic and a final scoring at the end. Since I am working on an insect-themed point-scoring

Please take a look at Radlands on Kickstarter. I honestly think the game looks amazing. And I don't only mean the astonishing art, but also the gameplay and mechanics. I just backed it myself and am looking forward to adding it to my collection. (and no, I don't get paid for saying that (unfortunately

In today's episode, I analyze the new keywords and mechanics of the Magic the Gathering set "Kaldheim". Especially "Foretell" and "Boast" which are very different. One has a lot of clear visible information and asks a very precise and direct question to your opponent, while the other is adding hidden information and keeps your

In today's episode, I explain my method of learning the language of my target audience? In order to do so, I asked people over at Reddit about what they like about Dueling Strategy Card Games and identified their answers and especially the words and language they used. The goal is to later adopt their