Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab

John Brieger, professional freelancer, discusses what it looks like to make a living working on board games. John is a designer, developer, editor, and more, and he’s been working on games full-time for about a year. The post Freelancing in the Gaming Industry with John Brieger appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Joe Pilkus, professional game developer, discusses the lessons he’s learned from developing games over the years. Joe has worked on games from Stonemaier Games, Academy Games, and many other major publishers, and he’s been helping fledgling game designers online for years. The post Lessons Learned from Developing Games with Joe Pilkus appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Derek Funkhouser, designer of Walking Dead: Something to Fear, discusses how to design games that create magic moments. Derek is the lead developer at Skybound Games and loves designing so that players enjoy awesome moments that they’ll talk about for years to come. The post Creating Magic Moments with Derek Funkhouser appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Wes Woodbury, designer of Legends of Novus, discusses how to design a fantasy-themed game. We talk about world-building, combat systems, art, and more.  And be sure to check out Wes’s fantasy-themed board game on Kickstarter HERE. The post Designing Fantasy Themed Games with Wes Woodbury appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Ryan Langewisch, designer of Tasty Humans, discusses how to create and update a game quickly and efficiently. Ryan recently won a 48-hour game jam and has gotten really good at the iteration process. The post Rapid Iteration with Ryan Langewisch appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Luke Laurie, designer of Energy Empire, discusses all the ins and outs of creating a worker placement game. Luke has a ton of experience with the genre with 4 more worker placement games set to come out over the next 2 years. The post Designing Worker Placement Games with Luke Laurie appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Ian Zang, developer for Deep Water Games, discusses 4 different types of gamer experiences. Ian has simplified and categorized different ways that people experience games, and he shares a lot to think about as designers. The post 4 Types of Gamer Experiences with Ian Zang appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Nikki Valens, designer of Mansions of Madness, discusses how to design a narrative driven game. Nikki has designed some of my absolute favorite games and is a master of creating games that tell good stories. The post Designing a Narrative Driven Game with Nikki Valens appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Bob and Ryan Craig, founders of One Day West Games, discuss how to design a tile-laying game. Their game, Monster Highway, is a fast-playing tile laying game about escaping from a Godzilla style monster, and they have several other tiling games in the works. The post Designing a Tile-Laying Game with Bob and Ryan Craig appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Geert Sillevis, founder of Mystery City Games, discusses how to design an outdoor escape room type of game. Geert’s game, “A Secret Sender,” is designed to help tourists experience Amsterdam while also enjoying a mystery game. (And it has a 5-star rating on Trip Advisor.) The post Outdoor Mystery Games with Geert Sillevis appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Elizabeth Hargrave, designer of Wingspan, discusses how to design engine building games. Wingspan is ranked in the top 100 on Board Game Geek, and we talk a lot about Elizabeth’s design process for creating the game. The post Designing an Engine Building Game with Elizabeth Hargrave appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Evan Derrick, designer of Detective: City of Angels, discusses his own journey and his advice on how to go pro in the gaming industry. Evan works for Van Ryder Games and has been a full-time pro for over a year. And be sure to check out Hostage Negotiator: Career on Kickstarter HERE. The post Going Pro in the Gaming Industry with Evan Derrick appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Daryl Andrews discusses designing games based on licensed IPs. Daryl has designed a TON of games based on comics, TV shows, and movies, and he goes through lots of ins and outs on how the process works. The post Designing Games Based on a Licensed IP with Daryl Andrews appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Darren Terpstra, designer of Ignite, discusses designing games with multiple moving parts and several mechanisms integrated together. Ignite has quite a few mechanisms working together, so Darren has had to figure out how to make this concept work in a streamlined way. And be sure to check out Ignite on Kickstarter HERE. The post Multiple Mechanisms in a Game with Darren Terpstra appeared first on...

Tom Butler, designer of Patriots and Redcoats, discusses the design of historical games.  Tom has specialized in creating games based on history and has lots of interesting insight on the topic. And be sure to check out Tom’s new game, Paradise Lost, on Kickstarter HERE. The post Designing Historical Games with Tom Butler appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Adam Chunn and Woody Hutsell discuss designing economic games. Adam and Woody have years of experience working in the real world of finance and economics and decided to design a game that translates those concepts into game mechanics. Check out their back-alley economic game set in a fantasy world, Plunderbund, on Kickstarter HERE. The post Designing Economic Games with Adam Chunn and Wo...

The post [ANNOUNCEMENT] 2019 Board Game Design Challenge appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

The post [BGDL+] Quality vs Quantity, Lessons from Steve Martin, and the Weight Room appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Jesse Zamora discusses modifying published games and what can be learned from the process as game designers. The post Modifying Published Games with Jesse Zamora appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

John Coveyou, founder of Genius Games, discusses how to design games that also happen to be educational. John is the designer of Cytosis, Subatomic, Ion, and several other well-received science based games, and he’s really figured out how to take scientific ideas and translate them into enjoyable games.  The post Fun AND Educational Games with John Coveyou appeared f...

Peter C. Hayward, founder of Jellybean Games, discusses how to be a great playtester. Peter often gets paid by publishers to playtest games and probably playtests more games than anyone you know. He’s got great advice on what it looks like to be the most helpful playtester at the table. Be sure to check out Peter’s new... The post How to Be a Great Playtester with Peter C. Ha...

Noel Gussen, designer of Deckfighters, discusses designing a game with multiple win conditions. Noel’s MMA style card game has lots of ways to win (and lose), so we talk through different ways to add multiple end-game triggers. The post Multiple End Game Triggers with Noel Gussen appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Jay Cormier, designer of Belfort and tons of other games, discusses tons of ins and outs of playtesting. Jay has been designing games for over 15 years and has a ton of experience and advice on how to get to the best game possible.  And be sure to check out Jay’s playtest journal on Kickstarter HERE.​​ The post Playtesting Pro Tips with Jay Cormier appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Joe Slack, college instructor of game design, discusses the ins and outs of teaching game design to other people. Joe recently went full-time in the gaming industry and is focussing on helping others learn how to bring their games to life. And be sure to check out Joe’s board game design course HERE. The post Teaching Game Design with Joe Slack appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

The post [ANNOUNCEMENT] Learn How to Design Great Games People Love appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .