Shows / The Game Design Round Table
The Game Design Round Table
Covering the full breadth of digital, tabletop, and role playing games, The Game Design Round Table inspires and educates aspiring and experienced game designers.
Episodes
- The Game Design Round Table
#282 Julio Nazario Talks Dulce and More
Board game designer Julio Nazario joins Dirk and David to talk about his success in publishing a variety of distinct games in a relatively short amount of…
- The Game Design Round Table
#281 Diving into Cards as a Simplifier
Aran Koning joins Dirk and David to talk about his digital card game, Stacklands. Discussions include an in-depth look at how the pack-buying mechanic ended up…
- The Game Design Round Table
#280 Bianca Canoza Talks ARC
Bianca Canoza, also known as Momatoes online, joins David and Kathryn to discuss her pathway into games, the lessons she's learned, and the Southeast Asian RPG…
- The Game Design Round Table
#279 Dominique Dickey Talks Plant Girl
Dominique joins Dirk and David to talk about TTRPG design. Topics covered include Dominique's pathway into the field through a student internship with Monte…
- The Game Design Round Table
#278 Listener Questions June 2022
Kathryn teams up with Dirk and David to tackle another round of listener questions. Topics include microtransactions, free-to-play games, early game design…
- The Game Design Round Table
#277 Diving into Cards as a Crossroads
Isaac Vega joins Dirk and David to talk about his experiences in the board game industry and how he has used cards in his games. First the trio discuss City of…
- The Game Design Round Table
#276 Round Table on Market Considerations for Game Themes
Kathryn rejoins Dirk and David for another Round Table discussion of past episodes. First, in reference to the recent episode with Sydney Engelstein, the group…
- The Game Design Round Table
#275 Diving Into Card-focused Adaptations and Expansions
Sydney Engelstein joins Dirk and David to talk about her history in game design and her work on multiple card-centric games. After discussing some of her…
- The Game Design Round Table
#274 Damon Stone Talks Liberation Haiti
Damon Stone joins Dirk and David to discuss his game Liberation Haiti, a historical-themed deckbuilder and a Zenobia Award finalist. First, Damon talks about…
- The Game Design Round Table
#273 Dave Scott Talks Everyday Heroes
Dave Scott joins Dirk and David to discuss the upcoming tabletop roleplaying system Everyday Heroes, a revived and updated version of the old D20 Modern…
- The Game Design Round Table
#272 Charlie Cleveland Talks Subnautica
Charlie Cleveland joins Dirk and David to discuss his work on the underwater survival game Subnautica–an indie hit and a standout in the genre. The trio talk…
- The Game Design Round Table
#271 Lauren Ino Talks The Season
Lauren talks to Dirk about her Regency era game, The Season. She gives a lot of background on the Regency romance setting and the Georgian Era in general. She…
- The Game Design Round Table
#270 Listener Questions January 2022
Once again, Kathryn Hymes joins Dirk and David for another round of listener questions. The discussion starts with a thorough examination of how to best grow…
- The Game Design Round Table
#269 Joseph Kelly Talks Molly House
Joseph joins Dirk and David to talk about their game Molly House, which was a Zenobia Award finalist. They discuss the historical theme behind the game, which…
- The Game Design Round Table
#268 Sherria Ayuandini Talks From Darkness to Light
Sherria joins Dirk and David to talk about her game From Darkness to Light, which explores the intersection between the education of women in Indonesia and the…
- The Game Design Round Table
#267 Crowdfunding on Kickstarter with Anya Combs
Anya, Director of Games for Kickstarter, joins Dirk and David to talk about how the crowdfunding platform works with creatives in the games industry. The three…
- The Game Design Round Table
#266 Banana Chan Talks Suburban Consumption of the Monstrous
Banana Chan joins Dirk and David to talk about her experience in multiple areas of game design, and how thematic games can be made in each medium. First…
- The Game Design Round Table
#265 Round Table on Past Projects and Untapped Potential
Kathryn joins Dirk and David for a round table discussion based on recent shows. Dirk and David get Kathryn's perspective on card games and how they help her…
- The Game Design Round Table
#264 Will Thompson Talks Winter Rabbit and PaleoVet
Will returns to the show with Dirk and David to discuss his game Winter Rabbit, a finalist for the Zenobia Award. A contest for designers from underrepresented…
- The Game Design Round Table
#263 Old World: Sorting Through Feedback
Soren returns to the show with Dirk and David for the third and final episode in this mini-series on his game Old World. They talk about the reception for Old…
- The Game Design Round Table
#262 Diving into Co-op Card Games with MJ Newman
MJ Newman joins Dirk and David to discuss co-op card games and her work on the Lord of the Rings and Arkham Horror LCGs published by Fantasy Flight Games. They…
- The Game Design Round Table
#251 David McDonough Supports the Player's Story
Firaxis designer David McDonough joins the show to talk strategy game design with Dirk and David. Topics in their discussion include: player stories vs game…
- The Game Design Round Table
#246 Omari Akil Talks Rap Godz
Board game designer Omari Akil joins Dirk and David to talk about Rap Godz, Hoop Godz, and the process of making games that connect both mechanically and…
- The Game Design Round Table
#245 Listener Questions August 2020
Kathryn joins Dirk and David to discuss the recent Rob Daviau episode as well as answer listener questions. In response to Daviau's design axiom, the trio…
- The Game Design Round Table
#240 Ryan Scott Aims for Balanceable, Not Balanced
Ryan "Morello" Scott joins Dirk and David on the show to discuss his design axiom: balance isn't important, but balanceable is critical. Ryan discusses why…
- The Game Design Round Table
#238 Round Table on How Different Game Mediums Handle Edge Cases
Kathryn once again rejoins Dirk and David to discuss the last few episodes of the podcast. The trio talks about the differences in edge cases between TTRPGs…
- The Game Design Round Table
#237 Old World: Utilizing Playtesters Effectively
Soren rejoins Dirk and David to discuss what's new with his 4X game Old World—including a new name! The trio talks about publisher changes, how playtesting has…
- The Game Design Round Table
#236 Tanya X. Short Makes Game Systems Obvious
Tanya X. Short talks with Dirk and David about her design axiom: if the player doesn't see it, it might not exist. They discuss both some of the games Tanya…
- The Game Design Round Table
#235 Diving Into MOBA Foundations
Dirk and David team up with show producer Skye to dive into the MOBA genre, a first in a series meant to explore the design of this popular genre. They discuss…
- The Game Design Round Table
#234 Sen-Foong Lim Designs Edge Cases Out of the Game
Sen-Foong Lim rejoins the show to chat with Dirk and David about his design axiom: design edge cases out of the game. The definition of an edge case is…
- The Game Design Round Table
#233 Round Table on the Challenges of Pleasing Customers
Kathryn returns to the show to chat with Dirk and David about the last three episodes of the Designing Thematic Games series. The group chats about hybrid…
- The Game Design Round Table
#232 Chris Bourassa Talks Darkest Dungeon
Chris Bourassa joins Dirk and David to discuss his work on the indie hit Darkest Dungeon. They talk about the inspiration for some of Darkest Dungeon's…
- The Game Design Round Table
#231 Tim Fowers Talks Burgle Bros 2
Tim Fowers, a guest on the show in 2016, returns to talk with Dirk and David about designing heist games. He discusses the thematic and mechanical design…
- The Game Design Round Table
#230 Rob Daviau Talks Return to Dark Tower
Former host Rob Daviau returns to the show to catch up with Dirk and David and talk about Restoration Games and their next big project: Return to Dark Tower…
- The Game Design Round Table
#229 Round Table on the Essence of a Theme
Kathryn rejoins Dirk and David to talk discuss the past few episodes in the Designing Thematic Games series. The trio talks art budgets, terminology, and…
- The Game Design Round Table
#228 Shawn Main Talks Legends of Runeterra
Dirk and David discuss the card game Legends of Runeterra with designer Shawn Main. This upcoming game will be Riot's follow up to the wildly popular League of…
- The Game Design Round Table
#227 Meguey Baker Talks Apocalypse World
Dirk and David chat with Meguey Baker about her tabletop RPG Apocalypse World and writing in general. The discussion covers Apocalypse World's approach to the…
- The Game Design Round Table
#226 David Dunham Talks Six Ages
Dirk speaks with David Dunham, the designer of Six Ages and its predecessor, King of Dragon Pass. These narrative strategy games, built from the Glorantha…
- The Game Design Round Table
#225 Round Table on Thematic Games #1
Dirk and David speak with former cohost and friend of the show Kathryn Hymes. Together, the three of them discuss important questions and lessons learned from…
- The Game Design Round Table
#224 Scott Nicholson Talks Escape Rooms
Dirk and David discuss escape room design with Scott Nicholson, a game designer and professor who has studied escape rooms extensively. Scott talks about the…
- The Game Design Round Table
#223 Kynan Pearson Talks Nintendo Themes
Dirk, David, and designer/artist Kynan Pearson discuss what goes into designing games for Nintendo's popular themes. Kynan talks about his role on both the…