Ludology

Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome guests Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier, designers of Godfather: A New Don, Junk Art, and many more games. How does their collaboration work? What are the advantages and disadvantages of working as a team? Duration: 1:04:54

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about Scoring Tracks, and how to make them work with your players, instead of against them. Duration: 06:26

A little window into dinner time at the Engelstein household: Young Brian asks the question "Can a board game make the players cry?" and he ends up on a podcast. So can they? Mike, Geoff, and Brian explore what makes people sad, and whether board games can do that - and how that affects their status as 'art'. Duration: 56:13

Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome Walter Crist, archeologist and co-author of Ancient Egyptians at Play, to discuss the history of board games in ancient Egypt, and their impact on culture and society. Duration: 51:10

It's another Listener Question episode! Mike and Geoff take on all comers. Can they survive? Duration: 1:11:21

In this GameTek, Geoff discusses the role that mental models play in how we interact with objects in the world. Duration: 06:00

Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome Suzanne Sheldon and Sydney Engelstein to discuss the topic of diversity and inclusion in gaming. Duration: 1:49:42

In this classic GameTek, Geoff looks at options for structuring tournaments for semi cooperative games. Duration: 06:27

Mike and Geoff are pleased to welcome guest Soren Johnson. Soren was the lead designer on the computer game Civilization, and recently released Offworld Trading Company, which marries a traditional boardgame style economic battle with computer-based real time mechanics. Soren discusses the influence of board games on computer game design, and we go into depth on AI implementations. Duration: 1:09:20  

In this classic GameTek, Geoff looks at semi-cooperative games, and the particular challenges they create for social dynamics. Duration: 06:13

Mike and Geoff discuss player motivations. What makes people want to play games? How do you design games to appeal to that type of player? Duration: 1:16:16

In this classic GameTek, Geoff discusses the smart design choices made by the designers of Cosmic Encounter. Duration: 06:15

Mike and Geoff interview a panoply of designers of designers at the Gathering of Friends to hear about what inspires them. Duration: 46:36  

In this classic GameTek, Geoff talks about the psychological state called 'Flow'. Duration: 6:41

Mike and Geoff are thrilled to have special guest Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari games.  What were the game design considerations of the early video game industry? When you are inventing an entire new genre, where do you look for ideas? Duration: 42:15

In this classic GameTek Geoff discusses a study that looks at how much people enjoy just sitting with nothing to do. Duration: 05:43

Mike and Geoff present the third and final part of the game design checklist. You can download the full checklist from http://cardboardedison.com/, under the Featured Content link. Duration: 1:08:30

In this classic GameTek, Geoff takes a look at an 'interesting' game from the 1994 Caribbean Cup soccer tournament. Duration: 06:58

Mike and Geoff continue their discussion of the Game Design checklist, with questions about game mechanics. Duration: 01:16:59

In this classic GameTek, Geoff discusses the psychological concept of Zero Risk Bias. Duration: 07:45