The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast

May 16 2024 375 ep. 53 mins 1.3k

The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcast artwork

On Who, What, Why? I discuss game design with those who make games and try to learn more about the game design process. Each episode I interview a designer, publisher, developer, artist, etc. of tabletop games such as card, board, or role playing. Some episodes discuss big ideas in design rather than individual games. I have both mainstream and independent developers as guests.

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Who, What, Why S36.E01 :: Unique Mechanics with Jonny and Jeff

May 16 2024 44 mins

Jonny and Jeff joined me on the show to discuss less popular mechanics, at least, according to us. We went through three mechanics: area enclosure like in games Through the Desert, simultaneous action selection like in games Wallenstein, and threat tracks like in games the Battle at Kemble's Cascade. It was a fun discussion to explore mechanics we thought were less popular than the

Who, What, Why S35.E10 :: Dead Poets Rise with Anna and David

Mar 07 2024 64 mins

I received a very unique text one day from my father-in-law. One of his patients had designed a game, and he shared with her that his son-in-law (yours truly) was a game podcaster. So, we connected, and I invited her and her co-designer onto the show. Here is that show. Anna Purves and David Schwittek joined me to discuss Dead Poets Rise, a unique game about writing poetry. I had t

Who, What, Why S35.E09 :: Kelp with Carl Robinson

Nov 27 2023 45 mins

Kelp me! Kelp me! All joking aside... this is a serious podcast... Carl Robinson, the designer of the 2-player game Kelp, joined me to talk more about his games and expand upon frustrating games in general. We discussed his game in detail, but we also branched off into games that use frustration in good and bad ways. Check out Kelp, live on Kickstarter right now if this sounds like

Who, What, Why S35.E08 :: A General Chat about Generative AI with Joe Slack

Nov 26 2023 38 mins

Joe Slack, a frequent guest of the show, joined me once again to help me dip our toes into the conversation about AI art in board games. We did our best to explain AI art from our knowledge base and to explore some of the uses of it so far and even what future uses should look like. I have an ongoing cough, so I did my best to remove those loud coughs. I asked ChatGPT to write me a

Who, What, Why S35.E07 :: Expanding RPGs with Jason Peercy

Aug 08 2023 40 mins

Jason Peercy, co-designer of The Real Thing RPG, joined me to talk about the expansions he is crowdfunding titled Angel Dust and King For a Day. You might remember The Real Thing RPG as the Faith No More inspired RPG. Jason and his co-designer Jason took the themes and stories they heard in Faith No More's The Real Thing album and created an RPG system out of it. Well, they are bac

Who, What, Why? S35.E06 :: Lost Adventures with Jeff, Jonny, and Ben

Jul 08 2023 38 mins

I planned to have on Jeff Warrender to talk about his game Lost Adventures, out on Kickstarter now, but Jonny Pac and the always fun Ben Maddox happened to join the podcast. We had a blast on this one. We mostly stayed on topic focusing on some of the interesting design decisions in Lost Adventures. If you have any interest in this game, check it out on Kickstarter now.

Who, What, Why? S35.E05 :: Wreck This Deck with Becky Annison

Jun 19 2023 54 mins

Becky Annison, designer of Wreck This Deck and co-owner of Black Armada Games, joined me to talk about her latest design up on BackerKit right now. Wreck This Deck is a solo-journaling RPG where you trap demons in playing cards and wreck those cards in all sorts of artistic ways, whatever you fancy. You can burn cards, fold them, paint them, cut them, etc. Becky encourages players

Who, What, Why S35.E04 :: Forges of Ravenshire with Sam and Ed... or is it Ed and Sam?

May 03 2023 88 mins

Sam and Ed Stockton... or Ed and Sam Stockton... joined me to talk about their newest game live on Kickstarter right now. Forges of Ravenshire is a unique dice worker placement game where you are crafting items and using dice, but the hitch is that the dice aren't owned by one particular player. We talked about a lot of topics here from the allure of dice to the intricacies of work

Who, What, Why S35.E03 :: The Return of the Super Show with Steve Resk

Mar 15 2023 91 mins

Wrestling fans and gaming fans! I have a guest to unite you both. Steve Resk, designer of The Super Show, joined me to talk about how to keep LCG/CCGs alive and well. We explored how the Super Show grew from just a couple of decks with a small fanbase to a community with its own regional federations and belts. We also talked about some of our favorite wrestling storylines from the

Who, What, Why S35.E02 :: That Competitive Spirit with Jonny and Jeff

Jan 31 2023 86 mins

Jonny Pac and Jeff Warrender return for another episode about a topic in game design. In this episode we discuss competitiveness in games. We focus on games with a lot of direct interaction compared with games with indirect interactions (like Multiplayer Solitaire games). No, we do not come down on "which is better," but we muse on what makes each of these styles interesting. Remem