Erica and Sen welcome Travis Severance, owner of Millennium Games - the largest game store in the United States - to the podcast. Travis brings years of retail experience to the table and lends insight into what sells games. From puzzles to pickleball and everything in between, Travis sheds light on how games and hobbies are merchandised to customers and we discuss if there's anything about game or product design that can help retailers do what they do best. Note: You'll hear a dog barking intermittently for about 10 minutes from around the 5 minute mark. Our apologies; we couldn't filter that out.

Guest host, Sarah Shipp, talks about the concept of resonance when designing games, SUCCESS (from "Made to Stick" by Chip & Dan Heath), and Sarah's own equation for resonance: Familiary + Unexpectedness - Chaff Also, see Sarah's GDC talk on Creating Resonance with Thematic Design available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61YNkTv3xgM

Erica and Sen welcome Pam Walls, a designer who specializes in party games, to the Ludology Podcast. Pam provides excellent insight into what it takes to make large and diverse groups of people want to play a game together. Pam's latest creation, Blob Party, was a Gen Con 2023 release for Wiz Kid Games.

In the fourth installment of TTRPG Kids, Steph talks about how to pick a setting that is engaging for the children that you're gaming with.

Sen and Erica welcome designer and Dice Tower member Roy Cannaday to the show to tell us about his experience at Gen Con 2023 that was made extra special because it was also the official launch of his first game, Last Light.

Guest host, Sarah Shipp, discusses Artistotle's Classical Unities and explores how unity of action, time, and place can be used to design a more cohesive game.

Erica and Sen discuss their comings and goings over the past few months. Sen attended Origins in June and Erica went to SDCC in July. So before they both head to Gen Con in August, they figured they should touch base and see what each other were up to!

In this episode, Steph talks about their use of safety tools and how they modified some for use with their son.

Erica and Sen welcome designer, author and game studies professor, Gordon Calleja to the show to discuss his book "Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design" from the MIT Press (ISBN 978-0-262-54395-8). Gordon gives a chapter-by-chapter rundown of the book that will be the focus of our first Ludology Book Club event - stay tuned for further information!

Segment host Sarah Shipp returns to talk about the concept of immersion in tabletop games. Amongst others, Sarah references Gordon Calleja theories on immersion in her discussion - Gordon will be next week's guest on the main Ludology podcast.

Erica and Sen welcome Danielle Reynolds and Nick Bentley to the show to talk about how HerStory from Underdog Games was designed.

Join Steph Campbell of TTRP Kids as they delve into the difficult topic of kids wanting to do "bad" things when playing TTRPGs. How can parents and educators deal with this in a constructive way. Is the child actually being "bad" or are they just inquisitive? How can we determine this and what learning can occur from "bad" behavior? (Sound Effects from Pixabay)

Erica and Sen talk to Nicholas Yu, the designer responsible in part for games like Adventure Tactics and the recent release D&D Onslaught. Nick brings a wealth of knowledge about playing and designing tactical war games in the tabletop space. We discuss LOS, competitive wargaming, and more in this episode.

This segment features guest host Sarah Shipp of Shippboard Games. For the next year, Sarah will be taking a look at aspects of game design that go beyond the basics of rolling dice or drawing cards. In this introductory monthly mini-sode, Sarah posits that the question of theme first or mechanics first is a false dichotomy.

Sen and Erica welcome Morten Monrad Pedersen, founder of the Automa Factory, to the podcast to discuss designing solo modes for tabletop games. Morten has been involved with the solo modes for games such as Scythe, Viticulture, and Gaia Project.

Steph Campbell of TTRPG Kids gives parents and teachers some simple, practical tips on how to adapt tabletop role playing games for use with children in the home and classroom. In this episode, Steph talks about how to work with some of the more common aspects of TTRPGs (e.g. randomization, stats, bonuses, etc.) with children as they develop skills in literacy and numeracy.

It's a celebration! To mark the 300th episode of Ludology, Erica and Sen invite some of the past hosts (including co-founders Geoff Engelstein and Ryan Sturm, Scott Rogers, and Emma Larkins) to share some of their most impactful memories about the games they loved to play, create, and share with those around them. Please keep an eye out for the giveaways mentioned in this episode by following us on www.patreon.com/Ludology. Thanks for sticking with us for 300 episodes and here's to 300 more!

Sen and Erica sit down with Matt Paquette, graphic designer behind many of the games on your shelves, to discuss how he lays out all of the information needed to play a game in a logically flowing and concise visual hierarchy, specifically talking about how good card frame design can improve end user experience.

Erica and Sen talk with Carlos Flores and Eric Zimmerman about the recently released Green Games Guide, a document chock full of sustainable goodness for those in the tabletop industry hoping to lessen their products' impact on the environment. Find out more about how you can be a part of the movement to improve gaming's sustainability as a consumer, a designer, or a publisher.

Erica and Sen talk with Carlos Flores and Eric Zimmerman about the recently released Green Games Guide, a document chock full of sustainable goodness for those in the tabletop industry hoping to lessen their products' impact on the environment. Find out more about how you can be a part of the movement to improve gaming's sustainability as a consumer, a designer, or a publisher.