The Game Design Round Table

Jon and Dirk are joined by Jamey Stegmaier, co-founder of Stonemaier Games and designer of ‘Viticulture’ and ‘Euphoria’. They discuss Stonemaier’s first two titles, giving back to the development community and have a lengthy conversation on the state and future of Kickstarter.

Jon, Dirk and David delve into the most effective ways of teaching both tabletop and digital games. What role do out-of-game video tutorials have to play? Can quick, throw-away demo games work? When is it okay NOT to teach features? And what is the perfect (possibly unattainable) approach for digital games?

Jon and Dirk are joined by Julian Gollop, designer of X-COM: UFO Defense (aka UFO: Enemy Unknown) and a game development veteran with 30 years of experience. They discuss Julian’s distinguished career, how the design discipline is special and what made X-COM stand above so many games over the decades.---------------------------Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.com, Jon.Shafer@ConiferGames.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.comJulian Gollop - @Julian_Gollop, www.GollopGames.com, ---------------------------Episode Outline0:00:50 - Julian’s early career0:09:50 - The history of X-COM0:23:00 - Life after X-COM0:34:16 - Julian’s evolution as a designer0:42:20 - What makes a designer?0:48:38 - Choosing a development platform0:53:06 - What makes X-COM special?1:01:30 - Julian’s 'favorite child'

Our hosts discuss Dirk's recent experience playtesting ‘At the Gates’, dive deep into what makes ‘Agricola’ great, and lament the loneliness of the skill curve in ‘Go’. They also touch upon the simple-but-effective worldbuilding in ‘The Last of Us’, and the enjoyable gameplay but still-questionable monetization of ‘World of Tanks’.---------------------------Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.com, Jon.Shafer@ConiferGames.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.com---------------------------Episode Outline0:01:01 - Agricola0:23:12 - Go0:36:12 - The Last of Us0:44:11 - World of Tanks0:52:16 - AtG Development Update0:55:44 - Dirk Development Update1:04:00 - AtG Playtest Report

Jon, Dirk and David finally get around to talking about theme, mechanics and how the intersection of the two relates to ‘fun’. What are each? What happens when you favor one over the other? Can you flat out OMIT one? And what are some examples in the games our panelists have actually worked?Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.com, Jon.Shafer@ConiferGames.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.comDavid Heron - @DavidVHeronEpisode Outline0:01:08 - Definitions0:05:15 - Business considerations0:16:00 - Favoring one over the other0:22:08 - What is ‘fun’?0:31:50 - Theme vs mechanics0:43:30 - Can you omit one?0:53:00 - Jon’s approach in At the Gates1:00:40 - Dirk’s approach1:02:17 - David’s approach

Jon and Dirk are joined by Ed Beach, designer of the digital titles ‘Civilization 5: Gods & Kings’ and ‘Brave New World’ as well as tabletop games ‘Here I Stand’ and ‘Virgin Queen’. As you might have guessed, their discussion focuses on the similarities and differences between the two disciplines of design, and what lessons learned in one can be applied to the other.Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.com, Jon.Shafer@ConiferGames.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.comEd Beach - home.comcast.net/~ebeach, EdBeach@Comcast.netOutline0:00:32 - ‘Here I Stand’0:08:35 - Ed’s design background0:14:04 - Differences between digital & tabletop design0:27:35 - How do you encourage negotiation?0:40:13 - Large scale VS small scale design0:46:20 - Scenario design VS tabletop design0:51:36 - Applying lessons across disciplines0:59:25 - Ed’s future projects

Jon and Dirk discuss Solium Infernum and City of Remnants in-depth, and along the way delve into the issues deep competitive games have and the reasons why endgames are typically so bad. Dirk then provides an update on his forty projects, and Jon talks about the challenges of design and engineering and the thinking that goes behind when to start playtesting.Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.com, Jon.Shafer@ConiferGames.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.comOutline0:00:32 - Solium Infernum0:05:50 - Issues with deep competitive games0:19:50 - City of Remnants0:29:20 - Why are endgames so rarely good?0:47:00 - Update on Dirk’s projects1:05:17 - Update on At the Gates1:13:25 - The strategy of playtesting

Jon, Dirk and David finally get around to the elephant in the room: randomness. What is it? How can it make games better or worse? How does it relate to the type of audience you’re aiming for? What bad things can happen when you try to remove it? And heck, is there actually anything good about complete, utter, brutal unfair randomness?Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.com, Jon.Shafer@ConiferGames.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.com, Dirk@Knemeyer.comDavid Heron - @DavidVHeronEpisode Outline0:00:23 - What is randomness?0:03:55 - What makes randomness good?0:08:45 - Randomness and casual VS hardcore0:15:56 - Problems trying to mitigate randomness0:23:10 - Probability0:38:15 - Fairness0:50:40 - Input randomness

Jon and Dirk are joined by David Dunham, the creator of the classic PC and new iOS game ‘King of Dragon Pass’. The panel discusses the game’s unique focus on player-driven narrative, reviving an old-school title on new platforms, and the challenges of indie development. And Jon gets excited, simply because he finally found another game that takes barbarians seriously!Contact InformationJon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.comDavid Dunham - @KingDragonPass, www.A-Sharp.comEpisode Outline0:00:54 - King of Dragon Pass0:02:47 - The origins of KoDP0:07:00 - KoDP’s story0:16:24 - The development of KoDP0:25:32 - Sales and target audience0:28:50 - Why go indie?0:37:38 - A Sharp: David’s company0:39:13 - David’s design process0:49:07 - David’s interests0:54:20 - Advice for aspiring designers

Jon and Dirk cover a wide variety of topics this week, notably: the problems with automation and user interface in Paradox titles like Hearts of Iron 3 and Europa Universalis 4, the psychological appeal and the (possibly too-important) role of money in poker, and the challenges of meshing tech and design in At the Gates’ AI.Jon Shafer@JonShaferDesign (Twitter)www.JonShaferOnDesign.comDirk Knemeyer @DKnemeyer (Twitter)www.artana.comEpisode Outline0:01:15 - Europa Universalis 4 and Hearts of Iron 30:07:30 - The problem with automation0:14:29 - UI in Paradox games0:27:50 - Poker0:42:05 - The problems with poker0:52:22 - Poker and money0:58:41 - At the Gates - Map Objects1:05:45 - At the Gates - AI1:13:36 - Dirk’s brief project update

Jon, Dirk and David delve into the topic of multiplayer design: How is it different from single player design? What are the strengths and weaknesses different types of multiplayer? What separates e-sports from traditional multiplayer games? And what approach can be taken towards cheating?Jon Shafer - @JonShaferDesign, www.JonShaferOnDesign.comDirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer, www.artana.comDavid Heron - @DavidVHeron0:01:27 - Why talk about multiplayer?0:03:43 - Multiplayer design vs single player design0:09:08 - Different multiplayer modes0:21:10 - Asynchronous multiplayer0:27:42 - Multiplayer-only games0:40:53 - E-Sports0:43:32 - Cheating0:54:43 - The value of multiplayer

Jon and Dirk sit down with Chris Park of Arcen Games to discuss his latest game, Skyward Collapse, the development and business challenges of developing indie strategy games, and the important role AI can play in asymmetric games.

Jon and Dirk discuss several games at length this week, namely: Monaco, the new Walking Dead chapter, Super Crate Box for the Ouya and Civ 5: Brave New World. Topics covered include how penalties can improve a game, the importance of polish, and why diplomacy in 4X games always seems to be bad.

Jon, Dirk and David discuss the role of failure in games and how it ties in with how people learn how to play. What does punishment add, and where can it go wrong? How do you effectively teach players strategy games? What do PLAYERS get out of failure? And how the heck do you learn a tabletop game without tooltips?

Dirk sits down with game designer Vic Davis of Cryptic Comet games to talk about life as an indie designer, Vic’s dark game design decisions, and his new game 'Occult Chronicles'.

Jon and Dirk cover a variety of games they’ve played lately, including the new ‘Walking Dead’ expansion, ‘Ascension’ and ‘1775’. The discussion gets serious when ‘Hotline Miami’ comes up, and the crew debates the role of ethics in game design. They wrap up on a lighter note, describing the challenge of integrating mechanics and UI in a tabletop game, and how to instill life into fictional characters.

Soren Johnson returns to the show to discuss progression systems with Jon and Dirk, with a special focus on technology trees. What are the advantages and disadvantages of abstraction? How do Diablo 2 and 3 and Civilization 4 and 5 differ? What is At the Gates doing with Romanization Perks? And hell, what makes for a good progression system anyways? All of these questions - and more - are answered within!

Jon and Dirk are joined by Tomislav Uzelac, designer of the amazing WW2 strategy game ‘Unity of Command’ and studio lead for 2x2 Games. They dig into the title’s superb AI, its innovative supply system, building a streamlined strategic experience and the challenges of running a game studio from Croatia.

Jon and Dirk discuss a few games they’ve played lately which make good first impressions but ultimately fall short: ‘Don’t Starve’, ‘Shogun’ and ‘Wiz-War’. They then transition over to talking about what they’ve been working on, including AI character personality and AI design in ‘At the Gates’, getting into the meat of development with ‘Futbol Strategy’ and switching developers for ‘War Stories’.

Jon, Dirk and David discuss tactics in a more general sense. What is a tactical game? What problems does the genre have? Why does Jon hate basically all of them? And is it the players’ fault if their tactical choices aren’t as interesting as they could be?