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Episodes
Game Design Unboxed features interviews with tabletop game designers on specific games or series of games they have created. Listeners will learn where the initial idea for the game came from, how the game developed over time and where the game is now after being published.
Episodes
Tuesday May 07, 2024
GDU 088 - Season 4 Finale
Tuesday May 07, 2024
Tuesday May 07, 2024
In episode 88 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication Amanda Rivera takes over as the host as she helps recap the fourth season with Danielle. They talk about past guests and their games. Speaking about matching mechanics with IPs and how brands can be split between many different publishers. Danielle talks about her upcoming games Caution Signs and Secret Clue: Cuisines as well as her new job title of Project Director of Wacky Wizard Games and how she’s grown as a designer by starting to do inventor relations. Learning to kill off her designs faster by looking at them from that perspective has helped her grow over the past few months. Not to mention she was nominated for the Play Creators Rising Star Award this year!
Featuring:
Danielle Reynolds - Guest
Amanda Rivera - Host
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
GDU 087 - Mind MGMT
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
In episode 87 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Sen-Foong Lim on his comic book IP game Mind MGMT. A game that grows with the players in strategy as well as difficulty. One player controls Mind MGMT and must scour the city for new recruits. They move around on a secret map, trying to visit locations that match one of their three randomly drawn feature cards. They can also use their four Immortals to protect locations from being exposed. Listen to Sen compare working with a creator’s IP versus a company like Viacom or Warner Brothers. He unboxes how they worked with the comic creator to expand the Mind MGMT world versus slapping the IP on a pre-existing design.
Featuring:
Sen-Foong Lim - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Apr 02, 2024
GDU 086 - Gartenbau
Tuesday Apr 02, 2024
Tuesday Apr 02, 2024
In episode 86 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with David Abelson about his Mensa award winning game Gartenbau published by 25th Century Games. Initially the game started as a color theory tile placement game but grew into a three-layer tile stacking game of beautifully arranged flowers that gain prestige using a rondel drafting mechanism. Learn how this design grew in development!
Featuring:
David Abelson - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
GDU 085 - Mission to Planet Hexx
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
Tuesday Mar 19, 2024
In episode 85 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Jim Fitzpatrick about his game Mission to Planet Hexx. Inspired by a love of SyFy he designed a hex tile game about exploring space with different abilities triggered by moving your ship around the tiles. He learned through playtesting how to create thematic ties between the flavor text and mechanics of the tiles as well as how to refine his design.
Featuring:
Jim Fitzpatrick - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
GDU 084 - Mischief (Previously "Fickle")
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
In episode 84 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Glenn Cotter about his design Mischief, formerly Fickle. Learn how he got the game signed and printed first with Bard Games. Then what happened when he received the rights back and got the game re-signed with Smirk & Dagger as Mischief. Listen as he talks through the design changes made in between printings. How the initial bones of the game stayed the same while player count, fairy cards, illustrations and other pieces were tweaked through development.
Featuring:
Glenn Cotter - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
GDU 083 - Home
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
In episode 83 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Doug Levandowski and Yeonsoo Julian Kim about their co-design Home. Home is an RPG that focuses more on storytelling than dice rolling thanks to Tarot cards that help every player take turns as the “Director” of their scary story. With different modules in the RPG no game will be the same. The game started as Doug's attempt to make a game about his childhood home but with Julie’s help the game grew into what it is today.
Featuring:
Doug Levandowski - Guest
Yeonsoo Julian Kim - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
GDU 082 - Mansplaining
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
In episode 82 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Fertessa Allyse and Mondo Davis about their party game Mansplaining. Learn not only what the term “mansplaining” means but also, learn how they designed a game made not to offend but allow players to feel what it is to have someone over-explain a subject in a humorous way. Learn how they dealt with assumptions made due to the title of the game and how they marketed to help with that problem.
Featuring:
Fertessa Allyse - Guest
Mondo Davis - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
GDU 081 - Pirate Tails
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
In episode 81 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Whitney Loraine the designer of Skybound’s Pirate Tails game. Her inspiration came from the push-you-luck set collection mechanics of Biblios. She took what she liked most from that game and created her own game. Listen to her start as a new designer. How going to a convention allowed her to network and meet publishers nice enough to introduce her to Skybound where she now has two signed games!
Featuring:
Whitney Loraine - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
GDU 080 - Misconceptions
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
Tuesday Jan 09, 2024
In episode 80 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with George Li about his game Misconceptions. His publishing company Rabble was approached by Bud Light Seltzer to create Misconceptions, a game based on debunking other common, but wrong, beliefs. Learn how they worked with Bud Light’s marketing team to design and publish a game in record time using a non-gaming manufacturer in the United States in order to meet the deadlines set by Bud Light.
Featuring:
George Li - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
GDU 079 - Mantis
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
In episode 79 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Jeremy Posner and Ken Gruhl about their co-design Mantis published by Exploding Kittens. They talk about how they found each other as co-designers and the many games that have spawned from the partnership. How a failed design of Ken’s inspired Jeremy to adapt the idea into what became Mantis. Listen to how this design team took an old idea and gave it life in a new form! Plus, how they adapted the game into a kid’s version called Best Worst Ice Cream for Exploding Kittens’ new line of Kitten Games.
Featuring:
Jeremy Posner - Guest
Ken Gruhl - Guest
Danielle Reynolds - Host