December 8, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Joshua Yearsley, Hannah Shaffer and Mark Richardson.
Being competent at something just means you've already made all the mistakes, so come learn from ours! We'll discuss some of our own juiciest mistakes and setbacks from our years of games work - maybe even some from projects we've worked on together? - and explore how we used those experiences to grow, improve our craft, and do better the next time.
December 1, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Brendan Conway and Kevin Kulp.
When you're designing a game, you often start by picking a kind of genre, or even a particular work, that you'd love to experience as an RPG. But many of the strongest games out there take it beyond just replicating a particular story; they say something new or different. How do you do that, and why should you spend the time to make sure you do?
November 24, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Peter Hayward.
Every game has a shape. Beginning, middle, end, turn structure, round structure, end-game condition, victory condition. Learn about common shapes, the direction that games are evolving, and how to make sure that YOUR game has an appealing and suitable shape for the modern board gamer.
November 17, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Curt Covert.
There are may approaches to game design. Come learn about one specific style focused on stirring the emotions during play as the core design thrust. How does this design style contrast to other approaches? What is its benefit? How can you apply these principles to your own designs? Curt Covert of Smirk & Dagger / Smirk & Laughter discusses.
November 10, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Elsa Henry and Lauren Roy.
Fiction writing and game writing are definitely two separate skillsets, but they are complimentary. This panel will feature people who do both, discussing how to develop these skillsets to further both parts of your career, with extra attention to the ways they diverge and how to know which skills to use. Where do these skillsets not overlap, how do they fight against one another? What are the best ways to develop both skills without shortchanging one or the other.
November 3, 2018
Special Episode
Presented by Jason Pitre and Phil Vecchione,
In this special episode, Jason and Phil talk about communities and settlements in games. Each of us bring our respective projects to the table to discuss and explore the potential mechanics which model/support these elements of play. Phil presents Hydro Hacker Operatives, his game about heroes who steal water for their communities in a cyberpunk dystopia. Jason presents After the War , a game about building and protecting settlements on an alien world, a decade after a galactic war.
Enjoy our discussion of this exciting area of design where we discuss what communities and settlements bring to games, the stories they let us tell, and the mechanics which represent them.
October 27, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by James D'Amato, Jim McClure, Laura Simpson.
It is tempting to pour money into marketing a crowdfunding project. We'll discuss strategies you can use that take your project further without breaking your marketing budget.
October 20, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Michelle Lyons, Danielle Lauzon, Pete Petrusha, Maury Brown, Cam Banks.
It's relatively easy to make a game in this day and age. Making a business is harder. How much effort do you want to put into bringing a game to market/getting some revenue for your work? What are your options? How will you know what you want until you do it? Come join us for a panel discussing the whys and wherefores of game publication and where people choose to land on that spectrum.
Apologies for sound quality issues.
October 13, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Jason Walters, Brennan Taylor, James Dagg.
We'll talk about how to accept that your game will never be perfect and how to know when it's ready to publish anyway.
October 6, 2018
Recorded at Metatopia 2017
Presented by Phil Vecchione, Will Hindmarch, Beth Rimmels.
Designing the "For GMs" Section of your RPG" . GMing sections of RPGs are often a collection of rules, advice, etc, but they are not always effective. In addition, there is a host of great, generic GMing advice in both blog and podcast form, that no longer needs to be included in an RPG. What can we, as game designers, do when we design the GMing section of a game to better empower GMs to run the games we are creating?
