RPG Design Panelcast

Episode 373: That's Great Advice, Don't Follow It

Recorded at Metatopia 2023

Presented by Avonelle Wing, Curt Covert, and Alex Cutler

You've read game design blogs and Facebook groups. You've delved into conventional wisdom. You did your homework. A game should be replayable. You should set your funding goal as 1/5 of your overall costs to fund fast. A prototype should be a single sheet of paper and some markers. A prototype needs to be full production value. Publish it yourself and sell it out of your bedroom; order fulfillment is easy. All of these things might be true, and they could still be the thing that sinks your ship. Our experts talk about the ways accurate advice can still be wrong for you.

Episode 369: Indie Publishing for the Long Haul

Recorded at Metatopia 2023

Presented by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker

We've been creating and publishing our own games for almost 25 years. How, why, and what does it take? Why self-publish instead of shopping your work around? How do you plot your own course, build your own audience, and measure your own success? This is about being you, the designer, making your games, owning the fruits of your labor, and keeping both your drive and your passion while holding down your day job and maintaining your relationships.

Episode 364: Why you Should Join the IGDN

Recorded at Metatopia 2023

Presented by Tristan Zimmerman, Meghan Jaffe,  Sean Jaffe

The Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN) is an all-volunteer trade association for tabletop publishers, designers, and freelancers. We offer booth space at conventions, share knowledge, and work to improve the industry. Come ask questions and learn whether the IGDN might be right for you!

Episode 356: Challenges and Triumphs of Community-Based Game Publishing

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Jon Cole, Oscar Biffi, Katherine Shane, Misha B, Olivia Montoya, Chiara Locatelli.

Some small game projects are created by an auteur, who controls every aspect of production. These panelists rejected that approach to create projects working with a team on behalf of their community. How did they balance the community's needs with their ambition? Is it possible to represent a community via anthology at all? Panelists will discuss the nitty gritty processes behind their projects, revealing what worked and what didn't, answering questions, and sharing their hard-won tips for publishing in community.

Episode 353: Bad Design Habits We Love

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Jason Morningstar, Tim Hutchings, Jeeyon Shim.

Join us for a rollicking discussion of our worst habits and how being lazy, careless and hard-headed is often the best possible approach to game design. Do you design in layout? Is your playtest process a little shambolic? Do you cut corners and assume the math will all work out? If not, come and be outraged as we take a somewhat jaded approach to conventional wisdom you've heard a thousand times. 

Episode 348: Pass-Fail vs Open-Ended Play

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Joan Moriarity, Darren Watts, Beth Rimmels.

Which is better, a game that concludes when somebody wins, or a game that concludes when the story is deemed to be complete? It's a trick question, obviously; both styles have their benefits and drawbacks, but what are those exactly? Why do certain kinds of players tend to gravitate toward one or the other? What can devotees of one type gain from playing the other, and how can we make it more enjoyable to cross that divide?

Episode 345: Making Trash Games for Love

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by presented by Jack Rosetree, Olivia Montoya, Taylor LaBresh.

Perfection is a toxic concept. The pressure to make our games elegant, innovative, replayable, marketable, pitchable, attractive, and trendy can be exhausting. Don't be afraid to make ugly, unmarketable, uncomfortable, or downright bad games. Making trash is liberating, exhilarating, and cathartic.   Full Slide Deck at https://tinyurl.com/htnw669s

Episode 338: Keepsake Games

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Jason Cox, Shing Yin Khor, Jeeyon Shim.

Keepsake Games, Art, Education and Equity. Keepsake games, which generate material objects as a result of play, are a fascinating tool for classroom use. What if the experience of educational games was visually shaped by the students? How would this affect their engagement and retention of content? How can a game like this thrive in the quantitative systems that dominate education?

Episode 337: The Aether and Beyond

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Richard Ruane, Diogo Nogueira, Sarah Blunt, Daniel Wilson and Noora Rose.

 

Cold, scary, empty, and filled with radiation, we all know the real void of outer space isn't a friendly place. But what opportunities do we get when we create settings in a different outer space, one we see in pulp novels, weird fiction, planetary romances, cosmic horror, and early tabletop games and supplements such as Spelljammer or Space 1999? What makes creating a space fantasy or weird space setting different from creating a classic fantasy or space opera? What themes can creators explore when we look at space in weird and fantastical ways?

Episode 333: Creatively Limited

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

 

Presented by Sen-Foong Lim, Paul Stefko, Moe Poplar and Quinn Murphy. Jonathan Lavallee was unable to attend for medical reasons.

Analysis paralysis exists in creativity! When we put up limits and restrictions, we find new ways to solve problems and be creative. This panel will talk about what works for them when putting up walls around their creative process. 

Episode 323: A New Designer’s Toolkit

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Kyle Ott & Riley Parks.

This panel will focus on tips targeted to those who are beginning their design careers. The presentation will include advice on how to approach a publisher and conduct publisher research. Our panelists will give new designers advice on how to get unstuck and resources to help them with their first designs.

Episode 321: The Care and Feeding of your Creative Self

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Roberta Taylor, Paul Saxberg, Kimberley Lam, Shoshana Kessock.

How do you keep a creative spark alive when everything is coming to pieces around you? This panel will discuss some practical ways to nurture your creative self when you feel like you can't possibly make anything.

Episode 317: Different Traditions of Indie Publishing

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Pitre, Fiona Geist, Darren Watts, Viditya Voleti.

Indie game publishing is a strange craft and the design communities approach the process differently. In this panel, we will explore the similarities and divergences in publishing approaches from a Story Game, Sworddream, Trad and OSR perspectives. Let's share our knowledge and get weird.

Episode 316: How to Make and Sell RPG Adventures

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Graham Walmsley, Christopher McGlothlin, Darren Watts, Lynne Hardy, Alex Helms.

It's almost a truism that it's very hard to make RPG adventures, scenarios and modules that will sell unless you're talking about the very biggest games. Is that really true? Let's share some tricks and tips on this panel!

Episode 313: Should Games Make You Feel Bad?

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Tam Myaing, Doug Levandowski, Roberta Taylor, Jessica Creane.

 

As designers we strive to make games "fun", but they can also be a vehicle for other emotions, such as fear, sadness, disgust, shame, etc. From Brenda Romero's Train to Marc Gertz's Imperial, we will explore several games that intentionally or unintentionally make you feel bad

Episode 308: Games Are Art

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Curt Covert, Julie Ahern.

Games Are Art: Designing Through An Artist's Lens. When you think of art, you think of music, theater, painting, sculpting, writing, film. And at the heart of each is an artist, who uses their talents, creativity, skill and intelligence to craft something that never existed before, with the intent of sharing a vision, a feeling, a message, a sense of discovery or connection. The games we create are no less an art form, and we designers no less than artists. What we craft brings people together for a shared experience and has the ability to do more than challenge us mentally, pass the time or entertain, but to connect emotionally with people. Let us view game design through an artistic lens, to look past the mathematical underpinnings, and dive into what makes games a uniquely human endeavor.

Episode 305 : Lowering the Barrier to Entry to Trad RPGs

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Will Sobel, Beth Rimmels.

For better or worse, traditional RPGs have a reputation for crunch and complication that can be scary for new players. How can designers and publishers make their games less imposing both in substance and appearance? 

Episode 303: New Tools for Old Hands

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Olivia Montoya, Donna Prior, Avonelle Wing.

 

Discord. Itch. Twitch. If you blinked and suddenly your peers sound like they’re talking about new horsemen of a very minor apocalypse, we’re here to help you catch up. There are a plethora of new(ash) platforms available to empower your gaming experiences. Avie’s here as our token dinosaur, while Donna and Olivia bring the knowledge

Episode 301: Games, Gamefeel and Umami

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by James Wallis, Cat Tobin, Kieron Gillen, Jacob Jaskov.

We all know how certain games feel in play and how they make us feel, but as designers and critics we don't have a set of words to describe it. Do we need an experiential vocabulary of play, and what would one look like?

Episode 297: Accessible Core Mechanics and Horror

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Anne Ratchat, Spider Perry, Misha Bushyager, Mids Meinberg, Pamela Punzalan.

For all the merits of the genre, it is not an exaggerated statement to say that horror is the least accessible genres in analog gaming. Between mechanics that require physical ability, the habitual use of monsters whose descriptions sound uncomfortably close to home, and the widespread misunderstanding of how mental health and mental illnesses work, a large swath of players are alienated before the game even begins. In this panel, we will use the recurrent inaccessible themes in horror to explore how one can build a more accessible game from the core mechanics out. 

Episode 290: Tactile Games

Recorded at Metatopia 2020 Online

Presented by Avraham Yosef Baez, Bronwyn Sperling, Emily Care Boss

 

Role-playing games that integrate tactile components and mechanics allow our other senses to engage in play. Although COVID put a pause on many games that offer tactile experiences, join our conversation about what we are excited to have in the future. This panel will discuss how these little touches (see what we did there?) help enhance the game experience, how could they hurt it, and what considerations should be thought of when designing a game with tactile components. Whether it is sewing, stacking, smelling, or sounds, come join us and sigh about what we long to get back to. 

Episode 282: Canada is not a Northern Suburb of the USA

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Pitre, Sen-Foong Lim, Nicole Winchester, Christoph Sapinsky.

For Canadian game designers and pros, it's pretty common to get lumped in with U.S. designers. After all, it's all North America, right? The cultural differences between the two countries often gets lost, especially when discussing the elements that inform game design and aesthetics. Our panelists will talk about the specific parts of their Canadian experience that affect their game development work. 

Episode 279: What We Mean, When We Talk About Lyric Games

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Maria Mison, Casey Johnson, Jay Dragon.

What are Lyric Games exactly? And why are they deemed an important body of work, both in a personal and game scene level? What makes a game 'Lyric'? Additionally, our panelists share tips on how to go about the process of creating and sharing such games - fever dreams, love letters, rituals and treatise calling to be born. The panel will also have a segment for questions. 

Episode 274: Running a Successful Virtual Playtest Group

Presented at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Tam Myaing, David Gordon, Chris Backe, Kevin Dunkelberger.

When the COVID lockdowns began, the NYC Playtest Group was one of the first to move to online playtesting. Since then we have run over 50 sessions since mid April, and have also helped other gaming conventions with running games virtually. In this panel we will discuss with moderators from other groups around the world, on the the lessons we've learned in the trenches in running a successful virtual playtest group. 

Episode 273: Running Games on Roll20

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Chris O'Neill, Stephanie Bryant, Warren Morrison, Walt Ciechanowski.

Roll20 provides players and GMs with a popular virtual tabletop for games. How can you best take advantage of it as a player, a designer or a publisher? Our experts and power-users will bring you up to speed on the service.