Episodes
Saturday Jan 30, 2021
Episode 271: The Retail Perspective and Designing for Pandemic Sales in 2021
Saturday Jan 30, 2021
Saturday Jan 30, 2021
Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021
Presented by Bryan Dalrymple, Patrick Day.
Any board or card game being published in 2021 needs to take into account the likelihood that in-person demos and shopping will be limited. Our panelists will talk about what the design implications of this are, and how you can adjust to make your board or card game more viable as a physical commercial product.
Sunday Jan 24, 2021
Episode 270: Kickstarter in the Age of Covid
Sunday Jan 24, 2021
Sunday Jan 24, 2021
Recorded at Metatopia 2020
Presented by Jonathan Ritter-Roderick, Anya Combs.
Join representatives of Kickstarter for a discussion of the state of crowdfunding projects going into 2021. Topics will include what's different, what hasn't changed at all and how to prepare for success if you're taking a campaign live.
Saturday Jan 23, 2021
Episode 269: Heartwarming Gaming During the Plague Times
Saturday Jan 23, 2021
Saturday Jan 23, 2021
Recorded at Metatopia 2020
Presented by Rach Shelkey and Jaqueline Bryk.
It's time once again to talk about happy, uplifting games! How do you make space for pastoral gaming while the world is going through a global health crisis? How does one find joy when the long term outlook changes by the minute? Our panelists will share their thoughts and personal experiences on exploring the heartwarming through the plague.
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Episode 268: Converting to Online Play
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Sunday Jan 17, 2021
Recorded at Metatopia 2020
Presented by Vivian Abraham and Jason Cox.
Some games are easy to play online, and some have robust platforms to support them. But what if your game involves group singing? Or social mingling? Or some other mechanic that is harder to do online? Let's share some ideas for converting these trickier games to be enjoyable virtually!
Saturday Jan 16, 2021
Episode 267: How to Start Business
Saturday Jan 16, 2021
Saturday Jan 16, 2021
Recorded at Metatopia 2020
Presented by Brian Dalrymple, Jessie Edwards, Hal Mangold.
Our panelists will walk you through the basics of turning your game design hobby into a business. We'll talk about the most cost-efficient ways to register an LLC, open a business bank account, file a trademark and keep track of your expenses for tax season.
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Episode 266: The Business of Small Press RPGs
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Recorded at GenCon 2020 Online
Hosted by Jason Walters and featuring Brian Dalrymple, Jennifer Ward, and Cat Tobin.
This panel was hosted by Indie Press Revolution as part of GenCon 2020's online panel selection on behalf of the panelists.
- Brian Dalrymple- https://www.facebook.com/AdventureGam...
- Jennifer Ward- https://www.facebook.com/crazysquirre...
https://twitter.com/csgamestore - Cat Tobin- https://twitter.com/CatTHM
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Episode 265 - The Cutting Edge RPG Panel
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Recorded at GenCon Online 2020
Presented by Jason Walters, Pamela Punzalan, Wilson Zorn, and Maurice Poplar.
Indie Press Revolution hosted this excellent discussion on the ideas and games at the forefront of modern RPG Design in the year 2020, during this special panel at GenCon Online.
Pamela Punzalan -
https://thedovetailor.itch.io/
https://twitter.com/TheDovetailor
Wilson Zorn -
https://twitter.com/zornwil
Maurice Poplar -
https://twitter.com/MauricePoplar
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Episode 264 - Queer Game Designers
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Recorded at GenCon Online 2020
Presented by AC, Kira Magrann, Wilson Zorn, Jay Dragon, and Lucian Khan.
Streamed live for Gen Con Online 2020. You can find games from all these creators on IPR's website, linked below!
https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/...
Find Kira Magrann at -
https://twitter.com/Kiranansi
https://kiramagrann.itch.io/
Find Wilson Zorn at -
https://twitter.com/zornwil
Find Jay Dragon at -
https://twitter.com/jdragsky
Find Lucian Kahn at -
https://twitter.com/oh_theogony
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
Episode 263 - Games in Education
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
Saturday Jun 20, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Jennifer Gutterman, Shawn Roske, Tim Blank.
Are you an educator wanting to gamify your classroom? Are you building a traditional education game? Do you want your game to be fun but also teach the players about something? This is where we can discuss ideas, workflows, deployments and examples of games in education, gamification in the classroom or building games that teach.
Saturday Jun 13, 2020
Episode 262 - Design Considerations for Card Games
Saturday Jun 13, 2020
Saturday Jun 13, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Tim Rodriguez & Beth Rimmels.
Card games are a classic design model that have already expressed innumerable possibilities. We'll talk about classic styles of decks, iterations on classic games, alternate formats, the mathematics of card games, and why we all love them. We'll also consider and critique ideas and concepts and talk about why or why not to choose this design format.
Saturday Jun 06, 2020
Epsiode 261 - Updating Cyberpunk
Saturday Jun 06, 2020
Saturday Jun 06, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2020
Presented by Dexter Duckworth, Elsa Sjunneson.
The Distant Future, the Year 2000: Updating Cyberpunk for the 21st Century. The hard-hitting themes of social inequality and corporate exploitation found in cyberpunk are as relevant now as they were in the 80's, but not everything in the genre has stood the test of time. This panel will dive into how both the technologies and sensibilities found in cyberpunk can be updated in order to design games that are timely and inclusive.
Saturday May 30, 2020
Episode 260 - Paying it Forward and Supporting Diverse Creators
Saturday May 30, 2020
Saturday May 30, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Jason Pitre, Cat Tobin, Amanda Valentine, Lauren McMannon, Camdon Wright.
Everyone should have a chance to create and publish games. Unfortunately, there are many structural barriers keeping unrepresented voices from coming to the table. In this roundtable discussion, our panelists discuss ways that established publishers can support new voices through information, promotion, funding, and education.
Saturday May 23, 2020
Episode 259 - More Than Just Victory Points
Saturday May 23, 2020
Saturday May 23, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Peter Hayward, Gil Hova
More Than Just Victory Points: Alternative Approaches to Win Conditions. "Most victory points" is the default victory condition for most board games, and why shouldn't they be? They solve most problems you encounter while designing - balance, investment, rewarding people for doing what you want them to be. Well, unfortunately, most everyone has worked out the same thing, and now the market is flooded with Victory Point win conditions. Want to make your game stand out? Try something else.
Saturday May 16, 2020
Episode 258 - Crowdfunding on a Budget
Saturday May 16, 2020
Saturday May 16, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Jason Walters, Jeff Stormer, Christopher Badell.
Your game's ready for Kickstarter! So how much will you be asking for? What's the absolute minimum you need to get your game made? What is the floor number for success? How will you handle unexpected levels of success? Let's get practical about your numbers.
Saturday May 09, 2020
Episode 257 - The Three-Ring Setting: Scope in Game Design
Saturday May 09, 2020
Saturday May 09, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Kenneth Hite
A METATOPIA tradition - Kenneth Hite rambling about game design. In this case the notion of scope: How big should your setting be? How can you design a setting to contain multiple core game activities, and should you? As always, Ken has notions and questions, and hopes you have more of both as we explore Bigness (and un-Bigness) in games.
Saturday May 02, 2020
Episode 256 - Turn, Turn, Turn
Saturday May 02, 2020
Saturday May 02, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Geoffrey Engelstein
"Turn, Turn, Turn" presented by Geoffrey Engelstein. The 'turn' is a fundamental concept for games of all types, and there are a wide variety of approaches the designer can take to structure them. The structure chosen has a major impact on the play experience, and should be carefully considered. This talk is a deep dive into turn options both common and rare, and discusses what each brings to the table.
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
Episode 255 - Publish your own Games!
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Meguey Baker & Jason Pitre.
Publishing your game doesn't need to be daunting. There's work involved, but with a diverse tool box and a clear understanding of your publishing goals, publishing might be more attainable than you imagine.
Saturday Apr 18, 2020
Episode 254 - Science in RPGs and Larps
Saturday Apr 18, 2020
Saturday Apr 18, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Mary Georgescu, Sharang Biswas, Brianna Shuttleworth.
Can we get nitty gritty with players and talk about science? Can we as designers build science into our games in fun ways that do not lend themselves to sci- fiction but a truer representation and reflection of our current or past understandings of the way our universe, our earth works? We will be talking about how we designed Starry Messenger, The Moon Stares at Us in Shame, and Magischola with science in mind and their usage and representations of science.
Saturday Apr 11, 2020
Episode 253 - Holding Space for Teens
Saturday Apr 11, 2020
Saturday Apr 11, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Meguey Baker, Caleb Stokes, Clark Valentine, Edward LaValley.
Teenagers bring innovation, creativity and hard questions to the game table. Our panelists will talk about how to hold space for everything that makes gaming with them magical.
Saturday Apr 04, 2020
Episode 252 - A Dive into the Theory of RPGs as a Communications Medium
Saturday Apr 04, 2020
Saturday Apr 04, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Christopher O'Neill, Adriel Wilson, Cat Tobin, Misha Bushyager.
Role playing as a HOBBY continues to evolve and mature. Has role-playing now gotten big enough to be considered a MEDIUM? Join us for a lively and passionate discussion on the concept that role-playing has become more than just games, but a medium - a channel for communication, information, and entertainment. In this panel, we will look at whether role-playing is a medium, and if so, what that means for our hobby. The panelists all represent different aspects of designing and publishing role playing games and bring diverse and interesting points of view around the topic.
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Episode 251 - Creating Mysteries in RPGs
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Saturday Mar 28, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Kenneth Hite, Betsy Rosenblatt, Darren Watts.
Mysteries are among the hardest genres to run successfully in tabletop games. How can designers structure stories to meaningfully involve players, guide them to clues and help them put them together to solve a crime without spoonfeeding them? How can GMs control pacing to duplicate the feel of classic whodunits?
Saturday Mar 21, 2020
Episode 250 - Integrating World Building in Traditional RPGs
Saturday Mar 21, 2020
Saturday Mar 21, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Ryan O'Grady, Kenneth Hite, Brennan Taylor.
There's something satisfying about taking ownership of a piece of the world as a player and watching it flourish (or not). There have been various approaches to this over the years (Ars Magica, MIcroscope, The Quiet Year, even D&D!) Let's discuss what player involvement of world building really means and different approaches for incorporating it into traditional RPGs.
Saturday Mar 14, 2020
Episode 249 - Insights Forged in the Dark
Saturday Mar 14, 2020
Saturday Mar 14, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Stras Acimovic, John LeBoeuf-Little.
Blades in the Dark has led to a new generation of game designs such as Scum and Villainy, Band of Blades, and Mutants in the Night. In this panel, we dig into the toolset and what sets it apart from similar design traditions. What are the core principles behind designing games Forged in the Dark? Where can we grow and diverge from the core?
Saturday Mar 07, 2020
Episode 248 - Time is of the Essence: Countdowns and Clocks in Games
Saturday Mar 07, 2020
Saturday Mar 07, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Darren Watts, Stephen Dewey, Paul Stefko.
There are many different mechanics for tracking time and progress in games, and our panel speakers will explore all of them in depth. From countdown clocks and stress tracks, to flickering candles and Jenga towers, there's a lot to explore in this family of mechanics.
Saturday Feb 29, 2020
Episode 247 - How to Start a Business as a Game Designer
Saturday Feb 29, 2020
Saturday Feb 29, 2020
Recorded at Metatopia 2019
Presented by Emily Escovar, Chris O'Neill.
Our panelists will walk you through the basics of turning your game design hobby into a business. We'll talk about the most cost-efficient ways to register an LLC, open a business bank account, file a trademark and keep track of your expenses for tax season.