Sirlin.Net - Game Design

Episodes

1. 18

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 18: Fantasy Strike

   Fantasy Strike is our new fighting game. We've just announced it and begun crowdfunding for it on Patreon. This podcast explains what Fantasy Strike is all about. We cover the high concept about making a fighting game more accessible from top to bottom than anything else we've seen, the specific...

   Nov 16, 2016

   1h 07m
2. 17

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 17: Shipping Kickstarters On Time

   Kickstarters projects are notoriously late. I give advice on how to ship your Kickstarter project on time. I've shipped 5 out of 5 Kickstarters on time, so it's time to share the best practices of how you can do that too. Learn about how complete your board game should be before you take it to...

   Oct 17, 2016

   1h 16m
3. 16

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 16: Overwatch

   We discuss Overwatch, Blizzard's first-person shooter. It far exceeded our expectations and we attempt to explain how it manages to do that. This isn't a "review," but rather us analyzing the design decisions involved, trying to define the secret sauce of Overwatch's success. Hosts: David Sirlin...

   Jul 22, 2016

   1h 16m
4. 15

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 15: Heroes of the Storm

   We discuss the design of Heroes of the Storm. It's a bold entry in the MOBA genre and impresses us greatly. We cover the many things is does differently than the rest of the genre that we view as improvements. No last hits, no deny, shared XP, talent system, 20 minute game length, map variety…

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   Mar 3, 2016

   1h 18m
5. 14

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 14: Codex

   We discuss the Codex card game, on Kickstarter at the time of this recording. Codex is a customizable (but not collectible) card game that has way different design goals than other CCGs. It's been in development ridiculously long, over 10 years, and we discuss the various properties it has that...

   Feb 9, 2016

   1h 19m
6. 13

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 13: Starcraft 2

   We discuss the release of Starcraft 2's third expansion, Legacy of the Void. This is a look back at what we liked about Starcraft from the very start, what things Blizzard changed for the better over time, and what things we think they really should also have changed too. Starcraft is a very...

   Jan 6, 2016

   1h 33m
7. 12

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 12: Easy Special Moves

   We discuss "easy special moves" in fighting games. We can pretty quickly say why they are a good or bad idea, but the bigger issue is trying to clarify what the term means to help others avoid muddled discussions on this topic. What is a game with "easy special moves" actually trying to do? Moves...

   Sep 2, 2015

   1h 23m
8. 11

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 11: Game Balancing Techniques

   We discuss techniques I use to balance games. The point more about HOW we talk about such things and the general approach rather than any specific example, but we cover many specific examples to illustrate the points. Includes examples from Street Fighter and Codex as well as an amusing anecdote...

   Jul 21, 2015

   51m
9. 10

   Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 10: Flash Duel

   We discuss the development of the revised printing of Flash Duel. Flash Duel is a simple and fast card game that in high level play ended up being bogged down by lengthy calculations. We talk about the design changes that address this as well as at least one tricky balance puzzle we faced. At the...

   Apr 4, 2015

   49m
10. 9

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep 9: Pandante

    We discuss the development of Pandante's expansion and 2nd edition. All three of us were involved in this development and playtesting. The core game has simplified and streamlined rules and we go through each one and explain why we made these changes. We also cover all the new (optional) content...

    Mar 16, 2015

    1h 14m
11. 8

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep8: Morality in Stories

    We discuss the drama created by stories that pose moral questions. Stories set outside the law make us think even more about these questions, so that could explain why so many popular stories have settings that take us outside of our familiar system of laws. We tie this into games with examples...

    Feb 27, 2015

    1h 01m
12. 7

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep7: Sequels

    We discuss sequels to movies and games. Sequel can mean a lot of different kinds of things, so we sort out the different kinds of sequels. This leads up to a discussion about how to handle sequels in highly replayable games.

    Feb 2, 2015

    1h 07m
13. 6

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep6: Character Bans

    In this episode, we discuss the many problems with games where players ban each other's characters. We touch on League of Legends, DOTA2, and Heroes of the Storm, though this discussion is applicable to any form of in-game banning in any game. An unusual guest talks about the worst clock in the...

    Jan 10, 2015

    1h 09m
14. 5

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep5: Now Playing

    We discuss the Street Fighter 5 trailer as well as the games we're playing now: Super Mario 3D World, Smash Bros. 4, Transistor, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Sirlin gives an award for worst menus in a game while Aphotix gushes about a shooter. Hosts: David Sirlin, Matt "Aphotix" DeMasi,...

    Dec 23, 2014

    55m
15. 4

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep4: Tournament Rules

    In this episode, we discuss the kind of things that go wrong when creating rules for a tournament. The rules for high profile tournaments are sometimes surprisingly bad, yet even when we avoid the obvious problems, it's still very difficult to make completely fair rules. Sirlin explains the rules...

    Dec 12, 2014

    1h 20m
16. 3

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep3: Uneven Playfields

    In this episode, we discuss uneven playfields in competitive games. That's when a competitive game gives some players a material advantage, rather than being fair. Although fairness should be a basic premise of a competitive game, MOST competitive games have unfortunately become uneven…

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    Nov 30, 2014

    1h 10m
17. 2

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep2: Cooperative Games

    Game design discussion about cooperative games, covering tabletop games and video games. MrGPhantome complains about his friends' gaming tastes in a guest segment.

    Nov 5, 2014

    1h 01m
18. 1

    Sirlin on Game Design, Ep1: Cocaine Logic

    Topics include cocaine logic, randomness in games, how to make games less solvable, and guest star garcia1000 extols the virtues of Clicker Heroes.

    Oct 29, 2014

    1h 04m