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All Episodes

Design Doc — 127 episodes · page 1 of 2

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Title
1

A Cozy Little Game Design Retreat

2

Imperfect Inspiration (Re-Air)

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3

The Tyranny of Dice

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4

How to Not Make a Sequel

5

How to Beat a Beta

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6

Announcement: Escape from Wonderland Public Beta

7

Planning a Public Playtest (with Josh Yearsley)

8

Short Break Announcement

9

Dying on the First Turn

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10

Rapid Design: Snowhere Special

11

No Wrong Way to Eat a Pear

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12

How to Do Two Things at Once

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13

Queuing for Canoeing

14

Trapped in the Liminal Zone

15

Fatigue

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16

The Path to a Question

17

Who Designs the Game?

18

A Year of Movies

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19

Epiphanies

20

Resolutions New and Old

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21

Convention Dids and Didn’ts

22

Short Break Announcement

23

Making Game Hacks That Stay Small

24

You Can’t End the Game Until You Know What It Means

25

Design Doc 101

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26

Bonus: Ernest Cline's Stinker (Part 2—the Movie!)

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27

Bonus: Ernest Cline's Stinker (Part 1)

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28

The Realest Place on Earth

29

Game Design Grab Bag

30

Roleplaying in the Park

31

Creative Disagreements

32

The Game Takes Shape

33

The Rules Tell a Story

34

Epilogues in Games

35

Balancing the Pendulum

36

Now You're the Bad Guy

37

Don’t Stop Making Art! (Feat. Joshua A.C. Newman)

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38

It’s My Playtest and I’ll Cry If I Want To

39

Pacing

40

Insights and Secrets

41

Rewards and Prizes

42

The Art of Perfect Art

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43

What Makes a Good Playtest?

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44

When Mechanics Don't Match

45

Going Places! (or, Navigation Mechanics in Games)

46

A Moment of Rest

47

Finding Community Again

48

Levels of Doneness

49

Judging a Book by Its Cover

50

The Ideas You'll Be Buried With

51

Designing a Spooky Game (Part 4): Finally, the Playtest

52

The Pizza or the Basket? (Amusement Park Horror w/ Alanna Shaffer)

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53

Designing a Spooky Game (Part 3): Mr. Bones' Wild Ride

54

Designing a Spooky Game (Part 2): The Setting

55

Designing a Spooky Game (Part 1): The Brainstorm

56

The Founder Olympics

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57

Our Best Design Doc Ideas

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58

The Taste Talent Gap

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59

Adapting a Text

60

Working around a Job

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61

Obsessions

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62

Better Never Than Late?

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63

Designing Alone, but Not Lonely

64

Design Session: What Makes a Good Solo RPG?

65

Will We Ever Finish Questlandia 2?

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66

The Liminal Spaces of Six Flags

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67

"People Were Shorter Back Then" (Guest ep w/ historical interpreter Enzo!)

68

Old Sturbridge Village

69

Founder Energy

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70

Fish People

71

Focusing on Focus

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72

We're Writing a Novel

73

Packed With Care (Part 2)

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74

Packed With Care (Part 1)

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75

Actually selling our games

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76

What to do when you're sick of your game

77

FLETs (Fiddly Little End Things)

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78

Dispatch from an on-time timeline

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79

Imperfect Inspiration

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80

Bad lo-fi game ideas to study or relax to

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81

Underdressed and over-diced

82

Kudos Conundrum

E
83

Rekindling the Flame

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84

A Cat in the Lap and Other Good Things

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85

Numbers Hide Everything

86

The Episode Before the Kickstarter

87

Resist the Urge to Fill Negative Space

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88

The Work of Games Is Not Just Making Games

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89

Shootin the shoot

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90

How to Compare Roleplaying Games

91

Deluxe Edition

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92

Everything Old Is New Again

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93

Scopeful Optimism

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94

Designing a Game Design Workday

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95

The Games You Want to Make, The Life You Want to Live

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96

Burnout

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97

The Ski Bike

98

Breaking up with Character Creation

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99

When to Add Ghosts to Your Game

100

When No One Is the GM, Everyone Is

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