All Episodes

Season: RPG - Exploring the Success Behind Neon Odyssey with Mikey Gilder

Listener Questions, AI and the Future of Game Design

Listener Questions May 2026

Design Talk - Exploring Claude with Dirk & David

Design Talk - Buried Giant with Cole Werhle

Design Talk - Exploring Nevaros with Raven Zachary

Design Talk - NYT Games with Rohit Crasta

Civ Series 13 - Rogue Hex with Reed Erlandson

Design Talk - Designing large group games with Rikki Tahta

Season: RPG - Interlude: The Final Round Table

Season: RPG - Exploring RPGs with Rob Daviau

BtC with Ellie Dix and Dirk Knemeyer - Series Wrap-Up

Season: RPG - D&D with Mike Mearls

BtC- Brett Gilbert on Abandonment and Rejection

Season: RPG - Constructing Eberron with Keith Baker

BtC- Marcus Ross on conventions

Round Table - The season RPG reflection

BtC- Chris Backe on Digital Tools

Season: RPG - Interlude: The Third Round Table

BtC- Chrissy Fagerholt on social media

Season: RPG - Play-by-email with Jeff Perkins

BtC - Ross Connell on art and marketing for games

Season: RPG - Conversing with MJ Newman on the different RPG writing scenes, what are their experiences?

BtC - Bez Shahriari on Your Brand as a Designer

Season: RPG - Cthulhu fhtagn! with Mike Mason

Season: RPG - Cthulhu fhtagn! with Mike Mason

BtC - Matthew Dunstan on Making and Nurturing Connections with Publishers

Season: RPG - Interlude: The Second Round Table

BtC with April Mitchell on Sizzle Reels

Season: RPG - GM as Designer with Justin Alexander

BtC with Fertessa Allyse on Sell Sheets

Season: RPG - Interlude: Welcome to Willowbank

Season: RPG - Listener Question

BtC - Special Edition: Dominic Crapuchettes

Season: RPG - Serious Games Pt.2

Season: RPG - Serious Games Pt.1

BtC - Sydney Engelstein on Delivering a Winning Pitch

BtC with Danielle Reynolds on Preparing for Pitches

The timeless relevance of God’s Word for our generation | Messenger to Messiah, part 1

Season: RPG - Randy Lubin - RPGs in Organizational Settings

BtC- Dave Neale on Identifying Potential Publishers

Season: RPG - Interlude: The First Round Table

BtC - Isaac Vega on Self Publishing

Season: RPG - Luke Hughes - Leadership RPGs

BtC - Richard Heayes on Protecting Your Idea

Season: RPG - Ben Robbins on GMless Games

BtC - Mandela Grandon on Co-Designing

Season: RPG - Cosmere RPG with Andrew Fischer

BtC - Rikki Tahta on Designer Community

Season: RPG - Prologue

BtC - Adam Porter on Playtesting

Civ Series Finale Part 2 - Civilization VII

BtC - Scott Rogers on Prototyping

Civ Series Finale Part 1 - Civilization VII

BtC - Naming Games with Peter Hayward

Civ Series 10 - Listener Questions

BtC - Sen-Foong Lim on Motivation

Civ Series 9 - Where are we now with Soren Johnson

BtC - Daryl Andrews on Generating Ideas

#334 New Year, New Format, New Us

#333 App-Integration with Andrew Fischer

#332 Listener Questions with Ellie Dix Show

#331 Solforge Fusion with Justin Gary

#330 Xenolanguage with Kathryn Hymes

#329 Small Games with Ellie Dix

#328 Civilization Series 8 - Ara

#327 Undergrove with Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wootton

#326 Therapeutic TTRPGs with Daniel Hand

#325 Civilization Series 7 with Jon Shafer

#324 Civilization Series 6: Civ 7 First Look

#323 Tunic with Andrew Shouldice

#322 Future of Legacy Games with Rob Daviau

#321 Civilization Series 5 with Will Thompson

#320 Civilization Series 4

#319 Listener Questions June 2024

#318 Modules and RPGSEA with Pam Punzalan

#317 Earthborne Rangers with Andrew Navaro

#316 Citizen Sleeper with Gareth Damian Martin

#315 Civilization Series 3

#314 Designing to Ship with Xalavier Nelson Jr

#313 Civilization Series 2

#312 Civilization Series 1

#311 Innovating Themes with Anna Anthropy

#310 Listener Questions

#309 Industry and Loose Leaf with Tanya X. Short

#308 Narrative AI with Emily Short

#307 Roundtable with Soren Johnson

#306 A Highland Song with Jon Ingold

#305 Thirsty Suitors with Chandana Ekanayake

#304 Listener Questions November 2023

#303 Darkest Dungeon 2 with Chris Bourassa and Tyler Sigman

#302 Wildermyth with Nate Austin

#301 Design and Controls with Richard Lemarchand

#300 Tricentennial Celebration

#299 Worldbuilding with Ryan Laukat

#298 Tchia with Phil Crifo

#297 Gerson Da Silva Talks Kingdom Rush

#296 Listener Questions

#295 Kingdoms and Castles with Lion Shield Studios

#294 Worldbuilding with Kaitlin Tremblay

#293 Interview with Mark Rosewater

#292 TGDRT Roundtable With Dirk and David

#291 Tana Tanoi Talks Mini Motorways

#290 Sustainability in Games with Carlos Flores and jess Metheringham

#289 AI and Generative Content with Matt Kim

#288 Augmented Reality in Games with Graham Moore

#287 Diving Into Cards With Rob Daviau

#286 Listener Questions February 2023

#285 Round Table on Knowing "When"

#284 Fertessa Allyse Talks Book of Villain

#283 Nikki Valens Talks Artisans of Splendent Vale

#282 Julio Nazario Talks Dulce and More

#281 Diving into Cards as a Simplifier

#280 Bianca Canoza Talks ARC

#279 Dominique Dickey Talks Plant Girl

#278 Listener Questions June 2022

#277 Diving into Cards as a Crossroads

#276 Round Table on Market Considerations for Game Themes

#275 Diving Into Card-focused Adaptations and Expansions

#274 Damon Stone Talks Liberation Haiti

#273 Dave Scott Talks Everyday Heroes

#272 Charlie Cleveland Talks Subnautica

#271 Lauren Ino Talks The Season

#270 Listener Questions January 2022

#269 Joseph Kelly Talks Molly House

#268 Sherria Ayuandini Talks From Darkness to Light

#267 Crowdfunding on Kickstarter with Anya Combs

#266 Banana Chan Talks Suburban Consumption of the Monstrous

#265 Round Table on Past Projects and Untapped Potential

#264 Will Thompson Talks Winter Rabbit and PaleoVet

#263 Old World: Sorting Through Feedback

#262 Diving into Co-op Card Games with MJ Newman

#261 Jesse Howard Talks Hype Tag

#260 Diving into LCGs with Andrew Navaro

259 Diving Into Cards as Components

#258 Cole Medeiros Talks Stardew Valley: The Board Game

#257 Diving Into Card Games

#256 Listener Questions June 2021

#255 First-time Designer Skye Larsen Talks Paperback Adventures

#254 Round Table on Representing Unique Player Stories

#253 Diving Into MOBA Wild Rift with Brian Feeney

#252 Board Game Production and Operations with Nicole Cutler

#251 David McDonough Supports the Player's Story

#250 Alisha Thayer Uses Exceptions in Design Systems

#249 Diving into MOBA Changes and Updates

#248 Listener Questions October 2020

#247 Tabletop Game Development with Brenna Noonan

#246 Omari Akil Talks Rap Godz

#245 Listener Questions August 2020

#244 Round Table on Matching Player Expectations

#243 Rob Daviau Minimizes Ongoing Negative Effects

#242 Molly Johnson Talks Point Salad

#241 Diving into MOBA Perspectives and Problems

#240 Ryan Scott Aims for Balanceable, Not Balanced

#239 Listener Questions May 2020

#238 Round Table on How Different Game Mediums Handle Edge Cases

#237 Old World: Utilizing Playtesters Effectively

#236 Tanya X. Short Makes Game Systems Obvious

#235 Diving Into MOBA Foundations

#234 Sen-Foong Lim Designs Edge Cases Out of the Game

#233 Round Table on the Challenges of Pleasing Customers

#232 Chris Bourassa Talks Darkest Dungeon

#231 Tim Fowers Talks Burgle Bros 2

#230 Rob Daviau Talks Return to Dark Tower

#229 Round Table on the Essence of a Theme

#228 Shawn Main Talks Legends of Runeterra

#227 Meguey Baker Talks Apocalypse World

#226 David Dunham Talks Six Ages

#225 Round Table on Thematic Games #1

#224 Scott Nicholson Talks Escape Rooms

#223 Kynan Pearson Talks Nintendo Themes

#222 Elizabeth Hargrave Talks Wingspan

#221 Nikki Valens Talks Eldritch Horror

#220 New Directions with Dirk and David

#219 Cole's Thoughts on Pax Pamir: Second Edition

#218 Geoff Engelstein and Isaac Shalev: Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design

#217 Soren Johnson and his 4X Game: 10 Crowns

#216 Playtest Groups and Guilds with Tony Tran

#215 Tabletop RPGs and Streaming with Adam Koebel

#214 Game Themes with Will Thompson

#213 Carla Kopp, Kickstarter and Big Easy Busking

#212 Tabletop Prototyping Highlights

#211 Slay The Spire - A Designers Deep Dive with Anthony Giovannetti

#210 Listener Questions from SaltCON with Skye Larsen

#209 Kevin Kulp - Swords of the Serpentine

#208 Game Designer Jennifer Scheurle

#207 Emily Grace Buck

#206 Jon Shafer of Conifer Games - At the Gates

#205 Deep Dive - Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right

#204 Listener Questionnaire Results and the Future of TGDRT

#203 TL Simons - Bloc by Bloc

#202 Listener Questions - Accessibility and Get-Back Mechanics

#201 Tim Burrell-Saward and Smart Speakers

#200 Reflections on 200 Episodes of TGDRT

#199 Tabletop Game Designer - Scott Almes

#198 Michael Woods, 38 Studios and Subatomic Studios

#197 Megagames with Ben Kanelos and Leslie Loy

#196 Admired Designers, Unlikely Games Enjoyed and Listener Questions

#195 Game Designer Alex Roberts

#194 Kickstarter Results and Listener Questions

#193 Game Designer Kellee Santiago

#192 Engineering Game Design with Aljernon Bolden

#191 Fireball Island

#190 Listener Questions - Cons, Kids, Games and Names

#189 Gaming the Past with Jeremiah McCall

#188 Listener Question - You Don't Blind Test a Painting

#187 Listener Question - Acronym Edition

#186 Looking forward and back, 2017 to 2018

#185 Game Designer Cole Wehrle

#184: Narrative Designer Edwin McRae

#183: Listener Questions with David, Dirk and Rob

#182: Game Designer Mike Bithell – Thomas Was Alone

#181: Listener Questions with David and Dirk

#180: Spy Club from Foxtrot Games; How Collaboration helped deliver results.

#179: Elizabeth LaPensée; indigenous self-determination in game development.

#178: Niki Crisci, Will Glow the Wisp

#177: Tomer Perry, Ethics and Political Theory

#176: Methodology and Management

#175: Listener Mail August 2017

#174: Mo Turkington and LARPs

#173: Game Design Axioms

#172: Mode 7's Paul Kilduff-Taylor

#171: Gunpoint's Tom Francis

#170: Ross Cowman

#169: Listener Mail June 2017

#168: Emily Care Boss

#167: Chelsea Howe and VR

#166: John Harper

#165: Listener Mail April 2017

#164: Nels Anderson and Firewatch

#163: Jason Thompson

#162: Listener Mail February 2017

#161: Paizo Games

#160: Dominic Crapuchettes and North Star Games

#159: Guess Who's Back, Back Again

#158: Suzanne Zinsli and Cardboard Edison

#157: Harrison Joins the Mail Crew

#156: Kathryn Hymes and Thorny Games

#154: Essen and Listener Mail

#153: Riot Games

#152: Professor Rob's Mailbag

#151: Isaac Shalev and Kind Fortress

#150: Travel Catch-up and Listener Mail

#149: Jellybean Games

#148: More Listener Mail

#147: Black Straw Games

#146: Soren Johnson and Offworld Trading Company

#145: Seafall, Powering Up, and Listener Mail

#144: Chris Zinsli and Cardboard Edison

#143: The Mailbag Tolls for Thee

#142: Tim Fowers

#139: Justin Gary

#138: Checking in with Harrison Pink

#137: Once More Into the Mailbag

#136: Playing Catch-up

#135: Isaac Childres and Gloomhaven

#134: Expansions and Post-Launch Support

#132: Rob's Back, Time for Listener Mail

#131: David Somerville and Trove

#130: Catching up and Some Listener Mail

#129 Daniel Solis

#128: Listener Mail 5

#127: Meg Jayanth and Games Writing

#126: Collaboration

#125: Stonemaier Games and Scythe with Jamey Stegmaier

#124: Listener Questions

#123: Isaac Shalev and On Board Games

#122: Feedback

#121: At the Gates Update with Jon Shafer

#120: Project Check-in

#119: Foxtrot Games with Randy Hoyt

#118: A Seafall Review

#117: Chatting with Robin D. Laws

#116: Buying and Selling with Soren Johnson & Scott Hamden

#115: Talking with Chelsea Howe

#114: Back to the Mail Bag

#113: Trekking Along

#112: 2014 in Review

#111: Game Design and Education with Erin Hoffman

#110: The Science of fun with Nicole Lazzaro

# 109: Susan McKinley Ross and Idea Duck

#108: Funemployed and Boardgamegeekcon

#107: Cooperative Gaming with Amy Jo Kim

#106: Micro Games with Chris Handy

#105: Mail Call

104: Trading Mission to Mars with Julian Murdoch and Dr. Bruce Geryk

103: Catching Up

102: Get Off My Lawn

#101: Kvasir Games with Kristín Guðmundsdóttir

#100: Failbetter Games and Fallen London with Alexis Kennedy and Liam Welton

#99: Stuck in the Ditch

#98: On Writing....Video Games with Harrison Pink

#97: Karla Zimonja and the Fullbright Company

#96: The Conventions of Conventions

#95: Listeners Mail Q&A

#94: Offworld Trading Company with Soren Johnson and Jon Shafer

#93: Dynamic Campaigns with Ananda Gupta

#92: Et tu, Brute?

#91: At The Gates Progress Report with Jon Shafer

#90: A Trip Down Memory Lane with Harrison Pink

#89: Pandemic with Matt Leacock

#88: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

#87: Working on the Pile

#86: Choice of Games with Dan Fabulich

#85: Bamboozle Brothers with Jay Cormier and Sen Foong Lim

#84: Marketing

#83: Games All The Way Down with Harrison Pink

#82: Checking In

#81: Push and Pull with Nels Anderson

#80: Anticipation and Expectations

#79: Intrinsic or Extrinsic? with Harrison Pink

#78: Streaming and Live Development with Brad Muir

#77: Prototyping

#76: The Inside Scoop

#75: Infinite Loop

#74: Procedurally Chaotic with Julian Gollop

#73: MMOs, RPGs, and Pathfinder with Ryan Dancey

#72 Playtesting

#71: Intuitive Design. With Harrison Pink.

#70: A Roman Farewell

#69: Players as Designers

#68: Transparency

#67: Game Phases & Pivots

#66: Diplomacy in At the Gates

#65: Real-Time. With Geoff Engelstein

#64: Conflict

#63: Theme

#62: Cheating

#61: Don't Starve. With Kevin Forbes

#60: End-of-Year Spectacular 2013

#59: Race for the Galaxy. With Tom Lehmann

#58: Death in Games

#57: Stepping Back, Goals & Pacing

#56: 'SeaFall' & Legacy Design. With Rob Daviau

#55: Sharing Game Design Ideas

#54: Ploy, Race for the Galaxy & Hansa Teutonica

#53: Mohawks & Martians. With Soren Johnson

#52: Meet the TGDRT Crew

#51: Alpha Centauri & Evolving as a Designer. With Brian Reynolds

#50: Kickstarter & Stonemaier Games. With Jamey Stegmaier

#49: How to Teach Games

#48: X-COM & Tactical Games. With Julian Gollop

#47: AtG Playtest, Agricola & More

#46: Theme, Mechanics & Fun

#45: Tabletop & Digital Design. With Ed Beach

#44: Competition, Endgames & Updates

#43: Randomness

#42: King of Dragon Pass. With David Dunham

#41: Paradox Games, Poker and AI

#40: Multiplayer

#39: Skyward Collapse, AI and Business. With Chris Park

#38: Polish, Penalties & Updates

#37: Failure, Punishment and Learning

#36: Occult Chronicles & Life as an Indie. With Vic Davis

#35: Ethics in Design, Hotline Miami & Updates

#34: Progression Systems. With Soren Johnson

#33: Unity of Command. With Tomislav Uzelac

#32: Don't Starve, Shogun, Wiz-War & Updates

#31: Tactics & Repetition

#30: Design Lessons & Sirlin Games. With David Sirlin

#29: Solium Infernum, 'Futbol Strategy' & More

#28: Scoring & Victory

#27: Board Game Design. With Martin Wallace

#26: Puzzle Strike, Becoming a Designer, & More

#25: Information & Obfuscation

#24: Games and the Law. With Dave Fitzgerald

#23: Magic, Drafting & Updates

#22: Bioshock Infinite & Plaid Hat Games. With Colby Dauch

#21: Free to Play. With David Heron

#20: 'Tomorrow', Abnercon Games & Updates

#19: Diplomacy & Allan Calhamer. With Jim Burgess

#18: Spelunky. With Derek Yu

#17: Kickstarter & Fate Core. With Fred Hicks

#16: War Stories. With Michael Tan

#15: Tactics, Company of Heroes & XCOM

#14: 4X Games & Civilization. With Soren Johnson

#13: Jon's New Game - At the Gates

#12: CCGs & Dominion. With David Heron

#11: Storytelling & The Walking Dead. With Telltale

#10: Battle of the Bulge, Updates, and More

#9: Journey of a Part-Time Indie. With Jesse Howard

#8: End-of-Year Spectacular 2012

#7: Experience & Replayability. With Scott Lewis

#6: Running a Game Company. With Uwe Eickert

#5: Digital vs. Tabletop Game Design

#4: Storytelling & Crusader Kings 2. With Paradox.

#3: Trends in Digital & Tabletop Game Design

#2: Memory, Innovation and Being an Indie. With Rob Daviau.

#1: Hello World!