Advertise on podcast: Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication

In episode 152 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with game designer and inventor of Dodecadonuts, Andrew Davis, about his self-published title, Fantasy Food Fight.   We talk about the origin story of Dodecadonuts, Andrew’s handmade, wooden donut-shaped dice holders inspired by his longtime woodworking experience, and how this episode's featured game began as a family project with his kids that evolved from characters to theme to mechanics. We discuss how his background in accessories, creative direction, and marketing gave him an industry foothold and shaped his approach to game design and self-publishing.   We tackle current industry trends, including what games people are choosing to buy and the move towards smaller boxes and lighter games; why game cost needs to match the experience; the value of honest feedback from fellow designers and strangers; and how learning time, playtime, and shifting player habits influence game design. Andrew also shares his insights into the convention vendor experience and what it means to show up as both a publisher and a peer.     Featuring:   Andrew Davis - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 151 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with game design duo Doug Hettrick and Carl Van Ostrand.   We talk about creating a cozy card game and how My Book Nook was inspired by wanting to make something they and their families could all enjoy together. Doug and Carl talk about their co-designing process and how they discovered they made a balanced team, bringing different ideas and skill sets to the table while having a lot of fun along the way.   They share what co-designing looks like in practice, from coworking and digital prototyping to finding a design partner who complements your strengths. We also dig into the lessons they learned from self-publishing, building a game into a product, finding the right publisher fit, and what innovation really means in tabletop games.   Plus, we get into the art of simplicity, designing for different audiences, challenging yourself with unfamiliar mechanics, sneaking personal Easter eggs into games, and the surprisingly tricky question every designer has to answer: how do you end the game?   Featuring:  Doug Hettrick and Carl Van Ostrand - Guests Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 150 of Game Design Unboxed, we celebrate 150 episodes of GDU with Ben Rosset, freelance game designer and founder of Bamboo Design Studio, by focusing on his game about manufacturing board games - The Game Makers - a love letter to the hobby and the people who make it!   Ben shares how the idea for a game about making games grew from his 10 years of experience in game manufacturing at Panda, and how working as a freelance designer differs from working through his design studio. We talk a lot about the game's development process, from matching themes and mechanics to the extensive back-and-forth of playtesting and iteration, and how simultaneous play helped reduce downtime and support a larger player count.   We explore the challenges of featuring real-life games, including the long process of securing image rights from other publishers and the fun reactions players have when deciding whether they react to the games represented. Ben also discusses the journey of turning The Game Makers published by Bezier Games into a super-premium experience, the possibility of a retail version, and the uncertainty of getting a game's rights back after signing with a publisher.   Featuring:  Ben Rosset - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 149 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with Zac Loveless, game designer and owner of Lovemore Games, about how anything can provide inspiration; for instance, a random Instagram post about beetles that was the catalyst for our featured game, Jewel Box.   Major topics include the differences between educational games vs. games you can learn from, the knowledge you gain from creating a themed game, how to decipher and apply playtest feedback, incorporating classic mechanics into something new, and “theme” collectors.   We also dig into how to come up with a name for your game, the origin behind Lovemore Games (as opposed to Loveless Games), symbiotic publisher/designer relationships, designing around a theme or mechanic before gameplay, and why butterflies are, in theory, the most well-liked insect.   Featuring:  Zac Loveless - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 148 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with Jason Wong, the designer of PocketParks, a set-collecting card game featuring all 63 US National Parks, with gameplay inspired by Chinese Mahjong. Jason has visited all 63 US National Parks (he has a water bottle full of stickers to prove it), and featured his own photography from those trips in the game. We talk about how noticing the similarities and differences in the parks inspired the game, drawing on Mahjong and classic games for mechanics, choosing what information to include on cards, and why he chose a tin for the packaging. We also discuss using crowdfunding as a tool to understand your audience, the importance of getting outside for your mental health (did you stand up from your desk today?), why it is important to play published games, and how a game can inspire people to explore the real world! Featuring:  Jason Wong - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 147 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with the designer of Lava Run, Louie Loops, whom listeners may also recognize as the professional crocheter and content creator behind the YouTube channel “Louie’s Loops” and Club Crochet.   Louie shares how childhood game-making and a creative challenge called “New Game” sparked his interest in design, and how he eventually merged his love of crochet with game design to create “craftable games.”   We discuss turning frustration into creative inspiration, balancing strategy and randomness, comeback mechanics, expansions, and what happens after a game is published. Louie also shares what it’s like to launch a game with an existing audience, market to non-gamers, and enter a new industry as a beginner after being an expert in his craft.   Featuring:  Louie Loops - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 146 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with Ionah Nguyen, a Seattle-based board game designer and founder of the board game studio Brainy Hearty.   Ionah is also the co-founder and CEO of Everjoy Global, a company dedicated to bringing Vietnamese tabletop games to international publishers and distributors by creating opportunities for Vietnamese designers to gain visibility and connections in the industry.   In this episode, we discuss how games can be used to preserve tradition and bridge cultures through play, accessibility feedback from playtesters, colorblind adjustments, the unique production challenges of manufacturing handcrafted game components, and some of the barriers to entry encountered by international designers.   Featuring:  Ionah Nguyen - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 145 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with game designer and owner of Ludoliminal, Sabrina Culyba, about the story behind her completely accurate, family-friendly dinosaur game Uh Oh, Dino! Sabrina shares how after spending 13 years in the video game industry, she found her way into tabletop game design through a game design contest that challenged participants to create a game from a random bag of components. We talk about how playing games with her young daughter inspired her passion for designing family games, and why cooperative games have become such a meaningful way to bring players of different ages together. The episode also covers the impact of tactile components when designing and games for children, balancing cooperative games, self-publishing, how everyone has a "dino era," and the differences between playtesting with children and adults.   Featuring:  Sabrina Culyba - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 144 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with freelance game designer and co-founder of Postmark Games, Matthew Dunstan. Matthew shares how his curiosity for understanding what happens behind the scenes led him from being a sports referee and umpire in Australia to moving to the UK, where a growing design community, weekly meetups, and a game design contest helped launch his full-time design career. Together, we discuss how digital playtesting has transformed the industry, designer compensation and contracts, collaborative design, how to create successful print-and-play games, and why building a stronger, more sustainable tabletop industry starts with supporting the people who create it.   Featuring:  Matthew Dunstan - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 143 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with board game designer and founder of Pink Hawk Games, Emily Vincent. After a career in software and UX design, Emily caught the game design bug when she realized the games she wanted to play simply weren't on the table. She shares how her love of afternoon tea inspired Pirates of the High Teas, leading to a great discussion on thematic integration, player motivation, and making mechanics feel believable. The episode also covers how Emily's UX background informs playtesting and player feedback, managing player expectations, game naming and SEO, overlooked maintenance mechanics, the realities of crowdfunding, the rise of delightfully unique themes in tabletop, and how embracing authenticity and challenging traditional ideas of professionalism can lead to greater success both in design and in life.   Featuring:  Emily Vincent - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 142 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with freelance game designer Rosco Schock about his first published game, Diplomacy: The Golden Blade, released by Renegade Game Studios. The conversation focuses on the challenge of translating the "feel" of a classic, beloved strategy game into a streamlined and more approachable card game experience. We also discuss the path from prototype to publication, finding the right publisher and timing for a licensed project, and balancing respect for a 60-year-old franchise while creating something new. Rosco explains how Diplomacy: The Golden Blade now serves as an on-ramp to the larger Diplomacy experience, why understanding a game's unique selling points matters, and how patience and persistence pay off in game design. Plus, we learn what a game triathlon is. Featuring:  Rosco Schock - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 141 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with librarian and game designer, Lewis Graye, whose game design journey began after relocating to Syracuse, becoming part of the local tabletop scene, and participating in a game design contest at a wedding.   They share the story of Lewis’ first published design, Inkwell, and its unexpected path to publication, which began as a playtest mechanic that DVC Games expanded into a full game whose theme was inspired by the animated movie, The Secret of Kells.  The discussion continues into the use of historical, open source inscriptions for content, the importance of balancing gameplay so it stays fun without becoming overly cutthroat, adapting designs to publisher constraints like box size and component changes, how player experience can shift depending on the group, designing escape rooms, the importance of getting a playable prototype to the table early, and how the salt in the Syracuse water yields some pretty great game designers.   Featuring:  Lewis Graye - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 140 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with Andrew Stiles, game designer and co-host of the podcast Tabletop Submarine, about how discovering GDU early in his design journey helped him better understand the tabletop space, and how a life reset during COVID (and a challenge to get a game signed in 6-months by his wife) sparked a career pivot into game design. We talk about his first game, Wine Cellar, and how the inspiration came from his previous background as a sommelier, prompting him to lean into the “design what you know” mentality. Andrew talks us through key development decisions, such as scaling player counts, reworking card math, and how table space and visibility shape the player experience. The episode also covers other topics, including the realities of breaking into the industry, the value of the UNPUB mentorship program, researching and targeting the right publishers, why smaller conventions are a great place to network for new designers, Board Game Arena (BGA) implementations, designing for non-gamers, and bad fonts that keep you up at night. Featuring:  Andrew Stiles - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 139 of Game Design Unboxed, we chat with Jade Shames and Ben Bronstein, co-founders of Pillbox Games and co-designers of this episode’s spotlight game, Side Effects. They talk about how a mental illness–inspired card game idea (later titled Side Effects) sparked their collaboration and company, the power of bold visuals, why skeletons make perfect models, the balance between realism and accessibility, adjusting setup rules for varying player counts, and being innovative when it comes to product design for your games. They also discuss homebrew variants, the all-too-familiar and disturbing medical side-effect warnings in commercials, and the hope that, if a misprint or typo occurs in print, it might become a collectible one day! Featuring: Jade Shames and Ben Bronstein - Guests Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 138 of Game Design Unboxed, we chat with Edwin D. Benton II, Founder and CEO of Doin’ the Most Games, about how his journey into game design stemmed from an addiction to app games like Words With Friends and a frustration with their limitations. This inspired him to build his own inclusive, slang-driven app where players could contribute words from around the world, a mindset that evolved into the world of tabletop card games, which were gaining popularity at the time.   We talk about the spontaneous vacation sing-along moment that sparked Song Survivor, his playtesting process (from parties with friends to blind tests), his passion for designing for players with disabilities and specific cultural groups, hiring experts, packaging for mass market (why box size matters), and leveraging celebrity endorsements (and how to get them). Featuring: Edwin D. Benton II - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host