Design Games

This is it. Our fiftieth episode marks the end of our long conversation about designing tabletop RPGs (and everything else we spilled over into). This episode addresses audience questions, the past, and the future. What do you do when you're done and the thing you've been working on leaves the workshop? Let's talk about it. Thank you for joining us on this journey, for reals. It means a lot to us. But we're not done! New miniseries under the Design Games banner are on the way. So weigh in on the show, share your own work, and let us know what you'd like to hear next by visiting our G+ Community. Our next miniseries is based on a question we get rather a lot: a request to do a deeper dive into a few particular games. Which games do you want us to look at? Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Our supporters get access to special patron-only episodes (with one more coming this week!). Every dollar helps. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This is it. Our fiftieth episode marks the end of our long conversation about designing tabletop RPGs (and everything else we spilled over into). This episode addresses audience questions, the past, and the future. What do you do when you're done and the thing you've been working on leaves the workshop? Let's talk about it.

You need funding. You might give your game away for free, but you didn't make it for free. Your time and work have value. How does that translate to cost and how does your product help fund itself and the next thing you want to make? Nathan is sharing a living document about all this, too: "Notes on Independent Publishing." Get in there and share your questions on this topic, if you like. We're also seeking some final questions and topics to explore as we wind down the show's run. Got questions? Weigh in on the show, share your own work, and let us know what you want us to talk about next, by visiting our G+ Community, for example. And hurry! We're soon to wrap up this series. (Our next miniseries is based on a question we get rather a lot, so these questions really do make a difference in what we cover.) Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You need funding. You might give your game away for free, but you didn't make it for free. Your time and work have value. How does that translate to cost and how does your product help fund itself and the next thing you want to make? Check out the full show notes for a link to Nathan's "Notes on Independent Publishing," too!

Let's talk about some of the software that we—Nathan and Will—use for production purposes like layout and graphic design. More importantly, let's talk about how that impacts our game designs and workflow across the board. We're also seeking new questions and topics to explore as we wind down the show's run. Got questions? Weigh in on the show, share your own work, and let us know what you want us to talk about next, by visiting our G+ Community or writing in via Nathan's website. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Let's talk about some of the software that we—Nathan and Will—use for production purposes like layout and graphic design. More importantly, let's talk about how that impacts our game designs and workflow across the board.

As you're proceeding into production of your game, ask yourself: What can I do myself? When should I ask for help? What would I say to externalize my vision to a hire? What you do yourself, what you expand your skills to accomplish, and when you hire experts — these are parts of the spheres of production. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

As you're proceeding into production of your game, ask yourself: What can I do myself? When should I ask for help? What would I say to externalize my vision to a hire? What you do yourself, what you expand your skills to accomplish, and when you hire experts — these are parts of the spheres of production. Support us on Patreon and help future episodes of the show come into being!

What form does your RPG take? Is it a book? A deck of cards? A poster or mousepad or business card? Are you sure? Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What form does your RPG take? Is it a book? A deck of cards? A poster or mousepad or business card? Are you sure? Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back Nathan and Will, too. Every dollar helps.

Let's talk about another means of delivering random results and packaging information for players in your tabletop roleplaying and story games: cards. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Let's talk about another means of delivering random results and packaging information for players in your tabletop roleplaying and story games: cards.

Look around. Get your bearings. Take a look back at what's working and what you've learned, then move forward with the knowledge. That's what we're doing, this time. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Look around. Get your bearings. Take a look back at what's working and what you've learned, then move forward with the knowledge. That's what we're doing, this time.

You've got a lot of notes, you've got rules and systems, maybe you've been writing for yourself. How do you start writing all of that out for other people in addition to yourself? Let's talk. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You've got a lot of notes, you've got rules and systems, maybe you've been writing for yourself. How do you start writing all of that out for other people in addition to yourself? Let's talk.

Say a thing. Say it again. A design isn’t right the first time, so we revise and restate and iterate. Let’s talk about that. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Do you know about the Game Chef design competition? This time we talk about our experiences with Game Chef and what we know of its history and influence on games and designers. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Episode forty?! Ye gads. Here we explore more notions on the topic of your early playtests, and how to get information out of them, make sense of some of it, and prepare for revisions to your design. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We’ve reach that time. Let’s talk about playtesting your design—specifically, how to prep and participate in the early playtests of your RPG. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Say a thing. Say it again. A design isn’t right the first time, so we revise and restate and iterate. Let’s talk about that.

Do you know about the Game Chef design competition? This time we talk about our experiences with Game Chef and what we know of its history and influence on games and designers.

(Episode forty?! Ye gads.) Here we explore more notions on the topic of your early playtests, and how to get information out of them, make sense of some of it, and prepare for revisions to your design.

We’ve reach that time. Let’s talk about playtesting your design—specifically, how to prep and participate in the early playtests of your RPG.

We set out to talk about designing games to be ready for hacking and remixing by the end user, but first a stopover at a discussion of universal systems, too. Let it go, Will. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Let’s talk about how a game moves, functions, and adapts. Let’s talk about affordances. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Some game designs are highly visual. When does that work happen? How early is too early to think about art and a visual arrangement of ideas? We talk it out. This episode references Nathan’s design-process illustration, by the way. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We set out to talk about designing games to be ready for hacking and remixing by the end user, but first a stopover at a discussion of universal systems, too. Let it go, Will.

Let’s talk about how a game moves, functions, and adapts. Let’s talk about affordances.

Some game designs are highly visual. When does that work happen? How early is too early to think about art and a visual arrangement of ideas? We talk it out.

This time, we tackle a great listener-submitted topic about how to makes risk and challenges feel dramatic and satisfying in your RPG designs — and how to help players think about risk and challenge in play. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Another great listener topic, another episode wrestling with said topic. This time: we talk about designs involving Player vs Player and PvE mechanics and, y'know, some of what that means. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Here we attempt to tackle another great question from the G+ community. This one’s about designing with purpose and how purpose can align with (or away from) content, context, vision, and more. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This time, we tackle a great listener-submitted topic about how to makes risk and challenges feel dramatic and satisfying in your RPG designs — and how to help players think about risk and challenge in play.

Another great listener topic, another episode wrestling with said topic. This time: we talk about designs involving Player vs Player and Player vs Environment mechanics and, y'know, some of what that means.

Here we attempt to tackle another great question from the G+ community. This one’s about designing with purpose and how purpose can align with (or away from) content, context, vision, and more.

We’ve talked a lot already about design steps and techniques, thoughts and approaches. You’ve got vision and notes and notions. Now let’s talk about bringing it all together. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What even is a playstorm? We think we know and we dive into the answer in this episode, to consider what makes playstorming different from playtesting, what it’s for, and when we do it. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What is “a success” in play? What is failure? When do players’ and characters’ victories align? When do they diverge? And how do we talk about it all? Tune in and hear. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

When we talk about “color” in RPG design, we’re often talking about texture and tangibility and how they interact with and express your game and what it is about. We think. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We’ve talked a lot already about design steps and techniques, thoughts and approaches. You’ve got vision and notes and notions. Now let’s talk about bringing it all together.

What even is a playstorm? We think we know and we dive into the answer in this episode, to consider what makes playstorming different from playtesting, what it’s for, and when we do it.

What is “a success” in play? What is failure? When do players’ and characters’ victories align? When do they diverge? And how do we talk about it all? Tune in and hear.

When we talk about “color” in RPG design, we’re often talking about texture and tangibility and how they interact with and express your game and what it is about. We think.

What do we mean when we talk about emergence? What’s emergent by design and what emerges anyway? We wrestle with the issue this time — and maybe not for the last time! Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Space, in many games (and especially RPGs), is abstracted and metaphorical, letting the idea of space mingle with other ideas in exciting ways. What is “narrative mass” and how do relationship maps suggest or defy a space? Let’s talk! Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It’s time to talk about time. This time, we make time to discuss real-time play, abstractions, and dramatic units of time in RPGs and other games, which takes us into territory about focus, abstraction, and player agency once again. Expand the episode with these links: Caitlynn Belle’s Message is a text game you play in an hour. The Beast (Fair warning: contains adult content) Black Sun Deathcrawl Also, re: Continuum — There are 5 Levels of Span (time travel ability, basically) in the game: Span 1 -> Span 2 requires two months of real time, including 3 4-hour sessions Span 2 -> Span 3 requires three additional months of real time, including 4 4-hour sessions Span 3->Span 4 requires four additional months of real time, including 5 4-hour sessions Span 4->Span 5 requires five addition months of real time, including 5 4-hour sessions Additional Span levels are possible, each of which require 5 months of real time and 5 -4 hours sessions, plus some fictional triggers. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What’s the situation in your game? How do you flag, support, and inspire situations in play? RPG play can be as small as a single dramatic situation or as vast worlds teeming with volatile circumstances … but it’s for naught if the players don’t know how to interact with that situation. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What do we mean when we talk about emergence? What’s emergent by design and what emerges anyway? We wrestle with the issue this time — and maybe not for the last time!

Space, in many games (and especially RPGs), is abstracted and metaphorical, letting the idea of space mingle with other ideas in exciting ways. What is “narrative mass” and how do relationship maps suggest or defy a space? Let’s talk!

It’s time to talk about time. This time, we make time to discuss real-time play, abstractions, and dramatic units of time in RPGs and other games, which takes us into territory about focus, abstraction, and player agency once again.