Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast

On the Season 1 Finale of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, Connor and Lance continue their Design Ingredients series by talking about legacy systems in board games through the lens of Board Game Geek's #1 board game of all time, and one of our host's favorite titles, Gloomhaven.At the end of the episode, our host's quickly recap the history of Orion's Belt and discuss their future plans.

On Episode 10 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, join Lance Tallman as he sits down with Nick Boles, 3D modeler and Voice Actor at Studio Miracle, to talk about his experience with voice acting and how, through games, he was able to combine two of his passions.

From video games to board games, Lance and Connor discuss in depth how rules shape the gameplay experiences of players.  On this episode, our hosts cover how rules relate to games, how rules are presented (specifically in board games), and how they think developers can design strong rules systems. Find out about this, and more, on Episode 9 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast.

On Episode 8 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, Lance and Connor give current game designers some tips and tricks to make "support" roles in team-based games more enjoyable.  On this episode, our hosts also touch on some of the problems games face when too few players want to "support" others, and offer some interesting future-looking solutions that companies can implement to mitigate the issue.

Lance and Connor continue talking about Scythe, finishing up by addressing gameplay strategy, asymmetry, politics and nonbinding agreements, the achievement system, and what they like and dislike about the game.This is part 2 of episode 7. If you are interested in learning how to play Scythe, make sure you watch part 1 first!

On episode 7 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, Lance and Connor take a deep dive into the immensely successful strategy board game, Scythe. While covering the game's genre, Lance and Connor also tackle aesthetic, and, most importantly, the game's core mechanics.This is part 1 of episode 7. If you have already played Scythe before, or are more interested in the design discussion, we recommend skipping directly to part 2.  If you do decide to listen to part 1, make sure you watch part 2 once you finish!

On Episode 6 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, Connor and Lance introduce the first episode of their new segment, Design Ingredients.  While talking about social deduction in games, our hosts discuss the smash hit Among Us, talk about the difference between constraints and rules, and weigh the pros and cons inherent to including social deduction elements in games.

On Episode 5 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, Lance and Connor discuss what they think are some of the most important design decisions to make when developing engaging board games.  From topics like asymmetrical play to comeback mechanics, our hosts discuss why one of their favorite board games, Root, is a design marvel.

From text to voice chat, ping systems, and emotes, Lance and Connor discuss what they think are the 5 most important design decisions to consider when developing communication systems in games. Get ready to put your design hats on during Episode 4 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast.

On Episode 3 of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, Lance and Connor discuss the decline of real-time strategy game development over the past decade.  From player accessibility to developer design decisions, our hosts take a hard look at why one of the most popular game genres has almost disappeared.

Join Lance Tallman as he sits down with Matt Anderson, Design Director at Octothorpe Games and Associate Instructor at the University of Utah, to talk about startup companies and getting into games on episode 2 of Orion's Belt.NOTICE: As this episode was recorded on different equipment, the audio quality does not reflect that of subsequent episodes.

Lance and Connor continue talking about Valorant, finishing up by addressing their own gameplay experiences, post-launch scaling & game modes, vanity/customization, and competition.This is part 2 of episode 1. Make sure you watch part 1 first!

On the pilot episode of Orion's Belt: A Games Industry Podcast, Lance and Connor take a deep dive into Riot Games' immensely successful tactical shooter, Valorant. While covering the game's early success, Lance and Connor also tackle characterization & meta-narrative, map design, game balance, their own gameplay experiences, post-launch scaling & game modes, vanity/customization, and competition. Yeah. It's a long one.This is part 1 of episode 1. Make sure you watch part 2 once you finish!