Playability

Rebecca talks to Ross Connell (https://twitter.com/moregamespls) about his website, More Games Please (https://www.moregamesplease.com/); board game art; and artist visibility within the hobby. Ross shares some of his favorite board game artists. Get updates about the Best Board Game Art Award contest (https://www.moregamesplease.com/best-board-game-art/2020/1/30/top-10-best-board-game-art-2019-vote-now) that Ross runs on his site - results for 2019 art will be announced in March 2020. Special Guest: Ross Connell.

Lauren talks with Randy Flynn about the design decisions in Cascadia, a gorgeous tile-laying game coming soon from Flatout Games (https://www.flatout.games/), which showcases lands and creatures of the Pacific Northwest. Special Guest: Randy Flynn.

Rebecca talks to Alex G. (https://twitter.com/AxellesNobody) and Keith Ringer (https://www.reddit.com/user/inuyasharuls/), two Dungeons & Dragons players who created character sheets that is more accessible for folks with dyslexia. Geek Native reported on the sheets (https://www.geeknative.com/70088/dd-character-sheets-for-players-with-dyslexia/), which were originally shared on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/d4s0rw/character_sheets_for_people_with_dyslexia/). The sheets are currently available (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1buyioIUD6pAOvXiOCrmr_QDu6ksFH5wl) in English, Italian, and German. Icons on the sheets were created by LuckPack (https://www.reddit.com/u/luckpack). Special Guests: Alex G. and Keith Ringer.

Lauren Woolsey and Elizabeth Hargrave (designer of Wingspan (https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/)) talk about the role of the overall theme in a game's accessibility, how a wider range of faces at events can make things more welcoming for new gamers and designers, and the relevant resources (https://www.elizhargrave.com/women-nb-game-designers) she has collected on her website (https://www.elizhargrave.com/). Special Guest: Elizabeth Hargrave.

Many people use gaming as a way to relax, but did you know gaming has been making its way into therapy sessions? Rebecca talks to Emma Carlson, a clinical therapist who is part of a youth suicide prevention team and uses tabletop role-playing games to foster social engagement, improve problem solving skills, and help her clients have fun. Special Guest: Emma Carlson.

Get ready for a sweet conversation! Jonathan Chaffer (https://twitter.com/unclejonbob) is a software developer and hobbyist game designer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and this episode he talks with Lauren about Filler, his small-box card game about filling delicious pastries, published by Green Couch Games (http://www.greencouchgames.com/). Special Guest: Jonathan Chaffer.

This episode Rebecca talks to Stephanie Jessup, sign language interterpreter, game player extraordinaire, and host of of Dibs on Blue, a YouTube board games channel dedicated to American Sign Language users. Special Guest: Stephanie Jessup.

PUZZLES! In this episode, Lauren and Chip discuss the unique formats and structures of puzzles that different online platforms allow. See, for example: * A Little Alliteration (https://twitter.com/litalliteration) on Twitter * Vowel Movement (https://twitter.com/Vowel_Movements) on Twitter * Magic Word Squares (https://twitter.com/MagicWordSquare) on Twitter * Puzzle Blitz (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flyingsheep/breaking-kickstarter-puzzle-blitz) on Kickstarter Special Guest: Chip Beauvais.

Special Guest: Ertay Shashko.

This episode Lauren talks with Tony Miller (http://Twitter.com/beardedrogue), a game designer from Oregon about his recently signed game Kabuto Sumo (https://youtu.be/8O-4B2YQPjE) (a.k.a. Chonky Beetle Bois), recently signed by BoardGameTables.com (https://www.boardgametables.com/) and coming to Kickstarter soon. Special Guest: Tony Miller.

Rebecca talks to Suzanne Sheldon (https://twitter.com/425suzanne) (GenCant (http://www.gencant.com/) coordinator, The Dice Tower podcast (https://www.dicetower.com/game-podcast/dice-tower) cohost) about accessibility and inclusivity in gaming communities and spaces. Special Guest: Suzanne Sheldon.

Michael Melkonian is a game designer from Los Angeles, CA who currently resides in Central Illinois. He is the owner of Cardboard Console, a game design and publishing company. Michael's first commercial product is "Dance Card! (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/265771/dance-card)" which is set to launch on Kickstarter in fall 2019. Special Guest: Michael Melkonian.

Rebecca talks to Jenn Barlett (https://www.instagram.com/boardgame.librarian/), a librarian at the Manchester Public Library (https://library.townofmanchester.org/), about games, libraries, and accessibility. Special Guest: Jenn Bartlett.

Lauren talks to Nick Yu (https://twitter.com/yutingxiang) about Adventure Tactics (https://www.letimangames.com/adventure-tactics.html), which is published by Letiman Games. Adventure Tactics is on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/letimangames/adventure-tactics-a-co-op-tactics-campaign-for-1-5-players) through Friday, August 23, 2019 8:00p Central. Special Guest: Nick Yu.

In this episode, Lauren chats with Omari Akil (https://twitter.com/omariakil), one half of @BGBrothas (https://twitter.com/BGBrothas), about the company's first game Rap Godz, and how this tabletop game is connecting communities in New Orleans and beyond. Twitter: http://twitter.com/BGBrothas Instagram: http://instagram.com/BGBrothas Facebook: http://facebook.com/BGBrothas Website: https://www.boardgamebrothas.com/ Special Guest: Omari Akil.

It's sequel time! Rebecca welcomes back Janice Turner of Wren Games to talk about Sensor Ghosts, a sci-fi escape game and sequel to last year's game, Assembly. Special Guest: Janice Turner.

Special Guest: Dustin Schwartz.

In this episode, Rebecca (http://www.twitter.com/ToPlayIsHuman) talks to Karen Cleveland (http://www.twitter.com/GameBiologist) from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/) about their game What in the Wild (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256199/what-wild), which features five ways to play and learn about wildlife conservation. Find What in the Wild on The Game Crafter (https://www.thegamecrafter.com/designers/mi-dnr-wildlife). Special Guest: Karen Cleveland.

Lauren Woolsey talks with Shannon McDowell about escape rooms and what considerations go into making them more accessible and more inclusive. Special Guest: Shannon McDowell.

Special Guest: Isaac Vega.

This episode Lauren talks with Dave Sensenig about how game Carroll County Cake Swap (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256950/carroll-county-cake-swap) from Jealous Cat Games (https://www.jealouscatgames.com/). Coming to Kickstarter July 25, 2019. Be sure to sign up for their mailing list (https://www.jealouscatgames.com/mc4wp-form-preview/) to get your copy. Special Guest: Dave Sensenig.

Rebecca talks to Jacob Jackson, who co-authors Game Bites (https://girlsgameshelf.com/?s=Game+Bites) with his mom, AnnaMaria Jackson-Phelps, on Girls Game Shelf (https://girlsgameshelf.com/). Special Guest: Jacob Jackson.

Lauren talks with Joe Hopkins (https://twitter.com/AvgJoeGames) about his new game Endangered (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/220133/endangered), now on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/697528475/endangered-0). Work with your fellow players to save an endangered species! And, in this episode hear about the development, accessibility, and inclusivity considerations that were made while developing the game. Special Guest: Joe Hopkins.

This week we've got a Gamer Spotlight episode for you! Rebecca talks to Ryan Peach about gaming and visual accessibility. Ryan shares his experience as a "blind meeple" navigating games and gaming events. Special Guest: Ryan Peach.

Lauren talks to Alanna Cervenak of Asmadi Games (https://twitter.com/AsmadiGames) about One Deck Dungeon (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/179275/one-deck-dungeon) and One Deck Dungeon: Forest of Shadows (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/224821/one-deck-dungeon-forest-shadows). Special Guest: Alanna Cervenak.

Rebecca talks to Jerry Hawthorne (https://twitter.com/mice_guy) about Comanauts (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256883/comanauts), the second game in the Adventure Book system published by Plaid Hat Games (https://www.plaidhatgames.com/). Special Guest: Jerry Hawthorne.

Queer Expansion to Fog of Love (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/175324/fog-love) from Nikki Valens (https://twitter.com/valens116). Special Guest: Nikki Valens.

Rebecca and Tim discuss Fowers Games and his approach to game design. Special Guest: Tim Fowers.

Join co-host Lauren Woolsey in a conversation with AnnaMaria Jackson-Phelps about colorblindness and how gamers and publishers can find solutions and improvements for the gaming community as a whole. Links mentioned in the episode: Meeple Like Us (https://meeplelikeus.co.uk/), Geek and Sundry's article (https://geekandsundry.com/like-a-rainbow-in-the-dark-hacks-to-make-your-games-color-blind-accessible/), Board Game Quest (https://www.boardgamequest.com/), and AnnaMaria's blog (https://www.girlsplaygames.org/blog) and twitter profile (https://twitter.com/GirlsPlay_Games)! Special Guest: AnnaMaria Jackson-Phelps.

Rebecca talks with Ryan Laukat about the design decisions behind their recent Kickstarter The Ancient World (2nd Edition) (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/259298/ancient-world-second-edition) and the upcoming game Sleeping Gods (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/255984/sleeping-gods). Special Guest: Ryan Laukat.

Lauren talks with Aaron Wilson, designer of Sovereign Skies. Here's a link to the announcement (https://www.deepwatergaming.com/blog/2018/3/23/announcing-sovereign-skies) from Deep Water Games (https://www.deepwatergaming.com/) about the release of Sovereign Skies, set for early 2019. Special Guest: Aaron Wilson.

In this episode, Rebecca discusses game design in the classroom with all around great person Kathleen Mercury (https://twitter.com/Mmmmmmmercury). Special Guest: Kathleen Mercury.

Dreams of Tomorrow is live on kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/weirdgiraffegames/dreams-of-tomorrow) at the time of this episode's publish date. The website for Weird Giraffe Games can be found here (https://weirdgiraffegames.com/). Special Guest: Carla Kopp.

Rebecca talks to Sean Epperson (https://twitter.com/thing12games) of Thing 12 Games (http://thing12games.com/) about The Seals of Cthulhu (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thing12games/the-seals-of-cthulhu). Pre-order The Seals of Cthulhu (https://squareup.com/store/thing-12-games/item/the-seals-of-cthulhu-pre-order) Special Guest: Sean Epperson.

Lauren talks with designer Daniel Solis about accessibility and developing Junk Orbit (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/247360/junk-orbit) from Renegade Game Studios (https://www.renegadegamestudios.com/junk-orbit). Special Guest: Daniel Solis.

Rebecca talks with Janice of Wren Games (https://wrengames.wordpress.com/), designer of Assembly (https://wrengames.wordpress.com/about/assembly/), about accessibility and developing the game. Pre-orders available at: http://store.wrengames.co.uk Special Guest: Janice Turner.

Lauren talks with Sarah and Will Reed, designers of Oaxaca: Crafts of a Culture (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/147241/oaxaca-crafts-culture), about accessibility and developing the game. If you would like to get a copy of the game, head to the Undine Studios (http://undinestudios.com/oaxaca.html) website. If you want to look into getting the alebrijes mentioned, visit Viva Oaxaca Folkart (https://www.vivaoaxacafolkart.com/miniature-oaxacan-wood-carvings-alebrijes-folk-art.html) for the importer Sarah Reed mentioned. Special Guest: Sarah & Will Reed.

Rebecca talks with Adrienne Ezell (https://twitter.com/DreadfulGamesCo) of Dreadful Games (http://dreadfulgames.com/) about her new game Shogunate (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/183361/shogunate). Special Guest: Adrienne Ezell.

Lauren discusses Nyctophobia (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/249505/nyctophobia) with Catherine Stippell. Special Guest: Catherine Stipple.

In this episode, Playability hosts Lauren and Rebecca introduce themselves, discuss their roles in the board game community, and describe what Accessibility and Inclusivity mean to them. CGS Unit (https://cgsunit.com/) To Play Is Human (https://toplayishuman.com/) Unpub (http://unpub.net/) Protospiel (http://www.protospiel.org/)