Game development process of designing the content and rules of a game
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Once we print Magic cards, how do we get them to you, the players? This podcast talks about the various ways we do that.
This is the part six of a seven-part series, based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Amsterdam where I discussed the design of all the cards I had a major hand in that would later get banned or restricted.
From outlawing the L3 and R3 buttons to combat-oriented games with bad platforming sections, our listeners have submitted 12 more possible game design crimes for Room 101...sorry, Room 64 (double copyright infringement!). Our returning guest, actual game designer Jamie Smith, helps us judge the innocent and guilty.Want to submit a game design crime for a future episode? Head here to the relevant Discord channel, or ping us at backpagegames@gmail.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
My family took a vacation to Boston, so I talk about my trip and Boston's history with Magic.
This is part five of a new series, based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Amsterdam, where I talk about the design of all the cards I had a major hand in that would later be banned or restricted.
In this episode, I talk about my trip to the latest San Diego Comic-Con.
This is part four of a new series, based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Amsterdam, where I talk about the design of all the cards I had a major hand in that would later be banned or restricted.
Here's a game that breaks every mobile rule and prints money doing it: Idle Obelisk Miner looks like a DOS game from 1995, has no tutorial, no ads, and almost no marketing — and it's doing an estimated $100K a day on just 4-5K downloads. One developer, a fanatical community, and unit economics nobody else can touch.We break down Idle Obelisk Miner (by Checkbox Entertainment) — a one-man-hit-wonder in the same family as The Tower and Level Devil. They cover the deliberately old-school design (mono Sound Blaster music, pure text, "here's the game, figure it out, we don't care if you don't"), the deep idle systems (mining, crafting with crit chances, drones, prestige, the obelisk DPS-gate, event automation), why it plays like an "unfolding game" that keeps moving your engagement to new mechanics, and the extraordinary numbers: ~$100K/day IAP on ~4-5K downloads/day, pristine tier-one traffic, ~$13 revenue-per-download (versus ~$3 for Golden Goblins), and an ARPDAU multiples above The Tower — all built on a spend-depth the crew estimates at ~$40-50K. The story behind it: solo developer Alex William Olds in Northern Ireland, an "anti-mobile-game" philosophy (no ads, no pop-ups, purchases quarantined in a dedicated store), a 57K-member Discord and a 14K/40K-weekly Reddit, three years of flatlining before the feature set finally hit and retention went positive, and a steady migration of hardcore players from The Tower. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 A one-man-hit-wonder like The Tower — Idle Obelisk Miner02:30 "Here's the game, figure it out" — the no-tutorial design06:15 Mining, crafting, drones & the obelisk DPS gate14:30 The unfolding-game design and why prestige works here16:55 Why an idle game with no ads is the right call17:40 The numbers — $100K/day on 5K downloads24:00 Build it for yourself — the one-man-wonder thesis27:30 The community engine — 57K Discord, stealing Tower playersThis episode is brought to you by Kinoa — the AI operating system for mobile game operations: flows, live segments, in-app messages, push notifications, and A/B testing in one place, run by the operators who own the numbers. Carry1st saw +43% ARPDAU; PlayStudios saw +31% revenue on Tetris Block Party. Learn more at Kinoa.http://www.kinoa.ai?utm_source=MatejPodcast&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=Matej+Podcast&utm_id=100--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investorsFor an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SAPlease share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
Talking Trek is LIVE from Dublin, Ireland! Griffin joins DJz straight from the European Content Creator Summit at Digit/Scopely with an enormous behind-the-scenes report on the future of Star Trek Fleet Command. We dig into what happened inside the studio following the Alliance Tournament launch disaster, how STFC engineering responds to a “Code Red,” why communication failed players, and the major internal culture changes Griffin says he witnessed firsthand. We also discuss Scopely's new willingness to delay content rather than ship something unfinished, closer cooperation between Game Design, LiveOps, Engineering and Narrative, and a new relationship forming between Scopely and the community developers building many of the tools players use every day. And then there's the Guilded Shackle. After testing from Jules Verne, Lightbull, DJz and the Talking Trek Lab demonstrated that the Shackle wasn't operating the way its description suggested, Griffin carried the data directly to Dublin. The response? Scopely intends to honor the advertised functionality and “unshackle the Shackle.” Griffin explains why that decision became a major test of Cameron Stewart's “player first” philosophy and why it could represent something much larger than a single Grade 7 artifact. But after years of broken launches, questionable economic decisions and damaged player trust, is this actual change or another temporary burst of optimism? DJz and Griffin tackle that debate head-on, including skeptical reactions from the community, the Ra'ul Reaver redesign, upcoming roadmap delays, direct creator access to decision makers, and what Scopely must do next if it expects players to believe again. This isn't a victory lap. It's a report from inside the room. And now we get to see what happens next. 00:00 – Opening & Satellite Telemetry From Dublin 03:17 – LIVE From Dublin With Griffin at 3AM 06:02 – GoWheel Updates & $2,000 STFC Giveaway 08:46 – Inside the European Content Creator Summit 14:36 – Breaking Update for Server 11 20:00 – Inside an STFC “Code Red” With Engineering 27:44 – A Dramatic Culture Shift at Digit/Scopely 29:57 – Why Alliance Tournaments Are Running During Anthology 31:10 – Major Content Could Be Delayed to Get It Right 37:39 – Alliance Tournament Failure: What Changed Overnight 39:33 – Promotion/Relegation Disabled, Store Extended & Rewards Boosted 44:03 – Engineering's Live Alliance Tournament Fix 51:29 – Breaking Down STFC's Internal Development Silos 55:34 – The Gilded Shackle Problem 57:49 – “UNSHACKLE THE SHACKLE!” 58:33 – Scopely Makes the Player-First Decision 1:05:17 – Three Hours of Silence: Alliance Tournament Comms Critiqued 1:15:59 – Creators Challenging Decisions Face-to-Face 1:21:49 – Digit Wants Player Feedback Like Never Before 1:29:11 – Third-Party Tools, Narrative Debt & Working With Scopely 1:36:13 – Is This Real Change or Just More Talk? 1:43:00 – Why Creator Access to Scopely Matters 1:49:07 – Can STFC Actually Recover Player Trust? 1:50:24 – Griffin's Final Report From Dublin & The Neelix Surprise
Send us Fan MailOn our last episode we started talking about turning roleplaying into a career. If you haven't listened to that would I would recommend going back and diving into it. We planned on keeping it pretty conventional and immediately went off the rails into a deep dive on, well, starting a career in anything. For a quick recap I think we ended up with a few tips. One, Work Hard. Two, Be Patient. Three, Don't Give Up. And Four, Look for opportunities.But we never got into chatting about some of those non-traditional careers that roleplaying can play a big part in. So today we are going to dive in and spend some time chatting about those and why roleplaying games can be so beneficial in helping you accel in those career fields.Mike, You want to talk about Roleplaying as Therapy and since that was on my list for the last episode let's not waist any time. Start us off.
The most freeing idea in playable ads keeps proving itself: your playable doesn't have to match your actual game. This month a zombie survival game ran a football playable, and an isometric strategy game ran a non-isometric one. The crew breaks down nine playables and the lessons underneath them.Matej Lančarič and Ondrej Mosberger are joined again by Robin Kuyer for the "everyone brings playables" format. They cover ZomLine Survival's World-Cup-timed football playable (a themed playable bolted onto a 4X game — nothing to do with the core, and that's the point), the perennial themed-playable truth (it either performs brilliantly or does nothing, with slot/casino games running Christmas playables all year), the frustration-as-motivator debate (Ondrej's 3D-Tetris-on-a-Clash-of-Clans-lookalike playable that's built to make you fail), the mini-game-per-mechanic strategy (Happy Nation/Miniclip's nonogram — if your app has many mini-games, build a playable for each and measure which end-screen choice players tap), visual rewards vs literal rewards (Epic Stickman's one-click combat that pays off with a cutscene, not a chest), the textbook hand-holding playable (Estoti's Frostworld), and Matej's picks — Smash Fest (which he crowns the trend everyone should follow), Rogue Legends (a smooth tower-defense playable with no logo or download button at all, for a game that looks nothing like it), and a wild Bart-Simpson-plus-undressing screw-puzzle hook fronting a Forex game (IP infringement and all). Plus a genuinely useful tangent from Robin on how network preview templates clash with playable UI, and how Unity tracks users bouncing between CTA and end-card.The through-line: run different playables to capture different users, don't fear a mismatch between ad and game, and let the physics (or the frustration, or the reward) do the work.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 The format — everyone brings playables (and a heatwave)04:20 ZomLine's football playable & the themed-playable truth09:40 3D Tetris on a Clash lookalike — the frustration debate16:30 Happy Nation's nonogram — a playable per mini-game20:00 Epic Stickman — the visual reward, not the chest23:50 Cooking Go & Frostworld — visually appealing, textbook onboarding32:50 Matej's picks — Smash Fest & the no-logo Rogue Legends playable39:50 The Bart Simpson undressing hook & Smash Fest as the trendThis episode is brought to you by Potensus — a premium ad network built by people who've been on both sides of the industry, with direct (non-programmatic) deals with Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Vodafone landing in your game at premium CPMs, plus a Playable Maker partnership that turns brand videos and statics into native gaming playables and rewarded formats. Head to potensus.com to get started.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiarPlease share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
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, […]
I interviewed Navid Khonsari & Vassiliki Khonsari about LILI on Sunday, August 31, 2025 at Venice Immersive in Venice, Italy. Here is the story synopsis for LILI: "In an Iranian city, Lili, the lonely wife of a militia commander, plots a murder to secure her husband's rise within a corrupt regime. But when the killing unhinges the order of things, she is drawn into a network of deep web hackers — modern-day witches — who weaponise hidden truth. This stylised neo-noir game adaptation of Macbeth unfolds through smartphones, computer screens, and deep-state surveillance, immersing players as hackers in the oppressive surveillance state." Here are the contextual domains that are explored: Embody Hacker within the Surveillance State [12] context of an athoritarian government [10] as you watch someone in their home [4], and you're doing this through a computer and communications technology device [3]. Here is the Elemental Center of Gravity: 1st Center of Gravity of Fire Element / Active Presence: A screen life thriller with computer screen-based Interactions, operate computer2nd Center of Gravity of Water Element / Emotional Presence: Cut scenes of the Lady MacBeth character unfold, which are gated by you solving little interactive puzzles3rd Center of Gravity of Earth Element / Environmental and Embodied Presence: Site-specific installation, and lots of theatrical staging. It's not VR, and so you are primarly interfacing with a computer screen within the context of a hacker-like space. You're watching various action unfold over surveillance footage, but you also are primarily interfacing with a computer screen.4th Center of Gravity of Air Element / Mental and Social Presence: Possibility spaces of choices to make. There are some different endings, or at least a follow-up QR code to learn more about the identity of either being a rebel or enforcing the authoritarian rule. The primary mode of instruction comes via a chat window as you get clues for various puzzles that you have to solve. You face some mental friction with each puzzle, but then are rewarded with the progression of the story. There's also the symbolic connections and parallels to Shakespeare's MacBeth to add additional contextualization for how this story might adapt to the context of the authoritarian regime within Iran Archetypal Themes and Character Explored: Authoritarian tendancies as well as control "challenges them to question power, control, and complicity." Power, but bringing up questions of Justice. Artist Statement: "A bold reimagining of Macbeth set in present-day Iran, Lili centers on Lady Macbeth in a screen life thriller that embodies the kind of boundary-pushing work we champion at iNK Stories. Fusing film, theatre, and game design, it confronts rising surveillance and authoritarianism. Blending classic storytelling with AI and interactivity, Lili breaks cinematic convention — inviting audiences to step inside the narrative, make choices, and face consequences in a layered experience that challenges them to question power, control, and complicity." This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality
We are joined by ad monetization guest Katerina to break down Smash Fest and the clone explosion surrounding it. We cover the physics-based cannon core (each ball is a move, run out and buy five more — match-3 logic on a physics engine), the detective work tracing it back to Toon Blast's "Cannon Fest" event (spotted by Game Refinery back in November 2024, and run by Peak as both playables and creatives — someone put two and two together and realized it worked), why Smash Fest was abruptly pulled from Google Play right as it scaled to ~300K downloads/day, and the seven-studio clone wave (Royal Smash by Cypher Games, Carnival Knockdown, Knockout, Knock Fever, Stack Smash by Tripledot, Carnival Blast, and more). Katerina digs into the monetization — Smash Fest's fairly basic setup (one rewarded placement, interstitial every fourth attempt) versus Royal Smash's smarter double-your-coins rewarded flow — with estimates landing around ~$130K/day in ads for Smash Fest, and the crew guessing the true total (IAP plus ads) could push toward ~$1M/day given a reported ~1M DAU. Then the UA reality: Smash Fest scaled ~300K downloads/day on ~50 creatives and essentially one great playable, ~90% AppLovin — while Royal Smash is catching up fast with 10x the creative volume, more channels, better LiveOps, and a monetization edge.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 A new physics-puzzle category — and the controversy03:00 The core loop — cannon physics, each ball a move07:00 The detective story — it's Toon Blast's Cannon Fest event10:30 Seven studios clone it in one month12:30 Why Smash Fest got taken down as it scaled16:30 The monetization breakdown — ~$130K/day in ads23:00 A new category: physics puzzlers take over from Angry Birds28:00 The UA reality — 50 creatives vs Royal Smash's 500This episode is brought to you by Kinoa — the AI operating system for mobile game operations: flows, live segments, in-app messages, push notifications, and A/B testing in one place, run by the operators who own the numbers. Carry1st saw +43% ARPDAU; PlayStudios saw +31% revenue on Tetris Block Party. Learn more at Kinoa.http://www.kinoa.ai?utm_source=MatejPodcast&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=Matej+Podcast&utm_id=100--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Katerina Maliaran, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
In this episode, I talk about my trip to Amsterdam for the latest MagicCon.
This is part three of a new series, based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Amsterdam, where I talk about the design of all the cards I had a major hand in that would later be banned or restricted.
This week is one giant lesson in consolidation: everybody's buying everybody, the money is concentrating, the ownership is concentrating, and the people are getting cut. Tripledot bought Supersonic from Unity, Saudi Arabia closed the biggest leveraged buyout in history to take EA private, and Netflix gutted a studio seven weeks after praising its game on an earnings call.Matej Lančarič flies solo for the weekly news. Tripledot acquired Supersonic from Unity for $40M cash — a striking number given Supersonic likely did ~$40-45M in revenue over the last 12 months (per Sensor Tower plus ad revenue), and given ironSource paid $150M for it 11 years ago and Unity got it inside the $4.4B ironSource merger in 2022. It's the final piece of ironSource leaving the building — and the second time Tripledot has done this, after buying AppLovin's entire games business for $800M a year ago. The pattern is now complete: both AppLovin and Unity have exited game publishing to become pure ad-tech companies (ad networks make ads, publishers make games). That sale landed alongside Unity's best quarter ever (revenue $546M, up 24%, Grow segment up 35% to $389M on Vector AI, approaching GAAP profitability). Saudi Arabia's PIF closed its $55B take-private of EA (now delisted, ~93% PIF-owned with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners) — the largest LBO in history, with ~$20B in debt that will push EA hard toward recurring mobile and live-service revenue, plus a Vision 2030 soft-power dimension via EA Sports FC. Netflix's FIFA World Cup studio Refactor laid off 85% of staff seven weeks after Netflix named the game one of its most successful cloud debuts — the same praise-then-kill pattern as Squid Game Unleashed. And AppLovin posted a "miss that isn't a miss" (revenue up 53% to ~$1.92B, just under consensus).The through-line: the ad networks make ads now, the publishers make games, and the ownership of the whole industry is concentrating like never before.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 A week of pure consolidation — everybody's buying everybody01:40 Tripledot buys Supersonic for $40M — the ironSource endgame05:30 The pattern: ad networks exit publishing06:40 Unity's best quarter ever — the Vector AI turnaround09:30 Saudi Arabia takes EA private for $55B13:00 The Netflix FIFA disaster — praised, then gutted17:30 AppLovin's Q2 — the miss that isn't a miss---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me---------------------------------------If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej LancaricDo you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask Matej AI - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai
Brian Crick is in the clubhouse to talk about how he intertwines narrative and puzzles in his game Tinselfly. We talk about character motivation, player buy-in, and where you even start with a project like this. And if you also are late to playing Myst, you'll learn you are not alone. Just... don't bring Mark the red pages...Narrative-Driven PuzzlesGame DesignNarrativeTinselfly - SteamGorogoa - SteamThe Longest Journey - Steam
In today's episode we talk about when simple games become complex. What adds the complexity? How can you keep the game simple? Should you always embrace the complexity? We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode.Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.comor Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGamingPlease leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast.
One concept is eating the entire Forex creative market right now: a "fat guy" gets slapped, abandoned, or humiliated, then rises to power. It was everywhere last month — this month it's on steroids, and every big Forex game has its own version. The crew runs 123 AI creatives in 30 minutes to map where AI creative is actually heading.Matej Lančarič, Jakub Remiar, and Felix Braberg speed through the month's AI creatives and surface the patterns. Golden Goblins still wins with clever non-AI hooks (power progressions, the tag meme) rather than full AI. King Shot's "no ads" theme has spread through Forex, puzzle, and everywhere else — often paired with the now-ubiquitous slapped-guy power fantasy (complete with a one-to-one "Henry Cavill from Wish" character). Playrix's Township and Gardenscapes are flooding feeds with flower-team and egg-overload AI creatives, one-to-one across the portfolio. The through-line: the concept is an old mafia-boss power fantasy reborn through AI — and it's everywhere because, chaos and all, it seems to be working.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 123 creatives in 30 minutes — buckle up01:55 Golden Goblins — winning with clever non-AI hooks03:00 King Shot and the "no ads" theme everywhere04:10 The "fat guy getting slapped" power fantasy — on steroids07:55 Playrix — Township & Gardenscapes' AI flood14:45 Top Heroes' chaos — poop filters and cratering revenue27:00 Pixel Flow & Meow Doku — AI creatives done right29:50 123 creatives in, Mr. Fat Guy leads the packThis episode is brought to you by Kinoa — the AI operating system for mobile game operations: flows, live segments, in-app messages, push notifications, and A/B testing in one place, run by the operators who own the numbers. Carry1st saw +43% ARPDAU; PlayStudios saw +31% revenue on Tetris Block Party. Learn more at Kinoa.http://www.kinoa.ai?utm_source=MatejPodcast&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=Matej+Podcast&utm_id=100--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
Send us Fan MailWelcome to You Heard it Here Last where we talk about news, you've already heard.https://www.enworld.org/threads/pathfinder-is-ending-its-relationship-with-archives-of-nethys-updated.719899/We start off with more Paizo News. Specifically, Paizo has ended its 8-year relationship with the Archives of Nethys, citing lack of earnings and financial issues. The Archives of Nethys has been the online repository of all things Pathfinder and Starfinder providing free rules and early access to products. Archives of Nethys isn't going away, but it's official licensing with Paizo has ended as of July 24th, 2026.You should remember that just recently Paizo had to lay off 12 employees due to the Diamond Comics Bankruptcy debacle.Mike, is this just more of the same, a company trying to stay afloat or is there something else going on here?Kick to MikeChristina, what's this look like to you?Kick to ChristinaOur next bit of news relates to some new crowdfunding releases that are still available to back.https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-crowdfunding-news-%E2%80%93-deathbringer-sly-flourish-garys-appendix-and-more.719895/First up, Professor Dungeon Master's Deathbringer is back on Backerkit. The most anticipated TTRPG release of 2026, Deathbringer is Professor Dungeon Master's take on old school, high-lethality fantasy RPGs. Using a version of Shadowdark RPG where there is no magical healing and surviving death unlocks the greatest powers. This one wraps up on August 13th.The next one that jumps out is from someone Mike likes to mention. Sly Flourish and The Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster. This one wraps up crowdfunding on August 6th. The master of minimal game prep is remastering one of the best GM guides in gaming! Behold, Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster! If you run TTRPGs, this book, and Sly Flourish's other tomes, are a time-tested source of tips, tricks, and ways to organize your campaigns and adventures so they don't eat your free time.Mike, Any of this interest you?Kick to MikeWhat about you Christina?Kick to ChristinaAnd there you have it, all the news, you've already heard.
Here's a first: we reviewed the copy, not the original. Colony Flow is an ant-themed "destroy the picture" puzzler that's doing an estimated $150K/day — and it's currently being sued over. The crew digs into the game, the monetization trick underneath it, and what the lawsuit might mean for the entire copycat economy.We break down Colony Flow (by OneSoft/ABI Games) — a sort puzzler in the "destroy the picture" genre where a colony of ants slowly carries colored cubes off a picture into your bench. The standout is the monetization: the ants are deliberately slow, which creates constant friction that the game resolves with a rewarded-video (or premium-currency) speed-up. We cover the standard sort-puzzler feature set , the numbers (~100K downloads/day rising to ~200K in July, ~$150K/day IAP with likely 40-50%+ on top from ads), and the UA (~600 creatives, ~90% AppLovin and Mintegral, zero Facebook — because blended campaigns just don't work there). The through-line: the copy is outscaling debate, the friction mechanic is genuinely smart, and this lawsuit could set a precedent for the whole clone economy.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 We're reviewing the copy — the lawsuit setup02:40 The game — ants destroying the picture04:00 Why the ant pathfinding points to Pixel Flow06:10 Slow on purpose — the friction-into-rewarded-ad mechanic09:00 Blockers, fake "daily rewards," and the feature set13:00 The numbers — $150K/day and the Famfinity lawsuit20:00 The creatives — 600 ads, AppLovin & Mintegral, no Facebook29:30 What the lawsuit means for the copycat economyThis episode is brought to you by Kinoa — the AI operating system for mobile game operations: flows, live segments, in-app messages, push notifications, and A/B testing in one place, run by the operators who own the numbers. Carry1st saw +43% ARPDAU; PlayStudios saw +31% revenue on Tetris Block Party. Learn more at Kinoa.http://www.kinoa.ai?utm_source=MatejPodcast&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=Matej+Podcast&utm_id=100--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiarPlease share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
The EU just fined Google €890M for making it hard to steer users to cheaper web stores — another crack in the 30% wall, and genuinely good news for every developer. That's the lead of a quieter, summer-holiday news week, with Felix flying solo while Matej and Jakub are at ChinaJoy.Felix Braberg walks two stories and a charts tour. First, the European Commission fined Google €890M (split €460M + €430M) under the Digital Markets Act for antitrust practices — preventing developers from freely informing users about cheaper offers and steering them to web stores or third-party channels. Google has 60 days to comply or face periodic penalties of up to 5% of worldwide turnover (~$403B), and it's another blow in the slow unwinding of the 30% app-store tax that companies like FastSpring exist to route around. Second, a Seeking Alpha analysis argues the market keeps underestimating AppLovin: the stock came under pressure in 2026 (swept up in the "SaaS apocalypse" sell-off after the CloudX agentic-buying launch), but the fundamentals are strong, the gaming runway is bigger than assumed, and as the dominant mediation player (AppLovin Max), it holds a structural advantage. Then the US charts: Smash Fest (Flow Games, Turkey) is now #1 in free downloads — beating Roblox — followed by Meow Doku and Vita Mahjong (same studio), with the standout story being that a copycat of Smash Fest (Royal Smash by Cypher Games) has itself cracked the top six out of ~70 clones. Plus Level Devil sold and scaling under new ownership, EA Sports FC still strong post-World Cup, and Turkey vs China duking it out for chart dominance.The through-line of a quiet week: the 30% tax keeps cracking, AppLovin keeps winning, and the copycat economy is faster and more brutal than ever.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Solo news week — Matej and Jakub at ChinaJoy00:40 Google fined €890M under the Digital Markets Act04:00 Why it's another crack in the 30% wall05:00 AppLovin: why the market keeps underestimating it07:30 US charts — Smash Fest beats Roblox08:30 The copycat that cracked the top six10:00 Level Devil sold, EA Sports FC, and Turkey vs China---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me---------------------------------------If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej LancaricDo you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask Matej AI - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai
This is part two of a new series, based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Amsterdam, where I talk about the design of all the cards I had a major hand in that would later be banned or restricted.
In this episode, I sit down with Magic: The Gathering® | The Hobbit™ Set Design Lead Annie Sardelis to talk about the making of the set.
A studio in Gaziantep had the idea in November, started building at the end of December, ran a marketability test in January, and by July they're doing an estimated $300K/day. That's the Cube Land story — and we love it!We break down Cube Land Puzzle by RotateLab (Turkey) — a 3D voxel "destroy the picture" blast puzzler where you rotate a pixel-art object (a gummy bear, a Rubik's cube, a piano, a submarine) and blast matching cubes off it into number-tile slots. They cover why the 3D layer makes it a near-perfect iteration on This Is Blast / Pixel Flow (the rotation adds real strategy and satisfaction a flat conveyor can't), the deliberately light-but-solid feature set (standard blockers, Crown Tournament, Skylift, a journey milestone track, ~650 levels), and the numbers: ~$90K/day IAP visible on Sensor Tower (the hosts estimate the true figure at 1.5-2x that, roughly $150K IAP + ads for a likely ~$300K/day total, with a DAU spike toward ~700K and strong Japan traffic). Plus the UA machine: internal playables, ~90% of spend on AppLovin⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 The game — Cube Land, a 3D blast puzzler04:00 Gameplay — rotate, aim, blast the picture apart07:30 Blockers, Crown Tournament, Skylift & the 650-level saga12:20 The studio story — RotateLab and the earthquake pivot14:00 Idea to scale in 6 months — the timeline18:20 The numbers — ~$90K/day IAP and the ~$300K estimate24:50 The creatives — 200 in 30 days, internal playables27:40 Why Meta can't compete for hybrid gamesThis episode is brought to you by Kinoa — the AI operating system for mobile game operations: flows, live segments, in-app messages, push notifications, and A/B testing in one place, run by the operators who own the numbers. Carry1st saw +43% ARPDAU; PlayStudios saw +31% revenue on Tetris Block Party. Learn more at Kinoa.http://www.kinoa.ai?utm_source=MatejPodcast&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=Matej+Podcast&utm_id=100--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
Send us Fan MailOn this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about professions that you can get into either directly involved in the roleplaying game industry or those professions that roleplaying will help you get into.Or at least that was the goal. You will see that we went an entirely different direction.Christina, as a Dr. of Education games and game designing has played a prominent role in your profession. When did you realize that was going to be your thing and that gaming was going to be a big part of it?Kick to ChristinaMike, You own a gaming company so we have to say that this topic is right in your wheelhouse.Kick to MikeTakeaways: Work Hard, Be Patient, Don't Give Up, Look for Opportunities.
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 […]
Review of 6502 assembly and how to create a simple number guessing game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Links
Some months the creative trends are wild. This one, Matej says it straight: it's quieter — everyone's copying the same big 4X and Golden Goblins playbook, AI is everywhere, and studios are scaling down for summer. But the detective work underneath is where it gets good, including a live investigation into who actually spends the most on UA and who really leads on revenue once you account for the money Sensor Tower can't see.We run the month's creatives and end up somewhere more interesting than the creatives themselves. They cover the copy-paste economy (Golden Goblins reskinned with bears and trees as AppQuantum's new Animal Valley; Idle Zombie Miner cloning the original one-to-one), Pantheon's ~9,600 creatives iterating on a single three-year-old winning concept, the "revenue down but DAU up" signal that reveals hidden D2C web-shop money (Raid Rush, Monopoly Go), the sad death of Match Villains (UA turned off, ~30% DAU lost in two months)The honest through-line: the creatives are converging, so the edge is in the data — reading DAU vs revenue, spotting the D2C dark pools, and knowing who's really winning.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 A quieter month — and why that's still worth watching02:40 Top creatives by impression share — how to read the tab05:10 Golden Goblins reskinned — Animal Valley, bears and trees09:40 Pantheon's 9,600 creatives and the D2C revenue tell12:30 Match Villains is dead — UA off, 30% DAU gone16:40 The data detective — who spends the most on UA24:50 The revenue ranking and the D2C "dark pools"31:20 Playrix's AI flood and the Simpsons diminishing returnsThis episode is brought to you by Kinoa — the AI operating system for mobile game operations: flows, live segments, in-app messages, push notifications, and A/B testing in one place, run by the operators who own the numbers. Carry1st saw +43% ARPDAU; PlayStudios saw +31% revenue on Tetris Block Party. Learn more at Kinoa.http://www.kinoa.ai?utm_source=MatejPodcast&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=Matej+Podcast&utm_id=100PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investorsFor an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej LancaricJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultanthttps://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultanthttps://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultanthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me
There comes a time for many players where the game changes in such a way that it moves away from what they loved most about it. I talk about this phenomenon and detail my own personal "dark night of the soul" experience.
This is the start of a new series, based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Amsterdam, where I talk about the design of all the cards I had a major hand in that would later be banned or restricted.
In today's episode we talk about the Fantasy genre for games. What is a fantasy game? How can you make them special? Does a fantasy game have to be set in a certain period? What is high vs low fantasy? We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode.Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.comor Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGamingPlease leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast.
Send us Fan MailWelcome to you heard it here last where we talk about news, you've already heard.Our first news article is going to kill two birds with one stone.https://ttrpgfans.com/origins-awards/The Origins Awards winners were announced at this years Origins convention that was held in Colombus Ohio June 17th through the 21st. The Origins Awards are an annual award that recognizes excellence in the tabletop gaming industry, including board games, card games, miniatures and roleplaying games. First presented in 1975 at the inaugural Origins Game Fair in Baltimore, the awards are currently managed by the Game Manufacturers Association or GAMA.The winner of the Roleplaying Game of the Year is the Land of Eem Deluxe Box Set by Exalted Funeral. Notably, Land of Eem is a rules-light TTRPG created by authors Ben Costa and James Parks (and based on their Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo graphic novels). It's described as a lighthearted blend of Lord of the Rings and The Muppets, with a dash of Adventure Time thrown in for good measure.The Winner of the Roleplaying Supplement of the Year is Call of Cthulhu: The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising from Chaosium.The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is a campaign supplement for the Call of Cthulhu RPG, set in 1980s Japan. It reimagines the iconic King in Yellow mythos by having a lost, ancient scroll resurface with ties to a sinister entity. The book features three interconnected scenarios and, in addition to featuring many of the familiar Lovecraftian tropes, also explores the unique cultural and historical setting (which is a radical departure from the traditional 1920s setting of New England).But before we dive into the winners and the long list of nominees, Dr. Christina attended Origins this year. Christina, how was the convention this year?[Kick to Christina]Mike, any thoughts on this year's winners[Kick to Mike]Christina, what about you, thoughts on the 2026 Origin Awards Winners?[Kick to Christina]Our next news item will make Dr. Christina very excited.https://ttrpgfans.com/masks-a-new-generation-rpg-second-edition/Ten Years ago, Magpie Games released Masks: A New Generation, the ENNIE award-winning tabletop RPG of teenaged angst and superhero action.Now, after more than a decade, Magpie has officially unveiled details for a new Masks Second Edition. The upcoming core rulebook will include new mechanics, character options, GM advice, artwork and lore for the setting of Halcyon City. The project will first land on crowdfunding, but you can sign up for alerts now on Kickstarter or the Magpie website.Christina, on a scale from 1-10 just how excited are you about a second edition of one of your favorite roleplaying games?[Kick to Christina]Mike, I know this isn't up your alley. But when Christina gets the second edition are you going to suck it up a play a session or two?[Kick to Mike]And there you have it, all the news, you've already heard.
The hosts discuss the challenges of extreme weather conditions, their experiences with snowstorms, and the impact on daily life. They also delve into the progression system in Battlefield and compare it to other games, highlighting the need for improvements. The conversation covers various aspects of gaming, including game design, player retention, streaming, and the impact of different game modes on player experience. It also delves into the challenges faced by game developers and the influence of streamers on game popularity. The conversation covers a range of topics including video games, gameplay experiences, matchmaking, and TV shows. It delves into the nuances of different game modes, player roles, and the challenges of team distribution in multiplayer games. Additionally, it explores the dynamics of solo squad play and the impact of aggression-based matchmaking. The conversation also touches on the experience of watching TV shows and movies with family.TakeawaysExtreme weather conditions can disrupt daily life and pose challenges for individuals and communities.The progression system in Battlefield needs improvement to provide a more enjoyable and rewarding gaming experience. Game design and map layout impact player experiencePlayer retention is a critical factor in the success of a gameStreamers play a significant role in shaping game popularity Gameplay experiences and player roles in multiplayer gamesChallenges of team distribution in multiplayer gamesImpact of aggression-based matchmakingExperience of watching TV shows and movies with familyChapters00:00 Extreme Weather Challenges02:38 Discussion on Battlefield Progression25:56 Game Design and Player Experience26:51 Player Retention and Game Success31:18 Influence of Streamers on Game Popularity38:05 Challenges Faced by Game Developers56:01 Multiplayer Game Dynamics57:11 Solo Squad Play and Matchmaking01:02:30 TV Shows and Movies with Family
Classnotes Podcast (July 21, 2026). How can game design help students become confident problem-solvers and future software developers? In this ... read more The post VisionCoders Students Learn Through Game Design – IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 258 appeared first on IDRA.
I use this episode to talk about dealing with negativity online.
This is another in my series where I attempt to give every Magic expansion an episode of my podcast. Today, I talk about Ravnica Allegiance, the second set of our third visit to Ravnica.
Send us Fan MailI was sixteen years old in 1985, sitting around a table with a group of friends, a pile of dice, some character sheets, and a copy of the James Bond 007 roleplaying game.Now, I'd seen the movies. I'd watched Bond race across exotic locations, escape impossible situations, and somehow always come out on top. But that day was different. We weren't watching James Bond. We were James Bond.I still remember the adventure taking us through the famous speedboat chase from Live and Let Die. The GM described the engines roaring to life. The water spraying across the deck. The bad guys closing in behind us. Every turn of the river felt dangerous. Every die roll mattered.What sticks with me all these years later isn't whether we followed the movie exactly. Honestly, I couldn't tell you. What I remember is the feeling. The excitement around the table. The tension as we tried to stay one step ahead of our pursuers. The laughter when something went wrong. The cheers when a crazy plan actually worked.For a few hours, a bunch of teenagers in the Midwest weren't sitting around a table anymore. We were spies. We were secret agents. We were caught up in a world of danger, intrigue, and adventure.And that's the thing about espionage as a genre. At its best, it makes you feel clever. It makes you feel like information matters. It creates suspense not because of what you know, but because of what you don't know. Who can you trust? Who's lying? What's really going on behind the scenes?The older I get and the more games I run, the more I realize just how powerful those ideas are. Whether you're running fantasy, science fiction, horror, or historical games, espionage elements can elevate a campaign in ways that few other genres can.So today, we're going to talk about the espionage genre. We'll look at where it came from, some of the movies, books, television shows, and games that helped define it, and the key ingredients that make spy stories so compelling. Most importantly, we'll discuss how you can bring those elements into your own tabletop roleplaying games to create adventures filled with mystery, intrigue, tension, and unforgettable moments.Because sometimes the most exciting thing at the table isn't defeating the villain.It's discovering who the villain really is.Mike, do you have any specific memories of your favorite espionage movie?
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 […]
In today's episode we talk about the Sci Fi genre for games. What is a true sci fi game? What about Star Wars? How do you make a sci fi game special? We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode.Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.comor Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGamingPlease leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast.
This episode is another in my series where I talk about every Magic expansion. Today, I talk about Rivals of Ixalan, the second set in the Ixalan block.
In this episode, I explain what a mana curve is and how they impact how we design Magic sets.
Episode 273- dnup and Iterative Game Design In this episode we talk about iterative game design. Why do designers go back to ideas they've already explored? On that note, we also discuss the new hotness dnup and how designer Kai Kajino built it upon the foundation of his modern classic hit Scout. Timestamps 3:30- iterative design 32:20- Scout 46:00- dnup Preplanners We have another decade draft coming up soon! Music and Sound Credits Thank you to Hembree for our intro and outro music from their song Reach Out. You can listen to the full song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQuuRPfOyMw&list=TLGGFNH7VEDPgwgyNTA4MjAyMQ&t=3s You can find more information about Hembree at https://www.hembreemusic.com/. Thank you to Flash Floods for use of their song Palm of Your Hand as a sting from their album Halfway to Anywhere: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fE6LrqzNDKPYWyS5evh3K?si=CCjdAGmeSnOOEui6aV3_nA Intermission Music: music elevator ext part 1/3 by Jay_You -- https://freesound.org/s/467243/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 Bell with Crows by MKzing -- https://freesound.org/s/474266/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 hammer v2.wav by blukotek -- https://freesound.org/s/337815/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 Contact Follow and reach us on social media on Bluesky @decisionspace.bsky.social. If you prefer email, then hit us up at decisionspa@gmail.com. This information is all available along with episodes at our new website decisionspacepodcast.com. Byeee!
In this episode, I talk about the weird fact that I'm a published Magic artist on an evergrowing number of cards. Note that I recorded this before Bicycle Elemental was made public.
One of the most complicated elements of the Magic rules is something known as "layers." I sit down with the man in charge of the rules, Jess Dunks, to help walk through an introduction to layers.
Here, I talk about the basic strategy when playing Mood Swings. To make sure everyone gets their full allotment of Magic design episodes, this episode is bonus content.
In this episode, I talk about the pressures of changing things that have been the same for decades.
This episode is another in my series to talk about every Magic expansion. Here, I talk about Aether Revolt, the second set in the Kaladesh block.
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip!This week Pip is joined by the awesome actor and now also game designer ABUBAKAR SALIM!What an absolute gem of an episode you have before you right here, as Pip checks in with Abubakar, one of the most power-move making-est actors in the game. You'll likely/surely recognize him from House Of The Dragon (Alyn of Hull), or Raised By Wolves (serving iconic costume realness), but chances are you might have also come into contact with his game 'Tales Of Kenzera' too. Even if none of those ring any bells, Abubakar is someone you'll get along with from jump, and has tales and perspective for days - working with Ridley Scott and what that process taught him, how the House Of The Dragon casting came about (crank call instincts on high alert), and how the inclusion of game design factored into life. A lovely chat with loads to enjoy for wherever you connect in those touchpoints, so enjoy!PIP'S PATREON PAGE if you're of a supporting natureIMDBINSTAGRAMHOUSE OF THE DRAGONRAISED BY WOLVESTALES OF KENZERASPEECH DEVELOPMENT WEBSTOREPIP TWITCH • (music stuff)PIP INSTAGRAMPIP TWITTERPIP PATREONPIP IMDB Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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