Ludology
Ludology is an analytical discussion of the how's and why's of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, it explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, discussing game history, game design, and game players. The podcast is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.
Episodes
Pros and Cons Ep 21
Recorded in Summer of 2026, Sen talks to Ethan Yen at a cafe in lovely Wortley Village in South London. They discuss design philosophies and Ethan's solo RPG "Fetch My Blade" (which happens to be on Kickstarter for a few more days - check it out!) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hitpointpress/fetch-my-blade-a-journaling-roleplaying-game
Ludology 364 The Cost of Complexity
Erica and Sen talk amongst themselves and discuss the topic of complexity in games from multiple angles. Whether you're choosing what to play at game night or designing the next big hit, complexity is something that impacts tabletop gaming maybe more than you think!
Pros and Cons Ep 20
Once again, Sen was in la belle province, recording at FLIM when he heard about *another* convention in Montreal! Ludicon offers open gaming, competitions, and merchandise in the heart of the city every November. Alain Fragman and Mario Haché brought Ludicon to life in 2024 and the 2026 edition will be on November 6-7-8 at Montreal's Palais des Congrès. They tell Sen all about the event and
Ludology 363 Transformative
This week, Erica and Sen speak with Dr. Marc Engfield and Shawn Roske about the game they co-designed to explore and address issues surrounding managing Chronic Pain. Using Sarah Lynne Bowman's theories of Transformational Play as the backbone, "The Pain Clinic" has pairs of players take on the roles of a patient who is experiencing chronic pain and the doctor who is treating them. For more infor
Ludology 362 Getting Graphic with Games
Sen and Erica talk with Steenz (www.oheysteenz.com), a St. Louis cartoonist and professor, about the graphic novel she illustrated, "Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games". In the book, Steenz and co-creator Samuel Sattin take readers on a journey through time and space as they look at the historical roots of Roleplaying Games around the globe. Steenz talks about her own relationship w
Pros and Cons Ep 19
Erica is just getting back from Japan and Sen is in Montreal for FLIM, so we're going to drop an interview from last year's inaugural Festival Ludique International de Montreal in which Sen speaks with designer, Herb Stanway, about the multi award-winning game, Crash Factor. To help you see exactly what Sen and Herb are talking about, check out the images of Herb's prototype on BGG: https://boar
Ludology 361 Joie De Vivre!
Sen and Erica are joined by Marc-Antoine Doyon, organizer behind the Festival Ludique International De Montreal (www.leflim.com), a free outdoor gaming festival that takes place from July 24-26 in Montreal's Latin Quarter. Marc-Antoine talks about what it take to bring something of this magnitude to life and what attendees can look forward to in the festival's second year.
Ludology 360 That Old Black Magic
Sen and guest host George Drayer (formerly from Meeple Syrup) speak with Jesper Myfors, the original art director of the game that changed the face of modern nerdom, Magic: The Gathering. They talk to Jesper about his involvement with the game, his role as art director, and his insight on evolution of the M:tG.
Ludology 359 I'd Like To Thank The Academy
Erica and Sen speak with game designer and educator, Kathleen Mercury, about the second annual Game Design Academy that runs concurrently with Gen Con. The Game Design Academy is an official professional development and formal education track that takes full advantage of the convention space as the lab for learning more about game design and the hobby gaming industry. For more info, check out: ht
Ludology 358 What's Your Story?
Sen flies solo and interviews Yeonsoo Julian Kim, narrative designer behind "The Fog Knows Your Name" and "Undying Fortress" on Choice Of Games, about interactive fiction games, TTRPGs, horror, and more!
Ludology 357 Unsettling Catan
Erica and Sen speak with author and academic, J. Rey Lee, about his book entitled, "Unsettling Catan: Detached Design in Eurogames". They discuss Catan's impact on the hobby, what detached design actually is, and what game designers can do to avoid detached design in practice. Check out https://lookingglance.com/ for more information and musings about boardgaming!
Ludology 356 Put A Little English On It
Sen and Erica interview George and Jack Furnival, the couple behind Carrooka - the tabletop snooker game. To see exactly what we're talking about on the podcast, check out pictures on their website: www.carrooka.com Be sure to listen to the companion episode about Crokinole featuring Jeremy Tracey on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ludology
Pros and Cons Ep 18
Sen talks to Chris Chung at BreakoutCon 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Chris talks about the origins of Lanterns, his work on the My Little Pony deckbuilder, and online playtesting.
Ludology 354 Like A Dagger In My Heart
Erica and Sen speak with Spenser Starke about bringing Daggerheart, one of the new generation of tabletop role-playing games, to life.
Ludology 353 The Power of Play
Sen and Erica speak with Peter Williamson, co-founder and partner at barometerxp.com and the executive director at gamegenius.org about creating tabletop experiences for non-profit organizations or doing professional development and team training to facilitate practical learning outcomes.
Ludology 352 Making the Game
Sen and Erica speak with Liqin Gu and Mitch Zhang from Longpack Manufacturing to delve into the ins and outs of how boardgames are made and why they're predominantly made in China.
Ludology 355 Rub a Dub Dub Let's Go To Unpub!
*Special Note* This episode is being released out of order. We will resume our previously scheduled numbering system in two week! Sen and Erica talk to Heather O'Neill and Hunter Johnson, members of the Unpub Board of Directors, about the upcoming Unpub Festival 2026. Hunter and Heather discuss what people can expect, why they should attend, and a few of the special events that will be featured a
Pros and Cons Ep 17
Sen speaks with Kristen Mott at Gen Con 2024 about her designs and publications leading into 2025. We talk homeschooling, scouting, co-design, and horses, of courses. Then we take a look into the crystal ball and make a predication that came true... sorta! Sen and Erica will be back with their regulars shows in February, so stay tuned!
Pros and Cons Ep 16
Recorded live at Gen Con 2024, Sen interviews Sarah Dahlinger, a comparative anatomy fueled creature creator who's made some of your favourite monster art and sculpted the minis as well for companies such as Cephalophair Games, Monte Cook Games, and more. Sarah is also the author/artist behind Astra Fauna: Expeditions and hopes to bring her world of science and adventure to life on the tabletop.
Ludology 351 Better Health Through Gaming
Erica and Sen talk with Dr. Joe Macisco, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Wright State University's Boonshoft School of Medicine. Joe has been working on designing serious games for use in the public health field. Joe discusses how and why games can improve pro-health and pro-social behavioural changes.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 24
Sen and Erica welcome Sarah Shipp, guest host of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, to talk about some of the ways in which theme can be measured and how that affects game design.
Ludology 350 Beneath The Trees
Sen and special guest host Doug Levandowski (Kids on Bikes) talk with Noxweiler Ignatius Berf (or "Nox" for short) about his work on the storytelling game, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, based on the comic series of the same name. They discuss the game and it's mechanisms, how it stays true to the comic overall, and how it diverges at times.
Ludology 349 Reindeer Games
Erica and Sen welcome Jordan Goddard of Indy Game Lab to talk about his company's newest product - family games that are packaged inside of Christmas ornaments. Currently on Kickstarter, Jordan discusses why he chose to create games that might only come out once a year.
Ludology 348 Only Murders in the Script
This episode, Sen welcomes Pete, Felix, and Daniel from Zed9 Mystery Club (www.zed9jubensha.com) in Richmond, BC to talk all about Jubensha (a.k.a. Murder Script Games). Originally developed in Chinese-speaking countries, Jubensha have been making their way to wherever the Chinese diaspora has settled and now English speakers can partake in these immersive murder mystery role playing experiences a
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 23
Sen and Erica welcome Sarah Shipp as she hosts her Thinking Beyond Mechanism series. In this episode, she discusses the permissions that games and their rules give us to break social conventions within the construct of the so-called "Magic Circle".
Ludology 347 Sail Away
Erica and Sen welcome designers of the award-winning Endeavor: Deep Sea, Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray, along with their publishers, Helaina and Josh Cappel (Burnt Island) and Marc Specter (Grand Gamers Guild) to talk about the past, present, and future of the game. What has changed over the years and what does the future hold for this excellent exploration system?
Ludology 346 That Seems Familiar
It's the return of Erica! Sen got to goof off most of the summer without her, but now she's back and she has a great topic to start off Q3-Q4 of 2025 - Familiarity. Erica and Sen discuss how designers and publishers may want to think about familiarity when producing games. While the saying usually goes something like "familiarity breeds contempt," Erica and Sen argue that a little familiarity goes
Ludology 345 Out of the Dungeon
Sen is back after a short hiatus, this time speaking with fellow podcaster, Kristin Vermilya, about her endeavour to document the 50+ year history of role playing games in her forthcoming audio documentary series, Out of the Dungeon. For more information on Kristin's work, check out: https://www.kristinvermilya.com/dungeon We look forward to Erica's return in 2 weeks for a whole new season of
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 22
Sen and Erica welcome Sarah Shipp as the host of the Thinking About Mechanisms segment. This episode, Sarah talks about social distance as one of the main differentiators between video games and tabletop games.
Pros and Cons Ep 15
Once again, Sen catches a wild game designer at Origins 2024! This time, he captures Josh Derksen of Lynnvander Games and gets the chance to talk about Josh's work. In particular, Sen is interested in the campaign modes that Josh has devised for several miniature battle systems. What started out as a fan mod (Heroes of the Aturi Cluster for X-Wing) has lead Josh to design campaign modes for Star T
Pros and Cons Ep 14
Sen met with new designer but veteran writer Nathan Long (several Warhammer novels, the screenplay for Guyver: Dark Hero, and the scripts for the Wastelands and Bardstale video games) at Origins 2024. Sen had the opportunity to play Nathan's game, Shanghai Noir prior to this so he wanted to discuss how to build narrative in games.
Pros and Cons Ep 13
Sen speaks to David Gordon at Origins 2024 before all of his games hit shelves in 2025. From Monkey Palace to Floristry, we chat about David's entry into game design and what the future holds for this international man of mystery. Did any of it come true one year later?
Pros and Cons Ep 12
In this episode of Pros and Cons (where we talk to game industry professionals at conventions), we go back to AnimeNorth 2024 where Sen chats with TTRPG designer and writer, Daniel Kwan about anime, wuxia, martial arts, combat and his project that JUST FUNDED on Kickstarter in 2025 - Wandering Blades!
Ludology 344 Indie Games Night Market
While Erica is on vacation, Sen takes the opportunity to speak with Daniel Newman about how his love of trick-taking games lead to the inception of the Indie Games Night Market. If you're interested in selling your games at this year's IGNM at PaxU 25, please check apply at www.newmillindustries.com/ignm
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms EP 21
Erica and Sen welcome Sarah Shipp, guest host of the Thinking Beyond Mechanisms segment, to give her take on how we can combat anti-intellectualism using games with intentional design. Sarah has started to provide transcripts for her segment on her blog, available at https://shippboardgames.blogspot.com
Ludology 343 It's Alive!
Erica and Sen discuss some of the games from their childhoods that featured electronic components heavily and wonder if, in this day and age when smartphones are ubiquitous, the hobby is ripe for another wave of games that are facilitated by quirky little bespoke electronic devices.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 20
Erica and Sen welcome Sarah Shipp, guest host of the Thinking Beyond Mechanisms segment, to discuss cognitive load and addressing the impact of it through intentional design. Read Ludology co-founder Geoff Engelstein's article on the subject that Sarah refers to here: https://gametek.substack.com/p/grand-unified-gateway-theory
Ludology 342 Games on the Big Screen
This episode, Sen and Erica talk to Simon Ennis, professional filmmaker and avid boardgamer, about his most recent release, "The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop", that features game designers, reviewers, and community members alike. Check out the trailer for The Hobby as well as the IMDB listing. Erica and Sen will be at the June 18th showing of The Hobby at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, ON, Cana
TTRPGKids Ep 24
In their final segment, Steph Campbell talks about using TTRPGs at home or in the classroom to teach social studies. Sen and Erica thank Steph for their dedication to the use of games in education and wishes them all the best with TTRPKids in the future!
Ludology 341.5 Oh Canada!
Erica and Sen recorded this episode live in March 2025 at BreakoutCon in Toronto, ON, Canada. They spoke with guests Helaina Cappel (Publisher, Kids Table Board Games and Burnt Island Games) and Daniel H Kwan (Designer, Ross Rifles and Wandering Blades) about what makes a game "Canadian", advice for Canadian designers and publishers in the current economy, developing a Canadian identity and commun
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 19
Erica and Sen welcome Sarah Shipp, guest host of the Thinking Beyond Mechanisms segment, to discuss how designers might approach the dreaded human factor we call "Analysis Paralysis" or AP.
Ludology 341 Accesorize Your Games
Erica and Sen welcome Dekan Wheeler to the show to talk about his work at UltraPro, making accessories for many of the hobby's most beloved games. We discuss card sleeves, digital calipers, bead towers, diamond corners, Delicious in Dungeon, and more! Note: Dekan has since moved on from UltraPro and is now a brand manager at Critical Role. Congrats, Dekan! We'll have to have you back to talk abou
TTRPGKids Ep 23
Erica and Sen welcome guest host Steph Campell on this week's installment of TTRPGKids. In their segement, Steph talks about the power of writing and journaling in TTRPGs and how writing in game can positively impact writing in the classroom.
Ludology 340 Corporate Game Play
Sen and Erica talk with Ellie Dix about her work in making corporate games. Whether they're to increase brand recognition or for team building and training purposes, Ellie describes her process when designing games outside of the hobby sphere.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 18
Erica and Sen welcome Sarah Shipp, guest host of the Thinking Beyond Mechanisms segment, to talk about events in game design. Sarah talks about how to use well-designed events to provide variety, increase challenge, change up the narrative, and more when it comes to design a tabletop game.
Ludology 339 History of the Game - Pandemic
Erica and Sen welcome Matt Leacock to talk about one of the hobby's staples - Pandemic. First published in 2008, the Pandemic system has been expanded and used to fight viruses, rising tides, Elder Gods, and now - the forces of evil that seek the One Ring. They talk all things Pandemic, from it's ideation to its many iterations, from fighting back chain reaction of diseases on Earth to fighting ba
TTRPGKids Ep 22
This week, special guest host Steph Campbell discusses the importance of why learning should be fun and how TTRPGs can bring fun to what can be a very complex situation.
Ludology 338 America's Top Model(er)
Erica and Sen talk to Matt Gubser, modeler and comedian, about his work in the tabletop industry and the shift from traditional to digital modeling techniques.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 17
In this special guest episode, Sen and Erica welcome Sarah Shipp to talk about how designers can raise the stakes to strengthen a game's hook, taking it from bland to bold!
Ludology 337 How To Be A Final Girl
Sen and Erica welcome Evan Derrick from Van Ryder Games to discuss the past, present, and future of Final Girl - a highly expandable, solo, horror boardgame co-designed by Evan and AJ Porfirio. Evan talks about the game from inception to evolution and gives us some insight into what makes it tick.
TTRPGKids Ep 21
Steph Campbell brings their segment, TTRPGKids, to Ludology. This week, they breakdown their TTRPG "Photosynthians" that they made as a resource to demonstrate how to teach science with TTRPGs and how to integrate lesson plans and other classroom basics into the game itself for designers. The game is free and part of the classroom-ready toolkit that Steph made and is available here: https://ttrpg
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 16
Sen and Erica welcome guest host Sarah Shipp to her segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms. In this installment, Sarah looks at designing games that ask players to be creative. Sarah examines some of the common pitfalls you can encounter when you ask players create content for the game and discusses how to avoid them.
Ludology 336 Roll For Learning
Sen and Erica welcome Professor Camilla Zamboni to discuss "Roll for Learning", a book she co-edited that contains 51 microRPGs that are intended for use in K-12+ classrooms in fields as diverse as STEM, SEL, and the Humanities. You can download the pdf of the book for free here: https://playstorypress.org/books/roll-for-learning/
TTRPGKids Ep 20
In this episode of TTRPGKids, Steph Campbell provides excellent ideas on how to use TTRPGs to teach STEM subjects in the classroom and at home.
Ludology 335 Who's This For?
In this Host Roundtable, Erica and Sen talk about the importance of understanding who the audience for a specific game is during the design, development, and publication process. They discuss some of the ways in which they determine who the audience is and how knowing the key characteristics and desires of the demographic can help them make a game that satisfies the core consumer by design.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 15
On this month's installment of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, special guest host, Sarah Shipp, dives into the mechanism of bluffing and gives her thoughts on why it's more that merely mechanical.
Pros and Cons Ep 11
Sen speaks with Nick Yu while their families are on vacation together in the Berkshires - so a very smol con, indeed. They discuss an IP they are working on with the creator called Tankhead by Emerson Tung (www.emersontung.com/tankhead). The two discuss their journey in designing a series of games for potential self-publication along with a plan to document their progress in a short form monthly p
TTRPGKids Ep 19
In this episode of TTRPGKids, Steph Campbell differentiates between an RPG that could be used in an educational setting and an one that is classroom-ready! Steph provides a list of all the things you need to move from A to B in about an hour!
Ludology 334 Let's Call a Spade a Spade
Sen and Erica welcome Jay Cormier of Off the Page Games to the podcast to talk about his penchant for making puzzley games that make players feel clever while giving them a sense of exploration and adventure, Jay discusses his first time at PAXU as well as his newest releases, Corps of Discovery and Design Your Destiny.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 14
In this installment of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, Erica and Sen welcome host Sarah Shipp to talk about failure and how loss can drive gameplay.
Ludology 333 Bigger Than A Breadbox
Have you ever wondered what it takes to keep a FLGS afloat in this age of online retailers and Amazon Prime? Sen and Erica welcome Caleb Wunderlich, Assistant Manager at Millennium Games in Rochester, NY - the biggest game store in the USA - to talk about building community, running events, and catering to customers' needs.
TTRPGKids Ep 18
Erica and Sen welcome guest host Steph Campbell to talk about Arithmagine (https://luckoflegends.itch.io/arithmagine), a setting-agnositic TTRPG focused on teaching mathematics, on this episode of TTRPGKids.
Ludology 332 The Oldest Trick in the Book
Sen and Erica welcome former host Scott Rogers back to the show to dive into his latest book, "Your Turn: The Guide to Great Tabletop Game Design" and tell us what he's been up to as of late.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 13
Sen and Erica welcome special guest host Sarah Shipp for her segment, Thinking Beyond Mechanisms. In this episode, Sarah discusses Game Theory and the importance of studying the design of tabletop games in a more academic manner.
Ludology 331Pixelate Those Pieces
Erica and Sen welcome Theresa Duringer to talk about her role as a tabletop game app developer at Temple Gates Games. They discuss what it takes to make an app translation of a tabletop hit, what some differences might be between the physical and digital versions, how the AI opponents are trained, and more!
Ludology 330 Phantom Tax
Sen and Erica welcome Dr. Mary Flanagan and Max Seidman from Resonym Games to talk about their latest game, Phantom Ink, that has generated a lot of buzz around the industry as it made the SdJ short list for 2024. They discuss design, international licensing, and even the afterlife!
TTRPG Kids Ep 17
Sen and Erica welcome special guest host Steph Campbell who brings you their latest segment, TTRPGKids. This week, Steph talks about how to incorporate math into games in the classroom and at the dinner table.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 12
In this episode of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms, Sen and Erica welcome guest host Sarah Shipp as she takes on the contentious issue of Take That mechanicsms but frames it in terms of player investment to shed light on when the mechanism in question might rub people the wrong way and when it might be exactly what's needed to spice up a game.
Ludology 329 Puzzle It Out
Sen and Erica talk to Jonathan Chaffer, designer and illustrator of the Holiday Hijinks series of 18-card puzzle games. We chat about Jonathan's take on puzzle design, his use of technology to drive the component-light system, and his opinion on things like clues vs. hints and the concept of red herrings.
TTRPGKids Ep 16
Erica and Sen welcome guest host, Steph Campbell, as they talk about how parents and educators can use TTRPGs to foster a love of learning in young students in this 16th installment of TTRPGKids.
Ludology 328 The Whole Kitten and Caboodle
Sen and Erica welcome Daniel Cunningham (AKA Iron Kitten Games) to discuss his role as a mechanical engineer and how he parlays those skills into helping publishers design storage trays, dice towers, and cardboard constructibles for modern tabletop games.
Thinking Beyond Mechanisms Ep 11
Erica and Sen welcome special guest (and new mom!), Sarah Shipp, back to her role on the Ludology Network as the host of Thinking Beyond Mechanisms. In this episode, Sarah talks about the concept of perception and how game designers need to hone their skills in this area, particularly when it comes to playtesting.
Ludology 327 Game On in Vietnam
Erica and Sen talk to Michael Orion of www.rollingwizards.com about his recent move to Vietnam and his thoughts on the country's developing game design scene and, more broadly, the tabletop scene across South East Asia.
Pros and Cons Ep 10 First Fish
In this episode of Pros and Cons, Sen talks to Steph, Gordon, and Liam at Origins 2023 as they were getting ready for their biggest Kickstarter to date: Mistwind designed by Daryl Andrews and Adrian Adamescu which is currently making a splash!
Pros and Cons Ep 9
In this interview, Sen talks to Jessica Geyer, President of the Indie Game Developers Network (https://www.igdnonline.com/) at Origins 2023 to find out what the IGDN can do for indie game devs and how that differs from the Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDN) would like to offer members.
Pros and Cons Ep 8
In this episode, Sen interviews Smoox Chen at the Gathering of Friends in 2023, talking about his work with Taiwan Boardgames Design and how he's trying to get more eyes on games by Taiwanese designers.
TTRPGKids Ep 15
This week, special guest host Steph Campbell tells us about the TTRPG Inspirisles and breaks down the specifics of what makes it "educational" beyond it simply being a TTRPG.
Ludology 326 Little Rascals
Sen and Erica welcome Lin Codega and Chase Carter from Rascal News to talk about the importance of independent journalism in the tabletop gaming space. Rascal News has a few weeks left in their funding drive, so if you value the independent press, support efforts like theirs at www.rascal.news
Ludology 325 Shh!
Sen and Erica interview Rebecca Strang, a librarian and game designers who promotes gaming in libraries and is active on the Gaming Round Table of the American Library Association. Rebecca was also recently featured in "Games for a Rainy Day," a book with 54 micro-games, puzzles, and more. Why do boardgames and libraries go hand in hand? Let's find out!
TTRPGKids Ep 14
In this installment of TTRPGKids, Special Guest Host Steph Campbell talks about how TTRPGs can be used in the classroom to help students gain social and emotional learning (SEL) skills.
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