Ludology
Education & Explainer
About
Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the how's and why's of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens, and discusses game history, game design and game players.Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the premier board game media network.
Episodes
- Ludology 257 Unsettling Catan
Erica and Sen speak with author and academic, J. Ray 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…
- 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 th…
- 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 t…
- 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…
- 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 ca…
- 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…
- 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 i…
- 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. Th…
- 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 m…
- 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 bee…
- 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…
- 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, pre…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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 devis…
- 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…
- 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…
- 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 proj…
- 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 IGN…
- 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 segme…
- 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…
- 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 subje…
- 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 o…
- 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…
- 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 Wan…
- 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 Dungeo…
- 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 classro…
- 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 sph…
- 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…
- 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 s…
- 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 e…
- 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 cl…
- 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…
- 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 do…
- 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 th…
- 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).…
- 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 ho…
- 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 a…
- 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.