Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication

In episode 89 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Seppy Yoon about his design Conquest Princess: Fashion is Power. This crisis management game was inspired by Sailor Moon and Star Trek. Seppy took his love for strong women like Wonder Woman and created a game that included characters that were trans, non-binary and female. As a queer/minority/vet owned company he found it very important to feature these playable characters but had to deal with hate groups during his Kickstarter campaign. Learn how he brought this game to life after 9 years of working on it and how he dealt with online trolls in this first episode of the fifth season! Featuring: Seppy Yoon - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 88 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication Amanda Rivera takes over as the host as she helps recap the fourth season with Danielle. They talk about past guests and their games. Speaking about matching mechanics with IPs and how brands can be split between many different publishers. Danielle talks about her upcoming games Caution Signs and Secret Clue: Cuisines as well as her new job title of Project Director of Wacky Wizard Games and how she’s grown as a designer by starting to do inventor relations. Learning to kill off her designs faster by looking at them from that perspective has helped her grow over the past few months. Not to mention she was nominated for the Play Creators Rising Star Award this year! Featuring: Danielle Reynolds - Guest Amanda Rivera - Host

In episode 87 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Sen-Foong Lim on his comic book IP game Mind MGMT. A game that grows with the players in strategy as well as difficulty. One player controls Mind MGMT and must scour the city for new recruits. They move around on a secret map, trying to visit locations that match one of their three randomly drawn feature cards. They can also use their four Immortals to protect locations from being exposed. Listen to Sen compare working with a creator’s IP versus a company like Viacom or Warner Brothers. He unboxes how they worked with the comic creator to expand the Mind MGMT world versus slapping the IP on a pre-existing design. Featuring: Sen-Foong Lim - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 86 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with David Abelson about his Mensa award winning game Gartenbau published by 25th Century Games. Initially the game started as a color theory tile placement game but grew into a three-layer tile stacking game of beautifully arranged flowers that gain prestige using a rondel drafting mechanism. Learn how this design grew in development! Featuring: David Abelson - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 85 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Jim Fitzpatrick about his game Mission to Planet Hexx. Inspired by a love of SyFy he designed a hex tile game about exploring space with different abilities triggered by moving your ship around the tiles. He learned through playtesting how to create thematic ties between the flavor text and mechanics of the tiles as well as how to refine his design. Featuring: Jim Fitzpatrick - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 84 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Glenn Cotter about his design Mischief, formerly Fickle. Learn how he got the game signed and printed first with Bard Games. Then what happened when he received the rights back and got the game re-signed with Smirk & Dagger as Mischief. Listen as he talks through the design changes made in between printings. How the initial bones of the game stayed the same while player count, fairy cards, illustrations and other pieces were tweaked through development. Featuring: Glenn Cotter - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 83 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Doug Levandowski and Yeonsoo Julian Kim about their co-design Home. Home is an RPG that focuses more on storytelling than dice rolling thanks to Tarot cards that help every player take turns as the “Director” of their scary story. With different modules in the RPG no game will be the same. The game started as Doug's attempt to make a game about his childhood home but with Julie’s help the game grew into what it is today. Featuring: Doug Levandowski - Guest Yeonsoo Julian Kim - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 82 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Fertessa Allyse and Mondo Davis about their party game Mansplaining. Learn not only what the term “mansplaining” means but also, learn how they designed a game made not to offend but allow players to feel what it is to have someone over-explain a subject in a humorous way. Learn how they dealt with assumptions made due to the title of the game and how they marketed to help with that problem. Featuring: Fertessa Allyse - Guest Mondo Davis - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 81 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Whitney Loraine the designer of Skybound’s Pirate Tails game. Her inspiration came from the push-you-luck set collection mechanics of Biblios. She took what she liked most from that game and created her own game. Listen to her start as a new designer. How going to a convention allowed her to network and meet publishers nice enough to introduce her to Skybound where she now has two signed games! Featuring: Whitney Loraine - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 80 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with George Li about his game Misconceptions. His publishing company Rabble was approached by Bud Light Seltzer to create Misconceptions, a game based on debunking other common, but wrong, beliefs. Learn how they worked with Bud Light’s marketing team to design and publish a game in record time using a non-gaming manufacturer in the United States in order to meet the deadlines set by Bud Light. Featuring: George Li - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 79 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Jeremy Posner and Ken Gruhl about their co-design Mantis published by Exploding Kittens. They talk about how they found each other as co-designers and the many games that have spawned from the partnership. How a failed design of Ken’s inspired Jeremy to adapt the idea into what became Mantis. Listen to how this design team took an old idea and gave it life in a new form! Plus, how they adapted the game into a kid’s version called Best Worst Ice Cream for Exploding Kittens’ new line of Kitten Games. Featuring: Jeremy Posner - Guest Ken Gruhl - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 78 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Josh, Jory and Rowan Cappel about their co-design Diced Veggies published by KTBG. This design started as a father/son activity that quickly added a niece/cousin to the mix. Starting from a catchy name they quickly created a dice drafting cooking game with a fun chopping component and thematically linked recipe cards. Thought was put into what veggies the dice would represent as well as finding recipes that had those vegetables diced in order to make it! If you’re looking to work with kids on a design then check out this episode! Featuring: Josh Cappe - Guest Jory Cappel - Guest Rowan Cappel - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 77 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Jonathan Chaffer, the mastermind behind the 18-card escape room game line Holiday Hijinks published by Grand Gamers Guild. Jonathan discusses how his holiday gift idea has now turned into a line of creatively crafted escape room games that only requires internet and 18 cards. Listen to how he crafts an answer list of words then works backwards to create the puzzles in each of his games. He even illustrates the cards and codes for the electronic parts of this escape room! Learn how to build an escape room game with tight restraints thanks to Jonathan! Featuring: Jonathan Chaffer - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 76 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Jeff Horger about the second edition of Dark Domains! Learn what changes to the rulebook, components and gameplay occurred in the second printing. Listen to where the proposed initial design to make a game that included “skulls and tarot cards” came from. And how a multiple year RPG campaign helped build the lore of the game and characters. Featuring: Jeff Horger - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 76 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Elizabeth Hargrave about all things birds with her game Wingspan! What started as a game suggestion from her husband turned into a game that has inspired so many women and nature enthusiasts to enter the industry! Hear about how her game evolved through signing it with Stonemaier Games and their development process. Listen as she talks through the different expansions and what issues came up when translating the game over to different languages. Also, get advice on how to design a nature themed game! Featuring: Elizabeth Hargrave - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host Launch Tabletop is offering 20% off your first order by going to launchtabletop.com and using the promo code GDU20 when checking out. This special discount is valid through 2023.

In episode 74 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Grant Lyon about his party game co-design Curmudgeon. The game lets players come up with their own witty disses and comebacks to hilarious prompts. Grant talks about how his background in comedy and writing has helped him not only design party games but get hired to write card prompts for games like Verses, Would You Rather and Ghosted. Featuring: Grant Lyon - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host And please vote Danielle Reynolds for the TAGIE Rising Star Innovator award at https://peopleofplay.com/toy-game-innovation-awards/2023. Voting is open until October 20th! Launch Tabletop is offering 20% off your first order by going to launchtabletop.com and using the promo code GDU20 when checking out. This special discount is valid through 2023.

In episode 73 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with M & Corinne Yeager on their 18-card game Exploring Galapagos published by Button Shy. Listen to them discuss their initial inspiration from the game SET and how issues came up in the initial printing of the game and how they were able to fix it with only the use of the rulebook! Enjoy this episode all about designing with constraints. And please vote Danielle Reynolds for the TAGIE Rising Star Innovator award at https://peopleofplay.com/toy-game-innovation-awards/2023. Voting is open until October 20th! Launch Tabletop is offering 20% off your first order by going to launchtabletop.com and using the promo code GDU20 when checking out. This special discount is valid through 2023. Featuring: M Yeager - Guest Corinne Yeager - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 72 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with Sean Fletcher the designer behind Disney Sorcerer’s Arena: Epic Alliances as well as so many other IP based games. He talks about how he took his love of Magic the Gathering and applied it to creating this Disney Battle game. From turning classic Disney characters into different archetypes to balancing their deck abilities and powers while keeping them thematic. Hear about how he turned one of the world’s favorite IPs into a board game. Featuring: Sean Fletcher - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 71 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with sisters Alice and Jessica Hong of FamBam Games about their co-design Not So Neighborly. A light-weight card game of building and destroying a neighborhood. This project started with a need to have another game while stuck in their Covid bubble that turned into a family run company. Learn about things like UNPUB, the Horizon Fellowship and other things that helped them jump head first into this industry! Featuring: Alice Hong - Guest Jessica Hong - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host

In episode 70 of Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication we talk with David Diaz about his game Fossilis published by KTBG (Kids Table Board Games). The game was initially designed with his son in mind mixed with a personal love of dinosaurs. It quickly developed into a 3-D tile pushing archeology game with set-collecting different dinos and bones. The game started as a lighter kids game then once signed, it was developed into the game you see today at conventions! Featuring: David Diaz - Guest Danielle Reynolds - Host