Categories

016: Interactive Fiction and Storytelling

Listen now (32 min) | After bidding farewell to the village, our heroes spot a castle in the distance. In order to get the caste, our heroes must survive a series of narrative choices, leading them to the castle gates. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 1:09 House of Ashes
  • 2:00 Until Dawn
  • 5:26 Man of Medan
  • 8:31 Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
  • 15:49 Resident Evil
  • 20:47 Little Hope

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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

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Categories

015: Usable Games with Michael Fienen and Aaron Hill

Listen now (112 min) | Just as our heroes walk down the street of a newly found village, suddenly a pair of drunken adventurers (Michael Fienen and Aaron Hill) stumble out of the Drunken UX tavern, knocking them all down. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 6:12 Monopoly
  • 10:40 Chinatown
  • 17:12 Diablo 2
  • 20:28 Sonic the Hedgehog
  • 22:18 For Honor
  • 26:14 Betrayal at House on the Hill
  • 30:38 Dominant Species
  • 31:29 Roll for the Galaxy
  • 32:46 Zombicide
  • 34:29 Call of Cthulu
  • 37:07 Gloomhaven
  • 39:22 Psychokiller
  • 41:49 AD&D 2nd Edition
  • 44:08 Camel Up
  • 46:25 Condottiere
  • 48:34 Kill Doctor Lucky
  • 50:41 Lords of Waterdeep
  • 52:06 Firefly
  • 55:29 Fury of Dracula
  • 57:01 Valiant Hearts
  • 1:02:50 Munchkin
  • 1:03:25 King of Tokyo
  • 1:06:42 Smash Up

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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

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Categories

014: Baffling Sequels

Listen now (39 min) | The camera pans away from our heroes and focuses on a life in the day of a wee little skill tree from Episode 10. Why? Because sequels don’t have to make sense. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 1:12 Vampire: the Masquerade
  • 4:41 Legend of Zelda
  • 8:38 Grand Theft Auto
  • 16:30 Monster Hunter
  • 19:46 Resident Evil
  • 22:55 Evil Within
  • 23:47 Final Fantasy
  • 25:24 Shovel Knight
  • 34:51 Last of Us

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Follow us on Twitter @DTGamesPodcast.
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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

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Categories

013: Roll for Sanity

Listen now (29 min) | Our heroes are suddenly interrupted by a jump scare, which forces them to run, hide, and navigate various horror mechanics. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 5:11 The Thing
  • 6:31 Call of Cthulhu
  • 7:19 Silent Hill
  • 8:58 Lit
  • 10:00 Outlast
  • 16:00 Resident Evil
  • 17:39 Thief
  • 20:32 Zombies Ate My Neighbors
  • 21:17 Dead Rising
  • 24:42 Fury of Dracula
  • 25:50 Outlast 2
  • 27:15 Dead by Daylight

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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

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Categories

012: Alternate History and Science Fiction

Listen now (24 min) | By sneaking past the giant peacock, our heroes are able to take a moment to consider their place in history, and ponder what could have been different. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 1:38 Bioshock
  • 7:41 Rocket Ranger
  • 15:57 Metal Gear
  • 16:33 Metal Gear Solid
  • 19:50 Wolfenstein 3D
  • 21:39 Savage Frontier

Support the show on Patreon!

Follow us on Twitter @DTGamesPodcast.
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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/

Categories

011: The Olympic Experience

Listen now (32 min) | At the edge of the forest, our heroes find the game of all games, but there’s a big peacock in the way. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – The Official Video
  • Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Support the show on Patreon!

Follow us on Twitter @DTGamesPodcast.
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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/

Categories

010: Class Mechanics

Listen now (37 min) | On their quest for the most usable game our heroes encounter a forest of skill trees shaped by the artificial constraints of character class. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 6:29 AD&D 2nd Edition
  • 12:25 Starfinder
  • 16:17 Pathfinder 2nd Edition
  • 18:30 Battlefied
  • 20:25 Mork Borg
  • 21:30 Marvel Superhero RPG
  • 27:28 Vampire: the Masquerade
  • 31:30 New World

Support the show on Patreon!

Follow us on Twitter @DTGamesPodcast.
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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/

Categories

009: Grinding the Rewards

Listen now (35 min) | Leaving the stream behind, our heroes make a discovery about experience grinding and reward mechanics, which will help them on their quest to find the most usable game. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 2:02 World of Warcraft
  • 2:59 Dark Souls
  • 5:16 Mass Effect
  • 7:12 Bloodborne
  • 8:27 Cuphead
  • 15:26 Hellblade
  • 19:59 Monster Hunter
  • 26:51 Spider-Man
  • 34:16 Sea of Thieves

Support the show on Patreon!

Follow us on Twitter @DTGamesPodcast.
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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/

Categories

008: Gaymer Pride

Listen now (26 min) | After helping the roaming NPC, our heroes take a moment to sit by a stream, appreciate a beautiful rainbow, and discuss the role of diversity in video games. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 2:35 Last of Us
  • 4:48 Mass Effect
  • 5:31 Last of Us 2
  • 7:24 Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
  • 9:21 Tell Me Why
  • 13:21 Sims
  • 14:39 Gone Home
  • 17:15 Cyberpunk 2077
  • 20:27 Fortnite
  • 22:21 Six Days in Fallujah
  • 25:14 Secret of Mana

Support the show on Patreon!

Follow us on Twitter @DTGamesPodcast.
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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/

Categories

007: Collaborative Board Games

Listen now (34 min) | After solving the mystery, our heroes run into a roaming NPC, who desperately needs help finding different models for collaboration in tabletop board games. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 3:57 Forbidden Desert
  • 5:02 Pandemic
  • 7:01 Castle Panic
  • 12:02 Pokemon Go
  • 13:13 Phasmaphobia
  • 15:26 Ghost Hunters
  • 15:51 Ghost Adventures
  • 19:01 Angry Pug
  • 19:58 Flash Point
  • 21:43 Magic Maze
  • 22:53 Sentinels of the Multiverse
  • 25:48 Last Night on Earth
  • 30:56 Betrayal at House on the Hill

Support the show on Patreon!

Follow us on Twitter @DTGamesPodcast.
Follow us on TikTok @designthinkinggames.
Subscribe on Twitch at DesignThinkingGames.

Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
Michael Schofield is @schoeyfield on Twitter.

Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/