052: Sailor Moon Sabrina Culyba • Ludoliminal

Listen now (50min) | Our heroes encounter Sabrina Culyba, a seasoned game designer and founder of the studio Ludoliminal. Culyba shares her journey from designing digital games to creating board games, emphasizing her passion for experience design. She speaks about her first published game, Diatoms, and imparts a crucial lesson: the importance of crafting memorable experiences, whether digital or analog. Culyba’s narrative includes nostalgic moments of her early gaming influences, such as Sailor Moon and the societal fears surrounding D&D, underlining the diverse paths and inspirations that shape a game designer’s career.

Read the transcript.

Things discussed on this episode:

  • 00:00 – Introduction to Sabrina Solba
  • 00:15 – Starting Ludoliminal
  • 00:37 – Collaborations and Team
  • 00:57 – Passion for UX and Playtesting
  • 01:35 – Early Gaming Memories
  • 02:32 – Journey into Game Design
  • 03:10 – Influence of Sailor Moon
  • 03:40 – Learning Programming and Web Development
  • 03:59 – Choosing a University
  • 04:49 – Reflecting on Dungeons and Dragons
  • 05:23 – Sailor Moon Reboot
  • 06:51 – The Role of UX in Game Design
  • 21:35 – Current Status and Future Plans for Diatoms
  • 31:01 – Plug
  • 32:01 – Deep Dive: Game Design and Storytelling
  • 33:19 – RPG Choices: Paragon or Renegade
  • 34:31 – Fantasy Preferences: High vs Low
  • 34:39 – Favorite Game Characters: Heroes and Villains
  • 36:27 – Overrated and Underrated Games
  • 37:54 – Cheat Codes and Fun Questions
  • 38:59 – Gaming Preferences and Personal Insights
  • 42:47 – Nostalgic Gaming Memories

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051: Archduke John De Campos, Death to Videodrome

Listen now (34 min) | John De Campos, founder of Terrible Games, shares his journey from a comic book-obsessed child to an independent board game publisher, designer, and illustrator. Our heroes glean insights on the comparisons between self-publishing and traditional publishing, and the creative collaborations involved, into building a brand, maintaining a small business, and the importance of community and collaboration in creative ventures.

Read the transcript.

Things discussed on this episode:

  • 00:00 – Introduction to John De Campos and Terrible Games
  • 00:56 – Early Life and Inspirations
  • 01:33 – Journey into Board Game Design
  • 02:48 – Building the Terrible Games Team
  • 04:34 – Challenges and Successes in Game Publishing
  • 06:36 – Insights on Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
  • 08:25 – Creative Collaborations and Game Development
  • 20:49 – The Influence of Magic: The Gathering
  • 28:01 – “Death to videodrome.”

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048: The Man, The Brand, the Gay Edge Lord – Daddy Chaddy

Listen now (41 min) | This fork in the road takes our heroes before an aspiring professional gamer to understand the core element of the player experience: the player.

Read the transcript.

Things discussed on this episode:

  • 00:00 – The Man, the Brand, the Gay Edgelord
  • 01:10 – Baby Chad’s Exposure to Games
  • 02:02 – Zelda Left the Right Impression
  • 02:50 – The Physicality of Early Video Games
  • 04:20 – How the Dynamic of Chad’s Gaming Experience Changed
  • 06:00 – The Cultural Zeitgeist of Elden Ring
  • 08:48 – The Nostalgia Weapon
  • 18:09 – Choosing Which Games to Stream
  • 21:00 – The Catalyst for Doubling Down on Streaming
  • 23:00 – The Trade-Off of Turning Streaming into a Job
  • 25:50 – Dealing with Envy or Impostor Syndrome Stoked by Other People’s Success
  • 27:00 – How to Connect with Daddy Chaddy
  • 28:00 – D12

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036: Aspire SRD and Theatre LARPing with S. Kaiya J.

Listen now (57 min) | With the Forest of Trees behind them, we stumble upon a battle – but a mysterious game designer on the periphery explains that it’s just a Boffer LARP. S. Kaiya J. discusses game design, the Aspire SRD, Diversity Saves, and the complexity of LARP design. Read the transcript.

Things discussed on this episode:

  • 01:53 Theater LARP
  • 07:18 Designing a LARP
  • 10:13 Aspire SRD
  • 11:00 Caltrop Core
  • 16:24 Her Odyssey
  • 19:35 Solo-Journaling RPGs
  • 21:47 Galatea
  • 25:07 Diversity Saves
  • 33:09 Mass Effect
  • 33:54 Knights of the Old Republic
  • 34:51 Tyranny
  • 37:01 Magic the Gathering
  • 40:19 Vampire Survivors
  • 42:10 Tunic
  • 45:06 Root
  • 46:07 Dragon Quest

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

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035: Dungeons & Dragons with Nick Finck

Listen now (60 min) | As our heroes just set out on their new gaming quest, they encounter Nick Finck, “The Director of the Forest of Trees.” Nick discusses being a UX professional, advisor, mentor, coach, speaker, and founding Craft & Rigor. Read the transcript.

Things discussed on this episode:

  • 15:25 Dungeons & Dragons: First Edition
  • 19:37 Mazes and Monsters
  • 21:02 The Real Housewives of D&D
  • 21:39 Digital D&D
  • 21:51 D&D Beyond
  • 28:34 Craft and Rigor
  • 32:23 NickFinck.com
  • 41:17 Trailer Park Wars
  • 49:39 Cards Against Humanity

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019: Hydra Head, Supporters, Knees & Toes

Listen now (29 min) | Our heroes discuss players going off the rails, what tools people use to run games, community support for games, and an app to deal with the stress of working in UX and technology. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 1:35 Dungeones & Dragons
  • 11:09 Roll 20
  • 13:08 Owl Bear
  • 15:27 Tabletop Audio
  • 20:12 Jocks Machina
  • 20:48 Dungeons & Daddies
  • 20:53 Queens of Adventure
  • 21:46 Thingiverse
  • 23:04 We Croak

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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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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

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Categories

006: The 3 Clue Rule

Listen now (34 min) | Leaving the LARPzone behind, we railroad our heroes into the “Mystery of the Non-linear Storyline,” aided by the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Laura Bow, and Gabriel Knight. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • Clue
  • Colonel’s Bequest
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • Gabriel Knight
  • LA Noir
  • Last of Us
  • Sherlock Holmes

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Categories

005: Enter the LARPZone

Listen now (27 min) | After breaking camp our heroes uncover a map that points to the next step on their quest through the LARP of Vampire the Masquerade, True Dungeons, and more. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • Vampire: the Masquerade
  • Kindred the Embraced
  • Society of Creative Anachronism
  • True Dungeon
  • HEMA
  • City of Heroes
  • Dungeons & Dragons

Support the show on Patreon!

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Subscribe on Twitch at DesignThinkingGames.

Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
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Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/