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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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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032: Open Worlds

Listen now (24 min) | Having overcome the collective horde, our heroes are confronted with their greatest challenge: a really big ****ing space fish. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 3:05 Elden Ring
  • 4:06 Resident Evil Village
  • 9:00 It Takes Two
  • 12:48 Mad Max
  • 13:18 God Of War
  • 15:27 Stray
  • 17:32 Simon’s Quest
  • 17:51 Dying Light
  • 21:46 Breath of the Wild

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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
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026: Everybody Loves a Hero

Listen now (32 min) | Bidding the space adventurers a good journey, our heroes explore what it is about last stands and struggles against oppressive forces that makes a great hero. Patreon!

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

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017: N7 – The Holy Day of Mass Effect

Listen now (43 min) | Upon entering the castle our heroes are instantly transported to a universe of advanced technologies, odd alien species, and sentient artificial beings. Could this be home to the most usable game? Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • 0:50 Mass Effect
  • 7:54 Until Dawn
  • 10:27 Call of Cthulhu
  • 13:20 Final Fantasy
  • 16:50 Starfinder
  • 20:42 The Witcher
  • 31:40 Mass Effect 4
  • 33:27 Pokemon
  • 34:19 Mass Effect 5e
  • 36:23 Legend of Zelda

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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

Support the show on Patreon!

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Tim Broadwater is @uxbear on Twitter.
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Categories

001: Don’t Skip the Tutorial

Listen now (30 min) | When last we left our heroes … – oh wait, this is the episode in which we meet our intrepid heroes. Read the transcript.

Games discussed on this episode:

  • Mario
  • HeroQuest
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • Shark! Shark!
  • Bayou Billy
  • Rygar
  • Legend of Zelda
  • Battle of Olympus
  • Mortal Kombat
  • Analytics
  • Civilization

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/