Explore every episode of the podcast Game Design Deep Dive
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Come Out Fighting with John Carnahan | 29 Nov 2025 | 00:27:25 | |
Our guest is designer John Carnahan. His latest, Come Out Fighting will be on Kickstarter on November 30th. I am not sure how many listeners have dipped their toe in miniature games, but I had to invite John to discuss his latest design, because it incorporates something extraordinary and radical in that space. Come Out Fighting on Kickstarter Outro Music: Gene Autry "Don't Fence Me In" | |||
| Live from SD HistCon: Narrative in Solitaire Games | 19 Nov 2025 | 01:01:59 | |
Recorded live at SD HistCon, our esteemed panel was comprised of designers John Butterfield (RAF, Enemy Action Series, D-Day Omaha, Ambush), David Thompson (Valiant Defense Series, War Story, Undaunted), and Jeremy White (Skies Above Series, Enemy Coast Ahead Series, Atlantic Chase). We discuss embedded vs emergent narrative in historical games and how one leverage mechanisms to achieve the desired play experience in solitaire design. Outro music: Might Hannibal "All Nite Long" | |||
| Interview with John Butterfield | 16 Sep 2024 | 01:09:32 | |
As a designer, John Butterfield is a bit of a troublemaker. He likes to insert friction in his designs where wargamers aren’t used to finding it. His games don’t just tell stories, they host a space for players to make their OWN stories. His titles include Ambush, RAF, Enemy Action: Ardennes & Karkov, the D-Day Series, Hell’s Highway and so many more. We discuss solitaire design, the evolution of his work, and his collaboration with Kai Jensen on Downfall. | |||
| Chicago '68 with Yoni Goldstein | 06 Aug 2024 | 00:54:58 | |
For this episode, we chat with filmmaker and game designer Yoni Goldstein about his upcoming game Chicago '68 from The Dietz Foundation about the 1968 DNC protests and his journey in game design. | |||
| Narrative in Boardgames with Dan Thurot | 23 Jul 2024 | 01:14:57 | |
We decided to break from our usual format. Dan Thurot of Space Biff joins us for a discussion about narrative and storytelling in board games, particularly how it relates to historical boardgames. | |||
| Interview with Maurice Suckling | 23 Jun 2024 | 01:19:22 | |
Maurice Suckling is a screenwriter, author, teacher of design as well as vast experience in various roles of video game production. We discuss his recent design Crisis 1914 from Worthington, the upcoming Peace 1905 from Fort Circle, and Operation Barclay (currently on Gamefound). | |||
| Interview with Sebastian Bae | 09 May 2024 | 01:14:12 | |
Sebastian Bae is a research scientist and senior game designer for the Center of Naval Analyses' Gaming and Integration Program as well as a faculty advisor for the Georgetown University Wargaming Society. He has two commercial designs, Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific with Dietz Foundation and a multi-pack Crisis In Korea being released through Catastrophe Games. | |||
| Interview with Carlos Marquez Linares | 18 Apr 2024 | 01:11:50 | |
Carlos Marquez Linares is the designer of TWO upcoming games, The Other Side of the Hill from NAC Wargames and Imperial Fever from GMT (currently on the P500). We discuss his controversial topics and his design approach in each of the aforementioned games. | |||
| Interview with Natalia Wojtowicz | 09 Dec 2023 | 01:00:42 | |
Natalia Wotjowicz has written an excellent book called Wargaming Experiences about approaches to professional wargame design informed by her experience with the NATO Civil-Military Cooperation Center of Excellence. Her book offers a lot of guidance relevant to both historical games and wargames, so I invited her to discuss it along with differences between professional and commercial design. | |||
| Interview with Gina Willis | 22 Nov 2023 | 00:57:53 | |
Gina Willis has designed A Glorious Chance, an excellent solitaire game about naval operations during the War of 1812 and collaborated with Jeremy White on the design of Skies Above Britain. We discuss both of these games, the emphasis on narrative in solitaire design, age of sail, and much more. | |||
| Interview with Jo Kelly | 09 Oct 2023 | 00:51:20 | |
On this episode, I chat with Jo Kelly to discuss their upcoming game Molly House which is being published by Wehrlegig (maybe you heard of it) and is coming to Backerkit on October 17th. Jo Kelly is also a Zenobia finalist. We talk about the making of Molly House, Zenobia, and much much more. | |||
| Interview with Domhnall Hegarty | 30 Sep 2023 | 00:58:04 | |
Domhnall Hegarty and his Citog Creative have provided graphic design for a number of high profile and award-winning releases, such as Fire & Stone: Siege of Vienna, People Power, Red Flag Over Paris, The Vote, and more. We chat about the considerations that go into his work and the discussion surrounding the use of AI-generated images in games. | |||
| Radical Rulebooks with Greg Loring-Albright, PhD | 25 Sep 2025 | 00:46:50 | |
Greg Loring-Albright is the designer of Ahoy, Keep the Faith, and co-designed Bloc by Bloc: Uprising with T.L. Simmons. Moreover, he teaches Game Studies and Game Design at Harrisburg University. We discuss his recent zine RULEBOOKS FOR RADICALS on the importance of designing games in dire times. Outro music: Radioactivity "Time Won't Bring Me Down" | |||
| Interview with Brian Train | 31 Jul 2023 | 01:20:47 | |
Brian Train has been at the forefront of designing games about insurgency and urban warfare. He is probably best known for his COIN volumes: A Distant Plain & Colonial Twilight, his District Commander Series, Nights of Ire, Brief Border Wars and much more. We discussed designing for insurgency, irregular warfare, and the tension between unpleasant topics and fun gameplay. | |||
| Interview with Mark Herman | 26 Jul 2023 | 01:04:50 | |
Mark Herman's work is vast and influential in the world of wargaming. We narrowed our chat in May to discussing his co-design with D.B. Dokter covering the first three months of the Russia-Ukraine War, the challenges of designing the first draft of history, and how he views the moral quandary of designing for an ongoing conflict. | |||
| Interview with Harold Buchanan | 03 Jul 2023 | 00:56:57 | |
Harold Buchanan’s contributions to historical games go above and beyond his celebrated designs: Flashpoint South China Sea, Liberty or Death and Campaigns of 1777. Harold has been very active launching the San Diego HistCon, the Summit Award and the webzine Conflicts of Interest. We discuss depicting the South China Sea conflict and the challenges of designing the "small" game. | |||
| Interview with Alex Knight | 01 Feb 2023 | 00:56:20 | |
Alex Knight is the designer of an outstanding new game Land and Freedom, published by Blue Panther. We discuss his unique take on the Spanish Civil War, Land of Freedom and his design journey. | |||
| Interview with Cole Wehrle | 22 Jan 2023 | 01:27:44 | |
Cole Wehrle has designed Pax Pamir, John Company and Infamous Traffic as well as fan favorites Root, Oath and (most recently) Arcs. We chat primarily about his historical designs, discussing Kevin Zucker's Napoleon's Last Battles, second editions, model-driven history versus polemics, and much more. | |||
| Interview with Robert DeLeskie | 23 Dec 2022 | 01:02:30 | |
In this episode, I chat with filmmaker and game designer Robert DeLeskie about his designs The Wars of Marcus Aurelius, Stilicho, and the recently released Fire & Stone: Siege of Vienna. We discuss the role of narrative and some of the unique considerations that go into designing a siege game. | |||
| Interview with Betsy Joslyn | 15 Dec 2022 | 01:05:13 | |
For this episode, I chat with Betsy Joslyn, a Research Associate for the Joint Advanced Wargaming Division at the Institute for Defense Analysis. Her recent design TURNING TIDES is a microgame demonstrating competing interests between nations to reduce global greenhouse gases at a geopolitical level. We discuss her design approach to great power competition and the virtues of micro-gaming heavy topics. | |||
| Interview with Taylor Shuss, Justin Fassino and Non-Breaking Space | 02 Dec 2022 | 01:02:33 | |
I chat with 3 first-time designers that I met at San Diego HistoCon. We spoke with Taylor Shuss, designer of Stonewall Uprising(Catastrophe Games), Justin Fassino, designer of Seljuk: Byzantium Besieged (GMT) and with Non-Breaking Space, designer of Cross Bronx Expressway (GMT). | |||
| Interview with Matilda Simonsson | 27 Oct 2022 | 00:58:33 | |
Matilda Simonsson is a brilliant designer from Sweden that incorporates handmade components into some incredibly clever games about historical subjects that fuse the intimate with the abstract. I chat with her about her recent release Turncoats, upcoming projects and her collaboration for the second CONSIM Game Jam. | |||
| Interview with David Thompson | 27 Oct 2022 | 01:03:11 | |
We chat with prolific designer David Thompson of the Undaunted Series (Osprey), Valiant Defense Series (DVG) and his recent collaborations Sniper Elite and Resist! | |||
| Trench Raid with Lisa Smedman | 22 Aug 2025 | 00:53:02 | |
Lisa Smedman is a best-selling author, journalist, and designer of many RPG games and modules. We discuss Trench Raid, her first solitaire tabletop wargame for Compass, the tactical approach to the topic of WW1, and the relationship between serious games and design intent. Trench Raid from Compass Games Outro music: "Kingdom Come" by Cindy Lee Cindy Lee is marvelous! Go check out Diamond Jubilee by Cindy Lee here: https://cindylee.bandcamp.com/album/diamond-jubilee | |||
| Interview with Volko Ruhnke | 07 Jul 2022 | 01:02:33 | |
In the final episode of Season 1, I chat with Volko Ruhnke. His designs have covered everything from insurgencies in Andean Abyss & Labyrinth to medieval warfare in his Levy & Campaign Series, so his insights draw on a broad design palette. We chat about the impact of assumptions held by historical participants when designing historical games. | |||
| Interview with Kai Jensen | 30 Jun 2022 | 01:11:43 | |
For a change of pace, we discuss game development with Kai Jensen. Her recent credits include Dominant Species: Marine, SpaceCorp, Welcome to Centerville and Downfall. We discuss her collaborations with the late Chad Jensen, the upcoming Downfall and Kai offers some great development insight for designers. | |||
| Interview with Catherine Ramen & Fred Serval | 28 Jun 2022 | 01:13:26 | |
In a special crossover episode with Homo Ludens, I chat with Catherine Ramen, designer of Red Carnations on a Black Grave and Fred Serval, designer of Red Flag Over Paris to discuss their distinct approaches to the Paris Commune in their designs while we explore what we can learn from how role-playing games and board games tackle historical subjects. | |||
| Interview with Emily Yoder & Sebastian Bae | 19 Jun 2022 | 00:52:37 | |
I sat down with Emily Yoder and Sebastian Bae to chat about their brilliant design Malign, which was developed to explore the impact of misinformation/malinformation influence campaigns. | |||
| Interview with Amabel Holland | 04 Jun 2022 | 01:02:43 | |
Amabel Holland has one of the most varied design catalogs, having created train games, dinosaur games, wargames, and unapologetically weird games. She is also one half of the creative force behind the publisher Hollandspiele. | |||
| Interview with Damon Stone | 28 May 2022 | 00:55:16 | |
In this episode we chat with Damon Stone. Damon has considerable design experience, having created expansions for Netrunner, Call of Cthulhu and Game of Thrones LCGs. He has recently been putting the finishing touches on his board game design Liberation Haiti, which was a Zenobia Award finalist about the Haitian Revolution and his collaboration with Ted Torgersen on the design of Free At Last from the Dietz Foundation.
We discuss the virtues of designing within constraints, historical game design vs established IP, and the role of narrative in games. | |||
| Interview with Jeremy White | 23 May 2022 | 01:10:03 | |
In this episode I talk to Jeremy White (whom I call Jerry nonstop throughout the episode). Jerry has designed some incredibly innovative games like Atlantic Chase, Skies Above the Reich, Enemy Coast Ahead and more. Right now, he has two projects being published by GMT: Skies Above Britain (co-designed with Gina Willis) and Infernal Machine (co-designed with Ed Ostermeyer). We discuss the role of geography in games, the virtues of collaborative design and the delicate nature of playing bad guys in historical games. | |||
| Interview with Fred Serval | 14 Jul 2025 | 01:00:42 | |
In this episode, a proper interview with Fred Serval, designer of A Gest of Robin Hood, Red Flag Over Paris, and A Very Civil Whist. Fred is also the host of an excellent channel dedicated to historical tabletop gaming, Homo Ludens. We discuss his design approach and how it informs critique of other games. Outro music: "All Good Things Will Come to Pass" - Lael Neale | |||
| Playing Oppression with Mary Flanagan | 09 Jul 2025 | 01:06:13 | |
Mary Flanagan, is a game designer, professor, and an author. She joins us to discuss her book, co-authored with Mikael Jakobson, PLAYING OPPRESSION: THE LEGACY OF CONQUEST AND EMPIRE IN COLONIALIST BOARD GAMES. We discuss representation of non-western cultures, colonialist mechanisms, and whether or not decades of conquest and exploitation based games have calcified to form the bedrock of competitive play. Outro Music: "Funeral for Justice" - Mdou Moctar Public Nominations for the Summit Award are open. Complete the survey here: https://sdhist.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=985b96c86d7bad0572684acc4&id=677c3ab117&e=3333a4975d | |||
| Interview with Brian Asklev | 05 May 2025 | 00:57:01 | |
Brian Asklev designed my favorite wargame of last year, 1812: Napoleon's Fateful March. We discuss what went into his phenomenal design, his upcoming game Baltic Empires, event design, and the challenges of playtesting multiplayer games. Outro music: Sons of Kemet "The Hour of Judgement" | |||
| Interview with Pako Gradaille | 07 Mar 2025 | 00:59:56 | |
Pako Gradaille has flexed an impressive range of historical topics and systems with his designs Plantagenet, Cuius Regio, Habemus Papam, and Onoda. We discuss how solitaire games can present challenging narratives, considerations when designing negotiation-based systems, and much more. https://gamefound.com/en/projects/saltandpepper/habemus-papam | |||
| Interview with Joe Schmidt | 27 Nov 2024 | 01:02:35 | |
SEASON FINALE: We welcome designer and developer Joe Schmidt to discuss In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943-1944 (a game we designed together), his Levy & Campaign game Henry, solitaire design for Gunnar Holmback's Weimar Republic (GMT), and his development work on the forthcoming game Hellraisers from Wehrlegig. | |||
| Interview with Talia Rosen | 07 Oct 2024 | 01:00:50 | |
Today, I chat with Talia Rosen, designer of First Monday in October which is a game about the history of the US Supreme Court coming soon to Kickstarter from Fort Circle Games. We discuss what inspired Talia's first design and the challenges of modeling the supreme court. | |||
| Interview with Liz Davidson | 23 Feb 2026 | 00:57:30 | |
Liz Davidson has co-designed Queen of Spies and the forthcoming Night Witches with David Thompson. She is also the Creative Director at Leder Games, but you may know her best for her work on her Bobby Nunez-award winning Beyond Solitaire podcast. We chat about her work at Leder, her historical design work, and the transition from game critic to game designer. Note: This episode is tagged explicit solely for cussing. Outro Music: Jonny Fritz "Debbie Downers" | |||
| Love This Giant with Cole Wehrle | 24 Apr 2026 | 01:17:51 | |
We welcome back Cole Wehrle (who hopefully needs no introduction) for a wide ranging discussion about expansions, Buried Giant- his new publishing home, and much much more. Outro music: "King's Army" The Scarring Party | |||
| Chalice of Poison with Akar Bharadvaj | 26 May 2026 | 00:50:08 | |
Akar Bharadvaj is designer of the upcoming game Chalice of Poison about the Iran-Iraq War from GMT and the Zenobia Award-Winning Tyranny of Blood. We chat about both designs, the future of the Zenobia awards, and much more. Hellcouch designed by Carol Mertz and Francesca Caletto-Leon also came up in conversation, and we are all about giving credit where due. Outro music: Lifeguard "It Will Get Worse" | |||