Intertextual Experience: A Board Game Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Intertextual Experience: A Board Game Podcast

Ryan Vodnik

Leisure

Frequency: 1 episode/45d. Total Eps: 53

A primarily interview-based podcast grounded in the board game hobby. By exploring the connections between board games and other mediums, Intertextual Experience is looking to tap into some links that may not have been considered much previously.

Through interesting guests, audience feedback, and general revision, there is an experiential element of this channel to grow and change in unique ways. By keeping the door open to various forms of entertainment, the myriad of possibilities and combinations to consider and discuss is limitless.

In addition to always trying to create cleverly constructed episodes and questions for the guests, another goal is to continually answer the question "why this podcast?" Those ideas serve as the pulse of this show, and I'm excited to keep trying to answer (and then re-answer) that question.

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - games
21/04/2026
#92
🇨🇦 Canada - games
20/04/2026
#49
🇨🇦 Canada - games
08/02/2026
#98
🇬🇧 Great Britain - games
06/04/2025
#74
🇨🇦 Canada - games
20/09/2024
#99
🇨🇦 Canada - games
19/09/2024
#56

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://www.buymeacoffee.com/intertextualcardboard
26 shares
https://www.newmillindustries.com/
3 shares
https://travel-games.co.uk/
3 shares

https://www.instagram.com/vodthepod
31 shares
https://www.instagram.com/slausondesigns
1 share
https://www.instagram.com/sirjoshwood
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

Good

Score global : 72%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

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Vodcast 3 - Summer Solo-stice: ROVE (a great solo game) and all Solitary Things

Season 8 · Episode 3

Monday, July 1, 2024 • Duration 43:23

Vodcast 3 - Summer Solo-stice: ROVE (a great solo game) and all Solitary Things

A hair shorter than the last couple of “Vodcasts,” and that was a part of this episode’s solo challenge. With that mild dose of brevity, there are some interesting thoughts here, and they’re a bit punchier. In this episode, I break down the awesome solo game, ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer. Additionally, and hopefully in a not “preachy” way, I just talk about some of the ways in which I’ve enjoyed doing all sorts of different things “solo,” how I have held myself back from doing others, and what sort of things might stand in one’s way when trying to jump into something new. The whole message is just meant to be a positive one, hopefully encouraging both you and me to keep pushing towards doing the things we truly want to do.

Happy June Solstice and Happy Seasons to everyone, wherever and whenever you’re listening to this episode.

There's another giveaway! Fill out the General Feedback Form in the contact information below if you're interested in the first official VOLPG, or "Vod Offloading Lightly Played Games." Listen to the episode to find out which GAMES(!) are being given away to a lucky winner. The one thing I forgot to mention in the episode is that this would be US only due to shipping. That said, if you're elsewhere in the world, please fill out this survey anyway, and I'll see if I can enter you in a future drawing or send something fun your way, somehow.

Fill out this feedback form to enter!

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#18 - David Thompson: Collabstraction 2: The Collabstractioning

Season 1 · Episode 18

Monday, April 22, 2024 • Duration 01:36:07

In the rare sequel that’s just as good as its predecessor, David Thompson joins the show for “Collabstraction 2: The Collabstractioning.” We talk about some similar ideas in the topics of collaboration and abstraction, but we also discuss the ideas of sequels/iterations/expansions. It was really interesting getting to hear the slight differences in the overall approach to design and the fact that David has designed in the solo and historical spaces a little more, and, obviously, it was just a blast.

Collab-introduction

From growing up in “board game adjacent” spaces of RPGs and skirmish games to how David’s background in different types of systems led to early designs to David’s response to a couple of the questions that the “Grim Reaper” received in the previous episode, there are many stories and laughs in this part.

“His Favorite Color is Chrome” (1:01:53)

Hearing David talk about chrome and “chrome budget” (I love that phrase/had never heard it before) brought about the title of that ridiculous 2001 Trace Adkins song. I was going to link it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. So if you seek it out, that’s on you. Anyway, David discusses why certain choices are made for certain games and talks about the Valiant Defense series of games, which are wonderfully interesting solo war games.

Following-up (1:13:30)

As this is a part two, I have some questions and thoughts that almost come out as questions about some of the aforementioned sequels/iterations/expansions. Naturally, David answers them wonderfully.

Wrapping-up (1:24:43)

A text on David’s mind and the many things to look out for from him soon!

David on BoardGameGeek & Twitter

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#17 - Trevor Benjamin: Collabstraction

Season 1 · Episode 17

Monday, April 8, 2024 • Duration 01:46:48

A wonderful collaborative discussion here with a designer that only designs in collaborations, Trevor Benjamin. Designer of one of my favorite games of all time in Mandala, everything that has Trevor in the design credits is guaranteed to be a fantastic game. Speaking of fantastic, I think this episode is quite fantastic too, so thank you for tuning in.

Trevor on BGG and Twitter.

Introductory Questions [Time stamps coming! - weird technical hang-up - should be set by 4/9]

What got Trevor into board games and how that has inspired his designs The conversation goes on about Go and other abstract games, cooperative games, and intuitive/simple designs (I’m not sure if those words capture that part the best, so check it out to hear how this brief description almost matches that discussion).

Cambridge - “Family” (56:30)

What really sticks out in this section is how close Trevor is to his co-designers. Through discussing how these partnerships came to be and have turned into lifelong friendships, it makes sense why the games created between Trevor and Brett/David/Roger/Matthew click so well.

Collab-specific Questions (1:16:00)

What title best fits Trevor in his design partnerships.

A question brought to you by “Indeed” (not sponsored)

Wrap-up Questions (1:32:38)

Trevor discusses a masterpiece of modern television and games to look out for from him this year.

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#16 - Ruel Gaviola: A Couple of Word Nerds

Season 1 · Episode 16

Monday, March 11, 2024 • Duration 59:49

In this super sweet episode, Ruel and I have a fantastic talk about all of the things he’s currently working on, some of his life’s stories, and connections between books and board games. To put most of everything in one spot (and that EVERYTHING is a lot), this is Ruel’s Linktree. The Linktree isn’t enough, as he is also on Rahdo and Good Time Society (and other channels too!).

Intro (0:00)

Out of all of the things I enjoy with this podcast in general, my favorite is easily listening to peoples’ stories. Ruel’s reflections on family, how he came to love reading, different types of work he’s done in the past, and his overall passions culminating into his current work just created a super beautiful discussion.

Books, books, books… (26:15)

The conversation starts off by talking about what sort of message games that present themselves as books promise, some games that are based on books, games that use the idea of books, and several other things that fit somewhere around those topics.

*Thinking about words, sometimes (often) mine fail me. When I was talking about Ruel’s “Words on Wednesday” episodes and the graphic novel Saga, I was trying to say that I haven’t been into graphic novels much but am trying to do so more now. That latter part just never materialized. So that’s just another cool thing that Ruel is doing with his channel.

Wrap-up Questions (52:45)

I now have a fountain pen because of this portion.

Check out GOOD MORNING SOCIETY.

#15 - Luis Aguasvivas: Tetracast ~ The Episode with Four Titles ~ 4x4 ~ Title-omino

Season 1 · Episode 15

Monday, February 26, 2024 • Duration 02:01:34

Luis Aguasvivas, writer for PopMatters, his own site, and numerous other video game journals, joins me for an episode primarily about the video game Tetris. The episode is a journey from very poignant and personal reflections on the way the game has impacted Luis to funny moments about speed-running board games to the history of Tetris to many other shapes and places that you’ll have to discover on the way. In addition to linking his written work above, Luis also contributes to the Homo Ludens channel, and here’s just one of the videos featuring him.

Intro & THE GAME: Tetris (0:00)

In the “chapters” era of ICE, this is the longest chapter yet. We discuss what makes the game so special, early memories of it and other formative games, why it’s better than Vampire Survivors (my apologies...), the Tetris Effect & Tetris Effect: Connected, and a whole bunch of other things.

The Movie and/or why the pieces don’t stack up quite right: Tetris (1:06:54)

A pretty self-explanatory chapter title, but Luis shares some other ways in which the extremely crazy history of Tetris has been captured well in different mediums.

Board games inspired by Tetris, which was inspired by a puzzle game itself (1:17:50)

It’s hard to capture the entire feel of Tetris in a board game, but we have a good talk about some good, puzzly games with tetromino pieces nonetheless.

Tetris in Real Life (1:30:40)

#14 - Brigette Indelicato: Thick Plots and Sick Fonts

Season 1 · Episode 14

Monday, February 12, 2024 • Duration 01:15:52

Join this fantastic episode, as Brigette leads me (and subsequently all of you) on a board game journey through several unique lenses. Check out all of her amazing work here and the rest of this episode for her insight.

Intro (0:00)

Brigette’s professional graphic design experience linked up with her board gaming in a way that led to her designing games and doing graphic design work for board games. We talk about games earlier in our gaming experience that stuck out to us from a graphic design standpoint as well.

This episode’s namesake/Brigette’s task/”Thick Plots and Sick Fonts” (12:50)

I get educated on something I find fascinating (fonts) but hadn’t really thought about much outside of lettering that looks neat and matches a game’s. Brigette creates an amazing logo for this episode immediately after our conversation that would’ve taken me days to do (and I’d still fail at). It’s linked here (and should be the episode’s image too, which I’ve never tried before!).

Here’s the video conference that’s mentioned in the discussion as well.

Recognition, aesthetic, and other design thoughts (24:45)

A lot of different ideas in this section. Brigette shares ways in which we can recognize more contributors to a game’s design, her design goals, how most people would never think about kerning (exactly), and several other topics nestled in between there.

Stories on a storytelling game & wrap-up section (54:14)

Brigette discusses the story behind her game, The Plot Thickens (which is really neat and you should check out- you can check out mentioned in our chat as well). Brigette talks about future design goals and projects in the near future to look out for from her. She shares a text that’s been stuck on her mind and details her response to the lettering assignment (which she then said she'd do [and did]- I had to share this earlier in the notes because it’s so cool!).

#13 - Eric & The Board Game Dojo: Crossovers and Transitions – not (really) a basketball episode

Season 1 · Episode 13

Monday, January 29, 2024 • Duration 01:49:25

This episode’s notes start at the end. Eric partnered up with his friend Ben from https://travel-games.co.uk/ to put together these really awesome Tokyo Game Market Bundles. So while this is a kind of plug, it’s really not (but you should look at them, and they’re looking to replenish ones that sell out too [I think the whole initial lot sold out immediately and has already been restocked since, but I could be wrong]). The story behind the creation of these boxes, the communication with the designers, the translations for untranslated rulebooks, and everything in between is the culmination of our discussion about the focus of The Board Game Dojo and community in general. That’s the end, and everything before that is equally delightful. Enjoy!

Intro (0:00)

We talk about Eric’s life adventures and how they coincided with his time in the board game hobby.

Crossovers (22:20)

With my star guest spot on The Board Game Dojo, this is Intertextual Cardboard Experience’s first “crossover” episode, so we talk about some different crossovers in different mediums. Eric wins this category.

Community (53:33)

With my previous reflections on The Board Game Dojo’s end of year cleanse episode, I was thinking a lot about what different board game communities mean to me, especially due to the interesting, community-focused nature of the episode that Eric set up. Here, we’re able to have a more in-depth discussion based on that.

Innovation x3 (1:12:18)

The board game, innovation that he’s looking to cover, and what innovative things The Board Game Dojo is trying to do.
The asynchronous game that Eric mentions was won by me. If we call “Community” a draw, Eric will still win this episode overall due to all of the unique things they’ve been working on, despite his humbleness saying otherwise.

#12 - Steven Aramini: “This Game Ain’t Big Enough for the Two of Us”

Season 1 · Episode 12

Monday, January 15, 2024 • Duration 01:02:14

Steven recently released Fliptown, which has got me absolutely hooked. That's no surprise, as many of his other co-designs are ones that I have binged/still am binging. Check out Steven's work and Twitter.

Exposition

Steven's intro into games and game design.
A new segment has emerged: "Vod Poorly Explaining Your Game" or VPEYG (the "y" is silent)
The link to the episode's "-opolis" inspired scoring cards: "ICEopolis"

"Howdy, Partner" (10:13)

Minimalism, collaboration, and some awesome stories about how some of your favorite games were created.
Some "hidden gem" Buttonshy titles at the end.

Dusting off the Boots (31:13)

Revisiting designs and constantly thinking about ways in which older ideas can be integrated into different games in different ways - the evolution of some of Steven's thoughts.
Some "hidden gems" from Steven's games at the end as well.

The Showdown (42:34)

Westerns and Fliptown
If you're listening to this one again (I mean, it's a good episode, so I don't blame you), there was a chapter break issue in the first published version- gasp. All fixed now!

Resolution

Wrap-up questions in text stuck on Steven's mind and things to look out for from him (spoiler: it's a lot).

*I tried making a spur sound effect here, and I think it's pretty good. Unless you thought it was supposed to be a mining sound effect (or something else...), then it's definitely that.

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#11 - Jon Perry: Podcast 5[0]

Season 1 · Episode 11

Monday, January 1, 2024 • Duration 01:20:08

Jon Perry, designer of some of my favorite games, comes to talk about all his creative endeavors in this excellent episode. Check out Spots, Air, Land & Sea, Time Barons, Scape Goat, and all future output (some mentioned in this episode!). Jon's website is a great place to look at these games and his work in other mediums. I cannot overstate how excited I am for the video game UFO 50, and we talk about that too.

There's a quick show intro before the start of the interview. Here's the Board Game Dojo episode I mention.

Intro (3:05)

Jon talks about his early passion for games and how that's weaved into his other creative work.
I COMPLETELY misspoke/changed the route of what I wanted that one question to be, so that was on me (lol).

Pods and Other Prods (19:31)

Graphic novels, podcasts about that work (and adjacent to it), and Jon's musical work as well.

Lane Battler Update and "Twistillations" (34:28)

Brief chat about Marvel Snap (which I quit even sooner than I said I would on this episode- two weeks free and counting).
Talking about Jon's designs and how the distill a mechanism while adding an engaging hook (or twist).

UFO 50 (48:15)

Pretty self-explanatory

Wrap-up Questions (1:04:45)

The usual question here: a text that's been stuck on Jon's mind. There's a repeat here for the first time, and then there is some subsequent discussion about some interesting texts and how they might translate to games.

Two episodes now have sound effects not created by me. I felt the "retro sci-fi gun" sound used as the transition was fitting. The really generous/neat CCO/common domain full set of sound effects can be found .

Intertextual Experience: A Board Game Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Intertextual Experience: A Board Game Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other67

Instagram3

Google Docs17

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other67

Instagram3

Google Docs17