Explore every episode of the podcast Ludological Alchemy: The Hypothesis

Seekers of Truth,

This year at Gen Con Christopher and I altered our traditional format and instead ran a traditional game design advice panel at Gen Con in the guise of your humble Ludological Alchemists. We had a fair turnout, many of whom had not heard of our stygian recordings of our maundering.

For the topic, we elucidated nine questions that Alchemist Luke had posed to his students regarding their final assignments for his Tabletop RPG Design class in April.

1. What is the game about? What's the concept? What genre or format does the game take? What materials does the game use? The number of players and their roles. Session time, number of sessions. What is the content of a session?

2. What themes does the game address?

3. What is the setting of the game? What is the critical problem of the setting? How does the problem in the setting reflect theme? What's causing this world to fall apart? How is this fatal flaw reflected in the theme?

4. Who are the characters that the players adopt? How are they affected by the world's fatal flaw? What tension prevents the characters from simply curing the world's problems? How is the theme manifested in the characters?

5. How do we create characters? How do the players use their characters to address the world's flaws? Again, how is this interaction tied into the game's theme?

6. How do to the characters' abilities connect to the uncertainty system?

7. How do the abilities and uncertainty systems simulate activities, conflicts and challenges for the characters?

8. How do the players interface with the uncertainty system and simulations? Are there incentives or disincentives for them to earn and spend? Who operates the uncertainty engine and how?

9. How do the rules address the players as individuals, friends, strangers, etc.? What are the roles in the operation of the game? How do the rules address the social layer of the people at the table?

You might have reached this point in reading this post and think, "Could you give an example of how to answer each of these questions?" To which We respond:

• Kagematsu

• Blue Beard's Bride

• Dungeons & Dragons Basic Edition

• Lacuna and the Girl from Blue City

• Polaris

• 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars

These texts all answer each of these questions in flavorful and even provocative ways.

As ever we are—
—Your Humble Alchemists

Please help us continue Hypothesizing on our Substack.

Or if you'd prefer a non-Substack donation link.

Star Knights,

Long ago, the people were dying at the end of the world.

But hope was not yet lost, for Christopher and Luke discuss one of the most fascinating RPGs of the past 20 years: Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at the Utmost North. Polaris confronts the most persistent problem in all RPGs: how to resolve conflict through dialogue alone. It's ambitious design, dripping with flavor that cloaks its unique system.

Listen to your alchemists seek the deepness in this sacred text!

Please help us continue Hypothesizing by checking out our Substack.

Or if you'd prefer a non-Substack donation link, this one might do.

Humble Supplicants,

Seekers of knowledge, I bring to you a conversation with one of our game design titans — Greg Costikyan. Greg is a designer of war games, board games, computer games and roleplaying games. His roleplaying games credits include Bug-Eyed Monsters, Toon, Paranoia, Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, The Price of Freedom and Violence: The Roleplaying Game of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed.

We talk about his start in games as an eager, earnest 14-year-old playtester who evolved into a developer at game designer at SPI and West End Games.

A few things that we touch on with Greg during the interview:

• Poverty is a motivator for young game designers.

• System must be tailored to setting.

• Defining games is fascism.

Please help us continue Hypothesizing by visiting our Substack.

Or if you'd prefer a non-Substack donation link.

You can find Greg's clear-eyed 2002 essay here.

Fiends,

There was no guarantee that we achieve this momentous step. And yet, through sheer grit and determination, we have arrived at the first episode of our third volume. In this episode we talk about podcast money, why we make games and then dive deep into Gregor Hutton's 2008 masterpiece, 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars.

To learn more, see some cool images, comment, and potentially optionally support our endeavors, visit our now-free Substack!

Ad Astra!

-Luke

Tyros,

As by now you have detected, when we make promises we move our heavens and earths to deliver on those promises. This episode is one such example. We promised to divulge to you the secrets of selling 5,000 copies of your game and in this very recording, Christopher divulges his mystical secrets! Not only do we learn that Christopher is indeed a werewolf, but we gain his formula for successfully birthing a game into this burning and damned world of ours.

If you have not been following this saga closely, Interceptor, the game Luke developed publicly on our Substack, is near completion. We'll launch it this summer, likely in June.

This is the last episode of this Volume. But we're not throwing in the proverbial towel just yet! If you're enjoying listening to us, please do rate and review this podcast on whatever platform you partake. And join us next month for more insights, more stories, and more alchemy.

Hello seekers of knowledge,

There exists a silent force at every table. It does not take turns. It has no victory condition. And yet, it determines whether your game lives or dies.

This episode, we turn our attention to the most underestimated element of game design: how players learn.

How do we transmute a designer's intent into a player's understanding? We dive deep into the arcane architecture of the manual, the tactical utility of the reminder card, and the subtle art of the "teaching aid." We explore the friction between a comprehensive reference and a functional tutorial, and ask the forbidden question: can a game truly teach itself, or are we all just wandering in a wilderness of unread errata?

We examine the layered ecosystem of understanding:

• First contact (the rulebook)
• Guided onboarding (a teacher or tutorial)
• In-play reinforcement (reference materials)
• Long-term mastery (internalization and memory)

Best to listen first. Then ask your question on our Substack, armed with context.

-Luke & Christopher

Squad,

Focus yon mind, tense thine muscles. Here in we explore forbidden and speculative lore.

In this tenth episode of our second volume of recordings, Luke enlists Sam and Christopher to speculate on a world in which RPGs possessed the might and support of the culture-media juggernaut that is the National Football League.

• How do we form teams in the league?

• How do the teams compete?

• How are the commercial breaks inserted?

• How does color commentary work?

Listen and discover our answerless answers!

The NFL started paying some of its taxes in 2015.

NFL 2025 Rules document

Chuck Klosterman's book, Football.

Join the discussion on our substack!

Tyros,

Pour the ablutions, purify thyself and cast spells of warding for the words we speak in this episode are words of secret knowledge and power. To come at them unprepared and you risk self-destruction.

In this ninth episode of our second volume of recordings, Christopher dispenses true knowledge: the process for publishing a tabletop game. Numbers, figures and procedures swirl from his lips like stars in a constellation.

Delirium and the Incompressible Work of Publishing

Christopher and Luke return to the mic still deep in the ever-shifting flavors of delirium, including a callback to the legendary Philly Taco and an unsuspecting bystander's awakening. 

From there: finals are in, grades are posted, and Christopher talks about last semester's biggest win and biggest regret, including a painfully familiar story about perfectionism, momentum, and failing to land the plane. 

The rest of the episode lives in the sticky boundary layer between game design and publishing: how to find an audience, why "I have a game, now I'll find a publisher" is often wishful thinking, what conventions are actually good for, and why "self-publishing" is not a magical third option.

Links and references

• What is a "Philly Taco," really?
• PAX Unplugged
• Origins Game Fair
• itch.io
• If you're forming an LLC and need an EIN: IRS "Get an employer identification number" page

What conversations precipitated the need for such links? You must listen and learn…

If you want more episode, more show notes, more information, and whatever new alchemical residue this conversation leaves behind, the Ludological Alchemy Substack is where it all goes to congeal. You can read along there, subscribe, and get the next episode delivered straight to your inbox before delirium changes flavor again.

Hopefuls,

On this eve of this pagan night, we pray we are unvisited by the terrible saint, punisher of children. To propitiate the saint, we present an auditory offering to you.

In this eighth episode of our second volume of recordings, we interview storied game designer Tim Hutchings. Tim is an artist, the founder of Plagmada and the author of games like Thousand Year Old Vampire.

Fun fact: Luke's favorite thing that Tim has created is his Homage to the Player's Handbook.

To see it and to get more notable show notes, check out our Substack!

Yule love it.

— Luke & Sam

One and all,

Beyond the confines of our small, forlorn tower, Marraskuu, the Month of Death, is in full bloom. Life withers as the days grow ever shorter. Within our fastness we huddle around a wavering flame, watching and waiting.

But tonight, we do not wait alone. Trapped in here with us is one Robert Reichle, a friend of ours and now an (unwitting) guest on our humble podcast. In our discussion, we touch on two major topics: the purpose of visual design in games…and the purpose of a Philly cheesesteak married to a piece of pizza.

There are images aplenty on our Substack.

Best to listen first and look later.

Greetings alchemists all,

In this episode Christopher and Luke catch up and discuss game system design. Luke commits the sin of screensharing during the podcast. I hope you have keen visualization skills!

— Luke & Christopher

For subscribers, we have a 45 minute video recording of Luke's screenshare during the call. Same audio content, but now with scintillating visuals! Subscribers can watch here.

Greetings my friends,

In this episode Luke and Sam interview the legendary Mike "Papa" Holmes. Mike is an RPG designer—known primarily for his co-authorship of Universalis: The Game of Unlimited Stories—and a prolific member of many RPG communities. He thinks deeply about small things and has the uncanny ability to point out the obvious to the rest of us who missed it.

If you want a taste of Mike's medicine, you can read his scintillatingly clear thoughts on RPGs in his Standard Rants:

• Mike's Standard Rant #1: Designers! Know your hobby!

• Mike's Standard Rant #2: Species/Race/Culture

• Mike's Standard Rant #3: Combat Systems

• Mike's Standard Rant #4: Stat/Skill systems

• Mike's Standard Rant #5: The Myth of Opposed Rolls

I hope you enjoy our conversation, I know I did.

Ever yours,
—Luke

Greetings, Alchemists.

At the start of this month, we were at Gen Con, where we held our second annual Gen Con Ludological Alchemists panel, involving more Alchemists and Golems than ever before. Many of you joined us, including several brand new alchemists, and all participated in the goleming. Listen to learn of our triumphs and failures! None of them would be possible without you.

Also, check out the post on the Ludological Alchemists blog for images from the event. None of them are worth the full one thousand word standard allowance, but each of them are worth at least seven hundred and forty words, so they're still fairly competitive with the market value.

A grand time was had.

Hello seekers of knowledge,

Here you will find the third installment of Volume 2 of the Hypothesis. Continuing our interview format, this month's victim is none other than me, your humble narrator. In this recording Sam & Christopher torment me using the self-same questions with which I tortured them. We invite you to compare and contrast our outlooks and answers.

And who should our next victim be? We're plan to extend this series and interview other designers, subjecting them to the same 20 questions about their backgrounds, experiences and outlooks regarding game design. 

Ever yours,
—Luke

Hello seekers of knowledge,

We again apologize for the untimely unseemly delay in launching this our latest episode. We continue to stumble into a web of technical snares. Due to these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, we are reverting to audio only for the time being.

Sam and Luke are way behind on their game design writing, if you hadn't noticed. So for Volume 2 of our Hypothesis, Christopher and I decided to change the format of the podcast. For this volume, we shift to an interview format. We're interviewing designers about their backgrounds and processes. Luke developed a list of questions that we're going to ask each designer, so that at the end of the series we can compare and contrast answers.

This month's interview victim is our own Sam Roberts. Enjoy!

Hello my seekers of knowledge,

We apologize for the untimely unseemly delay in launching this our latest episode.

Sam and Luke are way behind on their game design writing, if you hadn't noticed. So for Volume 2 of our Hypothesis, Christopher and I decided to change the format of the podcast. For this volume, we shift to an interview format. We're interviewing designers about their backgrounds and processes. Luke developed a list of questions that we're going to ask each designer, so that at the end of the series we can compare and contrast answers.

Oh and also, we're trying out video! We'll release the recordings here on the blog first, and then a month later on Luke's Burning Wheel YouTube channel. Let us know what you think about the new format.

—Luke & Christopher

Greetings astute alchemists,

In this our twelfth episode, we ramble through our preamble discussing Christmas music, knock-knock jokes, online scams and modern art. After we amble through those brambles, Christopher takes us through a year of our mail bag of comments and questions.

We hope you find the chaos of our 12th recording both diverting and informative.

— Luke & Christopher

See more shownotes on our Substack!

Greetings, alchemists. Once again, we dive into an arcane topic, but this one has a bit of a metatextual level: we speak of teaching the subject of game design. 

Christopher has many questions for Luke, who has answers, experience, and even some questions of his own. We discuss subject matter, students, things to consider from the academic side of things, and how the teacher can even consider themselves. 

Interested in becoming more of a subject matter expert? Check out the Ludological Alchemists Substack! 

Players of Games,

As a game designer, playing other games is important to the design process, especially games orthogonal to your area of expertise. In Episode 10 of Ludological Alchemy's Hypothesis we broaden our remit to discuss a topic adjacent to roleplaying games: war games. Specifically in our case, Hearts of Iron 4 by Paradox Entertainment. Luke introduced Christopher to the game a couple of years ago and since then they've played weekly becoming embroiled in a number of gritty, closely-fought campaigns. In the recording, they reflect on how they play the game and how it has affected them as friends and game designers.

To see a bunch of images and commentary on our experiences, check out our substack!

Dearest listener,

Here we present to a special episode. Normally, we limit such special episodes to paid subscribers, but we enjoyed this discussion so much we wanted to share it with everyone. Please enjoy and if you're so compelled, put a few goldberries in our yellow hat.

TOM BOMBADIL.

Merry old Tom is a denizen of the Old Forest, northeast of the Shire in Tolkien's Middle Earth. He's an odd character, seeming unlike the elves and powers of the world. Even Elrond's council discusses Tom's queer nature and what use he could be in the quest to destroy the Ring of Power. In fact, he's such an odd duck, Peter Jackson omitted his appearance entirely from his translation of the books to the screen. 

Luke recently reread the Lord of the Rings and found in them a new appreciation (and fear) of Tom Bombadil. Christopher and Sam were eager to discuss the old soul's true nature, so we thought we would include you all in the discussion.

What you think of Bombadil? Do you love him? Hate him? Fear him? How about random encounters? Love them? Hate them? Fear them? Let us know by commenting on our Substack!

We know that for many, today is a day known as "Christmas Day", however, we here at Ludological Alchemy celebrate a more esoteric event: the final episode of our podcast The Hypothesis for the year 2024. Our first year of podcasting and blogging has been tumultuous, perilous, enlightening, frustrating, joyous, fraught, and entirely worthwhile, by our estimation. However, rather than looking back on this year in this episode, we instead bring you an altogether different experience.

This very month, only a few weeks ago, Luke and Christopher met in person in the Lair of the Crane, where we recorded in person an episode about fairness in games. We also filmed it, as mentioned in the recording, and though that video recording is not yet available, it shall be released to subscribers of our substack in the first month of the new year. Tune thyself! Stay tuned.

Were we able to uncover all of the secrets and possibilities concerning fairness in games? Or did we not give the topic a fair shake? Let us know your thoughts! Comment and reveal your true feelings!

We look forward to bringing you more delves into the depths of games and their makings in the year ahead. We wish unto you all a reflective and thriving holiday times, and that the turning of the calendar treats you far better than any of us deserve. Throughout it all, we remain your Ludological Alchemists.

We return to undertake a challenge. What rules must one adhere to when crafting roleplaying games? We develop a list of ten of them. Listen to follow our journey!

Technical note for our listeners: Recording this episode seems to have triggered some mild curse. Christopher appears to have angered some kami of audio, a gremlin of podcasting. Thus the recording required two attempts over the course of three months, and this was the best we could do. That said, the audio quality is not up to our usual standards. Before we record our next episode, we'll burn some sage in the corners of Christopher's house to drive the devils out.

What do you think of our rules? Do you agree? Disagree? What did we forget? Share your thoughts on the Ludological Alchemy substack, here!

We shall attempt to live by our own rules, as well as learn from our failings in the process. All the while, we remain your humble Alchemists.

Are games truly games without those who play them? In this latest episode of our Ludological Alchemy podcast "The Hypothesis" we discuss the terms, personages, conditions by which we can identify and better understand that which is the most difficult part of any game: the player.

Are you a player of games? Surely you must be, but what sort of player do you consider yourself? Interesting. Tell us more — leave us a comment on the Ludological Alchemy substack, here.

We greatly look forward to recording more content soon and delivering it to your ears soon thereafter. Until then, we remain your humble Alchemists.

Greetings, alchemists, and welcome to another episode of our humble audio ventures into the unknown: a so-called "podcast", and it is so called "The Hypothesis". We are your Ludological Alchemists, Luke and Christopher. Sam was not with us in body or voice for this recording, but very much so in spirit. He will return for another episode in the future. For today, you will have to contend with just the two of us. Let it be a burden which we can all gain growth and wisdom from.

We go quite a ways outside our normal banter and topics... and yet, what we cover never leaves the realm of the pertinent. Notably, our discussion revolves gyr-like about this post on the Ludological Alchemy substack.

Thoughts? Feelings? Good. None? Too many? Fascinating. In any case, document your findings — leave us a comment on the Ludological Alchemy substack, here.

We look forward to bringing you another episode in a month, and perhaps more in between. Who can say? Time will tell. Until then, we remain your humble Alchemists.

Dearest listener,

This episode of our Hypothesis contains a different outlook than our previous iterations. Herein, we present to you a live recording captured at Gen Con '24 of your humble alchemists at their labors. In this experiment, we attempt to play our game, The Alchemist & the Golem with each other and then, as a body, with the audience. I think you may be surprised to learn just how difficult it is to induce a golem to play a roleplaying game.

In addition, for your visual delights, we display photographs captured by our producer Trevor Casterline at said event. Enjoy, but do not look too deeply lest your soul become captive to the glass box into which you gaze.

Alchemist: Golem, use your big desk computer or medium lap computer or small pocket computer to open a web browser. In that web browser's search bar, type "ludologicalalchemy.substack.com" and hit enter. Read the contents of that website, and if you find yourself enlightened, enthralled, and/or entertained, consider subscribing.

Welcome to yet another episode of The Hypothesis! 

Today, we discuss uncertainty! In all its myriad forms. Can we crack open any kernels of known unknowns? We suggest listening to the episode from start to finish, and not in some random order, but we cannot control you. Nor would we want to! For you, dear listeners, provide us with yet another — and possibly the most important — element of... uncertainty.

Luke mentioned some probability distribution slides. These are they! Read, and weep. (Weeping is not mandatory, though it is encouraged.)

This week is Gen Con! It's one of the biggest shows any of us attend, and we will be doing a live recording of this very podcast at that show! If you're in the area, come join us for some live hypothesizing!

Earlier this month, on the Ludological Alchemists substack, we released a special episode of The Hypothesis — recorded before the show even started, in fact! Luke has crafted / is crafting a new game, and Luke and Christopher dig into it on the air! Check it out. 

Until next time, we challenge ourselves to analyze the uncertainty in our games and in our lives. What purpose do they hold? Do they improve or sully our interactions? Or are they the very purpose? We invite you to do the same.

We begin by welcoming our third alchemist, Sam. We quickly dispense with introductions and go into history, music, and snake oil salespeople. These are our confident opinions that we could be 100% wrong about.

Sam came to call us to task, and he brought receipts! Do you agree with the points made in this episode? Or did we all miss the point entirely? What do you think of our new three-headed-format? Leave us a comment on the Ludological Alchemy substack, found here!

We look forward to bringing you another episode in a month, as well as a live show for those of you who might be at Gen Con! Until then, we remain your humble Alchemists.

We're back! Did you miss us? It's only the second episode!

We're off to a powerful start, getting into some notably macabre topics before talking about RPGs at all. Are we going somewhere? Do we have a point? That we leave as an excersize for the listener. 

We talk in-depth and in circles about setting and its place in roleplaying games. Thoughts? Do you agree with us? Or, better yet, are you convinced we drew all the wrong conclusions? Leave us a comment on the Ludological Alchemy substack, found here!

We look forward to bringing you another episode in a month! Until then, we remain your humble Alchemists.

Luke Crane and Christopher Badell launch this new podcast with a weighty question. Can they answer it? Tune in to find out!

This was our first ever recording, long before we knew that we were making a podcast called "The Hypothesis", and before we had the invaluable assitance of our producer Trevor Casterline. So! Forgive us our less-than-stellar audio quality and lack of knowledge about our name and purpose, with promises that these things will improve for the next recording.

You can learn more about Ludological Alchemy at its substack, found here!