The Who, What, Why? Game Design Podcas‪t‬ Michael Bonet

Trey Chambers, designer of Empyreal and its expansions, joined me to talk about his game: a very massive but deeply rich train game set in the world of Indines. We focused a lot of how he packs replayability into the game and what that means. 

John Kovalic, cartoonist and game designer, joined the show to talk about his journey into the industry and more. John is most notable for his work on Munchkin and Apples to Apples, but he has worked on 100s of games in his career. He also draws the comic The Dork Tower.

Harrison Brooks, a young designer, has burst onto the hobby scene with a game called Elevator Up. It's a casual game that was designed, tested, illustrated, and printed by Harrison. Our conversation focused on how he designed the game and got into game design in general.

Bush Poo, a game designed by Justin and Alison Crooks, puts players in a very familiar setting. You are on a hike and have to go to the toilet... like really, really have to go. This push your luck game fits its theme perfectly. We discussed its design and more. And yes, I made some poo jokes.

Always good to open with a Seinfeld joke. Sean Chappell, one of the designers behind Hivernation, joined me to talk about his game. We discussed creating abstracts, planning a Kickstarter during a pandemic, and even 3D printing.

James Naylor of Naylor Games and designer of Magnate joined me to talk about his game. We focused on a lot of the various systems involved in his game as well as the 3-dimensional elements of it and how those impacted design and production. We had a lot of fun chatting here.