Interviews on Happy Mitten, Little Metal Dog Show, and All Us Geeks

I've been on several podcasts over the past few weeks promoting Koi Pond, Belle of the Ball, Princess Bride: Battle of Wits and my upcoming card design class. Of course each show is different and topics drift wherever the conversation may go. Here's a roundup of some of those interviews and a special treat at the end of the post if you want to hear me get absolutely crushed in Twilight Imperium.

Happy Mitten Podcast: Episode 5
First up, the new baby of the podcast scene is the Happy Mitten Podcast. This show focuses mainly on the business side of the hobby, including how I started my career in gaming and how it's been progressing this year. Listen to this one if you'd like to learn a little about how I try to keep my brain in one piece despite having so many responsibilities at once.

Little Metal Dog: Episode 61
It's always great coming back to the Little Metal Dog Show. This is my third appearance on the show, if my count is correct. In this episode, I give a quick preview of my Princess Bride game tentatively titled Battle of Wits. I spend much more time discussing the pros and cons of print-on-demand services and how I'm faring with Koi Pond on DriveThruCards.

All Us Geeks
Here's where I ramble on quite a bit about my habit of designing games in public. It's an important part of my process and really how I've managed to make it as far into the gaming business as I have. Listen in to find out why I never worry about my ideas being stolen. I wouldn't be where I am today if I wasn't open about my design process.

And a special treat:

The State of Games, Episode 46 – The One About the Fate of the Galaxy
I recently played State of Games for the first time with a bunch of friends old and new. We recorded reality-show style confessionals between rounds explaining our strategies in private. You can hear all my galactic dreams collapsing as it becomes evident that the game will end without me scoring a single point. Twelve hours. Zero points. It's hilarious.

Think Fast: 3 Tips to Keep Your Strategy Game Casual [Casual Game Insider]

A few months ago I wrote a piece for Casual Game Insider magazine about how to design what I've been calling "casual strategy" games. These are hybrids of the deep thinky games that wrack your brain for hours and the fast light games that spark for just a moment.

Now, I never really consider myself writer, so by way of example, I included a new game called Royal Draft. It's an experiment in chaos vs. order choices in game design playable with a simple deck of playing cards. It's really quite cool and will be further developed in the near future. Even if you don't dig the article, I think you'll dig the game.

And besides, it features far more qualified contributors from Tasty Minstrel Games, The Game Crafter, and many more. Check it out here!

Listen to me yap on Dice Section, Jennisodes, and State of Games

Heyo! It's been a while since I've done many podcast interviews. I was doing a TON in 2010-2011 promoting my games or the 1000 Year Game Design Challenge. This time around things are much more casual. Here are some recent appearances that you can put in your ear holes.

The Dice Section 12: Survive
I stop by to visit my good friends at the Dice Section to chat about the current events of gaming and to play a rowsing game of Survive: Escape from Atlantis. We also talk about the current iteration of Belle of the Ball and how it was refined from a particularly rough playtest last Fall.

Jennisodes 143: Sidekick Quests
James Stowe, Lyndsay Peters, and I team up to talk about Sidekick Quests, James' adorable webcomic about youthful adventuring sidekicks. Lyndsay and I are still tinkering with the card game. We talk about our design goals, how the game works, why it's great for kids, and list several of the cute D&D-inspired quests in the game. Look for more on SKQ:CG.

State of Games 40: The One about UnPub3
The morning after UnPub3, I joined in on the annual post-con breakfast at the House Louder. But first, Chris Kirkman brings you some interviews from the show floor. There were so many great games at the event and I wish I had more of a chance to play them all. If you want to hear more about Belle of the Ball specifically, check out the 45min mark.

Enjoy!

The Quentin Tarantino of Game Design? [G*M*S Magazine Interview]

Waaaay back in September, I was interviewed on the G*M*S podcast to talk about graphic design in board games.

The conversation quickly turned to game design itself and some of the creative constraints I put on myself. Mainly, that constraint has been avoiding designing games with a combat or violent theme. I've also been avoiding games with colonial themes and, by extension, avoiding games about farms.

So between those two constraints, I've left myself out of the most populous genres across gaming: The American fantasy combat and the European colony simulation. What's left is odd themes like parties competing for guests, or raising dragons for their dung, and flying kids helping strangers. (Later this week I'll talk about the intersection of new or familiar themes with new or familiar mechanics.)

Anyhoo, you should listen to this episode if you like hearing about the craft of rules presentation, game design. Also to find out why the host calls me the Quentin Tarantino of game design. Ha!

» G*M*S Magazine Podcast: Episode 70

Interview with Booklife on Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

Earlier this year, shortly after Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple won a special judges' award at Origins, Booklife requested an interview. Do's editors Ryan Macklin and Lillian Cohen-Moore joined me to discuss the finer points of editing RPGs, how to edit mechanics, and writing for games. Here's a snippet!

BW: As editors, how does your approach differ when you edit a game versus other kinds of manuscripts?

Ryan Macklin: I’m primarily a game editor. A game has many different contextual channels, more than fiction or even most text books. Games books need to serve as instructional text (along with examples and other methods that facilitate learning) and sources of inspiration. That means text flow is as much of a page design consideration as what’s on a given page.

Since people learn by different methods, including having others read a book and teach, a given section needs to take that into account, as well as blend in evocative tone and color to facilitate learning the context of the game and giving additional points of reference to remember a given rule or piece of advice.

Lillian Cohen-Moore: Since I’m primarily a copy editor for games, I have to pay attention to whether I’m reading something with mechanics in it. If I don’t keep that in mind while changing passages to fit a style guide or clear up unclear text, I run a risk of taking a machete to text that’s essential for understanding gameplay.

Read more at Booklife!

Belle of the Ball on The Dice Section Podcast [Interview]

Listen to this episode of The Dice Section as we discuss Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple's latest award, examine the state of crowdfunding and play the latest version of Belle of the Ball. I am so pleased with how this session turned out. Here are key highlights so far.

• There are several paths to victory, some of them convergent with each other, some of them divergent from each other.
• The first time you play, you're constantly just on the edge of fluency. There are one too many gears turning for you to keep track of in the first session, but that is fun for many people.
• Thought you don't achieve fluency in the first game, you get so close and the game is short enough that it calls for one more play.
• The theme really fits the mechanics well. So much so that it even got past Micheal's skeptical first impressions.

But let's hear the guys speak for themselves!

» The Dice Section: Episode 6 - Belle of the Ball

New Podcast Interviews: Luck, Law, and Kickstarter

Heyo! I have new interviews to share with you on this fine Tuesday morning. Get your headphones on and prepare to have your ears caressed by my dulcet tones.

First up, I pay a visit to the State of Games podcast, live in their studio! We talk about Luck in Game Design. How it works, how to design around it, and how to channel it into a successful game. We also spend some time talking about luck from the game-buyer's perspective. Do you prefer to respond to luck or prepare for luck? That preference can help inform your next game purchase.

» State of Games: The One About Getting Lucky

Next, I talk to the Law of the Geek about the long saga of the Happy Birthday, Robot! license to the Sandstorm. I'm joined by Tim Koppang, my legal counsel during those negotiations. Together, we outline the timeline of events and the legal protections Tim made sure were in place just in case. There is a lot of law geekery here, watch out! For my own take on this legal journey, check out my previous post here.

» Law of the Geek: Legal Challenges in Game Licensing

And lastly, Fred Hicks and I visit the Rolling 20s podcast to talk about our respective experiences with Kickstarter. This was recorded just as the Dinocalypse Kickstarter was just taking off, so it's fun hearing the cautious optimism knowing how much rapid growth was yet to come.

» Rolling 20s: Kickstarter with Fred Hicks and Daniel Solis

Interviews on Runtime Expectations, Little Metal Dog Show and the Podge Cast

And then there was that time I stumbled into a radio show. Let's back up... I ran into my buddy Michael Harrison near my office. We got a pint at the bar (cappuccino stout!) and chatted about all sorts of stuff. Smart guy, that Michael. And it turns out he was about to go into a radio interview with a live audience. Sounded interesting, so I came to watch. Then they gave us both mics. I reacted with my usual poise.

On Runtime Expectations, the normal topic is programming and stuff. Michael came on to talk about web analytics and its variety of uses in the real world. He goes from the basics of data aggregation to how to interpret that data for actual action. If you need any kind of in-depth analysis, you want to talk to Michael.

On the Little Metal Dog Show, I recap the Thousand-Year Game Design Challenge and how we selected a winner. But really, you should listen to the episode to hear Rob Daviau talk about RISK: Legacy. A local group has been playing it for a while here and gradually uncovering its secrets. No spoilers here, just awesome behind-the-scenes details on how the game was made.

On the Podge Cast we also talked about the Thousand-Year Game Design Challenge, but then we quickly pivot to the whole Kickstarter thing, recapping 2011 and what's in the future. Clearly, this was recorded way before we knew that there would be three multi-million dollar Kickstarters the following month.

Happy listening!

Obsidian Portal's Expeditious Interview

Expeditious Interview - Daniel Solis from Obsidian Portal on Vimeo.

Right after a seminar, the dudes from Obsidian Portal did an expeditious video interview. Why did I choose to do the interview under harsh convention lighting instead of moving over to the giant bay window just a few feet away? Ah well. Watch as I decide who would win in a fight between Harry Potter and Optimus Prime.

Interview on WGN Radio about the Thousand-Year Game Design Challenge

WGN - Thousand Year Game Design Challenge Interview by Daniel A Solis

Nick Digilio interviewed me on WGN Radio about the Thousand-Year Game Design Challenge. It's a lively conversation with a surprise call-in at the end. This went much less awkwardly than my first radio interview.

Interview with Ministry of Entertainment

Grant Chen of the Ministry of Entertainment (MiniEnt) emailed me a while back to do an interview. We were going to do it over Skype, but the ongoing layout marathon for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple left my schedule very tight.

We discuss my game design process, what was cut from Do, making binary choices interesting, emergent complexity, and the loooong road from conception to production. Hope you dig it!

We conducted this interview over email for a few days, so my apologies if I'm even more long-winded than usual. :)

» MiniEnt: Interview with Daniel Solis

The Podge Cast discusses Do, crowdsourcing and piracy

For your listening pleasure, I present to you a conversation with the Podge Cast. These guys are the morning zoo crew of gaming podcasts. Always a blast, fellas. Click the link below to hear me stumble over my words as we discuss:

* The plans for passports and other trinkets
* Eric is a sucker for collector's editions
* Production schedule
* Mur Lafferty's Kickstarter for the Afterlife series
* Spending social capital at the right time for the right cause
* A brief history of crowdsourcing
* Eric asks loooong questions (and I give loooong answers)
* Do is part of Bits n' Mortar
* PDF pricing for RPG products
* Luke Crane's position on PDFs
* "What is the buyable object?"
* I just want people to play my game, so I want to make that easier
* I am my own pirate
* The special exception for Happy Birthday, Robot!
* WotC and Paizo's reaction to PDF piracy
* Baen's Free Library
* The common lizard's regenerative capacities
* Setting realistic goals
* Following-through
* The ad in the back of Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies
* Baby teeth

» The Podge Cast 136

On the overwhelming response to Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

Wow, it's been an amazing weekend for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple.

On day 1, we met our fundraising goal, which we had expected to meet in 45 days. We quickly moved into Phase 2, where we could start affording a larger print run. This was our long plan, to last a few weeks. That phase was complete in six hours.

We've pivoted quickly to keep this momentum going. Jenn Wong of the Jennisodes caught me at the height of mania yesterday and posted the interview this morning! Here, I talk about setting goals in Kickstarter, respond to the response, and discuss our next steps. Listen at the link below!

» Jennisodes: Episode 38 (46:53)