I rarely listen to gaming podcasts, but the one which I always find time for is Ludonarrative Dissidents, in which industry veterans Ross Payton, Greg Stolze, and James Wallis deep-dive into various gaming systems. The podcast is a must-listen for anyone who writes games or gaming content.
More than just a reviews show, the presenters go into a lot of detail about why certain mechanics (and design choices) do and don’t work. And they really know their stuff – between them, these three must have the best part of a century’s experience in games design (I first met James in the mid-1980s, when he was publishing the RPG zine Sound & Fury; he subsequently became the publisher for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, wrote The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and launched the Diana Jones Award for excellence in gaming; I don’t know Ross & Greg, but I’m sure their CVs are similarly illustrious).
Series 1 and 2 have covered a range of games both old and new (including Apocalypse World, Call of Cthulhu, Mörk Borg, Blades in the Dark, Traveller…) and they’re now about to embark on a new series which, as well as rulesets, will review adventures and supplements. Check it out on Kickstarter.
If nothing else, listening to these podcasts will teach you everything you need to know about balanced columns and the conditional future tense (and, it turns out, you do need to know about balanced columns and the conditional future tense).
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