Open Betas

v1.022: Swimfantasy Theatrhythm

Music games are all the rage these days! Also, I'm selling a bundle of 2 Rock Band drumkits (markedly used) and a crate of unopened DJ Hero turntables for $9.99 USD. Please like and comment if you're interested. Outro music by I Am Jemboy [https://soundcloud.com/iamjemboy/big-parappa] YouTube.com/@OpenBetas

v1.021: One RNG to rule them all with Paul Sottosanti

Paul Sottosanti, game design veteran and certified cool guy joins Regal and Swimfan to talk about the role that randomness, variance, and luck affect games, mostly from a designer's perspective, in both general and case-specific terms. 0:00:00 Who is Paul Sottosanti? 0:29:18 Basic concepts and a tangent about the popularity of games 0:43:00 Drawing cards 1:20:00 Build complexity 1:42:27 Play-by-mail games 2:22:29 Horizontal progression and strategic diversity 2:39:45 Damage range 2:54:14 Rapidfire topics Outro music by Cyranek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46LF80G6nB4 YouTube.com/@OpenBetas

v1.020: The Most Dangerous Gamer

1337 G@m3rz UNITE!! We broadly discuss the difference between people who consider themselves "gamers" and people who simply play games, the effect this has on the industry discourse, and the icky associations the label carries. 0:00:00 Intro and patch notes 0:17:19 The influence of the online discourse about games 0:40:45 Identity and gamerism 1:18:55 The use of games 1:47:25 Finding your voice 2:02:10 The use of gamers Outro music by DatManOvaDer: https://soundcloud.com/datmanovader/throwback-funk YouTube.com/@OpenBetas

v1.019: Card games with Andrew Yip, former Game Director of Legends of Runeterra

Yip schools us on TCGs, CCGs, DCGs, and all other card-based games. 0:00:00 Introductions, who the heck is Andrew Yip, and the LoR experience 0:17:33 History with card games 0:49:01 Hanging out in settings and MMOs 1:05:51 Mana, variance, and all its implications 1:41:31 Different players, different skill expression 1:53:44 Back to mana (color pie, mana flood) 2:05:32 Making losing fun and making the game approachable 2:24:51 Can more interesting games be made if we didn't try to make more money? 2:37:56 Single player TCGs Outro music by BotanicSage: https://soundcloud.com/botanicsage/16bit-magic-sped-up YouTube.com/@OpenBetas

v1.018: Is it wrong to steal from NPCs?

Do not trust Swimfan to inspect your door, physical or digital. 0:00:00 Intro and patch notes: nets 0:06:15 The joy of thievery 0:12:16 Why are steal games less popular and sometimes more frustrating than combat games? 0:39:39 How do the NPCs or the game itself handle ethics? 0:50:30 Singleplayer vs multiplayer 1:18:22 Society in the apocalypse 1:34:20 Ethics (in singleplayer games) 2:01:40 What makes a good thieving game? Outro music by Nathan Miller: https://youtu.be/_tPeNHBy5GQ YouTube.com/@OpenBetas