Playability

Rebecca talks to Ross Connell (https://twitter.com/moregamespls) about his website, More Games Please (https://www.moregamesplease.com/); board game art; and artist visibility within the hobby. Ross shares some of his favorite board game artists. Get updates about the Best Board Game Art Award contest (https://www.moregamesplease.com/best-board-game-art/2020/1/30/top-10-best-board-game-art-2019-vote-now) that Ross runs on his site - results for 2019 art will be announced in March 2020. Special Guest: Ross Connell.

Lauren talks with Randy Flynn about the design decisions in Cascadia, a gorgeous tile-laying game coming soon from Flatout Games (https://www.flatout.games/), which showcases lands and creatures of the Pacific Northwest. Special Guest: Randy Flynn.

Rebecca talks to Alex G. (https://twitter.com/AxellesNobody) and Keith Ringer (https://www.reddit.com/user/inuyasharuls/), two Dungeons & Dragons players who created character sheets that is more accessible for folks with dyslexia. Geek Native reported on the sheets (https://www.geeknative.com/70088/dd-character-sheets-for-players-with-dyslexia/), which were originally shared on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/d4s0rw/character_sheets_for_people_with_dyslexia/). The sheets are currently available (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1buyioIUD6pAOvXiOCrmr_QDu6ksFH5wl) in English, Italian, and German. Icons on the sheets were created by LuckPack (https://www.reddit.com/u/luckpack). Special Guests: Alex G. and Keith Ringer.

Lauren Woolsey and Elizabeth Hargrave (designer of Wingspan (https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/)) talk about the role of the overall theme in a game's accessibility, how a wider range of faces at events can make things more welcoming for new gamers and designers, and the relevant resources (https://www.elizhargrave.com/women-nb-game-designers) she has collected on her website (https://www.elizhargrave.com/). Special Guest: Elizabeth Hargrave.

Many people use gaming as a way to relax, but did you know gaming has been making its way into therapy sessions? Rebecca talks to Emma Carlson, a clinical therapist who is part of a youth suicide prevention team and uses tabletop role-playing games to foster social engagement, improve problem solving skills, and help her clients have fun. Special Guest: Emma Carlson.

Get ready for a sweet conversation! Jonathan Chaffer (https://twitter.com/unclejonbob) is a software developer and hobbyist game designer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and this episode he talks with Lauren about Filler, his small-box card game about filling delicious pastries, published by Green Couch Games (http://www.greencouchgames.com/). Special Guest: Jonathan Chaffer.

This episode Rebecca talks to Stephanie Jessup, sign language interterpreter, game player extraordinaire, and host of of Dibs on Blue, a YouTube board games channel dedicated to American Sign Language users. Special Guest: Stephanie Jessup.

PUZZLES! In this episode, Lauren and Chip discuss the unique formats and structures of puzzles that different online platforms allow. See, for example: * A Little Alliteration (https://twitter.com/litalliteration) on Twitter * Vowel Movement (https://twitter.com/Vowel_Movements) on Twitter * Magic Word Squares (https://twitter.com/MagicWordSquare) on Twitter * Puzzle Blitz (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flyingsheep/breaking-kickstarter-puzzle-blitz) on Kickstarter Special Guest: Chip Beauvais.

Special Guest: Ertay Shashko.

This episode Lauren talks with Tony Miller (http://Twitter.com/beardedrogue), a game designer from Oregon about his recently signed game Kabuto Sumo (https://youtu.be/8O-4B2YQPjE) (a.k.a. Chonky Beetle Bois), recently signed by BoardGameTables.com (https://www.boardgametables.com/) and coming to Kickstarter soon. Special Guest: Tony Miller.

Rebecca talks to Suzanne Sheldon (https://twitter.com/425suzanne) (GenCant (http://www.gencant.com/) coordinator, The Dice Tower podcast (https://www.dicetower.com/game-podcast/dice-tower) cohost) about accessibility and inclusivity in gaming communities and spaces. Special Guest: Suzanne Sheldon.

Michael Melkonian is a game designer from Los Angeles, CA who currently resides in Central Illinois. He is the owner of Cardboard Console, a game design and publishing company. Michael's first commercial product is "Dance Card! (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/265771/dance-card)" which is set to launch on Kickstarter in fall 2019. Special Guest: Michael Melkonian.

Rebecca talks to Jenn Barlett (https://www.instagram.com/boardgame.librarian/), a librarian at the Manchester Public Library (https://library.townofmanchester.org/), about games, libraries, and accessibility. Special Guest: Jenn Bartlett.

Lauren talks to Nick Yu (https://twitter.com/yutingxiang) about Adventure Tactics (https://www.letimangames.com/adventure-tactics.html), which is published by Letiman Games. Adventure Tactics is on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/letimangames/adventure-tactics-a-co-op-tactics-campaign-for-1-5-players) through Friday, August 23, 2019 8:00p Central. Special Guest: Nick Yu.

In this episode, Lauren chats with Omari Akil (https://twitter.com/omariakil), one half of @BGBrothas (https://twitter.com/BGBrothas), about the company's first game Rap Godz, and how this tabletop game is connecting communities in New Orleans and beyond. Twitter: http://twitter.com/BGBrothas Instagram: http://instagram.com/BGBrothas Facebook: http://facebook.com/BGBrothas Website: https://www.boardgamebrothas.com/ Special Guest: Omari Akil.

It's sequel time! Rebecca welcomes back Janice Turner of Wren Games to talk about Sensor Ghosts, a sci-fi escape game and sequel to last year's game, Assembly. Special Guest: Janice Turner.

Special Guest: Dustin Schwartz.

In this episode, Rebecca (http://www.twitter.com/ToPlayIsHuman) talks to Karen Cleveland (http://www.twitter.com/GameBiologist) from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/) about their game What in the Wild (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256199/what-wild), which features five ways to play and learn about wildlife conservation. Find What in the Wild on The Game Crafter (https://www.thegamecrafter.com/designers/mi-dnr-wildlife). Special Guest: Karen Cleveland.

Lauren Woolsey talks with Shannon McDowell about escape rooms and what considerations go into making them more accessible and more inclusive. Special Guest: Shannon McDowell.