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The Art of Play

The Art of Play is your one-stop-shop for game design discussions from the gamers themselves. From video games to TTRPGs to even board games, join hosts Gaia and Vi every week as we take fundamental game design concepts and break them down for you, so you can help us all make and play better games.

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Introductions

Welcome to The Art of Play, your weekly podcast to learn about game design fundamentals from two players, rather than developers. In this episode, we provide a few introductions, and talk about what this show will look like!

Latest Episode

The End: Our Retrospective

Welcome to the final episode of The Art of Play! After two years of production, join hosts Gaia and Vi as they review the past episodes, what they learned from the show, and what's coming next!

Recommended

Depth vs Complexity

In our first major episode of The Art of Play, join hosts Gaia and Vi as we delve into the topic that started this entire show: The differences between depth and complexity in games.

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Episode Archive

Season 2 · Episode 23

The End: Our Retrospective

Welcome to the final episode of The Art of Play! After two years of production, join hosts Gaia and Vi as they review the past episodes, what they learned from the show, and what's coming next!

Release Date: Jul 7, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:55:08

Season 2 · Episode 22

How To Be a Good Player

In this episode of The Art of Play, we set out to answer one question: What does it mean to be a good player? From D&D and other TTRPGs to multiplayer video games, join Gaia and Vi as they discuss how to be a good player.

Release Date: Jul 3, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:53

Season 2 · Episode 21

Retro Games: Should You Play The Classics?

Returning once again, in this episode of The Art of Play, join Gaia and Vi as they discuss the oldest of games, and if they are worth playing!

Release Date: Jun 30, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:09

Season 2 · Episode 20

Idle Games: The Most Casual of All Games

Continuing on with the theme of games designed for new audiences or those with less time, join Gaia and Vi in this episode of The Art of Play where we discuss the most casual games of all: Isle Games.

Release Date: Jun 26, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:55:07

Season 2 · Episode 19

Are Casual Games Worth Studying?

Possibly the peak of our Evil Episodes, join Gaia and Vi as we discuss an area of gaming that is often ignored, or worse, often seen as directly harmful: Casual Games. In this episode of The Art of Play, we will discuss the history, design, and value of casual games in the gaming industry!

Release Date: Jun 23, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:58

Season 2 · Episode 18

Horror Games

Evil week continues with Gaia, Vi, and Téa returning to discuss how to design horror games, and figure out why people truly enjoy them! In this episode of The Art of Play, it's time to handle terror, horror, and jump scares.

Release Date: May 23, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:25

Season 2 · Episode 17

Morality Systems

It's time for Evil Week! Join Gaia, Vi, and guest host Téa, in designing morality systems in games. Why do people keep building them, why are they so unpopular, and how do we do them right?

Release Date: May 16, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:31

Season 2 · Episode 16

Toys to Life Games

Skylanders, Lego Dimensions, Disney Infinity - In this episode, join Gaia and Vi in discussing a lost relic of games, the Toys to Life genre.

Release Date: May 10, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:55:17

Season 2 · Episode 15

Extra Content - Games Outside of Games

In this episode of The Art of Play, join Gaia and Vi as we discuss extra content from games: Art, Soundtracks, Recipes, Books, and so much more.

Release Date: May 3, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:53:13

Season 2 · Episode 14

The Open World Challenge

Join Gaia, Vi, and Téa once again in which we go into a major challenge of game design: How do you plan out your game, when you don't know what your players will do? In this episode of The Art of Play, we will tackle the challenge of building open worlds.

Release Date: Apr 26, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:05

Season 2 · Episode 13

Making Good, Hard Games

In the Dark Souls of podcast episodes, join Gaia, Vi, and a local friend, Téa, in discussing how to build high levels of difficulty into your games without having your players quit.

Release Date: Apr 19, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:18

Season 2 · Episode 12

Game Psychology - An Interview with Matthew MacLean

Speaking with one of the professionals, in this episode of The Art of Play hosts Gaia and Vi have brought in a professional, Matthew MacLean. As the Mental Health Strategist at UNB, he is joining us to talk all about how we can use psychology in video games.

Release Date: Apr 12, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:57:30

Season 2 · Episode 11

Cooperative vs Competitive Games

In today's episode, it's time to discuss how to design games where competition is unnecessary: Cooperative Games. Join Gaia and Vi in this episode of The Art of Play as we delve into fair, team-based design.

Release Date: Apr 5, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:53:21

Season 2 · Episode 10

How to Balance Your Games

As we return to The Art of Play, join your co-hosts Gaia and Vi in discussing how to appropriately balance a video game, and maybe even learn when balance isn't necessary!

Release Date: Mar 29, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:12

Season 2 · Episode 9

Board Game Cafes

Join Gaia and Vi in this episode of The Art of Play where we discuss the future of board games: The board game cafe.

Release Date: Mar 22, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:12

Season 2 · Episode 8

What Are Gaming Peripherals?

Moving back into the topic of Hardware, join Gaia and Vi as we host a discussion on the history of peripherals for video games, game consoles, and in game design even today!

Release Date: Feb 23, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:51

Season 2 · Episode 7

Turning TTRPGs Into Video Games - Baldur's Gate 3

In the next episode of Baldur's Gate 3, join Gaia and Vi as we discuss why this game dominated the game market so suddenly, and what made it so successful.

Release Date: Feb 16, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:55:32

Season 2 · Episode 6

Academia and Game Design - An Interview with Dr. Scott Bateman

In this special episode of The Art of Play, join Gaia and Vi as they interview a video game researcher at the University of New Brunswick: Dr. Scott Bateman. Going into detail on his work, this episode gives a summary of what academia looks like on the topic of video games, and how you may get involved.

Release Date: Feb 9, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:39

Season 2 · Episode 5

The Weird World of Motion Controls

In today's episode of The Art of Play, join Gaia and Vi as we host a discussion on one of the weirdest, but most interesting items in the history of video games: Motion Controls.

Release Date: Feb 2, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:52

Season 2 · Episode 4

The History of Game Consoles

Join Gaia and Vi once again as we begin a discussion on the history of game consoles, how they have evolved over time, and how this has impacted game creation over the decades!

Release Date: Jan 26, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:56:49

Season 2 · Episode 3

Artists and Creators

In today's episode of The Art of Play, join Gaia, Vi, and a special guest, Kit, as we discuss the various creators outside of the games themselves: The artists, the storywriters, the cosplayers, and so much more.

Release Date: Jan 19, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:57:30

Season 2 · Episode 2

What Are Game Engines?

For our first major episode of The Art of Play Season 2, join Gaia and Vi as we discuss what a game engine is, and why you should care!

Release Date: Jan 12, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:55:20

Season 2 · Episode 1

Welcome Back To The Art of Play

Welcome back to The Art of Play, where we finally begin Season 2 of our show! In this episode, after the considerable delay, we give a rundown of what we have been up to since Season 1, the games we have played, and what the show will look like for the next few months!

Release Date: Jan 5, 2024 · Season 2 · 00:57:26

Season 1 · Episode 13

The First Five Minutes

Join Gaia and Vi in this episode of The Art of Play where they discuss how important the first five minutes of a game really are, and how some games do it perfectly.

Release Date: Oct 20, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:56:00

Season 1 · Episode 12

Turning Singleplayer Games into Multiplayer

Welcome back to The Art of Play! In this episode, Gaia and Vi return to answer one, shockingly difficult question: How do you turn a singleplayer game into a multiplayer one?

Release Date: Oct 13, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:50:53

Season 1 · Episode 11

Board Games

Today, rather than going into Video Games and TTRPGs like before, join Gaia and Vi as we approach the topic of Board Games. Joined by our friend David, we will go into what makes a good Board Game.

Release Date: Oct 6, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:54:05

Season 1 · Episode 10

Simulating a Session 0

Join our three previous hosts, Gaia, Vi, and Mark Kilfoil from CHSR FM in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada as we return to the topic of Session 0's in TTRPGs. But, this time, instead of explaining how it functions, we present to you a simulation of what it looks like.

Release Date: Sep 29, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:55:58

Season 1 · Episode 9

Session 0

In this episode of The Art of Play, join not only Gaia and Vi, but also Mark Kilfoil from CHSR FM in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada as we give a proper description of how to go about doing your Session 0 in TTRPGs!

Release Date: Sep 22, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:55:16

Season 1 · Episode 8

Worldbuilding

As we return to The Art of Play, join Gaia and Vi as we finally cover our long-awaited episode: Worldbuilding. In this episode, we will go through the process of building a world on air, to show how it can be done!

Release Date: Sep 15, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:55:48

Season 1 · Episode 7

Understanding Your Players

Deviating from our main style of episodes, join Gaia and Vi as they attempt to tackle the monsterous task of understanding who your players are, why they play, and how to make games better for them!

Release Date: Sep 8, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:55:36

Season 1 · Episode 6

Game Literacy

As we join our hosts once again, tune in to find Gaia and Vi discussing another new topic on game design for you all: What it means to be literate in video games.

Release Date: Sep 1, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:54:25

Season 1 · Episode 5

Reward Systems

In this episode of The Art of Play, join Gaia and Vi as we dive into how to create good Reward Systems in games. Especially focused on the TTRPG players, learn a few tricks on how to make a game just that much more fun for your players or DM!

Release Date: Aug 25, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:54:27

Season 1 · Episode 4

Environmental Storytelling

In this episode of The Art of Play, Gaia and Vi sit down to discuss how the environment of a game, and especially the music, can add to the storytelling, rather than simply relying on spoken word or text.

Release Date: Aug 18, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:54:09

Season 1 · Episode 2

Depth vs Complexity

In our first major episode of The Art of Play, join hosts Gaia and Vi as we delve into the topic that started this entire show: The differences between depth and complexity in games.

Release Date: Aug 11, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:50:18

Season 1 · Episode 3

Tutorials

As we continue on our adventure of diving into the fundamental concepts of game design, join Gaia and Vi and we make our way into our second major topic: How to make a good Tutorial.

Release Date: Aug 11, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:54:04

Season 1 · Episode 1

Introductions

Release Date: Aug 10, 2023 · Season 1 · 00:51:07

Meet The Team

The People Who Make This Show Possible

Production Team

Organisers and those who put the show together.

Production Team

Gaia Noseworthy

Also known as TheAkashain

Host

36 episodes

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Production Team

Vienna Munck

Host

36 episodes

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Voice Actors

The voices you hear on-the-air.

Voice Actors

Téa

Guest host

4 episodes

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Voice Actors

Kit Costello

Also known as kitschycreates

Guest

1 episode

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Artists

The art you see, and those who made it.

Artists

Kit Costello

Also known as kitschycreates

Illustrator

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Meet the full studio team

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