Beyond Solitaire
A podcast all about going not just Beyond Solitaire, but beyond the board! Join your host, Liz Davidson, for interviews that touch on gaming history, historical games, and the cultural significance of the games we play.
Episodes
170 episodes
Episode 170 - Jarrod Carmichael on Red Dust Rebellion
This week on the pod, I speak with Jay Carmichael (a.k.a. Three Minute Board Games) about his new design, Red Dust Rebellion, which is on the cutting edge of the COIN series in terms of both its mechanisms and its subject matter. B...
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58:55
Episode 169 - Torill Elvira Mortensen on Transgressive Play
This week on the pod, Dr. Torill Elvira Mortensen, a professor at Nord University, talks about her career as a scholar who studies games and about her focus on dark play and transgressive play. If you ever wanted insight into how researchers ap...
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1:07:36
Episode 168 - Josh Fitzgerald on Games of 19th Century Mexico
In this episode, scholar Josh Fitzgerald discusses his recent work on Mexican board games preserved at the Library of Congress, as well as his interest in the representation of Mexico in video games and the preservation of games in museums. His...
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Season 9
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Episode 168
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59:11
Episode 167 - Jason Carr on Solo Modes at GMT
On this episode of the pod, Jason Carr (@maudineormsby) drops by to talk about GMT One and the effort that goes into building a better bot. Eyeball to Eyeball: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/central-michigan-university-press/...
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1:06:33
Episode 166 - Cosima Werner on Inclusion and German Gaming Culture
This week on the podcast, Dr. Cosima Werner of the University of Kiel discusses her work studying culture in the United States and Germany, and specifically her current project in which she examines whiteness within the board gaming hobby in Ge...
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1:02:38
Episode 165 - Marceline Leiman on Designing Solo Modes
This week on the pod, Marceline Leiman, solo designer for Oceans, talks about her experiences as a solo game designer, what makes for a good solo mode, and what she learned studying game design at NYU. Find her at: https://marcelineleiman.itch....
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Season 9
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Episode 165
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1:00:51
Episode 164 - Andrew Bucholtz and Joe Schmidt on SDHistCon
SDHistCon is not only one of my favorite gaming conventions, but it is also a growing organization dedicated to promoting historical games to the broadest possible audience. Two of the current board members, Andrew Bucholtz and Joe Schmidt, joi...
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Season 9
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Episode 164
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1:03:28
Episode 163 - Connor Alexander on Coyote & Crow
This week on the pod, Connor Alexander drops by to discuss the growth of Coyote & Crow, his new game Ahu Tiiko, indigenous perspectives in gaming, and what it means to decolonize your games. Ahu Tiiko is on Kickstarter here: https://www.kic...
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Season 9
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Episode 163
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56:20
Episode 162 - Yoni Goldstein on Chicago '68
As the Democratic National Convention in Chicago draws near, Yoni Goldstein (@halfwayhoping) stops by to discuss his upcoming game about riots as the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Website: https://www.1968games.com/Eye...
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Season 9
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Episode 162
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50:08
Episode 161 - Non Breaking Space on Games as Communication
The podcast is back for Season 9, and we are kicking off with a fantastic returning guest: Non Breaking Space! In this episode, he discusses several of his upcoming games and reflects more generally on how he uses games to start and continue in...
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Season 9
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Episode 161
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59:14
Episode 160 - Trevor Benjamin, Roger Tankersley, and David Thompson on Co-Design
David Thompson is back on the pod with several of his co-designers for a discussion of what it's like to create games together, with tips for how to do it well. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's...
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1:13:12
Episode 159 - Marco Arnaudo on The Tabletop Revolution
This week on the pod, Marco Arnaudo, aka marcoomnigamer, returns to discuss his most recent book, The Tabletop Revolution, and to discuss the tremendous innovations in board game design over the last few decades. Book link: https://mcfarla...
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Season 8
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Episode 159
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58:58
Episode 158 - Will Thompson on Winter Rabbit
This week on the pod, former Zenobia Award contestant Will Thompson drops by to discuss Winter Rabbit, his upcoming game that brings Cherokee folklore to life. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/941694206/winter-rabbit?ref=discoverySD...
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Season 8
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Episode 158
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45:54
Episode 157 - Kai Jensen on Production at GMT
This week on the pod, Kai Jensen talks about her new role supervising game production at GMT. If you want to learn details about how games are physically made, this is the episode for you! Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by C...
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Season 8
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Episode 157
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59:52
Episode 156 - Pete Pellegrino on Gaming at the Naval War College
This week on the pod, Pete Pellegrino stops by to discuss his work on large-scale wargames at the Naval War College, as well as the wargames he has created for corporations and schools. Find Pete at: https://www.tabletophistory.net/about
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Season 8
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Episode 156
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1:03:30
Episode 155 - Andrew Olimpi on Adapting Games for the Classroom
This week on the pod, my colleague and fellow solo gamer Andrew Olimpi ( @Solitarius_games ) hops on to chat about gaming in the classroom, how to create tension and inte...
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Season 8
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Episode 155
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48:55
Episode 154 - Calvin Wong Tze Loon on Mass Effect
This week on the pod, writer and game designer Calvin Wong Tze Loon (@ithayla) drops by to discuss the process of designing Mass Effect, which is a co-design with the legendary Eric Lang. Come to hear about Mass Effect, but stay to hear insight...
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1:13:28
Episode 153 - Holly Black on Enemies and Lovers
This week on the pod, bestselling YA fantasy author Holly Black stops in to discuss a board game she designed based on her Folk of the Air series! She has a lot of interesting things to say about drafting games vs. books, the narrative potentia...
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53:40
Episode 152 - Eduardo García-Molina on Archaeogaming
This week on the pod, soon-to-be UChicago PHD Eduardo García-Molina drops into discuss the Seleucids, how he learned to love them through Rome: Total War, and what video games can teach us about ourselves through the ways they present the ancie...
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Season 8
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Episode 152
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1:08:08
Episode 151 - Joe Dewhurst on Developing Heavy Games
This week on the pod, Joe Dewhurst (@joe-dewhurst), a freelance developer who works primarily for GMT, gives his insights into game development and his work on COIN solo bots. Hydrologic Cycle from CMU is on Kickstarter now! https:...
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Season 8
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Episode 151
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58:14
Episode 150 - Elizabeth Hargrave on Science Games + the TTGDA
This week on the pod, game designer Elizabeth Hargrave drops by to talk science games, design, development, and her newest project, the Tabletop Game Designers Association. Elizabeth Hargrave's site: https://www.elizhargrave.com/
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58:32
Episode 149 - Alastair Kocho-Williams on Teaching History through Wargames
This week on the podcast, Alastair Kocho-Williams (@akochowi), a professor at Clarkson University, drops by to discuss how he's using wargames and game design to teach history to his students. Hydrologic Cycle from CMU is on Kickst...
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Season 8
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Episode 149
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1:00:28
Episode 148 - Weyodi OldBear on Indigenous Futurism in Games
This week on the pod, author Weyodi OldBear drops by to discuss her work in science fiction and her involvement with Coyote & Crow, a tabletop RPG about indigenous people in a future unimpacted by colonialism. Weyodi OldBear's ...
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Season 8
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Episode 148
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1:08:52
Episode 147 - Jason Carr on Development at GMT
In this week's episode, Jason Carr, Lead Developer at GMT, talks about his experiences in both design and development. Beyond Solitaire is proudly sponsored by Central Michigan University's Center for Learning Through Games and Sim...
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Season 8
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Episode 147
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57:34
Episode 146 - Jane Draycott on Women in Historical Video Games
This week on the pod, Dr. Jane Draycott (@jldraycott), a classicist who is also an expert on women in video games set in the ancient world, talks about her work, the world of archaeogaming, and her recent book, Cleopatra's Daughter. https://drj...
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Season 8
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Episode 146
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1:05:58