Blending the Physical and Virtual in Tabletop Gaming

Games as a medium are changing. The impact of games on society is now greater than it's ever been. In a growingly digital world, games' impact on social communities far outweighs what we see in the media. Games have evolved into being everything from third spaces to safe havens for communities, and a new way of developing social bonds. But how do you design for this and above all how do you protect the people, the players in these social and dynamic environments. That was the core topic of discussion in the chat with Matt Soeth, the Executive Director of TIGG. It was great to learn about Matt's journey through Tech and Social before eventually landing in games and seeing the work that he is doing with TIGG to promote digital thriving for communities in games, and how you can design for that. TIGG has published a lot of research around game design and security and is one of the best online resources for current and aspiring developers to learn more about safety by design.Growing Pains is a series focusing on key business trends and people shaping the Global Games Market and their impact on the Games Industry. In this series, Jay speaks with industry leaders across the Games and Gametech space, trying to demystify the industry, understand the state of leadership, and answer the all-important question, 'Is having a fun game still enough to succeed in today's games market?'

In this episode, Oscar is joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Sam Salam, Insights Lead at Met Police, MRS Board Member, Founder of Uncommon Thread. Together we explore the importance of communication and insight when it really has consequences. Talking about the challenges faced by the Metropolitan police to communicate with and understand the people of London and the parallel lessons we can learn from games development.

In this episode, Oscar is joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Bayan Mashat, consultant and producer at Meemwow. Together we explore the vital role of production in game devleopment, emphasizing how effective communication, planning, and team dynamics lead to successful shipping.

In this episode, Oscar is joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Michael Power and Lee Brooks from Playseer. The team is building AR technology to help people play tabletop wargames together, even when they are in different places. However, the technology has broader implications as we will find.

In this episode Oscar is once again joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Stuart De Ville, fellow host and captain of the team here at GDL. We talk about the recent (at the time of recording) call for research into the relationship between video games and gambling-related harms. Is this a legitimate request for scientific insight or just another veiled attack on the industry?

In this episode Oscar is joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Irena Pereira, Founder of Unleashed games where we talk about her history with MMOs as well as the importance of social games experiences

In this episode Oscar is joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Guilherme Fernandes, Associate Director, Corporate Strategy @ King. We talk about how to use market trend data and competitive analysis in how you validate your game and the practical ways this can change the way you look at what your next game could be.

In this episode Oscar is once again joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Michael Farrow-Killick, Lecturer at Cambridge Regional College and CEO of Rizing Games. We talk about the impact of the industries wide-scaling redundancies on students and how educational systems are responding. We ask the question is it still worth training in games?

In this episode Oscar is joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' by Holger Wurst, Lead UX Designer at Wooga (June's Journey). We talk about the importance of user experience design and using research to get insight that work with game design. 

In this episode Oscar is once again joined in his podquest to 'learn everything about #gamedev you never dared to ask' b Stuart De Ville, fellow host and captain of the team here at GDL. We discuss the common pitfalls and essential strategies for indie game studio founders. They cover topics from idea validation, team building, funding, legal considerations, to market understanding, providing practical advice for aspiring developers.