Show Notes for Ep. 27 "Game Design with Avery Alder"
Coming onto the show is Avery Alder, a game designer bringing a queer perspective to roleplaying games. Mary Anne and Ben talk with Avery about her various projects, the interesting aspects of narrative scaffolding and restraint offered by RPGs, and the genesis of Ben and Avery’s collaboration on “Dream Askew” and “Dream Apart”, two games of Belonging Outside Belonging.
To find out more about Avery and her games, you can visit https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/
Recorded 9 February 2021 / Published 18 October 2021
Contents
- 0:00:00: Introduction to Avery Alder and some of her games
- 0:01:45: Defining RPGs
- 0:05:38: On the imagination part of game design
- 0:10:31: On Lloyd Alexander’s High King and games as art
- 0:12:19: On Avery’s game The Quiet Year
- 0:15:42: On Avery’s game Dream Askew
- 0:21:34: Monopoly is art, right?
- 0:25:13: Mary Anne on how museums are undergoing gamification
- 0:28:18: On narrative scaffolding afforded to players within RPGs
- 0:34:38: On the inherently political nature of game mechanics
- 0:39:15: Discussing Avery’s game, A Place to Fuck Each Other
- 0:44:09: On leveling up and narrative constraint in RPGs and Avery’s Monster Hearts
- 0:56:28: On the nature of consent within RPGs
- 1:08:52: Intermission
- 1:09:00: On the genesis of Ben and Avery’s Dream Apart
- 1:24:36: The next steps after creating a game
- 1:41:15: Closing thoughts
Notes and Links
- games of Avery’s that are mentioned in the podcast
- Monster Hearts
- The Quiet Year
- Ribbon Drive
- Dream Askew
- Brave Sparrow
- A Place to Fuck Each Other
- for more games of Avery’s, click here
- Avery’s Beyond Representation talk on Queer Game Mechanics
- video footage
- notes and links
- for more talks of Avery’s, click here
- Avery’s pamphlet on consent within RPGs
- The High King, Lloyd Alexander
- The Dazzle of Day, Molly Gloss
- Podcast episode with Cory Doctorow mentioned, link here
- Avery’s Twitter account
- Mary Anne’s campaign website
- For the Win, Cory Doctorow
- World of Warcraft, massively multiplayer online role playing game
- Hélène Cixous, French theorist
- Steel Magnolias, movie
- Frozen, film franchise
- Apocalypse World, RPG
- RuneQuest, RPG
- Call of Cthulhu, RPG
- Fiasco, RPG
- The Velvet Underground, rock band
- Metatopia, game design convention
- itch.io, game sharing platform
- The Gauntlet Forums
- Plus One Forward, podcast
- Sleep Away, RPG
- Avery’s more detailed talk on the relationship between Dream Askew and Dream Apart
- Link to Avery’s Goblin Friendship Club subscription
