Category Archives: Podcasts

Ludus Novus 030 – Transcendentalism, Gentrification, and the Procedural Rhetoric of Stardew Valley

January 12, 2019Podcastsbarone, bogost, brice, capitalism, gentrification, keegan, la fleche, ludus novus, olson, podcast, procedural rhetoric, schultz, stardew valley, thoreau, waldenGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 030 - Transcendentalism, Gentrification, and the Procedural Rhetoric of Stardew Valley

00:00 / 17:29

What does Stardew Valley say about the world with the rules of its simulation, and how does it compare to another Transcendentalist game, Walden, a game?

Transcript: Transcript for this episode

If you like this episode, check out the other podcasts I’m involved in: Audacious Compassion, The Future Proof Podcast, and Tabletop Garden.

The Ludus Novus podcast is supported by my patrons. To help, please visit my Patreon.

The theme music is “A Foolish Game (Vox Harmony Adds)” by Snowflake, Admiral Bob, and Sackjo22, available on ccMixter under a ccby3.0 license.

REFERENCES
Barone, Eric. Stardew Valley. Chucklefish, 22 February 2016. https://stardewvalley.net/

Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. MIT Press, 2010.

Brice, Mattie. “My First Year in Stardew Valley.” Alternate Ending, 29 April 2016. http://www.mattiebrice.com/my-first-year-in-stardew-valley/

Fullerton, Tracy et al. Walden: a game. USC Game Innovation Lab, 4 July 2017. https://www.waldengame.com/

La FlÃ¨che, Gersande. “The gentleman farmer, labour and land: ecocritical possibilities in Stardew Valley.” Gersande’s Blog, 3 May 2016. https://gersande.com/blog/the-gentleman-farmer-labour-and-land-ecocriticial-possibilities-in-stardew-valley/

Keegan, Brett. “Stardew Valley, Sorge, and Martin Heidegger.” Backyard Philosophy, 27 March 2018. https://backyardphilosophy.com/2018/03/27/stardew-valley-sorge-and-martin-heidegger/

Olson, Dan. “The Stanley Parable, Dark Souls, and Intended Play.” Folding Ideas, 26 July 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHmivGmkjJw

Piel, Michael. “The Video Game Based on Thoreau’s ‘Walden’ Will Bring You Closer to Nature.” Motherboard, 25 October 2017. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7x4vmz/video-game-based-on-thoreau-walden-will-bring-you-closer-to-nature

Schultz, Kathryn. “Pond scum: Henry David Thoreau’s moral myopia.” The New Yorker, 19 October 2015. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/19/pond-scum

Thoreau, Henry D. Walden; or, Life in the woods. Ticknor and Fields, 9 August 1854.

Ludus Novus 029 – The Goalless Path of Bernband

September 11, 2018Podcastsaesthetics, ashe, barlow, bernband, exploration, fullbright, goals, gone home, goodwin, her story, interaction, juul, kanaga, key, knytt, ludus novus, narrative, nifflas, nygren, podcast, proteus, schell, story, van den boogaart, walking simulatorsGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 029 - The Goalless Path of Bernband

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18:20

What do people actually mean when they say “walking simulator?” Bernband by Tom van den Boogaart doesn’t even seem to have a goal. But then why do you keep playing it?

Bernband: https://gamejolt.com/games/bernband/34864
Bernband Remake Twitter: https://twitter.com/bernband

Youtube (MP3 below):

Transcript: Transcript for this episode

If you like this episode, check out the other podcasts I’m involved in: Audacious Compassion and The Future Proof Podcast

The Ludus Novus podcast is supported by my patrons. To help, please visit my Patreon.

The theme music is “A Foolish Game (Vox Harmony Adds)” by Snowflake, Admiral Bob, and Sackjo22, available on ccMixter under a ccby3.0 license.

REFERENCES
Ashe, Pat. “Walking Simulator Simulator.” Feral Vector, 2014. https://soundcloud.com/thepatashe/walking-simulator-simulator (Transcript on The Pat Ashe, 6 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141007075156/http://thepatashe.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/walking-simulator-simulator/ )

Barlow, Sam. Her Story. 2015. http://www.herstorygame.com/

The Fullbright Company. Gone Home. 2013. https://gonehome.game/

Goodwin, Joel. “Screw Your Walking Simulators.” Electron Dance, 16 July 2014. http://www.electrondance.com/screw-your-walking-simulators/

Juul, Jesper. “Without a goal”. In Tanya Krzywinska and Barry Atkins (eds):Videogame/Player/Text. Manchester University Press, 2007.
http://www.jesperjuul.net/text/withoutagoal/

Key, Ed and David Kanaga. Proteus. 2013. http://twistedtreegames.com/proteus/

Koster, Raph. A Theory of Fun for Game Design. 2nd ed., O’Reilly Media, 2013.

Nygren, Nicklas. Knytt. 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20170509070555/http://nifflas.ni2.se/?page=Knytt

Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. 2nd ed., CRC Press, 2015.

van den Boogaart, Tom. Bernband. https://gamejolt.com/games/bernband/34864

Ludus Novus 028: Candyland: Game as Critical Lens

September 4, 2018Podcastsagency, analysis, candy land, choice, complicity, critical lens, dancing, definitions, doom, game, gone home, interaction, podcast, sim city, soccer, square dancing, taxonomy, videoGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 028: Candyland: Game as Critical Lens

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16:46

What is a “game?” It only matters in context. When we examine things as games to learn from them, what does that mean? Any useful definition of game used as a critical lens must encompass Soccer, Candy Land, Sim City, Doom, and Gone Home. But Candy Land doesn’t have any player choice. Is it just dancing?

I’ve tried something new with this episode. I’ve put together a video version, currently hosted on YouTube, with some nonessential visual aids. For now I intend to keep the show audio-first, but having it available via YouTube may make it more accessible and attract new listeners/viewers. If you’re seeing this on my website, the normal audio player is still below.

I’ve also put together a text transcript for the episode: Transcript for this episode

If you like this episode, check out the other podcasts I’m involved in: Audacious Compassion and The Future Proof Podcast

The Ludus Novus podcast is supported by my patrons. To help, please visit my Patreon.

The theme music is “A Foolish Game (Vox Harmony Adds)” by Snowflake, Admiral Bob, and Sackjo22, available on ccMixter under a ccby3.0 license.

Ludus Novus 027: Imposition of Order Results in Escalation of Disorder

June 7, 2017Digital Games, Podcastsagency, arkane, bethesda, consequences, podcast, power, prey 2017, riskGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 027: Imposition of Order Results in Escalation of Disorder

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14:31

In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast: Prey 2017. The lie of a power fantasy is that power over others is something you deserve. Prey is a consequence fantasy: to take agency, you must incur risk. To escape a cage of lies, you have to open the door onto a world of new danger.

The Ludus Novus podcast is supported by my patrons. To help, please visit my Patreon.

The theme music is “A Foolish Game (Vox Harmony Adds)” by Snowflake, Admiral Bob, and Sackjo22, available on ccMixter under a ccby3.0 license.

Ludus Novus 026: Reflection

November 11, 2016Life, Podcastsbigotry, compassion, empathy, gamergate, gone home, patreon, podcast, politics, race, san andreas, trump, violenceGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 026: Reflection

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20:24

In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast, I discuss the election and GamerGate and how we can make a difference with games. I start with an excerpt from Austin Walker’s recent, amazing piece “A Note on Trump, Waypoint, and Why We Play.” I move on to discuss mirror neurons, Gone Home, my presumptuous racial awareness thanks to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, my plans to survive violent abuse, and the power of games to promote compassion.

The Ludus Novus podcast is supported by my patrons. To help, please visit my Patreon.

The theme music is “A Foolish Game (Vox Harmony Adds)” by Snowflake, Admiral Bob, and Sackjo22, available on ccMixter under a ccby3.0 license.

Ludus Novus 025: Idle, Incremental

February 9, 2016Digital Games, Podcastsaniwey, bogost, doublespeak, idle games, incremental games, orteil, podcast, rajan, townsendGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 025: Idle, Incremental

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17:08

In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast, I discuss incremental games, also known as idle games or clickers. How did a formula that started as satirical jokes from people like Ian Bogost yield things like A Dark Room? Games discussed: Cow Clicker, Progress Quest, Candy Box, Cookie Clicker, A Dark Room.

The Ludus Novus podcast is supported by my patrons. To help, please visit my Patreon. The theme music is “A Foolish Game (Vox Harmony Adds)” by Snowflake, Admiral Bob, and Sackjo22, available on ccMixter.

Ludus Novus 024: Decision Point

April 27, 2015Podcastscreation, creativity, decisionmaking, design, emergence, game design, social justice, societyGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 024: Decision Point

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23:51

This podcast is supported in part by my Patreon. You can help support it by pledging a monthly donation.

In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast, I discuss the decisions we make as game designers and developers and how we are responsible for every aspect of the games we make. I touch on polishing, social justice, and emergent aspects of games.
Continue reading Ludus Novus 024: Decision Point →

Ludus Novus 023: Searching

April 17, 2015Podcastsagency, choice, creation, creativity, podcastGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 023: Searching

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10:06

In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast, I discuss the search for the perfect game and the creation of universes.

[display_podcast]

When I search through my Steam library and I look for that game, that perfect game, the perfect experience that matches the mood that I am in right that moment, I’m playing a game with the entirety of my library: the entirety of games as a medium.

The music for this episode is “Progress” by mystified from the album Fractal Diner 3. It’s available under a ccby2.5 license.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Ludus Novus 022: Countdown – A Game For Two Players

March 19, 2015False Narrativism, Podcastsbartle, competition, crawford, false narrativism, huizinga, koster, magic circle, my games, ritual, tabletop, violenceGregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 022: Countdown - A Game For Two Players

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9:20

In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast, I present a new game, “Countdown,” in spoken word form. Trigger warning for self-injury.

[display_podcast]

Countdown: A Game For Two Players
…
The rules are arbitrary in the wherever,
but here, in this circle, they are real.

Of course, this membrane is porous.
It flutters and flows and lets pass
certain realities and unrealities.
The game isn’t the same if the world changes.
And games can change your world.

But the magic circle creates a promise of escape.
At any time, you can step outside the circle.
At any time, you can make this stop.

The music for this episode is “Third Moment – A Road Through the Forest” from Three Moments by Darrell Burgan. It’s available under a ccby3.0 license.

Any feedback is welcome in the comments.

Ludus Novus 021: Tin Medals

March 17, 2011Digital Games, Podcastsachievements, alan wake, goals, immersion, microsoft, mobigame, perfect cell, remedy, rewards, xbox360Gregory Avery-Weir

Ludus Novus

Ludus Novus 021: Tin Medals

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18:07

In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast, I discuss achievements and how there are a lot more aspects to them than are immediately apparent.

Games discussed:

Alan Wake by Remedy Entertainment
“Babies Dream of Dead Worlds” by Gregory Weir
Perfect Cell by Mobigame

The music for this episode is “The Temple” by Out of Orion and is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Sharealike License.

This podcast is certainly not a complete discussion of the topic, so please leave any input or feedback in the comments section.