Hello seekers of knowledge,

There exists a silent force at every table. It does not take turns. It has no victory condition. And yet, it determines whether your game lives or dies.

This episode, we turn our attention to the most underestimated element of game design: how players learn.

How do we transmute a designer's intent into a player's understanding? We dive deep into the arcane architecture of the manual, the tactical utility of the reminder card, and the subtle art of the "teaching aid." We explore the friction between a comprehensive reference and a functional tutorial, and ask the forbidden question: can a game truly teach itself, or are we all just wandering in a wilderness of unread errata?

We examine the layered ecosystem of understanding:

• First contact (the rulebook)
• Guided onboarding (a teacher or tutorial)
• In-play reinforcement (reference materials)
• Long-term mastery (internalization and memory)

Best to listen first. Then ask your question on our Substack, armed with context.

-Luke & Christopher

Squad,

Focus yon mind, tense thine muscles. Here in we explore forbidden and speculative lore.

In this tenth episode of our second volume of recordings, Luke enlists Sam and Christopher to speculate on a world in which RPGs possessed the might and support of the culture-media juggernaut that is the National Football League.

• How do we form teams in the league?

• How do the teams compete?

• How are the commercial breaks inserted?

• How does color commentary work?

Listen and discover our answerless answers!

The NFL started paying some of its taxes in 2015.

NFL 2025 Rules document

Chuck Klosterman's book, Football.

Join the discussion on our substack!

Tyros,

Pour the ablutions, purify thyself and cast spells of warding for the words we speak in this episode are words of secret knowledge and power. To come at them unprepared and you risk self-destruction.

In this ninth episode of our second volume of recordings, Christopher dispenses true knowledge: the process for publishing a tabletop game. Numbers, figures and procedures swirl from his lips like stars in a constellation.

Delirium and the Incompressible Work of Publishing

Christopher and Luke return to the mic still deep in the ever-shifting flavors of delirium, including a callback to the legendary Philly Taco and an unsuspecting bystander's awakening.

From there: finals are in, grades are posted, and Christopher talks about last semester's biggest win and biggest regret, including a painfully familiar story about perfectionism, momentum, and failing to land the plane.

The rest of the episode lives in the sticky boundary layer between game design and publishing: how to find an audience, why "I have a game, now I'll find a publisher" is often wishful thinking, what conventions are actually good for, and why "self-publishing" is not a magical third option.

Links and references

• What is a "Philly Taco," really?
• PAX Unplugged
• Origins Game Fair
• itch.io
• If you're forming an LLC and need an EIN: IRS "Get an employer identification number" page

What conversations precipitated the need for such links? You must listen and learn…

If you want more episode, more show notes, more information, and whatever new alchemical residue this conversation leaves behind, the Ludological Alchemy Substack is where it all goes to congeal. You can read along there, subscribe, and get the next episode delivered straight to your inbox before delirium changes flavor again.