Boardgame designer Kirk Dennison joins us fresh out of knee surgery to open up to Drew and Chris about life as a father of 4 and the strained relations and expectations that can come with being a preacher's kidLove Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Drew Dixon covers the floor at GenCon 2021 to speak with developers and designers from large publishing houses like Funko to independent designers on Kickstarter who tell us a little about their games, what they hope you get out of their games, and why they make them. Music in this episode was provided by Lee Rosevere.…

Roberta Williams (Kings Quest, Mystery House, Phantasmagoria) joins Drew to talk about her and her husband Ken's entry into the video game industry. It involves taking Cobalt courses at local colleges, discovering games on Ken's remote work IBM 360 Mainframe computer such as Colossal Cave Adventure, and a lot of margaritas. Roberta walks us through…

Ryan Bowdre is a pretty nice guy. An L.A. native and avid Super Smash Bros. player, Ryan started with Disney Interactive as a QA tester before joining the team at Blizzard as a test analyst. Though this time at Blizzard, and now true[X], Ryan was active in his faith but believed that you had to earn the right to speak into someone's life, something…

Andy Robertson, the author of "Taming Gaming", describes himself as a "good dad." Originally a technical writer for tax software, Andy took a leap to write for video games and has done so for 15 years while curating an impressive database of video games at the Family Video Game Database. Encouraging the active participation of parents and their chi…

Mansplaining and Color Field designer Mondo Davis joins us on Humans of Gaming to kick off the Fall 2021 season. A St. Louis, MO native Mondo now lives in Atlanta with his family where he is currently working on being a father and board game designer who has 4 games under contract as of this episode. Monday is a Navy veteran who currently teaches E…

Gabe Barrett has some stories to tell. Before he founded the Board Game Design Lab podcast, he played college football and didn't think much of Cam Newton on his first day. He also lives in Honduras most of the year when he isn't in Atlanta and doing missions work in both. His family was also fell afoul of the moral failings of church leadership th…

Andrew Lowen of the bord game Deliverance is something of a Renaissance Man. Having dabbled in sales, UFC fighting, wrestling, and now game design he is aiming to provide a game that speaks the truth of the Gospel while also knowing what makes a game fun.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Dan Kazmaier, Creative Director at Steeped Games is one of those rare individuals who has a heart matched only in size by his Midas touch as Chris puts it. A Semi-professional Chess player in Calgary, Dan became involved in games after a round of Uno with refugees taught him the universal experience of gaming and how it can be used to deal with tra…

Sen-Foong Lim of "Junk Art" and "Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time", joins Drew and Chris for a conversation that covers nearly everything. Sen, who is a provincial martial artist, DJ, professor, parent, therapist, and occasionally a board game designer talks about the tension between parents and their children as Drew and Chris go deep into their own exp…

Kate Kadowaki, one of the founders of Love Thy Nerd was the drummer for the former Disney pop/rock group "KSM" (and no, even she doesn't know what it stands for). Kate talks to Drew and Chris about the path that led her out of the church and into the band. The conversation covers the effects of fame, the difference between the "normal" routine or "…

Chris Skaggs of Soma games joins Drew and Chris to talk about his unintended path to game development, conversion to Christianity, and the culture of the longest surviving "Christian" game studio.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Liberty Kifer is a pro photographer, mother of 4 girls, a black bear tamer, and an amazing board game designer. Crystallo has a unique origin story with close ties to her family which we wholeheartedly recommend everyone pick up at your local Barnes & Noble! We talk about her Norwegian family history, questionable Lutefisk dietary experiences, and …

Yannic Lejac finishes his conversation with Drew and Chris about his time at Blizzard and his transition from game journalism and narrative design to social work.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Yannick LeJacq joins Drew and Chris for the inaugural 2021 season of Humans of Gaming! Reminiscing about their days as writers for Kill Screen, Drew and Yannick talk about the absurdity of the US health care system with its "gamification" of absurd roadblocks that benefit everyone but the patient. The conversation moves onto Yannick's Jewish upbrin…

Cheif Resource Nerd April-Lyn Caouette joins Drew and Chris to give some insight into the many facets of Love Thy Nerd's mission to bring hope and love to the varied "nerd" cultures.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Elizabeth Hargrave joins Drew and Chris to talk about game Wingspan as well as her personal story. She is the daughter of a biochemist father and lawyer mother and is herself an avid bird watcher. Growing up as a Unitarian Universalist in southern Illinois and then Gainseville, FL she has had a unique experience with more conservative Christianity.…

Drew and Chris host author and streamer Maria "Mxiety" Shanley as part of our series celebrating women in the game industry. M, as she likes to be called, tells an amazing story of her youth: being kidnapped by her mother to Russia, public panic attacks that ended one career and helped push her on the path to the one she wanted, and how the movie T…

Continuing our series on celebrating women in gaming, Drew Dixon hosts "Gamer Doc", a medical doctor, a gamer, and someone who has a passion for improving the quality of life for gamers. Using her Twitch channel she hosts sessions recommending the best PC setups, console setups, and general health tips to keep you and other gamers playing as well a…

Astrid Refstrup, is the Co-Founder of Triple Topping, the Welcome To Elk co-writer & Director, and the producer of Ynglet. Drew sits down with Astrid to talk about Welcome to Elk and Ynglet along with the challenges of running a small studio and overcoming the almost habitual desire to "crunch" during development. Sharing wisdom to each other as pa…

Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Josiah Martindale describes himself as being "liberally minded." The writer of a Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" inspired D&D campaign currently on Kickstarter, Josiah is not talking politics as much as traditionalism vs new chaos. Drew and Chris talk to him about his love of Kansas, good brisket BBQ, and what it is like to go from accountant …

Ricardo Bare of Arkane Studios joins Drew and Chris to talk a little bit about his past with Ion Storm (Deus Ex) and how it led him to Arkane Studios where he worked on the Dishonored series and was the lead designer for Prey. In his formative years, the writings of C.S. Lewis served as the springboard for his personal investigations into examining…

In this episode of Humans of Gaming, Drew Dixon and Chris Gwaltney host board game designer Rob Daviau to talk about his decade with Hasbro Games working on titles such as Pandemic Legacy, Trivial Pursuit, and Risk Legacy to name a few. Rob has an interesting history in both education and vocation with a minor in Medieval History, a stint writing f…

Paul Darvasi, educator and researcher with a Masters in Educational Technology, joins Drew to talk about his efforts to better research and document the effect that video games have on the mind of those who consume them. His thesis work on using GTA V in the classroom is one of the topics of discussion. In the latter half of the show we turn to his…

Alexis has been working in animation for over 10 years including stints with Slap Happy Cartoons, the current producers of Tom & Jerry. She currently is working on a game about trying to be somebody, Chicory: A Colorful Tale. The conversation turns to Alexis' history in Brisbane, Australia and her realization that she suffers from OCD. She confides…

Pat and Kat Lysagt of Chara us again during their "reboot" year. Hurricane Michael, 2 moves, and 4 kids find one of our favorite designer families at a point where the best laid plans have been put to the side in the interest of family. Drew and Chris talk to Pat and Kat about the time off, the difficulty of artisan support within Christendom, and …

Chris Gwaltney and Assignment Editor Madeline Turnipseed host developer Peter Brinson of Infinite Children as they talk about a game with an audio book as the medium. The game changes as more people play and earn achievements and explores the ideas and fears of being left behind. In the second half of the Chris and Madeline turn to Peter's youth an…

Richard Rouse III returns to talk about life after his indie release, The Church in the Darkness. Richard talks about the life of being an indie developer and the different cycle of development, marketing, and patching that is normally separated in larger studios. Drew and Chris also ask if producing a game about a religious cult has had any kind o…

Drew Dixon, our Chief Content Nerd talked to 6 more developers and designers at GenCon 2019 including Evan Derrick of “City of Angels” who spent 5 - 6 years creating this game; Robert Newton, Josh Wood, and Frank West amongst others. After a quick run down of the games they are showing at GenCon, we ask what do you hope the players get out of the e…

Drew and April-Lyn were at GenCon 2019 this week to play games and interview the developers of said games. This week is part 1 of our interviews featuring some returning guests from GenCon 2018 as well as new developers. Michael Fox gives us an update on the success of Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr as well as the new game Oceana Megac…

Drew and Chris complete their "Getting to Know You" 2 part series where they give listeners a glimpse into the background of two co founders of Love Thy Nerd. This week Drew is in the hot seat as Chris asks Drew about his time in a "liberal" baptist church that deigned to read from the New King James version of the Bible in pursuit of a girl he fan…

Teri Litorco from Renegade Games talks with Drew and Chris about her early days on YouTube teaching the basics of painting miniatures for table top play. These videos put her on a road to Geek & Sundry during their early days and the end result of working with Renegade Games. The latter half of the episode turns the conversation toward Teri's herit…

Henry Audubon, board game designer of titles such as Space Park, Kingswood, and PARKS joins Drew and Chris to talk about his road to board game design, barely passing high school, making his own D&D campaigns, and experiencing the open ended spiritual influences of his mother.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Paul Shortt of Exploding Kittens joins Drew and Chris to talk about his life in Detroit area Michigan. Working as a graphic designer for health care interface design, he was brought on board to work for the popular card game. The conversation turns to his younger years, the religion of the family growing up, and the pros and cons of having a "silo"…

Drew visits the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio and gets to play a plethora of new and unreleased board games as well as getting to interview their creators. Derek Funkhouser from Skybound Games, Gil Hova from Formal Ferret Games, and others talk to Drew about what they hope gamers get out of their games and why they make them.…

Drew and Chris have been hosting the show for a while now so we figured it was time to get to know them a bit more. This week Drew interviews Chris about his favorite games, growing up in the midwest with a culture of ignored conversation, being the black sheep of his family, and the feelings of guilt and shame that come from being the guy that cal…

James Hudson did not always start out as a board game creator. World of Warcraft dominated his life for almost 9 years until a friend convinced him to come to a board game night and he was exposed to Power Grid. Since that night James has been involved with collaboration efforts with Druid City Games, now a part of Skybound Entertainment, to publis…

Luke Dicken is the director of Applied AI at Zynga and joins us this week to talk about desiring the ability to build ladders in Skyrim with the hundreds of brooms one can find themselves carrying around. Luke holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence for Games and is the chair of the IGDA, a charity dedicated to the empowerment of game developers acr…

Gabriel Graziani has ben the public face for many of Ubisoft's most popular franchises including Assassins Creed among others as the Community Manager. Having served as the focal point between developers and gamers dating back to Assassins Creed II, Gabriel has many stories to tell about the positive, the negative, and the reason behind his endurin…

Elie Abraham wears a lot of hats. They are a video game designer, model, speaker, activist, board game designer, composer, stand up comedian, writer, and escape game designer. They have participated in over 170 game jams and have world record for "most games with soundtracks designed by a single person, at a game jam." Drew and Elie chat about the …

Using games to have conversations about topics is not a new concept but Josh Heath of High Level Games is looking at using a different medium: pen and paper role playing games. Using a character in a game he played for years to be something he wasn't in real life gave him the inspiration to create a 10 year plan for his life and how to get to where…

Kate Edwards is an influential woman in gaming as well as a woman of faith. Forming Microsoft's Geopolitical Strategy team, her department had a hand in the Halo franchise, Age of Empires, and virtually every game and product Microsoft produced during her tenure. Additionally she has a background in cartography, philosophy, and was the executive di…

Dr. Karen Schrier is an Associate Professor of Games/Interactive Media, Director of the Play Innovation Lab, and Director of the Games and Emerging Media program at Marist College. She joins us this week to talk about her belief in how games can be more than just escapist fantasies. The ability to tell gripping stories and effectively communicate i…

Joe Hopkins of the Kickstarter board game project Endangered joins us this week. Drew and Chris talk with Joe about the self appointed quarter backing player who can take over the gaming experience and create barriers for enjoyment.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Eddy Webb talks to us about what it means to be a “good dog” in this week’s episode. The owner of 3 pugs, watching their personalities while applying D&D style character profiles to each of them gave him the idea of what would become Pugmire, a game that reflects on the human condition. As in each episode, Drew and Chris talk to Eddy about his form…

Manny Tremblay of hit board game Dice Throne, joins Chief Content Nerd Drew Dixon and Chief Executive Nerd Chris Gwaltney for a frank talk about everything from making children’s dishes, working for Cyan worlds, and the extreme side of conservative religion in Minnesota.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

In the frozen tundra of Michigan, Rebekah Saltsman sits down to talk to Drew about the forthcoming game Overland.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu

Xalavier Nelson Jr. of Hypnospace Outlaw talks to us about the seedy alt-right underbelly of Italy, underground folk dancing rings, and how puns and horror games have more in common than people might think.Love Thy Nerd tarafından oluşturuldu