Season 2 Ep 8: Power Gaming, ft. Bez & Tiz (Part 1)

You're in for a real treat in this month's jumbo, jam-packed double bill episode of MindGames, where we take on power dynamics in games. Together, we discuss limitations and possibilities around play. How do games tackle power? What do the power dynamics we create in games tell us about power in the 'real world'? And ultimately, what does the ways in which we play teach us about power in our society?

We are absolutely honoured to be joined by two proper professional game designers, Bez and Tiz, who join us for an interview around their design process, their journey so far, and how their latest project deals with power. Stay tuned for part two, where we continue our discussion around power in games.

In this episode, we briefly acknowledge current protests in response to the murder of George Floyd and systemic racism. We didn't have the time to discuss this in detail, and it's not something I personally felt we could do justice in this discussion. As Milos said, 'learning history is one thing, feeling it is different'. If you'd like to learn more on this topic, we highly recommend the Brown Girls Do It podcast.

Today's cast:
Grant (Pix)
Milos
Bez Shahriari (@stuffByBez)
Tiz Creel (@tizcreel)

Today's games (in order of appearance):
In A Bind/Yogi (Bez Shahriari)
Kitty Cataclysm(Bez Shahriari)
Twister (Chuck Foley, Reyn Guyer and Neil W. Rabens)
Fluxx (Adam Looney)
Shuffle: Twister (Hasbro)
The Landlord's Game (Elizabeth Magie)
Seize the Power (Bez Shahriari and Tiz Creel)
Dog Eat Dog (Liam Liwanag Burke)
Diplomacy (Allan B. Calhamer)
Fog of love (Jacob Jaskov)

Further reading/viewing:
The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game (Mary Pilon)
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Scott McCloud)
Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms (Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev)
Fountain (Marcel Duchamp)
Mazes & Monsters (Steven Hilliard Stern)

Check out all of our guests' stuff!

BEZ:
Twitter! @stuffByBez
Streams! twitch.tv/stuffbybez
Stuff! www.stuffbybez.com/

TIZ:
Twitter! @tizcreel
Instagram! @tizcreel
Art! www.tizcreel.com/

Seize the Power will be coming to Kickstarter in 2021: itbboardgames.com/2020/05/14/comin…seize-the-power/

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