Welcome!
Welcome to Ludology, a show that talks about board games. We look at how games work and why they’re fun. Instead of news and reviews, we talk about games in a bigger way, including game history, how games are made, and the people who play them.
We put out a new Ludology show every other week. In these shows, hosts Erica Bouyouris and Sen-Foong Lim really dive into one topic about game making, often with a special guest from the game business. We mostly focus on tabletop games (mainly board games and RPGs), but we often bring in experts from all kinds of games, from video games to escape rooms to even slot machines.
On weeks when we don’t have our main Ludology show, we alternate between two smaller mini-shows. Erica and Sen are happy to announce that Sarah Shipp from Shippboard Games and Stephanie Campbell from TTRPGKids will be joining us for the next year, making extra content between our longer episodes.
Sarah’s part is called Thinking Beyond Mechanisms and is a monthly feature that talks about other parts of games besides the dice and cards we all know.
Stephanie’s part is TTRPGKids and shows how moms, dads, and teachers can use role-playing games with kids at home and in school.
We hope you enjoy the extra content!
Our Story
We try to make most Ludology shows timeless, so you can look at all our old shows. Most of them should still be good to listen to. The show started in 2011 with Geoff Engelstein and Ryan Sturm, with Mike Fitzgerald taking over for Ryan in 2015. Gil and Scott joined the show in 2017 when Mike stepped aside, and Emma joined in 2019 when Geoff ended his time as host. Emma left in 2021, and Erica and Sen joined us. Since then, Scott stepped down in 2022 and Gil will be hanging up his microphone in 2023, leaving Erica and Sen to continue this amazing show.
Erica and Sen are working to bring new voices to Ludology and have some great things to announce as gaming grows to include even more people!
Get in Touch
Have your own thoughts about our topics? We encourage you to visit us at our guild on Boardgamegeek to join in a continuing discussion.
You can also email us at .
Ludology is part of The Dice Tower Network, the biggest board game media network.
If you have questions that you’d like answered on Ludology, let us know by filling out this Google Form; you can also leave an audio question that we can use on the show, if you wish!
Burning Questions for Ludology
Support the Show
Ludology is made possible through the support and donations of listeners like you.
We currently have 3 “First Listen” series that will go out to Patrons well in advance of the audio being released to the wider audience.
- The Memories that Made Us (monthly) – memories about gaming experiences that helped shape the people that bring modern games to life
- Tales from the Designer Toolbox (monthly) – tips and tricks from industry pros learned from both success and failure
- Ludology Live – recordings from conventions around the world
Patrons will also get extra consideration for any giveaways that we might have!
Become a Ludology Patron
You can also make a one-time or monthly donation here. The link will take you to Erica’s account. People who donate in this way will not have access to the Patreon page – sorry!
