Andy and Anthony are joined by Richard Garfield, legendary game designer and the creator of Magic: the Gathering. Richard talks about how he got interested in modifying and tweaking games, his concept that players can be loosely understood as either ‘honers’ or ‘innovators’, and why some games with great mechanics have no soul as a result of overdevelopment. Andy and Anthony also take advantage of this opportunity to ask Richard about his relationship to Cube, getting insight into how he designs his own and what he values about the format. They cover all the most salient Cube topics, including handling feedback from players, how to approach power level outliers, and how to manage complexity.
⁠View all cards mentioned in the episode →⁠
Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:49 - Welcoming Richard Garfield to the show
3:31 - How Richard got started modifying games
11:12 - How do you know when a game has gotten too complex?
17:37 -  Honers vs. Innovators
22:48 - Richard’s relationship to Cube
28:46 - On “Overdeveloped” Games
31:22 - The virtues of a wider power level band
43:09 - How to process feedback from players
46:58 - Is getting into nature an important part of Richard’s creative process
49:15 - The role of visual and narrative elements in games
55:00 - Designing a meta vs designing a game
58:10 - Richard’s current favorite games
1:02:56 - Richard’s game design book recommendations
Discussed in this episode:

MH3 Community Review Survey and the Commander Set Survey
Episode 202: Reading Series — The Creator of ‘Magic the Gathering’ Knows Exactly Where it All Went Wrong
Stratego
Dungeons and Dragons
Algomancy
The Encyclopedia of Chess Variations
Balatro
Founders of Reyvik
Finkel vs. Garfield
Deckmasters Garfield vs. Finkel Product
Slay the Spire
Spectromancer
Munchkin
Innovation, by Carl Chudyk
Quadradius
Gamut of Games, by Sid Sackson
New Rules for Classic Games, by R. Wayne Schmittberger

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You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.
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