Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab · Gabe Barrett

The Games Every Designer MUST Play with Pam Walls

·1 hr 25 min

1. Board Game Design Lab frames this episode around Pam Walls’ list of games every designer should play. 2. Pam Walls appears as the guest, a board game designer and YouTube creator who made a video called “the 21 games I think every board game designer should play.” 3. The episode asks what designers learn from playing games outside their comfort zone, not just their favorite genres. 4. Pam says her process was to hit “every single major mechanic” and give new designers a broad range of themes and systems. 5. The host argues that designers should not only study the game they are currently making, using worker placement, deck building, and party games as examples. 6. Pam says the most important design question is whether a game offers “interesting choices.” 7. She also focuses on how players interact with each other and on what a game teaches about “what not to do.” 8. The first game she names is Imhotep by Phil Walker Harding, which she uses to show unusual player interaction and ship manipulation. 9. Pam explains that any player can launch a ship and decide which action space it goes to, even if the ship carries other players’ resources. 10. The host uses Phil Walker Harding’s catalog, including Sushi Go, Silver and Gold, Gizmos, Spellbook, and Baron Park, to argue that the designer keeps creating very different games. 11. Pam then turns to Robinson Crusoe as a heavy cooperative survival game that can take an hour-long rules explanation and three to four hours to play. 12. She says the game is “fantastic” but also worth studying for how much could be streamlined or clarified. 13. The discussion points to the card system, the returning hazards, and the rule that two people doing a task guarantees success while one person must roll dice. 14. The host adds Kemet as a war game that solves turtling by giving almost every space reach across the map. 15. He notes that Kemet uses card-based combat, different creatures, and casualty-based outcomes instead of simple win-or-lose battles. 16. Pam’s next pick is Creature Comforts by Roberta Taylor, which she praises for its woodland-animal theme and cozy winter preparation. 17. She says the game shows how an overdone market can still feel fresh when the theme, art, and mechanism fit together cleanly. 18. Century Spice Road Golem Edition enters the conversation as a strong engine builder with open drafting, deck building, and a simple but satisfying conversion loop. 19. The episode has a relaxed interview style, with the host and Pam moving between examples, designer lessons, and personal play experiences. 20. Designers who want concrete examples of mechanics, theme, and player interaction should listen; players who only want light hobby recommendations may skip it.

As heard by us

A loose designer focused list that turns familiar games into practical lessons.

Pam Walls and the host keep this loose and useful, using the list less like a countdown and more like a set of games worth studying. The conversation stays focused on what designers can actually take from each pick, from turn structure to the tight loop of upgrading and crafting.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a designer's shortlist with La Havre, upgrade loops, and games worth studying even outside your usual taste.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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