#264 Will Thompson Talks Winter Rabbit and PaleoVet

Will returns to the show with Dirk and David to discuss his game Winter Rabbit, a finalist for the Zenobia Award. A contest for designers from underrepresented groups in the hobby, the Zenobia Award pairs promising applicants with mentors and awards winners with a cash prize and help with publication. Will, a member of the Cherokee Nation, talks about how Winter Rabbit was designed from the start to incorporate indigenous themes. The group also discusses the Zenobia Award itself, as well as another design Will is working on: the dice manipulation game PaleoVet, where players help dinosaurs recover from illnesses.

Episode Outline

1:10 Catching up on Will’s projects since his last time on the show

3:45 Will talks about his game Winter Rabbit and how it approaches game mechanics from a more indigenous perspective

8:45 How Winter Rabbit departs from or inverts standard euro game tropes

13:51 Reciprocity and how the concept is incorporated in Will’s design

20:06 Will’s experience as part of the Cherokee Nation and his experience studying its history

26:41 Learning more about the Zenobia Awards, and how the competition affected Will’s design process

41:13 Will talks about another game he’s been working on, PaleoVet

46:20 Other projects in Will’s sights, and some final advice for designers

In this Episode

Will Thompson -
David V. Heron - @davidvheron
Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer