#283 Nikki Valens Talks Artisans of Splendent Vale

Designer Nikki Valens joins Dirk and David once again to talk about a couple of Nikki’s projects since they were last on the show. The discussion focuses on Artisans of Splendent Vale, a co-op narrative and tactical game coming out this December. The trio also talk about Quirky Circuits, a co-op programming game that came out a few years ago. Other topics include the effect of the pandemic on design and development, as well as Nikki’s experience at Fantasy Flight.

Episode Outline

1:06 Catching up a bit on Nikki’s design career since their past episode.

6:54 Discussing Legacy of Dragonholt,  a precursor of sorts to Artisans of Splendent Vale

10:01 How Artisans of Splendent Vale was able to tell some new stories and expand on Legacy of Dragonholt

18:40 Talking about how the mechanics of Artisans of Splendent Vale represent the setting and themes

23:35 How did Artisans of Splendent Vale handle different design issues during its development?

35:10 What is the main throughline that holds Artisans of Splendent Vale together?

42:42 Discussing the co-op, programmed action game Quirky Circuits, another Nikki design.

49:10 Advice for getting started as a designer from Nikki

In this Episode

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