052: Sailor Moon Sabrina Culyba • Ludoliminal

Listen now (50min) | Our heroes encounter Sabrina Culyba, a seasoned game designer and founder of the studio Ludoliminal. Culyba shares her journey from designing digital games to creating board games, emphasizing her passion for experience design. She speaks about her first published game, Diatoms, and imparts a crucial lesson: the importance of crafting memorable experiences, whether digital or analog. Culyba’s narrative includes nostalgic moments of her early gaming influences, such as Sailor Moon and the societal fears surrounding D&D, underlining the diverse paths and inspirations that shape a game designer’s career.

Read the transcript.

Things discussed on this episode:

  • 00:00 – Introduction to Sabrina Solba
  • 00:15 – Starting Ludoliminal
  • 00:37 – Collaborations and Team
  • 00:57 – Passion for UX and Playtesting
  • 01:35 – Early Gaming Memories
  • 02:32 – Journey into Game Design
  • 03:10 – Influence of Sailor Moon
  • 03:40 – Learning Programming and Web Development
  • 03:59 – Choosing a University
  • 04:49 – Reflecting on Dungeons and Dragons
  • 05:23 – Sailor Moon Reboot
  • 06:51 – The Role of UX in Game Design
  • 21:35 – Current Status and Future Plans for Diatoms
  • 31:01 – Plug
  • 32:01 – Deep Dive: Game Design and Storytelling
  • 33:19 – RPG Choices: Paragon or Renegade
  • 34:31 – Fantasy Preferences: High vs Low
  • 34:39 – Favorite Game Characters: Heroes and Villains
  • 36:27 – Overrated and Underrated Games
  • 37:54 – Cheat Codes and Fun Questions
  • 38:59 – Gaming Preferences and Personal Insights
  • 42:47 – Nostalgic Gaming Memories

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044: Fourth Season’s a Charm

Listen now (21 min) | Thought surely dead, our heroes return from the Outer Rim to kick off a new season of game-design interviews. Read the transcript.

Things discussed on this episode:

  • 00:34 – Game of the Year
  • 02:20 – Tim on Super Mario Brothers Wonder
  • 03:56 – Michael on Baldur’s Gate 3
  • 04:26 – Our Tiktok algorithms
  • 05:48 – What we’ve been playing
  • 06:42 – Tim on Dave The Diver
  • 08:50 – Thirst, our game!
  • 11:01 – What to expect from this season
  • 13:48 – What folks should follow

Support the show on Patreon!

Follow us on TikTok @designthinkinggames.
Subscribe on Twitch at DesignThinkingGames.

Send us stuff, contact us, get merch, news, and more at https://designthinkinggames.com/