Unlocking Games

I previously co-hosted the Unlocking Games podcast.

It was a show about social impact games and how they provide a new way to explain the things you care about. In each episode, Brandon Carper and I looked at a game – what was it trying to accomplish? Did it work? Through the lenses of UX and training design, we poked and prodded.

The original site is no longer active, but the episodes live on. They’re available in the archives, or see the title list below.

  • Episode 1 – Life Is Strange
  • Episode 2 – Gone Home
  • Episode 3 – Experiential Learning and Text-Based Training in Mr Robot: Exfiltration
  • Episode 4 – Cooperative Learning Principles in Pandemic Legacy
  • Episode 5 – Onboarding in Super Mario Maker
  • Episode 6 – Communication Training via Witness
  • Episode 7 – Instructional Design in Papers, Please
  • Episode 8 – User Experience in Papers, Please
  • Episode 9 – Incentives and Emotional Impact in Papers, Please
  • Episode 10 – Managing Expectations for No Man’s Sky
  • Episode 11 – Metagaming and Knowledge Management
  • Episode 12 – User Testing and Moral Choices in the Bioshock Series
  • Episode 13 – Discovery Learning in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
  • Episode 14 – Adventure Games and Discovery Learning Gone Crazy
  • Episode 15 – Synthesizing and Salvaging Discovery Learning
  • Episode 16 – Accessibility is Better for Everyone
  • Episode 17 – The Power of Not Believing in Yourself – Part 1 (Self-efficacy and Dark Souls)
  • Episode 18 – The Power of Not Believing in Yourself: Part 2 (Self-efficacy and Bloodborne)
  • Episode 19 – Boom, Headshot!
  • Episode 20 – Putting Console Controllers on Your Resume
  • Episode 21 – Agents and Avatars in Final Fantasy XV
  • Episode 22 – Freezing Rain and Dysentery on the Voter Suppression Trail
  • Episode 23 – Naked in the Desert on the Migrant Trail
  • Episode 24 – Getting Punched by Interesting People in This War of Mine
  • Episode 25 – We Wanted to Be Chicago
  • Episode 26 – Being Big Brother in Orwell