Sports are games too, you know. In this episode, Marc, Matt, and Bubba sit down to talk about various sports rules and controversies and analyze them as game design. What are they optimizing for? Whose interests do they serve? What's the role of randomness or human judgement in making a sport great? What even makes sports great?
0:34 - Intro
1:32 - What's the goal when "designing" sports rules?
2:45 - What's the most viewer-friendly board game?
7:12 - Gold Drafting
13:24 - Playoff size
16:18 - Promotion/relegation
21:45 - Eliminating the kick return
24:39 - Conservative play in the NFL and elsewhere
29:18 - The designated hitter
31:50 - Changes to the actual baseball ball
36:03 - 3-point line
42:56 - Dunking on basketball
45:44 - Soccer's relatively simple rules
48:27 - Punishments and penalties in different sports
50:35 - Robots and video
54:22 - Disc golf penalty culture
1:03:10 - The 2 meter rule
1:11:41 - Back to robots
1:26:39 - The shift
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
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Ep 46: Abstract Games
Book Discussion: The Three Body Problem Part 2: The Dark Forest
Ep 45: A Conversation With Peter McPherson
Book Discussion: The Three Body Problem Part 1
Ep 44: Aesthetics
Ep 43: PAX Unplugged 2018
Ep 42: A Conversation With Isaac Shalev
Ep 41: Marc and Amber: Pseudo-Ludo-Autobiographies
Desk-side Talks With Marc #16: Looking For Feedback! Also, 3 Good Games
Ep 40: Area Majority -- Dominant Species, El Grande, and The Expanse
Discussion With Sam Wolkenhauer About Football Analytics
Ep 39: Root And Other Games
Ep 38: Randomness and Uncertainty
Desk-side Talks With Marc #15: This and That
Ep 37: VlaadaCast!
Desk-side Talks With Marc #14: Gen Con, Or Can't
Ep 36: Ameritrash
Exciting Patreon Update!
Ep 35: The Chillcast 2: The Chillcastening
Ep 34: Elegance
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