#106 - Frank Lantz

About this episode

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/flantz">Frank Lantz</a> is a game designer and Director of the <a href="https://gamecenter.nyu.edu/">NYU Game Center</a>. He cofounded Area/Code Games and most recently released a game called <a href="http://www.franklantz.net/work/#/universal-paperclips/">Universal Paperclips </a>in which you’re an AI that makes paperclips.<br><br>Frank’s on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/flantz">@flantz</a> and his site is <a href="http://www.franklantz.net/">franklantz.net</a>.<br><br>The YC podcast is hosted by&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/craigcannon">Craig Cannon</a>.<br><br>***<br><br><b>Topics<br></b><br>00:27 - "Games are the aesthetic form of thinking and doing"<br><br>6:57 - VR skepticism<br><br>9:42 - Universal Paperclips<br><br>14:27 - Explaining games to non-gamers<br><br>20:12 - Competitive gaming<br><br>22:57 - Building life lessons into games<br><br>31:42 - Teaching game design<br><br>36:17 - Inspiration, hard work, and taste<br><br>39:17 - Darker sides of gaming culture<br><br>43:07 - The indie game market<br><br>45:27 - Unexpected trends in gaming<br><br>49:17 - Benedict Fritz asks - Frank you seem much more interested in chess, go, poker, and other games with a long history than most game designers. Where do you think this comes from?<br><br>52:12 - Esports<br><br>55:37 - Inventing sports<br><br>57:27 - Pokemon Go<br><br>1:00:32 - Difficulty in predicting successes in entertainment<br><br>1:03:17 - Frank's game recommendations<br><br>1:05:47 - @fakebalenciaga asks - Why Tonto?<br></p>