This week Jon and Dirk are joined by Jesse Howard, an academic turned part-time tabletop designer - at age 40. They delve into Jesse’s ongoing journey to develop ‘Ploy’, a promising and innovative abstract card game. The design of Ploy is a very interesting case, as Jesse began with mechanics and only later added theming, which is the opposite approach of our hosts. Along the way, the group explores what they believe to be THE key to game development success.