Designer Notes

In this episode, Soren interviews Xalavier Nelson, founder of Strange Scaffold and best known for his work on El Paso Elsewhere, Clickolding, and An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs. They discuss why he drew review screenshots using MS Paint, whether you should do the hard thing when making a game, and what’s a good price for eyeballs. This episode was recorded on March 9, 2026 and was engineered by Michael Hermes.

Soren Johnson, veteran designer of Civilization III and IV and founder of Mohawk Games, discusses his formative games and career. He explores why strategy games make history interactive, the creative possibilities of Pinball Construction Set, the economic brilliance of M.U.L.E., and the exploratory magic of Seven Cities of Gold. He also reflects on Alpha Centauri, Steam, Spore, and Old World.

Owen Mahoney, a veteran game executive who led Nexon through its IPO and a decade of operations. He traces free-to-play’s origins and how it reshaped design. He argues F2P was often misread as pure monetization. He explains shielding studios from quarterly market pressure and why smaller, iterative teams can spark big hits.

Seth Sivak, co-founder and former CEO of Proletariat behind World Zombination and Spellbreak, shares his journey from modding to building live-service multiplayer games. He talks about risky pivots, near-death studio moments, designing spell-driven combat, platform and monetization tradeoffs, and the decision to sell and join larger studios. Short, honest stories about shipping, scaling, and leading creative teams.

Charles Cecil, veteran game developer and Revolution Software co-founder known for Beneath a Steel Sky and Broken Sword. He recounts designing fair puzzles, the infamous goat puzzle, choices behind Templar and Mayan stories, shifts from 2D to 3D, the impact of digital distribution and App Store self-publishing, Kickstarter funding, and remastering classics while preserving their spirit.

Charles Cecil, veteran game developer and co-founder of Revolution Software known for Beneath a Steel Sky and Broken Sword. He recalls early hardware limits and building parser-based engines. He shares wild stories of shady tax schemes and publisher collapses. He explains puzzle philosophy, playtesting lessons, and how demos and PlayStation deals changed his career.

In this conversation, Paul Kilduff-Taylor, co-founder of Mode 7 and designer known for Frozen Synapse, shares insights from his indie game development journey. He discusses innovative design choices like simultaneous turns in gameplay and the evolution of Frozen Synapse from a Nintendo DS idea to a hit on Steam. Paul reflects on the challenges of balancing production values in Frozen Cortex and hints at his future plans for narrative-driven micro-RPGs. Expect a wealth of design wisdom and the ups and downs of the indie scene!

Tomislav Uzelac, a veteran developer known for creating the MP3 decoder for Winamp and the Unity of Command series, shares his journey from childhood tape trading to game design. He reflects on the unforeseen cultural impact of MP3s and his transition from software demos to strategy games. Tomislav discusses simplifying wargame mechanics for playability, his approach to balancing supply in Unity of Command, and the challenges of campaign snowballing. He also hints at future projects and emphasizes the emotional connection games foster with players.

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Patrice Desilets, best known for his work on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Assassin’s Creed series, and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. They discuss why they couldn’t put rewind into Assassin’s Creed, the problem with designing for a meeting, and why he needed to have players beat up the pope. This episode was recorded on April 15, 2025.

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Patrice Desilets, best known for his work on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Assassin’s Creed series, and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. They discuss being hired as the first developer at Ubisoft Montreal, the similarities between improv theater and game design, and why he wants to remove UI from his games. This episode was recorded on April 15, 2025.