Designer Notes

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Why do we make games? Every designer has a different and very personal answer to that question. Soren Johnson, founder of Mohawk Games, sits down with noted designers to find out by examining their careers as a whole.

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96 episodes
Updated July 6

Episodes96

Newest first

July 6 · 1 hr 29 min
Designer Notes 96: Owen Mahoney
In this episode, Soren interviews Owen Mahoney, who served first as the CFO and then as the CEO of Nexon. They discuss what the transition to free-to-play meant for game design, how to make sure your company has the right type of shareholders, and how clo
June 6 · 2 hr 59 min
Designer Notes 95: Seth Sivak
In this episode, Soren interviews Seth Sivak, best known as the co-founder and CEO of Proletariat, makers of World Zombination and Spellbreak. They discuss how he invited hover doobers, the many times Proletariat almost went out of business, and whether f
May 4 · 3 hr 33 min
Designer Notes 94: Charles Cecil - Part 2
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Charles Cecil, co-founder of Revolution Software and best known for his work on Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series. They discuss why he made a game about the Knights Templar, how digita
April 20 · 1 hr 56 min
Designer Notes 93: Charles Cecil - Part 1
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Charles Cecil, co-founder of Revolution Software and best known for his work on Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series. They discuss various dodgy tax avoidance schemes, what the Bitmap Bro
Dec 26, 2025 · 3 hr 8 min
Designer Notes 92: Paul Kilduff-Taylor
In this episode, Soren interviews Paul Kilduff-Taylor, best known for his work on Frozen Cortex and the Frozen Synapse series. They discuss whether a sword-fighting game should be controlled with a mouse, why Frozen Synapse uses simultaneous turns, and ho
Nov 18, 2025 · 2 hr 27 min
Designer Notes 91: Tomislav Uzelac
In this episode, Soren interviews Tomislav Uzelac, best known for his work on the Unity of Command series. They discuss how he taped his first games from a radio station, building the MP3 encoder for Winamp, and whether there is a solution to snowballing
Jul 25, 2025 · 1 hr 42 min
Designer Notes 90: Patrice Desilets - Part 2
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
Jul 3, 2025 · 1 hr 44 min
Designer Notes 89: Patrice Desilets - Part 1
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
May 17, 2025 · 2 hr 2 min
Designer Notes 88: Caroline Marchal - Part 2
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Caroline Marchal, best known for her work on Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, and As Dusk Falls. They discuss how much a narrative game should acknowledge that it is a game, if a 50/50 player split for
Apr 19, 2025 · 1 hr 53 min
Designer Notes 87: Caroline Marchal - Part 1
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Caroline Marchal, best known for her work on Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, and As Dusk Falls. They discuss whether narrative games should show all paths to players, should we care if characters walk
Nov 4, 2024 · 3 hr 6 min
Designer Notes 86: Anton Strenger
In this episode, Soren interviews Anton Strenger, best known for his work on Civilization 5, Civilization 6, and Beyond Earth. They discuss how he ended up paying Carnegie Mellon so that he could work at Firaxis, why there aren’t many Great People after
Sep 29, 2024 · 2 hr 30 min
Designer Notes 85: Zach Barth - Part 2
In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Zach Barth, best known for his puzzle games, including SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Shenzhen I/O, and Opus Magnum. They discuss why he made a game about assembly language, how he guaranteed that Fo
Aug 31, 2024 · 2 hr 39 min
Designer Notes 84: Zach Barth - Part 1
In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Zach Barth, best known for his puzzle games, including SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Shenzhen I/O, and Opus Magnum. They discuss why he never originally wanted to make money on his games, why puzzle
Jun 6, 2024 · 1 hr 54 min
Designer Notes 83: Mitch Lasky - Part 2
In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the industry’s business models
May 6, 2024 · 1 hr 53 min
Designer Notes 82: Mitch Lasky - Part 1
In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the Doom shareware model was a p
Apr 11, 2024 · 3 hr 13 min
Designer Notes 81: Jake Solomon - Part 2
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Jake Solomon, best known for the XCOM reboot and Midnight Suns. They discuss his first, failed attempt at XCOM, why 75% does not mean 75%, and how many copies of XCOM he sold at Power Gamer in Glen
Dec 5, 2023 · 2 hr 42 min
Designer Notes 80: Jake Solomon - Part 1
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Jake Solomon, best known for the XCOM reboot and Midnight Suns. They discuss how much money he had to give back to Accenture, how to animate multiple units at the same time, and why Sid suddenly sta
Oct 9, 2023 · 2 hr 21 min
Designer Notes 79: Trent Kusters - Part 2
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Trent Kusters, co-founder of League of Geeks, best known for the strategy game Armello. They discuss why Armello has so much output randomness, whether they fudge the odds, and how to turn off a Gam
Sep 25, 2023 · 2 hr 31 min
Designer Notes 78: Trent Kusters - Part 1
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Trent Kusters, co-founder of League of Geeks, best known for the strategy game Armello. They discuss how he faked his way into games journalism, how to sneak risky ideas past licensors, and how to m
Aug 14, 2023 · 3 hr 8 min
Designer Notes 77: Cole Wehrle
In this episode, Soren interviews tabletop designer Cole Wehrle, best known for his work on Root, Oath, Pax Pamir, and John Company. They discuss whether John Company is satire, how the East India Company was like QWOP, and the importance of German postal