Designer Notes
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.
- Update frequency
- every 36 days
- Average duration
- 123 minutes
- Episodes
- 90
- Years Active
- 2014 - 2025
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 Ody…
Fri 25 Jul 2025
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 Ody…
01:44:27 |
Thu 03 Jul 2025
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 ack…
02:02:19 |
Sat 17 May 2025
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 …
Sat 19 Apr 2025
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 wor…
03:06:23 |
Mon 04 Nov 2024
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…
02:30:32 |
Sun 29 Sep 2024
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 …
02:39:32 |
Sat 31 Aug 2024
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…
01:54:05 |
Thu 06 Jun 2024
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…
01:53:26 |
Mon 06 May 2024
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…
03:13:37 |
Thu 11 Apr 2024
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 m…
02:42:26 |
Tue 05 Dec 2023
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…
02:21:37 |
Mon 09 Oct 2023
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 journalis…
02:31:12 |
Mon 25 Sep 2023
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 Co…
03:08:30 |
Mon 14 Aug 2023
Designer Notes 76: Tanya Short
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Tanya Short, co-founder of Kitfox Games and best known for her work on Moon Hunters and Boyfriend Dungeon. They discuss why her parents had to …
02:44:04 |
Fri 23 Jun 2023
Designer Notes 75: Moonbreaker
In this episode, Soren and Leyla interview veteran game designer Charlie Cleveland, founder of Unknown Worlds and best known for his work on Natural Selection and Subnautica. They discuss why Moonbre…
01:46:37 |
Wed 03 May 2023
Designer Notes 74: Charlie Cleveland
In this episode, Soren and Leyla interview veteran game designer Charlie Cleveland, founder of Unknown Worlds and best known for his work on Natural Selection and Subnautica. They discuss why Charlie…
03:14:01 |
Thu 13 Apr 2023
Designer Notes 73: Liz England
In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Liz England, best known for her work on Scribblenauts, Sunset Overdrive, and Watch Dogs: Legion. They discuss how she organized her mom’s RPG i…
02:57:50 |
Wed 15 Mar 2023
Designer Notes 72: Harvey Smith
In this episode, Soren and Leyla interview veteran game designer Harvey Smith, best known for his work on the Deus Ex and Dishonored series. They discuss what TDA stood for at Origin, if Dishonored i…
02:38:58 |
Tue 10 Jan 2023
Designer Notes 71: Matthew Davis
In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Matthew Davis, co-founder of Subset Games and best known for his work on FTL and Into the Breach. They discuss whether FTL is a roguelike,…
02:50:13 |
Tue 29 Nov 2022
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