Hosted by Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland · 🇺🇸 US · EN · 118 episodes
Established thought leaders with verified media credentials.
Come along with Hannah and Evan in a living documentation of the game design process, from the first spark of an idea, to every disastrous surprise. It’s not an instruction manual, but a travel guide, with lots of unexpected stops along the way.
Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland hosts Design Doc, a arts show with 118 episodes published.
We're taking a short break to focus on finishing a game. See you back soon! Links Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/ajP36nzPb2 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun Website: https://
Evan and Hannah talk about two separate playtests—Evan’s playtest of the near-complete Escape from Wonderland, and Hannah’s playtest of the just-begun Seekers of the Thrice-Lost Crown. Both games went well, but surprises
Hannah and Evan sit down for a rapid design session for Escape from Wonderland. In 30 minutes, they design an entirely new snow-themed park zone, complete with a gun-wielding Santa. Turtlebun Links Discord: https://d
While Evan's away, Hannah reflects on the announcement that Hampshire College, an unconventional school founded in the 1970s, is closing its doors. It was flawed, idealistic, and not always what was promised. But it was
We've always struggled to juggle multiple projects at a time. Right now, finishing the design on Escape from Wonderland is the top priority. But we don't want to set aside every other game and dream. What would it take t
How many generations does it take to get into a canoe-making class? In this episode we go on a quest to redesign a queue system for a local craft school and quickly find that you cannot make a perfect queue without syste
A discussion about how to design a liminal zone in a TTRPG leaves us trapped in an in-between place. Episode mentions: r/backrooms House of Leaves (2000 - Horror novel by Mark Z. Danielewski) The Last Unicorn (1982 - Ani
In this episode, we talk fatigue. Is fatigue something to conquer, or is it a warning sign on the way to a physical and emotional crash? Evan is tired, but we’ve got strategies! After years of learning what the burnout c
Game design questions can be longer and more complex than their answers. In this episode, we initially set out to do a live-design session tackling an issue from our latest playtest, but discovered that describing the qu
Who designs the game? Is it the players, who make decisions in real time at the table? The GM, who’s at the ready to suggest ideas or dole out consequences? Or the designers, who… well… make the game? In this episode, we
Hannah watched 51 movies in 2025. Not all of them were helpful for game design, but there was inspiration to be found everywhere—in the form of left-behind robots, edgy existential planets, sci-fi noir, and Mother. Mothe
Sometimes a design problem can't be solved in any straightforward way. You need an epiphany! That can't be forced, but it can be encouraged. Hannah and Evan talk about the epiphanies that shaped their previous games and
As the year draws to a close we talk about New Year's resolutions. Hannah makes them every year, Evan does not. Hannah shares her elaborate system for setting goals of masteries, experiences, and skills. And together, we
Conventions are an opportunity for us to get our games in front of a bigger audience, and PAX Unplugged is our biggest show. The stakes feel high, and we have to balance our ambitious goals with practical preparations. I
Just a quick announcement that we'll be skipping a release cycle for the Thanksgiving holiday. See you back in two weeks with a new episode! In the meantime you might consider: Joining the Turtlebun Discord: https://disc
It's hard for us to make a hack that doesn't grow into a game of its own. In this episode, we talk about two playtests—one for a game variant, another for a new hack—and say what went well, what needs work, and how to ke
Endings are hard. The ending of a roleplaying game isn’t just the culmination of the story; it’s also when the themes and purpose of the game become clear. In this episode we talk about designing a conclusion that comes
Is Design Doc a game design podcast? A saga about the challenges of making art for a living? A never-ending field trip? In episode 101 we talk about how Design Doc began, what it became, and what we hope it could become.
We conclude our discussion of Ready Player One with an updated review of the movie. In pondering this mid movie, we leave no stone unturned... and no critically-acclaimed director forgiven. Come for the movie critique, s
We’re pulling an unaired episode from the archives this week! We talk about Ready Player One, the dystopian virtual-world novel that took the world by storm over a decade ago. We each completed the book independently, th
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Design Doc is hosted by Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland. The show is categorised under arts (design) and has published 118 episodes.
Design Doc has published 118 episodes.
Design Doc regularly covers arts, design, leisure. It sits in the arts category, with a design focus.
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