games
Hosted by Idle Thumbs · games · EN-US
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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Booking probability
34%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchWhy 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.
Designer Notes is hosted by Idle Thumbs. The show has published 98 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "Designer Notes 98: Xalavier Nelson - Part 1" (7 October 2026, 117 minutes), "Designer Notes 97: My Perfect Console - Soren Johnson" (2 September 2026, 97 minutes), and "Designer Notes 96: Owen Mahoney" (6 July 2026, 89 minutes).
Designer Notes publishes roughly monthly, with episodes averaging 141 minutes across 98 episodes.
Booking probability for Designer Notes is 34%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Designer Notes requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Designer Notes's contact route on record: verified email.
The strongest fits for Designer Notes are Software and IT Services & Software Development. Designer Notes has a games audience.
Idle Thumbs hosts Designer Notes, a games podcast with 98 episodes published.
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Designer Notes
In this episode, Soren interviews Xalavier Nelson, founder of Strange Scaffold and best known for his work on El Paso Elsewhere, Clickholding, and An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs. They discuss why he drew...
Designer Notes
Designer Notes is hosting a special guest episode from Simon Parkin’s excellent podcast My Perfect Console, in which he interviews Soren Johnson about his career and his favorite games. In each episode, Simon asks the...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
Designer Notes
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...
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