Podcasts about Game design

Game development process of designing the content and rules of a game

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Latest podcast episodes about Game design

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1350: Marvel Super Heroes Design

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2026 30:12


In this episode, I talk about designing Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1351: My Trip to LA in 2026

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2026 29:43


I just returned from a trip to Los Angeles, California, where I went to a red carpet event celebrating Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes. I then spent three days doing interviews about the set at Summer Game Fest. This podcast talks all about that trip.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1352: All the Mood Swings Cards, Part 4

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2026 31:22


This episode is part four of a five-part series. In it, I go through every single Mood Swings card, in collectible number order, and talk about how they were designed, including many of the changes they went through and some strategic tips on how to play them. Note: This is a bonus episode for this week.

Nice Games Club
Vehicle Design (with Kris Roberts)

Nice Games Club

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2026


Seatbelts, everyone! This week the Nice Hosts talk vehicles, which apparently means more than just cars. That's good news because none of them know much about cars (hopefully Nice Guest and vehicle specialist, Kris Roberts doesn't notice). So pile on in and buckle up: we're going to talk about the challenges of capturing the feel of a vehicle with video game inputs, what a solid vehicle system needs at a minimum, and the hobbyist racing scene.Vehicle DesignGame DesignProductionProgrammingKris shared a couple photos of his sports car with us.His car, at another angle.Kris Roberts's Website - Kris RobertsSim Racing Streamers

two & a half gamers

AI creatives just hit a new level and the most surprising convert is Playrix. After years of holding back, they've gone all-in on AI across Township, Gardenscapes, and Homescapes. Matej, Jakub, Felix (and Freddie the robot) review 100+ AI creatives to figure out what's actually working right now.The episode is a guided tour through the current AI creative landscape: AppQuantum's Golden Goblins running AI influencers from a creative team scaling toward 100 people, Playrix's full-AI pivot with the recurring "there are no ads in Township" concept (and Felix's repeated insistence that ads are coming anyway), the "getting slapped" husband concept that has spread across the entire 4X category in a single month, freezing-families intros rendered at near-Pixar quality, the pajama guy who quietly took over Last War / Dark War creatives, and the broader collapse of creative production timelines from a week to a single day. It's the clearest snapshot yet of how fast AI creative production is moving — and how quickly a single winning concept now propagates across an entire genre.The throughline: this isn't about whether AI creatives work anymore. It's about who's iterating fastest.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — Freddie the robot judges the AI creatives02:30 AppQuantum's Golden Goblins and the 100-person creative team04:00 Century portfolio downscaling AI (and near-Pixar quality)07:30 Playrix goes full AI across all three games08:00 "There are no ads in Township" — the recurring concept16:30 Freezing Families gets the full AI intro treatment22:20 The "getting slapped" concept takes over all of Forex33:30 Top Heroes, anime quality, and where this is heading━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━-PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultant⁠https://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultant⁠https://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultant⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me---------------------------------------If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

The Geekcentric Podcast
Behind The Geeks | Casey Baron on Why Games Belong at Tribeca

The Geekcentric Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2026 49:33


On this special Behind The Geeks, Justin and Nate sit down with Casey Baron, Senior Programmer for Tribeca Games, to discuss the growing role of video games within the Tribeca Festival and the evolving relationship between games and film. Casey shares what it actually means to be a Senior Programmer, the games that shaped his perspective on interactive storytelling, and how his experience across both film and games influences the way he approaches the festival. We also explore the role games play in the future of storytelling, the recognition of independent game developers, and which titles attendees should keep an eye on at this year's Tribeca Festival. Plus, Casey joins us for our signature “Whatchya?” segment to share what he's currently watching, playing, and recommending. Attending Tribeca this year? Be sure to visit the free, public Games Gallery at Pier 57 from June 10–14, where you'll have the chance to play exclusive demos of exciting unreleased games featured as part of the Tribeca Games Program. Learn more about Tribeca Games:https://tribecafilm.com/festival/games Learn more about the Tribeca Storytelling Summit:https://tribecafilm.com/storytellingsummit Explore the Tribeca Festival:https://tribecafilm.com/festival Follow Tribeca:https://www.instagram.com/tribeca Check out Geekcentric onYouTube | Instagram | Twitter | TikTokJoin the Geekcentric Discord HEREFollow Eatcentric - Same geeks. New Eats

Epic Adventure
You Heard it Here Last S4E12

Epic Adventure

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2026 11:04


Send us Fan MailWelcome to you heard it here last where we talk about news, you've already heard.https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06spb8wSeveral years ago, I stumbled across one of the greatest podcasts I have ever listened to. It was called the Lovecraft Investigations and it started with the Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I'm a huge fan of Call of Cthulhu and I've pretty much read all of Lovecraft over the years. Some good, some bad, but all of it steeped in the myth and mythos. Lovecraft was very good at atmosphere.This podcast was perfect. It felt like a real investigative podcast and with BBC 4 backing it the production quality was incredible. Over the next several years the Lovecraft Investigation podcast continued to slowly put out some fantastic episodes that really felt like you were in a Call of Cthulhu game. Then in 2023 it just stopped.Not a big surprise because podcasts stop all the time. But I was generally bummed.But good news does come to those that wait.https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/julian-simpson/lovecraft-investigations-the-call-of-cthulhu?ref=bk-ads-ga-p-20&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23860975866&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz9_QBhD_ARIsADnSCfDc7zHCkZjWINm47NNyZOau7v-un5Z63IHEX0AHXiH66Pn_noXAb-AaAokFEALw_wcBLovecraft Investigations is coming out with Season 5. The Call of Cthulhu. This time they are going through Backerkit and all the original audio cast is joining the new season. They are offering digital downloads of the entire audio play as well as physical copies and extra books and items to make the entire thing special. If you haven't listened to the original BBC4 podcast do yourself a favor and do it, right now, then come back to the episode. But even if you don't want to go back and dive in you don't have to because the new Season 5 is designed for people who haven't heard any of the old episodes. I am stoked and yes I've already pledged.Christina, what do you think of audio plays like this? Is there a place for them in today's CGI world?[Kick to Christina]What about you Mike, did you ever listen to the original Lovecraft Investigations?[Kick to Mike]Up next, we have more Conan!https://ttrpgfans.com/new-conan-the-barbarian-rpg-books/That's right, our favorite…at least for now…roleplaying game Conan the Hyborian age has new sourcebooks coming to Kickstarter. The campaign hasn't launched yet, but it looks like we will get source books for Tortage which is a haven for pirates, thieves and smugglers in the Baracha Isles and Zamora the ancient land of dark sorcery and the home to the City of Thieves. Both of these settings I managed to avoid in our first campaign of Conan so as soon as I get my hands on these source books, we will visit Heliope, Drebu and the rest of our Hyborian friends again.Christina, what do you think about Monolith putting out sourcebooks for Conan?[Kick to Christina]Mike, this has always been your issue with new games, not enough lore. Does this new sourcebook get you pumped for more Conan?[Kick to Mike]And there you have it, all the news, you've already heard.

two & a half gamers

Block Out by Grand Games is scaling to $300K/day — and it doesn't even have an Android version yet. It's about to become Grand Games' biggest title, overtaking Magic Sword, and the whole thing is a masterclass in perfect execution over original innovation.Matej Lančarič, Jakub Remiar, and Felix Braberg break down Block Out, the deterministic sort puzzler that's quietly become one of the most aggressive scalers in mobile. The conversation covers how Block Out's iteration is now out-earning the game it borrowed from (Color Block Jam), the level-design difference that makes it more casual and more approachable, the UA upgrade that Jakub estimates at 500%+ over Grand's earlier games, the iOS-only / US-only / single-AppLovin-campaign soft launch playbook (the same one Pixel Flow used), the blended-ROAS interstitial strategy driving 32-36% ad revenue, and the 1,000+ creatives and 260 playables now powering the scale. Plus the bigger Grand Games story: a $70M raise, $105M+ total funding, and a template machine that takes proven concepts and executes them better than anyone.The thesis, straight from the episode: Grand Games doesn't do giant innovation. They do perfect execution.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 the 500% UA upgrade03:50 The numbers — $300K/day, 140K downloads/day, iOS only06:40 The Grand Games template — perfect execution, not innovation10:25 What a deterministic sort puzzler actually is13:25 Block Out vs Color Block Jam — the level design difference20:50 The soft launch playbook — one AppLovin campaign, US only21:45 The ad question — blended ROAS and 32-36% ad revenue26:30 The UA breakdown — Mintegral, 1,000 creatives, 260 playables--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultant⁠https://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultant⁠https://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultant⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me---------------------------------------If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej LancaricDo you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1349: All the Mood Swings Cards, Part 3

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2026 31:10


This episode is part three of a five-part series. In it, I go through every single Mood Swings card, in collectible number order, and talk about how they were designed, including many of the changes they went through and some strategic tips on how to play them. Note: This is a bonus episode for this week.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1348: High Mana Value Spells, Part 2

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2026 31:23


This episode is part two of a two-part series where I talk about the designs of all the cards that have a mana value of 11 or higher.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1347: High Mana Value Spells, Part 1

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2026 29:53


This episode is part one of a two-part series where I talk about the designs of all the cards that have a mana value of 11 or higher.

Level Up Your Gaming: Tabletop RPG Podcast

In today's episode we talk about letting your players cook.  What does it mean to let your players cook?  Why should you let them cook?  What can letting your players cook do your game?  We give you our thoughts and answer all these questions and more in today's episode.Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.comor Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGamingPlease leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast.

two & a half gamers

Two rewarded UA platforms just became one — and the integration is already live, not "coming in six months." Recorded live at MAU Vegas, this is the inside story of Mistplay's acquisition of MyChips and the launch of the Mistplay Audience Network.Matej Lančarič sits down with Massimo (founder of MAF / MyChips, now scaling the international business at Mistplay) and Mark Bearman (GM, Loyalty Play at Mistplay) for the third Mistplay MAU conversation. They unpack how the deal actually came together (it started with a Slack message asking "who is MAF?"), why MyChips wasn't even looking to sell, how a bootstrapped 70-person company with just 7 engineers moved fast enough to be operational on day one, the near-zero overlap between the two businesses (MyChips strong in APAC/EMEA supply, Mistplay strong in North America demand), and what consolidation in the rewarded space actually looks like now that the first major deal has closed.The North Star, stated plainly: be the undisputed number-one rewarded UA platform by MAU 2027.⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 The Mistplay Audience Network — already live01:25 Meet Massimo (MAF) and Mark (Loyalty Play)02:25 "Who is MAF?" — the Slack message that started it03:17 Why Mistplay, why now — the billion-dollar question05:24 The geo fit — APAC supply meets North America demand08:03 How the demand and supply integration actually works11:50 Scaling without losing quality — fraud, engagement, price16:46 The consolidation question — and why only Mistplay has moved19:45 MAU 2027 — the number-one rewarded platform North Star

The Game Design Round Table
Listener Questions, AI and the Future of Game Design

The Game Design Round Table

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2026 56:11


Host Dirk Knemeyer, a veteran in user experience (UX) design, is joined by co-host David Heron, a long-time game industry professional known for his work across major console evolutions and mobile free-to-play titles. In this episode, they dive deep into the rapidly evolving landscape of AI in game development, sparked by listener questions from their Discord community. The discussion explores the technical hurdles of AI memory and "drift," the ethical debates surrounding AI-generated art versus code, and the historical parallels between current AI fears and past technological shifts like the Luddite movement. Whether you're a developer or a curious player, this conversation offers a blunt, expert look at how AI might either disrupt or democratize the craft of making games

Epic Adventure
Twilight 2K Review

Epic Adventure

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2026 51:15


Send us Fan MailIt started with a simple text to the Thursday Night Gaming Group.“Hey, Free League's Twilight 2000 has a life path character creation system. Anybody interested in playing it?”And I have to say, of all the texts and emails I have sent to the group over the years that one got a lot of attention and the answer was an overwhelming yes.I had played the original Twilight 2000 as a teenager and I liked it. Our group had basically tried to recreate the movie “Red Dawn” with it and it had been fun, but we didn't dive heavily into the post-apocalyptic version of the game. We stayed mostly to the cinematic and war genre so as teen's it was perfect.Put this time I wanted to dive into some of those basic questions I find myself playing around with in roleplaying. “What does it mean to be human?” “What does it mean to be a hero?”“What does sacrifice look like?”So, I grab some ideas and we created characters and in January of 2026 we started playing.Fast Forward 5 months and I think we have played it enough to get a good feel for the game, the mechanics, and the setting.So, on this episode we are going to do a review of Twilight 2000 4th Edition by Free League.Let's start with general overall feelings about the game?Christina what are your overall thoughts?

two & a half gamers

Most teams treat influencer marketing as a series of one-off campaigns. The ones who actually scale treat it as a system — one continuous testing framework that runs from your first nano creator all the way to a Mr. Beast integration.Marion Balinoff returns for episode two of the influencer marketing series, going one level deeper than the foundations. Drawing on 12 years building influencer programs across 15+ studios and eight-figure budgets, this episode lays out the complete testing framework: the three-phase path from knowledge-gathering to scaling, how to read the vertical assessment table, the CPM/conversion/LTV diagnostic for fixing what's broken, the gift-code and giveaway mechanics that move conversion without killing LTV, and the custom in-game integrations that lifted conversion 437% on average. If you watched episode one, this is where the foundations become a machine.The single most important mindset shift: you're not buying reach, you're buying learnings. Volume isn't the goal - data density is.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Why influencer marketing is a system, not a campaign01:30 The three-phase framework: gather, optimize, scale02:40 Influencer size — why 8% of channels drive 63% of views03:40 The vertical assessment table and the three thresholds06:00 The CPM / conversion / LTV diagnostic08:30 Gift codes that doubled ROI (and the starter pack that killed LTV)13:00 Custom in-game integrations — 437% conversion lift16:30 The five key takeaways and the 12-month timeline

Know Direction Network
Game Design Unboxed 142 – Diplomacy: The Golden Blade

Know Direction Network

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2026


In episode 142 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with freelance game designer Rosco Schock about his first published game, Diplomacy: The Golden Blade, released by Renegade Game Studios. The conversation focuses on the challenge of translating the “feel” of a classic, beloved strategy game into a streamlined and more approachable card game experience. We […]

The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook
Housemarque's Gregory Louden on Saros, Narrative and Game Design

The AIAS Game Maker's Notebook

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2026 105:55


Trent Kusters chats with Gregory Louden, Creative Director behind Housemarque's latest dark sci-fi bullet-ballet, Saros. Together they discuss his early work in film with directors such as Alfonso Cuarón and Ridley Scott; transitioning into games and his path from VFX, to narrative, and ultimately direction; creating a spiritual successor to Returnal while developing a brand new IP; focusing on challenging but rewarding gameplay; and building a narrative around the roguelike gameplay.  This episode is supported by Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

two & a half gamers

Voodoo wasn't supposed to be making this kind of money. For years their entire portfolio sat at sub-$100K/day games — Mob Control, Cap Heroes, the usual hyper-casual treadmill. Then something switched in early 2026 and now they're suddenly running at $1M/day in IAP across the portfolio. The flag-bearer for the new era is Marble Sort.We dig into Marble Sort by Voodoo — a sort-category puzzler that scaled from launch in February to $200K/day in IAP plus $52K/day in ad revenue by March. The conversation covers the sorter-category explosion (Pixel Flow's Scopely acquisition for close to $1B set the precedent), the 800-1,100 creatives running on AppLovin and what they tell us about Voodoo's creative production discipline, the level-design and APS-curve methodology that Tripledot-style studios actually use, why this game could be just a mini-game inside Royal Match (and why that matters), and the bigger story underneath: Voodoo just launched a mid-core PvP studio led by ex-Kameli Games French founders, signaling a serious IPO push in the next 1-2 years.If you want to understand the Voodoo renaissance — or just figure out why Jakub keeps insisting "the sort category is the new hot shit" — this is the episode.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — Voodoo is suddenly doing $1M/day in IAP02:24 The sorter category is the new hot shit (and why)05:36 The Voodoo portfolio renaissance — Castle Clashers + Marble Sort08:56 Walking the game — sorting mechanics, level curve, no live-ops yet13:40 The level design metrics — APS curve, booster win ratio17:38 32% ad revenue + $52K/day = roughly $250K/day total19:59 800-1,100 creatives in 30 days — AI + gameplay + AppLovin altered videos28:33 Voodoo's new mid-core PvP studio + the IPO setup--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠Podcast: Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SAChapters---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultant⁠https://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultant⁠https://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultant⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

1-800-BJJ-HELP
#186 Max Bickerton: CLA, Coaching Injana Goodman to Winning ADCC Trials, Game Design for Mount/Back and More

1-800-BJJ-HELP

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2026 66:29 Transcription Available


In this episode we chat with Max Bickerton, Head coach of Grapple Collective. We talk about Injana Goodman's journey from a purple belt in 2023 to winning ADCC Trials in 2026, CLA, how Max thinks about mount and back in grappling, and more. Hope you enjoy! Download Sherpa, the free AI-powered journaling app for athletes. Join the convo with Josh on Discord here.Use the code "BJJHELP" for 50% off your first month on Jake's Outlier Database to study match footage, get links to resources, and more.Use code “BJJHELP” at submeta.io to try your first month for only $8!

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1346: All the Mood Swings Cards, Part 2

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2026 31:03


This episode is part two of a five-part series. In it, I go through every single Mood Swings card, in collectible number order, and talk about how they were designed, including many of the changes they went through and some strategic tips on how to play them. Note: This is a bonus episode for this week.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

In this episode, I talk about the history of one of Magic's greatest mechanics, landfall.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

In this episode, I talk about the pros and cons of the depth of Magic's gameplay.

Nice Games Club
Dark Patterns (with Sam Liberty)

Nice Games Club

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2026


Your nice hosts have talked a lot over the years about exploitative game design, and this week we brought in an expert on gamification to lay out some of the dark patterns in games that take players' money and time via deceptive framing and UX.https://samliberty.comSam Liberty - MediumSam Liberty - LinkedInDark PatternsGame DesignWhy “Addictive” Gameplay Should Never Be The Goal - Lydia Symchych, ELB LearningHEXAD FrameworkAddiction by Design - Natasha Dow SchüllTiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything - BJ FoggHow to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be - Katy MilkmanHow dating apps weaponized loneliness against their users - Sam Liberty

two & a half gamers

One guy. Five helpers. $30 million a year in revenue. 97% profit margin. Zero UA. 700 million lifetime downloads. The most successful solo developer in mobile gaming history is Swedish and you've probably never heard of him.Matej Lančarič, Jakub Remiar, and Felix Braberg return with another One Man Wonder episode — this time on Robert Topala (RobTop Games) and Geometry Dash. The game launched in 2013 as a premium $1.99 title, spawned a free-to-play Lite version, and has been compounding ever since. Active users just hit an all-time high of 10 million DAU — double where they were in October last year. Daily revenue is $75K, with 2025 trending toward $27M after a record $33M in 2024.The most uncomfortable part isn't the revenue. It's that Topala has literally one UA creative running, his entire growth engine is organic, and his profit margin has stayed between 93% and 97% every single year since 2015. He's still in Sweden paying full Swedish tax because he can't be bothered to relocate. The lesson for everyone else? Either build something so good that creators on TikTok and YouTube market it for free for a decade — or accept that you'll never operate at this margin profile.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — $27.4M revenue, one employee02:32 One Man Wonder #N — meet Robert Topala from Sweden05:18 All-time-high 10M DAU and the growth curve doubling14:32 Ad revenue breakdown: $75K/day total revenue16:35 The Swedish financial filings — 93-97% profit margin since 201520:12 How AppLovin mediation 3x'd revenue from 2022 to 202422:41 Third biggest platformer by downloads — just one person26:34 TikTok and YouTube as the real UA engine--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠#mobilegaming #useracquisition #gamedesign #geometrydash #robtop #onemanwonder #f2p #geometrydashshowcase Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultant⁠https://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultant⁠https://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultant⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

Epic Adventure
You Heard it Here Last S4E11

Epic Adventure

Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2026 15:31


Send us Fan MailWelcome to you heard it here last where we talk about news, you've already heard.https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-beyond-executives-explain-why-subscribers-cant-share-drops-content.719058/Recently D&D Beyond has started providing Drops for their online subscriber-based system for releasing Dungeons and Dragons Material. The problem is, the new Drops, which include maps, characters, and premade encounters are not shareable. So even though D&D Beyond members have paid for Master Tier Access which runs around 55 bucks a year and is designed to allow you to share material…you can't.D&D Beyond says they are doing this to ensure that creators get paid, but isn't that the companies job? And if you tell people they are paying for a service like the Master Tier that allows sharing and then turn around and don't allow sharing that seems a little shady to me…but it is Hasbro so it tracks.I think the real question I have here for the gang is this. In the digital age where everything is sold online and no one owns books anymore…how are creators going to get paid.Christina, let's start with you.Kick to ChristinaMike, put your business and tech hat on. What are the options?Kick to MikeNext up we have another Elric TTRPG on the horizon.https://www.enworld.org/threads/theres-another-official-elric-rpg-in-the-works-this-one-from-free-league.719041/It's cool to see Elric get some love lately. I mean the Witcher straight up stole most of it's esthetic and even some of its story from the Elric saga so it's not like he's been out of the public consciousness…but I like seeing companies turn back to a foundational fantasy character like that. The fact that he's a very complex character is just all the more appealing to me.But just like my last article, Elric isn't what I want to talk about.What I want to ask you is Free League becoming the new Asmodee?Let's start with you MikeKick to MikeChristina, I know you are a fan of Free League, is it good or bad that they are grabbing up all the IPs right now?Kick to ChristinaAnd there you have it, all the news you've already heard.

two & a half gamers

MAU Vegas 2026 is over, the biggest booths in mobile gaming, and a single conversation dominating every panel and corridor: AI. Specifically, what happens when AI creatives cut your CPI in half.Matej Lančarič and Jakub Remiar catch Felix Braberg up on what he missed while taking care of his baby. The 2.5 Gamers Gaming Summit kicked off Tuesday with ~100 attendees (roughly 10x the next-biggest competing summit), Christina Larionova from the Last War / Whiteout Survival team shared CPI and ROAS data showing AI creatives are literally half the cost of human-made ones, AppLovin had the biggest booth and announced Pixel Portal, UA financing went fully mainstream (per Jeff at PVX Partners), CTV is exploding, and retention is now openly being talked about as "the new UA" — partly thanks to Mistplay's Mychips acquisition.If you couldn't make it to Vegas, this is the catch-up. And if you weren't already planning Bellagio 2027 (May 4-6), make yourself available.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — Bellagio 2027, why you have to be there02:32 Felix missed MAU + the 2.5 Gamers Summit's 10x outperformance04:31 "MAU is the new GDC" — Jeff from PVX nailed the framing06:23 The standout talks: Nebo, Christina, Marion, Katja08:55 AI is everywhere — 70% of creatives are now AI-generated13:24 AppLovin's biggest booth + Pixel Portal announcement15:38 CTV explosion: TV Scientific, Vibe, Roku, Pinterest20:01 Bellagio 2027 + closing thoughts on what's coming━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Tabletop Games Blog
Intentional Experience - designer intent and player experience (Topic Discussion)

Tabletop Games Blog

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2026 10:36


Designers don't like it when players criticise their board game, and the response often is that the game was intentionally designed that way. Players complain that a strategy feels unfair, a mechanism is frustrating, or a game simply isn't very clear. Designers reply that that just misses the point. Similar disagreements exist in films, novels, and art, yet board games seem to have them more often, and they are often more personal. Part of the reason may be that board games are not passive experiences. Players are not simply watching events unfold, but instead are interpreting rules and shaping the experience themselves every time the game hits the table.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/05/26/intentional-experience-designer-intent-and-player-experience-topic-discussion/Useful LinksDune review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/02/08/dune-saturday-review/BGG article The Design Process by Gerry Paquette: https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/550/blogpost/2529/the-design-processWhat is Player Experience?: https://bg-px.com/what-is-player-experience/UX in board game design by Jason Kogan: https://uxdesign.cc/ux-in-board-game-design-97bfcdb1d581Perception vs Reality in Game Design by Joseph Z Chen: https://fantastic-factories.medium.com/perception-vs-reality-in-game-design-67181c0e6b0eMusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Music: "Inspirational Flight", "Documentary Soundtrack" and "Success" by AShamaluevMusic.Website: https://www.ashamaluevmusic.comSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Photo by Daman IAm on Unsplash)

two & a half gamers

AppQuantum's Golden Goblins is five years old and still dropping new creatives nobody else is matching. Magic Sword is running 5,000+ new playables per month. Match Villains just flipped the "save the king" formula and is converting harder than ever. And AI creatives are now indistinguishable from human ones in roughly half of the libraries we looked at.Matej Lančarič is joined by Felix Braberg and John Wright (Playable Maker, sitting in for Jakub) to walk through Sensor Tower's April creative trends and figure out what's actually winning right now. The conversation covers the Golden Goblins production machine and why they're still using gates (yes, gates), Match Villains flipping the king-rescue formula into peasant-rescue, the AI invasion of creative libraries, why near-death experience hooks are showing up everywhere, the $40 vs $10 CPI gap between 4X and idle arcade creatives, the brutal volume race (Magic Sword 5K, Royal Match only 300), and the 80/20 iteration rule that separates winners from everyone else.If you ship creatives every week and want to know what's actually working in April 2026, this is the episode.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — "what signals do you look for anymore?"02:14 Golden Goblins is still dropping new stuff (and using gates)09:13 The 5,000 creatives per month volume race13:55 The 80/20 rule — iteration beats new concepts21:00 "Save the Peasants" — Match Villains flips the king formula30:40 The Royal Match Apple billion-dollar problem35:30 AI creatives are now 50% of some libraries39:13 The $40 vs $10 CPI gap and the Tasty Travels playbook━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠Special guest: John WrightJoin our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-3bckldvr8-8PXvzciMWdheOzED9hq0SA---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultant⁠https://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultant⁠https://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultant⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me---------------------------------------If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

Knoxville Game Design
Game Passwords – Knox Game Design, May 2026

Knoxville Game Design

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2026 48:03


History of game passwords for the 8-bit NES video game system console from the 1980’s. Pros and Cons for password systems. Design considerations for a password system. How passwords are generated in Mega Man 2. Method for generating passwords in Metroid. How powerups, boss status, game time, and starting position is converted from bits and … Continue reading Game Passwords – Knox Game Design, May 2026 →

two & a half gamers

Has AppLovin been fingerprinting iOS users all along? A white-hat hacker says yes — and they cracked the mediation cipher to prove it.Felix Braberg breaks down the three biggest mobile gaming stories from the week ending May 22, 2026. Sensor Tower acquired App Magic to build out their SMB offering and consolidate market intelligence even further. A white-hat hacker published a detailed breakdown of AppLovin's mediation cipher, claiming 50+ device parameters get extracted per ad call across 12+ downstream networks — effectively recreating deterministic IDFA-level tracking even when users deny ATT. And Embracer wrote down their mobile business by $192M after divesting Easybrain to MiniClip for $1.2B last year, with the market now pricing in another major acquisition.The cipher story is the spicy one. If confirmed, it explains why iOS performance has been so strong post-ATT — and it sets up a potential antitrust collision course because Apple's own ad business would be exempt from any policing they did against everyone else.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — the cipher and what gets extracted00:30 Sensor Tower acquires App Magic for SMB market03:00 White hat hacker cracks AppLovin's mediation cipher05:30 What 50 device parameters means for ATT07:00 The Apple antitrust collision course08:00 Embracer writes down mobile arm by $192M09:30 Why the market expects another Embracer acquisition━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1341: The Phyrexian War Arc

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2026 29:47


In this episode, I talk about putting together the larger story arc of the Phyrexian War storyline from Throne of Eldraine through March of the Machine.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

What is "the rule"? Why does Magic have it? (It didn't always.)

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1343: All the Mood Swings Cards, Part 1

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2026 30:58


This episode is part one of a five-part series. In it, I go through every single Mood Swings card, in collectible number order, and talk about how they were designed, including many of the changes they went through and some strategic tips on how to play them. Note: This is a bonus episode for this week.

Level Up Your Gaming: Tabletop RPG Podcast
Let's Make A One Shot: Breaking Bard

Level Up Your Gaming: Tabletop RPG Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2026 36:07


In today's episode we continue our series of Let's Make A One Shot.  The game we make a one shot for comes from the prompt Breaking Bard.  We describe all the details you would need to consider to pull this one shot off.  Enjoy this episode as we make a one shot using the tools we talk about.Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.comor Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGamingPlease leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast.

two & a half gamers

A 5-year-old location-based game just 5x'd its downloads. There were no new creatives. No new geos. No marketing push. Just one regional event that changed how the game actually works in Taiwan.We break down Pikmin Bloom by Niantic — the quiet survivor of the post-Pokemon-Go location-based wave that everyone forgot about, but which has been quietly making $30-50M/month for years and just spiked dramatically in early 2026. The conversation covers the Pikmin IP history, the game's walking-based resource-conversion mechanics, why 58% of revenue comes from Japan, the brutal scale comparison to Pokemon Go ($85M in 5 years vs $75M in 30 days), and the most interesting product story of the episode: Niantic's regional experiment in Taiwan where they moved mushroom locations weekly from November to February, driving a 5x download spike that's still scaling.The takeaway isn't about Pikmin specifically. It's about what product-driven UA looks like when creative-led UA stops moving the needle.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱️ TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open — Pikmin Bloom is scaling, why?03:16 Pikmin history lesson — Nintendo IP, RTS origins06:16 The actual game: walking, flowers, Pikmin work for you13:01 The 5x download spike and Taiwan's surprise dominance14:53 The brutal comparison — Pikmin Bloom vs Pokemon Go17:01 The Japan IP rule: everything Nintendo touches is sacred24:12 The Niantic Taiwan experiment that changed everything━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Epic Adventure
Romance

Epic Adventure

Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2026 45:01


Send us Fan MailOn this episode Mike, Christina and I talk about Romance. What it is, what it means to roleplaying games, and why you should try and incorporate elements of romance into your roleplaying.

Know Direction Network
Game Design Unboxed 141: Inkwell

Know Direction Network

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2026


In episode 141 of Game Design Unboxed, we talk with librarian and game designer, Lewis Graye, whose game design journey began after relocating to Syracuse, becoming part of the local tabletop scene, and participating in a game design contest at a wedding. They share the story of Lewis' first published design, Inkwell, and its unexpected […]

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1340: The Design of Mood Swings

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2026 31:38


How did I make Mood Swings into a simple, fast-paced trading card game? This episode talks about my 28 years of iteration and, for those of you interested in how a person designs a game from scratch, walks through how I created the game.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

This episode is another in my series to talk about every Magic set release. Today, I discuss the third set in the original Theros block, Journey into Nyx.

Twofivesix: Gaming and Marketing
How SFMOMA Built a 15-Year Game-Based Arts Program From the Inside Out

Twofivesix: Gaming and Marketing

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2026 47:36


Erika Gangsei has run the interpretive media team at SFMOMA for nearly two decades, and for 15 of those years she's been quietly building one of the most coherent game-based programming initiatives inside any major cultural institution in the country.In this conversation, we get into the origins of Play SFMOMA, which launched in 2011, before games as an art form had any real institutional legitimacy, and what it actually took to sustain a program built on deliberate experimentation rather than proven outcomes. Erika talks about the decision to treat game designers the way SFMOMA treats sound artists and filmmakers: as essential creative collaborators, not afterthoughts. She makes a sharp distinction between gamification (which museums were chasing then, and still are) and authentic game-based programming — and explains why that difference matters for visitors.We also talk about the institutional immune system. Erika uses the phrase literally: museums have white blood cells that attack unfamiliar things, and Play SFMOMA has spent 15 years slowly inoculating SFMOMA to interactivity. That means running an AR game jam knowing none of the prototypes would go into production, because the goal was to socialize the idea internally, not ship a product.Other topics: why interpretive departments may actually be a better entry point for games than curatorial, the case for analog and paper-based work in a screen-fatigued world, what it means when a founder-driven program finally becomes an entity unto itself, and the LARPocracy research project—an EU Horizon-funded study using Nordic LARP as a model for deliberative democracy.This one is essential listening if you're inside an institution trying to build something with games and doing it without a clear mandate from above.(00:00) - Meet Erika and Play (01:08) - Broadway Trip Catch Up (03:19) - Origin Story to SFMOMA (08:14) - Why Play SFMOMA Started (13:38) - Where Games Belong (29:01) - Analog Play and Fatigue (34:48) - Scaling Up and Larpocracy For more insights, signup for my newsletter.Jamin Warren founded Gameplayarts, an advisory that helps museums and cultural organizations engage with the world of gaming. He provides them with the research, strategy, and execution they need to reach gamers for the first–or millionth–time. Gameplayarts' past and present clients organizations like MoMA, the Getty Research Institute, Tribeca Enterprises, and PBS.

built pbs fatigue origin stories moma scaling up game design larp sfmoma audience development cultural institutions arts program year game getty research institute play design tribeca enterprises eu horizon nordic larp
Beacon of Creation Podcast
Popcorn! Playing "Telephone" with Game Design

Beacon of Creation Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2026 51:40


This week we talk about and design for the "Popcorn" game in our Discord community. Fast paced, exciting, and pretty eccentric are apt descriptions for the cooperative hopper of cards. Design a card based off of the last card, and the next person designs one off of yours. We go over some highlights from the game, then design a pair of cards ourselves! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: https://discord.gg/t88Vpwh Show Notes and Images: https://beaconofcreation.com

Epic Adventure
You Heard it Here Last S4E10

Epic Adventure

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2026 13:41


Send us Fan MailWelcome to You Heard it Here Last where we talk about news you've already heard.We are starting this episode off with one of Mike's favorite settings; Fallout. (You thought I was going to say Star Wars)https://ttrpgfans.com/fallout-rpg-new-vegas-setting-guide/Fallout is getting a new setting guide. Modiphius is launching the “New Vegas Setting Guide” and is hoping to cash in on the Amazon TV series. What's interesting about it is that it looks like we are getting more than just descriptions. The book looks to be chock full of NPCs, Locations, Character Options, and even Equipment.This could be a solid addition to the Fallout game and looks to drop in August…I bet you they will have copies at GenCon.Mike, we start with you, thoughts?Kick to MikeChristina, what about you, are you tempted by this setting guide?Kick to ChristinaNext up we've got a fun one…well at least I think it's fun.https://www.rascal.news/magic-the-gathering-arena-developers-unionize-alleging-forced-ai-use-and-return-to-office-mandates/Workers developing Magic: The Gathering Arena are forming a union called United Wizards of the Coast. They announced their formation under Communications Workers of America on Monday, April 27 and notified Wizards of the Coast and parent company Hasbro of their intent in a public letter.The new union asks to be recognized in their letter, which is strange because WOTC is based out of Renton Washington and the State of Washington requires them to recognize the new union. It also requires them to engage in collective bargaining. Finally, it allows the union to automatically draw funds from employees of the company even if the employees don't want to be a member of the union…The public letter demands protections from layoffs, the ability to keep working from home and not having to come into the office, protections from generative AI use, just to name a few.I'm pretty sure Norma Rae would be rolling over in her fictional grave right now, but I thought this would be a very interesting topic for our segment, mostly because I am betting we have some disagreement on this one.Mike, let's start with you. Thoughts?Kick to MikeChristina, I am expecting fire and brimstone…am I getting flamed here.Kick to ChristinaAnd there you have it, all the news that you've already heard.

Pick Up and Deliver
The End (of the game)

Pick Up and Deliver

Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2026 19:08


Brendan talks about how games end, and recommends five games with compelling endings. Join us, won't you?Skull King (2013)Arkham Horror: The Card Game (2016)Monikers (2015)Escape! The Curse of the Temple (2012)A Study in Emerald (2013)Honorable MentionsRes Arcana (2019)The Adventurers: The Pyramid of Horus (2011)QE (2019)What games do you think have good endings? Share your thoughts over on boardgamegeek in guild #3269.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1337: MagicCon: Las Vegas 2026

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2026 32:38


In this episode, I talk about all about my adventures at MagicCon: Las Vegas 2026.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1338: The History of Mood Swings

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2026 30:38


In 1998, I came up with the idea of a more accessible trading card game. That game is called Mood Swings and goes on sale starting June 1 on MagicSecretLair.com. This podcast talks about my 28-year journey to get it made.

Nice Games Club
"Look who's old now!" Exhibiting Your Game; Design Investigations

Nice Games Club

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2026


We talk of the old and the new in this episode, where we sort of revisit a long ago discussed topic and bring in a new topic for our (and your) perusal.Lydia, Mark and Dale (not Stephen) finishing Video Game Mayhem...... and Wizard's Tower in record time!Trapped Puzzle RoomsMPS Community EducationLydia's family sewing machine!0:09:39Exhibiting Your Game0:39:39Design InvestigationsReading backwards: Reading against the grainKatherine FirthResearch Degree Insiders

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast
#1336: The Importance of Goat Guy

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2026 31:38


Who is Goat Guy? Why is he important? There's only one way to find out.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

This is another in my quest to do an episode on every Magic set release. This one is about the design of Born of the Gods, the second set in the Theros block.

Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

In this episode, I talk about the role games can play in a person's identity and how that affects our approach to designing Magic.