Think Like A Game Designer

About Ben Seck Ben Seck is an absolute titan of global game development and competitive play whose career path is an masterclass in strategic execution. Ben and I go back nearly 30 years to our early days on the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour circuit, where he won a Grand Prix in Cape Town and scored a legendary Pro Tour top eight. Unlike most of our old-school peers, Ben is still actively crushing...

About Ivan Van Norman Ivan Van Norman is a true powerhouse of indie tabletop publishing and media innovation, bringing over 15 years of deep industry expertise to the table. Our paths cross all the way back to the very first year Gen Con introduced Entrepreneur’s Alley, where our tiny 10x10 booths were literally shoved into the back corner of the convention hall, facing a wall right next to the fo...

About Zvi My history with Zvi Mowshowitz goes back over 20 years to our days as teammates on the Magic Pro Tour, where we won a Grand Prix and top-8ed a Pro Tour together. After his competitive gaming career and a stint designing games at Wizards of the Coast and heading up a Cyberpunk TCG design team in Denver, Zvi took his unique systems-thinking mind into high-stakes finance. He managed risk as...

About Nate Heiss Nate Heiss is a true game design chameleon. His 25-plus year career spans from competitive Magic: The Gathering play to designing iconic cards like Goblin Guide at Wizards of the Coast. He then took those skills into the AAA video game world, working as a designer and creative director at studios like LucasArts and PopCap on massive mobile hits like Plants vs. Zombies Heroes . Nat...

About Mark Mark Rosewater is the Head Designer for Magic: The Gathering and one of the most influential voices in modern game design. With decades of experience shaping one of the most successful and enduring games in the world, Mark has led the design of countless sets and pioneered many of the systems that define Magic today. Known for his deep understanding of player psychology and his ability...

Ross Thompson is a marketing strategist focused on helping tabletop games and consumer brands grow through real-world connection. A veteran of the industry with over 15 years of experience in community building, events, and marketing, he most recently served as Director of Marketing at Atomic Mass Games, where he worked on titles like Star Wars: Legion , Marvel Crisis Protocol , and Star Wars: Sha...

About Drew Drew Corkill is a UI/UX designer with nearly 15 years of experience and a deep background in graphic design, who has quietly become one of the most prolific creators in tabletop gaming. Alongside Gabe Barrett, Drew is the driving force behind the “Solo Game of the Month” initiative, he’s launched more crowdfunded games than almost anyone in the industry, building a system that prioritiz...

Guests featured: * Keith Baker * Monty Cook * Raph Koster * Richard Garfield * John Zinser * Elizabeth Hargrave * Eric Lang 00:03:06 — Keith Baker Lesson: Creating a world that becomes a playable game. Baker explains how he designed the Eberron setting and why fantasy worlds need recognizable hooks that players can quickly understand. 00:17:31 — Monty Cook Lesson: How RPG worlds and systems come t...

About Eric Lang Eric Lang is one of the most influential designers in modern tabletop gaming, known for bold thematic systems and highly interactive play. Over his career, he has designed or co-designed titles including Blood Rage , Rising Sun , Ankh: Gods of Egypt , Chaos in the Old World , and numerous licensed and collectible card games. His work spans hobby and mass-market audiences alike, ble...

Theresa Duringer is the owner and CEO of Temple Gates Games , a San Francisco–based digital board game studio known for best-in-class adaptations of modern tabletop games. Her team has brought Ascension to VR and developed acclaimed digital versions of Dominion , Race for the Galaxy , Shards of Infinity , and more, with a relentless focus on speed, clarity, and intuitive UI. Theresa works closely...

About Jaimie Jaimie Wolanski has over 20 years of experience in the games industry, with a career spanning major brands and mass-market hits. She’s worked as a sales rep bringing games into stores like Target and Barnes & Noble, and has helped launch titles like Shopkins , Catan , Ticket to Ride , Bananagrams , and Exploding Kittens . She even worked with Justin to bring You Gotta Be Kitten Me to...

About Vlaada Vlaada Chvátil is one of the most influential game designers of the modern era. As the creative force behind classics like Through the Ages , Codenames , and Galaxy Trucker , and a co-founder of Czech Games Edition (CGE), he’s built a career defined by curiosity, craft, and an uncompromising commitment to making games he actually wants to play. Vlaada’s path—from programming and digit...

About Carly Carly McGinnis is the driving force behind one of the fastest-growing tabletop companies in history. As CEO of Exploding Kittens , she’s helped lead the company to over 25 million games sold and dozens of successful launches, all while keeping the promises of the most-backed crowdfund ever. Carly’s path—from surviving the Hollywood talent-agency grind to building a global game business...

About Kyle Kyle Thiermann is a professional big-wave surfer, journalist, and creative director whose career bridges storytelling, advertising, and adventure. He’s written for Men’s Health , Surfer , and Outside Magazine , and helped shape campaigns for brands like Patagonia, Yeti, and Mudwater, with his ads and viral spots reaching over 100 million people. Kyle is also the author of One Last Quest...

Touko Tahkokallio is one of the rare designers who has mastered both tabletop and digital worlds. Starting out as a theoretical physicist, Touko shifted careers to follow his passion for play. First by designing acclaimed board games like Eclipse , then shaping some of the biggest mobile hits of all time at Supercell, including Hay Day , Boom Beach , and Brawl Stars . In 2022, he co-founded a mobi...

About this Episode This episode is a little different from the usual Think Like a Game Designer conversation. Instead of a freeform discussion, I came prepared with a curated list of questions to guide the conversation, giving us a structured look into Jordan’s creative process, his philosophies on innovation, and the lessons he’s learned over decades of building worlds. The result is a fast-paced...

About Jonathan Jonathan Grant is a creative director at Zynga, founder of Orbital Games, and co-host of We Thought It Would Be Easy with Jordan Weisman. His career spans startups, acquisitions, and AAA environments, where he’s pitched ideas in Zynga boardrooms, built risky new projects, and collaborated with legends of the industry. Jonathan’s work is defined by his willingness to experiment, his...

About Elan Elan Lee ( @elanlee ) is the co-creator and chief executive officer of Exploding Kittens, a leading gaming and entertainment company. Under his leadership, Exploding Kittens has expanded its portfolio to nearly 30 different games with more than 60 million games sold in more than 50 countries since its founding in 2015.Before founding Exploding Kittens, Lee was the chief design officer a...

At Gen Con this year, we kicked off Ascension’s 15-year anniversary celebration . I had the chance to meet so many fans who have been part of this community for over a decade; the experience was both humbling and rewarding. We just launched the Gamefound Campaign for the Ascension 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition and I’ve been reflecting on the incredible journey that brought us here. What beg...

About Tim Ferriss Tim Ferriss is a category of one. His innovative approach to life and business has helped him to launch 5 New York Times Bestellers, build one of the most influential podcasts in the world with over one billion downloads, become an early stage investor in companies like Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo and more. His #1 New York Times Bestselling Book, The 4-Hour Work Week, was p...

About Cole Cole Wehrle is one of the most innovative minds in board game design today. Cole is a partner at Leder Games , but best-known as the creator of Root , the woodland war game that redefined asymmetric play. Cole’s work reaches far beyond cute meeples and clever mechanics, with a background in history and a career in academia, Cole approaches game design as a way to explore systems of powe...

About Amy Amy Lowe is a marketer, strategist, and lifelong nerd whose career spans over two decades helping brands connect with audiences in meaningful ways. Though she’s worked across industries, Amy found her passion in the tabletop gaming space as the marketing and communications manager for the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA). Now she’s bringing hard-won insights about brand strategy, cu...

About Derek Sivers Derek Sivers has worn many hats, musician, entrepreneur, author, and philosopher, but his work maintains a single throughline: a relentless pursuit of living deliberately. He first found success by founding CD Baby, an indie music platform that revolutionized digital distribution before he sold it for over $20 million and donated most of the proceeds. Since then, he’s become a b...

Dominic Crapuchettes is the founder of North Star Games and the designer of massive hits like Wits & Wagers , Say Anything , and the Evolution series—games that have sold over 4.5 million copies. In this episode, Dominic opens up about the rise and fall of North Star, from building a 30-person team and landing six SKUs at Target, to watching the company go bankrupt and eventually buying it back. H...

CHECK OUT SHADOWS OVER SOLIS TODAY ON GAMEFOUND 5 Quick Lessons About Crowdfinding * Crowdfunding has changed : You need to bring your own audience and community. Success now requires months of preparation, including playtesting, reviews, and pre-launch marketing. * De-risk your campaign : Validate your product ahead of time (e.g., with digital play), use scalable local manufacturing, and print to...