Idle Thumbs

In this episode, Soren interviews Xalavier Nelson, founder of Strange Scaffold and best known for his work on El Paso Elsewhere, Clickolding, and An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs. They discuss why he drew review screenshots using MS Paint, whether you should do the hard thing when making a game, and what’s a good price for eyeballs. This episode was recorded on March 9, 2026 and was eng...

Len sits down with Endless Legend 2 game director Derek Paxton and game designer Julien Gueguen to talk about the 1.0 release of Endless Legend 2, how 4X devs iterate on feedback, and how they managed to put out 60 major updates in the course of a year.

SPOILER ADVISORY: This episode contains character spoilers throughout (if you don't want to be spoiled on which classic Star Wars archetypes can be recruited, or which movie characters make cameos). PLOT SPOILERS for the big mid-game time skip begin at 48:05 and conclude at 1:14:09. Jon and Luke are joined by PC Gamer's Ted Litchfield to discuss Star Wars Zero Company, a tactics game in a galaxy f...

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 guest to choose five games to compose their version of a perfect console or, in Soren’s case, a perfect personal computer. Check out the show at myperfectconsole.com. Games discussed...

Len and Nerium are joined once again by special guest Diana to discuss a lot of the smaller games we played this summer that didn't make it into a full episode, our varying levels of EU5 addiction, and mechsploitation. Games Discussed: Sovereign Tower Dispatch Suzerain EU5 Civ 7 Test of Time Mortal Shell II Elden Ring: The Convergence Big Walk The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily Twisted Tower E...

Len, Jon, and Fraser set sail with Corsair Cove, a pirate city-builder with a reckless disregard for building codes. We discuss our different buccaneer building styles, the card- and dice-based ship combat, and try to answer the eternal question: what DO you do with a drunken sailor?

Len sits down with Game Director Marv Gouw and Consulting Art Director (and Relic co-founder) J. Aaron Kambeitz to talk about ZeroSpace, a new RTS inspired by the greats of the genre with BioWare-style cutscenes and story decisions. We dig into the odd place RTSes find themselves in the industry right now, how the "Homeworld look" relates to typefaces, and how the changes in the games industry tod...

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 right type of shareholders, and how close Nexon came to buying Riot. This episode was recorded on March 11, 2026, and was engineered by Michael Hermes. Games discussed: Pong, Spacewar,...

Len and DM are joined by the current Age of Empires II world champion, Hera, to discuss the state of the game in 2026. We try to explain its longevity, examine what it takes to be a top-level esports player, and discuss Hera's streamer invitational tournament, The King's Gauntlet.

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 went out of business, and whether free-to-play still makes sense. This episode was recorded on September 13, 2025, and was engineered by Michael Hermes. Games discussed: Indiana Jo...

Len and Jon are joined by PC Gamer's Evan Lahti to Slay the Spire once again in the roguelike deckbuilder sequel. We discuss why our intrepid host is so bad at this game, if she can even be helped, and what the wackiest combos we've seen so far look like.

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 about the Knights Templar, how digital distribution changed the publisher-developer relationship forever, and what made the goat puzzle unfair. This interview was started on April 14...

Len, Jon, and Sin gear up and get ready to die on the first turn to some BS in Xenonauts 2, a sequel to a throwback to a classic tactics game. We discuss how it stacks up to the old school UFO Defense, the Firaxis reboots, and the best Noah Wyle show, Falling Skies.

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 avoidance schemes, what the Bitmap Brothers faxed to Acclaim, and how to teach players the grammar of adventure games. This interview was started on April 14, 2025. Games discussed: G...

3MA is finally embracing AI! Okay, not really. But Len and Jon do have many thoughts about Heart of the Machine, a fascinating, story-driven strategy RPG about becoming the world's first sentient computer.

Len is joined by long-time friend and collaborator, real life video game lawyer D.M. Schmeyer, to reconnect over tales of nearly 30 years nerding out together and discuss what we're currently in to and up to. Games Discussed: The Necromancer's Tale Amorantus Esoteric Ebb

Len and Jon get tactical with the squad-based space marine (in the classical sense) platoon simulator, Menace. Because war is actually about Family.

This week, Rowan and Luke contemplate the inherent class struggle implied by feline-rodent relations in another delightful, furry-adjacent city builder with Whiskerwood. In this world, the cat tax doesn't simply mean posting a pet pic to thank people for reading your wall of text modding tutorial. It's wealth extracted from the whiskered workers by feline overlords in a distant land. The solution,...

Len and Brian "Chef Lu Bu" Smawley are joined by friend of the show Diana to peek into the near distance at the strategy games we're interested in that have announced or probable release dates in 2026. It's going to be another big year for city-builders! Also, is Total War 40K even a good idea? Games discussed: Total War: Warhamer 40,000, Dawn of War 4, Menace, Slay the Spire 2, Nova Roma, Norse:...

Len, Mike, and Luke pop the champagne and discuss the Strategy Games of the Year for 2025. And we can't really talk about the year in strategy without dwelling on the big theme of Disappointment. But all is not woe, because we played plenty of stuff we loved this year, too! Stay tuned after the main show for a chunky, free preview of this year's final Patreon bonus episode! Games Discussed: Civili...

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 Synapse uses simultaneous turns, and how it ended up as one of the first indie games on Steam. This episode was recorded on July 15, 2025. Games discussed: Contraption, Wing Commander...

Len, Nerium, and Mike kick back to highlight some of our favorite strategy and non-strategy games of 2025 that didn't make it to a full episode. There were how many Roman city-builders this year? And yes, sports management games do count as strategy. Even that one. Games discussed: Nova Roma Look Outside Lisa the Painful Total War Warhammer: Tides of Torment Skin Deep Ambrosia Sky Demonschool Phan...

Len and Jon are joined by But Why Tho?'s Kate Sánchez and CGMagazine's Dayna Eileen to build Rome in a day with Anno 117: Pax Romana. We discuss the series history and our jumping-on points with it, what's different about this one, and how it serves as an interesting lens through which to view the height of the Imperial Era.

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 there is a solution to snowballing in campaign modes. This episode was recorded on April 15, 2025. Games discussed: Sid Meier’s Pirates!, Centurion: Defender of Rome, the Panzer Ge...

Len, Rowan, and Jon are at last granted the liberty to speak on their experiences with Europa Universalis 5, Paradox's latest and most ambitious grand strategy game. Is it actually good? Is it even possible to evaluate it in a that straightforward of a way at this point? And why has it turned Rowan into The Joker?