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Dev to Dev S01 E13 - Zane Draper
In this episode of Dev to Dev - the Podcast about everyday Videogame developers and why they do what they do every day - I sit down with senior technical designer Zane Draper, whose path into game development is wonderfully unique.
What begins with a childhood Game Boy trade becomes a decade-long journey through college uncertainty, chaotic student projects, small-team grind, massive collaboration, layoffs, and ultimately a fulfilling career solving endlessly fascinating problems in games.
Zane opens up about the emotional and personal side of that journey - the confidence instilled by his Dad, the camaraderie of tiny studios, the stress of large-scale interviews, and the strange experience of joining a team that already has “your” role handled by someone else.
He shares how game development reshaped the way he plays, why he refuses to game on his PC after hours, and what it’s like to teach students who want to enter the industry without quite knowing how.
And throughout it all, his love of problem-solving remains the through-line: for Zane, every day is another chance to tackle something new, whether that’s a VR project, a museum installation, or figuring out who should answer a question when two designers know the same system equally well.
Highlights
The legendary “10 toy cars for a Game Boy” childhood trade
Growing up in a small town with siblings who all gamed together
Discovering programming accidentally through robotics
Building five games in a semester to push into RIT’s Game Development program
Shipping 20+ wildly different projects at Workinman and surviving crunch
Navigating Embracer-related layoffs at Lost Boys Interactive
Adjusting to remote culture and collaborative Discord workflows
Joining ZOS after a six-interview marathon panel
The delicate balance of overlapping roles with another technical designer
Why he refuses to play games at his work PC
How making games has shaped his sense of wellness and creativity
Find the Podcast at:
Patreon: DevToDevPodcast
RSS: https://feeds.castos.com/r37p9
Instagram: @devto.devpodcast
Bluesky: @devtodevpodcast.bsky.social
TikTok: @devtodevpodcast
YouTube: @DevToDevPodcast
Email: [email protected]
View all episodes
By Alex SulmanIn this episode of Dev to Dev - the Podcast about everyday Videogame developers and why they do what they do every day - I sit down with senior technical designer Zane Draper, whose path into game development is wonderfully unique.
What begins with a childhood Game Boy trade becomes a decade-long journey through college uncertainty, chaotic student projects, small-team grind, massive collaboration, layoffs, and ultimately a fulfilling career solving endlessly fascinating problems in games.
Zane opens up about the emotional and personal side of that journey - the confidence instilled by his Dad, the camaraderie of tiny studios, the stress of large-scale interviews, and the strange experience of joining a team that already has “your” role handled by someone else.
He shares how game development reshaped the way he plays, why he refuses to game on his PC after hours, and what it’s like to teach students who want to enter the industry without quite knowing how.
And throughout it all, his love of problem-solving remains the through-line: for Zane, every day is another chance to tackle something new, whether that’s a VR project, a museum installation, or figuring out who should answer a question when two designers know the same system equally well.
Highlights
The legendary “10 toy cars for a Game Boy” childhood trade
Growing up in a small town with siblings who all gamed together
Discovering programming accidentally through robotics
Building five games in a semester to push into RIT’s Game Development program
Shipping 20+ wildly different projects at Workinman and surviving crunch
Navigating Embracer-related layoffs at Lost Boys Interactive
Adjusting to remote culture and collaborative Discord workflows
Joining ZOS after a six-interview marathon panel
The delicate balance of overlapping roles with another technical designer
Why he refuses to play games at his work PC
How making games has shaped his sense of wellness and creativity
Find the Podcast at:
Patreon: DevToDevPodcast
RSS: https://feeds.castos.com/r37p9
Instagram: @devto.devpodcast
Bluesky: @devtodevpodcast.bsky.social
TikTok: @devtodevpodcast
YouTube: @DevToDevPodcast
Email: [email protected]