This week on the Game Developer Podcast, System Era Softworks design director Liz England joins us to look back on her famous 2014 blog post “The Door Problem,” discuss her evolving game design career, and explain her antagonistic approach to organizing books by color on her bookshelf.

Follow Liz England on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lizardengland.bsky.social

Read The Door Problem: https://lizengland.com/blog/the-door-problem/

Recommended Reading/Playing:

The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker.

Planet Crafter by Miju Games.

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This week on the Game Developer Podcast, Soft Rains creative director Joel Burgess and narrative director Kait Tremblay discuss the development of Ambrosia Sky, a cosmic science fiction game where players uncover the mysteries of a lost colony by cleaning up an alien mold and burying the dead. It’s the most interesting game you’ll hear about in 2025.

Check out the Ambrosia Sky demo on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3580160/Ambrosia_Sky/

Follow Joel Burgess and Kait Tremblay on Bluesky at @joelburgess.bsky.social‬ and @kaittremblay.bsky.social‬

Learn more about Soft Rains: https://softrains.games/

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This week on the Game Developer Podcast, actor and SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media negotiating committee chair Sarah Elmaleh stops by to discuss the success and strategy behind the union’s year-long strike.

Follow Sarah Elmaleh on Bluesky at @selmaleh.bsky.social‬ 

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This week on the Game Developer Podcast, Sabotage Studio president and creative director Thierry Boulanger discusses the company’s approach to building a business off of retro-themed indie games. It's a journey into how to make retro games stand out in a crowded market, and also how to set up your business to last beyond a single shipped game. 

Learn more about Sabotage Studio: https://sabotagestudio.com/ 

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This week on the Game Developer Podcast we quiz Bithell Games CEO and Disney TRON: Catalyst creative director Mike Bithell about his journey from small-time indie to head of a successful game development studio. In this episode, Mike breaks down his creative influences and leadership lessons from over a decade of making commercial games, and what his experience means for developers trying to survive the economic turbulence of 2025.

Learn more about Bithell Games: https://www.bithellgames.com/

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In this episode fresh from the GDC Showcase archives, Bryant sits down with Ben Brode, Chief Development Officer at Second Dinner (Marvel Snap) to discuss the importance of expertise in your own game, exploring the limits of your design space, striking the balance between "functional" and "understandable," thinking like a game designer, and much more.

More From Ben Brode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjhsY2Zuo-c

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Danielle is joined by Deborah Chantson, Writer and Narrative Designer at Sticky Brain Studios Inc., to discuss her multifaceted career writing for games, interactive media, TV and short films, as well as her gorgeous forthcoming folklore adventure game, Rooster.

Wishlist Rooster on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1834220/Rooster/

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Danielle sits down with legendary adventure game designer Charles Cecil, cofounder of Revolution Software, to discuss the upcoming remake of Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars, the difference between classic and modern adventure game players, the infamous "goat puzzle," finding that hint system sweet spot, and a lot more.

Learn more about GDC Showcase: https://showcase.gdconf.com/

Check out Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2544110/Broken_Sword__Shadow_of_the_Templars_Reforged/

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Hot off the heels of major unionization wins at Blizzard Entertainment and Bethesda Game Studios, Senior Editor Bryant Francis is joined by Emma Kinema of the CWA, as well as Autumn Mitchell and Chris Lusco of Bethesda Softworks, to discuss the ongoing surge of organizational efforts sweeping the video game industry.

Read more about the new unions at Blizzard and Bethesda: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/over-500-blizzard-entertainment-workers-form-wall-to-wall-union

SAG-AFTRA performers call strike against major game studios over AI: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/sag-aftra-authorizes-video-game-actor-strike-over-ai

Read Bryant's piece on Project 2025 and its potential impact on game developers: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/how-will-project-2025-impact-game-developers-

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With Summer Game Fest 2024 and its commingling events safely behind us, it’s finally time for everyone’s favorite part of video game announcement season: the post-show analysis!

Danielle is joined by Senior Editor Bryant Francis and News Editor Chris Kerr for an in-depth discussion of everything that Sony, Microsoft and Geoff Keighley brought to the table, as well as our favorites from Day of the Devs and a few choice words on raw incompetence.

Read Phil Spencer's controversial defense of Xbox layoffs: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/phil-spencer-deems-xbox-layoffs-very-hard-but-needed-for-sustainable-business-

Scope the rest of our SGF 2024 coverage: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/keyword/summer-game-fest

Get the latest from our newsletter: https://gd-resources.gamedeveloper.com/free/w_gamf01/prgm.cgi

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