Rob Dubbin is a comedy writer and game designer whose work spans late-night television, journalism, and interactive storytelling. After studying History and Literature at Harvard University, he began his career in comedy, becoming an Emmy-winning writer on The Colbert Report and later The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Away from television, his writing has appeared in publications including The New Yorker and The Verge.

More recently, he has moved into game design and tools, becoming the co-creator of Scripto, a collaborative writing platform for format-driven work—from television scripts to video games—where he serves as Head of Games. His current projects include co-hosting The Secret Lives of Games podcast and he recently launched the boardgame Starfriends. Across all of his work, he has become a thoughtful advocate for clarity and economy in writing—particularly in games, where he believes every word must earn its place.

SHOW LINKS:

Rob Dubbin

Rob Dubbin – official website

Rob Dubbin – work & projects

Roblemsolving – Rob's blog

Rob Dubbin – itch.io

Brainfruit Studio / Star Friends

Brainfruit Studio shop

Star Friends – official site

Star Friends – Kickstarter campaign

Scripto

Scripto – collaborative writing software

Scripto – about

Scripto – eight takes on game writing

The Secret Lives of Games / Eggplant

Eggplant – the Secret Lives of Games podcast network

Eggplant – about

The Secret Lives of Games – on Apple Podcasts

Rob's Perfect Console

ZZT – zzt.org archive and community

ZZT (1991) – Internet Archive

Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters – open source port

Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters – Steam

Master of Magic Classic – Steam

Master of Magic Classic – GOG

Slice & Dice – developer site

Slice & Dice – itch.io

Slice & Dice – Steam

Caves of Qud – official site

Caves of Qud – Steam

Caves of Qud – itch.io

Other games and references discussed

Letterboxd – film rating and diary app

Wavelength – party game

Apples to Apples – official site

Game Developers Conference (GDC)

Harvard University

The Colbert Report – Comedy Central

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – CBS

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