In this episode, Brian Freyermuth reveals how he’s used storytelling and game design to engage players throughout his career. 

Starting at the beginning — Freyermuth’s entry into the gaming world would begin as one would imagine: as a child. He explains how a simulation game set in the Caribbean sparked his interest in programming. By senior year, Freyermuth had decided to make games for a living. On a college campus, his quest to create games would begin with learning to program objects because game design courses didn’t exist. 

Throughout the conversation, Freyermuth shares how a handful of fortuitous events ushered him into the world of game design. From a serendipitous conversation with a teacher and a few buddies after class to a casual chat with a gentleman at a party to failing an interview with a guy named Alan, it’s clear that Freyermuth’s lucky breaks stemmed from infectious passion.

Now much further along in his career, Freyermuth talks about navigating the game design process by using pillars to establish “the why” of a project and explains how storytelling is integral to building a world.   

At CodeCombat, Freyermuth expresses how he used his background in the entertainment industry, creating games like Fallout, Star Trek, Starfleet Academy, and so on, to make engaging learning games for kids.