Designer Notes

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Designer Notes 97: My Perfect Console - Soren Johnson

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

Sep 2
1 h 37 min

Designer Notes 96: Owen Mahoney

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

Jul 6
1 h 29 min

Designer Notes 95: Seth Sivak

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

Jun 6
2 h 59 min

Designer Notes 94: Charles Cecil - Part 2

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 Broke

May 4
3 h 33 min

Designer Notes 93: Charles Cecil - Part 1

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 Broke

Apr 20
1 h 56 min

Designer Notes 92: Paul Kilduff-Taylor

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

Dec 26 2025
3 h 08 min

Designer Notes 91: Tomislav Uzelac

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,

Nov 18 2025
2 h 27 min

Designer Notes 90: Patrice Desilets - Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Patrice Desilets, best known for his work on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Assassin’s Creed series, and

Jul 25 2025
1 h 42 min

Designer Notes 89: Patrice Desilets - Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Patrice Desilets, best known for his work on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Assassin’s Creed series, and

Jul 3 2025
1 h 44 min

Designer Notes 88: Caroline Marchal - Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Caroline Marchal, best known for her work on Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, and As Dusk Falls. They discuss how muc

May 17 2025
2 h 02 min

Designer Notes 87: Caroline Marchal - Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Caroline Marchal, best known for her work on Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, and As Dusk Falls. They discuss whether

Apr 19 2025
1 h 53 min

Designer Notes 86: Anton Strenger

In this episode, Soren interviews Anton Strenger, best known for his work on Civilization 5, Civilization 6, and Beyond Earth. They discuss how he ended up paying Carnegi

Nov 4 2024
3 h 06 min

Designer Notes 85: Zach Barth - Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Zach Barth, best known for his puzzle games, including SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Shenzhen I/O, and Opus Magnu

Sep 29 2024
2 h 30 min

Designer Notes 84: Zach Barth - Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Zach Barth, best known for his puzzle games, including SpaceChem, Infinifactory, Shenzhen I/O, and Opus Magnu

Aug 31 2024
2 h 39 min

Designer Notes 83: Mitch Lasky - Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive

Jun 6 2024
1 h 54 min

Designer Notes 82: Mitch Lasky - Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive

May 6 2024
1 h 53 min

Designer Notes 81: Jake Solomon - Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Jake Solomon, best known for the XCOM reboot and Midnight Suns. They discuss his first, failed attempt at XCOM, w

Apr 11 2024
3 h 13 min

Designer Notes 80: Jake Solomon - Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Jake Solomon, best known for the XCOM reboot and Midnight Suns. They discuss how much money he had to give back t

Dec 5 2023
2 h 42 min

Designer Notes 79: Trent Kusters - Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Trent Kusters, co-founder of League of Geeks, best known for the strategy game Armello. They discuss why Armello

Oct 9 2023
2 h 21 min

Designer Notes 78: Trent Kusters - Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Trent Kusters, co-founder of League of Geeks, best known for the strategy game Armello. They discuss how he faked

Sep 25 2023
2 h 31 min

Chart trend

Position in the Video Games chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#98#195JunJulAugSep

#26

all-time peak

days in the top 50 since Nov 2024

Chart positions

Where Designer Notes ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 17, 2026).

#109 ▼ 11 Video Games US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Soren manages to balance more technical questions with broader and personal ones such that the podcast is entertaining and relevant for a broad audience. A pleasure to listen to.

Just go ahead and shoot me · Nov 2023

Very thoughtful and in-depth interviews with many of the greats of the field. I love that Soren, as a peer of his interviewees, is not afraid to sometimes be a bit critical of their past work while getting deep into how they made it succeed. I would go so far as to call it indispensable for anyone who cares about game design and development in general.

OhTheWerewolf · Oct 2023

A really great podcast with some legendary guests and extremely thorough conversations. Soren covers a lot of ground in each episode. I appreciate that he goes deep into the careers and creative decision making processes with his guests. The extended length of the interviews is welcome - I only wish I could listen to both parts of an interview back to back but it’s worth the wait.

mbcauley · Mar 2022

I always find this podcast super interesting with how the business works, the theory behind games, the various ways people have come up in the business, etc. It’s also good to learn about games I might have missed back when they were knew and check out now.

__EricS · Jun 2019

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.