Designer Notes

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 Broken Sword series. They discuss various dodgy tax avoidance schemes, what the Bitmap Brothers faxed to Acclaim, and how to teach players the grammar of adventure games. This interview was started on April 14, 2025.

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 should be controlled with a mouse, why Frozen Synapse uses simultaneous turns, and how it ended up as one of the first indie games on Steam. This episode was recorded on July 15, 2025.

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, building the MP3 encoder for Winamp, and whether there is a solution to snowballing in campaign modes. This episode was recorded on April 15, 2025.

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 Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. They discuss why they couldn’t put rewind into Assassin’s Creed, the problem with designing for a meeting, and why he needed to have players beat up the pope. This episode was recorded on April 15, 2025.

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 Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. They discuss being hired as the first developer at Ubisoft Montreal, the similarities between improv theater and game design, and why he wants to remove UI from his games. This episode was recorded on April 15, 2025.