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PODCAST

Notes on Play

A game development log where I share the hardest game design problems, and share thoughts on the games I"m playing. My name is John Rudolph Drexler and you can find my games at catacombian.com

leisure games

All Episodes

11:02

22: Steel vs. Soft

Notes on Play ·

2026/03/20

A framework for deciding what needs to change next in a game prototype that I developed with my friend Walter Somerville. I used this recently to make some huge improvements to Canticle.

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11:36

21: Why are there so many medieval games?

Notes on Play ·

2026/03/13

Games feel immersive and grounded when they are familiar and legible -- even from a distance.

en

10:52

20: Player experience is the guiding light

Notes on Play ·

2026/02/27

How do you give the emperor a sense of epiphany? How do you give the board a feeling of organic ideas-based growth? I picked the experience first, and designed around that.

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10:12

19: The best game idea I've ever had

Notes on Play ·

2026/02/13

This is a game that takes place in the past and the present. And I've never been so excited to work on something. Many more updates to follow on future episodes.

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14:30

18: Every prototype I made in 2025

Notes on Play ·

2026/01/23

2025 was a creative explosion for me. Now it's time to focus up, and pick which prototype I will try to take to the finish line.

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11:51

17: Why my basketball board game failed

Notes on Play ·

2026/01/09

I tried (and failed) to make a basketball board game. I came up with some ideas that I loved, but ultimately decided to set it aside.

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8:48

16: How to learn a game

Notes on Play ·

2025/12/19

Try to lose. It's a faster and more effective way to learn.

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10:14

15: Paying attention to "desire paths"

Notes on Play ·

2025/12/12

Sometimes players show you exactly what they want to do. You can either fight them, or learn from them.

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9:44

14: Games are not stories

Notes on Play ·

2025/12/05

Games don't need written narrative to be great games. The best stories in games are the ones that organically emerge from the gameplay itself.

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10:39

13: Less is more in simulation games

Notes on Play ·

2025/11/14

Most games simulate some real world scenario. So how do you decide which parts of the real world to represent in game mechanisms? This is where the real artistry of game design comes to light.

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10:43

12: Problem-centered design

Notes on Play ·

2025/11/07

Between each iteration of my game, I'll have dozens of ideas. But which do I actually implement? I find it extremely helpful to break my ideas down into problem statements, and then focus on just solving the most important problems. Here are some examples of how this works for me. [link to play game] [link to original conference talk]

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9:45

11: Distribution is harder than making things

Notes on Play ·

2025/10/24

I've got a great game with great reviews. So how the heck do I get it onto shelves? Here's everything I've tried.

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7:58

10: A board game with hundreds of players

Notes on Play ·

2025/10/17

Play the new prototype with us by joining our discord! I built a game that feels like a board game, but is secretly a social game that requires collaboration, deception, and communication.

en

11:23

9: Managing the player's cognitive load

Notes on Play ·

2025/10/10

How do you communicate complex rules to players? It's worth thinking about what kind of complexity you're communicating, how you communicate it, and when you communicate it. This episode has a couple examples of how designers solve this problem.

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9:52

8: AI is horrible at game design

Notes on Play ·

2025/10/03

LLMs excel at churning out sugar free vanilla paste. That's great when you're writing code. And it's awful when you're doing creative work.

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10:37

7: Escape the mind palace

Notes on Play ·

2025/09/19

A game is only a game if it is playable. It is so hard for me to resist the temptation to retreat to the "mind palace" where my game devolves from a playable, testable, living thing into a mere thought experiment. Here's how I avoid that temptation. Also, here is the link to my video of rapidly prototyping in Figma.

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9:42

6: Letting players decide the victory condition

Notes on Play ·

2025/09/12

My white whale (one of them, at least) is to let players decide how they want to win, and even decide whether it's a cooperative or competitive game. I haven't cracked it yet. But I got a lot closer last week.

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8:43

5: Suspension of disbelief is a skill

Notes on Play ·

2025/09/05

There are two voices in your head. You don't know which is correct, but you do know that one is more useful.

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13:25

4: High energy, low ego

Notes on Play ·

2025/08/29

Everything I learned at my first game conference. Buy Colossi now.

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8:11

3: The prototyping machine

Notes on Play ·

2025/08/22

You can play "Hot Takes" in The Social Game right now!

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23 results

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