Episode 23: In this episode, we dive deep into the creative process behind the game WordPeaks with its creator, Devin Spikowski. Discover the inspirations, design decisions, and the unique journey from concept to a game enjoyed by thousands. Check out Davin's Games and Resources:https://vegeta897.github.io/word-peaks/https://twitter.com/vegeta897https://github.com/vegeta897https://cohost.org/vegeta897https://vegeta897.carrd.co/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@vegeta897 -- (00:00) - Kicking...

Episode 22: This conversation features a deep and insightful discussion with Frank Lantz, the director of the New York University Game Center and an award-winning game designer. Throughout the interview, Lantz explores the intricate relationship between games, culture, and education, highlighting how games can serve as a potent medium for both artistic expression and intellectual challenge. Check out Frank's Games and Resources:“The Beauty of Games” - A book by Frank LantzUniversal Paperclips...

Episode 21: David Turner created Semantle.com, a unique word-guessing game focusing on semantic relationships. Turner shares insights on his journey from ideation to acquisition, his creative process, and upcoming projects like a graphical adventure game. We also chat about game design challenges, user testing, creativity in game development, and effective marketing strategies. Check out David's games and...

Episode 20: Grant Warman, the creator of Polygonle and Quadragonal word games, discussing the game mechanics, user feedback, collaboration with other games, and plans for future projects. Check out Grant's games and links:https://polygonle.com/https://quadragonle.com/https://www.reddit.com/r/polygonle/https://discord.gg/https://www.facebook.com/people/Polygonlehttps://twitter.com/PolygonleGame-- (00:00) - Words of Wisdom for New Game Creators (01:43) - Deep Dive into Polygonle with Grant...

Episode 19: James Robinson runs the ever-popular game, Wafflegame.net. In his first-ever podcast, he shares the history of Waffle, where it is headed, and how it has reached 500,000 daily players. James discusses the game's design, user feedback, and the human-centric approach to game creation. Themes include his accidental success, and the future plans for Waffle Studio. Check out James's games and links:https://wafflegame.net...

Episode 18: Today's episode join me and lets explore the fascinating journey of Minesweeper through an interview with Damien Moore, the visionary behind MinesweeperGame.com. Delve into the origins of Minesweeper, the celebrities who played this game, its evolution, strategic gameplay, online community, and the intricate mathematics that define this beloved game. Check out Damien's games and links:https://minesweepergame.com/https://minesweepergame.com/forum/-- (00:00) - Introduction to the...

Hey, Good Game podcast hosts Nate Kadlac and Aaron Kardell attend the GDC conference in San Francisco for the first time. They share their experiences at the event, interactions with different booths, and their plans for potential future participation. Check out Hey GG's games and links:https://www.hey.gg/https://lilsnack.co/https://poki.com/https://www.coolmathgames.com/ -- (00:00) - Welcome to the Hey, Good Game Podcast! (00:27) - First Impressions of GDC: Diving into the Deep...

Episode 16: Today's episode features an interview with Jeff Chen, the creator of the new game Squeezy, discussing his journey in creating the game, his experience in puzzle making and writing, including the challenges and successes. Jeff also shares his writing experience and the upcoming puzzle book collaboration with Stuart Gibbs. He emphasizes the importance of persistence, listening to feedback, and living with frustration for aspiring game creators. Check out the games and resources from...

Episode 15: In today's episode features an interview with Jeff Widderich, the president of Syndicated Puzzles, who discusses his background, experience on Dragon's Den, game creation, the challenges faced in the puzzle industry, and the future of game design. Widderich shares insights on the importance of spatial thinking, the necessity for new and innovative puzzles, the competitive nature of puzzles, and the potential for multi-solution puzzles. He emphasizes the need for game designers to...

Today we're excited to sit down with Richard Mann, the CEO and founder of Nerdle, a math game similar to Wordle. Richard discusses the development of Nerdle, the challenges of creating math games that are fun for kids, the game's advertising model, the launch of a new game called 2D Nerdle, and the importance of user feedback. We also dive into how Nerdle is run as a family operation, and why many of the ideas for the game happen over dinner. Check out Richard's...

We're back with Joseph, Nate, and Aaron! They discuss the past 12 episodes of the podcasts, what stood out from our conversations, how game creators earn a living from their games, and the differences between creators. The conversation ends with reflections on the progress of their business, Hey Good Game, and its growth strategy in buying and building games. Check out Hey GG's games and links:https://www.hey.gg/ -- (00:00) - Introduction and Podcast Improvements (00:24) - Reflecting on...

Lil Snack is a new daily game platform created by Eric Berman and Travis Chen. They talk about their approach to creating a new game every day with the desire to be an app recommended by friends in text messages. They credit AI for their ability to be nimble, noting that the technology helps with the middle part of their creative process such as research and creating the specific puzzle format. The conversation reveals the journey of Eric and Travis from building games to launching Lilsnack...

Our recent chat with the creators of ChessWorld pushes the edges on what you might know about correspondence-style Chess as a game. Tryfon (aka Kingscrusher) and his brother Nick share how maintaining ChessWorld allows them to pursue a passion for playing chess while also earning a living.  They talk about how Tryfon’s enjoyment of chess guided the development of the platform, his approach to running Chessworld.net on an ad-free, subscription-based model, and how his experiences in online...

Join us as we delve into Jim Bumgardner's fascinating odyssey within the realms of coding and brainteasers. We explore his profound insights on the convergence of computers, music, and puzzle creation, alongside his clever utilization of Foursquare's capabilities which paved the way for his brainchild—the acclaimed puzzle hub—KrazyDad. Our chat also touches upon his confidence in AI's revolutionary impact across sectors, reflections on past revenue models via advertising, and the aspiration...

The Wiki Game is a fun, web-based game that connects two random Wikipedia article links. Alex shares his journey of how he started out, using concepts like six degrees of separation to create a game involving Wikipedia articles, and how it has steadily grown over the years to around 60,000 - 80,000 unique users a month. Despite challenges like hacking incidents and handling various user complaints, for Alex, the game remains a labor of love. He also talks about his ideas for the future of the...

In this episode, hosts Aaron Kardell and Joseph Rueter of the 'Hey, Good Game' podcast sit down with game developer Sven Neumann. They discuss the creation and development of Sven's SudokuPad, used by Cracking the Cryptic, his early interest in technology and gaming, as well as his vision for the platform's future. Neumann also discusses the considerations of building a social platform for Sudoku, which would include features like subscribing to channels and categorizing puzzles. Play Sven's...

You’d be surprised how a well-established corporate worker like Abe Train started creating games for a living! From big-name companies like Tesla, General Motors and Hello Fresh, to creating his own brand and entering a niche that he loves, Abe has a great story to share behind his success. This is how a corporate worker traded his stable life to venture out into the industry of game development and created the hit game, Globle. Nate Kadlac (https://twitter.com/kadlac) and Aaron Kardell...

Unlock the secrets of Scrabble with Woogles creators César Del Solar and Jesse Day, who join us to discuss the power of two-letter words and parallel plays that can transform your word game skills. As we chat with these Scrabble aficionados, we uncover not only their journeys into the world of competitive Scrabble but also how their diverse backgrounds and love for the game led to the inception of Woogles. Their friendly banter on topics from condiments to the platform's chess-inspired...

Robert Fuhrer explores his years-long journey in the toy and game industry in this interview. He reminisces about the many experiences that shaped his career from early exposure to the toy industry, his first creation, his various partnerships and ventures and how he ended up being the owner of the popular puzzle game, KenKen. His journey reflects the crucial importance of relationships in business, being outspoken about opportunities, and taking on ventures with undefined outcomes. Fuhrer...

Step into the shadowy corridors of game development with our esteemed guest, Nilanth Yogadasan, the creative genius behind the eerie yet addictive games, CineNerdle and CineNerdle 2. His games reach over 30,000 daily players, and over 15 million games played. Our conversation takes a deep dive into Nilanth's inspiration, drawing heavily from his passion for horror cinema, and how it fuels the enigmatic puzzles in CineNerdle. Alongside his passion, Nilanth's journey also encompasses the trials...

Are you ready to step into the intriguing world of game development, entrepreneurship, and the pursuit of excellence? Let me welcome you to a captivating conversation with Toby Mao, the driving force behind 18XX Games and a Rubik's Cube record holder. His diverse journey weaves through the set of Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith, creating 18XX games, to leading roles at Airbnb and Netflix, and now, co-founding Tobiko Data. Toby's relentless passion for excellence, his exciting career...

Get ready to unlock the mysteries of game development and indie hacking as we entertain an inspiring chat with Holger Sindbæk, the enterprising mind behind Online-Solitaire.com and WorldOfCardGames.com. Gain a new perspective from Holger's inspiring journey from designer to developer, and how he transformed his passion project into a significant income source. We promise you'll be intrigued by Holger's analytical approach to game development, hints of strategies that boosted an existing game,...

What do games mean to you? As kids, games have had a large impact on our lives. Now as adults, join our inaugural and nostalgia-fueled episode as we, your hosts Joseph, Aaron, and Nate, explore the significance of childhood games and how they shaped us. We also discuss how games have played a significant role in our entrepreneurial journeys. In this episode, you'll learn: • About the evolution of programming languages• Games as an introduction to entrepreneurship• Why daily games work so...