Soren Johnson
@sorenjohnson.bsky.social
Founder of MohawkGames. Designer of Civ 3, Civ 4, Dragon Age Legends, Offworld Trading Company, and Old World. Still a Mouth Breather.
Call for submissions for GDC Festival of Gaming 2027 are now open! We're looking for submissions that span the entire game ecosystem from production to audio to business and marketing. Check out more info for each track and how summits are evolving! https://gdconf.com/call-for-submissions/ #GDC2027
Designer Notes #96: Owen Mahoney, first CFO, then CEO of Nexon! www.designer-notes.com/designer-not...
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 design, how to make sure yo…
designer-notes.com
Not quite as good as throwing bones into the Tiber but close enough for now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAhm...
LIVE: See Donald Trump’s name come off the Kennedy Center as it happens
YouTube video by MS NOW
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Designer Notes #95: Seth Sivak, Co-Founder and CEO of Proletariat, developer of World Zombination and Spellbreak! www.designer-notes.com/designer-not...
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 hover doobers, the many ti…
designer-notes.com
my last 20 games!! 98% positive on steam :O store.steampowered.com/app/4044300/...
Designer Notes #94: Charles Cecil (@revolutionsoftware.bsky.social), co-founder of Revolution Software, lead designer of Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series. Part 2! www.designer-notes.com/designer-not...
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 Broken Sword series. They discus…
designer-notes.com
This one has been long in the making, we've done a huge interview with @sorenjohnson.bsky.social of #civ4 and @mohawkgames.bsky.social fame, and two of his codevelopers @dalekent.bsky.social and @thesolver.bsky.social about tveir #4X game #oldworld ! spillhistorie.no/2026/04/22/b...
Big interview with the people behind Old World! - Spillhistorie.no
We interview the development head behind the 4X indie game Old World, and two of his co-developers.
spillhistorie.no
Designer Notes #93: Charles Cecil (@revolutionsoftware.bsky.social), co-founder of Revolution Software, lead designer of Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series. Part 1! www.designer-notes.com/designer-not...
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 Broken Sword series. They discus…
designer-notes.com
holy moly, ok! we did it?? we made a collection??? it's the first 13 games, bundled up with unlockable dev notes, updated audio, some sneaky bug fixes, cloud saves, and Steam Deck support!! store.steampowered.com/app/4044300/...
CorgiSpace on Steam
CorgiSpace is a collection of 8-bit games that have short legs on purpose. This anthology includes more than a dozen action, adventure, arcade, and puzzle games, and each can be thoroughly explored in...
store.steampowered.com
One more thing: Loved being able to use the #GDC26 Podcast Booth for a live Designer Notes. Was a great experience being able to see and also talk with listeners before and after the show. Thanks for following me on this (lengthy) endeavor! (Should get to episode #100 soon...)
Saltsman: I get over the "blank page" problem when making a game by starting on the art tab instead of the code tab (in PICO-8). #GDC26
Saltsman: Follow your ideas where they lead to end up in a place you never would have found without that process. #GDC26
Saltsman: Discovering the right formula for your idea is the process of having your darlings and killing them too. #GDC26
Saltsman: Formulas are not the same as ideas. Ideas are what you want to say. Formulas are how you are hoping to achieve that. #GDC26
Saltsman: Truly easy things tend to be not obvious - no one may have considered skipping the normal steps. #GDC26
Holley: Shortcomings to the Event Deck in Yotei. It relies heavily on dialogue, which is expensive to make and can fatigue players who usually skip dialogue. #GDC26
Holley: The advantage of Yotei's robust and dynamic Event Deck is that we can focus on outputs instead of inputs. The player can make their own choices (the input) and the game can still lead them down a good path (the output). #GDC26
Holley: We could sometimes fake things by using the same voices for multiple characters during fast scenes (like combat)... as long as we weren't switching genders. #GDC26
Holley: The math for each Event's combination of conversations times voices times lines depends on how important the Event is. #GDC26
Holley: We had to do the hard work of having multiple ways (including different VO passes) to communicate the same Event. This one has four different dialogue sequences. Three will not be used. All that is multiplied by different languages and six different actors who cover multiple NPCs. #GDC26
Holley: These different player actions would have led to the same story beats (main quest, weapon unlocks) from the Event Deck. #GDC26
Holley: Camping Events are very important because it's a frequent player action that happens everywhere. We can rely on them in case players ignore all the other Event triggers. #GDC26
