Design Education from Ideaplatz, LLC

Enduring Play: Season 1

Season 1 of the Enduring Play podcast features conversations with 10 game development experts that informed the writing of The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games That Thrive, Cheryl Platz’s second book from Rosenfeld Media. The conversations are wide-ranging, and cover everything from how to cope with the unstable games industry and techniques for interdisciplinary collaboration and usability testing to the evolving role of artificial intelligence in video game development. Context is provided to help newer listeners follow along, and the podcast is generally PG-13 for strong language and some adult themes.

Reception

Enduring Play Season 1 went on to exceed standards for the top 40% of podcasts in its first season of release with minimal advertising, with over 47 average downloads in the first 7 days (61 downloads at peak) and it has picked up steam since release, with many episodes over 100 downloads and the pilot breaking the 200 download threshold. The themes were designed to be evergreen and pair well with Cheryl’s book The Game Development Strategy Guide, which contribute to its increasing popularity.

Quick Links to Season 1 Show Notes

Season 1 Episode Listing

Season 1 consists of 10 audio-only episodes broadcasting weekly on Tuesdays starting August 19, 2025.

#GuestRoleTitleDateTopics
1Celia Hodent, PhDIndependent UX StrategistUsing UX Strategy to Put Players FirstAugust 19, 2025User experience design and research, ethics of video game monetization, psychology of gaming, engageability
2Carlos FigueiredoDirector of Player Trust and Safety, MojangSafe and Thriving Gaming CommunitiesAugust 26, 2025Player Dynamics, Thriving in Games Group, Prosocial Gaming
3Amy KalsonExecutive Design Producer, MetaCreative Strategy for Thriving TeamsSeptember 2, 2025Game Production, Game Design, Pitching, Localization and Culture, AI in gaming
4David VenturaCreative Director, Ichigoichie GamesThe Global Heartbeat of Music GamesSeptember 9, 2025Rhythm and music games, Japanese and European gaming, indie games, AI in gaming
5Whitney BeltránIndependent Narrative DesignerLudonarrative Harmony for Narrative DesignersSeptember 16, 2025Narrative design, narrative design tools, ludonarrative
6Eric KabischVP of Design, VRChatDesign and Curation for User-Generated WorldsSeptember 23, 2025User-generated content, Design leadership for games, virtual reality
7Caerie HouchinsCTO, Wicked Fox GamesEngineering for Scalable, Sustainable GamesSeptember 30, 2025Engineering, live-service multiplayer game launches, AI, Indie Games
8Joe “joemag” MagdalenaSystems DesignerThe Methodical Magic of Systems DesignOctober 7, 2025Game design, systems design
9Tamara KnossSenior Technical UI Artist Doing More with Less for Video Game Art and UI/UXOctober 14, 2025Animation, art, user interfaces, user experience, immersion, handheld gaming consoles
10Yesenia CisnerosFormer Lead Producer, Brass Lion EntertainmentPeople, Process, and Players: Human-Centered ProductionOctober 21, 2025Game Production, Localization, Leadership

Season 1 Trailers

Explore Season 1 Highlights

Tamara Knoss in Enduring Play: A Game Development Podcast Season 1 Episode 9 hosted by Cheryl Platz: “Because I grew up in the industry in that very “keeping things small and tight and limited” era and then moving to AAA… and it's just, “look at all this waste.” Artists making art that is 10 times the size it needs to be and like that's taking up space on the person's device. It's okay for when they're working on console or desktop, like when it's a PC, but we're talking about somebody's phone. The amount of inefficiency in desktop games and then porting them to mobile is mind boggling and painful.” Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and enduringplay.com