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Enduring Play S2 E2 Released: Self-Expression, Representation, and Generational Gaming with Adanna Nedd

CategoriesEnduring Play
Enduring Play S2 E2 Released: Self-Expression, Representation, and Generational Gaming with Adanna Nedd

Celebrate GDC week by listening to one of the many talented GDC speakers hitting San Francisco in 2026: Narrative designer, games writer, and games researcher Adanna Nedd brings her extensive knowledge of what’s current in gaming to expand our horizons. Explore unexpected questions like: what’s “friend slop” and why does it matter? What does self-expression really mean to marginalized groups in games? How is one of the current breakout games innovating in women’s health? Why are some vintage consoles still getting playtime? And… what do spiders have to do with AI? While Adanna’s research focuses on the experiences of players of color in video game spaces, the insights she brings are applicable to all listeners at any stage or role in gaming: player, developer, leader. Adanna is nominated for the Black in Gaming Foundation’s 2026 Indie Developer Award for her community engagement and outreach, trying to help solve the discoverability problem by connecting interested gamers and game devs to the games that can serve them. You’ll learn more about the cognitive benefits of gaming, economic drivers of self-expression, and a surprising revelation about a challenge facing younger gamers in this generation. Don’t miss this fun and extremely practical exploration of an astonishing array of modern games and genres.

Engage with this episode now:

Enduring Play: A Game Dev Podcast Season 2 Episode 2 – Adanna Nedd [Show Notes]

Key Quotes

What we were looking at was when the cosmetics available aren’t very diverse, and there’s only a few options available for non white, non male players, does that mean they have to pay more and play more in order to get skins that actually represent how they look like in real life? The majority of players that we interviewed said that they don’t pick an in game skin to represent themselves – they more pick it based on aesthetic purposes. “Oh, this is a Halloween skin. I like Halloween, so I’m going to go for this.” But the majority of players also agree that there needs to be more diverse representation within games.

Love in Deepspace is a really big game. But it also is a really good productivity app. There’s, like, a little calendar. You can schedule reminders. There’s even a period tracker that’s really, really accurate. That’s the reason I got because I wanted to see it was real. I thought it was a joke, but it’s real. And the in game anime boys will like, comfort you. It’s really good, and I think it’s interesting that you have now these female player focused game designs that a lot of male designers wouldn’t even think of. That’s still a really big draw, because a lot of period apps are terrible. Having an app that not only works, but it’s also part of a really fun game is interesting.

An example of a narrative mechanic that combines games writing and game design is Ghost of Yotei. One of the mechanics they have is that as you’re exploring the open worlds, you can experience memories of the character which I think is really cool. But I think the problem is sometimes they’re not as direct. Since it’s a lot of open world free writing, you can miss some of these cut scenes, you can miss context of things, and sometimes other narrative and emotional beats don’t hit as hard, because they have to be experienced both with a player who hasn’t seen like all of the different past things, and a player who maybe has seen all of it. So you have to balance these two different type of player narratives, and you’re not sure which one or how they’re going to experience it.

I feel like we’re only just beginning to show the ways stories can be told in games. And Roger was a really good one I’ve played. I’m not going to spoil what happens in it, but seeing the UI change in everything as it’s telling it’s very short, but very original story – I think it’s really cool, especially with the simplicity of it. Because I think one of the interesting things is that Pokemon just turned 30, and we’re hitting a point where a lot of the gamers that were kids are adults. They’re gaming, and they’re having their own kids, and now you’re seeing a lot of older people getting into games. Are we going to see a genre where you have, “senior-likes”, where it’s like, games for seniors?

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Love in Deepspace is a really big game. But it also is a really good productivity app. There's, like, a little calendar. You can schedule reminders. There's even a period tracker that's really, really accurate. That's the reason I got because I wanted to see it was real. I thought it was a joke, but it's real. And the in game anime boys will like, comfort you. It's really good, and I think it's interesting that you have now these female player focused game designs that a lot of male designers wouldn't even think of. That’s still a really big draw, because a lot of period apps are terrible. Having an app that not only works, but it's also part of a really fun game is interesting.
What we were looking at was when the cosmetics available aren't very diverse, and there's only a few options available for non white, non male players, does that mean they have to pay more and play more in order to get skins that actually represent how they look like in real life? The majority of players that we interviewed said that they don't pick an in game skin to represent themselves - they more pick it based on aesthetic purposes. “Oh, this is a Halloween skin. I like Halloween, so I'm going to go for this.” But the majority of players also agree that there needs to be more diverse representation within games.
I feel like we're only just beginning to show the ways stories can be told in games. And Roger was a really good one I've played. I'm not going to spoil what happens in it, but seeing the UI change in everything as it's telling it's very short, but very original story - I think it’s really cool, especially with the simplicity of it. Because I think one of the interesting things is that Pokemon just turned 30, and we're hitting a point where a lot of the gamers that were kids are adults. They're gaming, and they're having their own kids, and now you're seeing a lot of older people getting into games. Are we going to see a genre where you have, “senior-likes”, where it's like, games for seniors?
An example of a narrative mechanic that combines games writing and game design is Ghost of Yotei. One of the mechanics they have is that as you're exploring the open worlds, you can experience memories of the character which I think is really cool. But I think the problem is sometimes they're not as direct. Since it's a lot of open world free writing, you can miss some of these cut scenes, you can miss context of things, and sometimes other narrative and emotional beats don't hit as hard, because they have to be experienced both with a player who hasn't seen like all of the different past things, and a player who maybe has seen all of it. So you have to balance these two different type of player narratives, and you're not sure which one or how they're going to experience it.

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The Game Development Strategy Guide

Enduring Play is the companion podcast to The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Modern Video Games that Thrive. Season 1 features the interviews that inspired the book, and Season 2 expands our understanding of how to create sustainable gaming experiences. The book is available at all major online booksellers and at publisher Rosenfeld Media’s website.

Use code ENDURINGPLAYS2 at RosenfeldMedia.com to get 15% off your order – and all physical orders at Rosenfeld Media receive a free ebook. Podcast Season 2 offer expires July 31, 2026.

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