The Game Design Round Table

In this episode, host Dirk Knemeyer and co-host David Heron dive deep into their hands-on workflows with artificial intelligence in game design and software development. Moving past high-level theories, both hosts describe how they are actively getting their "hands filthy" with these tools. David shares his progress in setting up an automated dev environment using Claude to r...

In this episode, hosts Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron dive into a complex listener question regarding the incentives and ethics of Games as a Service (GaaS). They explore the fundamental difference between designing a "boxed" product intended to be finished and a service designed to retain players indefinitely. The discussion challenges the common narrative around "dark patter...

In this episode, host Dirk Knemeyer is joined by co-host David Heron, a veteran game executive known for his six-year tenure at Warner Brothers, to discuss the "great contraction" currently hitting the industry. They explore why thousands of jobs are being lost at major publishers like Microsoft, Sony, and Bungie even as total consumer spending on games remains high. David pr...

In this episode, hosts Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron sit down with Jake Birkett, the veteran indie developer behind Grey Alien Games. Jake is perhaps most famously known in the industry for his "No-Hit Wonder" philosophy—a survival strategy that has allowed him to thrive as a full-time indie developer for over 20 years without relying on a single "mega-hit".

The conver...

The show is hosted by Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron. In this episode, they dive deep into the current cultural and technical landscape of AI in game development. The discussion explores the "bizarro world" where indie developers face intense backlash for AI use while major corporations continue to use it unscathed. Dirk shares his transition into a "Total Claude" workflow, ex...