Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland
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Public radio icon Ira Glass has a famous quote describing the gap between taste and talent in trying to hone your creative work. When you start out, your tastes are always bigger than your skill. It's a frustrating gap, and one that causes a lo
Hannah and Evan talk about how to transform a beloved movie, book, or show into a game, using their latest project as an example: An adaptation of a 1779 book of cosmetic chemistry, The Toilet of Flora.EPISODE LINKS/CREDITS:Design Doc intro/o
In a perfect world, we'd make a living just making roleplaying games. But sometimes, duty calls, and you've got to work around another job. In this episode, we talk about rolling with the punches in a moment when the creative work is competing
What’s the difference between a “theme” and an “obsession?” Inspired by a classic writing book from the ‘80s, we share our respective obsessions and talk about how they show up in our work, intentionally or otherwise.EPISODE MENTIONS:Learn
Kickstarter stretch goals are notorious for getting project creators into trouble. Sometimes, they over promise content. Other times, they create financial strain. Often, it's all of the above. In this episode, we talk about Top Tracks, a stret
In this episode, Hannah talks about the art of doing creative work alone. As part of a game design duo that normally does all creative work together, what does it look like to self-motivate on game design solo? From setting small, manageable go
We love making solo RPGs, but we don't always love playing them. In this episode we brainstorm ideas for a possible one-player version of Questlandia, and what would make us excited to play it.EPISODE LINKS/CREDITS:Our games: turtlebun.comPa
This month marks the sixth anniversary of Design Doc, a podcast that started as a "year-long" project documenting our progress redesigning our first roleplaying game. Six years later, we talk about the different directions we've taken, and what
Hannah and Evan talk about the strange designs and abandoned places of Six Flags New England, the latest of a series of research trips. Join them on a jeep ride in the Jurassic, through the ghost town of Crackaxle, and into secret corners fille
Former historical interpreter Enzo joins us to talk about interpreting history! A few months ago we visited Old Sturbridge Village, an 1830s rural New England recreation village. We went as naive visitors, only able to guess at how it was run.
In this episode Hannah and Evan describe their recent trip to Sturbridge Village, an 1800s recreation historical town. They talk about the value of on-the-ground research for creative projects, the peculiarity of animal habitats in fantasy plac
We talk about bringing confidence to our own work, including our recent scent-inspired game ideas. We're working on bringing that founder hustle without a toxic founder morality. Plus, we've got two new projects in the works inspired by olfacti
In a much-requested episode topic, Hannah and Evan talk about WORLDBUILDING. We narrow in on three worldbuilding faux pas we're trying to be aware of in our own work: Word swapping, "Fish People," and the dreaded authorial insert.Episode Menti
Hannah and Evan discuss their personal experiences and struggles with focus. A new kind of work requires long stretches of sustained focus, disrupting old routines and demanding new strategies. They delve into the challenges and rewards of dodg
Hannah and Evan talk about what it's like to tackle a very different type of creative work—writing a novel! We discuss the fun parts and the challenges of being two people trying to hone in on a single narrative voice.Mentioned in this episode
Hannah and Evan discuss the trials and tribulations of packing a "deluxe" edition of Questlandia and the ridiculous mishaps that ensued.They chat fancy boxes, missing fonts, and making creative use of a limited budget.Episode Links and Credit
Hannah and Evan talk about the increasingly complicated logistics of packing and shipping games as small creators.In this episode, we talk all about packing and shipping. Where do you get bubble wrap when you need more than a roll, but less t
We made the games, now we have to sell them. Hannah and Evan talk about something they're good at: making new games. And something they're bad at: confidently sharing those games with an audience that might like them.Design Doc intro/outro the
Hannah and Evan discuss how to repair their relationship with a game they've spent a year struggling to complete.Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat KingDesign Doc on twitter: twitter.com/designdocpodMentioned in this episode:Microscope RPG
Hannah and Evan talk about the fiddly little end things that make a project go on, and on, and on much longer than you expected.Design Doc intro/outro theme by Pat KingDesign Doc on twitter: twitter.com/designdocpodTurtlebun linksOur game
Hannah and Evan salvage an episode about being on time with an upcoming game, and publish it in a world where they were not on time.Intro/outro theme by Pat King.
Perfect media is untouchable. Hannah and Evan talk about looking to flawed, goofy, broken movies and books for creative inspiration, instead of looking to our favorites.Content: Intro/outro theme: by Pat King
Hannah reads you a game ideas to-do list for 30 minutes.
What's the right tone for the rules of a roleplaying game? Evan and Hannah talk about casual versus formal writing, and how small word choices exploded into rewriting the mechanics of Questlandia.
In this episode, Hannah and Evan talk about the self-consciousness that comes when you grow up and are told you must make things for serious reasons. How does one escape that self-doubt? Enter...bad comics! Enter...fanfic!Intro/outro theme: Pa
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