John Linden is CEO of Mythical Games, creator of the pioneering NFT collectible game Blanko’s Block Party. John has a deep background in gaming, leading AAA titles like Call of Duty, and helping develop the Millenium Falcon ride at Disneyland.
Mitch Zamara is Lead Product Designer on Million on Mars: Land Rush! He has over a decade of experience as a game designer working in the free-to-play social/mobile game space at Zynga and other companies. He specializes in designing game economies.
Gabby Dizon is cofounder of Yield Guild Games, an organization that helps its members make money playing blockchain-based play-to-earn games. As a long-time game developer and player, Gabby had long dreamed of a game guild owned by its members.
Chris Heatherly is head of Games & Engagement at Recur, a pioneering NFT platform. A creative executive who works at the intersection of games and entertainment, Chris oversaw hit games based on IP from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars, when he was an exec at Disney and NBCUniversal.
Mark Pincus is a serial entrepreneur and investor who founded the early social media company Tribe Networks, and the mobile social gaming company Zynga. More recently he co-founded investment firm Reinvent Capital in 2018.
Raph Koster is an entrepreneur, game designer, and author of a Theory of Fun for Game Design. He is currently CEO of Playable Worlds. He was Lead Designer on pioneering MMO Ultima Online, and Creative Director of Star Wars Galaxies. He founded Metaplace in 2006, which was acquired by the social gaming company, Playdom.
Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom is an award-winning game producer and product leader who brought you hits like Rock Band and Dance Central. I worked with Tracy in the early days of bringing Rock Band to life – and learned so much from her. In many ways, we’ve traveled parallel paths – moving through the worlds of gaming, digital healthcare and humanistic product design. The common thread is a deep, abiding interest in creating experiences that connect with people in a deep and positive way. And I’ll tell you – Tracy knows how to do that. Join us and discover the key practices that led this innovative creative powerhouse towards success.
Richard Garriott is a pioneering game designer, gifted world-builder, second-generation astronaut, arctic explorer – and ever-inspiring creative force. I first met Richard when I was teaching online community design at Stanford; half my class was in the Beta for Ultima Online, and I jumped in enthusiastically to learn the ropes. I ended up working with Richard, Raph Koster and their amazing crew of developers through the launch & growth of that early graphic MMO. Like many great game designers, Richard is a sophisticated systems thinker who sees the world through a unique lens that’s on full display in this far-ranging & fascinating conversation.
Matt Leacock is a board game designer and UX expert. His first big hit, Pandemic, is a cooperative board game where you team up with others to save the world from virulent diseases. In his latest game, Pandemic Legacy, Matt extends the core Pandemic gameplay with an overarching narrative structure that delivers an episodic experience where every choice you can has irrevocable impact. Matt’s background as a UX designer shines through in his approach to iterative prototyping and “finding the fun” in his games. Matt Leacock is one of my game design heroes, and I’m thrilled to get to talk with him about his creative process. Listen in and learn how a world-class board game designer brings new ideas to life.
Mike Sellers is a pioneering social game designer turned academic. Long before World of Warcraft was a world-wide hit, Mike & his merry crew of innovators – including John Hanke, the driving force behind Pokemon Go – created Meridian 59, the first graphical MMO – or massively multiplayer online game. Since then Mike has worked on many games for companies like Electronic Arts and Kabam – and is now a professor of game design at Indiana University. Like many of our Getting2Alpha guests, Mike has a deep & longstanding fascination with human psychology and social systems – and a LOT of experience wrestling with the challenges of bringing new ideas to life.
Mike is one of my favorite people in gaming – he’s a deeply insightful and innovative thinker, with as astonishing breadth of knowledge. In this interview, you’ll learn what Mike thinks about early MMOs, super-powered mental models, and the pervasive future of Augmented Reality gaming.
