Tronster Hartley

Zac Hill

Alternate Worlds Podcast: Zac Hill, from Games to Good This episode moves far beyond game design into a thoughtful conversation about the future of society, technology, education, AI, politics, trust, media, and creativity. While both Brian and Zac share deep roots in Magic: The Gathering, the game becomes a lens through which they explore much larger questions about how people learn, build communities, tell stories, and create meaning in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Note from Brian: Zac Hill is an incredible writer, gamer, and thought leader spanning “what the future of humanity” should be & how to position ourselves best to inherit an optimistic future. Zac and I met a few decades back, when I was at the throes of “purest capitalism,” so I couldn’t talk to other humans in a real way. Fast forward today, where Zac and I run the gamut of our present world & how we want to position ourselves for the future ahead. How do we build systems that make groups of people better than ever before? Let’s find out. Topics Covered * Zac’s Office of American Possibilities and civic venture studio * AI for public-interest and social-impact applications * The future of education in an AI-driven world * Why friction is essential for learning * Motivation versus optimization in education * Trust in institutions and public leadership * National stories, identity, and belonging * Billionaires, venture capital, and public perception * Politics as storytelling versus policy * The evolution of media business models * Subscription versus advertising ecosystems * Substack as a creative platform * Writing about games as a way to explore larger societal ideas * Building creator tools for collaborative game creation * AI-assisted game design * Immersive theater and participatory experiences * The future relationship between AI and creativity * Roblox, Minecraft, and AI as creative platforms * Magic: The Gathering as a lifelong framework for thinking about systems and people Memorable Moments * Zac explains that America has long called itself “an experiment,” but experiments require debriefs—a philosophy that inspired one of his major civic projects reviewing 250 years of presidential history. * Brian argues that learning resembles the famous opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey: every generation still has to “hit the monolith” through real struggle rather than simply downloading knowledge. * The pair discuss why AI can accelerate access to information without eliminating the difficult experiences that actually produce wisdom. * Brian shares the story of leaving Netflix after a health scare, discovering Substack almost by accident, and gradually evolving from memoir writing into podcasts and eventually an AI-powered platform for collaborative game creation. * Zac compares AI’s future not to a single killer application but to platforms like Roblox or Minecraft, where creators build countless unexpected experiences atop shared creative infrastructure. * The conversation closes by imagining games that are easier to create, more personal, and capable of producing meaningful shared experiences in real time. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Tronster Hartley

Alternate Worlds Podcast: Tronster Hartley, UX Lead at Firaxis Games In this nostalgic and wide-ranging episode, Brian reconnects with lifelong friend and community builder Tronster Hartley to revisit the formative years that shaped both of their careers. What begins as a conversation about Baltimore's bulletin board systems (BBSs) quickly expands into stories about competitive laser tag, early internet culture, raves, game development, community organizing, and the creative spirit that carried an entire generation into the video game industry. Note from Brian: Tronster Hartley just sent me a zip file full of our college era correspondences with each other. No, you may not see them. Tronster has worked at Firaxis Games for the last 18 years, on the XCOM & Civilization franchises, but before then he was a high schooler I met in the early BBS days, who pre-dates Magic: the Gathering. Apparently I “taught Tronster how to play Magic and gave him his first deck,” which caused him later duress as he got too involved with the game and ultimately retired early. Tronster’s unique in that he’s often been the eye of strong communities — he was the orchestrator for our community in the BBS days (hint: it was large), worked as a youth pastor, spent a decade or so volunteering at GDC and also co-founded the Baltimore chapter of the IGDA, which is still going strong today. Really special to have a Tronster in your midst. Or on your video podcast series. :) Topics Covered * Growing up in Baltimore during the BBS era * Life before the public internet * Competitive Photon laser tag and gaming culture * Early online communities and bulletin board systems * Organizing 200+ person BBS meetups * Accidentally crashing portions of the WWIV BBS network * The transition from BBSs to Usenet and the early internet * Teenage adventures, raves, and Baltimore nightlife * Creative technologists who later entered the game industry * Baltimore’s overlooked role in video game history * Muse Software, Castle Wolfenstein, and MicroProse * Community building as a lifelong skill * Parenting, education, and making it “cool to be smart” * Game design, Wizards of the Coast, and Brian’s career * The changing cultures of Baltimore and the San Francisco Bay Area * The enduring importance of friendships that span decades Memorable Moments * Brian and Tronster laugh about how they first met through Baltimore’s interconnected BBS and Photon communities, including aliases like “Alkaline” and “Psycho Squirrel.” * Tronster recounts organizing enormous real-world meetups for people who had previously only known one another online—years before social media existed. * The pair revisit stories involving legendary friend Kevin McCormick, whose technical brilliance ranged from reverse-engineering networking protocols to wiring computers into his car. * Brian shares how attending raves led him to develop the idea that eventually became his college thesis on creativity. * The conversation explores Baltimore’s surprising contributions to gaming history, including the origins of Castle Wolfenstein and the city’s long lineage of influential game studios. * Both hosts reflect on how childhood communities quietly shaped careers that eventually reached Wizards of the Coast, Game Developers Conference, and the broader games industry. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Mike Jimenez

Alternate Worlds Podcast: Mike Jimenez, Startup CTO In this episode, Brian reconnects with longtime friend and former colleague Mike Jimenez to explore the early days of social gaming, startup culture in Silicon Valley, leadership, entrepreneurship, and the evolution of technology over the last two decades. The conversation is equal parts nostalgia, career reflection, and examination of how creative people navigate changing industries. Note from Brian: Mike Jimenez has been in Silicon Valley for over 30 years. He started out as a software engineer, built complex systems for CyberSource (later sold for $2B), and forever after went into working for, then founding (or leading), startups. In 2009, I met Mike Jimenez at a company named Serious Business, which made early Facebook games (Friends for Sale, Rock Legends), then later sold to Zynga. Mike went on to co-found Bionic Panda Games with his friend Charles, and had some success on the Android platform before shifting gears in other directions. Since then, Mike has mostly served as a CTO across fashion, gaming, VR & crypto. His most recent major foray with gaming was at Concept Art House (or Concept Labs), at the height of the NFT craze. Topics Covered * The founding and growth of Serious Business * The viral success of Friends for Sale * Early Facebook platform gaming and social mechanics * Startup culture during Silicon Valley’s social gaming era * Hiring, leadership, and team-building philosophies * The rise of Zynga and consolidation within social games * Startup acquisitions and founder decision-making * Building Bionic Panda Games with Charles Hudson * Early Android game development * Product-market fit and rapid iteration * Gaming as a lifelong passion * Remote work and the evolution of tech culture * Strategy versus execution in leadership * The changing economics of building technology companies Memorable Moments * Mike describing how Friends for Sale transformed Facebook users into collectibles and generated surprising real-world relationships. * The revelation that the company’s COO met his future spouse through the game. * Brian and Mike drafting an imaginary “government cabinet” from former Serious Business employees and debating who would run various departments. * Stories of impromptu Super Smash Bros. tournaments and Magic drafts during work hours. * Mike explaining how he designed a fishing game by staring at a blank smartphone screen and asking what kind of experience truly belonged on a mobile device. * Reflections on how Zynga’s strategy differed dramatically from the more experimental game studios of the era. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Jossie Haines

During the day, Jossie Haines is an executive coach who actively helps technical leaders improve their work lives & personal lives. “Some time ago,” Jossie also happens to have worked on some extremely successful & large/complex games in her time — Cafe World, CityVille & ChefVille. I met Jossie on CityVille, after we raided the Cafe World team for some of their best engineers, and it was great to catch up with her here. She’s accumulated a strong following on LinkedIn, with the intention of helping engineers & women (not mutually exclusive) navigate their careers & life decisions. And she’s an active gamer, too. :) Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Adam King

Alternate Worlds Podcast: Adam King & the Game Developer Experience from Console to Social Games In this episode, Brian reconnects with longtime friend, engineer, and game industry veteran Adam King for a conversation that begins with a surprisingly detailed discussion of curling injuries and evolves into a fascinating exploration of game development, engineering culture, product design, live-service games, leadership, and the changing nature of technology careers. Equal parts funny, nostalgic, and insightful, the episode traces Adam's journey from a self-taught programmer in Canada to leadership roles across console games, social games, mobile games, and live-service products. Notes from Brian: Adam King is a Canadian. That isn’t a definitely trait, per se, but we start and end the conversation with in-depth conversations pertaining to curling, so you should know what you’re in for. More seriously, Adam began as a game engineer at Radical on a Dark Angel action title, shifted to EA to work on NBA Live in the 00’s, then made his way to Zynga and joined CityVille. Adam was the kind of engineer you’d talk to about “what I’d love to be able to do in game” who just happened to make it happen when nobody was looking. It was magic. (He won awards for his awesomeness in the engineering sphere at both EA & Zynga.) Later he joined me at Rumble Entertainment, and helped lead KingsRoad out from purgatory into a nice decade-long run, and graduated to become EP. Today, Adam is a YouTuber who lives a very LEGO-forward lifestyle, continuing his life of adventure and curiosity. Topics Covered * Curling, sports injuries, and why Canadians willingly slide on ice * Growing up in Canada and discovering programming * Building baseball simulation games as a child * Early influences from board games and strategy games * Radical Entertainment and the Dark Angel video game * Console game development in the PlayStation 2 and GameCube era * NBA Live and large-scale sports game development * Working with massive legacy codebases * Animation systems and gameplay engineering * Why great engineering tools empower designers * The transition from Electronic Arts to Zynga * CityVille and the social gaming boom * Live-service games versus boxed-product development * User data, player feedback, and iteration * Leadership and team-building * What makes engineers successful * Curiosity as a professional superpower * Product development through player observation and learning Memorable Moments * The episode opens with an unexpectedly serious analysis of curling mechanics, strategy, and how Adam injured his foot while sliding out of the hack. * Brian develops a theory that curling was originally learned by observing penguins and asks Adam to evaluate the hypothesis. * Adam recounts creating a baseball simulation game while still in middle school, foreshadowing his future career in game development. * Stories about navigating the “dungeon crawler” experience of exploring NBA Live’s sprawling legacy codebase and discovering decades of accumulated engineering decisions. * Reflections on moving from Canada to California, joining Zynga, and simultaneously navigating a major career change, relocation, and new parenthood. * Brian and Adam revisit the high-pressure CityVille years, including Zynga’s IPO era and the unique culture that emerged inside one of gaming’s fastest-growing companies. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]