Nina Dobner

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]

James Laird

Alternate Worlds Podcast: James Laird & the Games Industry Career Path In this thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation, Brian sits down with longtime game developer, product leader, technologist, storyteller, and LARP organizer James Laird to explore a career that has repeatedly crossed the boundaries between games, technology, theater, education, and community-building. What begins as a discussion about live-action roleplaying games quickly evolves into a deeper conversation about creativity, identity, game development, product management, entrepreneurship, and the future of human experiences in an AI-driven world. Notes from Brian: James Laird starts most meetings with a dad joke or a pun or a groan-worthy limerick. This session I happened to distract him at the start, but at some point, if you listen in, you may be bludgeoned (to life) by a run of jokes that will make you cry out in great pain. James is a man of many tastes, and has been making games for the last few decades across Cryptic Studios (Champions Online), Pocket Gems (Wild Beyond, Episode) and most recently at Series Entertainment (various Netflix titles). We discuss LARPs, AI, the future of work, parenting in an era with distractions within distractions (within distractions) and his journey as a theater fellow & game making denizen. If you have a dad joke or pun or groan-worthy limerick you think is better than what James supplied here, please record yourself saying that joke and send it directly to James on the social network of your choice. Thanks James! Topics Covered * Live-action roleplaying games (LARPs) and immersive storytelling * Building and running large-scale community experiences * Theater, performance, and character creation * The business realities of passion projects * Game development and MMORPG design * Champions Online and Cryptic Studios * Canceled games and unseen creative work * Facebook gaming during the social gaming boom * Product management versus game design * Educational games and medical simulations * Stanford educational gaming projects * Pocket Gems, mobile gaming, and startup culture * AI, creativity, and the future of interactive media * Community-building and player-driven experiences * Creativity versus commercialization * Why hobbies sometimes become careers * The evolution of game development over the past two decades Memorable Moments * James describing LARPs as “three different games in a trench coat,” depending on whether players are focused on competition, performance, or collaborative storytelling. * Stories from Wellspring, a large-scale West Coast LARP involving more than one hundred players and years of accumulated worldbuilding. * A discussion of “Play to Lift,” the philosophy that some players intentionally sacrifice their own success in order to create memorable experiences for everyone else. * James revealing that he unexpectedly became a voice actor for Champions Online when the project couldn’t afford additional voice talent. * Reflections on working in Facebook gaming during one of the industry’s most competitive and chaotic eras. * Brian’s observation that James continually resists labels, preferring to define himself through curiosity and exploration rather than any single job title. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Jeremy Jarvis

Alternate Worlds Podcast: Jeremy Jarvis, former Franchise Leader for Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons In this episode, Brian reconnects with longtime collaborator and former Wizards of the Coast creative leader Jeremy Jarvis for a wide-ranging conversation about creativity, worldbuilding, leadership, Magic's most beloved settings, and the challenges of stewarding intellectual property. The discussion begins with Jeremy's philosophy that the first idea is rarely the best idea, then evolves into an exploration of how great creative work emerges through iteration, collaboration, and the willingness to challenge assumptions. Notes from Brian: Jeremy Jarvis was a creative & franchise leader for Magic: the Gathering first, and later for Dungeons & Dragons as well. Jeremy is a world-building specialist who helped architect some of Magic: the Gathering’s most iconic worlds, and also has helped oversee franchise partnerships & promotions such as the D&D Movie & Magic: the Gathering marketing trailers. When I knew Jeremy, he was evolving from being a watercolorist concept / Magic: the Gathering artist to becoming a full art director from Lorwyn, on, and it’s been a joy to see his career continue to blossom. On my last day at Wizards of the Coast, Jeremy let me pick my favorite of his Magic: the Gathering art pieces as a goodbye gift, and I chose Beacon of Tomorrows, which I still have today. I was thankful then, as I am now. :) Thanks Jeremy! Topics Covered * Why the first creative idea is rarely the best one * Growing from freelance artist to Magic creative director * Art direction and worldbuilding at Wizards of the Coast * Building Kaladesh, Amonkhet, Zendikar, and Return to Ravnica * The evolution of Magic’s creative department * Cross-functional collaboration between design, development, story, marketing, and art * Lessons learned from Kamigawa and Ravnica * Creating and developing the Planeswalker roster * Transitioning from Magic to Dungeons & Dragons franchise leadership * The role of IP in modern gaming * Universes Beyond and the future of Magic’s brand identity * Licensing, adaptation, and storytelling challenges * Creativity, leadership, and organizational growth * How creative teams balance innovation with consistency Memorable Moments * Jeremy explaining why deadlines often force teams toward weaker first ideas rather than stronger third or fourth iterations. * Revealing that he was an accomplished musician and national-level trombone player before pursuing art professionally. * Discussing how Kaladesh emerged from a challenge to create an artifact world that wasn’t another Mirrodin. * Reflecting on Kamigawa’s naming conventions and how accessibility matters when building fantasy worlds. * Explaining why Ravnica resonated so strongly with players through guild identity and factionalization. * Sharing his pride in helping create the original five Planeswalkers and establishing recurring faces for the Magic brand. * The playful debate over whether clowns belong in Magic and why some creative ideas are best left unexplored. Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]