Nina Dobner

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

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. 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

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! 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

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! Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Henry Stern

Henry Stern is a storied game designer who has delivered in many mediums — TCG, board gaming, web2 gaming & mobile gaming. Early on, he left a career -- that he enjoyed -- as a rocket scientist, to go after his passion instead and never looked back. Gaming is that passion. I was lucky enough to work with Henry on Magic: the Gathering, which he helped steward on the game development side for over a decade, and then again at pre-IPO Zynga, where Henry materially muscled up Mafia Wars & Zynga’s chances of a successful IPO. Today, Henry lives on the Monopoly Go side of the house at Scopely, continuing his legacy of making high impact on major game franchises. Chase your passion, indeed. :) Get full access to Alternate Worlds at bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe [https://bschneidmtg.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]