In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game designer Liz England, best known for her work on Scribblenauts, Sunset Overdrive, and Watch Dogs: Legion. They discuss how she organized her mom’s RPG inventories, what is the boiling point of a lion, and whether system complexity matters if the player can’t see it. This episode was recorded on September 17, 2022.

Games discussed: Alice in Wonderland, Time Zone, The Outer Wilds, Might and Magic: World of Xeen, Heroes of Might and Magic, Unreal, Drawn to Life, Scribblenauts series, Resistance 3, Sunset Overdrive, Sea of Thieves, Watch Dogs: Legion, Old World, Crusader Kings series, The Sims series

Designer Notes 73: Liz England

Len, Jon, and Mike Williams deal out a hand or two of Balatro. It's poker? Sort of? Not really? Poker with boss battles. Poker with booster packs. Poker with tarot cards? We don't hold our opinions close to our chest as we try to apply some kind of taxonomy to this indie surprise hit.

Three Moves Ahead 608 - Balatro

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Join Len, FatherLorris, and Lord Lambert as we get the NoCB Cast band back together to talk for 3.5 hours about Paradox Tinto's "Project Caesar," which is probably Europa Universalis 5. Okay, let's be real: it's definitely Europa Universalis 5. We break down the first four dev diaries, everything Johan has ever said about the project on the forums, and talk a bit about the year 1337 – which was not confirmed as the new start date when we recorded this, but has been at this point. So we nailed it. We're very smart. Please clap.

Three Moves Ahead 609 - Europa Universalis 5 Confirmed?! (Patreon Preview)

It's a full house this week, as Len is joined by Ian Boudreau, Luke Plunkett, Mike Williams, and Ruth Cassidy to perform a bit of an autopsy on Millennia, C Prompt and Paradox's take at a Civ-like historical 4X. We all came away with a bit of a bad taste in our mouths about it, to varying degrees, and we spend a fair bit of time trying to explain why – and set aside some time to talk about what we did like.

Three Moves Ahead 610 - Millennia

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Jake Solomon, best known for the XCOM reboot and Midnight Suns. They discuss his first, failed attempt at XCOM, why 75% does not mean 75%, and how many copies of XCOM he sold at Power Gamer in Glen Burnie, MD. This episode was recorded on April 26, 2023.

Games discussed: Civilization Revolution, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Rocket League, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Old World, the Civilization series, XCOM 2, Slay the Spire, Offworld Trading Company, Into the Breach, Pandemic, Covert Action

Designer Notes 81: Jake Solomon - Part 2

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Len, Lambert, and Lorris are back to discuss the next four Europa Universalis V dev diaries and The Johan Files, an edited compilation of all of Johan's relevant forum posts that has more than doubled in size since we last talked. We decided to call it at four hours, but still had plenty more to talk about, so it seems like the Megacast format isn't going anywhere any time soon...

Three Moves Ahead 611 - Going the Distance (EU5 Megacast 2 Preview)

Len, Ian, and Jon are joined by our official unofficial historical consultant, Dr. Bret Devereaux, to discuss Manor Lords. We clear up what it is and what it isn't, how it portrays the historical realities of medieval burgage, and how Early of an Early Access game it really is.

Three Moves Ahead 612 - Manor Lords

In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the Doom shareware model was a preview of free-to-play, why a console transition led to EA buying Maxis, and how Jamdat pioneered paying for visibility on mobile. This episode was recorded on October 23, 2023.

Games discussed: Pong, Computer Space, Robotron, Seven Cities of Gold, Secret of Monkey Island, Civilization: Call to Power, The Lion King, Aladdin, Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom, Quake III Arena, Doom, Spore, Journey, Sky, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Deer Hunter, Doom RPG, Half-Life, Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, League of Legends

Designer Notes 82: Mitch Lasky - Part 1

Len and Rowan are joined by Nathan from the YouTube channel The Great Book of Grudges to discuss the Thrones of Decay patch, Creative Assembly's apology tour, and the state of Immortal Empires in 2024. Rowan grapples with why Warhammer 3 just isn't doing it for her, Nathan marvels at the current contentment of the community, and Len chews a hole in a shirt.

Three Moves Ahead 613 - Total War Warhammer 3: Thrones of Decay

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Len, Lambert, and Lorris are here to explore the question of how long a podcast about an unreleased game can be before someone in our lives physically intervenes. We not only have Tinto Talks and the Johan Files to cover, but now Tinto Maps, Saturday Buildings, and the Pavía Papers. There was actually more news about EU5 this month than there ever has been in a 30-day period about any previous Paradox game.

Three Moves Ahead 614 - To Four Hours... And Beyond! (EU5 Megacast 3 Preview)

In this episode, Soren interviews noted game investor Mitch Lasky, best known for his work as a venture capitalist at Benchmark, as the CEO of JAMDAT, and as an executive at Activision and Electronic Arts. They discuss how the industry’s business models have always affected design, why he was wrong about the Halloween pack ruining League of Legends, and why the litigation leaks are better than GDC. This episode was recorded on October 23, 2023.

Games discussed: League of Legends, Hearthstone, StarCraft, Civilization 6, World of Warcraft, Pentiment, Offworld Trading Company, Flow, Sky, Journey, Grand Theft Auto V, Stormgate

Designer Notes 83: Mitch Lasky - Part 2

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Designer Notes 73: Liz England

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