In this episode, we sit down with Gabriele Cirulli, who created the viral hit game 2048 when he was just 19 years old. What started as a five-day coding experiment became a worldwide phenomenon, leading Gabriele through an unexpected journey of viral success, burnout, and eventually finding peace with his creation. After stepping away from the game…

Rens Rongen, the creator of the popular web game Ninja.io, to discuss the intricate process of game development, his inspirations, and how he balances his corporate work with his passion for creating engaging games. Rens shares insights into his creative process, the challenges of launching a multiplayer game, and the importance of community feedba…

Jimmy Dickinson, the creator of CardsJD.com. Jimmy shares his journey from early console gaming to becoming a full-time indie developer, shedding light on the unique challenges of building multiplayer games. The discussion covers his transition from Intel to game development, offering insights into successful platform ports and the importance of ve…

Aman Rawal and Ben Hollier, the minds behind MathHeads, a game designed to make mental math enjoyable. The conversation spans the development journey and multiplayer features of MathHeads, elaborating on backend challenges, user experience, and the game’s reception. It further explores strategies in managing a mix of game modes and user engagement …

Andrew Bartle, the creator of the quiz game, QuizWise. With over 25 years of experience as a software developer, Andrew shares his journey from developing games as a child to founding a successful quiz platform. He discusses the importance of passion in game development, the influence of his late collaborator Barry Lakeman, and how A/B testing play…

Nildo Jr., known for the word-guessing game Contexto. Nildo discusses his inspiration from tech and mathematics, his migration to Norway, and the development of Contexto during the pandemic. He also shares insights into the challenges of maintaining the game, the importance of user feedback, and the educational potential of games. In this episode, …

Garry Schyman, a renowned composer for film, television, and video games. Garry shares insights from his prolific career, discusses the intricacies of game scoring, and offers valuable advice on creativity and composing. He also delves into his experiences teaching at USC, the impact of AI on the music industry, and the joy of working on games like…

Nate Kadlac and Aaron Kardell reflect on the past 18 months of building the business and podcast. They share insights into their journey, including their bootstrapping philosophy, ad partner experiments, and the expansion of their content. The duo discusses their favorite games, the importance of maintaining control by avoiding venture capital, and…

Keythe talks about the resurgence of pinball games, his favorite video games over the years, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in the industry. The conversation delves into the ethical implications of AI, voice cloning, and the importance of fair compensation for voice actors. In this episode, you'll learn: Keythe shares his history …

Josh Plotner is a renowned musician, producer, and arranger known for his work in films, TV, and video games. Based in New York, Josh has been a freelance musician for over a decade, specializing as a saxophonist and woodwind multi-instrumentalist. At age three, Josh's journey began with a passion for saxophone, eventually expanding to other woodwi…

Daniel Tait is a prolific indie game developer who has created several popular puzzle games, including Mathler, CrossWordle, and Somplete. Despite not considering himself a professional programmer, Daniel has a knack for quickly building and launching games that capture players' attention. In this episode, we explore Daniel's journey from tinkering…

Gabe Cornish is a game creator with over 40 published games on itch.io and a decade of experience in the game industry. He's worked on hit mobile titles like Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery at Jam City and more recently at Paradox Interactive. Gabe is passionate about making game development more accessible and sustainable for creators. In this epis…

Eric Allebest, co-founder and CEO of Chess.com, joins the podcast to discuss how he's revolutionized the world of online chess. With 5-10 million daily players and nearly $100 million in annual revenue, Chess.com has become the go-to platform for chess enthusiasts worldwide. Eric shares his journey from e-commerce to building a chess empire, starti…

Cassidy Williams is a prolific content creator, developer advocate, and builder. Aaron Kardell and Joseph Rueter discuss Jumblie—a word game inspired by a coding challenge—and Cassidy's previous games. Cassidy shares her journey, the influence of her time in Spain, SEO, her love for board games like Agricola and Civ 6, and her stint as a mascot at …

Peter Mohrbacher, creator of Angelarium, emphasizes the importance of creating art for yourself rather than trying to please others or meet market expectations. He argues that the best art comes from a place of "creative selfishness" - following your own obsessions and interests without worrying about external validation. This approach has allowed …

Greg Karber is the creator of the hit murder mystery puzzle game Murdle. Greg shares the fascinating journey of Murdle's creation, from a simple puzzle made for a friend to a bestselling book series and popular daily online game. We dive into Greg's influences, how he monetizes Murdle, and the balance between game mechanics and storytelling. Check …

Cole Medeiros' career in game design is driven by passion and authenticity. He started creating games as a child (GUBS in fourth grade) and has successfully transitioned this early interest into a professional career. His approach emphasizes the importance of genuine enthusiasm for the project, close collaboration with partners (as seen in his work…

Zach Gage might be one of the most innovative game designers you've never heard of. He's the creator of Good Sudoku, Really Bad Chess, and 30+ other games that reimagine classic puzzles for the digital age. Now he's taking on the New York Times with Puzzmo.com We spent an hour exploring his creative process and the future of puzzle games. Check out…

Episode 29: Jim Horne is the creator of Microsoft FreeCell and xwordinfo.com. Jim shares his journey from early programming to joining Microsoft in 1988, where he secretly added FreeCell to Windows. His passion for crosswords led to writing for the New York Times and developing xwordinfo.com. Jim discusses his time at Microsoft, including sharing a…

Episode 28: Tracy Fullerton is a pioneering game designer, educator, and USC Games Program Director emeritus. The conversation covers Tracy's extensive career in game design, her creation of the game 'Walden,' and her unique approach to blending philosophy with gameplay. Tracy opens up about the decade-long development of 'Walden,' the challenges a…

Episode 27: Blake Harris is the acclaimed author of "Console Wars" and "The History of the Future." Blake shares his journey from a struggling screenwriter to a successful author, diving into the intense rivalry between Sega and Nintendo that defined a generation of gaming. He reveals insights into the internal conflicts at Sega that contributed to…

Episode 26: Jeff Petriello, a game producer at the New York Times and a game design educator at NYU Game Center, shares his unique journey from producing movies to producing games played by millions of people. Go behind the scenes at the New York Times, learn what it's like to shepherd hits like Wordle, and create games from scratch like Strands. W…

Right before the New York Times announced they acquired Wordle in the low-mid seven figures, Aaron attempted to buy Wordle, and wordle.com. Listen to Aaron's story on why he started building games, and how that led to his attempt to purchase the popular daily word game that took the world by storm. How close did he get? Listen and find out! -- (00:…

Episode 24: In this episode, explores the journey of Mark and Jeff Rogers, creators of Canuckle and Canoku games, inspired by Wordle. It delves into their background, game development process, hiatus, renewal with added features, community engagement strategies, collaborations with other game creators and notable organizations, partnerships for spo…

Episode 23: In this episode, we dive deep into the creative process behind the game WordPeaks with its creator, Devin Spikowski. Discover the inspirations, design decisions, and the unique journey from concept to a game enjoyed by thousands. Check out Devin's Games and Resources: https://vegeta897.github.io/word-peaks/ https://twitter.com/vegeta897…

Episode 22: This conversation features a deep and insightful discussion with Frank Lantz, the director of the New York University Game Center and an award-winning game designer. Throughout the interview, Lantz explores the intricate relationship between games, culture, and education, highlighting how games can serve as a potent medium for both arti…

Episode 21: David Turner created Semantle.com, a unique word-guessing game focusing on semantic relationships. Turner shares insights on his journey from ideation to acquisition, his creative process, and upcoming projects like a graphical adventure game. We also chat about game design challenges, user testing, creativity in game development, and e…

Episode 20: Grant Warman, the creator of Polygonle and Quadragonal word games, discussing the game mechanics, user feedback, collaboration with other games, and plans for future projects. Check out Grant's games and links: https://polygonle.com/ https://quadragonle.com/ https://www.reddit.com/r/polygonle/ https://discord.gg/ https://www.facebook.co…

Episode 19: James Robinson runs the ever-popular game, Wafflegame.net. In his first-ever podcast, he shares the history of Waffle, where it is headed, and how it has reached 500,000 daily players. James discusses the game's design, user feedback, and the human-centric approach to game creation. Themes include his accidental success, and the future …

Episode 18: Today's episode join me and lets explore the fascinating journey of Minesweeper through an interview with Damien Moore, the visionary behind MinesweeperGame.com. Delve into the origins of Minesweeper, the celebrities who played this game, its evolution, strategic gameplay, online community, and the intricate mathematics that define this…

Hey, Good Game podcast hosts Nate Kadlac and Aaron Kardell attend the GDC conference in San Francisco for the first time. They share their experiences at the event, interactions with different booths, and their plans for potential future participation. Check out Hey GG's games and links: https://www.hey.gg/ https://lilsnack.co/ https://poki.com/ ht…

Episode 16: Today's episode features an interview with Jeff Chen, the creator of the new game Squeezy, discussing his journey in creating the game, his experience in puzzle making and writing, including the challenges and successes. Jeff also shares his writing experience and the upcoming puzzle book collaboration with Stuart Gibbs. He emphasizes t…

Episode 15: In today's episode features an interview with Jeff Widderich, the president of Syndicated Puzzles, who discusses his background, experience on Dragon's Den, game creation, the challenges faced in the puzzle industry, and the future of game design. Widderich shares insights on the importance of spatial thinking, the necessity for new and…

Today we're excited to sit down with Richard Mann, the CEO and founder of Nerdle, a math game similar to Wordle. Richard discusses the development of Nerdle, the challenges of creating math games that are fun for kids, the game's advertising model, the launch of a new game called 2D Nerdle, and the importance of user feedback. We also dive into how…

We're back with Joseph, Nate, and Aaron! They discuss the past 12 episodes of the podcasts, what stood out from our conversations, how game creators earn a living from their games, and the differences between creators. The conversation ends with reflections on the progress of their business, Hey Good Game, and its growth strategy in buying and buil…

Lil Snack is a new daily game platform created by Eric Berman and Travis Chen. They talk about their approach to creating a new game every day with the desire to be an app recommended by friends in text messages. They credit AI for their ability to be nimble, noting that the technology helps with the middle part of their creative process such as re…

Our recent chat with the creators of ChessWorld pushes the edges on what you might know about correspondence-style Chess as a game. Tryfon (aka Kingscrusher) and his brother Nick share how maintaining ChessWorld allows them to pursue a passion for playing chess while also earning a living. They talk about how Tryfon’s enjoyment of chess guided the …

Join us as we delve into Jim Bumgardner's fascinating odyssey within the realms of coding and brainteasers. We explore his profound insights on the convergence of computers, music, and puzzle creation, alongside his clever utilization of Foursquare's capabilities which paved the way for his brainchild—the acclaimed puzzle hub—KrazyDad. Our chat als…

The Wiki Game is a fun, web-based game that connects two random Wikipedia article links. Alex shares his journey of how he started out, using concepts like six degrees of separation to create a game involving Wikipedia articles, and how it has steadily grown over the years to around 60,000 - 80,000 unique users a month. Despite challenges like hack…

In this episode, hosts Aaron Kardell and Joseph Rueter of the 'Hey, Good Game' podcast sit down with game developer Sven Neumann. They discuss the creation and development of Sven's SudokuPad, used by Cracking the Cryptic, his early interest in technology and gaming, as well as his vision for the platform's future. Neumann also discusses the consid…

You’d be surprised how a well-established corporate worker like Abe Train started creating games for a living! From big-name companies like Tesla, General Motors and Hello Fresh, to creating his own brand and entering a niche that he loves, Abe has a great story to share behind his success. This is how a corporate worker traded his stable life to v…

Unlock the secrets of Scrabble with Woogles creators César Del Solar and Jesse Day, who join us to discuss the power of two-letter words and parallel plays that can transform your word game skills. As we chat with these Scrabble aficionados, we uncover not only their journeys into the world of competitive Scrabble but also how their diverse backgro…

Robert Fuhrer explores his years-long journey in the toy and game industry in this interview. He reminisces about the many experiences that shaped his career from early exposure to the toy industry, his first creation, his various partnerships and ventures and how he ended up being the owner of the popular puzzle game, KenKen. His journey reflects …

Step into the shadowy corridors of game development with our esteemed guest, Nilanth Yogadasan, the creative genius behind the eerie yet addictive games, CineNerdle and CineNerdle 2. His games reach over 30,000 daily players, and over 15 million games played. Our conversation takes a deep dive into Nilanth's inspiration, drawing heavily from his pa…

Are you ready to step into the intriguing world of game development, entrepreneurship, and the pursuit of excellence? Let me welcome you to a captivating conversation with Toby Mao, the driving force behind 18XX Games and a Rubik's Cube record holder. His diverse journey weaves through the set of Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith, creating 18XX …

Get ready to unlock the mysteries of game development and indie hacking as we entertain an inspiring chat with Holger Sindbæk, the enterprising mind behind Online-Solitaire.com and WorldOfCardGames.com. Gain a new perspective from Holger's inspiring journey from designer to developer, and how he transformed his passion project into a significant in…

What do games mean to you? As kids, games have had a large impact on our lives. Now as adults, join our inaugural and nostalgia-fueled episode as we, your hosts Joseph, Aaron, and Nate, explore the significance of childhood games and how they shaped us. We also discuss how games have played a significant role in our entrepreneurial journeys. In thi…