Soren Johnson

#217 10 Crowns: Designing 4X

Lifecycle of a Design

Series


Dirk speaks with former Civilization designer Soren about his next game, 10 Crowns. This episode is the first in a series with Soren that follows different steps in the game’s development.

Episode Outline

00:51 What brought Soren back to the 4X genre

02:37 4X games and modern issues with colonization as a partial or central theme

13:36 Why some games fly under the radar with problematic themes

17:29 How a relatively small developer tackles a 4X game

25:39 Competing with a larger, well-known studio and franchise

30:39 Making 4X more accessible to a general audience

33:47 Why 10 Crowns and similar games are interested in the Roman time period

39:15 A general timeline for 10 Crowns’ past and future

42:02 The relationship and responsibilities of publishers and developers

44:44 How development team rates and contracts work

48:09 Design challenges the 10 Crown team has encountered so far

51:31 Differences in technology and the gaming environment since Civ 4

56:03 Why Soren doesn’t recommend the 4X genre to new developers

1:01:26 What sets 10 Crowns apart from other games in the genre

1:03:17 What listeners might expect in later episodes in this series

In this Episode

Soren Johnson - @SorenJohnson, mohawkgames.com
Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer

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