#295 Kingdoms and Castles with Lion Shield Studios

Dirk is joined by Pete Angstadt and Michael Peddicard, co-founders of Lion Shield Studios, to talk about the design and success of Kingdoms and Castles. They discuss designing in the city builder genre, as well as how they structure their studio. Topics include how they decided on an art style, ethical employment and business growth, the power of their game systems, and the history of ancient Rome.

Episode Outline

0:00 Opening

0:05 Intro

1:03 Start of Show

1:13 Beginning of Lion Shield Studios

2:57 Introductions

5:52 Origin Story

7:22 Evolution of Kingdoms and Castles

12:30 Inspirations

14:01 Deciding on Art and Style

19:07 Making It Work

21:24 Pillars of the Genre

24:16 Job Priority System

27:13 Conflicts

28:47 Greatest Challenge

31:39 What Didn’t Make It?

34:15 What is Next?

40:11 Future Monetization

41:56 Crowdfunding?

44:36 Future of Lion Shield

47:49 Advice for Designers

50:00 Outro

51:07 End of Show

In this Episode

Pete Angstadt - @petey123567, @LionShieldGames
Michael Peddicord - @mpeddicord, @LionShieldGames
Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer