HeyJaredNotes on Play
A game development log where I share the hardest game design problems, and share thoughts on the games I'm playing. My name is John Rudolph Drexler and you can find my games at catacombian.com
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 10, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 14, 2026
Latest episodes
35: Valve's Mechanical Matrix (opens the original)
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Kim Swift, of Portal fame, shared that Valve uses this simple tool to inform what they design next. I found it immensely helpful.
34: Codenames is hard (opens the original)
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Codenames lures you in as a family friendly party game, but it is deep, sophisticated, and difficult.
33: The best grand unified theory of games (opens the original)
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Frank Lantz's book The Beauty of Games blew my mind. And so I made a little book report. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLW8ZvKjmko
32: I deleted 35% of my game, and it got way better (opens the original)
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I had a big combat system that I didn't feel good about. I finally ripped it out, and it left a vacuum that inspired my best idea yet. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfgcoyz9HFY
31: The opposite of doom scrolling (opens the original)
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Gen Con was an awesome experience. I got third place in a Cat in the Box tournament. Tabletop gaming is the opposite of doom scrolling.
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