Writing
Notes on game design, development and the cloud
Mostly game design and development — what we learn turning a beloved board game into a digital one — with the occasional detour into the cloud.
Series
2026
- Nov 3, 2026 Choose your partners with care Building a game alongside another company is the reason Empire Builder exists. It's also the reason we sometimes sit on our hands. A few things we've learned about being in a partnership, and being a good partner. Game Dev
- Oct 27, 2026 When your engine flips the table Unity's 2023 pricing change landed when we were halfway to launch. It mostly blew over, but it changed how we think about every dependency we build on. Game Dev
- Oct 22, 2026 A* when cost isn't distance: pathfinding for board games Most A* tutorials stop at a grid with a few walls. Here's what changes when every step costs money, some costs live between the squares, and your estimate has to stay honest. Game Dev
- Oct 21, 2026 Two years to find a path A* was the obvious choice for Empire Builder's pathfinding. Making it trustworthy took the better part of two years, a river that cost players millions, and a lesson about who owns what on a two-person team. Game Dev
- Oct 14, 2026 Multiplayer for a board game Why no off-the-shelf networking solution fit a digital board game, how we ended up rolling our own messaging on top of PlayFab, and why the messes were worth making. Game Dev
- Oct 7, 2026 Getting Empire Builder off the ground How two developers who could never find time to play a board game ended up building the digital version, and what we got wrong about "the rules are already written." Game Dev