Mato just raised pre-seed Read more
Podcast charts
Published by Ananda Guneratne, Charlie McCarron, Trevor Muller-Hegel
Join game designers Ananda Guneratne, Charlie McCarron, and Trevor Muller-Hegel as they analyze published games from a game developer's perspective. Each month, they pick a new game mechanic and three games to play in that genre. Each episode is 20 minutes of pure game design nerdiness!
On the charts
Every published chart this podcast appears in, in the snapshot behind this page. Each one links to the chart it came off.
The Mato Topic Intelligence Platform does not report this podcast as charting in a published category in this snapshot.
From the feed
The latest episodes published to this podcast’s own RSS feed. Titles and descriptions are the publisher’s.
How should civilizations interact? Why does obsolescence matter? Ananda, Charlie, and Trever talk about Civilization-building games.
Does slowing down resource recovery benefit players? Should bonuses have a cost? Charlie, Trevor, and Ananda join the cult in Terra Mystica.
How do you keep low-level abilities relevant? Is it okay to have broken combos? Ananda, Charlie, and Trevor demand you listen in Innovation.
How do opportunities drive decisions? What creates strategy? Trevor, Ananda, and Charlie build their wonders in Through The Ages.
In what ways can workers interact? How do you vary the efficiency of an action? Charlie, Trevor, and Ananda talk about Worker Placement Games.
How do you determine who goes first? Should you place workers one at a time or all at once? Ananda, Charlie, and Trevor publish or perish in Alchemists.
How many turns does a player actually need? Should personal actions be less efficient than public ones? Trevor, Ananda, and Charlie cross the bridge in The White Castle.
Do workers need to block each other? How do you limit exponential growth? Charlie, Trevor, and Ananda free their workers in Architects of the West Kingdom.
How do you identify genre-defining mechanics? When does replayability matter? Trevor, Ananda, and Charlie talk about Gateway Games.
What makes unique abilities legible to other players? When should victory points be spent as currency? Ananda, Charlie, and Trevor go into decline in Small World.
How do you escalate risk and reward? Should game markets be predictable? Charlie, Trevor, and Ananda make mosaics in Azul.
When are wildcards necessary? How do you reward topdecking? Trevor, Ananda, and Charlie punch their tickets in Ticket to Ride.
Should players roll defense dice? When should you use counterattacks? Ananda, Charlie, and Trevor discuss miniature wargames.
How do you represent momentum? What should be the consequences of holding debt? Charlie, Trevor, and Ananda shoot first in X-Wing.
What distinguishes melee and ranged attacks? Do persistent corpses enhance combat? Trevor, Ananda, and Charlie don their caster rings in Necromolds.
How do you make the entire map important? Does line of sight need to be complicated? Ananda, Charlie, and Trevor summon their warriors in Heroscape.
When is losing options a relief? How many cards should players be able to play per turn? Charlie, Trevor, and Ananda talk about card shedding games.
Must progression be personal? How can you customize a card? Trevor, Ananda, and Charlie craft heroes in Custom Heroes.
Why do game titles matter? What makes for a great game box? Ananda, Charlie, and Trevor search for patterns in I Know...You Don't.
Why subtract points for leftover cards? What makes once-per-game actions compelling? Charlie, Trevor, and Ananda climb the ladder in Scout.
Ranking source
Apple Podcasts rankings via the Mato Topic Intelligence Platform.
Observed September 19, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
Apple and Apple Podcasts are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Pairs with
Bring this source into Mato to read its transferable patterns, then turn them into an original show for your own audience.