Dev to Dev S02 E01 - Randy Smith Evergreen

This first episode of Season 02 of Dev to Dev is a deep, thoughtful dive into what it really means to grow up with games and then spend a lifetime shaping them.

Randy Smith Evergreen shares stories from the early days of PC gaming, Looking Glass Studios, and the birth of immersive sims, but what makes this conversation special is how reflective it is. We talk about learning design formally, being promoted too fast, losing touch with the tools, and choosing to make games with an international message through the interactions.

We also dig into the indie shift - why mobile and small teams felt liberating, how Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor came to be, and why Randy believes games communicate values whether we intend them to or not.

This is a conversation about responsibility, craft, curiosity, and staying human inside a very consuming industry.

Highlights

• Growing up with limited screen time, and why that mattered
• Learning game design before “game design” existed
• Looking Glass, Thief, and formal design thinking
• Leadership lessons learned the hard way
• Founding Tiger Style and making quieter, stranger games
• Why mechanics always carry moral weight

Find the Podcast at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Rq9lZoWphzXvxkrETrWg0
• RSS: https://api.riverside.fm/hosting/H8sKOdGf.rss
• Instagram: @devto.devpodcast
• Bluesky: @devtodevpodcast.bsky.social‬
• TikTok: @devtodevpodcast
• YouTube: @DevToDevPodcast
• Blog: https://alexsulman.wordpress.com/dev-to-dev/
• Email: DevToDevPodcast@Gmail.com

Find Randy At: 

• Randy Smith | LinkedIn
• https://www.wavesallday.com/
• https://bsky.app/profile/randyevergreen.bsky.social