Design Doc
Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland
Welcome to Design Doc, a podcast documenting the process of analog game design. Game designers guide you through their process from concept to product.
- 1 hour 4 minutesQueuing for Canoeing
How many generations does it take to get into a canoe-making class? In this episode we go on a quest to redesign a queue system for a local craft school and quickly find that you cannot make a perfect queue without systemic social change.
Episode Mentions:
Hill Institute (With their mission right there on the front page)
What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael J. Sandel, 2013 (This link takes you to bookshop.org supporting one of our local bookstores—you can set your own!)
Happy Rex Manning Day!
We are having a game sale! Visit turtlebun.com for 20% off TTRPGs and turtlebun.itch.io for 35% off PDFs.
Links & Credits:
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/ajP36nzPb2
Turtlebun on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Where to buy our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
8 April 2026, 9:00 am - 54 minutes 44 secondsTrapped in the Liminal Zone
A discussion about how to design a liminal zone in a TTRPG leaves us trapped in an in-between place.
Episode mentions:
r/backrooms
House of Leaves (2000 - Horror novel by Mark Z. Danielewski)
The Last Unicorn (1982 - Animated movie based on 1968 book by Peter S. Beagle)
Ultimate Haunted House (1994 - Point-and-click video game with art by Gahan Wilson) Play it on archive.org here.
Links:
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/ajP36nzPb2
Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Where to buy our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
18 March 2026, 9:00 am - 48 minutes 18 secondsFatigue
In this episode, we talk fatigue. Is fatigue something to conquer, or is it a warning sign on the way to a physical and emotional crash? Evan is tired, but we’ve got strategies! After years of learning what the burnout cycle looks like while working on a game, we’re eager to intervene before exhaustion gets the best of us.
Episode mentions:
Ever so briefly, The Witness (2016 video game, Jonathan Blow)
Snowpiercer (2013 movie, Bong Joon Ho)
Links:
Join us on Discord! https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Support our work Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Buy our games online: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
4 March 2026, 10:00 am - 55 minutes 39 secondsThe Path to a Question
Game design questions can be longer and more complex than their answers. In this episode, we initially set out to do a live-design session tackling an issue from our latest playtest, but discovered that describing the question required revisiting nearly every other part of the game. Join us for a chat about Twilight rules, open-eyed investigations, and escaping a cursed amusement park.
Links:
We have a Discord! Come talk about Design Doc and Star Trek. https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Turtlebun on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
18 February 2026, 10:00 am - 56 minutes 4 secondsWho Designs the Game?
Who designs the game? Is it the players, who make decisions in real time at the table? The GM, who’s at the ready to suggest ideas or dole out consequences? Or the designers, who… well… make the game? In this episode, we talk about when and how to distribute control of the experience between the players, the GM, ourselves as designers, and random rolls of the dice.
Links:
Join the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/ApNfNvUk
Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Check out our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
4 February 2026, 10:00 am - 48 minutes 15 secondsA Year of Movies
Hannah watched 51 movies in 2025. Not all of them were helpful for game design, but there was inspiration to be found everywhere—in the form of left-behind robots, edgy existential planets, sci-fi noir, and Mother. Mother? Mother!
Follow along and find every movie mentioned in the episode here:
https://letterboxd.com/hanbandit/diary/films/for/2025/by/added-earliest/
Watch movies through your library on Kanopy:
More Links:
Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episodes edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
21 January 2026, 10:00 am - 50 minutes 1 secondEpiphanies
Sometimes a design problem can't be solved in any straightforward way. You need an epiphany! That can't be forced, but it can be encouraged. Hannah and Evan talk about the epiphanies that shaped their previous games and how to attract those mysterious flashes of insight.
Links:
We have a Discord! Come talk about Design Doc and Star Trek. https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Turtlebun on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
7 January 2026, 10:00 am - 53 minutes 20 secondsResolutions New and Old
As the year draws to a close we talk about New Year's resolutions. Hannah makes them every year, Evan does not. Hannah shares her elaborate system for setting goals of masteries, experiences, and skills. And together, we consider Turtlebun's upcoming year.
Links:
Join the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Buy our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
24 December 2025, 10:00 am - 44 minutes 53 secondsConvention Dids and Didn’ts
Conventions are an opportunity for us to get our games in front of a bigger audience, and PAX Unplugged is our biggest show. The stakes feel high, and we have to balance our ambitious goals with practical preparations. In this episode, we talk about what we were proud of, what we wish we’d done differently, and how every year we get a little better.
Episode mentions:
Thoughtcrime Games - https://thoughtcrimegames.itch.io/
Elliot Davis - https://www.moreblueberries.com/
World Champ Game Co. - https://www.worldchamp.io/
Links:
Public Guest 5: https://turtlebun.com/products/public-guest-5-notebook
Worldbuilding Art Print: https://turtlebun.com/products/worldbuilding-art-print
Join the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Support Design Doc on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
10 December 2025, 10:00 am - 2 minutes 6 secondsShort Break Announcement
Just a quick announcement that we'll be skipping a release cycle for the Thanksgiving holiday. See you back in two weeks with a new episode!
In the meantime you might consider:
Joining the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Supporting Design Doc on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Picking up one of our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Design Doc Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
26 November 2025, 10:00 am - 55 minutes 23 secondsMaking Game Hacks That Stay Small
It's hard for us to make a hack that doesn't grow into a game of its own. In this episode, we talk about two playtests—one for a game variant, another for a new hack—and say what went well, what needs work, and how to keep small things small.
Links:
Join the Turtlebun Discord: https://discord.gg/XD4WVDjvbz
Support Design Doc Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/turtlebun
Check out our games: https://turtlebun.com/
Credits:
Design Doc intro/outro theme by ipaghost: https://www.ipaghost.com/
Episode edited by Rob Abrazado: https://robabrazado.com/
Get in touch:
Designdocpod (at) gmail (dot) com
Instagram: instagram.com/turtleandbun
13 November 2025, 10:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App