Professor Game Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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What happens after "going viral"? Doug Weitzbuch (Housel) breaks down the Wordle-style mechanics, player feedback he wishes he'd acted on sooner, and the roadmap to localized, high-intent engagement. Practical lessons on PR, streaks, and turning play into business outcomes.

Doug Weitzbuch is a television producer with credits on hit series including Hell's Kitchen, World of Dance, Lip Sync Battle, and Duck Dynasty. After producing Netflix's Buy My House, a Shark Tank–style real estate series, he created HOU$LE, the viral daily house-price guessing game often described as "Wordle for Real Estate." He currently produces FOX's The 1% Club, hosted by Joel McHale. Doug lives in Los Angeles with his wife (a real estate agent, naturally) and their two kids.

Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

 

Guest Links and Info

• Website: housle.house
• LinkedIn: Doug Weitzbuch
• Instagram: @housle.house
• TikTok: @housle

 

Links to episode mentions:

• Proposed guest: Andrew Chen A16Z Speedrun
• Recommended book: The All In Podcast
• Favorite game: NYT mini games!

 

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No, there was no epic showdown, just a powerful new alliance. Rob joins The Octalysis Group and reveals how this new chapter amplifies his mission to make gamification practical, ethical, and impactful. Plus, what stays the same on Professor Game.

Rob Alvarez is Head of Engagement Strategy, Europe at The Octalysis Group (TOG), a leading gamification and behavioral design consultancy. A gamification strategist and TEDx speaker, he founded and hosts Professor Game, the #1 gamification podcast, and has interviewed hundreds of global experts. He designs evidence-based engagement systems that drive motivation, loyalty, and results, and teaches LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and gamification at top institutions including IE Business School, EFMD, and EBS University across Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

 

Links to episode mentions:

• Let's chat about your gamification project
• The Octalysis Group Team
• The Octalysis Group Welcomes Rob Alvarez
• Octalysis Design Challenge by Rob
• Yu-kai Chou is episode 001 of Professor Game
• Yu-kai Chou's 10k HP new book episode

 

Lets's do stuff together!

• Let's chat about your gamification project
• 3 Gamification Hacks To Boost Your Community's Revenue
• Start Your Community on Skool for Free
• Game of Skool Community
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Ask a question

 

If you feel like your inner explorer's been benched for too long... you're not alone. We're rebuilding new learning quests inside a Skool group. Might be your next side quest. 🎯 professorgame.com/freecommunity-web

Education wasn't built to empower—it was built to control. In this episode, Rob Alvarez breaks down how education evolved into a grind loop and how we can flip the system using gamification. If you've ever felt like your inner explorer got benched, this one's for you.

Rob is a host and consultant at Professor Game as well as an expert, international speaker and advocate for the use of gamification and games-based solutions, especially in education and learning. He's also a professor and workshop facilitator for the topics of the podcast and LEGO SERIOUS PLAY (LSP) for top higher education institutions that include EFMD, IE Business School and EBS among others in Europe, America and Asia.

 

Links to episode mentions:

• Peter Gray's article: A Brief History of Education
• Our community to rekindle curiosity, play and exploration

 

Lets's do stuff together!

• 3 Gamification Hacks To Boost Your Community's Revenue
• Community
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Ask a question

Roger Peters also known as Rook, owner of Epic Sages, an Army veteran, a husband and a father of 2. He lives in Fairbanks Alaska. He loves teaching and introducing people to TTRPGs (tabletop role-playing games) like DnD (Dungeons and Dragons). He is a consistent learner and constantly evolves himself and his business with new technology.

Lance is the creator of The Influence Formula and the popular Influence Spectrum Quiz. As a professional speaker, he has shared his groundbreaking formula with audiences across the country. His background includes time as a prolific fundraiser, dynamic sales trainer, highly-rated professor, and published author. He has a bachelor's degree in marketing and a master's degree in executive leadership. Lance is married and has six kids; they are all boys except for five of them. In his spare time, he enjoys competing in Mr. Clean look-alike competitions.

Founder of the Playground for Entrepreneurs, a serious game that supports entrepreneurship coaches and educators to provide engaging and insightful sessions, workshops and classes. The game is based on my experience coaching 500+ startup teams and their (regular) coaches in their early stages of entrepreneurship. Most of that experience comes from government entrepreneurship and innovation programs such as Apps.co (by the Colombian Ministry of ICT). I have also been active as a University Educator at Universidad del Rosario, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano (both in Colombia), Avans University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands). I hold an MSc in General Management (Business Universiteit Nyenrode, the Netherlands) and an Executive MBA (Quantic Institute of Business and Technology).

Eko Nugroho has been at the forefront of driving the implementation of game-based learning and gamification in Indonesia over the past 14 years. Alongside his team at Kummara.com, Eko has offered consultancy and advisory services in the realm of serious meaningful games and interactive learning to various companies and organizations. Additionally, Eko serves as an advisory board member at Ludere Nusantara Foundation (Ludenara.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting teachers in implementing game-based learning programs and enhancing the overall quality of education throughout Indonesia. Eko is also a distinguished gamification expert and has been recognized as a finalist for the Gamification World Award. He is widely acclaimed as an international speaker, having presented at renowned events such as Gamification Europe, Gamicon48V US, and the Connected Learning Summit at MIT, among others.

Danielle is the owner of Octane Design Studios, a 13-year-old branding and identity firm based in the heart of the Bluegrass. Danielle is a creative, recently certified prompt engineer, podcaster, strategist, wife and mama of 3. She·s also a lover of Italian cuisine, chai, cosplay, comics and retro gaming. With over 15 years of marketing and multimedia agency experience, Danielle began as a grassroots developer and curator, helping brand and launch over 150 small businesses across America; · in Kentucky. As a third-generation entrepreneur, Danielle is an advocate of non-traditional education leading online meetups and workshops for DIY marketing. Her latest education platform Q1 Essentials is a gamified digital market cohort to help beginners enhance their digital marketing skills before the first business quarter of the new year. In 2021 Danielle restructured and launched Kentucky Creatives an all-new Kentucky-based membership community comprised of influencers, bloggers, photographers, copywriters, podcasters and more to help connect small businesses with influencers for their brand. As much as Danielle is passionate about providing creative services she strives to be more than just the graphics she creates. Over the years her hashtag #MoreThanGraphics has become more than just a marketing slogan; it has become a life principle for herself that she executes through storytelling and round table discussions with her co-hosts, all women of color as producer of the #MoreThanGraphics podcast.

After a stint in juvenile hall, AnnMaria ran away from her last foster home at age 15 and, with a fake ID, got a job and an apartment. By age 19 she had her bachelor·s degree, an MBA at 21. She was the first American to win a world judo championship, then retired from competition to earn her Ph.D., became a professor, and quit the university to start her first business after the death of her husband. She has founded four companies, raised four children, been one of Forbes 40 Women to Watch over 40, a Next Gen Leader of the International Game Developers Association Foundation and AARP Purpose Prize Winner. She and her daughter, Ronda Rousey, are the only mother-daughter combination in the International Sports Hall of Fame.

Charisse Beach is the founder and CEO of Youth Transformation Services (YTS), a nonprofit company providing training on Risk and Protective Factors, Mental Health Intervention, and Game-based Learning. Charisse also authored At-Risk Students: Transforming Student Behavior which details the warning signs of disturbing behaviors often overlooked by educators and/or misdiagnosed by mental health professionals. As a result, she co-created the Mental Health Intervention App (MHI) with her youngest son. MHI is a two-way communication tool that alerts healthcare providers of changes in their clients' mood and behavior. To learn more, visit www.youthts.org.