Explore every episode of the podcast Professor Game Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From Viral Spike to Sticky Play: Doug Weitzbuch on Building Housle | Episode 416 | 27 Oct 2025 | 00:32:58 | |
Want your members to actually stick around and engage without burning out or guessing what works? Join our free community of retention-focused leaders: 👥 professorgame.com/freecommunity-web 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
Links to episode mentions:
Lets's do stuff together! | |||
| Epic Fight? Here's What Really Happened | Episode 415 | 20 Oct 2025 | 00:14:36 | |
Exploring gamification for your product or org? Let's chat → professorgame.com/chat 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:
Lets's do stuff together!
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| How to Win at the Game of Life (Without Playing by the Rules) | Episode 406 | 18 Aug 2025 | 00:15:49 | |
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:
Lets's do stuff together! | |||
| Roger Peters Wins by Playing the Long Game of Being Nice | Episode 316 | 27 Nov 2023 | 00:27:53 | |
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 Brown Uses Influence to Move Forward | Episode 315 | 20 Nov 2023 | 00:33:45 | |
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. | |||
| Inge De Dreu Pushes Us Into Getting Started | Episode 314 | 13 Nov 2023 | 00:30:50 | |
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 Facilitates Game-based Learning in Indonesia | Episode 313 | 06 Nov 2023 | 00:37:08 | |
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 Meadows-Stinnett Does More Tetris and Less Mario in Gamification | Episode 312 | 30 Oct 2023 | 00:21:44 | |
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. | |||
| AnnMaria Demars Making Learning Games Where You Actually Learn | Episode 311 | 23 Oct 2023 | 00:33:44 | |
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 Finds Them Where They're at: Videogames | Episode 310 | 16 Oct 2023 | 00:34:36 | |
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. | |||
| Kevin Reste Designs for Player Choice in Games | Episode 309 | 09 Oct 2023 | 00:29:23 | |
Kevin Reste operates at the unique intersection of art, media, and technology. As a Creative Operations Specialist, Artist, and Producer with an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons the New School of Design, his expertise is multifaceted. Kevin's contributions range from motion capture animation for the renowned Rock Band video game series to high-impact VFX work for artists like A$ap Rocky and Cardi B, along with key projects for Budweiser, Coca-Cola, and NFL Sunday Night Football. Serving as the Creative Officer at WebXR.tools and with notable collaborations with industry leaders like WPP and Droga, Kevin continuously pushes the boundaries of digital creativity. In a landscape ever-shifting between technical precision and creative expression, Kevin stands out as a strategic facilitator, ensuring these realms harmoniously converge for top-tier results. | |||
| Lauran Kerr-Heraly Gets Anyone To Escape The (Class)Room | Episode 308 | 02 Oct 2023 | 00:31:06 | |
Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author. She currently serves as a history professor and Innovation Fellow at Houston Community College. Her innovative teaching includes turning a classroom into an escape room, multidisciplinary projects showcasing personal food histories and environmental justice, and playing with experimental learning spaces. As an executive function coach, she works with teens and their parents too. She helps develop a holistic approach to school success, which includes a focus on essential skills, executive function, and emotional awareness. She uses gamification in her coaching to motivate and engage. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life with her husband and 10yo in Houston, where they play a lot of board games (the more complicated, the better). | |||
| Antonis Triantafyllakis with Physical yet Scalable Gamification of Sustainability | Episode 307 | 25 Sep 2023 | 00:22:28 | |
Well this is special, because it's the first time I decide to just go with an interview with a fellow gamification practitioner "only" because we are physically in the same space (and it is not during a conference or anything). So Antonis Triantafyllakis is a past guest, and we've had coffee in Madrid now twice (he came about two years ago) but this time we decided to try this live, in-person interview using my phone, and I think it went pretty well! | |||
| From Skeptics to Superstars: The Power of Play at Work with Alex Suchman | Episode 405 | 11 Aug 2025 | 00:35:44 | |
🚀 Want your community buzzing and bringing in more revenue? Snag my free mini course with 3 killer gamification hacks: professorgame.com/freebie-3-gamification-hacks Forget trust falls and awkward icebreakers. Alex Suchman is redefining the workplace with intentional play. Tune in to find out how one game changed a manager's mindset—and why play may be the missing ingredient in your team culture. Alex Suchman is the CEO and co-founder of Barometer XP, whose mission is to create cultures where people are excited about their work because they feel a strong sense of purpose and belonging. She uses games and play to strengthen interpersonal dynamics, such as trust, accountability, and psychological safety, into the workplace. 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 community building and education. 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.
Guest Links and Info
Links to episode mentions:
Lets's do stuff together! | |||
| Liam Brown Brings Purpose into Gaming and Esports | Episode 306 | 18 Sep 2023 | 00:30:15 | |
As a Corporate Partnerships Manager for Knights Esports Group, Liam is a leading authority on competitive gaming, event management, league organization, and technology development. Unlike many in the gaming industry, Liam chose the traditional path of pursuing higher education, attending the University of Pittsburgh straight out of high school. During his senior year, he discovered his passion for leveraging gaming as a means of bringing people together, particularly during the pandemic. Liam joined the Knights immediately after graduation, bringing a unique perspective on the future of gaming, including its potential impact on education, health, and artificial intelligence. He excels at building bridges between brands, gamers, fans, and influencers, and is available to share his expert insights on the ways in which gaming and esports will shape the future of industry and society. | |||
| Paul Zolman with the Roll of Love Game | Episode 305 | 11 Sep 2023 | 00:31:35 | |
Paul starts by saying that the author of love is God. In His wisdom, He placed us in a variety of circumstances that require us to find our way back to His pure love. So, what qualifies Paul Zolman to speak about love? His childhood experience of the opposite of love. From that austere beginning, and the distaste it formed inside him, he searched for and eventually created a method that transformed his life from anger to loving everyone. Growing up in a family of abuse, physical touch became his preferred love style, only because of the regularity. He could almost count on it. It was consistent. He came to think that was the way to express love. But deep inside, he knew that was a twisted belief. He wanted a better life for himself, which is why he created a paradigm shift that works. In this book, you·ll find what helped Paul Zolman move from a childhood boot camp of abuse to being a person who loves everyone and can find good about anyone in any circumstance. This is truly the role of love. | |||
| Bob Moog Uses Games for the Tough Concepts | Episode 304 | 04 Sep 2023 | 00:30:37 | |
Bob Moog co-founded University Games in 1985 to develop, design and manufacture social interaction games for families. Since that time, he has developed more than 200 game and toy products that have sold more than 30 million units. These games include the best-selling geography game line, Carmen Sandiego, the first line of games based on Dr. Seuss books, including The Green Eggs and Ham Game, 20 Questions, and Kids Battle the Grown Ups. The company has grown through a combination of internal growth and acquisitions and now boasts five divisions and more than 400 products. Throughout this rapid growth, the company has maintained its focus on socially interactive products that teach as well as entertain. | |||
| 2023 Summer Break Update | Episode 303 | 28 Aug 2023 | 00:06:25 | |
Quick update on our summer break! In the in the shownotes (professorgame.com) you can see our baby enjoying the sand and the water at the beach, but it didn't start out that way! Quick episode with a quick lesson I've been reminded of, and it has to do with the onboarding of experiences. Have a quick listen to understand what we're talking about. | |||
| 2023 Summer Break | Episode 302 | 21 Aug 2023 | 00:02:56 | |
Special episode Engagers! This is your reminder to take a step back of what·s been going on and to get your glass filled with energy once more! | |||
| This episode is no longer available | Episode 301 | 14 Aug 2023 | 00:01:22 | |
There used to be an episode an example in gamification, which we've decided to migrate elsewhere. If you want some free content in this world of creating engagement and loyalty inspired on what games do great, find our FREE Gamification Course at professorgame.com/freegamificationcourse.
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| This episode is no longer available | Episode 300 | 07 Aug 2023 | 00:01:22 | |
There used to be an episode on playtesting and iteration in gamification, which we've decided to migrate elsewhere. If you want some free content in this world of creating engagement and loyalty inspired on what games do great, find our FREE Gamification Course at professorgame.com/freegamificationcourse.
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| This episode is no longer available | Episode 296 | 31 Jul 2023 | 00:01:22 | |
There used to be an episode on storyboarding and prototyping in gamification, which we've decided to migrate elsewhere. If you want some free content in this world of creating engagement and loyalty inspired on what games do great, find our FREE Gamification Course at professorgame.com/freegamificationcourse. | |||
| This episode is no longer available | Episode 298 | 24 Jul 2023 | 00:01:22 | |
There used to be an episode on choosing and using game mechanics, which we've decided to migrate elsewhere. If you want some free content in this world of creating engagement and loyalty inspired on what games do great, find our FREE Gamification Course at professorgame.com/freegamificationcourse.
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| This episode is no longer available | Episode 297 | 17 Jul 2023 | 00:01:22 | |
There used to be an episode on who are our players, which we've decided to migrate elsewhere. If you want some free content in this world of creating engagement and loyalty inspired on what games do great, find our FREE Gamification Course at professorgame.com/freegamificationcourse. | |||
| Why Your Game Mechanic Is the Learning with Elisa Navarro Chinchilla | Episode 404 | 04 Aug 2025 | 00:33:24 | |
Get access to over $1,000 worth of retention and gamification strategies, templates, and live sessions—for free. All inside our Professor Game community: 🎁 professorgame.com/freecommunity-web What happens when a powerful game opens Pandora's box? Elisa Navarro Chinchilla shares the highs, lows, and serious challenges of designing games for real-world impact—from schools in Mexico to reforestation efforts in Afghanistan. Elisa Navarro Chinchilla is the CEO and co-founder of Gold Bug Interactive and a veteran educational video game developer with more than 25 titles under her belt. Her most recent projects include Dino Dance for PBS Fred Rogers, Sabz, a reforestation game for Afghanistan; Protection, a tabletop game to teach Results Based Protection for InterAction; Chuka: Break the Silence, developed for the Education for Justice initiative of the UNODC, that leverages social and emotional learning to help prevent domestic violence, and consulting for Project 21, FES, to develop a game for youth participation, governance and citizenship in the MENA region. Convinced of the power of games to support underprivileged contexts through collaborative learning, she has received several national grants in Mexico (Fonca, Procine, Prosoft) to create educational experiences with networked technology, alternate reality games, and digital literacy workshops. Her games challenge players to develop resilience through problem solving, stimulate critical thinking, and practice transferable skills. Elisa has an MA from the Institute of Education at UCL, UK. 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 community building and education. 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.
Guest Links and Info
Links to episode mentions:
Lets's do stuff together! | |||
| This episode is no longer available | Episode 296 | 10 Jul 2023 | 00:01:22 | |
There used to be an episode on setting up objectives in gamification, which we've decided to migrate elsewhere. If you want some free content in this world of creating engagement and loyalty inspired on what games do great, find our FREE Gamification Course at professorgame.com/freegamificationcourse. | |||
| Gamification Intro | Episode 295 | 03 Jul 2023 | 00:18:03 | |
On this special episode we are providing an overview of the first steps in our gamification course! So enjoy and perhaps we will have the whole series! | |||
| James I. Bond is Not a Spy But He Can Persuade With Brain Glue | Episode 294 | 26 Jun 2023 | 00:37:04 | |
James I. Bond is one of America·s leading behavioral management specialists, and author of the award-winning book, BRAIN GLUE · How Selling Becomes Much Easier By Making Your Ideas ·Sticky.· For thirteen years he ran one of Southern California·s leading behavioral management firms, working with a who·s who of American business. Early in his career, he ran an advertising agency in Montreal. He is a workshop leader and past workshop chairman for the resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and has been a featured guest speaker at three Southern California universities. James has uncovered a secret to becoming rich in business that's blowing people's minds, by using brain science to make it much easier to get people to say YES to your ideas and buy your products. His goal is to create a million millionaires using this ingenious "game" system. | |||
| James Fielder Making Sure the Objectives Are Right in Gamification | Episode 293 | 19 Jun 2023 | 00:40:07 | |
James "Pigeon" Fielder, Ph.D. joined CSU as an Instructor after retiring from the U.S. Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel and Associate Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He is also serving as a Marine Corps University Non-Resident Krulak Fellow for academic years 2021-2026, is the Director of Professional and Educational Games for Mobius Worlds Publishing, and consults on organizational wargaming, crisis response exercises, and scenario planning. Pigeon researches interpersonal trust and emergent political processes through cyber-based interaction, and through tabletop and live-action gaming as natural experiments. He also has over two decades of experience designing, executing, and assessing training exercises and wargames, from small-group tabletop discussions to multi-day exercises engaging 5,000+ participants. He is also serving on the editorial board of Simulation & Gaming and The MORS Journal of Wargaming, was a TEDxMileHigh speaker on games, and has been interviewed on game-related topics by Reuters, USA Today, and NBC News. | |||
| Matt Nuccio Brings Intergenerational Experience to Toys and Games | Episode 292 | 12 Jun 2023 | 00:33:40 | |
Matt Nuccio is the president of Design Edge, Inc., a toy and game development company and licensing agency whose clients include Mattel, Hasbro, Spin Master and Fisher-Price to name only a few. For 4 years, Matt co-chaired the Toy Association (TA), on their associate panel, representing all designers and inventors within the toy industry. Currently, Matt sits on the board of directors of the United Inventors Association of America (UIA), a non-profit organization working to educate and advocate for all types of inventors. He also sits on the People of Play (POP) advisory board and Toy Association's Creative Factor advisory board helping start-up inventors to navigate successfully within the Toy Industry. Matt writes a column in Toy Family Entertainment magazine focusing on the industry, and, he has lectured at ChiTAG, New York Toy Fair, ASTRA, Hong Kong Toy Fair, and various inventor clubs around the world including the 2021 Emerging Innovation Summit in Melbourne Australia. Design Edge's products have been nominated for, and have also won, many industry awards such as TOTY (Toy Of The Year), TAGIE (Toy and Games Innovators), Games 100, Origin, and Family Fun among others. In 2019, Matt was honored by the National Security Agency (NSA) as an American Innovator and has been listed for the past 4 years in a row, by Mojo Nation, as one of the top 100 most influential people in the toy industry today. | |||
| Cristobal Figueroa with Gamification for Family Time | Episode 291 | 05 Jun 2023 | 00:29:58 | |
Cristobal Figueroa is a Chilean entrepreneur based in Melbourne. His journey of self-discovery, combined with experiences, passions, and skills, have led him to discover his purpose·to cultivate meaningful connections among families and individuals through the power of play. | |||
| Corey Hord Gamifying the Operations World with Workshops | Episode 290 | 29 May 2023 | 00:38:15 | |
Corey Hord is currently employed with Mondelēz International (Oreo, Chip Ahoy!, Ritz, Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, Clif Bar, and beyond) as an Operational Excellence professional implementing the company's integrated Lean Six Sigma program across the United States. Corey has over a decade of operations experience (Craft Brew Alliance, Anheuser-Busch, BJC HealthCare, Mondelēz International) with the bulk of his career in consumer packaged goods (CPG). Corey's education consists of a Master of Business Administration from Webster University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kentucky. Outside his formal education, Corey holds a green belt certification in Lean Six Sigma, is a trained facilitator of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® and is a CrossFit® Level 1 trainer. Corey started his own consultancy in 2022 called The Methods Company where his mission is to solve problems with the world's best methodologies through workshops and consulting. Corey's trained facilitator credential with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® comes alongside his decade-plus experience with Lean and Six Sigma and Agile methodologies and is the makeup of his core disciplines offered through his consultancy. | |||
| Victoria Ichizli-Bartels Gamifies Daily Life | Episode 289 | 22 May 2023 | 00:42:00 | |
Victoria Ichizli-Bartels is a writer, coach, and consultant with a background in semiconductor physics, electronic engineering (with a Ph.D.), information technology, and business development. While being a non-gamer in the traditional sense, Victoria came up with the term Self-Gamification, a gameful and playful self-help approach bringing anthropology, kaizen, and gamification-based methods together to increase the quality of life. She approaches all areas of her life this way. Due to the fun she has while turning everything in her life into games, Victoria intends never to stop designing and playing them. Inspired by a tip from friends, she now likes to call herself a "life gamer." Victoria is the author of more than twenty books, eleven of which are on turning life into fun games and living gamefully. She is also the instructor of two online courses on the topic. Victoria was born and grew up in Moldova, lived in Germany for twelve years, and since 2008, has lived in Aalborg, Denmark, with her husband and two children. | |||
| Sarah Le-Fevre with the Museum of Impossible Things | Episode 288 | 15 May 2023 | 00:32:13 | |
Sarah Le-Fevre is a Games-based Learning design and delivery professional and certified Lego® Serious Play® Facilitator. After tiring of creating programs for blue-chip clients that focused almost solely on growth and profit, Sarah made the decision to keep the same audience but shift the focus to learning around sustainability, human flourishing and tackling systemic wicked problems. With a focus on experiential learning, specifically games and learning in nature, Sarah specializes in creating programs which allow learners time to reflect and create their own learning about complex systemic issues and is in the process of writing a book about a Systems Practice approach to learning design for organizational change. Her other main pre-occupation at the moment is managing the Kickstarter for the Museum of Impossible Objects card deck – and working on multiple exciting collaborations for the Museum. Sarah also runs a bi-monthly online magazine 'Ludogogy', which explores games-based learning, gamification, and gameful and playful design. Sarah can be contacted at sarah [at] ludogogy [dot] co [dot] uk (or search LinkedIn for Sarah Le-Fevre, with a hyphen) and you can visit the magazine at ludogogy.co.uk | |||
| Scott Provence On Using Doom's Nightmare Mode in Gamification | Episode 287 | 08 May 2023 | 00:32:31 | |
Scott Provence is an award-winning instructional designer, author, and speaker. His print, instructor-led, and web-based curricula have been delivered throughout the world, and his sales and customer service trainees have gone on to receive multiple industry awards for their work. Scott has over a decade of Instructional Design experience, as well as five years of experience in VP and senior leadership roles. His book on training gamification, Fail to Learn, was a #1 Amazon Hot New Release. Check out what he's up to next at scottprovence.com. | |||
| Secrets to Building the Most Engaging Community Ever | Episode 403 | 28 Jul 2025 | 00:05:24 | |
Click the link below to book a quick 10–15 minute chat with me. No sales, no pressure—just ideas and clarity on how to engage your community and grow revenue. What do sticky communities and addictive games have in common? We break down two powerful design moves to build a community you love showing up to—and one your members will too. 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 and Info
Lets's do stuff together!
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| Mike Washburn With His Game Design Challenge | Episode 286 | 01 May 2023 | 00:40:05 | |
Mike Washburn is an educator, community builder, content creator from Barrie, Ontario, Canada. He currently serves as the Director of Learning and Development for Logics Academy, a STEM, Robotics and Learning Experience Design company based in Toronto, Ontario. As a former computer science teacher, Mike created a custom-made curriculum using elements of game design and game-based learning culminating in a year-long Grade 8 project called the "Game Design Challenge" which asked students to design and create every aspect of their very own video game. Since then, Mike has worked with leading EdTech organizations to connect educators through community building and professional learning, enabling them to share their passions and knowledge. Mike was the co-host of the hit education podcast OnEducation, and hosted and produced the official Minecraft: Education Edition podcast, and Real Time 3D in Education podcast in collaboration with Epic Games. With almost 500,000 career podcast downloads, Mike is a standout voice for technology in education. Mike has written for EdSurge and has been a notable, featured, or keynote speaker at conferences across North America such as ISTE and FETC. | |||
| Mai Trinh With Voluntary Gamification in Statistics | Episode 285 | 24 Apr 2023 | 00:39:50 | |
Mai P. Trinh is an Assistant Professor in Leadership and Interdisciplinary Studies at Arizona State University. Her scholarly works empower people to become the best leaders they can be so that we can build a more equitable and equal world together. From the top down, she combines complex adaptive systems science with agent-based modeling to reveal systemic patterns of inequalities, examine the effectiveness of plausible solutions, and recommend leadership actions to alleviate equity and equality. From the bottom up, she uses experiential learning theory to help leaders develop key competencies and improve leadership training and education. Her works serve to advance two of the United Nations' sustainable development goals, #10 "Reduced inequalities" and #5 "Gender equality." Professor Trinh has long been using game-based learning and gamification to help her students learn effectively. She has published innovative experiential methods to develop leadership competencies such as using mobile app games to improve learning flexibility and using gamification to foster quantitative literacy skills. Her latest workshop on applying gamification in management education was a finalist for the Best Professional Development Workshop Award at the 2022 Academy of Management annual conference. | |||
| Andrew Lowery From Teacher To Learning Game Startup | Episode 284 | 17 Apr 2023 | 00:28:36 | |
Andrew is co-founder at Rollama - a new gaming website for English language practice. Andrew was an English and Primary class teacher for 15 years in the UK, Malaysia and China. Now he's running Rollama full-time to help make English grammar practice fun for kids. | |||
| Brit Morenus With Gamification at Microsoft and Beyond | Episode 283 | 10 Apr 2023 | 00:39:52 | |
Brit Morenus has a goal to MAKE LEARNING FUN! When she isn't online supporting Microsoft Contact Centers with gamified learning, she can be found homeschooling her daughter and volunteering with local youth. She truly feels gamification can be a successful approach for all ages for every day life tasks, work tasks, education tasks or even your routine tasks. Brit has served Microsoft for almost 10 years! She is currently the lead of a self formed Gamification Advisory Board and running gamification efforts for Microsoft Store and Microsoft Advertising contact center employees. She has more than 5 years experience using gamification for continuous on-the-job training. During that time, she has produced award-winning game-based learning experiences and obtained several certifications. Among those, are her Sententia Master Craftsman Gamification title, as well as Microlearning and Gamification certifications from Centrical. Brit is currently working on a book called An Organizational Guide for Gamified Learning with her partner-in-game, Karl Kapp. | |||
| Jed Lazar Gets To Really Know Others Through a Game | Episode 282 | 03 Apr 2023 | 00:29:25 | |
Jed's mission is to bring more trust, connection and playfulness into the world. Why? Because for him that's what makes life fun, meaningful - and worth putting up with the necessary bullshit. He's a coach and co-creator of Cozy Juicy Real - a board game that gamifies human connection and builds stronger relationships for friends, families and complete strangers. It's been described as "deeper connections disguised as a board game". He comes from the US and now lives in Valencia Spain - today he's looking forward to buying two tiny dogs and living a relatively simple life. | |||
| Jon Spike Gamestorms His Way Into Interesting Choices | Episode 281 | 27 Mar 2023 | 00:39:55 | |
Jon Spike started his career as an English Teacher and later as a Technology Integrator. He now serves as Coordinator of Instructional Technology Integration Services at UW-Whitewater's College of Education. Jon has presented all over the United States to districts, organizations, and conferences, including the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference, the Future of Educational Technology Conference (FETC), and the Midwest Google Summit. Jon has a Master's in Educational Technology from Marian University and is working on his Ph.D. dissertation on virtual reality in education at Northern Illinois University. Jon just released his first commercial board game, Gamestormers, in 2023. | |||
| Jim Samartino Creates the Thrills As a Jim-of-all-trades in Games | Episode 280 | 20 Mar 2023 | 00:39:24 | |
Today's guest is Jim Samartino, lead Game designer for Secrets of the Lost Station, co-creator of Secrets of the Lost Tomb, conceptual writer for the Big Trouble in Little China "Legacy of Lo Pan" expansion game, and most recently the author of the interactive children's book Crow the Courageous. He is a father of two, has a degree in psychology, and is a creative spirit who enjoys entrepreneurial endeavors. He is the owner of Samartino Stories, his newest and third privately owned company. He has participated in publishing over 125 short stories for board games. He loves Movies, gaming, storytelling, and creating positive experiences. | |||
| New Path | Episode 279 | 13 Mar 2023 | 00:09:08 | |
Special episode with more professional updates for me! It will undoubtedly benefit this Engagers community, so listen to this short, 10-minute episode and get up to speed! | |||
| Christen Horne with a Gameful Approach to Life | Episode 278 | 06 Mar 2023 | 00:33:55 | |
Christen is, and always has been, a storyteller. She started with singing and musical theatre at the age of five and went on to earn two music degrees. Fictional books (mostly fantasy, some sci-fi) were her best friends growing up and continue to be a huge part of her life. The earliest books she remembers reading are the Jewel Kingdom books and the Jedi Apprentice Star Wars books. By day she teaches singing to both advanced and beginners (including people who think they can't sing). By night she's either hanging out with her family or happily chronicling the events of her first fantasy novels. | |||
| Charlotte Cheng Understanding Her Players for Success | Episode 277 | 27 Feb 2023 | 00:34:03 | |
Charlotte Cheng is the Senior Education Manager at CodeCombat. With over 20 years of curriculum design experience, she has developed curriculum content for CodeCombat, Wonder Workshop, the Walt Disney Company, LeapFrog, and several EdTech startups. Her expertise is creating effective and engaging content for kids at the intersection of education, media, and technology As part of her work at CodeCombat, Charlotte hosts and produces the EdTech Adventures podcast, which explores the role of technology, STEM, and creative play in education with expert guests. Charlotte has also taught in a variety of K-12 classroom settings and one of her workshops was featured on ABC News. She received her BS in cognitive science and MA in elementary education at Stanford University. | |||
| From Boring to Brilliant: Rethinking Education with AI and Engagement | Episode 402 | 21 Jul 2025 | 00:31:39 | |
Build a thriving, loyal community—without chasing members or cranking out content 24/7. Join us for free: 🏡 professorgame.com/freecommunity-web Crushing churn in the classroom? It starts with embracing AI. Rob Alvarez is joined by Dr. Matt Metzger to explore how AI can revamp higher education—boosting motivation, retention, and engagement while staying human-centered. No tech expertise required, just a willingness to rethink learning. Dr. Matthew R. Metzgar, PhD, is a Clinical Professor of Economics at UNC Charlotte's Belk College of Business and an award-winning teacher who develops and delivers undergraduate and MBA courses focused on real-world applications and innovative pedagogy. He is the author of a new book, "The Overnight AI Educator: Transform Your Course in 24 Hours". His research spans the effectiveness of teaching methods and the economics of obesity, and as a Gambrell Faculty Fellow he is leading a study on employee ownership's impact on the racial wealth gap in the Charlotte region. He co-chairs the Heterodox Academy Campus Community, facilitates the Constructive Dialogue Faculty Learning Community, and has been interviewed on labor-market shortages at both local and national levels. Dr. Metzgar earned his PhD from the University of Tennessee, an MBA from Wheeling Jesuit University, and a BS from West Virginia University. 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.
Guest Links and Info
Lets's do stuff together!
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| Chris Hood Challenges the Game Mechanics | Episode 276 | 20 Feb 2023 | 00:37:39 | |
Chris Hood is a digital strategist and technology entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in online entertainment and marketing for TV, Film, Music, and Video Games. As the Head of Business Innovation and Strategy for Google, Chris engages with some of the top companies in the world to develop digital transformation strategies that grow business value. At Google, He also hosts the weekly business podcast That Digital Show. Previously, Chris Hood worked as a Director for Fox Broadcasting where he developed storytelling technologies and innovated new mechanisms for viewers to engage with television content for shows like Glee, Gotham, Sleepy Hollow, The X-Factor, and American Idol. His work included the development of TV Everywhere products and interactive media platforms for streaming services. Chris also teaches in the Information Technology department for Southern New Hampshire University and Colorado Technical University. | |||
| Tricia Underwood Finds the Values Underneath the Objectives | Episode 275 | 13 Feb 2023 | 00:38:30 | |
Tricia Underwood is a joy-centered Executive Functioning Specialist who helps students and adults with ADHD and ADHD-like symptoms learn systems, habits, and strategies to create greater success on their unique terms. After graduating from college with a B.A. in Literature and a couple of years trying to work in an office, Tricia pursued a master's in teaching secondary Language Arts from Tufts University. The more she taught, the more her reputation grew for supporting students who did not fit the traditional school mold. Throughout her career as an inclusion teacher-leader and learning specialist, she discovered that the elements of joy are what get all those other practical strategies for goal-getting like organization, time management, and planning to stick. And they are a whole lot more fun to teach this way too. Tricia has a book coming out in the Fall of 2023 based on her method. When she's not coaching and cooking up her next book and program to teach, she does her best to be a responsible adult and parent while keeping up her practice as an expert daydreamer. You can find out more about her offers, services and book at rarebirdlearning.com where you can also sign up for her free weekly newsletter about 3 good things that have inspired her work with her clients. | |||
| Andrew Hall Games Us Into Movement | Episode 274 | 06 Feb 2023 | 00:22:58 | |
Andrew is the Co-Founder and CEO of G13R, the developers of GenMove, BALLN and MyKicks. GenMove, the company's flagship product uses AI to create a gamified exercise experience for Gen Alpha / Z using motion tracking to create augmented reality motion games. GenMove was launched into the market in November 2022, in collaboration with the World Health organization with the aim of getting more children to be more active. | |||