Isaac and Steve welcome skater, entrepreneur and former PopCap and Plants vs Zombies producer Matthew Lee Johnston to the show.

Learn what a first day at PopCap was like, discover interwoven webs of perfectly hand-balanced dependencies, attend to the differences between "porting" a game and "adapting" it, and be apprised of the many ways that folks can fail to see eye to eye on the very same adaptation process. All that and a fair bit more on this week's episode of The Unofficial PopCap PopCast!

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19 Hello, Greetings
00:48 Introducing Matthew Lee Johnston
01:41 Tricked Into Interviewing
07:41 What's a Producer?
10:08 Most Noteworthy Games
12:42 First Day at PopCap
24:07 PvZ Xbox
27:04 Controlling PvZ
30:37 Fundamental Disagreement
38:23 Couch Co-op
41:16 Perfectly Hand-Balanced Dependencies
45:06 Working "with" George Fan
48:55 Plants vs. Zombies 2
56:18 MLJ Part 1 Wrapup

LINKS

PMA Magazine
https://www.getthatpma.com/

Isaac and Steve greet a very special guest: writer and former PopCap Customer Support agent, Dana Sweeney!

Dana dishes dirt on how she got into PopCap, what life in the CS trenches was like, how a manager in Ireland stepped up, how she branched out from Customer Support, why she got one game-related tattoo but not another, and much, much, MUCH more! Oh, and we get a glimpse at a cat! Check it out... if you DARE.

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19 Welcome and Bonjour
01:02 PopCap Community
02:41 Temping Into PopCap
04:41 Free Games
06:02 Supporting Customers
07:09 Kitty Break - Lovey!
07:37 Bonkers Emails
11:43 Surviving CS
19:40 Career Development
21:16 Stuck in a Role
22:21 Special Memories
23:17 Great Place to be a Nerdy Person
25:49 Double Down
27:39 Undead World
29:03 In a Band
29:59 Tattoos
31:00 PopCorn Dragon
31:41 Cancelling Games
33:39 Shift to Mobile
34:48 Dumped in a Trash Can
36:00 Lust For Tomorrow
40:34 Writing Advice
41:35 Final Thoughts

LINKS
The Stronghold (Lust for Tomorrow & Trust In Tomorrow)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW4V2YCR

Matt Holmberg and Rich Werner! Two incredible Plants vs Zombies artists continue to blabble about games and more with Isaac & Steve.

Topics include but are not limited to: Conan the Barbarian, fast follows, premium vs. freemium, exploding books, industry dirt, how Rich got the PvZ art job, and what these magical creatures are doing RIGHT NOW. It's inadvisable to miss it, so don't!

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Unofficial PopCap PopCast
00:19 Bonjour and Greetings
01:37 Influences
11:04 Emotion in Games
20:15 Getting Into PvZ
29:44 Game Names
34:24 Making PvZ
36:18 Premium vs. Freemium
39:54 After PvZ
43:45 Sequels
45:24 PopCap QA
47:47 PvZ Hits (The Video)
53:03 Modern PvZ (PvZ 2026)
58:40 Exiting PopCap
1:07:35 Magical Creatures
1:14:59 Right Now
1:18:03 Until Next Time

LINKS

Gulf Guardian
https://gulfguardian.io

This Book Might Explode (Explodeyworld)
https://explodeyworld.com/