About this episode

Soren interviews veteran game developer Charles Cecil about his career and insights into adventure game design.

In this episode, Soren interviews veteran game developer Charles Cecil, co-founder of Revolution Software and best known for his work on Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series. They discuss various dodgy tax avoidance schemes, what the Bitmap Brothers faxed to Acclaim, and how to teach players the grammar of adventure games. This interview was started on April 14, 2025. Games discussed: Galaxian, Adventure A, Adventure B, Bandersnatch, World Cup Football, World Cup Carnival, Lure of the Temptress, the Broken Sword series, Beneath a Steel Sky, the Monkey Island series

People in this episode

Host: Soren

Guest: Charles Cecil

Topics covered

• game development
• interview
• adventure games
• game design
• tax avoidance
• game history

Keywords

• Charles Cecil
• game development
• Beneath a Steel Sky
• Broken Sword
• adventure games
• game design
• tax avoidance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Revolution Software

Books & works: Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword series, Galaxian, Adventure A, Adventure B, Bandersnatch, World Cup Football, World Cup Carnival, Lure of the Temptress, Monkey Island series

More episodes of Idle Thumbs

• Three Moves Ahead 650 - Slay the Spire 2 · May 9, 2026 · 1h 10m
• Three Moves Ahead 649 - Xenonauts 2 · April 22, 2026 · 1h 13m
• Three Moves Ahead 648 - Heart of the Machine · March 27, 2026 · 1h 10m
• Three Moves Ahead 647.5 - Len and D.M. Join the Yakuza (WtHTI Patreon Preview) · March 14, 2026 · 1h 2m
• Three Moves Ahead 647 - Menace Early Access · February 22, 2026 · 1h 10m
• Three Moves Ahead 646 - Whiskerwood · February 6, 2026 · 1h 20m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Idle Thumbs podcast page.