Mantic's Ronnie Renton on 'Now Games', Problem Solving, & Signing Jervis Johnson

About this episode

Ronnie Renton discusses the evolution of gaming experiences and Mantic Games' approach to modern hobbyists.

Mantic are currently Kickstarting DreadBall All Stars™: The Sci-Fi Sports Game Spend five minutes talking to Ronnie Renton, and one thing becomes clear. He is still, by his own admission, “mentally… only 12 years old.” That enthusiasm has carried him from the earliest days of Warhammer through to founding Mantic Games, and into a modern hobby that looks very different to the one he started in. “I had a pre-order for the very first edition,” he says. “So I’ve been on that journey from day one.” Now, decades later, he is designing for players who have taken that same journey and no longer have the time they once did. Making games that fit real lives A recurring theme in Renton’s thinking is simple. People still love the hobby, but their lives have changed. “I don’t have time to spend ages finessing loads of things if I just want to play on a Tuesday night,” he explains. That shift has shaped Mantic’s recent output. Where once the answer to everything was a large-scale game like Kings of War , the company now builds across a wider spread. Smaller, faster experiences sit alongside the traditional long-form hobby projects. Renton describes it as two types of game. “I think there’s the…

People in this episode

Guest: Ronnie Renton

Topics covered

• game design
• hobby gaming
• DreadBall
• Mantic Games
• player experience

Keywords

• Mantic Games
• DreadBall All Stars
• game design
• hobby gaming
• Ronnie Renton

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mantic Games

Products: DreadBall All Stars™

Books & works: Kings of War

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