Design Talk - Buried Giant with Cole Werhle
From The Game Design Round Table by Dirk Knemeyer & David V. Heron
April 21, 2026 · 52 min · Season 1 · Episode 387
About this episode
Cole Werhle discusses his transition to founding Buried Giant Studios and his approach to game design.
Join hosts Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron as they welcome back Cole Werhle, the designer of hits like Root and Oath. In this episode, Cole details his major career move from Leder Games to founding Buried Giant Studios. He explains his unique business philosophy of making "fewer games more slowly" to focus on dense games and sustainable creative infrastructure. The conversation explores how digital playtesting revolutionized his design process, the development of his massive project Arcs, and his insights on why the board game industry should remain "small and homey" compared to the volatile video game market
People in this episode
Hosts: Dirk Knemeyer, David Heron
Guest: Cole Werhle
Topics covered
- game design
- board games
- digital playtesting
- business philosophy
- creative infrastructure
Keywords
- game design
- Buried Giant Studios
- Cole Werhle
- digital playtesting
- board game industry
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Leder Games, Buried Giant Studios
Books & works: Root, Oath, Arcs
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