Cheryl Platz
@funnygodmother.bsky.social
Creative Director, TPCi. #PokemonEmployee. Author, Design Beyond Devices & Game Development Strategy Guide. Adjunct @ Carnegie Mellon. Ex-Riot Games, Scopely, MSFT, AMZN, EA, Disney. EDS 🥄. Owner of @ideaplatz.com. Ideas my own. 🏠 https://Cherylplatz.com
Pinned
Cheryl Platz
@funnygodmother.bsky.social
· Sep 16
IT IS TIME. My second book, The Game Development Strategy Guide, is now out worldwide. Here it is posing like a boss on the #DesignMattersTokyo stage. Grab it at Amazon, my publisher @rosenfeldmedia.com, or your favorite online bookseller to level up your #gameDev work. Amazon: amzn.to/4go56ln
The office tower food court which had been playing Xmas songs nonstop for weeks just Rickrolled us 🤣🎄
December 8, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The office tower food court which had been playing Xmas songs nonstop for weeks just Rickrolled us 🤣🎄
We are LIVE from my new Seattle area studio post-move and Sprinkles hopes you remembered her. Join me 10AM PT - 1PM PT for chatting, chillstreaming, and variety indie games with the #MagicMafia - questions about my books, podcasts, #gamedev, #uxdesign, and career welcome.
twitch.tv/funnygodmother
twitch.tv/funnygodmother
FunnyGodmother - Twitch
Making magic since the Internet was a thing. UX designer, game developer, gamer, video game professor, author, actress, puppeteer, engineer, public speaker, voice-over artist, traveler, #PokemonEmplo...
twitch.tv
December 7, 2025 at 6:07 PM
We are LIVE from my new Seattle area studio post-move and Sprinkles hopes you remembered her. Join me 10AM PT - 1PM PT for chatting, chillstreaming, and variety indie games with the #MagicMafia - questions about my books, podcasts, #gamedev, #uxdesign, and career welcome.
twitch.tv/funnygodmother
twitch.tv/funnygodmother
Events of the last few days have reminded me that much of my content may be New To You (TM). Here’s one of my most popular #gamedev posts from my Riot Games era where I documented how the career tracks worked when I was head of their #Uxdesign craft company-wide.
medium.com/riot-games-u...
medium.com/riot-games-u...
UX Design Roles at Riot Games
Every company’s design track shakes out a little differently — here’s what a design career looks like in our world.
medium.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Events of the last few days have reminded me that much of my content may be New To You (TM). Here’s one of my most popular #gamedev posts from my Riot Games era where I documented how the career tracks worked when I was head of their #Uxdesign craft company-wide.
medium.com/riot-games-u...
medium.com/riot-games-u...
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the time to network with and support people is when they are your peers, not 10 -30 years later when they’ve been through hell to get to their dream job
Few people asking for favors can tell me how many surgeries and published books I had from 2020-2021 🤣
Few people asking for favors can tell me how many surgeries and published books I had from 2020-2021 🤣
December 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the time to network with and support people is when they are your peers, not 10 -30 years later when they’ve been through hell to get to their dream job
Few people asking for favors can tell me how many surgeries and published books I had from 2020-2021 🤣
Few people asking for favors can tell me how many surgeries and published books I had from 2020-2021 🤣
Reposted by Cheryl Platz
I can’t get over how Barbie succeeded because it offered tangible ways for women and girls to celebrate each other (and dress up and go to the movies together) but studios thought it worked because it’s about toys so now they’re making like Bananagrams the movie
December 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I can’t get over how Barbie succeeded because it offered tangible ways for women and girls to celebrate each other (and dress up and go to the movies together) but studios thought it worked because it’s about toys so now they’re making like Bananagrams the movie
Reposted by Cheryl Platz
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
December 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
HEY. Have you grabbed my new #gsmedev book The Game Development Strategy Guide yet? If not, TODAY is the best day all year to grab it - the 30% Black Friday Week sale ends midnight Eastern time. Only $42 for the paperback that comes WITH the ebook!
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/game-d...
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/game-d...
The Game Development Strategy Guide | Free EBook with Purchase | Cheryl Platz
Some of today’s most popular video games have been on the market for decades, while others barely make it days before disappearing forever. What differentiates the games that survive? This expansive l...
rosenfeldmedia.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:18 PM
HEY. Have you grabbed my new #gsmedev book The Game Development Strategy Guide yet? If not, TODAY is the best day all year to grab it - the 30% Black Friday Week sale ends midnight Eastern time. Only $42 for the paperback that comes WITH the ebook!
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/game-d...
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/game-d...
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but #gamedev is about way more than just game design. FONT LICENSING is currently threatening to halt some game development in Japan. Many game devs balk at things like legal, licensing, and biz dev but they == survival.
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
Japanese devs face font licensing dilemma as leading provider increases annual plan price from $380 to $20,000+
Japanese game makers are struggling to locate affordable commercial fonts after one of the country's leading font licen…
www.gamesindustry.biz
December 5, 2025 at 3:49 PM
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but #gamedev is about way more than just game design. FONT LICENSING is currently threatening to halt some game development in Japan. Many game devs balk at things like legal, licensing, and biz dev but they == survival.
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but #gamedev is about way more than just game design. FONT LICENSING is currently threatening to halt some game development in Japan. Many game devs balk at things like legal, licensing, and biz dev but they == survival.
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
Japanese devs face font licensing dilemma as leading provider increases annual plan price from $380 to $20,000+
Japanese game makers are struggling to locate affordable commercial fonts after one of the country's leading font licen…
www.gamesindustry.biz
December 5, 2025 at 3:49 PM
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but #gamedev is about way more than just game design. FONT LICENSING is currently threatening to halt some game development in Japan. Many game devs balk at things like legal, licensing, and biz dev but they == survival.
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
www.gamesindustry.biz/japanese-dev...
It's time for a quick holiday puppet stream before an unscheduled early holiday flight - join Cheryl and Moe to catch up on the in-person Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade experience! 10AM PT - 11AM PT twitch.tv/funnygodmother
FunnyGodmother - Twitch
It's time for a MOEment with the #MagicMafia - join a short post-holiday puppet stream tiday!
twitch.tv
November 30, 2025 at 5:59 PM
It's time for a quick holiday puppet stream before an unscheduled early holiday flight - join Cheryl and Moe to catch up on the in-person Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade experience! 10AM PT - 11AM PT twitch.tv/funnygodmother
Once you’ve celebrated the Pikachu and Eevee balloon in the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving - or maybe just because it’s almost the holidays - come to TCG Live starting Thursday to celebrate our Balloon Festival all month long. 🎈
The Balloon Festival is on the horizon, so get ready to drift along as we close out the year ☁️
Enjoy the event's festivities in Pokémon TCG Live with a variety of log-in gifts, daily shop offers, and even more starting November 27!
🔗 pkmn.news/3JSPRW4
Enjoy the event's festivities in Pokémon TCG Live with a variety of log-in gifts, daily shop offers, and even more starting November 27!
🔗 pkmn.news/3JSPRW4
November 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Once you’ve celebrated the Pikachu and Eevee balloon in the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving - or maybe just because it’s almost the holidays - come to TCG Live starting Thursday to celebrate our Balloon Festival all month long. 🎈
GO GET THE EEVEE SLEEVIES BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE! 💜✨
Don't forget to claim the final Year of Eevee themed deck cosmetics!
Eevee: Breakaway and Eevee: Prismatic Card Sleeves are available by logging in only until tomorrow, November 27 at 9 AM (PT) 🎁
Eevee: Breakaway and Eevee: Prismatic Card Sleeves are available by logging in only until tomorrow, November 27 at 9 AM (PT) 🎁
The Year of Eevee may be coming to a close, but we still have a couple final themed deck cosmetics left to gift out ✨
Log in to Pokémon TCG Live before November 27 to receive Eevee: Breakaway and Eevee: Prismatic Card Sleeves!
Log in to Pokémon TCG Live before November 27 to receive Eevee: Breakaway and Eevee: Prismatic Card Sleeves!
November 26, 2025 at 5:12 PM
GO GET THE EEVEE SLEEVIES BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE! 💜✨
As a #gamedev, it hurts to see games cut off before shipping. Moreso in the case of #Hytale, which was a community effort that went AAA before meeting its end at Riot Games. Or so we thought. Riot and the founders came to an agreement and independent dev has resumed: hytale.com/news/2025/11...
HYTALE IS SAVED!
hytale.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:39 PM
As a #gamedev, it hurts to see games cut off before shipping. Moreso in the case of #Hytale, which was a community effort that went AAA before meeting its end at Riot Games. Or so we thought. Riot and the founders came to an agreement and independent dev has resumed: hytale.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Cheryl Platz
Some of us have been advocating this going back since chatGPT launched. It also has other benefits: correcting someone else's work is actually a really good way to learn something yourself.
November 23, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Some of us have been advocating this going back since chatGPT launched. It also has other benefits: correcting someone else's work is actually a really good way to learn something yourself.
It's time for a MOEment with the #MagicMafia - join us for more hyper-variety indie game streaming and lurk or bring your #gamedev, geek, and #uxdesign topics to chat! I am always happy to answer questions about my career or books during Twitch broadcasts. 10AM PT - 1PM PT twitch.tv/funnygodmother
FunnyGodmother - Twitch
It's time for a MOEment with the #MagicMafia - join us for more hyper-variety indie game streaming!
twitch.tv
November 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
It's time for a MOEment with the #MagicMafia - join us for more hyper-variety indie game streaming and lurk or bring your #gamedev, geek, and #uxdesign topics to chat! I am always happy to answer questions about my career or books during Twitch broadcasts. 10AM PT - 1PM PT twitch.tv/funnygodmother
I am one of the people who endowed a scholarship as part of this campaign, to give back what was given to me as an undergrad. CMU has always been different, and the focus on affordability is a source of pride - we all win when good education is broadly available. www.post-gazette.com/news/educati...
Carnegie Mellon raises $2.5 billion in historic fundraising campaign
Twelve years ago, Carnegie Mellon University raised more than $1 billion in a five-year fundraising campaign, its record at the time.
Building off that...
www.post-gazette.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I am one of the people who endowed a scholarship as part of this campaign, to give back what was given to me as an undergrad. CMU has always been different, and the focus on affordability is a source of pride - we all win when good education is broadly available. www.post-gazette.com/news/educati...
Reposted by Cheryl Platz
Today is world kindness day, and a perfect day to celebrate Fred Rogers and his impact on many of our lives.
He shared innumerable wise words with us, many which have stuck with me and guide me even today, and I'd like to share a few of them this morning.
He shared innumerable wise words with us, many which have stuck with me and guide me even today, and I'd like to share a few of them this morning.
a man in a red sweater and tie is sitting on a bench and says hi neighbor
ALT: a man in a red sweater and tie is sitting on a bench and says hi neighbor
media.tenor.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Today is world kindness day, and a perfect day to celebrate Fred Rogers and his impact on many of our lives.
He shared innumerable wise words with us, many which have stuck with me and guide me even today, and I'd like to share a few of them this morning.
He shared innumerable wise words with us, many which have stuck with me and guide me even today, and I'd like to share a few of them this morning.
Ok so is anyone else’s Alexa just suddenly incapable of doing alarms correctly? Because this is some ridiculous enshittification
“Set alarm for 7AM”
“Alarm set for 7Am”
“What time is my alarm”
“Your alarm is set for…(endless silence)”
literally weeks of this
“Set alarm for 7AM”
“Alarm set for 7Am”
“What time is my alarm”
“Your alarm is set for…(endless silence)”
literally weeks of this
November 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Ok so is anyone else’s Alexa just suddenly incapable of doing alarms correctly? Because this is some ridiculous enshittification
“Set alarm for 7AM”
“Alarm set for 7Am”
“What time is my alarm”
“Your alarm is set for…(endless silence)”
literally weeks of this
“Set alarm for 7AM”
“Alarm set for 7Am”
“What time is my alarm”
“Your alarm is set for…(endless silence)”
literally weeks of this
Reposted by Cheryl Platz
a few months ago I said "having generative AI handle absolutely anything with regards to healthcare is a nightmare and should be banned" and a bunch of people made fun of me and called me stupid. anyways,
November 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
a few months ago I said "having generative AI handle absolutely anything with regards to healthcare is a nightmare and should be banned" and a bunch of people made fun of me and called me stupid. anyways,
Why would they do this to us on the week of GDC
do they expect us to walk around Moscone with Switch 2s?
We might
do they expect us to walk around Moscone with Switch 2s?
We might
Serebii Update: Pokémon Pokopia will release on March 5th 2026 www.serebii.net
November 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Why would they do this to us on the week of GDC
do they expect us to walk around Moscone with Switch 2s?
We might
do they expect us to walk around Moscone with Switch 2s?
We might
Every time I try to explain Eeveelutions to people without visual aids I’m like “oh yeah Pokémon actually is basically a whole field of academic study” 🤣 #videogames
November 11, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Every time I try to explain Eeveelutions to people without visual aids I’m like “oh yeah Pokémon actually is basically a whole field of academic study” 🤣 #videogames
While the rest of us struggle to keep our DNS records updated and our sites up and Zombocom survives like the third constant alongside death and taxes and I am 100% here for it and will be bereft if it ever leaves us
In November 1999, the Zombo dot com website was created as a parody of the creative, but, largely pointless flash intros, which were trending at the end of the 1990s. Welcome... to ZomboCom.
#WebDesignHistory
#WebDesignHistory
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
While the rest of us struggle to keep our DNS records updated and our sites up and Zombocom survives like the third constant alongside death and taxes and I am 100% here for it and will be bereft if it ever leaves us
The travel gods were kind, and we get one last bonus stream in this Seattle studio before my move. Come see Sprinkles, hear about my book tour last week, and get indie gaming in since we don't know if we'll have a setup next week! twitch.tv/funnygodmother 10AM PT - 1PM PT #gamedev #uxdesign
FunnyGodmother - Twitch
Last stream from this Seattle studio with the #MagicMafia - what will our new setup look like?
twitch.tv
November 9, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The travel gods were kind, and we get one last bonus stream in this Seattle studio before my move. Come see Sprinkles, hear about my book tour last week, and get indie gaming in since we don't know if we'll have a setup next week! twitch.tv/funnygodmother 10AM PT - 1PM PT #gamedev #uxdesign
I don’t find many moments of joy in these dark times, but the grounded contentment of roadtripping across Pennsylvania with my supportive husband against sunlit fall foliage eating Wicked themed Munchkin donuts on our way to a book signing for my book at Carnegie Mellon - I’ll file that under joy.
November 9, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I don’t find many moments of joy in these dark times, but the grounded contentment of roadtripping across Pennsylvania with my supportive husband against sunlit fall foliage eating Wicked themed Munchkin donuts on our way to a book signing for my book at Carnegie Mellon - I’ll file that under joy.
Reposted by Cheryl Platz
Lillie's Determination easily surpasses the competition when it comes to most-used Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution cards in Pokémon TCG Live 😱
Check out this infographic highlighting the full Top 10 Most-Used Cards from the #MegaEvolution 🧬 expansion!
Check out this infographic highlighting the full Top 10 Most-Used Cards from the #MegaEvolution 🧬 expansion!
November 8, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Lillie's Determination easily surpasses the competition when it comes to most-used Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution cards in Pokémon TCG Live 😱
Check out this infographic highlighting the full Top 10 Most-Used Cards from the #MegaEvolution 🧬 expansion!
Check out this infographic highlighting the full Top 10 Most-Used Cards from the #MegaEvolution 🧬 expansion!