I came to visit PopCap in Seattle once when Bejewelled Twist was launching. They did a huge press thing at the EMP centre by the Space Needle. It was a really interesting time to visit because at the same time as Bejeweled was getting this fascinating sequel, they said to me, “Oh, we’ve got this other game, which we’re really excited about. Do you want to see that?” And it was your game, Plants vs Zombies, which I think at the time was still called Lawn of the Dead.
George Fan: For that event, I think I suggested to them that they should have Bejewelled Twist [in real life]. They should have people sit in tables of four with lazy Susans on them. And they bring your order, you know, fish or chicken for dinner. They bring that out and then midway through dinner, someone would say “Twist!” and then you get someone else’s meal. No one took my idea.
See, that’s particularly interesting because I read once that at the start of your career you were uncertain whether you could be a game designer. With the lazy Susan thing it feels like maybe you should never have been uncertain at all? But I am interested as to why you once felt like that?