Sat, 10 Oct 2020 18:53:08 +0000

Tj Hughes (Terrifying Jellyfish) joins us to talk about his upcoming experimental food/art game Nour: Play With Your Food. We discuss games as toys, making things accessible by making them weird, and the most important element of both cooking and...

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 19:40:09 +0000

In the second installment of our deep-dive Spelunky 2 miniseries, we discuss the game's radical approach to difficulty, break down and contrast the second worlds of the game, and compare results on the Daily challenge.

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 18:26:12 +0000

A Short Hike creator Adam Robinson-Yu chills with us to chat about his cozy exploration game, from its Humble origins and inspirations, to balancing feature density with scope. Show notes:

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:15:59 +0000

In the first installment of our deep-dive Spelunky 2 miniseries, we have a - spoiler-free! - discussion of the first world of the game, design changes big and small and their implications, and what this sequel does to recapture the essence of...

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 21:22:20 +0000

Lucy Morris (Starcolt) joins us to talk about her recently-released dating/pet care sim Best Friend Forever! We discuss running a studio in a small community, building three dimensional characters, and the emotional travails of launching a game. Show...

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 07:23:41 +0000

We kick off a new era with a fully rebranded show! After navel-gazing about the changes, we talk to our own Zach Gage about making a Sudoku game that loves you. Show notes:

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 15:00:00 +0000

We close out this chapter of the podcast with some (spoiler-free!) impressions of the near-final Spelunky 2, with creators Derek Yu and Eirik Suhrke to guide us through their design process and answer your burning questions. The walls are shifting......

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 15:00:00 +0000

Loot Rascals co-designers Ricky Haggett and Jonathan Whiting join us to discuss their whimsical cosmic roguelike, as does superfan Tim Schafer to help us sing its praises! We discuss playing with hexes in the pub, the function of humor in games, and...

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 20:37:16 +0000

Shawn Alexander Allen joins us to talk about his tactical brawler, Treachery in Beatdown City. We discuss the roots and inspirations of this innovative mash-up, the action economy that makes it tick, and the process of translating life experience into...

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:57:34 +0000

Theresa Duringer (Temple Gates Games) joins us to discuss the process of bringing board games to digital platforms. We discuss tutorial and UI challenges, machine learning for AI, and how to find your niche as a small studio. Show notes:

Sat, 20 Jun 2020 18:52:31 +0000

Soren Johnson (Offworld Trading Company) joins us to discuss his new historical strategy game Old World, as we dive into playing by feel in a numbers-driven game, the problematic themes inherent to the 4X genre, and personalizing games through...

Fri, 29 May 2020 22:22:09 +0000

In the final installment of our Noita miniseries, Nolla Games' Petri Purho and Olli Harjola join us for a deep dive Q&A on the game! We discuss the influence of magic on its design, its origins and early iterations, how they empower different play...

Fri, 22 May 2020 22:49:31 +0000

It's Andy's big 5-0 and we're celebrating by diving into our mailbag of thoughtful listener questions! We discuss working within a team, how academic practice intersects development, framing your work across a career, the role of aesthetics in games,...

Fri, 15 May 2020 19:54:46 +0000

In the fourth installment of our Noita miniseries, we discuss the intention of randomness, getting stuck in our play patterns, leaning into the game's weirdness, and some modifications we'd like to see. Some things we discussed:

Fri, 08 May 2020 23:32:27 +0000

Spelunky creator Derek Yu returns for an expansive discussion on the membrane between players/devs, the connection between design/process, and the understated influence of arcade games on his work - all through the lens of what we've been playing and...

Fri, 01 May 2020 16:00:00 +0000

In the third installment of our miniseries, we discuss Noita's worldbuilding, secrets in game culture, games as toys, tutorialization (or lack thereof), and the conflicts of wandcrafting. Some things we discussed:

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 21:23:41 +0000

Tom Francis (Gunpoint, Heat Signature) crashes in to discuss his upcoming small-scale strategy game Tactical Breach Wizards, how he finds and focuses on the cores of his games, and the narrative systems that make them sing. Some things we discussed:

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 20:35:44 +0000

In the second installment of our miniseries, we discuss our different play styles, wand customization, building games around online communities, and our experiences with - and the implementation of - Noita's Daily Challenge. Some things we discussed:

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 23:20:52 +0000

Martin Jonasson (holedown) joins us to extract the juiciness that powers his "delightful spectacle of bouncing," reveals the truth behind his rounded corners, and discusses the aesthetic and scope commitments that drove games like twofold inc....

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 23:06:26 +0000

In this first installment of our new miniseries focused on Noita (with guest co-host Bennett Foddy), we share our early stories and beginner tips, discuss the genealogy of the game, and contemplate how we feel about shooting being its primary...