Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

We're joined by Casey Yano (Mega Crit), Trent Kusters (League of Geeks), and Alfredo Barraza (Riot) to discuss Bushido Ball, the 14th game in the UFO 50 collection.

"It’s the annual Bushido Ball tournament. Choose from 6 fighters and compete to win!"

Next week: Block Koala

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

In the 2nd installment of our current Into the Depths series, we dive into Caves of Qud. This sprawling open-world roguelike has been in development since 2007 and Early Access since 2015, and in this episode we celebrate this month's momentous v1.0 release.

Doug and Rob talk to one of the game's creators Jason Grinblat about Qud basics and the early game (up to Golgotha).

Don't forget to join our Discord and play along with the series.

Show Notes

Buy Caves of Qud on itch.io

Caves of Qud merch

qudzoo - "Your one-stop shop for improving in Caves of Qud"

Recommended settings for playing Qud on a Steamdeck (credit to Discord user patric!)

"The important changes are all in UI portion of the options menu: 

UI Scale: 1.25 Play Area Scale: Pixel Perfect Pixel Perfect Tile Graphic Scale: 2 Ability Bar Mode: Compact Mini Map: Off Nearby Objects: Off Message Log Font: -5

Last but not least, use your finger to move the bar between the play area & the message log as far to the right as you can. It’s a little fiddly to do, but frees up a good amount of real estate."

We're joined by Bennett Foddy (Getting Over It), Kenny Sun (Mr. Sun's Hatbox), and Zach Aikman (Chuhai Labs) to discuss Mooncat, the 13th game in the UFO 50 collection.

"Jump and dash through forests, caves and mountains, in search of the egg."

Next week: Bushido Ball

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by UFO 50 developers Derek Yu, Jon Perry, and Eirik Suhrke to discuss the first 12 (?) games in the collection. 

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Tanya X. Short (Kitfox Games), Star St. Germain (Aconite), and Zach Aikman (Chuhai Labs) to discuss Avianos, the 12th game in the UFO 50 collection.

"In a time when birds rule, an epic war rages between the red talons and the blue beaks."

Next week: Mooncat

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by John Axon (Capy Games) and Hayden "Docky" Scott-Baron (Planet Coaster) to discuss Kick Club, the 11th game in the UFO 50 collection.

“Sports are fighting over who is best! Let’s all play together!”

Next week: Avianos

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Tanya X. Short (Kitfox Games) to discuss Devilition, the 10th game in the UFO 50 collection.

“Build and detonate chain reactions to drive the demon horde out of town!”

Next week: Kick Club

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything) and Alfredo Barraza (Riot) to discuss Attactics, the ninth game in the UFO 50 collection.

“Carefully arrange your troops for maximum advantage in this game of realtime tactics.”

Next week: Devilition

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Marc Flury (Thumper) and Alfredo Barraza (Riot) to discuss Planet Zoldath, the eighth game in the UFO 50 collection.

“Brave the wilds of Planet Zoldath in search of the intergalactic treasure map!”

Next week: Attactics

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Derek Lieu (derek-lieu.com) and Colin Northway (Fantastic Contraption) to discuss Velgress, the seventh game in the UFO 50 collection.

“The space pirate Alpha is trapped in the deep pit known as Velgress. Help her climb out!”

Next week: Planet Zoldath

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Aaron "ix" Kearsley (speedrunner), Stephanie Boluk (UC Davis), and Patrick LeMieux (UC Davis) to discuss Mortol, the sixth game in the UFO 50 collection.

“How many people will lay down their lives to save Mortolia?”

Next week: Velgress

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Daniel Mullins (Inscryption), Stuffed Wombat (Mosa Lina), and XanaGear (youtube.com/xanagear) to discuss Magic Garden, the fifth game in the UFO 50 collection.

“Stop the jealous witch Cloverana from sabotaging your garden!”

Next week: Mortol

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

In the first installment of a new Into the Depths series, we dive into the brilliant Caves of Qud. This sprawling open-world roguelike has been in development since 2007 and Early Access since 2015, and we're celebrating it as it nears a v1.0 release. Doug and Rob, together with guest host and Qud-head Jack Schlesinger (Puzzmo, Knotwords, Good Sudoku), talk to Caves of Qud creators Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat all about post-apocalyptic worldbuilding, building an emergence-focused game engine, and what it takes to keep a project and partnership going for nearly two decades.

Don't forget to join our discord and play along with the series. Try to get a character to Level 5 before our next episode, where we'll get into some basics around the early game and Qud's many interlocking systems. You can purchase Caves of Qud -- still in Early Access, for now -- on Steam or GOG.

Discussed in this Episode

Gamma World Dwarf Fortress Kitfox Games Data-Driven Engines of Qud and Sproggiwood, talk by Brian Bucklew @ IRDC 2015 A Data-Driven Object System, talk by Scott Bilas @ GDC 2002 ("Looks like the paper isn't available but here's a talk on the same subject matter") The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) Tracery for context-free grammar generation Emergent Narrative in Dwarf Fortress, talk by Tarn Adams @ Progression Mechanics 2017 The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe Clark Ashton Smith Sam Wilson (pixel artist) Craig Hamilton (OST)

We're joined by Frank Lantz (The Beauty of Games) to discuss Paint Chase, the fourth game in the UFO 50 collection.

“Rev your engines and color your way to victory in the local paint racing competition!”

Next week: Magic Garden

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Adam Robinson-Yu (A Short Hike) to discuss Ninpek, the third game in the UFO 50 collection.

“It’s ninja time! Run and jump to reach the end of the world.”

Next week: Paint Chase, with guest co-host Carolyn Petit

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Frank Lantz (Universal Paperclips), Jack Schlesinger (Knotwords), and John Axon (Battle Vision Network) to discuss Bug Hunter, the second game in the UFO 50 collection.

“The moon quarry has a bug problem and you’ve been hired to fix it.”

Next week: Ninpek

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We're joined by Xalavier Nelson Jr. (I Am Your Beast), Sylvie (Sylvie Lime), and Gabe Cuzzillo (Ape Out) to discuss Barbuta, the first game in the UFO 50 collection.

"Explore the castle but watch out for traps!"

Next week: Bug Hunter

http://discord.gg/eggplant

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow

We introduce Eggplant Presents: A Year of UFO 50 - our new 1-year weekly show covering every game in the UFO 50 collection. Join us!

Next week: Barbuta, with guest co-hosts Xalavier Nelson Jr. and Gabe Cuzzillo.

We’re joined by our own Sarah Elmaleh, who is currently leading the SAG-AFTRA video-game actors’ strike as Chair of the union's Interactive Negotiating Committee. In this rare topical emergency episode, we discuss the urgency of securing basic protections for performers in the age of so-called “generative A.I.,” the power of collective action, and why this fight has existential stakes for video games as a commercial medium. Happy Labor Day!

Show Notes

Sarah Elmaleh

SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike Official FAQ

SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreements

SAG-AFTRA Tiered Budget Interactive Media Agreement

In this 3rd and final installment of our latest deep-dive miniseries, the crew continue to discuss “yahtzee roguelike” Slice & Dice, a host favorite that has made our GOTY list for two years running. We're joined once again by series guest co-host Darius Kazemi.

This episode, we ask Slice & Dice developer tann six (6) questions about the game. We also discuss Nightmare mode, as well as the modding system.

Show Notes:

Slice & Dice on Steam, itch, iOS, and Google Play

Into the Depths: Slice & Dice - Episode 1 & 2

Eggplant interview with Animal Well's Billy Basso and Dan Adelman

Eggplant interview with Balatro's localthunk

Slice & Dice 20 Boss Bossrush mod

Knytt & Knytt Stories by Nifflas

Sorry for the lack of new episodes! We have some big stuff brewing though, tune into this announcement for the details.

Doug and Zach talk to prolific game maker sylvie (love game), together with guest co-host Raigan Burns (Metanet Software). We talk about sylvie's design process, freeware games, subverting traditional orthodoxies around gamefeel, sylvie's influences, and more.

Show Notes:

sylvie's website

Catalog of sylvie's games

sylvie's blog posts

sylvie's post on playtesting

Bennett Foddy on JIGGLY ZONE

Eggplant Episode 11 with Raigan

Melos Han-Tani on Living in the Relational Playworld

John Thyer's How To Make Good Small Games 

We're joined by Laure De Mey and Kitt Byrne of Balloon Studios to chat about their Victorian first-person puzzler Botany Manor. We discuss building a space that feels the right amount of "real," letting history guide your setting, weaving a subtly affecting narrative, and...priest holes.

Show Notes:

Laura De Mey

Kitt Byrne

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

Return of the Obra Dinn

Pettson O Findus in the Garden

Sapphire Tower

Monkey Island

Over the Garden Wall

Little Women

MacDowell Colony

Nicholas Owen / Priest Holes

RickRack Cactus

Cragside Manor

Greenway House

Wild garlic

In this 2nd installment of our latest deep-dive miniseries, the crew continue to discuss “yahtzee roguelike” Slice & Dice, a host favorite that has made our GOTY list for two years running. 

We're joined once again by series guest co-host Darius Kazemi, as well as very special guest Michael Brough (!), whose own roguelike Cinco Paus is one of the cited inspirations behind Slice & Dice. This episode, we discuss the game's curses and blessings system, as well as its links to some of Michael's games, including 868 HACK.

Join our Discord and send in your questions for the Slice & Dice designer tann.

Show Notes:

Slice & Dice on Steam, itch, iOS, and Google Play

Michael Brough's blog posts on streak scoring (2013, 2017)

868-HACK

Cinco Paus

Michael Brough's blog post on the "powerup" (curse) system in 868-HACK

Slice and Dice | 98%+ Winrate Unfair Hero Tier List video

Hoplite

Classic Unfair run with Doug, Rob, and Andy

We're joined by Animal Well's sole developer Billy Basso and his business partner Dan Adelman to discuss their genre-defying/defining, steeped-in-secrets hit. Plus special guest co-host Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything), as we dig deep into the game's slow-burn development, the iteration of its manifold gameplay (and other) layers, and the delicate balance of stoking the fires of your fanbase.

Show Notes:

Animal Well

Billy Basso

Dan Adelman

Adam Conover

Scary kangaroo video

Axiom Verge

The Decade-Long Quest for Shadow of the Colossus' Last Secret

Fez

The Witness

Spelunky

Why do God of War's characters keep spoiling puzzles?

All of the Secret Bunnies in Animal Well (HUGE SPOILERS)

The Ultimate Secret Ending of Animal Well (EVEN BIGGER SPOILERS)

haseverythinginanimalwellbeenfoundyet.com

ARG Guardrails blog post

VVVVVV

Riven

Super Win the Game

In the first installment of our Slice & Dice deep-dive miniseries, the crew head Into the Depths with the “yahtzee roguelike” that's shown up on our GOTY list for two years running. We're joined by interactive artist/developer Darius Kazemi to help introduce the game and share beginner tips from our (significant) playtime, and get into its unique combination of maximalist design and systems-driven humor.

Next episode, we’ll get into some of our favorite game modes: Classic Unfair, Cursed, and Cursed-Hyper. Don’t forget to join our Discord and send in your questions for the game's designer tann, to be answered over email later in the series.

Show Notes:

Slice & Dice on Steam, itch, iOS, and Google Play

Eggplant’s 2022 GOTY Episode (S&D Rob’s #2)

Eggplant’s 2023 GOTY Episode (S&D Doug’s #2)

Darius Kazemi’s Spelunky level-gen browser tool

Slice & Dice development history essay, by tann

Allison Parrish’s talk on designing to explore possibility spaces

Slice & Dice beginner tips powerpoint

Sid Meier’s 2010 GDC keynote

Tharsis on Steam

The stream where Rob and Doug “puppeteered” Andy to a Classic Unfair victory in Slice & Dice v2.0 

Left to our own devices without a guest, we get a little goofy - thankfully our listener letters overfloweth, so we dive into a few of them. Thanks, listeners!

Show Notes:

Jupiter Sunrise

Dinner with the Band

GeoGuesser World Cup 2023

Knytt

Seiklus

Daniels: Why We Tell The Stories We Tell

Pale Fire

Four of ours hosts went to the 2024 Game Developers Conference, and we lived to share anecdotes, interesting games we saw, and the highlights (and injuries) of our week! Also, Rob chases down a handful of other lovely devs to tell us the best/hardest things about making games right now.

Show Notes:

Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure

Experimental Game Workshop

Museum of Mechanics: Lockpicking

Once Upon a Jester

Misshapen

Mediterranea Inferno

Kill Lincoln

The Crush House

We're joined by LocalThunk, solo creator of the hypnotic deckbuilder Balatro. We discuss flauting the fashion of a genre and going into development blind, the benefits of balacing by feel, and why Balatro shouldn't exist.

Show Notes:

Balatro

LocalThunk

Big two

Luck Be a Landlord

Slice & Dice

Slay the Spire

Risk of Rain 2

We're joined by renowned designer Eric Chahi (Another World, From Dust) to discuss his singularly surreal VR adventure Paper Beast. We discuss building a living ecosystem born from constraints, how the craft has changed over the decades, and the indecency of technology.

Show Notes:

Eric Chahi

Paper Beast

Another World

From Dust

Heart of Darkness

Strandbeest

TsuShiMaMiRe

Paprika

Pale Blue Dot

We're joined by Jon Ingold, co-founder of Inkle Studios (80 Days, Heaven's Vault) to discuss A Highland Song - a wild adventure through the Scottish Highlands. We chat about creating narrative-driven games without a critical path, allowing players to fail forward, and the origins of Inkle's beloved narrative scripting language, ink.

Show Notes:

Jon Ingold

A Highland Song

Inkle Studios

ink

The Forever Labyrinth

Rick Dangerous

TV Superstars

Inform

MUDs

Uncharted 3's horse-riding section

We (belatedly) celebrate the 5th anniversary of our show with a sprawling, silly, reflective episode with a full house of hosts! Thanks for listening to us for all this time. <3

Show Notes:

Bob Mould

Heat: Pedal to the Metal

Everest Pipkin's The Poppy Grower

Learning Moonring with Zach

A Link to the Past Redux

Paper Beast

Late Show 3-Legged Race: Video Game Speedrunner Edition

Tharsis

Blue Thunder

Everyday Shooter

PixelJunk Monsters

Puzzled Pint

Sleep No More

Teeny Little Super Guy

LearnedLeague

We welcome Rob Dubbin (he/they) as a permanent member of the host pool! We discuss his journey from Late Night into making games, applicable lessons learned in the writers' room, and the importance of making your own shot.

Show Notes:

Rob Dubbin

NYU Game Center

Babycastles

Wonderville

Game Studies Study Buddies

I Am America (And So Can You!)

Earl Grey

ZZT by Anna Anthropy

London Jerry: Freelance Mailman

Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondants' Dinner

Samurai Gunn

Sportsfriends

Scripto

Scripto + Global Game Jam 2024

We're joined by Kevin Poupard, co-creative director of the beautiful, meditative climbing game Jusant. We discuss the pains and gains of physics, trying something new as a studio, and anthropomorphizing mountains. Plus special guest co-host Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit! Thanks Mark!

Show Notes:

Jusant

GMTK - How Jusant Makes Rock-Climbing More Immersive

Mind Over Magnet

Grow Home

Shadow of the Colossus

We sit down with our newest co-host, writer/developer Rob Dubbin, to each count down our Top 5 games of 2023, alongside picks from previous show guests and our listeners. Happy New Year!

Our GOTY picks (SPOILERS):

Zach: Super Locomotive Kirby's Dream Land 2 The F Train Simulator Playing Wii-U with a kid Yamaha TENORI-ON Sarah: Betrayal at Club Low Puzzmo Crosswords The Emerald Flame Case of the Golden Idol Organized Labor Andy: System Shock (remake) Pikmin 1+2 (remakes) Horseless Carriage Betrayal at Club Low Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Rob: Puzzmo Crosswords Overflow Lasers & Feelings Mr. Sun's Hatbox Rude Tales of Magic Laura: Dredge Return of the Obra Dinn-likes VIDEOVERSE Girls' High School Mystery Class The Exit 8 Doug: The Password Game Human Chess 5th Season of Survivor Maryland Slice & Dice Blood on the Clocktower Nick: Rez Infinite PSVR2 w/ eye tracking Hi-Fi RUSH So Clover! Tux and Fanny EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6

Other picks from guests and listeners: Suika Game Baldur's Gate 3 Puyo Puyo Tetris Picross S9 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Disc golf Void Stranger El Paso, Elsewhere Basilisk 2000 Whist 22 Xenonauts 2 myhouse.wad Pikayune Dreams Magic Spellslingers

Other things mentioned: Rob Dubbin Laura's 31 Days of Halloween newsletter Berghain Trainer Glitch City bathroom game

Daria Radu, Ben Wilson, and our very own Douglas Wilson join us to discuss their trick-taking card game Spoils, featured as an optional game within story-driven adventure game Saltsea Chronicles. We discuss the genesis of the game, drawing inspiration from worldbuilding, trick-taking as a mechanic, the programming of the AI systems, and more.

Show Notes:

Episode 69: Building a Better Bridge with Ben Wilson

Spoils - A Development Retrospective

Briscola Chiamata 

Bridge

Skat

The Fox in the Forest

The creators of Tux and Fanny - Albery Birney and Gabriel Koenig - stop by to discuss their existential and hilarious adventure game Tux and Fanny. We discuss collaboration as improv comedy, the benefit of working with people from outside of games, and creating a Saturday morning cartoon from another world.

Show Notes:

Tux and Fanny (game)

Tux and Fanny (film)

Albert Birney

Gabriel Koenig

Dr. Mario or: House I Learned to Love Video Games Again and Accidentally Made One

Pixilart

Stalker

Birth - Eggplant Episode

Turn Towards Instead of Away

Russian Winnie-the-Pooh

McPixel

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Katamari Damacy by L. E. Hall

Humanity

Stray

Super Mario Bros. 35

The Books - The Lemon of Pink (bonus from post-show discussion)

We're joined by creative director Hannah Nicklin and writer Harry Josephine Giles to discuss Die Gute Fabrik's beautiful new story-driven adventure, Saltsea Chronicles. We dig into the world-building and construction of the playable ensemble cast, the writer's room that pulled it off, and building out design process as design.

Show Notes:

Saltsea Chronicles

Die Gute Fabrik

Hannah Nicklin

Harry Josephine Giles

Ink

Deep Dive: Designing a narrative for multiple middles and multiple heroes in Saltsea Chronicles

Saltsea Chronicles and Writing the Future

Pool Panic

Building a Better Bridge with Ben Wilson

A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit

notgoingbacktonormal.com

'Endemic' SARS-CoV-2 and the death of public health

Rebecca Solnit: When the Hero is the Problem

We talk to our very own Zach Gage about his brand new games website, Puzzmo. We talk about player curiosity, newspaper games, Crosswords, and more.

Show Notes:

Episode 37: Designing Around Language with Zach Gage

Puzzmo manifesto

AVCX

How Hard Could It Be? (crossword puzzle by Rob Dubbin)

Ian MacLarty and Kalonica Quigley join us to discuss their open world physics simulation game, Mars First Logistics. We talk about the tech art behind the game's visual style, the procedurally generated landscape, the humor of the gameplay, and more.

Show Notes:

Mars First Logistics

Catacombs of Solaris

Apartment

Red Desert Render

Out of Bounds: Exploring the Limits of Videogames

Ian's tech art posts

Jumpgrid

Bennett Foddy blog post about zk map

We're joined by Patrick Traynor, creator of Patrick's Parabox, a mind-bending recursive puzzle game about boxes within boxes. We discuss following your gut to what a game wants to be, being part of the puzzle design community, and our core philosophies behind puzzle design.

Show Notes:

We're taking a small summer break, so please enjoy one of our favorite episodes from 2020 with a new introduction from Doug!

The ENTIRE all-star Disc Room team - Kitty Calis, JW Nijman, Doseone, and Terri Vellmann - stop by for a rowdy disc-ussion on their new arcade sci-fi avoid-em-up. We chat about making the Margherita pizza of games, nailing the details to make a simple concept sing, and making the most of team collaborations.

Show notes:

Disc Room

Launch trailer

Kitty Calis JW Nijman Doseone Terri Vellmann

Pizza Margherita

Disc Room Game Jam

VVVVVV

Chris Ware

Monolith

Bit Pilot

We're honored to be joined by Gilles De Coster, host of our favorite Belgian reality TV game show - De Mol - to talk about the process, inspirations, and execution of the sublime game design behind its thrilling, subversive challenges. We spend the first hour giving all the context you'll need to follow along, before diving into the interview. This is a special one for us, check it out!

Show Notes:

De Mol (SPOILERS)

The Mole (inferior American version)

Wie is de Mol? (Dutch version)

The Amazing Race

Every Game in This City

Bestemming X

We're joined by Abhi to discuss Venba - Visai Games' short narrative cooking game about family, love, and loss. We discuss uniting narrative and gameplay, making a very personal game in a commercial industry, and creating a cooking experience with its own distinct flavor.

Show Notes:

Abhi

Venba

Papers, Please

Assemble with Care

Idli

Exit/Corners

Wholesome Games

Laundry Bear Games

Alpha Something - Venba soundtrack

Keel Haul

Abhi's picks:

Favorite cooking videos: Layered Biriyani Kerala Style Fried Chicken Chicken Ghee roast Great Tamil movies to get started with: Merku Thodarchi Malai Kaaka Muttai Kaithi A playlist of songs that inspired Venba's soundtrack

We're joined by Color Gray Games' Andrejs Kļaviņš to discuss their deeply rewarding detective game The Case of the Golden Idol. We discuss building on the game's cross-media inspirations, finding the 'aha!' moments in playtesting, and trusting yourself to trust your players.

Show Notes:

The Case of the Golden Idol

Color Gray Games

Andrejs Kļaviņš

Resonance

Return of the Obra Dinn

gamedeveloper.com interview

GMTK - What Makes a Good Detective Game?

Understanding Comics

William Hogarth

Her Story

Outer Wilds

Dark Souls

Foucault's Pendulum

PostCurious episode

Godot Engine

Mark Brown episode

SpiderHeck

Hercule Poirot

Poker Face show

Under a Killing Moon

We're joined by actor Ashly Burch and Guerilla Games' Ben McCaw and Jochen Willemsen to deconstruct their deeply collaborative work on the Horizon game franchise - building the character of Aloy, the role of performance capture, and carving out nuance and evolution in a blockbuster series.

Show Notes:

Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon series

Ashly Burch

Ben McCaw

Jochen Willemson

Hey Ash Whatcha Playin'?

Tenzin (Uncharted 2)

Gildun (Horizon character)

Seyka (Horizon character)

We're joined by Rita Orlov to discuss her PostCurious catalog of captivating narrative tabletop puzzle games, including her journey from physical and fine art into games, why designers love bouldering, and trusting players to summit her puzzles.

Show Notes:

Rita Orlov

PostCurious

The Emerald Flame

Threads of Fate KickStarter

Lauren Bello

Rita’s furniture

Rita's masks

Prague tunnels

Bouldering

Chip’s Challenge

Syberia

Rush Hour

Society of Curiosities

Traveler's Guide to Little Sodaburg

Jack Fallows

Voynich Manuscript

Codex Seraphinianus

The Case of the Golden Idol

Mother of Frankenstein

Four of our hosts get a little loopy answering questions submitted by our listeners, from how we all met, to our favorite game controllers, to the importance of mechanics vs vibes. We plan to do more of these episides once in a while, so let us know what you think and send us your most burning, random questions!

Show Notes:

Andean Abyss

Zach's dreamy eyes

Game of Thrones board game

NeGcon

Gravis PC GamePad

PsychOdyssey

Dysforgiveness

Unify

XOXO Festival

Edgar Rice Soiree

Clusterf**k!

Every Game in This City

The AirBnB we were going to rent

findsatoshi.com

The Jejune Institute

Signal Tower speakeasy

Lost Cities

Planet of Lana

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Chrono Trigger

EarthBound

We're joined by co-founders Tyler Sigman and Chris Bourassa to discuss Red Hook Studios' new roguelike road trip of the damned, Darkest Dungeon II. We explore heroism by contrast, the delicate stakes of making an unforgiving game more forgiving, and fostering the will to get back up again when the road gets tough.

Show Notes:

Red Hook Studios

Darkest Dungeon II

Tyler Sigman

Chris Bourassa

Fury (2014 movie)

We're joined by Kenny Sun (Twinfold) to chat about his slapstick, roguelite platformer Mr. Sun's Hatbox. We talk about the benefits of setting a prototype down for a while, what humor can let you get away with, and trusting your instincts.

Show Notes:

Kenny Sun

Mr. Sun's Hatbox

Kenny's concert photography

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Gabe Cuzzillo

Ape Out

We're joined by Greg “Cosmo D” Heffernan to discuss his IGF-winning, dice-fueled fever dream Betrayal at Club Low. We explore his fascinating journey from making music to making games, balancing for transparency, and letting your love of the process guide you.

Show Notes:

Cosmo D

Betrayal at Club Low

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories

Boiler Room London live set

Despelote

Glasslands Gallery

Gloomhaven

The Brooklyn Strategist

Disco Elysium

Fate role-playing system

Charles Pratt

Desktop Dungeons

Wizardry

Vlaada Chvátil

Parasite

Infinity Engine

We're joined by Daniel Benmergui (I Wish I Were the Moon, Fidel Dungeon Rescue), creator of the narrative-weaving puzzle game Storyteller. We discuss the challenges of designing playful and snappy interaction, wrangling cause and effect, and managing expectations for a game 15 years in the making.

Daniel Benmergui

Storyteller

Cosmicomics

Petri Purho

I Wish I Were the Moon

Today I Die

Fidel Dungeon Rescue

Scribblenauts

Florence

worm club

Framed

Façade

We're joined by Hernán Sáez of Videogamo (DOBOTONE, NAVE) to discuss his beautifully ephemeral party/arcade games, as well as Marie Foulston, a playful curator/creative director who commissioned Videogamo's latest work, GOL-E-GOL. We discuss site-specific experiences, and the slippage between hardware and software realms.

Show Notes:

Hernán Sáez

Marie Foulston

Videogamo

Máximo Balestrini

NAVE Arcade

DOBOTONE

Gol-E-Gol

Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt

Wild Rumpus

No Quarter Exhibition 2022

The Grannies

Australian Centre for the Moving Image

OUYA

B.U.T.T.O.N.

California Extreme

Slick Shot (pool arcade game)

We're joined by John Johanas, Director of Tango Gameworks' pitch-perfect rhythm action game Hi-Fi RUSH. We discuss the many challenges of creating a world and systems that stay on beat, while John and Sarah discuss the creation of the character she plays in the game (!), Korsica.

Show Notes:

John Johanas

Hi-Fi RUSH

Tango Gameworks

Sekiro

Skate's text-based prototype

Everyday Shooter

Tormentor X Punisher

Patapon

PaRappa the Rapper

GuitarFreaks

Guitar Hero Live

Dyad

Thumper

Zwan - Honestly

We're joined by Madison Karrh, the solo dev behind Birth, a curious new adventure puzzle game about building a companion to quell your loneliness. We discuss the density and voyeurism of exploring city spaces, embracing the aesthetics of death, and making games that respect your time on earth.

Show Notes:

Madison Karrh

IndieCade: Canabalt's Adam Saltsman's Pursuit of the Infinite

Cole Imperi (Thanatologist)

Double Fine's PsychOdyssey

Everyone I Know Keeps Breaking Things

A Chat With the Creator of Birth - Eurogamer

Feral Earth

Solar Protocol

Weiwei Xu's Multiverse

Library of Babel

No guest this week, so we chat about the motley selection of games we're playing, before hopping into some thoughtful listener questions. We talk reality shows, historical board games, our go-to podcasts, and the importance of making things for yourself.

Show Notes:

Betrayal at Club Low

Noita

Slice & Dice

Hi-Fi RUSH

Duolingo

I Imported EDF6, And Here's Why You Should Too

Boss Fight Books - Season 6 Kickstarter

OODA loop

Paolo Pedercini's Making Games in an F****d Up World

Greening the Games Industry

Homo Ludens Podcast

Playing at the World

Molly House

Dead Eyes

Rashomon

Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV

The Eleventh podcast

The Worst Idea of All Time

Guy Montgomory

Lolita Podcast

You Must Remember This

A More Civilized Age

Dr. Gameshow

Hey Riddle Riddle

Just Button

Patrick "Vectorpark" Smith joins us to discuss his curious and inspiring oeuvre, the lost art of Flash games and DVD menus, and the pros and cons of keeping your art to yourself.

Show Notes:

Vectorpark

Windosill

Patrick's paintings

Haunt the House

Dorling Kindersley's 1995 Encyclopedia of Nature

Daniel Clowes

Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan

Julie Doucet

Jim Woodring's Frank

"Playdate" by Chris Ware

Richard McGuire

TET

Playables

Hollow Ponds

Noby Noby Boy

We welcome Laura E. Hall (they/she) as a permanent member of the cast! Fresh off a session of their online escape game The Traveler's Guide to Little Sodaburg, we dig into its web-savvy design, how the last few years have impacted the immersive games space, and the inspirations behind a rad career of experience design.

Show Notes:

Laura E. Hall

The Traveler's Guide to Little Sodaburg

The Pop Star's Room of Doom

Pursuit of the Assassin Artist

Palace Games

Sleep No More

Meow Wolf

I Love Bees

The Beast

Masquerade book

The 11th Hour book

Level99

The Silence in Room 1258

De Mol

A Game Designer's Analysis of QAnon

Per tradition, we sit down with immersive puzzle designer Laura E. Hall - and bonus guest writer/developer Rob Dubbin - to count down our Top 5 games of 2022, alongside picks from previous show guests and our listeners. Happy New Year!

Our GOTY picks (SPOILERS):

Laura: Pentiment Bureau of Multiversal Arbitration Immortality The Case of the Golden Idol The Emerald Flame

Rob: Kubb I Was a Teenage Exocolonist Fun City Slice & Dice Babble Royale Andy: Metroid Dread Pentiment (... and Modern Warfare 2) Neon White Elden Ring (and Sekiro) Root (and John Company, Oath, and Pax Pamir)

Sarah: Horizon Forbidden West Knotwords Escape Academy Subaltern Music League (but actually kpop)

Zach: (Three-way tie) Elden Ring / Robotron: 2084 / fetch Super Mario Land DX (on the Analogue Pocket) Need for Speed Unbound (Tie) Isle of Arrows / Gargoyle’s Quest Legend of Zelda Ancient Dungeon (Complete Conversion of NES Legend of Zelda)

Doug: Top 5 TikTok Games Apartment Claim to Fame The Mo!e ORG (application form) Super "Sonic Saves the World" World

Nick: God of War: Ragnarök Tinykin Spots Tunic FAR: Changing Tides

Other picks mentioned by previous guests/listeners: Moon: Remix RPG Adventure Paradise Killer Dwarf Fortress TEAM3 Super Mario World romhack - The Getaway Poinpy Pigments Sylvie Lime Stunt Derby Cinco Paus Dome Keeper Game Boy Camera Outer WIlds: Echoes of the Eye Linelith Citizen Sleeper Skate Story trailer Dota 2 Final Fantasy VI Stardew Valley - anthropomorphic animals mod Wordle Bally's Fathom pinball machine Hyper Meteor PRODUCER 2021 The Crew: The Quest For Planet Nine Bespoke Counter Depth 4-Door Flex Refridgerator

Josh Sawyer (Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity) joins us to discuss Obsidian's historical, narrative-driven adventure game Pentiment. We chat about text boxes as game feel, creating hard player choices that don't feel bad, and putting yourself in your art.

Show Notes:

Josh Sawyer

Pentiment

The Name of the Rose

Pitching a 16th Century Murder Mystery - AIAS Game Maker's Notebook

Juice It or Lose It talk

Lettermatic

Night in the Woods

So where *is* Tassing, actually? (Tumblr post)

Darklands

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

Andrei Rublev

Our guest couldn't make it, so we gathered some listener questions and got weird! Join us for Thanksgiving recipes, our favorite recent game mechanics, and some "state of the industry" musings. Enjoy!

Show notes:

Vectorpark

Meathead's AmazingRibs.com

Manchego mashed potatoes

Kabocha Pie

Nick's pancake recipe

Paprika Recipe Manager

Sarah's Konsoll talk

Sarah as She-Venom

Marvel Snap

Caper: Europe

Air, Land & Sea

God of War: Ragnarok

Pax Pamir

John Company

Tango

Theory of Mind

Donkeyspace

We (well, Nick) stops by the annual Day of the Devs event in San Francisco, and chats to a bunch of lovely developers about the games they're showing there, their biggest design challenges, and what it feels like making games in the cursed year of 2022.

Show notes:

Day of the Devs

Double Fine

iam8bit

Pietro Righi Riva

Saturnalia

Chandana Ekanayake

Thirsty Suitors

Jasper Oprel

Indiana Jonas

Surmount

Madison Karrh

Birth

Billy Basso

Animal Well

Xalavier Nelson Jr.

Sunshine Shuffle

Rachel Heleva

Astra Games

Doseone

Game Over by A7PHA

Brandon Sheffield

Demonschool

Ghost Pattern's Jason Bakker and Georgia Symons join us to discuss their heartfelt interactive story Wayward Strand. We meander through its immersive theater inspirations, the origins of its airship, and the process of rethinking player agency in the attention economy.

Show Notes:

Jason Bakker

Georgia Symons

Ghost Pattern

Wayward Strand

Need 4e+9 Speed

The Last Express

Sleep No More

The Drowned Man

The Life Aquatic

VicScreen

Freeplay

Alexander Perrin and Joshua Tatangelo join us to discuss their expressive, physics-driven space puzzler Heavenly Bodies. We chat about designing a challenging game that isn't antagonistic, a funny game whose comedy is inherent, and their inspirations (or lack thereof).

Show Notes:

Heavenly Bodies

2pt Interactive

Pogo Cat

Short Trip

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

Meredith Hall

Untitled Goose Game

Simpsons space scene

We're joined by dear friends of the show Laura E. Hall, Bennett Foddy, and Doseone for a Doug-masterminded, Eggplant-themed game of Just One. Stick around after the insanity for a reflection on the past four years of the show, how our lives have changed since, and what the show means to us (and you - thanks for the letters!).

Show notes:

Laura E. Hall

31 Days of Halloween newsletter

Find Satoshi

Bennett Foddy

Doseone

Demon Throttle

Immortality

Hyper Demon

Just One

Anthony Carboni

Sarah Northway (Northway Games) joins us to discuss her sprawling new narrative RPG I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. We discuss juggling a staggering script, deckbuilding as storytelling, and some of the wilder places that the game's time looping can go.

Show notes:

Northway Games

Sarah Northway

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

Museum of Other Realities

Princess Maker (series)

Groundhog Day

Signs of the Sojourner

Dragon Age (series)

Jogging House

Co-founders Wyatt Bushnell and Mike Salyh - and special guest co-host Laura E. Hall - join us to discuss Coin Crew's awesome new co-op escape room game Escape Academy. We discuss pandemic pivoting to the digital space, designing for arcades vs. living rooms, and the perils of playtesting in both mediums.

Show notes:

Coin Crew Games

Escape Academy

Laura E. Hall

Planning Your Escape

The Traveler's Guide to Little Sodaburg

Space Squad in Space

Two Bit Circus

Hot Wheels: King of the Road

999 (series)

The Room (series)

My Hero Academia

Mark Rosewater

Ash Neleh, host of the ! Series of online reality games, joins Doug for a conversation about adapting reality TV competition games for online fan communities. We talk about the 18-year history of the ! Series, as well as some of the favorite twists he's designed.

Show notes:

! Series Wiki

! Series Discord

De Mol

Frog Detective creator Grace Bruxner joins us to discuss the inspirations and process behind her charming detective series, including the upcoming Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County. We discuss sticking to scope (or not), making the most of adventure game tropes, and finding inspiration in the mundane.

Show notes:

Grace Bruxner

Frog Detective

ALIEN CASENO

Games Talks 2020: Grace Bruxner

Building Games Around Humor (GDC talk)

L.A. Noire

Frog Detective Twitter account

Freaky Ep 7 - Dummy

Round the Twist (full first season)

We're taking a small summer break, so please enjoy one of our favorite episodes from a few years ago. And check out the new mobile version of Dicey Dungeons, and the free DLC!

Terry Cavanagh (Super Hexagon, VVVVVV) joins us to talk about his fantastic roguelike deckbuilder, Dicey Dungeons. We discuss the thread of generosity in his game design, the challenges of working across genres, and what might be next for Terry!

Show notes:

Terry's distractionware.com

Dicey Dungeons

VVVVVV

Super Hexagon

Tiny Heist

Stephen Lavelle

Dream Quest

7 Day Roguelike

Naya’s Quest

The Long Dark

Super Hexagon playthrough at Fantastic Arcade

Hearthstone Battlegrounds

Ben Esposito (Donut County, What Remains of Edith Finch) joins us to talk about his heavenly new card-powered, speedrunning FPS Neon White. We discuss making tight designs by keeping things loose, what a "career" of indie games feels like, and making games u wish 2 see on the Dreamcast.

Show notes:

Ben Esposito

Neon White

Donut County

Arcane Kids

Glitch City

Super Meat Boy

Killer7

Cowboy Bebop

Trigun

Hunter x Hunter

GoldenEye 007

Lovely Planet

Machine Girl

Sonic Dreams Collection  

Perfect Stride

CRAP! No One Loves Me

Room of 1000 Snakes

Arcane Kids manifesto

Card Shark creators Arnaud De Bock of Nerial (Reigns) and Nicolai Troshinsky join us to discuss their innovative new adventure game about cheating. We discuss its filmic inspirations, the narrative progression of chaining tricks, and designing a game loop of teaching and testing.

Show notes:

Arnaud De Bock

Nicolai Troshinky

Nerial

Reigns

Pikuniku

UFO On Tape

Loop Raccord

Barry Lyndon

The Expert at the Card Table

Gambling Sleight of Hand - Steve Forte

The Magic Castle

Knotwords creators Jack Schlesinger and our own Zach Gage chat to us about their elegant new logic puzzle word game. We discuss "cracking" the game design they'd been chasing forever, and how they created the puzzle/word generator that makes it great.

Show notes:

Jack Schlesinger

Zach Gage

Knotwords

Nikoli puzzles

Alcazar

Two Not Touch puzzles

Good Sudoku

SpellTower+

Bit Pilot

Wordle

Calvin & Hobbes

This episode edited by Dylan Shumway, thanks Dylan!

Show notes:

Mahdi Bahrami

Tandis

Engare

Farsh

ArsTechnica Tandis review

Waldorf Education

Mercator Projection

Show notes:

Tender Claws

The Under

Virtual Virtual Reality

Star St. Germain

Tumball

Piehole

The Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite

Royal Shakespeare Company's Dream

Talk 'n Play

The Invention of Morel

Uncle Roy All Around You

Janet Cardiff

Mary Sweeney

Walkabout Mini Golf

Surprise! In the spirit of SMW's bonus worlds, we're back with a Special episode to cap off our deep-dive miniseries, as previous Into the Depths guests Stephanie Boluk and Patrick LeMieux take us on a tour of some of the coolest SMW ephemera yet!

Show notes:

Stephanie Boluk

Patrick LeMieux

Tons of links this week, so please check out this great syllabus that Patrick put together for us!

In the fifth - and final! - installment of our Super Mario World deep-dive miniseries, streamer/speedrunner Grand POOBear joins us to discuss the uncanny valley of SMW Remade From Memory, and the masterful Super 'Sonic Saves the World' World romhack by the mysterious 'Maddy, allegedly'.

Show Notes:

GrandPOOBear

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

DougDoug

SMW Remade From Memory

Super 'Sonic Saves the World' World

Grand Poo World 2

Invictus SMW romhack

Luminescent SMW romhack

Celeste.smc

Spelunky 2 randomizer

Celeste: Farewell

In the fourth installment of our Super Mario World deep-dive miniseries, Davey Wreden (The Stanley Parable) joins us to discuss the infamous Star and Special worlds, and walk us through the ever-evolving, often hilarious culture of Kaizo Mario.

Show notes:

Davey Wreden

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

The Beginner's Guide

Ivy Road

Elden Ring VICE article

The Japanese names for the Special courses

Asshole Mario Stage 1

Asshole Mario Stage 10

Asshole Mario 2 Stage 9

Claustrophobia Kaizo hack

Icing (game)

The Complete History of Kaizo Mario

Homework for next episode:

SMW Remade From Memory

Sonic Saves the World played by Grand POOBear

In the third installment of our Super Mario World deep-dive miniseries, David Hellman (Braid) joins us to discuss the aesthetics of SMW, touch on its recent widescreen mod, and suffer through the game's worst world and level (while savoring the interesting bits).

Show notes:

David Hellman

Braid: Anniversay Edition

Satoru Iwata tribute

The eyes on question mark blocks

Mario shades of red

SMW widescreen mod

SMW jazz fusion album

Homework for next episode:

Star World

Special World 

Watch some Kaizo/Asshole Mario World

Our friend Jake Kazdal (17-Bit) joins us for a (spoiler-free!) roundtable discussion of Elden Ring, in which we compare our experiences in FromSoftware's latest monsterpiece, consider the inseparable nature of its community, and deliberate its bolder design decisions.

Show notes: 

Jake Kazdal

17-BIt

Elden Ring

Souls (series)

Resident Evil 7

Nick's home invasion thread

Clint Hocking on the virtues of exploration

Lord of the Rings (films)

Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Discovery Tour

There's no such thing as an Elden Ring cheese

Halo Infinite

Bill Mudron on player summoning

In the second installment of our Super Mario World deep-dive miniseries, Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns of Metanet Software (N++) join us to talk about the inertia that makes Mario feel like Mario, the beautiful strangeness of the cape, and just how deep SMW's control quirks go.

Show notes:

Metanet Software

N++

The Story of Super Mario World

Elasto Mania

Bernard Suits

MineRalph

Gish

Tumbledown Drive

Jiggly Zone

Making History with Summoning Salt

Kaizo Kindergarden

The Decade-Long Quest for Shadow of the Colossus' Last Secret

Retronauts on SMW

Reverse Design: SMW

Burned Mario and Luigi

SMW Widescreen

11 Years of N

In the first installment of our Super Mario World deep-dive miniseries, Derek Yu (Spelunky) and Maddy Thorson (Celeste) join us to talk about our personal histories with the game, its iconic world map and multi-layered secrets, and all sorts of Mario ephemera in-between.

Show notes:

Super Mario World

Derek Yu

Maddy Thorson

Ep. 75: Finding our Intersection Tastes

Kaizo Mario

SMW as an "athletic game"

Atheltic Theme

The Wizard (1989)

Mario death sprite

How to get 50+ lives in SMW

LOVE

Show notes:

Sarah Elmaleh

Super Mario World

"King Me": A Defense of King-Making in Board Game Design

Shut Up & Sit Down Root review

Line Goes Up - The Problem with NFTs

Wordle

The Saturday Paper - Wordle

Wordles of the World

Lingo UK

Wordle as poetry generator

The Wreck

The Red Lantern

The Beatles: Get Back

Pokemon Red

Blinfolded Sekiro run

OODA loop

Games Done Quick

Hanabi

Frank and James Lantz of Everybody House Games join us to discuss their tactical word-slinging free-for-all, Babble Royale. We discuss the built-in texture of language, reconsidering elegance, and why not: we phone a few friends for some live rounds of Hey Robot.

Show notes:

Frank Lantz

James Lantz

Everybody House Games

Hey Robot

Babble Royale

Babble Royale beginner's guide

Babble Royale advanced guide

Chris Hecker

Scrabble

Wordle

Typeshift

Nethack

A Wizard of Earthsea

Wordnik

Starcraft: Brood War

Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

Wavelength

Recurring GOTY guest / immersive puzzle designer Laura E. Hall joins Sarah Elmaleh and the rest of our crew to count down our Top 5 games of 2021, alongside picks from previous guests and our listeners. Happy New Year!

Show notes:

Laura E. Hall Planning Your Escape The Traveler's Guide to Little Sodaburg Ynglet 101% Completion Guide Find Satoshi Laura's Animal Crossing: New Horizons Dream Code: DA-9271-2414-8564

Our GOTY picks (SPOILERS):

Zach: Monster Hunter RiseDeath’s DoorMetroid FusionWordleHalo Infinite

Sarah:Mass Effect (1) Legendary EditionWildermythThe Maze on Planet 7 (streaming)It Takes TwoKentucky Route Zero

Nick:Sea of ThievesElecheadIt Takes TwoGuardians of the GalaxyInscryption

Doug: Survivor, South Africa, Season 8Ynglet Learned LeagueAlien (folk game)Factions (Discord game by Doug)

Andy:Ynglet (Skee Mask - Pool)Unpacking (Porter Robinson - Nurture)Kentucky Route Zero (Low - HEY WHAT)Inscryption (Squid - Bright Green Field)Babble Royale (Madlib - Sound Ancestors)

Laura:The Forgotten CityValheimPursuit of the Assassin ArtistInscryptionUnpacking

Witch Beam's Wren Brier and Tim Dawson join us to discuss their cozy zen puzzle game, Unpacking. We chat about the origins of its subtle narrative, living life on the grid, and the generous details that make it feel like home.

Show notes:

Witch Beam

Assault Android Cactus

Unpacking

Wren Brier

Tim Dawson

Stugan

Aseprite

Making Generous Games with Terry Cavanagh

The UI Artist's Survival Kit

Cohesion is Key: Art Direction for Indies

Daniel Mullins (Pony Island, The Hex) joins us to discuss his inky black card-based odyssey, Inscryption. We discuss [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted]. Just go play it, then come back and listen. Thanks also to our guest co-host Star St. Germain!

Show notes:

Daniel Mullins Games

Inscryption

Pony Island

The Hex

Daniel's Itch Page

Star St. Germain

Magic: The Gathering Arena

Slay the Spire

Boss Fight Books - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Buddy Simulator 1984

Hidden my game by mom

Sam Barlow

ARG video with Daniel

Masquerade book

Borg vs McEnroe

Our old pal and Spelunky creator Derek Yu stops by to discuss his helpful blog post on how to think about feedback on your game. We discuss sympathetic vs unsympathetic feedback, thinking about feedback across your entire creative practice, and why feedback can be valuable beyond the content itself.

Show notes:

Derek Yu

Indie Game Dev: Getting Feedback

Osmos

Creativity, Inc.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf

Slay the Spire: Metrics Driven Design and Balance

Lil' Dozer

Playtesting: Avoiding Evil Data

Hannah Nicklin on Critical Response

r/DestoryMyGame

ElecHead creator NamaTakahashi joins us to discuss his inventive puzzle-platformer, one of our favorites in years. We discuss the indie scene in Japan, making a game about secrets, and how to avoid players getting too "full" on your game. Big thanks to Chao from Asobu for translation help!

Show notes:

NamaTakahashi

Indie Brains podcast (Japanese language)

ElecHead (also on Steam)

Chao Zen

Makers Fund

Asobu

Branching Paths

Archipel

Enhance Experience

Celeste

VVVVVV

NamaTakahashi profile video

Downwell

Toki Tori 2

We're joined by Asher Vollmer (Threes) to discuss the mouse-bouncing adventure Beast Breaker, the debut game from his studio Vodeo Games. We discuss the perils of overscoping, scaling up (and back down), and building a studio ethos.

Show notes:

Asher Vollmer

Vodeo Games

Threes

IndieCade Awards

Royals

holedown

Ballz

BBTan

Monster Hunter

The Witcher

A Playful Production Process

Craig D. Adams (Superbrothers A/V) and Patrick McAllister (Pine Scented Software) join us as they embark on the release of their interstellar adventure JETT: The Far Shore. We cover its 10+ year development, telling a small piece of a big story, and assembling the right squad to help land it.

Show notes:

JETT: The Far Shore

Superbrothers A/V

Pine Scented Software

Fatal Inertia

Sworcery ARG?

Jim Guthrie

scntfc

MotorStorm: Pacific Rift

Monster Hunter

Fumito Ueda

Ralph McQuarrie

17-BIT

Getting Things Done

Show notes:

Variable State

Virginia

Last Stop

Hannah Nicklin

Attack the Block

Fleabag

Firewatch

Thirty Flights of Loving

Primer timeline

Dunkirk

We're joined by Anne Austin and Nate Austin of Worldwalker Games to explore their charming myth-making tactical RPG, Wildermyth. We dig into the challenges of procedural storytelling, clever ways of handling time passage and death, and capturing a tabletop feel without the table.

Show notes:

Wildermyth

Worldwalker Games

AI-Driven Dynamic Dialog through Fuzzy Pattern Matching

The Thing (video game)

The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 (board game)

Descent: Journeys in the Dark

XCOM

Spirit of the Century

Graham Parkes and Bela Messex of GoodbyeWorld Games join us to discuss their beautiful, blink-controlled adventure through the afterlife, Before Your Eyes. We discuss the benefits of disempowerment, working off faith in technology, and teaching players to let go.

Show notes:

Before Your Eyes

GoodbyeWorld Games

Graham Parkes

Bela Messex

Little Bug

Close Your

Blendo Games

Walter Murch's In the Blink of An Eye

Death of a Salesman

C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce

Where You Are short film

We chat to Umurangi Generation's Tali Faulkner about his (IGF grand prize-winning!) "first-person photography game in the sh*tty future." We discuss keeping scope small while having a lot to say, the role of respectful design and Indigenous knowledge, and positioning players to see for themselves.

Show notes:

Tali Faulkner

Umurangi Generation

Sarah Elmaleh

Shooting the Apocalypse by Jini Maxwell

Freeplay Parallels 2020 talk

Neon Genesis Evangelion

British nuclear tests at Maralinga

ThorHighHeels' OST

Umberto Eco's UR-FASCISM

For our 75th episode special, we endeavor to find which games lie at the intersection of our tastes, talking through our ranking algorithm and counting down our top 22 games. Thanks for all the support so far!

Show notes:

Sportsfriends

Knytt

StepMania

0SPACE

The Little Prince 

Let's Mosey: A Slow Translation of Final Fantasy VII

Chrono Trigger by Michael P. Williams

Chrono Trigger Mixtape

Losing Your Grip: Futility and Dramatic Necessity in Shadow of the Colossus

Arcane Kids Manife$to

Kaizo Mario

TENNNES

TENORI-ON

Our Top 22 (SPOILERS):

10th place: Super Puzzle Fighter N++ Katamari Damacy Dance Dance Revolution 9th place: Samurai Gunn 8th place: Everyday Shooter 7th place: Kentucky Route Zero Fez The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 6th place: Super Mario Kart Super Mario Galaxy Portal Final Fantasy VII Doom 5th place: Mario 64 Drop7 Desert Golfing Chrono Trigger 4th place: Shadow of the Colossus 3rd place: Spelunky 2 2nd place: Spelunky HD 1st place: Super Mario World

Show notes:

Lifeline...

Shadow of the Colossus

Tharsis

Star Trek: Discovery

The Castles of Burgundy 

Lost Cities

Desert Bus

Pippin Barr's Durations

Marina Abramović’s The Artist is Present

Zach’s Transit Meditation

San Andreas Deer Cam

Dishonored

Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Discovery Tour

Grand Theft Auto Pacifist

The Traveling Swordsman Problem

Nick's Thanksgiving Blade Triptych

Casey Reas’ Processing

How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

Delayed Response: The Art of Waiting From the Ancient to the Instant World

The Great British Bake Off

Apex Legends

VESPER.5

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

Brandon Sanderson

Aconite founders Star St. Germain and Nadya Lev and lead designer Scott Jon Siegel join us to discuss their beautiful, mixed reality mind bender HoloVista. We chat about embracing hidden object game design, telling personal stories through a lens of social media, and subverting the selfie museum.

Show notes:

HoloVista

Star St. Germain

Nadya Lev

Scott Jon Sigel

Aconite

Coilhouse

The Fallen Cosmos

SFZero

Journey to the End of the Night

Ian Bogost

Jane McGonigal

Gardens of Time

How Return of the Obra Dinn Works 

Mariode

Blake Kathryn

Nour: Play With Your Food

Andrew Morgan

Andi Hegedus 

MTV Cribs

Meow Wolf

teamLab

Museum of Ice Cream

Strix

Cory O'Brien

LiveJournal

Sara Carr

Mesmer & Braid: The Alternate Reality Game

Steve Peters 

Nick Tierce 

Show notes:

Jakub Wasilewski

Beetlewing

Slipways

PICO-8

Indie Fund

Celeste

hearthstone

Pocket-Run Pool

Twilight Imperium

Teomachia (Jakub's board game)

Master of Orion

Magic: The Gathering

SpellTower

Slay the Spire

Tom Francis

Show notes:

Feral Cat Den

Evan Anthony

Jeremy Abel

Genesis Noir

Vectorpark

Hohokum

GNOG

Cosmicomics

Reaktor

Florence

Skillbard

Oikospiel

Inside

Busby Berkeley

Rez

Marcin Zeglinski

Interstellar

L.A. Noire

Wabi-sabi

Kintsukuroi

Show notes:

Hannah Nicklin

Die Gute Fabrik

Mutazione

Into the Depths: The Music of Mutazione - Part 1

Divised theater

Grey’s Anatomy

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Narrative Design Sliding Doors

Multiple Middles & Mutazione

Kentucky Route Zero

Critical Response

Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

N+1 a bike/game zine

Sokpop's Digital Bird Playground

We sit down with Creative Producer Ben Wilson to discuss the thrilling cooperative trick-taking game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, and how the game builds on and subverts precedents like Spades and Bridge.

Show notes:

Ben Wilson

Wizard Jam

Spelunky Dare Challenge Bot

Trick-taking games

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

The Crew - A Card Game for Everyone

Skat

Hearts

Spades

Bridge

Zach's Grit

Bourre

Hanabi

The Perfect Game of Hanabi

Ha Ha Ha! game

Codenames

#remoteplay: Playing in a Pandemic, Part 2

In the final installment of our Kentucky Route Zero miniseries, we sit down with two of its creators - Jake Elliott and Ben Babbitt - to discuss the origins of their collaboration, drawing from influences beyond games, and the process of working on such a long-term project.

Show notes:

Kentucky Route Zero

Jake Elliott

Ben Babbitt

Stephanie Boluk 

Patrick LeMieux

Sarah Elmaleh

A House in California

KRZ Kickstarter

Pillars and Tongues

Dog and Bone are Friends

Jon Cates

Critcal Artware

Demoscene 

Ableton

.microsound

Magic Matrix Mixer Mountain

Sidequest

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

Jorge Luis Borges

Balloon Diaspora

Gloam Collective's Min-Taylor Bai-Woo and Damian Sommer join us to chat about their thrilling new turn-based fighter Bravery Network Online. We discuss the design of its Pokémon-inspired battles, the clever ways in which they replaced randomness, and making friends in the post-post-apocalypse.

Show notes:

Gloam Collective

Min-Taylor Bai-Woo

Damian Sommer

Bravery Network Online

Guillaume Singelin

OKAYKELLYK

Emily Carroll

Pokémon Showdown!

droqen

Good BNO example match w/ commentary

BNO first tournment playlist

Daigo Umehara

Star Wars: Destiny

Magic: The Gathering - Commander

Final Fantasy Tactics

Splatoon

Yomi

Umurangi Generation

PATH

In the fifth installment of our Kentucky Route Zero miniseries, we broadcast our thoughts on the Un Pueblo De Nada interlude, before prowling our way through Act V and our closing thoughts on the game.

Show notes:

Kentucky Route Zero

Stephanie Boluk 

Patrick LeMieux

Sarah Elmaleh

Alice Munro - Dear Life

Clara Rockmore - The Art of the Theramin

Clara Rockmore - The Swan

Brian Rotman: Signifying Nothing - The Semiotics of Zero

Bob Moog

WEVP-TV transmedia videos

Sandin Analog Image Processor

Our Town

Jenny Odell - How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

How to unlock the bonus interlude

Noah Caldwell-Gervais - Notes From Along Kentucky Route Zero

Robert Frost - The Death of a Hired Man

Orthographic projection

Projective Geometry

Haruki Murakami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Can't Tell Me Nothing with Zach Galifianakis HQ

Walt Whitman - Song of Myself, Verse 52

Nabokov and spirals

Jon Cates

Metal Gear Solid 3, I Love You With All My Heart

Jordan Youngblood “Is Metal Gear’s Rectum a Digital Grave?: Queer Trauma and Failure in the Metal Gear Solid Series.” Panel on Queer Failure. Queerness and Games Conference. University of Berkeley. 24-26 October 2013

Echodog Games' Dyala Kattan-Wright joins us to discuss their wildly unique and wonderful narrative card game Signs of the Sojourner. We chat about the process of developing the game's innovative dialogue system, its surprising effects on player experience, and why sometimes you just can't go home again.

Show notes:

Eggplant Patreon

Dyala Kattan-Wright

Echodog Games

Signs of the Sojourner

Slay the Spire

Ascension: A Case Study in Deckbuilding Games

Friday

Consentacle

Fog of Love

Hanabi

Hearthstone

Dream Quest

80 Days

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Signs of the Sojourner Original Soundtrack

In the fourth installment of our Kentucky Route Zero miniseries, we dial in our thoughts on the Here and There Along the Echo interlude, before bringing our insight to bear on the brittle facts of Act IV.

With guest co-hosts Stephanie Boluk, Patrick LeMieux, and Sarah Elmaleh!

Show notes:

Kentucky Route Zero

Stephanie Boluk 

Patrick LeMieux

Sarah Elmaleh

Limits and Demonstrations Little Berlin installation

Sarah's Part 3 Twitter thread

Karl Marx, Capital Vol. III

Karl Marx, The Fragment on Machines

Museum of Jurassic Technology

Lee Tusman

Richard Lemarchand, Attention Not Immersion

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (Will Oldham), I See a Darkness

Kelly Reichardt, Old Joy

Martin Deny, Exotica

Audiogames.net

Kenji Eno, Real Sound: Kaze No Regret

Sound of Metal

Nomadland

Gabriel A. Radvansky et al., Walking Through Doorways Causes Forgetting

Andre Bazin, Ontology of the Photographic Image

Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny

Show notes: 

Airplane Mode

Hosni Auji

AMC Games

F.E.E.D.

Zero Age

NYU Game Center Incubator

Gone Home

The Twilight Zone - Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

BLAH airlines

Captain Bennet Foddy

In the third installment of our Kentucky Route Zero miniseries, we take a seat for The Entertainment interlude, before exploring the physical manifestation of debt in Act III. With recurring guest co-hosts Stephanie Boluk and Patrick LeMieux, and bonus guest Sarah Elmaleh!

Show notes:

Kentucky Route Zero

Stephanie Boluk 

Patrick LeMieux

Sarah Elmaleh

Giving Games a Voice with Sarah Elmaleh

Resonance game

The Consolidated Power Company

The Entertainment paperback

Maxim Gorky, The Lower Depths

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan Eugene O’Neill, The Iceman Cometh The Last of Us

Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

Julee Cruise, Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart on Twin Peaks

Colossal Cave Adventure

Junebug, Too Late to Love You

Vannevar Bush, As We May Think

Steve Russell et al., Space War!

Joseph Weizenbaum, Eliza/Doctor

David Graeber, Debt: The First 5000 Years

IF titles: the next generation of generation

Game historian and documentarian Summoning Salt joins us to discuss the world of speedrunning, the process behind his deep-dive videos that unpack its most exciting moments, and the ineffable magic that makes some classic games so beautifully broken.

Show notes:

Summoning Salt

Home - We're Finally Landing

Breaking World Records with Kinnijup and ix

The Quest for 1 Million Subscribers

Games Done Quick

SS's speedrun.com records

The Quest to Beat Matt Turk

The History of Wii Sports Resort Golf World Records

Jon Bois

Tim Rogers' Action Button

Summoning Salt Patreon

The History of Contra World Records

Mario Kart 64: The Quest for World Record Perfection

Video Game History Foundation

World Record Progression: Half-Life 2

Andy's latest EP

In the second installment of our Kentucky Route Zero miniseries, we marinate in the Limits & Demonstrations interlude, before navigating the Zero to Act II to tackle bureaucracy, bears, and the recurring question: are we inside, or are we outside?

Show notes:

Kentucky Route Zero

Stephanie Boluk 

Patrick LeMieux

Nam Jun Paik, Random Access

Edward Packard, UFO 54-40

Museum of Other Realities

KRZ Fulltext

Jack Burnham, Software Catalogue

Eddie Shanken, "The House that Jack Built"

Le Corbusier, "Five Points of Architecture"

The Jejune Institute 

SCP Foundation

Robert Frost, "Two Tramps in Mud Time"

Robert Frost, "Death of the Hired Man"

Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves 

Rene Magritte, The Blank Signature

Marie Foulston, Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt

Actor, advocate, and consultant Sarah Elmaleh (Afterparty, Anthem, Gone Home) joins us to discuss her craft across myriad game roles, the connections between voiceover and design, and using your voice to fight for equity and connectedness. 

Show notes: 

Sarah Elmaleh

Eggplant Podcast Community Game Jam

Void Protocol

Babycastles

Behind the Voice

Dominic Armato

Afterparty 

Anthem 

Gears 5

Superbowl spot

Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy

A Play of Bodies

Hades

Disco Elysium

Johann Sebastian Joust

Lifeline

Earplay: Jurassic World Revealed

SAG-AFTRA Low Budget Agreement

Pyre

Star Wars Twitter thread

Gamedev.world

IndieCade 2020 Awards

In the first installment of our Kentucky Route Zero miniseries, we meet our guest co-hosts, with whom we put Act I's opening scene under a microscope, discuss the game's novel dialogue system, and dive deep into the first batch of its many intertextual references.

Show notes:

Stephanie Boluk

Patrick Lemieux

Kentucky Route Zero

Cardboard Computer

A House in California

Metagaming book

Mutazione

Designing for Mystery in KRZ GDC talk

Dear Esther

Fluxus

Grapefruit

Successful Reflective Choices in Interactive Narrative

Colossal Cave Adventure

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine

Recoding Gender: Women’s Changing Participation in Computing

Playing with Feelings: Video Games and Affect

Game of Life

Somewhere Nearby is Colossal Cave

One Hundred Years of Solitude

A Pedestal, A Table, A Love Letter: Archaeologies of Gender in Videogame History

Hundred Thousand Billion Poems

1976: Adventure

Mathematical Theory of Communication

New Media Reader

Daniel Helbig of Megagon Industries (Lonely Mountains: Downhill) joins us to discuss the magic behind their pitch-perfect 2019 mountain biking game. We discuss the trials and techniques of their game-defining controls, physics, and camera work, and mastering multifaceted mountains (phew!).

Show notes:

Eggplant Game Jam

Daniel Helbig

Megagon Industries

Lonely Mountains: Downhill

Skiing Yeti Mountain

Ski Stunt Simulator

Game Feel book

Downhill Domination

Deep Rock Galactic

Ring of Pain

Maddy Thorson (Celeste, TowerFall) joins us to discuss the evolution of their excellent catalog of platformers, how Celeste made them reconsider difficulty, and the benefits of working with a team you can trust.

Show notes:

Maddy Thorson

Celeste Classic 2

Celeste source code

Axiom Verge randomizer

Spelunky Dare Challenge Bot

Maddy's Mario Maker 2 courses

Maddy's Super Mario World Remix

Twilight Imperium

Detransition, Baby book

Dreamsnake book

Line Rider

Andy's first Spelunky 2 Cosmic Ocean run

Narrative Director Xalavier Nelson Jr. joins us fresh from his announcement of Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, the latest in his lengthy list of collaborations. We discuss the methodology behind his prolific oeuvre, the benefits of planning ahead, and how he approaches the unique narrative of a game like Hypnospace Outlaw.

Show notes:

Xalavier Nelson Jr.

Xalavier's Itch.io page

Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator

Hypnospace Outlaw

An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs

Guts of Glory

Up in the Air

Paper Mario: The Origami King

Oreskaband

Skatune Network

The final installment of a special miniseries produced by developer Die Gute Fabrik, an examination of their wonderful 'mutant soap opera' told through the lens of its music. In this episode, they discuss the rest of the game's Story Mode music, and play some early sketches.

Show notes:

Die Gute Fabrik

Mutazione (Original Game Soundtrack)

Alessandro's Spotify playlist of music that influenced Mutazione

Nils' Spotify playlist of music that influenced Mutazione

Immersive puzzle designer Laura E. Hall returns for another huge year-end show, as we each count down our Top 5 games of 2020, alongside picks from previous guests and our listeners. Happy New Year!

Show notes:

Laura E. Hall Planning Your Escape: Strategy Secrets to Make You an Escape Room Superstar Every Game in This City

Our GOTY picks (SPOILERS):

Laura: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Box One Presented by Neil Patrick Harris Holovista The Room VR: A Dark Matter The Truth About Edith / Cain's Jawbone

Zach: Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Persona 5 Final Fantasy VII Remake Hearthstone Battlegrounds Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Andy: Spelunky 2 Death Stranding Through the Ages Disco Elysium Outer Wilds

Doug: De Mol 2020 season Spelunky 2 Kentucky Route Zero The Crew: The Quest For Planet Nine PlayingCards

Nick: Ghost of Tsushima Spelunky 2 Astro's Playroom A Short Hike / Lonely Mountains: Downhill Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Guest picks: Astro's Playroom Sludge Life Penko Park Deep Rock Galactic Apex Legends Duck Game Hades Cinco Paus Animal Crossing: New Horizons Web Liero Death Stranding Umurangi Generation STALKER: Shadow Over Chernobyl

Listener picks: Hades Universal Paperclips Mancala Roundguard Mutazione Blaseball Signs of the Sojourner Tenderfoot Tactics Animal Crossing: New Horizons Ring Fit Adventure Paradise Killer Treachery in Beatdown City

The third installment of a special miniseries produced by developer Die Gute Fabrik, an examination of their wonderful 'mutant soap opera' told through the lens of its music. In this episode, they discuss the creation and iteration of the game's main 'town' music.

Show notes:

Die Gute Fabrik

Mutazione (Original Game Soundtrack)

Knytt Stories

Sea & Cake

Show notes:

Chevy Ray Johnston

Ikenfell

Ring Fit Adventure

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carmilla YouTube series

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Ikenfell Original Game Soundtrack

A Shell in the Pit

Sammus

Rowan Atkinson bee comedy

The second installment of a special miniseries produced by developer Die Gute Fabrik, an examination of their wonderful 'mutant soap opera' told through the lens of its music. In this episode, they discuss the creation of the game's generative musical gardens.

Show notes:

Die Gute Fabrik

Mutazione (Original Game Soundtrack)

Gardens teaser video

Brian Eno - Music for Airports

Greg Kasavin and Amir Rao of Supergiant Games join us for a deep design dive on their smash hit dungeon-crawler Hades, from how (and why) they tackled gameplay and narrative persistence in a roguelike, to creating dynamic systems and characters that always have something new to say.

Show notes:

Hades

Greg Kasavin

Amir Rao

Dead Cells

Slay the Spire

Noclip's Hades: Developing Hell series

Introducing a special Into the Depths miniseries produced by developer Die Gute Fabrik, an examination of their wonderful 'mutant soap opera' told through the lens of its music. In this first installment, they discuss the origins of their collaboration, and the early direction and influences that informed the tone of both the game and its music.

Show notes:

Die Gute Fabrik

Mutazione (Original Game Soundtrack)

Rückblende

Alessandro's Spotify playlist of music that influenced Mutazione

Nils' Spotify playlist of music that influenced Mutazione

The Books - Lost and Safe (album)

Sifteo Cubes

Josh "Stuffed Wombat" Hollendonner joins us to discuss his inspiring oeuvre of Small Games, from creating the 10mg collection - and his entry Always Down - to exploring the tiny text adventures of Ord, and the sustainability and learnings of exploring the Small Games space.

Show notes:

Stuffed Wombat

10mg Collection

The Small Game manifesto

Gutwhale

How to delete your Twitter account

Ord.

Handulum+

qomp

In the final installment of our deep-dive Spelunky 2 miniseries, creator Derek Yu and lead programmer Micky Pascual regale us with stories of development, their approach to the post-launch changes, and how they tackled an ocean of secrets. First half is largely spoiler-free (until 1:14), second half is full spoilers!

Show notes:

Derek Yu

Micky Pascual

BlitWorks

Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone

Minus World

Spelunky book

Andy Baio's kid

Eirik Suhrke

UFO 50

Goats screaming like humans

Show notes:

Ngoc Vu

Route 59 Games

Necrobarista

Long Live the Queen (the game Ngoc couldn't remember!)

Tumblr Cinegraphs

Rabbit Rush

Kotaku anime frustration article

Tachikoma

Bin chickens

Ned Kelly

Sidney Nolan

Understanding Comics

Tilt to Live

In the fourth installment of our deep-dive Spelunky 2 miniseries, we wade into the deepest secrets and SPOILERS of the game, covering the entire "chain" path and far beyond, giving our impressions, tips, and design musings along the way.

Show notes:

Mummy's voice meme

A breakdown of 2013's most fascinating video game moment

Ancient Egyptian sacrificial mythology

Nick's first trip to Duat

Our new voicemail number: 312-809-9680‬

The ENTIRE all-star Disc Room team - Kitty Calis, JW Nijman, Doseone, and Terri Vellmann - stop by for a rowdy disc-ussion on their new arcade sci-fi avoid-em-up. We chat about making the Margherita pizza of games, nailing the details to make a simple concept sing, and making the most of team collaborations.

Show notes:

Disc Room

Launch trailer

Kitty Calis JW Nijman Doseone Terri Vellmann

Pizza Margherita

Disc Room Game Jam

VVVVVV

Chris Ware

Monolith

Bit Pilot

In the third installment of our deep-dive Spelunky 2 miniseries, we continue the discussion on its unique difficult curve, debate the latest changes to the game, and talk through the design of worlds 3-5.

Show notes:

Noita 1.0

Thanks for a Great Launch (Update)

JakeTreester's Reddit criticisms (big spoilers!)

Nick's Olmec whiff

Nick's Jiangshi whiff

Colin's Daily in a GIF

Show notes:

Tj Hughes

Nour: Play With Your Food

Feesh

Panoramical

Electroplankton

Tabor Robak on Video Games

Food in FFXV

Breakfast in Dreams

Hero of Time, Vegan of Hyrule

Toasted Ravioli

City Museum

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.

Show notes:

A Short Hike Adam Robinson-Yu Pitfall Planet Adam's Itch.io page Fund: Futures Crafting a Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmorterm Building Games Around Humor: Lessons from The Haunted Island, A Frog Detective Game Stugan Breakwaters Kickstarter doseone's new album

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 what make the series so special.

Show notes:

Spelunky 2

Noita

Surviving Spelunky 2: Tips for a Successful Expedition/Transition

Northway Games

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

Museum of Other Realities

Polygon Spelunky 2 review

Ojiro's Spelunky 2 death

Nick's Spelunky 2 shotgun forgetfulness

eggplant.show

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 notes: 

Lucy Morris

Lovegames podcast

bffgame.dog

Launch Day: the emotional cost of releasing a game

Jared Rosen + Dream Daddy

Love Transcends All (Geographical) Boundaries

acrylic

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:

eggplant.show

Good Sudoku

doseone

Richard Hogg

Northway Games

Sportsfriends

Osmos

The Worst Idea of All Time

Hot Tub Time Machine

Arcane Kids Manife$to

The Miracle Sudoku

The Berenst#in Bears problem

Put Your Name on Your Game GDC talk

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...

Some things we discussed:

Derek Yu Eirik Suhrke

Spelunky 2 release date trailer

Super Mario World

Downwell

Faxanadu

Some things we discussed:

Loot Rascals

Hollow Ponds

Jonathan Whiting

Double Fine Productions

RAD

Davey Swatpaz

Archon: The Light and the Dark

Skylanders

HeroQuest

Good Sudoku

Nethack

Into the Breach

I Am Dead

Meowza

Jon Boam

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 your creative work.

Some things we discussed:

Shawn Alexander Allen

Treachery in Beatdown City

Hybrid Heaven

V.A.T.S. system

Put Your Glock Away, I've Got a Stronger Weapon For You (A Maze talk)

@writnelson's Blockbuster thread

Cory Arcangel's Super Mario Clouds

Being black in America

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:

Theresa Duringer

Temple Gates Games

Roll of the Galaxy beta

Gen Con

Machine Learning for Boardgame AI in Race for the Galaxy

TD-Gammon

AlphaStar: Mastering the Real-Time Strategy Game StarCraft II

Keldon Jones' Race for the Galaxy AI

How to Run a Studio Without a Surprise Hit

Scythe: Digital Edition

Terraforming Mars

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 narrative scale.

Some things we discussed:

Soren Johnson

Mohawk Games

Civilization IV

Spore

Offworld Trading Company

Old World

4X genre

Designer Notes podcast

Heroes of Might and Magic

Guns versus butter

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Battle Line

Lost Cities

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 styles, and where the boundaries of the game might actually be. Some things we discussed:

Kloonigames

Facepalm Games

Hempuli

Sisu

Knytt

The Magic Way

Frog Fractions

NetHack

Game Feel book

Stair Dismount

Liero

The Fight of the Sumo Hoppers

Pro Pilkki

My Summer Car

Nokia worm (Snake)

Wings

Soldat

Stephen’s Sausage Roll

Apex Legends Forge misdirect

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, and the materiality of engines. Phew! Some things we discussed:

The Last Dance

B.U.T.T.O.N.: On Self-Effacing Games and Unachievements

Characteristics of Games

Terry Cavanagh

Design Anarchy

Ansel Adams

Clusterf*ck

GMTK Game Jam

N

Designing with Physics: Bend the Physics Engine to Your Will

Super Pole Riders: How We Got Full Pole Control

Lost Cities

Lonely Mountains: Downhill

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:

10,000 Bowls of Oatmeal Problem

Brogue

Teamfight Tactics

Balancing Multiplayer Games

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 thinking about in quarantine.

Some things we discussed:

Derek Yu

UFO 50

Noita

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

AC:NH QoL fan video

Marina Abramović

Streets of Rage 4

Metal Slug X

Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2

Web Liero

Scourgebringer

Bargain Basement Bathysphere

Gals' Fighters

boardgamearena.com