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. 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...

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 ...

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) ...

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 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 ...

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...

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: Patrick's Parabox Patrick Traynor Linelith I Wanna Be the Guy Fangames Sokosoko Sokoban Stephen's Sausage Roll Singles - Rebecca Sugar Patrick's Parabox OST Osmos Puzzle Level Idea Strategies ...

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...

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) ...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...