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