The Secret Lives of Games

Recorded live from the Game Developers Conference 2026! They gave us time in the Official Podcast Box, so we made the most of it discussing the process of writing for the IGF Awards, reflecting on the culture of GDC, and even having a couple surprise guests drop in. Let's get loose! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Scripto https://scripto.live/ Starfriends https://shop.brainfruit.studio/products/starfriends-card-game 2026 Independent Games Festival Awards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoH4EmfB4Z4 Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet https://store.steampowered.com/app/205730/Insanely_Twisted_Shadow_Planet/ Dustbiters https://dustbiters.com/ Tooth and Tail https://store.steampowered.com/app/286000/Tooth_and_Tail/ Brogue https://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/ Caves of Qud https://www.cavesofqud.com/ Monaco 2 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1063030/Monaco_2/ https://secretlives.games https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

Doug and Rob are joined by Stephanie Boluk (UC Davis) and Patrick LeMieux (UC Davis) chat with Ben Rausch (Team Lazerbeam) and Anja Venter (Free Lives) about the Playtopia Festival for Indie Games & Immersive Arts that they help organize. They discuss some of the Festival's origins, the logistics of producing in-person games events, the state of alt-control/arts-focused games events around the world, the relationship between South African culture and Playtopia's structure, the importance of showing the new generation how to create these spaces, the balance of growing and maintaining a festival community, and more! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Playtopia Festival https://playtopiafestival.co.za/about/ Shroom and Gloom https://teamlazerbeam.itch.io/shroom-and-gloom Jamming to map creative scenes and practices by Anya Venter https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02681102.2023.2281423 A MAZE Festival https://2026.amaze-berlin.de/ The future of public game arts festivals and non-commercial games culture by Robert Yang https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2026/02/the-future-of-public-game-arts.html Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant https://grants.draknek.org/ Don't Get Your Hopes Up https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795490/Dont_Get_Your_Hopes_Up/ boshi's place https://boshis.place/events/ Glitch City https://glitch.city/ Blood on the Clocktower https://bloodontheclocktower.com/?country=US Pro Jank Footy https://store.steampowered.com/app/3621330/Pro_Jank_Footy/ Plum Road Tea Dream https://store.steampowered.com/app/3206340/Plum_Road_Tea_Dream/ Plum Road Tea Dream (Performance) https://plum-road-tea-dream.com/#performance Dressmaker https://store.steampowered.com/app/4019220/Dressmaker/ Cozy Lives Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cozylivesgames/reels/ Free Lives Discord https://discord.com/invite/freelives Sex with Friends https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/3407070/ Wee Boats https://store.steampowered.com/app/3578080/Wee_Boats/ Relooted https://store.steampowered.com/app/3255890/Relooted/ Cadence https://store.steampowered.com/app/362800/Cadence/ Starfriends https://starfriends.online Playtopia 2025 Showcased Games https://playtopiafestival.co.za/games-2025/ https://secretlives.games https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

Doug and Rob are joined by Stephanie Boluk (UC Davis) and Patrick LeMieux (UC Davis) chat with Ben Rausch (Team Lazerbeam) and Anja Venter (Free Lives) about the Playtopia Festival for Indie Games & Immersive Arts that they help organize. They discuss some of the Festival's origins, the logistics of producing in-person games events, the state of alt-control/arts-focused games events around the world, the relationship between South African culture and Playtopia's structure, the importance of showing the new generation how to create these spaces, the balance of growing and maintaining a festival community, and more! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Playtopia Festival https://playtopiafestival.co.za/about/ Shroom and Gloom https://teamlazerbeam.itch.io/shroom-and-gloom Jamming to map creative scenes and practices by Anya Venter https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02681102.2023.2281423 A MAZE Festival https://2026.amaze-berlin.de/ The future of public game arts festivals and non-commercial games culture by Robert Yang https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2026/02/the-future-of-public-game-arts.html Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant https://grants.draknek.org/ Don't Get Your Hopes Up https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795490/Dont_Get_Your_Hopes_Up/ boshi's place https://boshis.place/events/ Glitch City https://glitch.city/ Blood on the Clocktower https://bloodontheclocktower.com/?country=US Pro Jank Footy https://store.steampowered.com/app/3621330/Pro_Jank_Footy/ Plum Road Tea Dream https://store.steampowered.com/app/3206340/Plum_Road_Tea_Dream/ Plum Road Tea Dream (Performance) https://plum-road-tea-dream.com/#performance Dressmaker https://store.steampowered.com/app/4019220/Dressmaker/ Cozy Lives Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cozylivesgames/reels/ Free Lives Discord https://discord.com/invite/freelives Sex with Friends https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/3407070/ Wee Boats https://store.steampowered.com/app/3578080/Wee_Boats/ Relooted https://store.steampowered.com/app/3255890/Relooted/ Cadence https://store.steampowered.com/app/362800/Cadence/ Playtopia 2025 Showcased Games https://playtopiafestival.co.za/games-2025/ https://secretlives.games https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

Rob and Zach chat with Joonas Turner (Downwell, Noita, Cult of the Lamb), Jukio Kallio (Fall Guys, Minit, Dave the Diver), and Jan Willem "JW" Nijman (Super Crate Box, Ridiculous Fishing, Minit) about their landmark twin-stick wasteland shooter, Nuclear Throne, and its recent blowout 10th anniversary update. They discuss reopening a project after a decade, balancing through play, the decision to not implement traditional invincibility frames, the shifting culture of what makes a design "engaging," and more! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Nuclear Throne https://nuclearthrone.com/ Controls You Can Feel: Putting Tactility Back Into Touch Controls https://youtu.be/OIOitNx9RHI?si=vcV3GCcsiy1W4Efr Spelunky https://www.spelunkyworld.com/ Shoot First https://www.indiedb.com/games/shoot-first Crimsonland https://www.crimsonland.com/ Downwell https://downwellgame.com/ Tormentor x Punisher https://tormentorxpunisher.com/ PAPERHEAD https://store.steampowered.com/app/2680280/PAPERHEAD/ Jukio's Bandcamp https://jukiokallio.bandcamp.com/ https://secretlives.games https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

We're joined by droqen (The End of Gameplay, Starseed Pilgrim), Liz Ryerson (musician, writer, podcaster), and Harry Lee Shang Lun (Earthrise One) for the third title in our year of All Systems Brough, a year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough: Kompendium. This episode: Kompendium Next Month: Zaga-33 Audio edited by Dylan Shumway. Discussed in this episode: Kompendium https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/06/kompendium.html 868-BACK (Next Fest demo on February 23rd, 2026!) https://store.steampowered.com/app/3304110/868BACK/ Michael Brough's Website https://www.smestorp.com/ Liz's talk at boshi's place (Brooklyn, NYC | February 19th, 2026) https://boshis.place/events/26-02-20-boshi-s-lecture-series-presents-liz-ryerson https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2702430653 Harry's work https://hellothisismy.website/work/ Kompendium IGF judge feedback https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/04/kompendium-igf-feedback.html Mutual learning blog post https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/04/mutual-learning-aesthetic-for.html Metagaming: Playing, Competing, Spectating, Cheating, Trading, Making, and Breaking Videogames by Stephanie Boluk and Patrick LeMieux https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816687169/metagaming/ Multicolor Alien Olympic https://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/2970 Glitch Tank https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2011/12/glitch-tank.html Being good at Glitch Tank blog post https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2013/05/being-good-at-glitch-tank.html At a Distance by Terry Cavanagh https://distractionware.com/atadistance/ Brough on iOS sale numbers https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/06/ios-sale-numbers.html Garbage In, Garbage Out https://jonathanwhiting.com/games/garbagein/press.html Exuberant Struggle http://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2011/02/exuberant-struggle.html Brough writing on zero sum nature of 1v1 games https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2011/10/two-player-lessons.html TIGSource Versus Competition https://www.tigsource.com/versus-competition/ TIGSource Versus Competition Rules https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=17083.0 TIGSource Versus Competition 2011 Voting https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=18424.0 TIGSource Versus Competition 2011 Winner (0space by Beau) https://www.tigsource.com/2011/03/31/tigcompo-winner-0space/ 0space itch download https://teknopants.itch.io/0space Jesus vs Dinosaurs https://grapefrukt.itch.io/jesus-vs-dinosaurs The Impossible Reversal by Peter McDonald https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517916220/the-impossible-reversal/ Run and Jump: The Meaning of the 2D Platformer https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547390/run-and-jump/ A Is To B As B Is To C https://bocpages.org/wiki/A_Is_To_B_As_B_Is_To_C Chesh https://www.damiansgames.com/chesh Brough's blog post about O https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/10/o.html Brough on the new year (circa 2012) https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-year-cleansing.html Side By Side S1 E3: Kompendium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWScEl_DbpM Earthrise One https://www.earthrise.one/ Miscellaneous Two Player iPad Games https://eriksvedang.wordpress.com/shoot/ https://rustymoyher.com/press/bloop/ https://secretlives.games/ https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog https://www.youtube.com/eggplantshow