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: <a href="https://arranger.quest">Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure</a> <a href= "https://www.experimentalgameworkshop.org/2024-submissions">Experimental Game Workshop</a> <a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1735110/Museum_of_Mechanics_Lockpicking/"> Museum of Mechanics: Lockpicking</a> <a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1668190/Once_Upon_a_Jester/">Once Upon a Jester</a> <a href= "https://youtu.be/bZNlK8iZbLA?si=TgV8n7c_IwTHFrsJ">Misshapen</a> <a href="https://www.mediterraneainferno.com">Mediterranea Inferno</a> <a href= "https://killlincolndc.bandcamp.com/album/cant-complain">Kill Lincoln</a> <a href= "https://www.devolverdigital.com/games/the-crush-house">The Crush House</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://arranger.quest"&gt;Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://www.experimentalgameworkshop.org/2024-submissions"&gt;Experimental Game Workshop&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1735110/Museum_of_Mechanics_Lockpicking/"&gt; Museum of Mechanics: Lockpicking&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1668190/Once_Upon_a_Jester/"&gt;Once Upon a Jester&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://youtu.be/bZNlK8iZbLA?si=TgV8n7c_IwTHFrsJ"&gt;Misshapen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.mediterraneainferno.com"&gt;Mediterranea Inferno&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://killlincolndc.bandcamp.com/album/cant-complain"&gt;Kill Lincoln&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://www.devolverdigital.com/games/the-crush-house"&gt;The Crush House&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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...

137: Reflecting (and More) on GDC 2024

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: <a href="https://www.playbalatro.com">Balatro</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LocalThunk">LocalThunk</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_two">Big two</a> <a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1404850/Luck_be_a_Landlord/">Luck Be a Landlord</a> <a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1775490/Slice__Dice/">Slice & Dice</a> <a href="https://www.megacrit.com">Slay the Spire</a> <a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/632360/Risk_of_Rain_2/">Risk of Rain 2</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.playbalatro.com"&gt;Balatro&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/LocalThunk"&gt;LocalThunk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_two"&gt;Big two&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1404850/Luck_be_a_Landlord/"&gt;Luck Be a Landlord&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1775490/Slice__Dice/"&gt;Slice &amp; Dice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.megacrit.com"&gt;Slay the Spire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://store.steampowered.com/app/632360/Risk_of_Rain_2/"&gt;Risk of Rain 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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:

136: Going in Blind with Balatro

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: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ric_Chahi">Eric Chahi</a> <a href="https://www.pixelreef.fr/paper-beast/">Paper Beast</a> <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_(video_game)">Another World</a> <a href="https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/from-dust">From Dust</a> <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness_(video_game)">Heart of Darkness</a> <a href="https://www.strandbeest.com">Strandbeest</a> <a href= "http://tsushimamire.com/en/profile/">TsuShiMaMiRe</a> <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika_(2006_film)">Paprika</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/wupToqz1e2g?si=n04YS77b0wjquxzi">Pale Blue Dot</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ric_Chahi"&gt;Eric Chahi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.pixelreef.fr/paper-beast/"&gt;Paper Beast&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_(video_game)"&gt;Another World&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/from-dust"&gt;From Dust&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness_(video_game)"&gt;Heart of Darkness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.strandbeest.com"&gt;Strandbeest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "http://tsushimamire.com/en/profile/"&gt;TsuShiMaMiRe&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika_(2006_film)"&gt;Paprika&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://youtu.be/wupToqz1e2g?si=n04YS77b0wjquxzi"&gt;Pale Blue Dot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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...

135: Harnessing the Algorithm with Eric Chahi

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: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/joningold.bsky.social">Jon Ingold</a> <a href="https://www.inklestudios.com/a-highland-song/">A Highland Song</a> <a href="https://www.inklestudios.com">Inkle Studios</a> <a href="https://www.inklestudios.com/ink/">ink</a> <a href= "https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/WAG_QoNY4_4vOQ">The Forever Labyrinth</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Dangerous">Rick Dangerous</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Superstars">TV Superstars</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform">Inform</a> <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-user_dungeon">MUDs</a> <a href= "https://youtu.be/E-mFJH6wOsw?si=of846DQdBu5ttlWN">Uncharted 3's horse-riding section</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://bsky.app/profile/joningold.bsky.social"&gt;Jon Ingold&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.inklestudios.com/a-highland-song/"&gt;A Highland Song&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.inklestudios.com"&gt;Inkle Studios&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.inklestudios.com/ink/"&gt;ink&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/WAG_QoNY4_4vOQ"&gt;The Forever Labyrinth&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Dangerous"&gt;Rick Dangerous&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Superstars"&gt;TV Superstars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inform"&gt;Inform&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-user_dungeon"&gt;MUDs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://youtu.be/E-mFJH6wOsw?si=of846DQdBu5ttlWN"&gt;Uncharted 3's horse-riding section&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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...

134: Striving for Imperfection with Jon Ingold (A Highland Song)

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. &lt;3 Show Notes: <a href="https://bobmould.com">Bob Mould</a> <a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/366013/heat-pedal-metal">Heat: Pedal to the Metal</a> <a href= "https://cohost.org/everest/post/3533628-the-poppy-grower">Everest Pipkin's The Poppy Grower</a> <a href= "https://youtu.be/v7Tcl-iso00?si=sszZoDbMORzx76us">Learning Moonring with Zach</a> <a href="https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2594/">A Link to the Past Redux</a> <a href="https://www.pixelreef.fr/paper-beast/">Paper Beast</a> <a class= "c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvLwpnn1F4Y" target="_blank" rel= "noopener" data-qa="message_attachment_title_link">Late Show 3-Legged Race: Video Game Speedrunner Edition</a> <a href="http://www.tharsis.space">Tharsis</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Thunder">Blue Thunder</a> <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyday_Shooter">Everyday Shooter</a> <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PixelJunk_Monsters">PixelJunk Monsters</a> <a href="https://puzzledpint.com">Puzzled Pint</a> <a href= "https://mckittrickhotel.com/events/sleep-no-more/#/">Sleep No More</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/pdrBPJYfTC8?si=co6Cne-qHrFEdzp2">Teeny Little Super Guy</a> <a href="https://www.learnedleague.com">LearnedLeague</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;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. &lt;3&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Show Notes:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://bobmould.com"&gt;Bob Mould&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/366013/heat-pedal-metal"&gt;Heat: Pedal to the Metal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://cohost.org/everest/post/3533628-the-poppy-grower"&gt;Everest Pipkin's The Poppy Grower&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://youtu.be/v7Tcl-iso00?si=sszZoDbMORzx76us"&gt;Learning Moonring with Zach&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2594/"&gt;A Link to the Past Redux&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.pixelreef.fr/paper-beast/"&gt;Paper Beast&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="c-message_attachment__title"&gt;&lt;a class= "c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvLwpnn1F4Y" target="_blank" rel= "noopener" data-qa="message_attachment_title_link"&gt;&lt;span dir= "auto"&gt;Late Show 3-Legged Race: Video Game Speedrunner Edition&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tharsis.space"&gt;Tharsis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Thunder"&gt;Blue Thunder&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyday_Shooter"&gt;Everyday Shooter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PixelJunk_Monsters"&gt;PixelJunk Monsters&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://puzzledpint.com"&gt;Puzzled Pint&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://mckittrickhotel.com/events/sleep-no-more/#/"&gt;Sleep No More&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://youtu.be/pdrBPJYfTC8?si=co6Cne-qHrFEdzp2"&gt;Teeny Little Super Guy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.learnedleague.com"&gt;LearnedLeague&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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:

133: Celebrating Our 5th Anniversary!

Candid conversations with game creators that dive deep into the art, craft, and process of making games.

Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

Details

Recent Episodes