Koalatea Time: The K.O. Koala Entertainment Podcast

Join the FULL KO Koala team in their first episode in a LONG TIME as they award THE BEST GAMES OF 2023! Which studio member had the most niche games on their list? Which games made the team the most emotional? Did Anthony even play any new games this year?? Find out all this and more on this episode of Koalatea Time! join the journey at https://KOKoalaEntertainment.com This podcast is powered by P...

The Mighty Joe Winter returns to discuss: Releasing Song of Iron, and the brutal emotional rollercoaster that followed The key insights for releasing a game on Steam His ambitious goals for Song of Iron 2 and his process for accomplishing them His Studio-Ghibli--inspired Battle Royale side project and more! (00:00:00) Intro (00:03:55) Post Release Blues (00:08:10) Steam Release Tips (RIP Wishlists...

One fateful Spring San Francisco night, a cold-Naan-breaded Nico ventured out of his hotel room to warm his food. Little did he know that the next few hours would change his life forever.... WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST 3D ARTIST, NICO BOYADJIAN! Join us as we share the story of that fateful GDC evening, Nico's art journey (so far), what he'll be doing at K.O. Koala, and so much more! This podcast is pow...

Dr. Chase Meusel, Senior Researcher at Netflix Games, joins Anthony & Skylar in this week’s dynamite episode of Koalatea Time! Join us as we discuss: Chase’s journey from Iowa State, to Xbox, to Netflix Getting to work on XCloud & with Double Fine Why Chase left Xbox to join Netflix Games What Netflix Games is up to Chase’s favorite board game And much much more! Follow Chase on Twitter at...

Would you enact revenge on a traitor even if it meant innocent bystanders would suffer? Would you steal someone's pizza to give it to starving people?? Join Skylar and Anthony as they continue Trolley Problem Inc, a game where players make a series of impossible choices from two awful answers. Join them as they wrestle with their moral compasses to decide the fate of an unfortunate few, and compar...

Would you push a guy on a rail road track to save five other people? What if he was your friend? What if he was fat? Join Skylar and Anthony as they play Trolley Problem Inc, a game where players make a series of impossible choices from two awful answers. Join them as they wrestle with their moral compasses to decide the fate of millions, and compare your own answers with theirs! This podcast is p...

Is Elden Ring the best game ever made? What was the key contributor to its success? Why is its UX so ass?? Join the entire K.O. Koala squad as they discuss these topics and more, including: Their builds Their combat and enemy design review The story The open world (did it make things better??) Their overall Elden Ring scores This podcast is powered by Pinecast .

We went to GDC 2022 so that you didn't have to! Want to know how much it costs? How good the talks are? How viable the networking opportunities are? IF IT'S WORTH IT OR NOT? We break down our experience and try to provide as holistic and objective of a perspective as possible for our fellow indie devs. You should definitely listen to this episode if you are planning to build out your industry netw...

Nothing gets a wild Sean Stevens hyped like a new FromSoft game. Which is exactly why he's kind of freaking out about the latest Tarnished adventure releasing this Thursday - ELDEN RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. Skylar asks Sean what he's most excited about, how he thinks Elden Ring will stack up against previous Souls games, and what experiences he hopes Elden Ring will provide in this week's episode of Koa...

FPS crouch jumping, Rocket League flip-resetting, hidden bosses in Dark Souls, secret rooms in Super Mario 64. Obscure game mechanics that are not explicitly taught to the player can be contentious. Do they add or detract from the experience? Should studios support them? How should studios handle the finding of new unintentional mechanics? Join Anthony & Skylar as they discuss this and more in...

Skylar and Sean rank their favorite digital TCGs of all time, and realize there's a surprising new #1 at the top of their list! Join them as they discuss what Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel does so well, what it doesn't, and where other digital TCGs fall short. Discussed in this episode: Magic The Gathering: Online Artifact Hearthstone Gwent and more! More about our studio: https://KOKoalaEntertainment.com...

This deal makes sooooo much business sense, but what are the implications for the wider gaming industry, both intentional and unintentional? Will this change be enough to dismantle the systemic issues in Activision's culture? How will Microsoft combat the dangers lurking in the shadows of creative homogenization? Anthony & Skylar discuss all this and more in this episode of Koalatea Time! This...

It's the beginning of a new year, and our brains are REALLY not warmed up yet, so we hot take our way into one of our most contentious episodes ever! Will Anthony or Skylar like your gamertag? Find out in this wild episode of Koalatea Time! This podcast is powered by Pinecast .

In our 100th episode of Koalatea Time, Josh and Sean join Anthony and Skylar to discuss our respective top 5 games of 2021 - with a surprise new podcast intro from Evan Coulter! https://KOKoalaEntertainment.com More of Evan's music: https://linktr.ee/evcomusic This podcast is powered by Pinecast .

Which is more important: that a game is a reliable measure of who has the most skill, or that it provides an interesting challenge to all players? Is it possible for a game to do both? Jessie Schell present these thoughts in his in his book, The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses when discussing the lens of "Fairness". Anthony & Skylar discuss these and other related topics, including the di...

After 6 LONG YEARS the first new Halo FPS campaign arrives and the ravenous Anthony has consumed it happily! In this slightly spoilercast (spoilers territory starts at 20:54 and is called out in the podcast) review, Skylar interviews Anthony to get his feelings surrounding Halo Infinite's Campaign gameplay, story, and overall impressions - including where it ranks in the all time Halo campaign ran...

In a surprise episode topic, Skylar prepares a challenging Halo trivia in which Anthony, and surprise guest Marcus (our editor and fellow Halo fan), must solve difficult visual and auditory Halo Infinite questions, all while building up their point total for a final trivia wager showdown! Anthony has been playing Halo since CE, and even he failed on some of these questions! Think you're a Halo fan...

Halo Infinite is AMAZING IN SO MANY WAYS, but it's not devoid of some serious short comings! bramoala and ChipSkylark discuss what they think about Halo Infinite's maps, game modes, UI, and yes, EVEN THE TERRIBLE BATTLE PASS in part 2 of their Halo Infinite 1st Impressions! Support Koalatea Time: The K.O. Koala Entertainment Podcast by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/k...

This Halo is robbing us of sleep, hampering productivity, and making us cry...WITH JOY! We're absolutely LOVING the Halo Infinite MP experience, but there are some things we don't love all that much... Join bramoala and the new-Halo-player ChipSkylark in part 1 of their first impressions of the Halo Infinite MP experience! Support Koalatea Time: The K.O. Koala Entertainment Podcast by contributing...

Bats & brains & biases, oh my! The brilliant Xbox UR Chieftess Dr. Jessie Thomas joins us In this cognitively enhancing episode of Koalatea Time! Join us as we discuss: How Jessie used puppets to make Halo MCC better The Ms. Frizzle of Xbox The science behind your brain's bad habits and much much more! Support Koalatea Time: The K.O. Koala Entertainment Podcast by contributing to their Tip...

Second order motion, haptic feedback, impeccable Nintendo polish, and more! Join Anthony & Skylar as they discuss what makes games "juicy", inspired by insights from Jesse Schell in his book, "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses". Support Koalatea Time: The K.O. Koala Entertainment Podcast by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/koalatea-time This podcast is powere...

Nothing beats crashing at a friend's house and staying up all night hitting headshots on Colossus in Halo 2, or Uther-ing your night away in Warcraft 3 custom games! Join bramoala & ChipSkylark as they take a stroll down memory lane and discuss: The awesome fun of custom games Optimal energy drink strategies Tricking friends into getting drunk so you could stay up and play Halo 3 on their big...

The Senior Director of Research for Xbox & Xbox Game Studios, Dr. Randy Pagulayan joins Anthony & Skylar to discuss his epic career and fascinating insights in this legendary episode of Koalatea Time! Join us as we discuss: Randy's journey at Xbox (including how he turned down the initial job offer!) The accountability game devs have to the equity and fulfillment of magical experiences How...

Acclaimed game audio designer, and head of indie studio Groove Box Games, Eduardo Ortiz Frau joins Anthony & Skylar in this banger of a Koalatea Time episode! Join us as we discuss: Eduardo's epic indie game career, including his work on Afterparty, The Stanley Parable, Everything, and more! How to network in the games industry as an indie dev Making sounds you'll hear thousands of times And m...

Including punishment into game loops can help spice up gameplay, but when is it taken too far? Join bramoala and ChipSkylark in this episode of Koalatea Time as they discuss punishment in games, including: • The challenges of balancing punishment along a compelling mastery path • Why many F2P progression systems feel punishing • Dark Souls 😅 • And more! Support Koalatea Time: The K.O. Koala Enter...