Pixel Pizza

Capy Games Director Dan Vader joins us on this week’s show! Over the past 15 years his studio has brought us some incredible original titles, like Grindstone, Super Time Force, Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP, and Below. In our lively and wide-ranging discussion, Dan talks about working on games with very different tones, the collaborative environment at Capy, and how the best ideas come up wh...

Joining us this week on Pixel Pizza is community manager and marketing expert Catherine Litvaitis! Catherine has helped build and foster communities for prominent indie games like Bear and Breakfast, In Stars and Time, and The Tartarus Key. She tells us all about writing social media in-character, what makes a great digital storefront description, and her work on the YouTube cult classic Shrek Ret...

This week on Pixel Pizza, rock out with narrative designer Idris Grey MacChruteir 🤘 Idris's career has spanned across multiple countries and major studios-- they've worked at Monolith on Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Guerilla on Horizon: Forbidden West, and are currently in Japan working with Unseen (Ikumi Nakamura's studio) on KEMURI! Idris breaks down how they design for specific cha...

This episode originally aired on October 26, 2022. Let's look back on a Pixel Pizza favorite in this chat with Trombone Champ developer Dan Vecchito. We talked about using the principles of improv comedy in games, going viral, and the best pizza in Brooklyn! For the full Trombone Champ experience, this episode's musical breaks were all in-game performances from YouTube creators. Find their...

Join us on this week's Pixel Pizza Podcast as we talk to Capybara Games President Eileen Hollinger! Eileen's had some incredible experiences in the industry, like working at ThatGameCompany and forming her own indie game publisher, Astra Fund. She tells us how she made the jump from educational content to working alongside the devs of Journey, Katamari Damacy, and the latest on her studio&...

On this installment of the Pixel Pizza Podcast we speak with Unbound Creations CEO Jakub Kasztalski. Jakub and his team have made all sorts of games ranging from political thrillers like Headliner to chaotic cute games like Rain on Your Parade. We talk about using games as a teaching tool, what goes into porting to consoles, and the studio's next game, Just Crow Things. Music from Thefricolix!...

Cozy up and stay warm (or cool, if listening to this at time of release) with Benjamin Salvqist, CEO of Pine Creek Games. The studio recently made waves with the showcase of their hand-drawn survival game Winter Burrow, and we get deeper into the inspirations behind its atmosphere, game design, and worldbuilding. Music from KnifeHandChop! LINKS: 🌲 Pine Creek Games: https://www.pinecreekgames.com/...

In a blast from the past this week, the director of Soundtrec studio and the Video Games Orchestra, Shota Nakama is here on the show! I used to see his concerts all the time when I was living in Boston and hosting Pixel Pizza on the radio about a decade ago. Since then he's expanded into production on high-profile Japanese games including Final Fantasy XV, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, and Ba...

This week on the Pixel Pizza Podcast we bird up 🕊️ with the founder of Glass Bottom Games, Megan Fox! You might know her work from the hit skateboarding game, SkateBIRD, or the side-scrolling noir title Hot Tin Roof. Megan talks about normalizing failure, sharing solutions to tech struggles via her blog, and how a bird would realistically hold a sword. Chiptune music this week from P​!​x3l_BLAM3_F...

Coming to us from Mexico City is this week's guest, Anwar Noriega! He's the CEO of Wabisabi Games, developers of the recently released RKGK (aka Rakugaki). Anwar tells us about making a platformer for adults, creating game industry opportunities in Latin America, and Japanese pizza. Chiptune music this week comes from Leumaestro! LINKS: 🎮 RKGK: https://rkgk.com/ 💿 Leumaestro: https://leumaestro....

Get ready to go Psycho Mode this weekend with an all-new Pixel Pizza! Today we've got Ukrainian developer Yehor aka Martingor. Together with his wife Masha, Yehor is developing the finger-shooting roguelike FPS Psychofinger! We talk about taking inspiration from anime, what it's like making a game with your partner, and advice for first-time developers. Music from Curious Quail! LINKS: 👉...

On a delightfully devilish Pixel Pizza, indie director Alfred Kamon is here to talk about his upcoming strategy roguelike RPG Food Devils! We discuss the massive success of the game's Kickstarter, what it's like to lead Studio Daimon, and making the leap of faith into full-time game development. Music from Bubble Blade! LINKS: 🎮 Food Devils (wishlist!): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2861730/...

This week on Pixel Pizza we get radicalized by sound designer and voice director Ali Cedroni! Ali talks with us about the welcoming game audio community, giving yourself the freedom to fail, and how groups like her collective NokNok Audio are changing the traditional game company structure. Music from Kitsune²! LINKS: 🎧 NokNok Audio: https://www.noknokaudio.com/ 🌐 Ali's Website: https://www.alic...

The latest fresh interview we're serving here on Pixel Pizza is with AAA-turned-indie developer Nathan "Jitspoe" Wulf! Jitspoe worked on some of the most intense FPS games around, including Far Cry 3 & 4 and Lawbreakers. Now he's hard at work on two very different games: The Lovecraftian Quake-like KOOK and the atmospheric 2D platformer Fist of the Forgotten. Learn all about...

This week on Pixel Pizza we are joined by head honcho of the video game music/sound design studio A Shell in the Pit, Gordon McGladdery! The studio has brought audio to some of the most acclaimed games in recent years, including Untitled Goose Game, Wandersong, and Rogue Legacy. Gordon shares his story of finding his way into game development after pursuing woodworking, teaching English in South K...

On this week's episode of Pixel Pizza, we're speaking with 3D environment and prop artist Sophie Stübinger in Germany! In her five years in the gaming industry she has already worked on major titles including Fortnite and Party Animals, and has most recently brought her talents over to Double Fine. Sophie tells us about working from home, building a portfolio, and trying new art styles. Mu...

Roll for initiative before listening to this episode 🎲 Our guest this week is Christoffer Bodegård, Swedish game writer and solo dev. He's contributed writing to games like Raft and Apsulov: End of Gods, and has been working for the past several years on his own project, the DnD and Disco Elysium-inspired Esoteric Ebb! We talk about freelance writing, the Swedish gamedev scene, and adding dum...

Another week I'll be out of town, but not gonna leave you guys high and dry again! Here's a redux of one of our more popular early episodes featuring LakeFeperd, the beloved Brazilian developer behind the Spark the Electric Jester trilogy ⚡️🃏 And music from Sunnexo! If you're a recent listener I hope you enjoy, and if you were here when this originally premiered thanks for sticking a...

Hold onto your hats! This week's Pixel Pizza features a convo with Ubisoft Massive lead writer & narrative designer Aoife O'Friel. Aoife has helped bring Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora to life, and she tells us about the lore and research that goes into making those worlds as immersive as possible. And our music this week comes from Nicky Spacebum! LINKS:...

Sleuth around with us on this week's Pixel Pizza as we chat with Julia Minamata, solo dev behind the adventure mystery game The Crimson Diamond 💎 Julia talks about cozy mysteries, Canada's mineral history, and how pixel art can be a great starting point for new artists. Music from WaxWolf! LINKS: 💎 The Crimson Diamond: https://www.thecrimsondiamond.com/ 🐦 Julia's Twitter: @JuliaMina...

Is it cold in here? Maybe because there was no episode last week due to vacation, or maybe because this week we've got the Frostman himself, Digital Eclipse's Head of Production Stephen Frost! You might know Digital Eclipse for their in-depth collections of the Street Fighter and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, or their interactive documentary Gold Master series. We discuss all of thos...

Baba Is You Podcast Is Available Listener Is Interested One of indie gaming's most clever minds, Arvi Teikari, joins us this week to dive deep into his game design process! With music from Synhancer *No new episode next week, see you the week after* LINKS: 🎮 Arvi's Games: https://hempuli.itch.io/ 🪄 The Legend of Zelbaba: https://youtu.be/69CH0Zpvnd4?si=vtDNd3ZDh5_FokGO 💿 Synhancer: http...

Get ready, fighters! The stage has been set for a brand new Pixel Pizza. This week's show has a chat with YouTube FGC creator BabeRuthless. Over the past two years she's become known for her thoughtful and fun analyses of fighting game stages and development history. We discuss how she found that niche, her process for larger-scale videos, and cosplay! With chiptune music from Bit Shifter....

Visual novel writer, game journalist, and Dr Pepper gremlin Kristi Jimenez joins us this week to talk about everything that goes into making a VN (she's written over 20!). From the writing process to collaborating with character artists to making trailers, we get into it all with lots of laughs and goofs along the way. Definitely stay til the end if you're enjoying Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth...

Coming to us from Chicago (though not a deep dish fan) is Joel Corelitz, the composer of some of the biggest games in recent memory-- his resume includes Death Stranding, Mortal Kombat 1, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, and Eastward to name a few! Joel walks us through the surprising usefulness of NERF guns for audio, finding the soul of a project, and being inspired by your collaborators. Kille...