Pixel Pizza

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...

Pop in this digital cassette and listen in on a new Pixel Pizza 🎧 Joining us from the UK is the co-director at Bytten Studio, Jay Baylis! They are best known for the recently released monster-catching RPG, Cassette Beasts. Jay tells us how he makes his games distinctively British, the times when not balancing gameplay is good, and how multiplayer will be expanded on in the new Cassette Beasts upd...

Welcome back to another teen angst-ridden episode of Pixel Pizza! This week we've got acclaimed comic writer and game developer Meredith Gran on the show, talking about her point-and-click adventure game Perfect Tides and its upcoming sequel Perfect Tides: Station to Station 👨‍🎤 We discuss reconnecting with your inner teenager, how socializing on the internet has changed in the past 2 decade...

Coming soon to your earbuds...from the makers of Pixel Pizza Episode 99 and Pixel Pizza Episode 100...it's *gasp* Episode 101! Alright that bit ran its course. Derek Lieu is this week's guest and he's a professional trailer editor for video games! Derek has made trailers for some of the biggest games in recent memory, like Half-Life: Alyx, Psychonauts 2, Among Us, and many more. He tel...

We made it to triple digits! 🎉🎉 After 2 years, Pixel Pizza has reached the fabled 100 episode mark. We've had 100+ talented guests on the show from AAAs to indies, all with their own insightful perspectives on making games. To celebrate, this episode follows up with a whole bunch of those previous guests about where they're currently at and what they might be up to next! And to top it all off we...

Buckle in for an in-depth, thought-provoking chat with one of gaming's most prolific new creators, Xalavier Nelson Jr! Whether it's for his journalism at Kotaku, his writing for Hypnospace Outlaw, or his own game development ventures like El Paso, Elsewhere, you have definitely seen Xalavier's work before. Topics discussed include the context of how games are made, what devs look for i...

*insert PS1 startup sound here* Welcome to Pixel Pizza episode 98, two away from triple digits! This week our guest is accomplished video host and editor Rosie Caddick. For the past 5 years Rosie has been one of the faces of PlayStation UK's official YouTube channel, PlayStation Access! She tells us about discovering her passion for gaming industry interviews, taking risks and promoting yourse...

Just in time for the weekend, we've got a new show with a new guest and new tunes! Our guest this week is Senior Art Director at Drinkbox Studios, Gabby DaRienzo. Gabby's super impressive resume includes A Mortician's Tale, Celeste, Super Crush K.O., and Nobody Saves the World 😮 We discuss making games about death, connecting with other developers on social media, and Toronto bar laws...

New year, new pizza! Bringing us into 2024 is prodigious animator and developer Mason Hardison, known online as Chaoko. At the age of 25 he's already worked on a number of big-budget titles, including Nintendo's Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp! Currently Mason is developing his own project, the high-speed platformer Kilaflow. He tells us about getting hired via Twitter, game design psycholo...

Last show before January, when the time loop begins again 😈 To close out 2023 we've got an incredibly fun and informative chat with the developer behind the emotional and time-bending RPG In Stars and Time! Adrienne Bazir aka InsertDisc5 tells us about her approach to worldbuilding, character art, and narrative playtesting plus lots more. With music from Mabisyo! LINKS: 🌐 Adrienne's Webs...

You made it to Friday! Take a breath and listen to this week's Pixel Pizza with the Social Media & Operations Manager of Extremely OK Games, Heidy Motta. We talk about what it was like behind the scenes during the huge success of Celeste, and how her role on the team has expanded as the team continues working on Earthblade. Chiptunes this week from Opus Science Collective! LINKS: 🌐 Heidy&...

The year is winding down, but there's still a little more Pixel Pizza to go! This week you can enjoy a chat with the incredible pixel artist and game designer at Tako Boy Studios, Phil Giarrusso. Some of his notable works include Shovel Knight Dig, Creatures of Aether, and the upcoming (early access) card game Cross Blitz! Phil explains how he comes up with design rules for each project he&#39...

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving week, listeners! But now turkey is out and pizza is back in 🍕 Bringing us back is acclaimed investigative game reporter Rebekah Valentine! She's handled a number of major stories over at IGN as well as on Gamesindustry.biz and USGamer. Reb tells us all about her reporting process, how she chases down a story, and the present and future of the games industry. S...

In this super exciting episode of the Pixel Pizza Podcast, we talk with creative/art director Rex Crowle! He's worked with a number of beloved studios including Lionhead, Media Molecule, Double Fine, and Terrible Toybox (Ron Gilbert's studio). Rex and I discuss working alongside your heroes, developing an art style that represents the ethos of your game, and bringing every team member'...

I promised there were more brand new episodes coming and here's the next one! In this chill chat we dial into Italy to speak with sound designer Paolo Armao. He's brought his talents to animation, documentary films, VR, and of course video games. Paolo works with 34bigthings, best known for the sci-fi racing series Redout! We talk about bringing audio alive, the importance of flaws in grea...