The Secret Lives of Games

Soren Johnson (Offworld Trading Company) joins us to discuss his new historical strategy game Old World, as we dive into playing by feel in a numbers-driven game, the problematic themes inherent to the 4X genre, and personalizing games through narrative scale. Some things we discussed: Soren Johnson Mohawk Games Civilization IV Spore Offworld Trading Company Old World 4X genre Designer Notes podca...

In the final installment of our Noita miniseries, Nolla Games' Petri Purho and Olli Harjola join us for a deep dive Q&A on the game! We discuss the influence of magic on its design, its origins and early iterations, how they empower different play styles, and where the boundaries of the game might actually  be. Some things we discussed: Kloonigames Facepalm Games Hempuli Sisu Knytt The Magic Way F...

It's Andy's big 5-0 and we're celebrating by diving into our mailbag of thoughtful listener questions! We discuss working within a team, how academic practice intersects development, framing your work across a career, the role of aesthetics in games, and the materiality of engines. Phew! Some things we discussed: The Last Dance B.U.T.T.O.N.: On Self-Effacing Games and Unachievements Characteristic...

In the fourth installment of our Noita miniseries, we discuss the intention of randomness, getting stuck in our play patterns, leaning into the game's weirdness, and some modifications we'd like to see. Some things we discussed: 10,000 Bowls of Oatmeal Problem Brogue Teamfight Tactics Balancing Multiplayer Games

Spelunky creator Derek Yu returns for an expansive discussion on the membrane between players/devs, the connection between design/process, and the understated influence of arcade games on his work - all through the lens of what we've been playing and thinking about in quarantine. Some things we discussed: Derek Yu UFO 50 Noita Animal Crossing: New Horizons AC:NH QoL fan video Marina Abramović Stre...

In the third installment of our miniseries, we discuss Noita's worldbuilding, secrets in game culture, games as toys, tutorialization (or lack thereof), and the conflicts of wandcrafting. Some things we discussed: Noita Arcane Kids Manife$to Magicians Trilogy Rain World Noita 101 - Tips for new players Else Heart. Break() My Summer Car - Early Access trailer TIS-100

Tom Francis (Gunpoint, Heat Signature) crashes in to discuss his upcoming small-scale strategy game Tactical Breach Wizards, how he finds and focuses on the cores of his games, and the narrative systems that make them sing. Some things we discussed: Tom Francis Gunpoint Heat Sig Tactical Breach Wizards (new walkthrough) RPS: What Works And Why Morphblade Imbroglio GameMaker Into the Breach The GIP...

In the second installment of our miniseries, we discuss our different play styles, wand customization, building games around online communities, and our experiences with - and the implementation of - Noita's Daily Challenge. Some things we discussed: Noita Risk of Rain Zach's badass barrel kick Noita 101 - Tips for new players Wand Stats - Noita Notes 4

Martin Jonasson (holedown) joins us to extract the juiciness that powers his "delightful spectacle of bouncing," reveals the truth behind his rounded corners, and discusses the aesthetic and scope commitments that drove games like twofold inc. and rymdkapsel. Some things we discussed: grapefrukt games holedown twofold, inc. rymdkapsel jesus vs. dinosaurs Juice it or lose it Breakout: Pilgrim in th...

In this first installment of our new miniseries focused on Noita (with guest co-host Bennett Foddy), we share our early stories and beginner tips, discuss the genealogy of the game, and contemplate how we feel about shooting being its primary verb.  Some things we discussed: Noita Bennett Foddy Crayon Physics Deluxe The Swapper Baba Is You Liero Worms Kuron and the Jelly Islands Sisu

Tyriq Plummer (Catacomb Kids, UFO 50) joins us to discuss the guts and evolution of his long-term roguelike project, how he stays motivated, and making his minions matter. Plus a very special show announcement! Some things we discussed: Tyriq Plummer Catacomb Kids UFO 50 Our new Discord! Noita Made out of Meat: Health Systems in Video Games Tyriq's dev streams Pixelation.org Aesop Rock Sachin Teng...

Andrea Roberts of Wonderbelly Games talks to us about her brand-new bouncy dungeon crawler Roundguard! We discuss physics as a system of uncertainty, combining Peggle with a roguelike formula, and using that formula to create player friendliness. Things we discussed: Roundguard Spelunky 2 PS Blog post Dunklords Peggle Fable A Guide to Proc Gen Practitioners That's the Way the Ball Bounces: Using P...

Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit joins us to talk about the process behind his excellent series on game design. We discuss his recent video on randomness - diving deep on input/output randomness - as well as roguelike progression, and much more! Things we discussed: Game Maker's Toolkit How (And Why) Spelunky Makes its Own Levels The Two Types of Random Michael Brough's Imbroglio "brog" Characte...

Ryan Clark of Brace Yourself Games (Crypt of the Necrodancer, Cadence of Hyrule) sashays in to chat with us about how he hit on his rhythm roguelike formula, layering in depth to make his systems sing, and how he's found - and repeated - indie game success. Some things we discussed: Brace Yourself Games Crypt of the Necrodancer Industries of Titan Phantom Brigade Bard seeded speed world record How...

We get cozy with our own Zach Gage to talk about his just-released SpellTower+, the follow-up to the puzzle game that put him on the map. We discuss making word searches interesting, the design of letter distribution, and making the Westworld of word games. SpellTower+ zachgage.com Kinnijup's new eggplant run world record Kinnijup's new low% hell run world record Puzzlejuice Letterpress The histor...

Jan Willem "JW" Nijman (Nuclear Throne, Minit) sits down with us to help us fix mini golf, before we dig into some of the design thinking behind Vlambeer's amazing catalog of action games, how he approaches prototyping, and being the self-proclaimed "Jamie Oliver of game feel." Things we discussed: Vlambeer The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan Ribbit King JW's The Art of Screen Shake talk Samurai Gunn...

Immersive puzzle designer Laura E. Hall joins for our big GOTY show, as we each share our Top 5 games of 2019. We also hear many of YOUR picks (thanks!), and stick around until the end to hear picks from several of our 2019 guests. Happy New Year!  Things we discussed: Laura E. Hall Katamari Damacy by Boss Fight Books Every Game in This City podcast Sleep No More Trolling as an Air Traffic Control...

With the help of our friend Bennett Foddy (QWOP, Getting Over It) we consider Spelunky as the Game of the Decade - we discuss what influence it's had (or hasn't had) in and beyond its genre, its distinct connection to Dark Souls, and experiencing the external narrative of modern gaming. Things we discussed: Bennett Foddy's games Ape Out TIGSource Tim Rogers Presents The Games of the Decade Finishi...

Terry Cavanagh (Super Hexagon, VVVVVV) joins us to talk about his fantastic roguelike deckbuilder, Dicey Dungeons. We discuss the thread of generosity in his game design, the challenges of working across genres, and what might be next for Terry! Things we discussed: Terry's distractionware.com Dicey Dungeons VVVVVV Super Hexagon Tiny Heist Stephen Lavelle Dream Quest 7 Day Roguelike Naya's Quest T...

We're taking a much-needed week off, but please enjoy one of our favorite episodes from early on. We'll be back in two weeks with guest Terry Cavanagh to talk about his new roguelike deckbuilder (dicebuilder?) Dicey Dungeons - check it out and send us your questions! Anyways, on to our show: Jay Ma of Subset Games joins us to discuss the design of her excellent sci-fi strategy game Into the Breach...

Frank Lantz (Drop7, Universal Paperclips) stops by to tell us about his new party game for smart speakers, Hey Robot. We discuss fun ways to engage with rigid AI - and the privacy issues inherent to doing so - before taking a wild detour into the taxonomy of paddle boats. Things we discussed: Frank Lantz Hey Robot Breakfast Spelunky Shiren the Wanderer ClemmyGames' Top 10 Best Underrated Roguelike...

Free of guests or a "plan," our crew of intrepid hosts dives into a bounty of stimulating listener questions! We discuss our personal roads into game design, the challenge of procedural generation in AAA games, and the game design of reality shows. Things we discussed: Kirby703_'s World 23 correction Demon's Souls IndieCade Game Design Deep Dive: The creative camaraderie behind Wilmot's Warehouse...

The gang's all here to chat with our own Zach Gage (SpellTower, Tharsis) about his new Apple Arcade adventure game, Card of Darkness. We discuss distilling roguelikes, the role of randomness, and designing 52 cards in two days. Things we discussed: Card of Darkness Andy's baby! World 23 Spelunky glitch The Grannies (Red Dead Redemption explorers) Zach's collaborators   Card of Darkness soundtrack...

Finji's Adam Saltsman drops by for a deep dive on his new road trip survival game Overland. We discuss its surprisingly affecting narrative innovations, design epiphanies from its 6+ year development, and its understated influence from Legacy board games. Things we discussed: Overland New Spelunky duplication glitch Canabalt Finji Adam's blog X-COM: UFO Defense 868-HACK Weird Worlds: Return to Inf...

Riot Games' Greg Borenstein joins us to chat about the design behind their red-hot autobattler Teamfight Tactics, as we discuss the benefits of embracing complexity, the rise of randomness, and what the game has in common with Sorry! You know, that Sorry! Things we discussed: Teamfight Tactics Mutazione Untitled Goose Game UFO 50  Riot Games controversy - timeline of events Riot Games controversy...