The Secret Lives of Games

Our crew is stretched thin, but we soldier on with a wide-ranging, freeform 1-year anniversary episode! Nick and Andy chat about the recent glut of amazing game releases - and upcoming highlights (roguelights?) - while Andy reflects on the 10-year anniversary of his career-defining game Osmos, and we dive into a bounty of beautiful listener letters. Things we discussed: Mutazione Zach's game tease...

Megacrit's Anthony Giovannetti sits down with us to dive deep into the iterative design process of his hit roguelike deckbuilder, Slay the Spire. Things we discussed: Slay the Spire Stimhack Android: Netrunner Spelunky 2 delay Magic: the Gathering Dominion Dream Quest GDC talk - Slay the Spire: Metrics Drive Design and Balance FTL Desktop Dungeons The Binding of Isaac Brogue Why Revealing All is t...

The co-creator of Rogue - yes, THAT Rogue - chats with us about the creation and legacy of his seminal 1980 game that birthed a genre! We discuss the origins of its key innovations of procedural generation and "consequence permanence," its surprisingly Chesslike origins, and the secret metagame behind Quicken (shhh!). Rogue Hack Nethack Brogue Curses programming library Diablo ADOM Moria Angband R...

Our full crew is reunited, and just in time for a very special guest! Spelunky HD programmer Andy Hull joins us to chat about his time as a toy designer, rebuilding Spelunky from the ground up, and nailing the jelly shader in his upcoming 2v2 basketball beat 'em up, Dunk Lords. Things we discussed: Dunk Lords Mossranking Klik & Play Sushi Slicing Play Set Scoop & Stack Ice Cream Cone Play Set Bake...

Lee Petty of Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brütal Legend , Stacking) drops by to talk to us about their upcoming post-post-apocalyptic roguelike, RAD! We discuss the emergent origins of its procedural design, capturing '80s nuclear angst, and Tim Schafer's love/hate relationship with farts. Things we discussed: leepetty.com Tharsis (iPad) Brutal Legend Broken Age Stacking Headlander RAD Amnesia Fortni...

MossRanking creator Mathieu "saturnin55 " Legaré and advisor/speedrunner Kevin "meowmixmix" Hyer join us to talk about the history and design behind Spelunky's incredible community hub. Things we discussed: MossRanking mewomixmix's GDQx2018 run Playing the Spelunky 2 demo at TwitchCon speedrun.com Bananasaurus Rex's infamous solo eggplant run   Crypt of the Necrodancer Nick's Daily Death

Sci-fi strategy-shooter Void Bastards is tearing up the charts, and we've got two of its creators on the show! We discuss worldbuilding via British bureaucracy, telling stories in a world of roguelite progression, and yelling at yourself in your own game...as a pirate. Things we discussed:  Void Bastards Embed with Games: A Year on the Couch with Game Developers System Shock Dishonored 2 Captain F...

The creator of The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy joins us for a career-spanning discussion of his design ethos, and the organized chaos that drove the creation of the most successful roguelite ever. Things we discussed: Super Meat Boy The Binding of Isaac The End is Nigh The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls Gish Aether Closure Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup Desktop Dungeons Fingered The Binding of Isa...

Brogue creator Brian "Pender" Walker joins us to chat about the elegant design behind his sublime roguelike dungeon-crawler, from the lessons he took from Rogue (and those he didn't), to creating a rich world of interactions while keeping things simple. Things we discussed: Brogue Zach's instructional Brogue stream Brogue w/ Daily Challenge Brogue w/ Daily Challenge + Potion change Rogue Angband N...

The crew makes the most of being paired off: Andy and Zach talk climbing documentaries, persistence, and design back home, while Nick and Doug play and discuss some Spelunky co-op on the road in New Zealand. Plus a quick interview with Mini Metro's Robert Curry, one of the biggest Spelunky fans we know! Things we discussed: Free Solo The Dawn Wall PRACTICE 2016 Talk - Mastering Movement Notes on t...

We delve deep into the pages of Derek Yu's excellent Spelunky book, from its thoughtful musings on creativity, to its inspiring lessons in game design. A must-read on how our favorite game came to be! Plus some record-breaking Spelunky news, the Weekly Challenge, and more. Things we discussed: Now Play This Low% Hell World Record d_tea's back-to-back World Records Co-op All Journal Entries run Spe...

We return home from the Game Developers Conference with hands-on impressions of the new Spelunky 2 demo, while the muse himself Derek Yu gives us a Spelunky 2 development update. Plus Slay the Spire's Casey Yano talks about the design of their hit roguelike deckbuilder! Things we talked about: GDC Day of the Devs Slay the Spire Dream Quest Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Cyber Shadow

ToeJam & Earl creator Greg Johnson gets funky with us, as we deconstruct his latest entry in the series - Back in the Groove - and discuss his approach to playfulness and accessibility in roguelikes, the lack of cultural diversity in games, and much more. Things we talked about: New Spelunky WR run Dwarf Fortress remaster ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove HumaNature Studios Doki Doki Universe Brog...

Tanya X. Short of Kitfox Games drops by to discuss her co-edited essay collections Procedural Storytelling / Generation in Game Design, as well as her own approach and challenges to procedural narrative in Moon Hunters, and the upcoming Boyfriend Dungeon. Things we talked about: Kitfox Games Procedural Generation in Game Design Procedural Storytelling in Game Design Dwarf Fortress Spelunky Udjet E...

Jay Ma of Subset Games joins us to discuss the design of her excellent sci-fi strategy game Into the Breach, from its Spelunky-inspired high/low-level design, to how they cracked its time-driven gameplay, to why throwing away 80% of their work...worked. Things we talked about: FTL Into the Breach Input / Output Randomness 'Into the Breach' Didn't Click Until I Played it Like an EMT Into the Breach...

Raigan Burns of Metanet Software (N, N+, N++) stops by for a spirited debate on the term "roguelike," as we discuss the tenets of the genre, why (and if) they're important, and how Spelunky fits into it all. Things we talked about: N++ GMTK: Roguelikes, Persistency, and Progression Wandering Towards Interactive Narrative Notes on the Synthesis of Form DoomRL probability 0 Downwell

The creator of Magic: the Gathering, Netrunner, King of Tokyo, and so much of the modern gaming culture we love joins us to talk about finding cohesion in the beautiful randomness of his latest design: the world's first Unique Deck Game, Keyforge. Things we mentioned in the interview: Keyforge ! The Art of Warcast: A Keyforge Special Richard Garfield - Game Boy Geek interview Richard Garfield on L...

We sit down to talk about our favorite games that we played in 2018 - from videogames, to board games, to escape rooms, to Malaysian schoolyard games. Join us for the most diverse GOTY list you'll hear! We'll see you - and Spelunky 2 - in 2019! ... Our GOTY picks ( SPOILERS )   Zach: Dr. Meep Mega Man 11 Noita Pokémon Go Hollow Knight Andy: Wind the Film Into the Breach Azul Cinco Paus Magic: the...

We chat to our own Zach Gage about his 2016 spacefaring strategy game Tharsis, from its roguelike and tabletop influences, to promoting player narrative, to the psychology of randomness. Plus first impressions of Twinfold and Below! Some things we mentioned: The Systems Design of Tharsis Let's Get Physical: Lessons From the Real World How to win Tharsis Twinfold Below

Roguelike expert and advocate Kawa (@KawaiiDragoness) stops by to talk Death in Roguelikes, and the power and potential of the post-death "morgue" experience. We also dig into our relationship to dying in Spelunky, and recount our best deaths! Links from the interview with Kawa: Nethack fanfic dramatic reading Original fic A Trip to the Morgue Roguelike Radio Twitter:  @ kawaiidragoness Discord -...

Spelunky creator Derek Yu joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on his design philosophies for approaching a sequel, embracing chaos in design, and so much more. This is a special one, so brew some tea, grab a pug, and get comfortable!

We dive deep into the core design of Spelunky - what exactly fuels its procedural perfection, and why is its world still so compelling? And what design touches do our listeners love, and which would they send to Hell? Plus some new Spelunky 2 tidbits!

Master trailer craftsman Derek Lieu stops by to go deep on the making of the awesome Spelunky 2 trailer! We talk through his process, the unique challenges of working with a procedural game, and even unearth a few new Spelunky 2 tidbits along the way.

We welcome world-record speedrunners and all-around Spelunky experts Jamie "Kinnijup" White and Aaron "ix" Kearsley to the show! We talk about the culture of competitive Spelunky, recent record-breaking runs, and why speedrunning feels like skateboarding.

The Spelunky Beginner's Guide! For anyone who ever hit a wall, we're here to help. We dive into both the practical and philosophical approach to upping your Spelunky game, and share some great tips submitted by listeners. Plus the first Weekly Challenge!