Indie By Design Podcast

A new console generation is almost upon, so we discuss what it is that we'd like to see them achieve over the next 5-7 years - from the opportunities brought about thanks to their hardware to business model changes and core game design modifications.Have your own opinion? We want to hear it.Come chat to us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and tell us about the games you've loved and, for whatever reason, have decided to let go.A video version of this podcast is available at https://www.youtube.com/c/indiebydesignhttps://www.indiebydesign.net/podcastMusic by Ben Prunty. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's Halloween and so this week we're focused on the thrills and impact of horror games and how they work to make us feel scared.What is it about horror games that scare us? How do game developers go about tempting us to both feel fear and want to carry on playing?Come chat to us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and tell us about the games that have scared you and why.A video version of this podcast is available at https://www.youtube.com/c/indiebydesignhttps://www.indiebydesign.net/podcastMusic by Ben Prunty. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With new consoles imminent, we're putting ourselves on the spot and revealing which games we think are the PS4/Xbox One generation's best. Join us, agree with us and disagree with us as look back at the past seven years of great games.Have your own opinion? We want to hear it.Come chat to us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and tell us about the games you've loved and, for whatever reason, have decided to let go.A video version of this podcast is available at https://www.youtube.com/c/indiebydesignhttps://www.indiebydesign.net/podcastMusic by Ben Prunty. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hades. The whole world is playing it, talking about it and podcasting about it, but what makes it so special? Is it a Game of the Year contender? Is it a new benchmark for roguelikes? Come chat to us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and tell us what you think of Hades.A video version of this podcast is available at https://www.youtube.com/c/indiebydesignhttps://www.indiebydesign.net/podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all have games that we love, games we think of as amongst the best we've ever experienced. Some of the games we personally love are considered the greatest of all time, some are thought to be overrated and others are criminally underappreciated and forgotten.We all have games, too, that we love but wouldn't want to play again. This episode sees John Robertson and Stace Harman discuss which games fall into this category for them and why.Have your own opinion? We want to hear it.Come chat to us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and tell us about the games you've loved and, for whatever reason, have decided to let go.A video version of this podcast is available at https://www.youtube.com/c/indiebydesignhttps://www.indiebydesign.net/podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to Gaming, the podcast from Indie By Design.This show is, surprisingly enough, about games - with each weekly episode dedicated to delving into and answering a single question about them. Why is that game so good (or bad)?What is it about that piece of game design that works so well? Which game do you absolutely love but would never play again?Is Big Bird the original chocobo?Your hosts are John Robertson and Stace Harman - long-time game design and narrative consultants and authors of books that celebrate the culture and greatness of videogames. You can find out more about that at IndieByDesign.netEpisodes are released every Thursday, starting 8 Oct 2020.Find us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and join us on our Discord server where you can mingle with other game-loving folk just like yourself.See you soon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to 'Games that made us', an ongoing series within the Indie By Design podcast in which hosts Stace Harman and John Robertson explore and discuss the games that have most powerfully inspired and influenced their lives inside and outside of the traditional gaming space. In this episode John Robertson interviews Stace Harman regarding the impact that The Secret of Monkey Island has had on everything from his subsequent tastes in games to his relationship with his brother at the time. Follow us Twitter: @IndieByDesign Web: IndieByDesign.net See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What is the current state of the videogame critic and what might it be? How do audiences and critics currently relate to one another? What is the purpose of criticism itself? Is a review that acts as a buyer's guide a form of criticism or not? Stace Harman and John Robertson attempt to answer these questions and more in the 22nd episode of the Indie By Design podcast. Follow us on Twitter @IndieByDesign. Visit IndieByDesign.net for more podcasts and information on our published and upcoming books and games. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In terms of both quality and form, what is it that makes a multiplayer game a game worth playing and/or a multiplayer game at all? Can, for example, a single player game be a multiplayer game if you choose to consume it as a group?  Stace Harman and John Robertson delve into these questions and more in this episode that focuses on the nature of multiplayer gaming. This episode includes discussion on Dungeons & Dragons and tabletop games, as well as videogames. More episodes: IndieByDesign.net Twitter: @indiebydesign See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We play games, but why and how do we play them? Compared to other mediums - such as cinema and literature - games have a wide variety of means when it comes to absorbing and consuming them and this can affect the how and why of our playing of them. In this episode Stace Harman and John Robertson discuss how they prefer to play games, why they play them at all and if/how this has changed as they've gotten older and their tastes have changed. Mentioned games include Dishonored, Firewatch, Destiny 2, Darkest Dungeon, Fortnite and more. Be warned that minor spoilers are revealed for some of the discussed games.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode Stace Harman and John Robertson of Indie By Design talk about the themes, impact and direction of Dontnod's Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 and whether or not they are so far impressed with the new cast of characters and their world. ***This episode contains spoilers. It is recommended that you finish Life is Strange 2: Episode 1 before listening.*** See IndieByDesign.net for more podcasts, as well as books and other original videogame content. Twitter: @indiebydesign   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week's IBD podcast features James Cox and Mike Dailly, general manager and head of development respectively at YoYo Games, curators of the GamerMaker Studio toolset. That makes this episode of the podcast a bit different to the norm, because while we usually speak to the people behind the games, this week we're speaking to the people behind the people behind the games. The first iteration of Gamer Maker, called Animo, was released by Mark Overmars in 1999. Since then it's gone through dozens of iterations on its way to Game Maker 8.1, before becoming the multiplatform-supporting GameMaker: Studio in 2012 and now, as of March 2017, GameMaker Studio 2. Many, many games that you'll have heard of and probably played have been created using this software, and so we sat down with James and Mike to talk about helping developers create many a memorable title, the democratisation of tools, learning on the job, combating hackers and piracy and much more.   Brought to you by the writers and creators of Independent

In this episode of the IBD podcast we talk to Tim Conkling, creator of strategy title and digital board game, Antihero.  We discuss design inspiration, Steam reviews, AI programming and curiously titled locations, such as the Salty Nonce and Windy Bottom. Before all of that, however, we start with talk of games that have made the leap from the physical tabletop to the virtual one. Games such as Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Talisman, Warhammer Quest and many more besides, and to what extent Tim played those games for the purposes of education, motivation and inspiration for his own development journey of Antihero. Brought to you by the writers and creators of Independent By Design: Art & Stories of Indie Game Creation, the Indie By Design Podcast (IBD) is the show that goes behind the scenes to explore the world of game design and game designers. Visit us at indiebydesign.net - Twitter: @indiebydesign - Facebook/independentbydesign Music by Ben Prunty. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out

In this episode we’re talking to Felix Bohatsch co-founder of Broken Rules - the studio behind Old Man’s Journey, one of 2017’s most mesmerising and engaging games. It’s also a game that asks us to look within ourselves in order to interpret the events and themes of the game. We’ll be talk about that and more with Felix. Games typically ask us to inject ourselves into them, whether that’s by simply interacting with a button in order to open a door and progress to the next area or if it's by selecting dialogue options or making other kinds of decisions that gives us a seemingly subjective control over the plot. Fewer games ask us to both inject ourselves into them and allow ourselves to be injected by them. Old Man’s Journey demands that kind of open relationship between player and game. If you’re not prepared to try and define a personal interpretation of the happenings on screen then you’re not getting the full experience. Felix Bohatsch elaborates of this idea throughout this episode of the Indie By Design

Alex Thomas is co-founder of development studio Stoic, the team responsible for The Banner Saga series of games. Alex has also released stealthy heist management title, Killers and Thieves, which he developed alone and published though Stoic. Here, he gives a raw account of his time developing Killers and Thieves, offering an honest assessment of his successes and failures throughout the project and highlighting what he believes have been the downsides of a low-key launch. There's also discussion of why Alex avoided Early Access for Killers and Thieves but why he believes it could absolutely be the right way to go for a future release, the pressures of delivering on a successful Kickstarter campaign for The Banner Saga and his time writing the currently in-development Banner Saga 3. We start this week's episode with talk about the formation of Stoic, the company Alex founded alongside John Watson and Arnie Jorgensen, whom he worked with at BioWare on Star Wars: The Old Republic.    Visit us at Patreon.com/Ind

Gone Home was one of the first games upon which the term ‘walking simulator’ was bestowed, games in which you move around an environment, seeking out interactive artefacts and/or triggering audio and video logs that, together, tell a story - the interaction and player agency coming from the order and pacing through which you uncover moments of interest. Your resultant depth of understanding is determined by how far you're willing to explore both the world around you and how you decide to interpret what you've seen, heard and ingested. Here Steve Gaynor of The Fullbright Company (Gone Home, Tacoma) talks to Indie By Design's John Robertson about the progress he and his studio has made since Gone Home, what is the core nature of his games and how he goes about constructing and designing them. We also discuss his work on the Bioshock series and where games as a whole sit within wider culture and why they find themselves in their current position.  Find more by Indie By Design at IndieByDesign.net | Twitter: @Ind

Housemarque is famed for its downloadable console games including Super Stardust, Dead Nation, Alienation and PS4 launch title Resogun. The veteran Finnish developer has made a name for itself crafting, precise, polished, technically accomplished and visually striking titles in publishing partnership with Sony. With its latest title, Nex Machina, launching for both PS4 and PC, Housemarque is taking its first step into self-publishing. Working in collaboration with pioneering developer Eugene Jarvis, who created arcade classics such as Defender, Robotron: 2084 and Smash TV, Nex Machina represents both a refinement and evolution of Housemarque’s design principles, as well as an opportunity for the developer to directly benefit from establishing and retaining its own IP. Here, Housemarque CEO Ilari Kuittinen and head of publishing Mikael Haveri discuss how the decision to self-publish has led to greater autonomy, a collaboration with Eugene Jarvis and how a game titled "Death Machine" could mean a new lease of

In this special additional episode of the Indie By Design podcast Stace Harman and John Robertson round-up and discuss those indie games that have stuck out for them from E3 2017 and chat about the nature of E3 as a forum for such games. Games discussed include: A Way Out, Materfall, Griftlands, Nidhogg 2, Donut County, Ruiner, The Swords of Ditto, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Nex Machina, Steamworld Dig 2 and more. A video version of this episode is available via YouTube. IndieByDesign.net Twitter: @indiebydesign - Facebook/indiebydesign - Patreon.com/indiebydesign See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is it a game, isn’t it a game – this is a question becoming increasingly popular in discussion about certain games and has certainly, for better or worse, been the central topic around which a lot of criticism of Variable State’s Virginia has revolved. We talk to the studio’s co-founder Jonathan Burroughs about his reaction to that question, whether it’s a meaningful point of enquiry, the design goals of Virginia and much more over the course of the interview coming. If you’ve ever played Virginia, and we recommend you do or at least watch some of the playthrough we have on our YouTube channel, you’ll know that it’s a game that celebrates ambiguity and subjectiveness in storytelling – and it’s these discussion about these aspects that kick off our conversation with Jonathan. Visit us at IndieByDesign.net - Twitter: @indiebydesign - Facebook.com/IndieByDesign - YouTube - Patreon.com/IndieByDesign   Music by Ben Prunty. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Giant Sparrow and the studio's creative director Ian Dallas state that their goal is to make the world a stranger, more interesting place. With both The Unfinished Swan and What Remains of Edith Finch they have certainly realised that ongoing ambition. Both The Unfinished Swan and Edith Finch are games that present striking, stylishly presented visual narratives and that feature poignant tales with ample room for personal interpretation. Their highly subjective stories make for games that will mean very different things to different people but, regardless of your personal take, both offer an interesting space to explore. It's with this notion in mind that we begin this week's hour-long chat with Ian Dallas, discussing how we, as players, determine the boundaries of our virtual playgrounds so as to better understand the freedom of our interactive journeys. A complete, 3-part, no-commentary playthrough of What Remains of Edith Finch can be found on our YouTube channel. Subscribe for games with no nonsense.  Bro