Indie By Design Podcast

Spanish studio Tequila Works is responsible for both Rime and Deadlight. These games are very different in their presentation and forms of interaction, but they share an indelible quality that has resulted in deserved acclaim for their creator. The studio is young, having only formed in 2009 as a coming together of former employees of gaming companies as diverse as Blizzard, Sony and MercurySteam. Impressively, however, it has already found a voice and given us games that are impactful and memorable to a degree that more established studios have yet to achieve. Here Indie By Design host John Robertson talks to Tequila Works’ CEO and creative director Raul Rubio, as well as lead designer Kevin Sarda, about the design similarities and differences between Rime and Deadlight, the internal direction of the studio itself and how that affects its games and why the two are so dedicated to creating games. Brought to you by the writers and creators of Independent By Design: Art & Stories of Indie Game Creation, the

Jason Rohrer is one of the most admired and respected game designers amongst his peers. Whilst his games are typically considered too individual and challenging to garner wider commercial success across a mainstream audience, there’s no denying the influence he has on those interested in the art and design of videogames. In 2016 he became the first videogame creator to have a solo retrospective of work exhibited in a museum – with arguably his most famous release, Passage, positioned alongside the likes of home security MMO The Castle Doctrine and the impacting, experimental storytelling work Sleep is Death. Indie By Design host John Robertson talks to Rohrer about everything from his early life and how that has influenced him, his family and how those around him impacts his games, the drive for originality and his opinion on some of the less thoughtful responses to his work. Brought to you by the writers and creators of Independent By Design: Art & Stories of Indie Game Creation, the Indie By Design Podc

The Chinese Room was founded by husband and wife duo, Dan Pinchbeck and Jessica Curry. As writer and composer, Pinchbeck and Curry have led their studio to BAFTA wins for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and helped define a genre with Dear Esther, a title that started life as a Source Engine mod. That latter title was in part a response to Pinchbeck’s frustration with games academia of the time, which he felt was too preoccupied with the theory of game design and not enough with the practical application of ideas. He’s kept a foot in the academic world thanks to his position as visiting lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, and ongoing discussions with PhD students. And that’s where we kick off this week’s hour-long chat, with discussion of The Chinese Room’s ties to the world outside of the day-to-day running of a successful indie studio. Later in the episode we talk about the delivery of story through game play, the danger of deskilling over the course of a long project, and Pinchbeck’s frustration with

Ghost Town Games has catapulted to fame following the success of its maiden release, Overcooked - winner of 2 BAFTAS. The game, which tasks players to work together to prepare, cook and serve food, has stolen the hearts of many thanks to its focus on co-ordination, co-operation and its ability to entice those that don’t usually even play games. It does all of this without muting its potential for complexity. Here we to talk Ghost Town’s co-founders and sole permanent members, Phil Duncan and Oli De-Vine, about move away from Frontier Developments, where they worked prior to starting their studio, the origins of Overcooked’s local multiplayer design philosophy, the art of building games to be played in a communal setting and more. 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: @i

For many people, Dean Hall is synonymous with 2012’s free zombie mod, DayZ, which he created for Bohemia Interactive’s ARMA 2 while serving in the armed forces. The startling popularity of that mod led to it being officially acquired by Bohemia and to Hall himself working at the Czech Republic-based development studio on the standalone version of DayZ for two years, before leaving to found his own company in his native New Zealand.   RocketWerkz has since released Out of Ammo, co-developed abandoned title, Ion, and is now working on numerous other projects, including space-station simulation, Stationeers. Known for his outspoken and candid approach to discussing his work, his history and his experiences in the games industry, Dean Hall is also a keen mountaineer who has climbed Mount Cook and Mount Everest. Here, he talks about drawing on his life experiences to help inform his design philosophy, his undiminished desire to tinker with other people’s games and how forums and bulletin boards can sometimes offe

  The UK-based Freejam Games has catapulted itself to fame in recent years thanks to the success of Robocraft, a shooter in which you build your own robot and take it online to do battle with and against other creators. With player numbers in the millions and Freejam expanding from its initial handful of founders to a studio now boasting over 40 employees, the team makes for an excellent case study regarding the continued success of the UK independent games industry. Here we talk to CEO Mark Simmons and art director Richard Turner, two of Freejam’s founders, about the origins of the company, their approach to growth over the short and long term, the lessons learned from listening to community feedback and much more. We begin our interview with Mark Simmons explaining the earliest origins of Robocraft. Richard Turner, for reference, is the speaker with the deeper, slightly louder voice. Brought to you by the writers and creators of Independent By Design: Art & Stories of Indie Game Creation, the Indie By D

UK-based Mode 7 Games was founded by Paul Kilduff-Taylor and Ian Hardingham and is best known for creating top-down turn-based tactical combat titles, Frozen Synapse and Frozen Synapse 2. They’ve also applied the turn-based strategic treatment to a futuristic sports title in the form of Frozen Cortex and, before any of that, they created Determinance, a sword-fighting multiplayer title in which you fly around crossing blades and wits using one-to-one mouse movements to drive combat. In addition to developing its own titles, Mode 7 is making forays into publishing games. Tokyo 42, developed by creative partnership Smac Games, is the first game to be released by Mode 7 acting in a publisher capacity. Here, Paul Kilduff-Taylor talks about his creative roles as musician, writer, designer and business developer, the useful lessons of perceived failure and how to stand out from the crowd. He begins by explaining how Mode 7 transitioned from flying sword-fights to turn-based tactics. Brought to you by the writers an

UK studio Roll7 is best known for Not A Hero and its OlliOlli series, but the three-man team has been involved in the creation of games for many more years than its number of high-profile releases indicate.  Directed by Simon Bennett, Tom Hegarty and John Ribbins, Roll7 has worked with the UK government on educating young people in game design, worked on advertising projects with large brands and dabbled in the creation of games based around brain-interface technology. Here we talk to John Ribbins, chief game designer at Roll7, about his earliest memories creating games, his entry into Roll7, the studio's diverse history and 'house style' and more. 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/pri

Introversion Software was founded in 2001 by three friends not long out of university. Together, Chris Delay, Mark Morris and Tom Arundel pooled their varied skill sets and talents to help fuel the creative process and to enter a competition to write a business plan, the grand prize for which was £10,000. It was to prove a pivotal moment in the fledgling company’s history. While they didn’t win the competition, it did enable the founding members to begin to establish the creative and managerial blueprint they would use over the next decade and a half. In that time, Introversion Software has grown through the many lows and highs of independent game development against the ever changing backdrop of this creative medium. Here, Mark Morris talks about Introversion’s outlook on game creation, the dangers of design by committee and how the company’s greatest strengths have come to light over time. He first outlines the company’s early days and how the roles of the three founders, alongside that of company co-direct

Devolver describes itself a purveyor of entertainment created by independent artists from around the world. Some of its best known game releases include Hotline Miami, the Serious Sam series, Not A Hero and Luftrausers, with developers such as Dennaton, Croteam, Roll7 and Vlambeer counted as amongst its game development partners. Devolver's founders had previously started Gathering of Developers, a publisher fuelled by the idea of creating a mutually beneficial ecosystem between independent game designer and publisher, in which the creator would retain full control over their project. After it was acquired in 2000 by Take-Two Interactive, Gathering of Developers quickly disintegrated. The founders left and the publisher’s operation was blended into the Take-Two owned 2K Games brand. Devolver Digital shares the same core philosophy of Gathering of Developers, the focus being on allowing independent creators to showcase a work that they retain full control over. Graeme Struthers, part of the small core team tha