Perceptive Podcast

For this Perceptive Podcast, I sat down with Martin from Soupmasters to talk about making Big Boy Boxing, and how they're trying to elevate the boss rush, Punch-Out style to something greater. Twitter: https://twitter.com/realsoupmasters Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1680780/Big_Boy_Boxing/ Discord Link: http://soupmasters.com/discord

For this podcast, I sat down with Exorcissa who is currently working on the game Inheritance: Ladeina's Path, an adults-only game. We discussed what it's like to make a game specifically aimed at adults and juggle that with being on Steam. The conversation was safe for work (nothing graphic was mentioned), but the links below are arguably not.

For this perceptive podcast, I sat down with Gabi and Eric from Emerald City Games to talk about the studio's Kickstarter for the game Project Bubblegum -- a four player beat-em-up. We spoke about designing the combat system and getting the feel right, and what is happening with the Kickstarter that is going on as of the time of posting this video. The Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emeraldcitygames/project-bubblegum https://www.facebook.com/ECGBubblegum https://www.instagram.com/ecgbubblegum/ https://twitter.com/ecgbubblegum https://www.youtube.com/@ECGBubblegum https://www.tiktok.com/@bubblegum_social https://discord.gg/eGNcH5vFxr https://www.twitch.tv/ecgbubblegum https://www.reddit.com/r/Project_Bubblegum/

For this perceptive podcast, I sat down with Camila Gormaz and Pablo Videla from This I Dreamt to talk about Long Gone Days. We spoke about how the project began, what it was like creating a game in a modern setting and trying to balance the story with the JRPG-inspired combat.

2023 Has been a great time for gamers, but this year has been not so great for the people making the games. For our Key to Games cast topic, we're talking about what is going on and what could it mean going forward with our guest: Game Economist and designer Ramin Shokrizade.

For this roundtable talk, our panel discussed the addictive nature of idle design: why do we love watching numbers go up, when doesn't this work, and is there such a thing as an elevated idle game.

For this developer interview, I spoke with Joel Potter from Studio Primitive who is working on the shmup Attack of the Karens. We talked about designing his first shmup, where the concept came from, and the challenges of balancing this with the roguelite elements.

For this Perceptive Podcast, I spoke with game designer, journalist, and photographer, Jon Cousins to talk about designing the game I Am Yours -- a game meant to explore the emotions around a traumatic event. We talked about game journalism and being an indie developer, along with the challenges of walking that line between telling an emotionally driven story and not trying to glamorize or downplay its meaning for a game. You can play it on Itch: https://eigotaku.itch.io/i-am-yours Jon's Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamyoursgame Jon's Blog/Site: https://eigotaku.com/

For this Perceptive Podcast, I'm talking with Christopher Bischke from Daylight Basement Studio to discuss their game Rightfully, Beary Arms that just released on early access. We spoke about making their first rogue-lite and the challenges of balancing the elements there. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1928030/Rightfully_Beary_Arms/ twitter: https://twitter.com/DayliteBasement discord: https://discord.gg/5RmvYfN

For this perceptive podcast, I spoke with Chris Kohler, Editorial Director from Digital Eclipse to discuss how the studio is trying to raise the quality and bar for game preservation around the industry. We spoke about their plans for the Gold Master series and where the studio wants to see game preservation go. We also discuss what is special about the Making of Karateka and the extra features and options that are going into it, and the other gold master series.

For this developer interview, I'm speaking with Charles from Unearthed Studios who went from modding to working on a game with the Titan Quest expansion Eternal Embers for a chat about his studio, ARPG design, and more. *giveaway is on the youtube version.

For this roundtable discussion, our group talked about Darkest Dungeon 2 and the rise of difficult games. Why it's a lot harder than you might think to make a hard game, and what are the reasons and repellents of difficult design?

For this perceptive podcast, I interviewed self-taught indie developer Lee Easson about working on his first game Odd Infinitum. We discussed what it's like to learn game dev today and how that has changed over the years and the challenges it brings to indie developers. https://twitter.com/lee_eassonhttps://oxoniangames.itch.io/odd-infinitumhttps://ljeasson.com/

For this Key to Games Podcast, we're talking about game jams and how they have benefited developers around the world. The Game Wisdom Game Jam link: https://itch.io/jam/game-wisdom-game-jam

An interview with indie developer Tomas Sala who created the Falconeer and is currently working on the game Bulwark Falconeer Chronicles.

For this perspective podcast, I spoke with Adriaan Jansen from Abbey Games to catch up about how the studio is doing since our last conversation. We spoke about the challenges of creating Godhood, Renowned Explorers International Society, and more. For our main topic, we talked about recreating Reus with its sequel, and how the studio is changing things up compared to the first.

For this perceptive podcast I spoke with the designer of Horace: Paul Helman. We talked about how the development of the game went and the challenges of fine-tuning the various elements of it.

Part 4 of our look at the Shooter genre is all about how the singleplayer side came back in the 2010's with the likes of Bulletstorm, Doom, and the early arrival of "Boomer Shooters".

For this perceptive podcast, I sat down with Sinister Design's Craig Stern to catch up about RPG design and his latest game Together in Battle. We talked about adding more relationship and character development to an SRPG without taking away the player's control or tactics.

For this perceptive podcast, I spoke with Nathan Haddock from Lateralis Heavy Industries who developed the game OTXO. We spoke about the kind of action design Nathan wanted to focus on and balancing the high-speed play with the roguelike elements.

Part 3 of our look at the Shooter genre focusing on the 2010's, when more RPGs elements were added to shooters and the rise of the "Role Playing Shooter".

For this developer interview on the Perceptive Podcast, I spoke with Endo who for their first indie dev game is working on Scholar of the Arcane Arts, a game that combines roguelike and emergent design. We spoke about what it's like designing a high-level concept, learning game dev for the first time, and the balancing considerations of trying not to go overboard in terms of game design. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1650200/Scholar_of_the_Arcane_Arts/ publisher: https://twitter.com/ESDigital_Games

For this perceptive podcast, I spoke with game designer Moritz Wagner from Mimimi Games to talk about the studio's history, stealth design, and their upcoming game Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. We spoke about how the studio pivoted towards stealth/strategy with Shadow Tactics, and a whole lot on the ins and outs of stealth design. From there, we talked about Shadow Gambit and how the studio is trying to make a more accessible stealth experience, while still providing the challenge for their fans.

We're continuing our chat about the history of the shooter genre, this time, focusing on the 2000's with the rise of spectacle shooters, and the move towards more set piece design for the genre.

For this perceptive podcast, I sat down with Morningstar Game Studio's Matt Bitner to talk about the development of A Robot Named Fight, and his next game Kop Killer 22xx. We discussed the challenges of creating the structure of Fight, from procgen to balance, and then talked about his plans for Kop Killer. Discord: https://discord.com/invite/MorningStarGameStudio Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/arobotnamedfighthttps://twitter.com/morningstar_gshttps://twitter.com/RobotNamedFight

How did Vampire Survivors go from a little-known game, to arguably the biggest success story of 2022? Our panel discusses what made the game so special, and where everyone else is trying to chase after it or go beyond it. Joshua: Joshua's Twitter: https://twitter.com/casul_scrub Joshua's Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/casulgamestudiohttps://store.steampowered.com/app/1852240/Samurai_Pig__The_Way_of_the_Rooster/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1308960/Rooster_Rampage/ Tomo: https://twitter.com/EpicTavern And join the discord here: discord.gg/epictavern https://store.steampowered.com/app/517720/Epic_Tavern/ Seth: Website: https://www.thestrategyinformer.com/ Steam Curator: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38010575/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheStrategyInf1https://strategyinformer.carrd.co/https://sjgold.carrd.co/

For this perceptive podcast, I sat down with Mireneye from Twinlake Minstrals to discuss developing their first major game Dynasthir -- a 3D action RPG. We spoke about their goal in developing it, working in Unreal, and other aspects of the game's development. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2145210/Dynasthir/

https://mireneye.itch.io/dynasthir

https://discord.gg/eFv6gAmMgX

https://twitter.com/Mireneye

For this cast, I spoke with the COO of Global Top Round Rick Nahm for a discussion about his company and what it's like for investors and publishers to invest in video game studios. We spoke about the accelerator program that GTR offers, and a talk about how the market for video games in South Korea has changed over the past decade, as well as tips for indie developers who are looking for a publisher/investor in their studio.  During the call, we did have sound issues and I did incorrectly say GXC instead of GRT.

When are games no longer just a game? The recent controversies surrounding Atomic Heart and Hogwarts Legacy is our subject for this week's Key to Games podcast and we brought flame shields for everyone.

The use of AI programs to generate text and art is a major point about the tech sector today, and for this week's key to games podcast, we're going to talk about what that could mean for gamedev, and whether or not that's a good thing.

For this Perceptive Podcast, I'm speaking with Joshua Steinhauer who is the lead designer on the game Ardenfall -- an open-world RPG to discuss building the game, RPG design and more.  https://store.steampowered.com/app/1154960/Ardenfall/ https://twitter.com/joshcamas

For this week's Key to Games cast, we're talking about how context can greatly impact the design and mechanics of a game.  

My youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/game-wisdom

• Joshua's Twitter: https://twitter.com/casul_scrub 
• Joshua's Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/casulgamestudio
•  https://store.steampowered.com/app/1852240/Samurai_Pig__The_Way_of_the_Rooster/
•  https://store.steampowered.com/app/1308960/Rooster_Rampage/ 
• https://casulgamestudio.net/

Being able to analyze games is an important skill for designers, but many people only look at the best video games. For this Key to Games Podcast, we're talking about why you should play every game, even the ones that aren't rated so high

For this perceptive podcast, I spoke with Erik Andersen about his upcoming game So to Speak. We discussed designing a game about learning Japanese and still providing entertainment as well as education.

An interview with Liam Edwards who is the designer behind Cursed to Golf. We spoke about how the "golf-like" came to be, and what it's like to see people already breaking it.

For this Perceptive Podcast, I'm speaking with Keirron Stach from A Few Dragons to talk about the indie studio. We spoke about their games Lightsmith and The Sacred Acorn and the challenge of working on two projects at once.

We're back with another key to games cast. This week, the sad and disturbing news around Disco Elysium frames our discussion about leads and what does it mean to run and manage a game project.

For this perceptive podcast, I spoke with Andrei Krotkov who is working on the MMO Genfanad to try and bridge the gap between the live service games of today and MMOG design of the past. Due to google hangouts causing problems, my voice is not going to sound right for this cast. We spoke about the design of the game, trying to make a MMOG in 2022, and more.

For this Perceptive Podcast, I spoke with Mario who is currently working on the game Rogue Command: combining deck building, roguelikes, and RTS into one game. We spoke about the design of the game and balancing all these different elements together.  https://store.steampowered.com/app/1461910/Rogue_Command/ https://twitter.com/rogue_command

The big GTA 6 leak gives us an opportunity to talk about what and when to reveal information about your game, and the challenge when it comes to being an indie dev

I'm speaking with Zachtronic's Zach Barth for this Perceptive Podcast to talk about what's next for him with Zachtronics' stopping game development, Last Call BBS and more.

With Xbox now adding the metric of how long a game will take to beat, for this key to games cast we're talking about video game length, how quick is too quick and how long is too long?

Franchises are a popular way to keep a studio going, but is there a point where sequels are just not working anymore? For this key to games podcast we're talking sequelitis and how it can even strike indie dev

For this Perceptive Podcast, I'm talking with Andy and Valerie from the indie studio Pixel Play to talk about their studio, games and game dev.

For this perceptive podcast, I spoke with Nodbrim Interactive's Martin Kupski to talk about his studio and his upcoming game. At the time of the interview the game was Westmark Legacy, but it has been renamed to The Foretold Westmark Legacy

For this week's episode of the key to games podcast, it's easy to keep adding ideas to videogames, but where is that point when you're just creating an overly complicated mess?

For this week's episode of the key to games podcast, we're talking about the three letter word that critics hate to use with videogames "fun". What makes a game fun and is there a way to explain it?

For our Strategy Design roundtable this episode, we're talking about the use of strategy games in education, and what these games can teach us.

testFor this week's episode of the key to games podcast, with all the talks of reboots and remakes, we wanted to talk about if games have an expiration date, and when is it time to reboot or remake?

An interview with Gideon Griebenow who is the designer of the game World Turtles. We spoke about working on his first major game and the lessons he's learned.