Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

In this 2nd installment of our latest deep-dive miniseries, the crew continue to discuss “yahtzee roguelike” Slice & Dice, a host favorite that has made our GOTY list for two years running. We're joined once again by series guest co-host Darius Kazemi, as well as very special guest Michael Brough (!), whose own roguelike Cinco Paus is one of the cited inspirations behind Slice

We're joined by Animal Well's sole developer Billy Basso and his business partner Dan Adelman to discuss their genre-defying/defining, steeped-in-secrets hit. Plus special guest co-host Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything), as we dig deep into the game's slow-burn development, the iteration of its manifold gameplay (and other) layers, and the delicate balance of stoking the fires o

In the first installment of our Slice & Dice deep-dive miniseries, the crew head Into the Depths with the “yahtzee roguelike” that's shown up on our GOTY list for two years running. We're joined by interactive artist/developer Darius Kazemi to help introduce the game and share beginner tips from our (significant) playtime, and get into its unique combination of maximalist desig

Left to our own devices without a guest, we get a little goofy - thankfully our listener letters overfloweth, so we dive into a few of them. Thanks, listeners! Show Notes: Jupiter Sunrise Dinner with the Band GeoGuesser World Cup 2023 Knytt Seiklus Daniels: Why We Tell The Stories We Tell Pale Fire

Four of ours hosts went to the 2024 Game Developers Conference, and we lived to share anecdotes, interesting games we saw, and the highlights (and injuries) of our week! Also, Rob chases down a handful of other lovely devs to tell us the best/hardest things about making games right now. Show Notes: Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure Experimental Game Workshop Museum of Mechanics:

We're joined by LocalThunk, solo creator of the hypnotic deckbuilder Balatro. We discuss flauting the fashion of a genre and going into development blind, the benefits of balacing by feel, and why Balatro shouldn't exist. Show Notes: Balatro LocalThunk Big two Luck Be a Landlord Slice & Dice Slay the Spire Risk of Rain 2

We're joined by renowned designer Eric Chahi (Another World, From Dust) to discuss his singularly surreal VR adventure Paper Beast. We discuss building a living ecosystem born from constraints, how the craft has changed over the decades, and the indecency of technology. Show Notes: Eric Chahi Paper Beast Another World From Dust Heart of Darkness Strandbeest TsuShiMaMiRe Paprika Pal

We're joined by Jon Ingold, co-founder of Inkle Studios (80 Days, Heaven's Vault) to discuss A Highland Song - a wild adventure through the Scottish Highlands. We chat about creating narrative-driven games without a critical path, allowing players to fail forward, and the origins of Inkle's beloved narrative scripting language, ink. Show Notes: Jon Ingold A Highland Song Inkle Stud

We (belatedly) celebrate the 5th anniversary of our show with a sprawling, silly, reflective episode with a full house of hosts! Thanks for listening to us for all this time.

We welcome Rob Dubbin (he/they) as a permanent member of the host pool! We discuss his journey from Late Night into making games, applicable lessons learned in the writers' room, and the importance of making your own shot. Show Notes: Rob Dubbin NYU Game Center Babycastles Wonderville Game Studies Study Buddies I Am America (And So Can You!) Earl Grey ZZT by Anna Anthropy London Je