Hey and welcome back to the show! On the mic with us this week is Creative Director at Thunder Lotus, Nicolas Guérin. An industry veteran of 20 years, Nick worked on AAA titles like the Assassin's Creed franchise before working on the beloved indie game Spiritfarer. We discuss the themes of his upcoming project At Fate's End, the artistry of Rayman Origins, and how games can help us process our feelings. With music from Incognizant!

*Spiritfarer Spoilers: 39:18-44:22*

LINKS:

🎮 At Fate's End: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2210150/At_Fates_End/

🪷 Thunder Lotus Games: https://bsky.app/profile/thunderlotusgames.com

💿 Incognizant: https://incognizant.bandcamp.com/

After a holiday hiatus, Pixel Pizza is hatching into the new year with Austo, lead developer at New Future Kids ✨ He's currently working on the cozy digital pet sim Bobo Bay! We discuss building upon the influences of Sonic Adventure 2's beloved Chao Garden mode, building a community on Patreon, water physics, and more. With music from Falling Starheart!

LINKS:

🎮 Bobo Bay: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1889810/Bobo_Bay/

☁️ Austo on Bluesky: http://austofrosto.bsky.social

👾 Bobo Bay Discord: https://discord.com/invite/HjBn4B6X47

💿 Falling Starheart: https://fallingstarheart.bandcamp.com/

Suit up for an all-new Pixel Pizza! Joining us from Chicago is the President of Trinket Studios, Tom Eastman. You may know their work from the Kickstarter success Battle Chef Brigade and the recently released sci-fi deckbuilder Battle Suit Aces 🚀 Tom shares stories about his time working on games for Disney, how he formed a three-person studio, and the unique challenges of developing and marketing a visual novel/deckbuilding game. Featuring music from P Crema!

LINKS:

☁️ Tom's BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tom.trinketstudios.com

✉️ Trinket Studios Newsletter: https://trinketstudios.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=834b406929647d10102efe915&id=6fd2af1b22

👾 Trinket Studios Discord: https://discord.com/invite/trinketstudios

💿 P Crema: https://pcrema.bandcamp.com/

Sitting down with us this week is the incredibly talented animator Aniket Natekar! Aniket most recently was Animation Director on one of this year's breakout hit games, Dispatch. Aniket discusses his beginnings in animated film, entering the game industry at Hangar 13, and the process behind some of Dispatch's most hard-hitting scenes. Featuring chiptune music from Aubery aka Elysian Tunes!

LINKS:

📸 Aniket's Instagram: @aniket.natekar

💼 Aniket's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniket-natekar-143aa04/

💿 Elysian Tunes: https://elysiantunes.bandcamp.com/

We're back after a holiday break with a jam-packed new episode! This week we are joined by Dmitry Minsky of the Lithuanian game studio Button Mash. The demo of their upcoming typing battle royale game, Final Sentence, has been making waves on Steam for its unique premise and addictive gameplay loop.

Dmitry goes into the many failed projects it took before finding success, the importance of keeping a game idea "on freeze" for the right time, and how many hours there REALLY are in a day. Featuring DnB music from Baychimo!

LINKS:

🎮 Final Sentence Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4021860/Final_Sentence_Demo/

💼 Dmitry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmitryminsky/

💿 Baychimo: https://baychimo.bandcamp.com/

Joining us this week is developer of the beloved Runner series, Mike Roush of Choice Provisions! We revisit Mike's career through his days at Santa Cruz Games, then making his own games at the beginning of digital distribution for consoles and mobile, all the way to his more recent work with Riot Games on Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story. Plus, we go deep into our shared love and memories of David Bowie 💫 Featuring music from OGNOMO!

LINKS:

🌐 Choice Provisions Website: https://choiceprovisions.com/

🎮 Choice Provisions Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Choice%20Provisions

💿 OGNOMO: https://ognomo.bandcamp.com/

Put on your nicest pair of headphones and get ready for a masterful audio experience with music designer Seth Wright! Seth's brought his talents to acclaimed titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Marvel's Iron Man VR, and Batman: Arkham Shadow. Most recently he's gone freelance and founded Wright Music Interactive. We discuss the making of those projects and a bunch more on this week's show! Featuring music from Waddoop 🐸

LINKS:

💼 Seth's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-wright-04305a173/

✉️ Seth's Email: Sethwrightmusic@gmail.com

💿 Waddoop: https://waddoop.bandcamp.com/

We are back with a brand new game industry interview, and it's a blast! WayForward Producer Austin Ivansmith joins us to talk about his directorial process on games like DuckTales Remastered and The Mummy Demastered, as well as the live TV-like interactive experience Silent Hill: Ascension. We also discuss unconventional ways to communicate your vision to your teammates, typos in emails, and woodworking. With music from Grounds.!

LINKS:

☁️ Austin's Bluesky: ivandashsmith.bsky.social

🐦 Austin's Twitter: @Ivandashsmith

🌐 Austin's Website: www.austinivansmithgames.com

💿 Grounds: https://gggrrrooouuunnndddsss.bandcamp.com/