The Spelunky Showlike

In the third installment of our miniseries, we discuss Noita's worldbuilding, secrets in game culture, games as toys, tutorialization (or lack thereof), and the conflicts of wandcrafting. Some things we discussed: Noita Arcane Kids Manife$to Magicians Trilogy Rain World Noita 101 - Tips for new players Else Heart.Break() My Summer Car - Early Access trailer TIS-100

Tom Francis (Gunpoint, Heat Signature) crashes in to discuss his upcoming small-scale strategy game Tactical Breach Wizards, how he finds and focuses on the cores of his games, and the narrative systems that make them sing. Some things we discussed: Tom Francis Gunpoint Heat Sig Tactical Breach Wizards (new walkthrough) RPS: What Works And Why Morphblade Imbroglio GameMaker Into the Breach The GIPF Project Dawn of War: Dark Crusade Dishonored Brick Design Talk: Difficulty is Random

In the second installment of our miniseries, we discuss our different play styles, wand customization, building games around online communities, and our experiences with - and the implementation of - Noita's Daily Challenge. Some things we discussed: Noita Risk of Rain Zach's badass barrel kick Noita 101 - Tips for new players Wand Stats - Noita Notes 4

Martin Jonasson (holedown) joins us to extract the juiciness that powers his "delightful spectacle of bouncing," reveals the truth behind his rounded corners, and discusses the aesthetic and scope commitments that drove games like twofold inc. and rymdkapsel. Some things we discussed: grapefrukt games holedown twofold, inc. rymdkapsel jesus vs. dinosaurs Juice it or lose it Breakout: Pilgrim in the Microworld experimental gameplay project vectorpark

In this first installment of our new miniseries focused on Noita (with guest co-host Bennett Foddy), we share our early stories and beginner tips, discuss the genealogy of the game, and contemplate how we feel about shooting being its primary verb.  Some things we discussed: Noita Bennett Foddy Crayon Physics Deluxe The Swapper Baba Is You Liero Worms Kuron and the Jelly Islands Sisu

Tyriq Plummer (Catacomb Kids, UFO 50) joins us to discuss the guts and evolution of his long-term roguelike project, how he stays motivated, and making his minions matter. Plus a very special show announcement! Some things we discussed: Tyriq Plummer Catacomb Kids UFO 50 Our new Discord! Noita Made out of Meat: Health Systems in Video Games Tyriq's dev streams Pixelation.org Aesop Rock Sachin Teng Basic Animation Aesthetics by David OReilly The External World The Amazing World of Gumball

Andrea Roberts of Wonderbelly Games talks to us about her brand-new bouncy dungeon crawler Roundguard! We discuss physics as a system of uncertainty, combining Peggle with a roguelike formula, and using that formula to create player friendliness. Things we discussed: Roundguard Spelunky 2 PS Blog post Dunklords Peggle Fable A Guide to Proc Gen Practitioners That's the Way the Ball Bounces: Using Physics to Manifest Chance in Roundguard Caves of Qud Subterfuge Disgaea Cleromancy Baby's First RPG Electronic Rituals, Oracles and Fortune Telling Cinco Paus

Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit joins us to talk about the process behind his excellent series on game design. We discuss his recent video on randomness - diving deep on input/output randomness - as well as roguelike progression, and much more! Things we discussed: Game Maker's Toolkit How (And Why) Spelunky Makes its Own Levels The Two Types of Random Michael Brough's Imbroglio "brog" Characteristics of Games Playing at the World Sid Meier's Psychology of Game Design Geoff Engelstein's "pink noise" talk Roguelikes, Persistency, and Progression Let's Game it Out YouTube channel The Best Games from GMTK Game Jam 2019

Ryan Clark of Brace Yourself Games (Crypt of the Necrodancer, Cadence of Hyrule) sashays in to chat with us about how he hit on his rhythm roguelike formula, layering in depth to make his systems sing, and how he's found - and repeated - indie game success. Some things we discussed: Brace Yourself Games Crypt of the Necrodancer Industries of Titan Phantom Brigade Bard seeded speed world record How to Consistently Make Profitable Indie Games Dwarf Fortress Meteorfall Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated

We get cozy with our own Zach Gage to talk about his just-released SpellTower+, the follow-up to the puzzle game that put him on the map. We discuss making word searches interesting, the design of letter distribution, and making the Westworld of word games. SpellTower+ zachgage.com Kinnijup’s new eggplant run world record Kinnijup's new low% hell run world record Puzzlejuice Letterpress The history of Tetris randomizers Typeshift

Jan Willem "JW" Nijman (Nuclear Throne, Minit) sits down with us to help us fix mini golf, before we dig into some of the design thinking behind Vlambeer's amazing catalog of action games, how he approaches prototyping, and being the self-proclaimed "Jamie Oliver of game feel." Things we discussed: Vlambeer The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan Ribbit King JW's The Art of Screen Shake talk Samurai Gunn Monolith

Immersive puzzle designer Laura E. Hall joins for our big GOTY show, as we each share our Top 5 games of 2019. We also hear many of YOUR picks (thanks!), and stick around until the end to hear picks from several of our 2019 guests. Happy New Year!  Things we discussed: Laura E. Hall Katamari Damacy by Boss Fight Books Every Game in This City podcast Sleep No More Trolling as an Air Traffic Controller in Flight Sim X Our GOTY picks (SPOILERS) Laura: Heaven's Vault Elsinore Lianna Fled the Cranberry Bog: A Story in Cootie Catchers Shenmue III Storyteller's Secret Zach: Call of Dury: Modern Warfare Slay the Spire The Pinball Wizard Apex Legends Vagante Doug: Slay the Spire Disco Elysium Return of the Obra Dinn A Short Hike Petscop Andy: Lonely Mountains: Downhill A Short Hike Sekiro Song of Bloom Auto Chess Nick: Ape Out Painter Detective Pilgrims Remember Our Trip Earth Defense Force 5

With the help of our friend Bennett Foddy (QWOP, Getting Over It) we consider Spelunky as the Game of the Decade - we discuss what influence it's had (or hasn't had) in and beyond its genre, its distinct connection to Dark Souls, and experiencing the external narrative of modern gaming. Things we discussed: Bennett Foddy's games Ape Out TIGSource Tim Rogers Presents The Games of the Decade Finishing a Game by Derek Yu Vagante Characteristics of Games Assassination of Lord British Reasons and Persons book Put Your Name on Your Game GDC talk Song of Bloom

Terry Cavanagh (Super Hexagon, VVVVVV) joins us to talk about his fantastic roguelike deckbuilder, Dicey Dungeons. We discuss the thread of generosity in his game design, the challenges of working across genres, and what might be next for Terry! Things we discussed: Terry's distractionware.com Dicey Dungeons VVVVVV Super Hexagon Tiny Heist Stephen Lavelle Dream Quest 7 Day Roguelike Naya’s Quest The Long Dark Super Hexagon playthrough at Fantastic Arcade Hearthstone Battlegrounds

We're taking a much-needed week off, but please enjoy one of our favorite episodes from early on. We'll be back in two weeks with guest Terry Cavanagh to talk about his new roguelike deckbuilder (dicebuilder?) Dicey Dungeons - check it out and send us your questions! Anyways, on to our show: Justin Ma of Subset Games joins us to discuss the design of his excellent sci-fi strategy game Into the Breach, from its Spelunky-inspired high/low-level design, to how they cracked its time-driven gameplay, to why throwing away 80% of their work...worked. Things we talked about: Justin Ma Subset Games FTL Into the Breach Input / Output Randomness 'Into the Breach' Didn't Click Until I Played it Like an EMT Into the Breach - Fantastic Arcade 2017 Developer Commentary Stephen's Sausage Roll Return of the Obra Dinn

Frank Lantz (Drop7, Universal Paperclips) stops by to tell us about his new party game for smart speakers, Hey Robot. We discuss fun ways to engage with rigid AI - and the privacy issues inherent to doing so - before taking a wild detour into the taxonomy of paddle boats. Things we discussed: Frank Lantz Hey Robot Breakfast Spelunky Shiren the Wanderer ClemmyGames' Top 10 Best Underrated Roguelike/Roguelites NYU Game Center Pac Manhattan Drop7 Universal Paperclips Everybody House Games Antigrams SmileBot Lodden Thinks Paddle Boats The history of Tetris randomizers Frank's How to play Cinco Paus Hanabi 

Free of guests or a "plan," our crew of intrepid hosts dives into a bounty of stimulating listener questions! We discuss our personal roads into game design, the challenge of procedural generation in AAA games, and the game design of reality shows. Things we discussed: Kirby703_'s World 23 correction Demon’s Souls IndieCade Game Design Deep Dive: The creative camaraderie behind Wilmot's Warehouse Kate Compton's 10,000 Bowls of Oatmeal Drop7 Noita Conan Death Stranding video Classic Tetris World Championship Deadwood Are You The One? The Stormlight Archive Pilgrims Machinarium Remixed Card of Darkness

The gang’s all here to chat with our own Zach Gage (SpellTower, Tharsis) about his new Apple Arcade adventure game, Card of Darkness. We discuss distilling roguelikes, the role of randomness, and designing 52 cards in two days. Things we discussed: Card of Darkness Andy’s baby! World 23 Spelunky glitch The Grannies (Red Dead Redemption explorers) Zach’s collaborators   Card of Darkness soundtrack Zach's games Hearthstone: Dungeon Run

Finji’s Adam Saltsman drops by for a deep dive on his new road trip survival game Overland. We discuss its surprisingly affecting narrative innovations, design epiphanies from its 6+ year development, and its understated influence from Legacy board games. Things we discussed: Overland New Spelunky duplication glitch Canabalt Finji Adam's blog X-COM: UFO Defense 868-HACK Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space Oasis Rebuild  Underworld Play Dead Podcast with Adam

Riot Games’ Greg Borenstein joins us to chat about the design behind their red-hot autobattler Teamfight Tactics, as we discuss the benefits of embracing complexity, the rise of randomness, and what the game has in common with Sorry! You know, that Sorry! Things we discussed: Teamfight Tactics Mutazione Untitled Goose Game UFO 50  Riot Games controversy - timeline of events Riot Games controversy - one year later Dota Auto Chess Dota Underlords League of Legends Richard Garfield: Luck and Games