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Game Maker's Notebook: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
A series of in-depth conversations between video game makers on the business and craft of interactive entertainment.
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- 4 days ago1h 12m
Yacht Club Games' Sean Velasco on Mina the Hollower, Scope Creep, and What's Next
Trent Kusters chats with Yacht Club Games' Founder Sean Velasco. Together they discuss Yacht Club's follow up to the Shovel Knight series, Mina the Hollower including what they wanted to do differently from their previous titles; working within the Game Boy Color aesthetic and how that affects game design; the dangers of scope creep and importance of guiding principles; balancing combat complexity; and what's next for their studio. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
- 1 weeks ago1h 25m
How 007 First Light Adds to the James Bond Legacy with Hakan Abrak
Trent Kusters chats with Hakan Abrak, CEO & Co-Owner of IO Interactive. Hakan is also the Game Director on IOI's take on the Bond legacy with 007 First Light. Together they discuss how IOI met with MGM and the Ian Fleming estate to first pitch the project; the responsibilities they felt to stay true to the Bond IP; balancing dialogue and humor and how that differs from film to games; the casting process of finding a new Bond; and what they learned from the Hitman series that informed the design of a 007 experience. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
- 2 weeks ago1h 28m
Following Up Disco Elysium with ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies with Studio Head Allen Murray
Adam Orth chats Allen Murray, Studio Head of ZA/UM Studio and Head of Production on ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies. Together they discuss the legacy of the studio and the pressure of following up a beloved debut in Disco Elysium; the deliberate choices they made around the setting and themes; how they implemented over 700,000 words of dialogue; making every decision and moment impactful to avoid ludonarrative dissonance; and balancing their creative vision while deescalating risk. This episode is sponsored by: Xsolla Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
- 3 weeks ago1h 44m
Subverting Expectations in Titanium Court with AP Thomson
Trent Kusters chats with AP Thomson, creator of the surreal strategy-puzzle game, Titanium Court. Together they discuss his path into games and meeting his long time collaborator Jenny Jiao Hsia; working together on the award winning Consume Me; the development of Titanium Court including creating modular systems for faster development; creating the narrative and his advice on becoming a better writer; winning back to back Seumas McNally Grand Prizes; and subverting player expectations to create engaging experiences. *Editors Note - 40:30: The book AP references here is 'Game Feel' by Steve Swink (he was mistaken about Katherine Isbister co-authoring it, although she is in the acknowledgements). This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
- Jun 29, 20261h 24m
How Replaced Explores the Relationship Between Technology and the Human Condition
Adam Orth chats with Igor Gritsy and Yura Zhoanovich of Sad Cat Studios about their 2.5D cinematic action-platformer, Replaced. Together they discuss developing the story as an exploration between technology and it's relationship with the human condition; designing combat that fits a cinematic platformer; environment as a character; creating a soundtrack that is bleak yet hopeful; and the difficulty in balancing artistic and business decisions. This episode is sponsored by: Xsolla Episode Host: Adam Orth Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
- Jun 22, 20261h 41m
Jake Birkett on Forbidden Solitaire, Casual Games, and Surviving Gamedev for 11 Years Without a Hit
Trent Kusters chats with Jake Birkett of Grey Alien Games. Together they discuss how he worked together with Night Signal Entertainment on their card-slashing "horror" collaboration, Forbidden Solitaire; the importance of managing scope with small teams; how to properly understand Steam user engagement; and his GDC talk How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit through the scope of the current development landscape. This episode is supported by Xsolla Episode Host: Trent Kusters Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Support the show and get all of our episodes early/ad-free: https://bit.ly/4kU34Lt Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
- Jun 15, 20261h 8m
Dosa Divas' Chandana Ekanayake Talks Food, Music, and Indie Development
Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Chandana Ekanayake of Outerloop Games. Together they discuss developing his newest game Dosa Divas, including the origin of the narrative and using food as a storytelling device; weaving together story with combat; the importance of the introductory hour of gameplay; his views on risk and team size; and his thoughts on working in indie development. This episode is supported by Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
- Jun 8, 20261h 22m
How People of Note Explores Heavy Subjects with Whimsy and Musical Theater
Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Jason WIshnov, CEO of Iridium Studios, about their newest title, People of Note. Together they discuss where the initial design concepts originated from; the difficulty of finding a publisher before landing with Annapurna; friction between narrative and game design; writing from personal experience and balancing that with whimsy; and how they integrated music into the battle system. This episode is supported by Xsolla iam8bit Episode Host: Alexa Ray Corriea Producers: Claudio Tapia and Josh Chu, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us a rating and review. Follow us: linktr.ee/AIAS Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation
About Game Maker's Notebook
A series of in-depth conversations between video game makers on the business and craft of interactive entertainment.
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