33: Making Generous Games with Terry Cavanagh (Dicey Dungeons)

08: Designing Tharsis with Zach Gage: We chat to our own Zach Gage about his 2016 spacefaring strategy game Tharsis, from its roguelike and tabletop influences, to promoting player narrative, to the psychology of randomness. Plus first impressions of Twinfold and Below! Some things we... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

94 min listen

16: The Spelunky Book Club: We delve deep into the pages of Derek Yu’s excellent Spelunky book, from its thoughtful musings on creativity, to its inspiring lessons in game design. A must-read on how our favorite game came to be! Plus some record-breaking Spelunky news, the... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

88 min listen

09: Games of the Year 2018: We sit down to talk about our favorite games that we played in 2018 - from videogames, to board games, to escape rooms, to Malaysian schoolyard games. Join us for the most diverse GOTY list you’ll hear! We’ll see you - and Spelunky 2 - in 2019!... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

70 min listen

02: The Spelunky Beginner's Guide: The Spelunky Beginner’s Guide! For anyone who ever hit a wall, we’re here to help. We dive into both the practical and philosophical approach to upping your Spelunky game, and share some great tips submitted by listeners. Plus the first Weekly... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

66 min listen

01: First Spelunky 2 impressions!: Hands-on Spelunky 2 demo impressions! Nick is fresh off the PAX plane, and Andy, Zach, and Doug are here to grill him on the details, while the whole crew breaks down the first gameplay trailer, chat about the new art, branching paths, mounts, and more. by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

52 min listen

12: Into the Breach with Justin Ma: 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... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

92 min listen

10: Keyforge with Richard Garfield: The creator of Magic: the Gathering, Netrunner, King of Tokyo, and so much of the modern gaming culture we love joins us to talk about finding cohesion in the beautiful randomness of his latest design: the world’s first Unique Deck Game, Keyforge.... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

123 min listen

39: The Tricks of the Toolkit with Mark Brown (Game Maker's Toolkit): 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... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

84 min listen

03: Breaking world records with Kinnijup and ix: We welcome world-record speedrunners and all-around Spelunky experts Jamie “Kinnijup” White and Aaron “ix” Kearsley to the show! We talk about the culture of competitive Spelunky, recent record-breaking runs, and why speedrunning feels like... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

83 min listen

04: Making the Spelunky 2 trailer with Derek Lieu: Master trailer craftsman Derek Lieu stops by to go deep on the making of the awesome Spelunky 2 trailer! We talk through his process, the unique challenges of working with a procedural game, and even unearth a few new Spelunky 2 tidbits along the way. by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

86 min listen

05: The Design of Spelunky: We dive deep into the core design of Spelunky - what exactly fuels its procedural perfection, and why is its world still so compelling? And what design touches do our listeners love, and which would they send to Hell? Plus some new Spelunky 2 tidbits! by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

85 min listen

11: Taking Back Roguelikes with Raigan Burns: Raigan Burns of Metanet Software (N, N+, N++) stops by for a spirited debate on the term “roguelike,” as we discuss the tenets of the genre, why (and if) they’re important, and how Spelunky fits into it all. Things we talked about: by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

97 min listen

07: Death in Roguelikes with Kawa: Roguelike expert and advocate Kawa (@KawaiiDragoness) stops by to talk Death in Roguelikes, and the power and potential of the post-death "morgue" experience. We also dig into our relationship to dying in Spelunky, and recount our best deaths! Links... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

90 min listen

15: GDC Special - Derek Yu and Slay the Spire: We return home from the Game Developers Conference with hands-on impressions of the new Spelunky 2 demo, while the muse himself Derek Yu gives us a Spelunky 2 development update. Plus Slay the Spire’s Casey Yano talks about the design of their hit... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

80 min listen

06: Making Spelunky 2 with Derek Yu: Spelunky creator Derek Yu joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on his design philosophies for approaching a sequel, embracing chaos in design, and so much more. This is a special one, so brew some tea, grab a pug, and get comfortable! by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

121 min listen

19: The Organized Chaos of Edmund McMillen: The creator of The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy joins us for a career-spanning discussion of his design ethos, and the organized chaos that drove the creation of the most successful roguelite ever. Things we discussed: by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

76 min listen

14: Diversifying Play with Greg Johnson (ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove): ToeJam & Earl creator Greg Johnson gets funky with us, as we deconstruct his latest entry in the series - Back in the Groove - and discuss his approach to playfulness and accessibility in roguelikes, the lack of cultural diversity in games, and much... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

89 min listen

21: Keeping Spelunky Alive with MossRanking: MossRanking creator Mathieu “saturnin55” Legaré and advisor/speedrunner Kevin “meowmixmix” Hyer join us to talk about the history and design behind Spelunky’s incredible community hub. Things we discussed: by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

68 min listen

31: Good Times With Bad Robots with Frank Lantz (Hey Robot): 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... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

84 min listen

17: Climbing Gloves in the Jungle: The crew makes the most of being paired off: Andy and Zach talk climbing documentaries, persistence, and design back home, while Nick and Doug play and discuss some Spelunky co-op on the road in New Zealand. Plus a quick interview with Mini Metro’s... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

82 min listen

40: The Physics of Uncertainly with Andrea Roberts (Roundguard): 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.... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

83 min listen

49: Fun with Hexes with Ricky Haggett, Jonathan Whiting, and Tim Schafer (Loot Rascals): Loot Rascals co-designers Ricky Haggett and Jonathan Whiting join us to discuss their whimsical cosmic roguelike, as does superfan Tim Schafer to help us sing its praises! We discuss playing with hexes in the pub, the function of humor in games, and... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

80 min listen

29: Card of Darkness with Zach Gage: 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: ... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

80 min listen

13: Procedural Storytelling with Tanya X Short: Tanya X. Short of Kitfox Games drops by to discuss her co-edited essay collections Procedural Storytelling / Generation in Game Design, as well as her own approach and challenges to procedural narrative in Moon Hunters, and the upcoming Boyfriend... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

80 min listen

22: Making the post-post-apocalypse RAD with Double Fine’s Lee Petty: Lee Petty of Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, Stacking) drops by to talk to us about their upcoming post-post-apocalyptic roguelike, RAD! We discuss the emergent origins of its procedural design, capturing ‘80s nuclear angst, and Tim... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

89 min listen

38: The Rhythms and Layers of Ryan Clark: 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... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

80 min listen

37: Designing Around Language with Zach Gage: 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... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

75 min listen

Into the Depths: Noita - Part 2: 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: by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

80 min listen

33: Making Generous Games with Terry Cavanagh (Dicey Dungeons): 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!... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

87 min listen

35: Games of the Year 2019 with Laura E. Hall: 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... by Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

102 min listen

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33: Making Generous Games with Terry Cavanagh (Dicey Dungeons)

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