Escape From Tarkov and the Creation of Extraction Shooters with Nikita Buyanov

This episode is supported by Xsolla Trent Kusters chats with brothers and co-founders of SFB Games, Adam & Tom Vian. Together they discuss how they began creating games in the early days of Flash and Newgrounds; transitioning to console development and working with Nintendo on the multi D.I.C.E. Award winning Snipperclips; the inspirations and development of Crow Country; and the secret to making games look and feel how we remember while avoiding the limits of the past. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

3 Sep 20241h 57min

This episode is supported by Xsolla Greg Rice chats with Aggro Crab developers Nick Kaman and Caelan Pollock about their recently released undersea soulslike, Another Crab's Treasure. Together they discuss how the team got started as a game design club in college; their first commercial project in Going Under; the early ideas that led to Another Crab's Treasure; avoiding the pitfalls of difficulty that players expect in the soulslike genre; and the nuance of discussing climate change as a central narrative theme. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

26 Aug 202457min

This episode is supported by Xsolla Greg Rice chats with David Hellman, Nico Recabarren, and Nick Suttner of Furniture & Mattress, about their debut title as a studio, Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure. Together they discuss how the team got together; the ground rules they established for the puzzle designs; decisions around scope; and how they balanced gameplay and narrative elements. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

19 Aug 20241h 15min

This episode is supported by: Xsolla Adam Orth chats with Matt Wood and Micah Breitweiser from Double Dagger Studio about their first tile as a studio, Little Kitty, Big City. Together they discuss how Little Kitty, Big City began as a teaching opportunity for Matt's children; the iterative nature of development and having malleable design pillars; the importance of scope and restraint; the conscious decision to direct players as little as possible; and the process of bringing the kitty to life and how Micah's career outside of games helped make that a reality. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Please consider supporting game dev students with: AIAS Foundation

12 Aug 20241h 37min

Trent Kusters chats with Xalavier Nelson Jr., the studio head, writer, and creative director of titles such as El Paso Elsewhere, Space Warlord Orgran Trading Simulator, Clickolding, and the upcoming I Am Your Beast. Together they discuss Xalavier's ideas around sustainable game development such as the importance of prioritizing shipping projects on time and within scope; how giving players unique experiences keeps them coming back for the next game; and the challenges of their approach when pitching to potential partners.  Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Donate to AIAS Foundation Sponsors: Xsolla iam8bit

5 Aug 20241h 14min

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Max and Nick Folkman. Nick is a writer at Insomniac Games and Max a writer at Riot Games who together also host the Script Lock podcast where they chat to fellow game writers. Together they discuss their ideas around writing for games; what it takes to get into the games industry; how to write for live service games versus single player games; and about their experiences interviewing fellow writers and what they've learned from them. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

29 Jul 20241h 16min

Alexa Ray Corriea chats with writers Christal Rose Hazelton and Jaclyn Seto. Together they discuss the process and nuance of creating characters; the differences between creating for traditional narrative titles versus live service games; the importance of having a diverse group of voices in the writer's room; what it's like to work with a large development team; and their recent GDC talk, Creating Diverse Characters: Writing What you Know and Don't. Watch this episode on our YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a rating and review.

22 Jul 20241h 17min

Trent Kusters chats with Billy Basso about his solo-developed debut title, Animal Well. Together they discuss how the ideas and development of Animal Well first began; how he was able to work as a solo developer and the tools he created to help him along the way; how he went about designs the game's countless puzzles and animals; when he recognized he needed help with the business and marketing of releasing a commercial product; and the surreal experience of launching a title with an incredible critical and fan response.

15 Jul 20243h 44min