Video game designer and director Marc Gomez chats with us about how he found his way from art school to the world of game design.

He talks about the challenges of delayed gratification (three year game development cycles!), QA testing ("playing a game to break it, not to enjoy it"), strict deadlines (using production processes borrowed from assembly lines), and not being taken seriously as a mainstream industry despite consistent growth.

He also shares what it's like to design games for characters from DC, Disney, LucasFilm, Nickelodeon, Sony, et al (including Batman and Sponge Bob!) vs. original characters, as well as how he taps his animation background to fully flesh them out.

This episode is dedicated to all builders of creative worlds and anyone who wants to escape into said worlds right now.

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Follow Marc on Twitter @marcyayTTG

See his work at Tic Toc Games https://tictocgames.com/

Catch Marc’s Other Interviews

Tour of the Tic Toc Games Office https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkn-dG2SmRs

On Drawing Inspiration from Hayao Miyazaki & Studio Ghibli

https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2020/5/28/21272451/studio-ghibli-movies-inspired-games-ori-battle-chef-brigade-mutazione-totoro-spirited-away

On Upcoming Game “B.ARK”

https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/interview-bark-tic-toc-games-marc-gomez-mike-herbster/

IGN: Behind the Scenes of “A Boy and His Blob”

Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2HMkR3yxvg

Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB8BAGJW-0M

On “Adventures of Pip” (Original game, funded via Kickstarter)

At PAX East (Penny Arcade Expo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s_sneTIcjI

At E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1k9VYdTKfY

Cane and Rinse Podcast https://caneandrinse.com/tictoc-games/

With Concept Art https://tictocgames.com/adventures-of-pip-interview-w-marc-gomez/

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Listener questions we didn't get to cover on-air:

- On women in gaming: Marc recommends https://www.getwigi.com/, a website that focuses on the cultivation and advancement of women in the gaming industry

- Recommended reading: "'Game Thinking' by Amy Jo Kim... Very good insight to understanding the psychology behind what motivates us as humans, and how to utilize that in game design."

More Q&A on the pod Instagram!

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Photo by @gigigi_gia

Music: “Neon Laser Horizon” by Kevin MacLeod (imcompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Sound Editing by franticsong

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xoxo Jo