This is how the instruction manual for the game Bear in the Snow begins. This game, along with the album it accompanies, was created by Dan Goldberg, who performs and publishes his music under the name The Spookfish. Each of the ten levels of the game is played along to the music of one of the songs from the album of the same name, and draws on Dan's experiences living in a cabin in rural Northeastern United States. There are many haunting and beautiful moments, as well as many secrets to be uncovered, in Bear in the Snow.

In the very first episode of No Small Games featuring a game developer, Kate and Emily chat in depth with Dan about his journey creating the game and learn how he went from zero game dev experience to publishing a ten-level game of his own design. Dan shares the heartfelt backstory behind his love of indie games and provides some insight into which games inspired him the most as he was creating Bear in the Snow. We hope you love this episode as much as we loved chatting with The Spookfish!

Meet the Game Dev

Dan Goldberg aka The Spookfish (he/him)

@the_spookfish

Dan is a musician and game developer who created Bear in the Snow, the album and accompanying indie game. You can read more about Dan's music in this feature from the New York Times.

Play Bear in the Snow on Itch.io

Bandcamp 

Spotify 

Apple Music

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Want to learn more and weigh in on what games we should play in future episodes? Check us out and leave a game suggestion at nosmallgames.com