Kritiqal Care

Ayu Koyama (she/her), aka sweetfish, is an interactive fiction writer and designer whose work explores religion, history, and digital play. In this episode we chat about what drew her to interactive fiction as a form, how that intersects with her experimental web design projects, and the ways a distant relationship with Catholicism influences her games. In closing we invite you to read old books.

You can learn more about Ayu’s projects on her personal website and play her games on itch.

Ayu’s Cool Things to Share
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (Patricia Highsman, 1955) book series

Things Discussed
- Night Confessionals (sweetfish, 2023)
- Eider Cake (sweetfish, 2024)
- Heretic Pride (Laika)
- Pentiment (Obsidian, 2022)
- Commonplace (Pitter-Patter, 2022)
- LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST (LITHOBREAKERS, 2024)
- The Neo-Interactives
- Weird Web October

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Content warning: this episode briefly discusses suicidal ideation

Kyou System (they/them) is an artist and game developer whose work explores the profound and incoherent world of dreams. We discuss the nocturnal origins of their first game, Remembrance, revisiting and remaking it half a decade later, embracing a more expressionistic writing style, and getting involved in visual novel game jams. Finally, we implore you to consider backgammon.

You can learn more about Kyou’s projects on their personal website and play their games on itch.

Kyou’s Cool Things to Share
- The Menhera VN Jam
- Backgammon

Things Discussed
- Remembrance (Kyou System, 2019)
- Permanence (Kyou System, 2020)
- THERA (Kyou System, ongoing)
- The VN Cup
- The Queer Games Bundle
- RPG Maker 2003
- Ren’Py

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Content warning: this episode briefly discusses blood imagery

rileylessthannine (it/its) is a multimedia artist and game developer whose work explores the tension between abrasion and hope. In this episode we chat about its collage visual style, getting emotional over code, and the absurdity of people trying to ignore trans representation in itch games. Elsewhere, we collectively stare in befuddlement at Square-Enix’s various business ventures.

You can learn more about Riley’s games on itch and its personal website.

Riley’s Cool Things to Share
- Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning (Kyo Shirodaira, 1999-2005)

Things Discussed
- Rodea the Sky Soldier (Prope, 2015)
- infinity is what we will be (Riley<9, 2023)
- tomorrow is my birthday (Riley<9, 2024)
- Apricot Kernal (Riley<9, 2022)
- if I can eat god / god has to exist (Riley<9, 2022)
- Florist S/T (2022)

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Kasey Ozymy (he/him) is an indie RPG developer whose work draws from 16-bit classics and deep cuts. In this episode we chat about what interests him about RPGs, the design and writing philosophy behind modern classic Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, and how the upcoming Hymn to the Earless God will be an even more complex project.

You can learn more about Kasey’s games on Steam, and follow him on Twitter @KaseyOzymy.

Kasey’s Cool Things to Share
- Listening to entire Wikipedia music genre page discographies
- Slay the Spire: The Board Game (Contention Games, 2024)

Things Discussed
- Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass (Kasey Ozymy, 2018)
- Hymn to the Earless God (Starseed Games, upcoming)
- The God of Crawling Eyes (Kasey Ozymy, 2013)
- A Very Long Rope to the Top of the Sky (Kasey Ozymy, 2013)
- The Heart Pumps Clay (Kasey Ozymy, 2014)
- Born Under the Rain (Kasey Ozymy, Indrah, LockeZ, Crazy_Leen, 2015)
- rpgmaker.net
- RPG Maker
- Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
- Lennus: Kodai Kikai no Kioku / Paladin’s Quest (Copya System, 1992)
- When I Was Five I Killed Myself (Howard Buten, 1981)

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Xiri (he/him) is the creator of the sublime BL visual novel series, HITME, among other games exploring queer relationships and the end of the world. He took some time away from the upcoming HITM3 to chat with me about transitioning from music videos to games, how film influences his work, and a world where everybody is gay.

You can learn more about Xiri’s games on itch, and follow him on cohost @akaxiri.

Xiri’s Cool Things to Share
- Meeting director Antoni Padrós (Pim pam pum revolución, 1970; Shirley Temple Story, 1976)

Things Discussed
- HITME (xiri, 2021)
- HITME2 (xiri, 2022)
- HITM3 (xiri, 2024)
- MOONYOLK (xiri, 2022)
- All Our Asias (Melos Han-Tani, 2018)
- Queer Man Peering Into A Rock Pool.jpg (Fuzzy Ghost, 2022)
- The Hole (Tsai Ming-liang, 1998)
- “The Music of HITM3” devlog
- Shūji Terayama
- Bruce LaBruce

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Austin Ramsay (he/him) is a tabletop RPG designer best known for Beam Saber, a Forged in the Dark game about mech pilots fighting an endless war. He joined me on this episode to talk about going from writing “imagination games” as a kid to 400+ page RPGs, creating rules that encourage player/GM collaboration, and how fun it can be to have a character go AWOL.

You can learn more about Austin’s games on itch, and follow him on cohost @AustinRamsayGames.

Austin’s Cool Things to Share
- Unjust Depths (Madiha Santana, 2020-ongoing)

Things Discussed
- Beam Saber (Austin Ramsay, 2019)
- Beam Saber: The Show (Austin Ramsay, 2024)
- You Don’t Meet In an Inn, an actual play podcast

- CalazCon, upcoming actual play podcast
- Forged in the Dark games
- Serenity Role Playing Game (Jamie Chambers, 2005)
- Rufus Roswell’s fictional/mechanical TTRPG action matrix

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Sylvie (she/her) is a prolific creator of challenging platformers, action RPGs, and games about cats. She sat down with me to discuss her design philosophy based in constraints, games as conversations, and her esoteric entry into the year of bump combat. Later, she 1CCs an arcade cult classic.

You can learn more about Sylvie’s games and writing on her website, and follow her on cohost @sylvie.

Sylvie’s Cool Things to Share
- The Tower of Druaga (Namco, 1984) and her 1CC playthrough

Things Discussed
- Sylvie’s game spreadsheet
- love ♥ game
- Sylvie Lime (Sylvie, 2023)
- Her Little Sylvietower (Sylvie, 2022)
- Sylvie RPG: 7 Elf Apocalypse (Sylvie, 2024)
- Sylvie Miniature (Sylvie, 2024)
- The Ys franchise (Nihon Falcom, 1987-2023)
- Angeline Era (Analgesic Productions, upcoming)
- Sylvie’s essay “Ways of Speaking”

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Meredith Gran (she/her) is a comics artist and game designer, best known for her webcomic, Octopus Pie and the adventure game Perfect Tides. She sat down with me to talk about her experience coming to games from a comics background, how Perfect Tides’ mechanics where influenced by teenage naivety, and why the 00s are such a rich period for coming of age stories. Finally, we wrap up with a teaser for the upcoming sequel, Perfect Tides: Station to Station.

You can learn more about Meredith’s games and comics on her website.

Meredith’s Cool Things to Share
- Having a VHS collection with Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)

Things Discussed
- Perfect tides (Three Bees, 2022)- Octopus Pie (Meredith Gran, 2007-2017)- King's Quest (Sierra, 1984)
- I Like Movies (Chandler Levack, 2022)
- PEN15 (Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Sam Zvibleman, 2019-2021)
- Perfect Tides: Station to Station (Meredith Gran, upcoming)

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

For the first Kritiqal Care bonus episode, returning guests Colin (he/they) of melessthanthree and Kevin Wong (they/them) join me to discuss their recently released action RPG, Death of a Wish. A more aggressive sequel to Lucah: Born of a Dream, Death of a Wish follows ex-antagonist Christian as he embarks on a revenge mission against the christofascist Sanctum. We discuss where the idea for a sequel came from, its themes emerging from contemporary anxieties and apathy, balancing thematic resonance with difficulty, and planning a coordinated marketing push for an effective team of two.

Death of a Wish is available now on itch, Steam, and Switch.

Things Discussed
- Death of a Wish (melessthanthree, 2024)
- Lucah: Born of a Dream (melessthanthree, 2018)
- Dear Future (Dear Future Production Committee, 2021)
- How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Daniel Goldhaber, 2022)

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.

Cecile Richard (they/them) is a graphic designer, writer, and game developer known for their playful Bitsy projects and hypertext fiction. They joined me to discuss cyclical stories, the risk/reward of collaborating with close friends, and how cool underground tunnels are. We also take a moment to proselytize about editors, and I learn about a new, extremely fake sounding sport.

You can play Cecile’s games on itch, and follow them on cohost @haraiva.

Cecile’s Cool Things to Share
- Australian sports season starting up soon (go Geelong Cats!)
- Subterraneans Podcast

Things Discussed
- Indiepocalypse (listen to our episode with Andrew)
- Domino Club (check out our episode with Emma, Nat, and Rose)
- Bitsy (enjoy our episode with Adam Le Doux)
- Novena (Cecile Richard, 2018)
- Endless Scroll (Cecile Richard, 2019)
- Topography (Cecile Richard, 2020)
- Hope (Cecile Richard and Cable Ties, 2020)
- Gutless (Domino Club, 2022)
- Cycle (Domino Club, 2022)
- The Devil’s Imago (Domino Club, 2023

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nathalie, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts. If you enjoyed the show, consider leaving a review or rating, sharing it with a loved one, and supporting KRITIQAL on Ko-Fi.