Kritiqal Care

For episode 7 of Kritiqal Care, Aubrey Isaacman (she/her; they/them) comes on to discuss how her games approach intimacy and emphasize player emotion. She has worked on projects ranging from the card game Intimacy to the VR experience everybody’s sad, and is currently pursing an MFA in Games & Interactive Media at the University of Southern California.

You can find out more about Aubrey’s games on her site and follow her on Twitter @Lynnfactor.

Aubrey’s Good Thing to Share

Things Discussed

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nate Kiernan, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts.

Joe Russ (he/him) is the founder of Mografi, the studio behind the Nancy Drew-meets-Cartoon Network puzzle mystery game, Jenny LeClue. He joins me on Kritiqal Care to discuss the release of Jenny LeClue: Detectivu last fall, how its structure evolved from episodic to a two part series, and how Apple Arcade influenced the game’s development.

Joe is on Twitter @Mografi_Joe and you can learn more about Jenny LeClue on its official site.

Joe’s Good Thing to Share

Things Discussed

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nate Kiernan, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts.

Jack  King-Spooner (he/him) is my guest on episode 5 of Kritiqal Care. We  discuss the importance of seeing the people behind art, how queer has  evolved (and is still evolving) from a derogatory term to one of self  acceptance, and the way our desire to find a "silver-lining" in all of  this might be blinding us to the real pain caused by the pandemic.

Jack is on Twitter @king_spooner and his games are available on Steam and itch.io.

Jack's Good Thing to Share

Things Discussed

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nate Kiernan, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts.

Leo Bunyea (he/him) joins me on episode 4 of Kritiqal Care to talk the biases of game engines, how to make academia more accessible, and the joys of the Animal Crossing tag system. Leo is an independent game developer currently pursuing a masters in interactive media and game design at the Worchester Polytechnic Institute.

Leo is on Twitter @leopution, his games are on itch.io, and you can learn more about him and his work at leobunyea.com.

Leo's Good Thing to Share

Things Discussed

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nate Kiernan, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts.

Welcome  to episode 3 of Kritiqal Care. I'm joined by indie game dev Marina  Kittaka (she/her), known for her work on Even the Ocean, Secrets Agent,  and Anodyne 2. She joins me to discuss authenticity in art, returning to  old projects, and how nice it is that we're (mostly) not in winter  anymore.

Marina's games can be found on itch.io and she is on Twitter @even_kei.

Marina's Good Thing to Share

Games Discussed

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nate Kiernan, with music by Desired. It's available on Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you get podcasts.

Episode  2 of Kritiqal Care features tabletop rpg designer Jamila "Jammi" R.  Nedjadi (they/them) of Sword Queen Games. Jammi's games focus on queerness, Filipino  culture, and accessibility, including the Filipino cyberpunk of BALIKBAYAN and magical girl anime inspired REINCARNATION REDUX.  They join me to discuss their creative process, what life looks like in  the Philippines during the Covid-19 pandemic, and why Bioware won't let  us look at Garrus' butt.

Jammi's Good Thing to Share

Other Things Discussed

You can learn more about Jammi on itch.io, follow them @temporalhiccup, and support them on Patreon.

Kritiqal Care is produced by me, Nate Kiernan, with music by Desired.

On episode 1 of Kritiqal Care, I speak to indie developer Florian Veltman, creator of Lieve Oma, The Endless Express, and previously of ustwo. He is currently working on The Other Side, a puzzle game about ghosts learning to understand life in the afterlife.

Florian's Good Thing to Share

You can learn more about Florian at his website, florian.games, play his games on itch.io, and follow him on Twitter @FlorianVltmn.

Music courtesy of Desired.

Hey folx, Nate here. The world is really grim right now. Most likely you are listening to this while quarantined in your home, and if you’re not practicing social distancing you really should be. Nobody knows what the world is going to look like once the pandemic is over, but what is certain is that things are going to continue to be challenging for weeks and months to come. It’s hard not to fixate on each new horrific update, which means more than ever we need to find ways to bring joy into our lives because otherwise this is going to be even more difficult.

Kritiqal Care is a show about games, community, and hope in the midst of a global pandemic. It is my small attempt to give people something positive while life feels incredibly bleak. I know it may seem weird to be talking about games when so much is happening, but I hope that this show might give you an outlet to engage with something less horrific than the news cycle, without pretending that nothing is happening.

Each episode I’ll be joined by someone from the games community to check-in with how they’re doing, what they’re working on, and how games are helping them ride out this period of isolation and uncertainty. These are dark days, but we can’t forget about each other even if we can’t meet face to face. I hope this helps you, or maybe someone you know. I’ll have episodes coming out soon, but until then, stay safe, stay home, and know that this is not game over. We’re still fighting. We’re gonna get through this.

Music by Desired: https://desired.bandcamp.com/