Kritiqal Care

Freya Campbell (she/they) is an interactive fiction writer, designer, and game engine combiner. Her games focus on small interactions in fantastical settings, emphasizing character voices and being incredibly queer. They joined me on this week’s episode to discuss writing interactive fiction, putting engines inside each other, and using engine constraints to inform pacing. In closing, I am shamed for having not yet played a bunch of very good games (editor’s note: since recording I have played We Know the Devil and it is just as fantastic as Freya makes it out to be).

You can play all of Freya’s games on itch and follow her on Twitter @Spdrcstl.

Freya’s Cool Things 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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and supporting Kritiqal on Ko-Fi.

Elliot Herriman (she/her) is an interactive fiction author and developer who makes games about being queer and engines to help you not have to code. She spent some time chatting about falling into game dev, the struggle to get your writing in front of people, and the importance of accessible dev tools. We discuss many unspeakable games so make sure there aren’t any cops around before you pop this one on.

You can play Elliot’s games on itch and follow her @elliotherriman.

Elliot’s Unspeakable 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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and supporting Kritiqal on Ko-Fi.

Shane Yach (he/they) is a game designer and musician whose work combines crunchy, low-poly visuals with surreal internet horror. We spend some time breaking down what makes the PS1 great for horror, how found footage could be adapted for games, and why falling asleep in Proteus is the highest compliment. In closing, Shane reminds us that games don’t die on release and we should allow ourselves to take creativity breaks.

You can play Shane’s games on itch, find their music on Bandcamp, and follow them @tipsheda.

Shane’s Cool 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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and supporting Kritiqal on Ko-Fi.

Kevin Wong (he/they) is a game designer, producer, and scholar who has worked on projects as varied as Chambara, Lucah: Born of a Dream, and Manifold Garden. On this episode he recounts his experience as a student game designer and how anti-hierarchal art movements and Twitch Plays Pokemon inspired the apocalyptic photography game, Dear Future.

You can follow Kevin on Twitter @ThatKevinWong and keep up with Dear Future @DearFutureGame.

Kevin’s Inspiring 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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and supporting Kritiqal on Ko-Fi.

Nathan Blades (he/they) is a tabletop designer, streamer, and voice actor with a particular love for queer cyberpunk. He sat down with me to chronicle his introduction to TTRPGs, the rewards and frustrations of running an actual play show, and finding the line between passion projects and accidentally making yourself a second job. Afterwards, Nathan reminds us that no amount of Twitter arguing can substitute just sitting down and making the damn thing.

You can find Nathan’s games on itch, catch their streams on Twitch, check out their voice acting reel, and follow them on Twitter @PhantomArtsEnt.

Nathan’s Cool Thing(s) 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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and supporting Kritiqal on Ko-Fi.

Kat (she/her) makes video essays on games and pop culture as Pixel a Day. Her work seeks to diversify games criticism by invoking her knowledge of art and psychology, interrogating unexplored aspects of games and games culture. In this episode we discuss what drew her to video essays as a form, the importance of looking outside of games, and the challenge of getting noticed as a smaller channel.

You can find Kat’s videos on Youtube, her writing on Medium, and follow her on Twitter @pixel_a_day.

Kat’s Cool Thing to Share

Things Discussed

Channel Shoutouts

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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and supporting Kritiqal on Ko-Fi.

Nilson Carrol (he/him) is an archivist, MFA student, and ROM hacker working to preserve obscure and queer internet culture. His thesis project, Video Games Have Been Queer, chronicles his history with games and the queer culture within and around them which is often ignored. We talk about his early experiences with ROM hacking, the importance of preserving digital culture, and the earnest, wondrous possibility of glitches. In closing we fawn over Anodyne 2: Return to Dust (Analgesic Productions, 2019), a game which feels too good to exist.

You can find Nilson’s games on itch and at swampbabes.

Nilson’s Inspiring 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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and becoming a supporter on Patreon. It means a lot.

Lena NW (she/her) is a multimedia artist, rapper, and game designer whose work touches on the messy, fraught, and darkly humorous effects of fringe internet culture. Her MFA project, Nightmare Temptation Academy (2020), crystalizes her experience growing up on the internet and becoming desensitized to shock content, while also exploring digital alienation and collage creativity. She joined me on Kritiqal Care to talk more about what drew her to games, the Neopets/Gaia Online/4chan pipeline, and trying to be an ethical edgelord.

You can find Lena’s work on her personal site, play Nightmare Temptation Academy on itch, and listen to her music on Bandcamp.

Lena’s Cool 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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and becoming a supporter on Patreon. It means a lot.

Cassandra Lugo (they/them) creates compact procedural games under the name prophet goddess. Their work explores the unique abilities of generative content, the lack of win conditions, and glitchy digital aesthetics. We discuss the origins of their interest in procedural generation, the frequent pitfalls with how it is utilized, and the sorts of games prophet goddess wants to see more of. In the close, we remember that it’s never a bad time to listen to Prince.

You can follow prophet goddess on Twitter @prophet_goddess, play their games on itch, and catch their streams on Twitch and trash.cloud.

prophet goddess’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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and becoming a supporter on Patreon. It means a lot.

Nem (they/them) runs the leftist tabletop studio and occasional publisher, Sandy Pug Games, creating games exploring anti-capitalism, alternative forms of interaction, and what it would be like if DMC’s Dante was in Dungeon World. Recently, they have helped facilitate the Our Shores Kickstarter, allowing members of the South-East Asian TTRPG scene (RPGSEA) access to funds and exposure they had previously been denied. In this episode we discuss the contentious nature of Kickstarter, Twitter politics, and the limitations of aesthetic revolution in art.

You can find links to Nem’s work on their Carrd and on itch.

Nem’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. If you enjoyed the show, consider sharing it with a loved one and becoming a supporter on Patreon. It means a lot.