Kritiqal Care

Girls Make Games is an annual summer camp that teaches middle and high-school girls how to create games. This year, due to Covid-19, they took the camp online and in doing so are reaching girls all across the world. I sat down with GMG’s communications director, Isra Shabir (she/her), to learn how the camp began, what the process was like shifting to online, and what they have planned moving forward with more online events.

You can learn more about Girls Make Games at girlsmakegames.com, follow them @GirlsMakeGames, and get in touch by emailing [email protected]. Their fall virtual camp sessions begin today with more planned throughout October into November.

Things Discussed

Isra’s Inspiring Thing to Share

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. It means a lot.

Matthew Pusti (he/him) makes synth-driven electronic music as Makeup and Vanity Set. He has produced numerous solo albums including Wilderness and 2020’s Endless Destiny, and his music has appeared in games like Brigador (Stellar Jockeys, 2015) and numerous podcasts from Tenderfoot TV (Atlanta Monster, To Live and Die in LA). He joined me to discuss how he began in music, the move to working in games and podcasts, and the inspiration for his latest album.

You can find Matthew’s music on Spotify, Bandcamp, and wherever you get your music, and follow him on Twitter @vanityset.

Things Discussed

Matthew’s Hopeful Thing to Share

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. It means a lot.

Nicolas O’Brien (he/him) is a researcher and experimental artist who recently released The Last Survey (2020), a “visual novel essay” which explores the myth of equitable capitalism and modern technocracies. He joined me to talk about the inspiration for the game, the challenge of making anti-capitalist art within established models, and the stress of our own culpability.

You can follow Nicholas on Twitter @__nkO and play The Last Survey on Steam and Itch.

Things Discussed

Nicholas’ Inspiring Thing to Share

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. It means a lot.

Hannah Nicklin (she/her) is a writer and narrative designer now working as studio head at Die Gute Fabrik, known for her work on 2019’s mutant soap opera, Mutazione. She joined me on Kritiqal Care to discuss how she went from being a playwright to a games author, how Mutazione approaches domesticity and time, and how she is building a more diverse team for Die Gute Fabrik’s next project. It was a wonderful discussion on narrative design across mediums, and stay tuned at the end for some teases for what the studio is up to next.

You can follow Hannah on Twitter @hannahnicklin, Die Gute Fabrik @gutefabrik, and learn more about the studio at their official site.

Things Discussed

Hannah’s Inspiring Thing to Share

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. It means a lot.

Melos Han-Tani (he/him) is a game designer, musician, and half of Analgesic Productions (together with Marina Kittaka). On episode 22 of Kritiqal Care he joined me to talk making games that recognize the humans behind them, why he likes writing music for games, and some of the musicians he looks (listens?) toward for inspiration. Finally, we close out with a quick tease of what Analgesic is working on next, and appreciate the ongoing efforts by protestors to fight back against the US police state. Stay safe out there, everyone.

You can find Melon on Twitter @han_tani, find all of their projects at hantani.com, and buy Analgesic’s games on itch or wherever fine video games are sold.

Melos’ 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.

Melos’ Musical Inspirations (a sample)

Ex-game dev MadameBerry (she/her) joins me to talk creative burnout and becoming a Twitch painter. Having begun as an indie dev with games like Fragile Soft Machines and Visual Out, MadameBerry has since left games and is now pursuing live painting on Twitch, along with and helping others overcome their creative blocks. We dive into a lot of things surrounding creativity as a deliberate act and the nature of online audiences, then close out with a surprise album by Joey Batey of Netflix’s The Witcher fame.

You can catch MadameBerry’s streams Wednesdays and Saturdays on Twitch, follow her on Twitter @MadameBerry, and find all of her work on her official site.

MadameBerry’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.

Whitethorn Games is an indie publishing house focusing on “easy-going, bite-sized, stress-free games" for people who maybe don’t play them very often. Founder and CEO of Whitethorn, Matthew White (he/him), joins me on Kritiqal Care to talk what makes a Whitethorn game, appealing to non-gamers, and growing sustainably. Later on we talk about “the good groceries” and being awestruck by nature.

You can follow Whitethorn Games on Twitter @WhiteThornGames and learn more about them at whitethorndigital.com.

Things Discussed

Matthew’s Good Thing to Share

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.

Rachel Tanner (she/her) is a poet and prose author who writes the monthly column Extra Lives over at Video Dame. She joined me on this week’s Kritiqal Care to read a few of her poems and talk about how she got started writing video game poetry. It’s a nice, chill episode, so grab a cup of tea and nestle up under a blanket as this episode tucks you in.

You can follow Rachel @rickit, and find her writing on Video Dame.

Poems Read

Rachel’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.

Something new on this week’s Kritiqal Care, I’m joined by experimental software developer Nathalie Lawhead (they/them) to talk about the weird side of the internet. Nathalie specializes in small art tools with 90s sensibilities and lots and lots of potatoes, and recently released Electric Zine Maker for anyone looking to become an amateur publicist. It was a delight to have them on to reflect on where internet art has been and where it’s going, and I highly recommend checking out their essay on small tools which inspired this episode.

You can follow Nathalie on Twitter @alienmelon and find more of her projects at alienmelon.com.

Nathalie’s Inspiring Thing to Share

Small Tools to Explore

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.

Very excited to have gotten the chance to this week to chat with Andrew (he/him), creator and curator of Indiepocalypse, a monthly zine featuring games, comics, and an assortment of other curiosities. Each month Indiepocalypse highlights the breathe of work happening in the indie games scene uncoupled from the expectations of major conventions or commercial appeal, packaging them up as an indie zine that is currently on its 6th issue. Our conversation touches on the challenges of curation, what it means to create a space for smaller artists, and some cool projects happening in other mediums.

You can support Indiepocalypse by buying the zines on itch.io, or subscribing to it on Patreon. Andrew is on Twitter @PizzaPranks, and you can learn more about submitting your own work to Indiepocalypse on its official site.

Things Discussed

Andrew’s Cool Thing to Share

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.