
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


My guest today is Maddy Thorson, a Canadian writer and designer for video games. At the age of 14, she obtained a copy of GameMaker, software on which she learned to make simple games. After studying computer science at Grande Prairie Regional College in Alberta, she moved to Vancouver and there rented a house in which she and her friends began working on a multiplayer combat game featuring four archers. TowerFall Ascension, became a huge hit.
The following year, my guest took part in a game jam and co-created a game based on her experiences bouldering. That experiment grew into Celeste, which cast players as Madeline, a young woman suffering from anxiety and depression who aims to climb a mountain. En route, she meets manifestations of her self-doubt, which try to halt her progress.
A commercial version of Celeste launched in 2018 and became a smash hit. It won Best Independent Game at the Game Awards and in 2022 was ranked fourteenth in a USA Today list of the best games ever made.
Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole
Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
By Simon Parkin4.8
6262 ratings
My guest today is Maddy Thorson, a Canadian writer and designer for video games. At the age of 14, she obtained a copy of GameMaker, software on which she learned to make simple games. After studying computer science at Grande Prairie Regional College in Alberta, she moved to Vancouver and there rented a house in which she and her friends began working on a multiplayer combat game featuring four archers. TowerFall Ascension, became a huge hit.
The following year, my guest took part in a game jam and co-created a game based on her experiences bouldering. That experiment grew into Celeste, which cast players as Madeline, a young woman suffering from anxiety and depression who aims to climb a mountain. En route, she meets manifestations of her self-doubt, which try to halt her progress.
A commercial version of Celeste launched in 2018 and became a smash hit. It won Best Independent Game at the Game Awards and in 2022 was ranked fourteenth in a USA Today list of the best games ever made.
Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole
Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

649 Listeners

2,114 Listeners

4,831 Listeners

267 Listeners

383 Listeners

1,015 Listeners

636 Listeners

361 Listeners

311 Listeners

2,111 Listeners

1,166 Listeners

45 Listeners

385 Listeners

855 Listeners

278 Listeners