Pixel Pizza

Sitting down with us this week is the incredibly talented animator Aniket Natekar! Aniket most recently was Animation Director on one of this year's breakout hit games, Dispatch. Aniket discusses his beginnings in animated film, entering the game industry at Hangar 13, and the process behind some of Dispatch's most hard-hitting scenes. Featuring chiptune music from Aubery aka Elysian Tunes!

LINKS:

📸 Aniket's Instagram: @aniket.natekar

💼 Aniket's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniket-natekar-143aa04/

💿 Elysian Tunes: https://elysiantunes.bandcamp.com/

We're back after a holiday break with a jam-packed new episode! This week we are joined by Dmitry Minsky of the Lithuanian game studio Button Mash. The demo of their upcoming typing battle royale game, Final Sentence, has been making waves on Steam for its unique premise and addictive gameplay loop.

Dmitry goes into the many failed projects it took before finding success, the importance of keeping a game idea "on freeze" for the right time, and how many hours there REALLY are in a day. Featuring DnB music from Baychimo!

LINKS:

🎮 Final Sentence Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4021860/Final_Sentence_Demo/

💼 Dmitry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmitryminsky/

💿 Baychimo: https://baychimo.bandcamp.com/

Joining us this week is developer of the beloved Runner series, Mike Roush of Choice Provisions! We revisit Mike's career through his days at Santa Cruz Games, then making his own games at the beginning of digital distribution for consoles and mobile, all the way to his more recent work with Riot Games on Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story. Plus, we go deep into our shared love and memories of David Bowie 💫 Featuring music from OGNOMO!

LINKS:

🌐 Choice Provisions Website: https://choiceprovisions.com/

🎮 Choice Provisions Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Choice%20Provisions

💿 OGNOMO: https://ognomo.bandcamp.com/

Put on your nicest pair of headphones and get ready for a masterful audio experience with music designer Seth Wright! Seth's brought his talents to acclaimed titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Marvel's Iron Man VR, and Batman: Arkham Shadow. Most recently he's gone freelance and founded Wright Music Interactive. We discuss the making of those projects and a bunch more on this week's show! Featuring music from Waddoop 🐸

LINKS:

💼 Seth's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-wright-04305a173/

✉️ Seth's Email: [email protected]

💿 Waddoop: https://waddoop.bandcamp.com/

We are back with a brand new game industry interview, and it's a blast! WayForward Producer Austin Ivansmith joins us to talk about his directorial process on games like DuckTales Remastered and The Mummy Demastered, as well as the live TV-like interactive experience Silent Hill: Ascension. We also discuss unconventional ways to communicate your vision to your teammates, typos in emails, and woodworking. With music from Grounds.!

LINKS:

☁️ Austin's Bluesky: ivandashsmith.bsky.social

🐦 Austin's Twitter: @Ivandashsmith

🌐 Austin's Website: www.austinivansmithgames.com

💿 Grounds: https://gggrrrooouuunnndddsss.bandcamp.com/

No new guest this week, sorry! 😞 Rather than another encore episode, though, I decided to use this week to yap about all the games I've played this year so far. From a software perspective it's been an incredible year for gaming and I've had so many unforgettable experiences going through many of these titles. Regardless of if you want recommendations for stuff to check out or just need background noise while you're driving, I hope you're able to get some enjoyment out of this one! We've got a packed guest lineup November so stay tuned for that too 👀 Featuring music from 8BitGang!

LINKS:

💿8BitGang: https://8bitgang.bandcamp.com/

Get crafty with us this week as we chat with Art Director & UI Artist Sofie Wikström! Sofie worked for years on the LittleBigPlanet franchise, as well as other popular titles like SteamWorld Build and the recently released Islanders: New Shores. She tells us about overcoming burnout, breaking down the art style of a franchise when developing sequels, and the importance of making environments look literally good enough to eat! Featuring tunes from JamelBurger 🍔

LINKS:

☁️ Sofie's BlueSky: http://sofiewikstromart.bsky.social

🎨 Sofie's ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/sofiewikstrom/

💿 JamelBurger: https://jamelburger.bandcamp.com/

This week we have a fantastic conversation with Co-Lead at 7th Beat Games, Kyle Labriola! Kyle has worked on the popular rhythm games A Dance of Fire and Ice and Rhythm Doctor, and he's also done animation work on some of the Jackbox games. We discuss how Kyle "fell into" the industry, his initial reluctance to call himself a game developer, how Rhythm Doctor has evolved in its 10+ year development cycle, and accessibility for blind players. Plus music from PICE!

LINKS:

☁️ Kyle's BlueSky: https://kylelabriola.bsky.social

💿 PICE: https://8bitpice.bandcamp.com/

Take a trip out of the airwaves and Into the Unwell with Mathias Johansson and Andreas Göransson of the Swedish game studio She Was Such a Good Horse! Mathias is the studio's Co-Founder and Andreas is its Creative Community Manager, and they're currently hard at work on the cartoon-inspired roguelike brawler/platformer Into the Unwell. We discuss recreating the classic rubber-hose animation style in 3D, the importance of contextual abilities in roguelikes, and giving power to the powerless. Featuring music from GLLTCH!

LINKS:

🗣️ She Was Such a Good Horse Socials: https://linktr.ee/suchagoodhorse

👾 Into the Unwell Discord: https://discord.com/invite/SJaBnJFsgj

☁️ Andreas' BlueSky:

https://shutterandreas.bsky.social

💿 GLLTCH: https://glltch.bandcamp.com/

You made it to Friday! 🙌 Rest your weary head with an all-new Pixel Pizza featuring two of the founding members of the Zurich-based Lululu Entertainment. Aaron Abt & Tim Bürge join the show to discuss their multiplayer boomerang action game Bamerang and the super unique recently released puzzle game, Henry Halfhead! Featuring music from The Divingons!

LINKS:

🗣️ Lululu Socials: @LululuEntertainment

🎮 Henry Halfhead: https://henrygame.com/

💿 The Divingons: https://thedivingons.bandcamp.com