Pixel Pizza

Tune in to an all-new episode of the Pixel Pizza Podcast featuring music video director, commercial producer, and game developer Jennifer Jupiter Stratford! JJ's new FMV game Blippo+ is out on PlayDate and coming soon to Nintendo Switch. We get into recapturing the public access era of TV in a loving and authentic way, building confidence as an artist, and also her work with Sabrina Carpenter! Plus music from CMYKitsune & Alison Grace 🦊

LINKS:

📺 TeleFantasy Studios: https://telefantasystudios.com/

📸 JJ's Instagram: @JJStratford

🏰 Dungeon Majesty: https://dungeonmajesty.com/

💿 CMYKitsune & Alison Grace: https://cmykitsune.bandcamp.com/

Drop on in for an extremely fun episode this week featuring the director of the acclaimed indie adventure game OneShot, NightMargin! She tells us about pivoting from biology studies to game development, the process of creating OneShot, and her current work on the upcoming Margin of the Strange! Then we swap stories about our strangest dreams and keeping things too long in the freezer. Featuring music from BeatScribe!

LINKS:

☁️ NightMargin's BlueSky: http://nightmargin.bsky.social

💿 BeatScribe: https://beatscribe.bandcamp.com

Dive into a new Pixel Pizza featuring accomplished game designer James Beech! James has contributed design work to AAA games like Crysis 3, Darksiders 3, and Metroid Prime...4! He's also been making his own independent games: the philosophical exploration-focused titles Ultraworld and Carceri. We discuss gameplay flow in Metroidvanias, telling a story within an individual game level, and go to some really deep places by the end. With music from Luke Carlin again!

LINKS:

☁️ James' Bluesky: http://neonserpent.bsky.social

💿 Luke Carlin: https://anfeorh.bandcamp.com/

This week we had a blast chatting with Galen Drew, Art Director at Aggro Crab! Galen's worked on a number of VR and AR projects for major studios, the award-winning soulslike Another Crab's Treasure, and recently released one of the summer's biggest hit games: Peak.

Galen tells us about the joy of the process over the product, the challenges of going into a leadership role as a creative, and applying game design to procedural level generation in Peak. Plus a lot more! With music from Pink Orca~

LINKS:

☁️ Aggro Crab BlueSky: https://aggrocrabgames.bsky.social

📸 Galen's Instagram: @Galens_good_art

💿 Pink Orca: https://pinkorca.bandcamp.com/

This episode originally aired on December 22nd, 2023.

Excited to revisit one of our most popular episodes, a talk from nearly 2 years ago with indie developer InsertDisc5 aka Adrienne Bazir! In the time since this episode went up, Adrienne has released a new visual novel called This Game Will End in 205 Clicks. She's also announced her next major project, Truth Scrapper! Learn more about her background and the breakout hit In Stars and Time in this super fun episode. With music from Mabisyo!

LINKS:

🌐 Adrienne's Website: https://www.insertdisc5.com/

✏️ Adrienne's Tumblr: https://insertdisc5.tumblr.com/

🎮 In Stars And Time: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1677310/In_Stars_And_Time/

👕 Merch: https://theyetee.com/collections/all/products/in-stars-and-time-tee-1?_pos=1&_sid=d54d32fe0&_ss=r

💿 Mabisyo: https://mabisyo.bandcamp.com/

Rain or shine, we are here with another Pixel Pizza! This week's guest is Doinksoft Creative Director, Britt Brady. Britt and his team have put out some incredible pixelated action games including Gato Roboto, Gunbrella, and Demon Throttle. Britt discusses his process on character controls, team communication, and his side projects for the Game Boy Color. Plus new music from Minus World!

LINKS:

☁️ Britt's BlueSky: brittbrady.bsky.social

💿 Minus World: https://theminusworld.com/

On this week's show it was a blast talking with the Nebula Award-nominated and BAFTA longlisted narrative designer/writer, Karrie Shao! You might know her best from the recent roguelike hit Pacific Drive, but she's also worked on the lore for League of Legends and done marketing for games like BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. We get into all of the unique opportunities she's had in her career and how to get players invested in game stories without cutscenes. With music from Hypervolt ⚡️

LINKS:

☁️ Karrie's BlueSky: karriebear.bsky.social

📸 Karrie's Instagram: @Karrieburr

💼 Karrie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karrie-shirou-shao-38758715/

💿 Hypervolt: https://hypervolt.bandcamp.com/

On this week's show we're talking with Systems Designer Jan Stec Russo! His work has spanned across multiple studios, including Toys For Bob, Schell Games, Phoenix Labs, and his current role at Magic Soup. Jan talks about nailing down Crash's signature spin move in Crash 4 & Crash Team Rumble, mentoring young designers, and how he processed getting laid off and was able to move on. With music from Lili Gasanj!

LINKS:

💼 Jan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janstec/

💿 Lili Gasanj: https://liligasanj.bandcamp.com/

This week on the show we've got the designer of two of the most iconic and artistic games to hit mobile: Monument Valley and Florence! Ken Wong tells us about how fan art led us to his work on Alice: Madness Returns, designing games with social media UI in mind, and taking (and giving) inspiration from a variety of sources. Plus, music from Bloomfield Machine!

LINKS:

📸 Ken's Instagram: @Kenwong.art

💿 Bloomfield Machine: https://bloomfieldmachine.bandcamp.com/

Get some valuable insight on leadership, solo game development, and persistence with this week's guest: Renee Gittins! Renee served as Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association and General Manager at Phoenix Labs (developers of Dauntless) among many other studios before starting her own studio, Stumbling Cat.

Alongside game development, she also makes comedic TikTok vids about her experience in the industry! Hear about all of this and more on this week's show, plus chiptunes from Conkos!

LINKS:

🗣️ Renee's Socials: @Rikukat

💼 Renee's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reneegittins/

🎮 Potions: A Curious Tale: https://www.stumblingcat.com/

💿 Conkos: https://conkos.bandcamp.com/