Play Dead

In this episode, Gabby speaks with Justin Kuiper, the lead writer at Route 59 Games, about how death is used as a mechanic and storytelling device in their upcoming game Necrobarista.

The music used in this episode comes from Necrobarista and is written and composed by Kevin Penkin. You can check out his work here: kpenkmusic.com.

In the season two premiere of Play Dead, Gabby talks death and eSports with The Score’s Daniel Rosen and professional Counter-Strike: GO player Stephanie Harvey. They discuss how death can often be used as a tactic in competitive games, and how the eSports community honours and memorializes deceased players.

The music used in this episode was written and composed by our dear friend Paige Freeman-Cyopeck, and comes from their album “divided.” You can download divided at https://queercricket.bandcamp.com/ and follow Paige on Twitter @littledogfriend.

In this special end of the year episode of Play Dead, Gabby asks several game developers about their most memorable video game deaths, including Taylor Bai-Woo, Sagan Yee, Ksenia Eic, Tabby Rose, Robby Duguay, Alex Bull, Jonathan Levstein, Rosalind Chapman, Rosemary Brennan, and Dork Shelf Games Editor Eric Weiss. The answers range from NPC deaths, to game glitches, to digital reminders of deceased loved ones.

The music used in this episode was written and composed by Robby Duguay and comes from his Christmas album 12GB of Christmas Vol. 4 which is out now. You can check it out here and follow him on Twitter @RobbyDuguay

In the season 1 finale of Play Dead, Gabby is joined by Scott Benson, the game developer and artist of Night in the Woods. They talk about death in Night in the Woods and its supplemental Lost Constellation, the “good death” in video games, and traumatic deaths in Canadian christmas movies.

The music used in this episode was written and composed by Alec Holowka and is from the games Night in the Woods, Lost Constellation, and Longest Night. You can check out more of Alec’s work at infiniteammo.com.

In this week’s episode, Gabby is joined by Pippin Barr, an experimental game maker and assistant professor at Concordia University in Montreal. They talk about Pippin’s work, permadeath speed runs, and using death purposefully in games.

The music used in this episode is from Pippin’s games Breaksout, Eveline, Hot Coffee, Safety Instructions, and Zorba.

In this week’s episode, Gabby is joined by Aaron Leighton, the art director and illustrator of Sago Sago, and Linda Hochstetler, a Toronto-based registered social worker and therapist who specializes in end of life issues related to illness, death, dying, and loss. They talk about death in traditional children’s media, talking with kids about death, and how to utilize death in meaningful ways in games for both adults and children.

The music used in this episode was written and composed by my dear friend Paige Freeman-Cyopeck, and comes from their new album “darkmatter”. You can download darkmatter at https://queercricket.bandcamp.com/ and follow Paige on twitter @littledogfriend.

In this week’s episode, Gabby is joined by Alex Zandra Van Chestein, an independent game developer and a designer at Ikonoclast, the studio behind the Mako Engine — a visual novel maker for Unity — and the game Battle of the Heart. They talk about Ikonoclast’s upcoming death-centric game One Last Cup, then move on to discuss death anxiety and other death positive video games.

The music used in this episode was written and composed by Lena Raine for One Last Cup. You can listen to more of Lena’s work at radicaldream.land and follow her on Twitter @kuraine.

Content Warning: This episode features discussion of suicide.

In this week’s music-themed episode, Gabby talks about composing music for death in video games with musicians Rich Vreeland, also known as Disasterpeace (FEZ, It Follows, Hyper Light Drifter), Robby Duguay (Fate Tectonics, We Are Doomed), and Jim Guthrie (Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery, Below).

The music used in this episode is from the movie It Follows and the games Hyper Light Drifter, Fez, Fate Tectonics, and Sword and Sworcery, and was written and composed by Rich, Robby, and Jim, respectively.

Correction: This episode incorrectly credits Robby Duguay as the “composer and sound designer of Fate Tectonics.” Robby Duguay is the composer. Jen Costa is the Sound Designer for Fate Tectonics.

In this week’s episode, Gabby is joined by Lucas Pope, the independent game developer behind Papers, Please, The Republia Times, and the upcoming Return of the Obra Dinn. Gabby had the opportunity to play Return of the Obra Dinn at the 2016 Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco and met with Lucas to talk about the game, killing mechanics in mainstream games, and how indie developers are changing up the formula for death in games.

The music used in this episode is from Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn.

In this week’s episode, Gabby is joined by Benjamin Rivers, the independent game developer behind Home and the upcoming Alone With You. They talk about traditional death mechanics, common death tropes in horror games, and how Ben is using death in his own games.

The music used in this episode is from Home and Alone With You. Both soundtracks are written and composed by Ivor Stines.