Seria Ludo

"Imagine you're writing a book and occasionally, when someone turns the page, all the letters fall off the page."

Tim and Joel interview Stephen Danton, who developed the excellent Unto the End with his wife Sara.

Stephen talks about his career, and the range of experience he brought to bear in the making of his first big game. We cover various aspects of video game development.

• Unto the End
• Dark Souls
• Guacamelee
• Stray
• Dead Cells
• Mark of the Ninja
• Another World
• Flashback
• Below
• Rainworld
• Highfleet
• Thief
• God of War
• Miasmata
• Death Stranding
• Somerville

Tim and Joel look again at Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic, a game whose complexity allows for a more nuanced set of mechanics which make it a more "honest" city-building experience, as opposed to the sanitized colonialist and capitalist assumptions of many recent offerings in the genre.

• Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic
• Sim City 2000
• Cities: Skylines
• Anno 1800
• Factorio

Tim and Joel look at the delightful Unto the End, an action-adventure game made by the small team at 2 Ton Studios. It is a masterclass in minimalist game design - art, sound, narrative and gameplay mechanics. We give particular attention to the combat mechanics - which are some of the best we've encountered in any game - scrappy and tactical, consistently challenging. We look at why the challenges here are so much more compelling to us than the popular Dark Souls series - which has been much lauded for its combat mechanics. Games mentioned:

• Unto the End
• Dark Souls
• Sekiro
• Chivalry 2
• Assassin's Creed
• Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
• Lonely Mountains: Downhill
• Nidhogg

Having played some "deck-builder" games, Tim and Joel break down the mechanics and aesthetics of card games. We look primarily at Inscryption and Fights in Tight Spaces, and go on to discuss UI and combat strategy mechanics.

Games mentioned:

• Inscryption
• Fights in tight places
• Banner Saga
• Into the Breach
• Nantucket
• Battle Brothers

Tim and Joel take apart Hardspace: Shipbreaker, space-junking game with an anti-capitalist spirit. We examine the ways in which narrative is subtly threaded through gameplay.

Games mentioned:

• Hardspace: Shipbreaker
• Norco
• Dead Space

Tim gives his first impressions of the trailblazing Steam Deck - which brings PC computing power to the handheld gaming experience. Having sampled several games on the platform, he has settled on Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic (aka Soviet Concrete Simulator). What differentiates it from other city-builders?

• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Witcher 3
• Battletech
• Rimworld
• Cleopatra
• Pharaoh
• Cities Skylines
• Tropico 5
• Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic
• Hardspace: Shipbreaker
• Dyson sphere Program
• Satisfactory
• Factorio

In part two of our look at Norco we expand on some of the first episode's observations, discussing specific plot points.

Mentioned:

Musée des Beaux Arts (poem) - WH Auden

Norco is a real achievement in video game storytelling - beautifully written and scored. It is a game we will both remember for a long time.

In this episode we talk (spoiler-free) about the game and its relationship to the cyberpunk genre. Next week we go into greater depth, with spoilers.

Games mentioned:

• Norco
• Monkey Island
• Kentucky Route Zero
• Deus Ex
• Disco Elysium
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Cloudpunk
• Shadowrun
• Beneath/Beyond a Steel Sky

Following last week's music episode, this week we talk with our guests Phil Tucker and Damian Gibson about our more personal experiences with music in video games, from childlike glee to more complicated adult emotions.

We discuss some of the earlier music-producing technologies, composition techniques, and memorable examples from the best of the medium.

Games mentioned:

• Donkey Kong Country
• Digger
• Mario
• Red Dead Redemption
• Halo
• Doom
• Lemmings
• Zelda
• Spy vs Spy
• Goldeneye
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
• Hellcats over the Pacific
• Homeworld
• Curse of Monkey Island
• Norco
• FTL
• Beatles Rock Band
• The Long Dark
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Nantucket
• Deathloop
• GTA 5
• American Truck Simulator

A very special episode this week: friends of the show Phil Tucker and Damian Gibson - Joel's former radio-show co-hosts - join us to talk about music in games. Damian is the host of the podcasts WrestleWolf and Agents of Narrative. Phil - who made the music for the pod - was a touring musician for 10 years, and now works as a composer.

In the first of two podcasts, we talk about the function of music in games, and indulge in some reminiscing.

Games mentioned:

• Hypnospace outlaw
• Mario
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• FTL
• Crypt of the Necrodancer
• Night in the Woods
• Yakuza
• The Artful Escape
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• EVE Online