Systems In Play

The boys are back and HUNGRY. This year for the GMTK 25 Game Jam, Systems in Play slaved over a hot grill to cook up this wonderful, delicious, mouth watering, tasty, succulent, 100% beef, fresh never frozen, burger of a game: Rememburger. Watch in real time as we spiral into madness making this game in only 96 hours. Join us in this devlog of Rememburger, playable now on Itch: https://systemsinplay.itch.io/rememburger

Link to the jam results (spoiler alert we are unsurprisingly absent): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG3LWpuiLqg

Games we discussed:

• LooPedal - https://fantasmacollective.itch.io/loopedal
• Pimby's Workaround - https://magicpillow.itch.io/pimbys-workaround
• Mobia's Trip - https://twice-twice.itch.io/mobias-trip
• Spiral of Ants - https://the-trave.itch.io/spiral-of-ants
• Bendjo - https://squishyturtlegames.itch.io/bend-jo

Find out what we're about: https://systemsinplay.com

Today the boys talk about Inscryption, a game by Daniel Mullins. Despite it being an incredible experience, we stopped just short of the end.

Will we ever come back to Inscryption? Has the book forever closed on this experience? What does it mean to finish a game? Will the boys ever return to a regular upload schedule? What the fuck is up with that pile of meat? Find out all this and more on the latest episode of Systems in Play! How's that for a Descryption™?

NOTE FOR AUDIO ONLY LISTENERS:

There is a visual component to this episode on www.youtube.com/@SystemsInPlayPod. It contains gameplay footage and our beautiful faces but you can totally listen to this without it if you want, i guess.

00:00:00 Episode Start 00:02:39 What is Inscryption 00:25:10 The Mechanics 00:53:15 Spoilers (Play the game before watching this part) 01:40:01 Spoilers over and wrapping up

You may have noticed we haven't had a proper episode in a minute. We're not gone, just changing it up. In order to talk about games you need to play them so we've opened up more time to do so! From now on, we are going to be live-streaming our playthrough of various games and afterwards make a juicy podcast episode about some aspect, if not the entirety, of that game. We've been streaming Inscryption and so far we've had two streams on twitch and one stream over discord. All of the vods for these can be found on our YouTube channel. We hope to finish the game soon, so come check us out as we stream on Twitch every Thursday!

Join the discussion on our discord

We regret to inform you that the boys from Systems in Play have passed. Multiple times, in fact. In an attempt to record a podcast while also filming scary monsters and not so nice ghosts in a world unknown to them, the frights were just too much. The following footage is all that remains of this foolish escapade. Systems in Play On Site is an experiment in recording a podcast while also capturing footage in the world that the episode is about. You know those podcasts where two dudes sit across from each other in chairs? Imagine if those two dudes had to peel potatoes while recording their podcasts. Now imagine those chairs were entire virtual worlds and those potatoes were a lot bigger and trying to kill them. This is Systems in Play On Site.

This format is something we're trying for the month of October so if it's not your jam, no worries it's not permanent. If, however, this is your jam, then let us know and we might just make this a normal thing.

Systems in Play is a bi-weekly podcast that discusses the art of making games, and the joy of playing them. For more information, visit our website at https://systemsinplay.com/

Join the discussion on our discord

Systems in *cough cough* Play is *wheeze* back and *blows nose* SICKER than ever. That's right, folks, CJ got covid. We're crawling back to the mic, congested and coughing, to bring you an ultra chill episode about what we've been playing over the past couple weeks. Sam's been on a minecraft kick, so we take a beat to talk about building mechanics and our favorite creations across different series. CJ decided covid hadn't melted his brain enough, and talks about his recent play through of remnant 2. Stay to the end for a new segment we're calling the HALL OF GAME.

Systems in Play is a bi-weekly podcast that discusses the art of making games, and the joy of playing them. For more information, visit our website at https://systemsinplay.com/

Join the discussion on our discord

Links to stuff we mentioned during the episode:

• Why hasn't Nintendo Axed Pokemon Showdown

• Competitive Pokemon is a full time job (if you don't cheat…)

Have you ever played a game and thought: "wow, that sucked"? Have you experienced the joy of having a remake announced for your favorite game, only for it to come out and completely miss the point of the original? Have you ever tried to return a frustratingly buggy game on Steam, only to realize you're just minutes over the refund period. If this sounds like you, then fret not. Systems in Play is back and here to inform you that "There is No Such Thing as a Bad Game".

This week, Sam attempts to explain his…interesting philosophy about game quality. We get pretty esoteric in this one, stick around to hear discussions about: 'what even is art, actually', 'what it means to be critical of a game', and 'what are the artistic merits of a slot machine'.

Systems in Play is a bi-weekly podcast that discusses the art of making games, and the joy of playing them. For more information, visit our website at https://systemsinplay.com/

Join the discussion on our discord

Games Discussed:

• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

• PlayStation AllStars

• Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

• Bubsy 3D

• Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back

• Nour: Play with your food

• Her Story

• Papers, Please

• Spec Ops: The line

• Pokemon

• Assassin's Creed 2

Systems in Play is back, despite our brains resembling bowls of jello left out in the sun for a week. "Who would do this to my favorite podcast hosts?", you may ask. Well, dear listener, I must admit that it was US who did this to us, for in our infinite hubris, I am afraid that we joined the GMTK 2024 game jam. Come now, and listen to our slow descent into madness and exhaustion over the course of this four day jam.

In this special episode, the boys entered the Game Maker's Toolkit Game Jam, and recorded daily updates of our progress. Listen as we start from a concept, and slowly form it into an actual game over the course of 4 days.

We'd love it if you checked out our submission: Stretch-ris

But you should also check out some of our favorite submissions of the jam:

• Cappy & Tappy: https://declanmorrison.itch.io/cappy-n-tappy-temple-of-peril

• Summoner's Torment XI: 2: https://oludo.itch.io/summoners-torment-xi-2d

Systems in Play is a bi-weekly podcast that discusses the art of making games, and the joy of playing them. For more information, visit our website at https://systemsinplay.com/

Systems in Play returns, now with 100% more TerrificBlake! For our first ever guest episode, we discuss one of gaming's newest genres: Souls-like games. If you've ever wondered: What is Elden Ring? Why would anyone do that to themselves? Is Dark Souls a Souls-like? Am I Maidenless? Then have we got the show for you! Stick around after the great Souls-like debate for a broader discussion on what it means for a game to become a genre.

Systems in Play is a bi-weekly podcast that discusses the art of making games, and the joy of playing them. For more information, visit our website at systemsinplay.com

Feat. www.twitch.tv/terrificblake

Join the discussion at: https://discord.gg/H8PzRVzFun

Games Discussed

• Crow Country

• Hades

• Blood Borne

• Dark Souls 3

• Demon Souls

• Boom Blox Wii

• Brink

• Elden Ring

• Bloodborne Kart (Nightmare Kart)

• Bloodborne De-make

• Chained Together

• Getting Over It w/Bennet Foddy

• Link's Awakening

• Lies of P

• Enotria: The Last Song

• Mortal Shell

• Content Warning

• Lethal Company

• Phasmophobia

• Murky Divers

Systems in Play is back...from the dead??? Well, not quite, but this week we are talking about death mechanics in games, and how the weight of death affects a player's decisions. SPOILER ALERT! Toward the end of this episode, we talk about specific character deaths. Spoilers for specific games will always be flagged during the episode, but a list of every game we discuss (spoilers or not)is in the episode description if there is a game that you want to go into blind.

Stay tuned to hear about Sam's experience with Animal well, our forays into competitive gaming, and a mysterious encounter with 'Lord Shubert'.

Wanna discuss the topics with the boys? Join our discord community and hash out each and every topic we've discussed or will ever discuss. This week's question is: "With video game characters expected to die many times, why do we cry when it happens for real?"

https://discord.gg/dw2JNK6f

As always, visit our website for more! https://systemsinplay.com/

Games Discussed:

• Animal Well
• Resident Evil 2 & 3
• Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom
• Dishonored
• Kingdom Hearts
• Dark Souls
• Jak and Daxter 2
• Legend of the Dragoon
• Pokemon Fire Red
• Pokemon Unite
• Street Fighter 6
• Risk of Rain
• Spelunky
• Nuzlockes
• Fire Emblem
• Life is Strange
• Ultimate Alliance 2
• Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2
• Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

After the tragic loss of Episode 7 (may she rest in peace) Systems in Play rises again for Episode 8. In our time away, we set up a discord! Come share your stories in game dev, shit on our takes, and talk about the latest episodes with the rest of our community.

https://discord.gg/93ff42jr

This week, in the midst of a new development project, Sam poses a question: "How do you design a character creator?" Join us for a structured discussion about considerations to take when creating the design, look, and feel of a character editor.

Question of the Week: "What are your best and worst experiences using a character creator?"

Games Discussed

• Xcom

• Street Fighter 6

• Soul Calibur

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Mii Maker

• Pokemon

• Wildermyth

• Spore

• Sims

• Roblox

• Minecraft

00:00:53 Announcements

00:08:51 Take it away Sam

00:11:17 Character creator explanation

00:12:09 Do you make yourself, an oc, or a preset when using a character creator?

00:17:44 Avatar vs Character

00:23:14 Style vs Substance

00:23:47 How long do you typically spend on making a character and do you try every single option in the creator?

00:37:29 Have you ever had fun using a character creator?

00:53:16 Have you ever felt unable to make yourself in a character creator?

01:18:19 Is there an accessory that you always want to add in a character creator?

• We also mention Elden Ring