The Game Dev Show

Episode 20 features AJ Grand-Scrutton from Dlala Studios. We talk about his incredible beard, the advantages of having a Chief Dog Officer, what it's like to work with a sibling (AJ refuses to be Kaley's big brother), annoying marketing people, and what it was like to found a studio at a young age. AJ and Kaley chat about The Magic School Bus and how The Frizz still influences them, Luke refuses to spend 21 days in a van with Kaley, and AJ signs on to launch the newest, hottest Cousin Podcast on the market- Just Cuz. 

Our week nineteen guest is Shelby Moledina Co-founder, COO, and Game Director of Double Loop games. We talk about why creativity needs parameter (and accidently slam Star Citizen... sorry Chris Roberts), and emotional engagement with games. Shelby and Luke get to chat about the fact that they share the same favorite game and Kaley gets to thoroughly discuss Oregon Trail with Shelby (and why her sim family getting dysentery was more fun that it sounds). Enjoy! 

Jess Lebow from uGen is our guest for week 18 and he is an absolute delight. Not only is he the Founder and Chief Design Architect at uGen, he is a marathoner and beer-brewer extraordinaire. Jess started his career at Wizards of the Coast and we talk about how it is simultaneously hard and rewarding  to work on an IP that has such a dedicated fan base, and Kaley shares her personal mantra, "Even Taylor Swift has critics..." Jess gives tips for creative leadership and we discuss why creativity needs parameters... also why Luke has pedestrian taste in beer.  

For week 18, Luke and Kaley are thrilled to Host Mark Simmons from Freejam Games. Mark has accomplished incredible things in his time as the founder of Freejam, and we talk about how he has created the Wikipedia of Games, what a producer does (no one knows), and why Mark has gotten to where he is today by being bossy and good at organizing people (his words).  We rehash Luke's utter inability to play scary games and dive into Marks journey in the industry- from him having the best job during university of all time to his time at Mythos and Climax, and finally founding Freejam. 

Our Guest for week 17 is the incredible Robert Bäckström from Limit Break. We talk about how the punk music scene influenced his work in games, why long winters make for hard workers, and games as art. If you stick around until the end, you get the pleasure of hearing our new signature sign off and why Luke is the King of KFC. Hit us up for Luke's #KFChacks.  Stay crunchy, y 'all. 

Our guest for week 16 is Tanya X Short from Kitfox games. Tanya talks to us about how she keeps her work innovative, how she suggests Indies approach game dev, and how Montreal-based NFP Pixelles has approached retention of gender minorities in games. Kitfox's newest game, Lucifer Within Us just came out on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/717560/Lucifer_Within_Us/  and we are already devoting significant hours to developing our skills as a digital exorcist.  

Now that we've made the mold for The Game Dev Show, it's time to break the mold. For week 15, we took on the challenge of interviewing two guests at once. Our guests were Michael Casalino and Maxim Miheyenko from 5518 Studios. We talk about each of their journey within the games industry and how they came together to form 5518. Their vision for what they have built, and how they view their responsibility to their teams is inspiring. Plus they have an incredible business partnership based on mutual respect and admiration. It was a joy to speak to them. We also talk about digital events (especially XDS which is coming right up in North America) and the game dev scene in Russia.

Sometimes our episodes linger with us for days after we record them. Episode 14 with Malek Teffaha from Ubisoft MENA is one of those. Malek runs comms, localization, and Esports for Ubisoft MENA. He fills us in on what it means to access the MENA market and how most people get it wrong (hint, it involves using native speakers for localization efforts...). We talk about Star Wars, we talk about our tattoo journeys, we talk about the difference between courage, bravery, and wisdom. Malek also shares which Pokemon most embodies him (and it's a shocker). Hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making! 

Well, it had to happen at some point. William Barr from Billygoat Entertainment in Belfast is our week 13 guest, and our first guest to just troll Luke and Kaley the entire episode. Despite his resistance to answering a single question, William is a delightful guest who shares his insights gained from his decade plus in the games industry. During his time, he led the team that created Her Majesty's Spiffing and Supermarket Shriek.  As usual, Kaley tries to create a spin-off podcast with the guest and we cover Luke's resistance to all things scary. 

Welcome to week twelve of The Game Dev Show! Our guest this week is Tyler Sigman, one of the creative forces behind Redhook Games and Darkest Dungeon. Beyond talking about the creative process that led him to release this smash hit game, we talk about our individual hair journeys, why Luke is infectiously ginger, and Tyler's journey to being where he is today. Have a listen!