#VerticalSlice Podcast

In which I bash Catholic gamer Max Dean Esmay and Catholic gamer and indie dev Paolo “Game Diviner” Munoz. Over their heads! Really hard! With a mallet! Okay, no, not really. In fact, Esmay and Munoz and I had a delightful time discussing everything from “Assassin’s Creed II’s” depiction of Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) to Munoz’ thoughts on gaming as a religious experience. And, fun fact, by the end, they’d both become atheists and I became a Catholic!

In which I chat with “VR Puppet Murder Mystery’s” Erin Finnegan about her soon-ending Kickstarter project, working for Adobe, how much she’s not a fan of video games (but yes to mobile games), our political frustrations, and all kinds of other stuff.

WARNING #1: with apologies to Finnegan, due to audio issues on my side (my voice echoing), I unfortunately had to cut her entire intro, which, in the original recording, didn’t make me out to sound completely awkward in the least.

WARNING #2: for those of you who are Trump supporters or who just don’t care for politics in your gaming podcasts, you may wish to skip the middle two or three minutes.

In which I chat with Grant of the “Digital Roadmap Podcast.” I completely, utterly, embarrassingly forget how I bumped into Grant’s show, but I’m so glad I did as, unlike this show, he focuses entirely on “classic” games. What’s a “classic” game? Well, we go into it a bit, but he also covers it on his site (linked above). We talk classic games, modern games, mild politics, our woes of the Left and Right refusing to talk to each other. And even a little console nostalgia.

In which I chat with Mario Castaneda and Ty Taylor, creators of, among many other games and arts, the B&W puzzler “The Bridge.” As I say in the episode, I don’t quite recall how I bumped into “The Bridge,” but I do remember well how jazzed I was about a puzzle game that didn’t rely on color. Because, you know, achromat and all that. Castaneda, Taylor, and I had a nice chat about that, increasing accessibility in gaming, Castaneda’s artography, and Taylor’s designography (not really words).

In which I barely scratch the surface with Ryan Miller Games‘ Ryan Miller, creator of, among other games, “Overkill: Halloween Slasher.” And when I say “barely scratch the surface,” boy, do I mean it. Miller and I talked about his games (briefly), his military service, the economics of the board game industry, the economics of the economy… so much so that we barely got to the rest of his games. I promise he’ll be back soon so we can chat his other titles even more!

In which I chat with Cellar Door Games‘ Teddy Lee mainly about their game “Rogue Legacy,” but also about plenty other stuff. Like the fact that, at the time of recording, I was in the midst of an awful cold/flu (including fever dreams! Though not during the episode). Successfully financing an indie title with only $15K, design philosophy, art style, doing a GDC talk: the works!

In which I chat with my pal, gamer, and former atheist activist extraordinaire (don’t hold that against him) Lee Moore. Much to my surprise and great irritation (no, I’m kidding), Moore and I actually have little in gaming common. He’s all like, “Super Mario Odyssey sucks balls!” and I’m all like, “No, it doesn’t!” Because I’ve got mad, mad debate skillz.

In which I hang out with my man Nate Evans (Popzara‘s managing editor) and fiercely debated the great, and not-so great, games of ’17–!

Just kidding! We chatted and debated the relative strengths and weaknesses of the “Super Mario Galaxy” games versus the recent “Super Mario Odyssey.” Please note that spoilers abound so if you haven’t finished the main story mode of “Odyssey,” don’t listen! And special thanks to Evans who not only joined me for this last-minute end-of-year ‘cast, but also built VSPodcast.com. Happy New Year, everybody!

In which I chat with Data Realms‘ Dan Tabar about their upcoming game “Planetoid Pioneers.” The game has all kinds of craziness: great animation, physics (through Data Realms’ proprietary engine), and the big concept, the ability for users to create their very own planets to be added to the main game. The thing that struck me about that last detail was, as Tabar put it, in theory, the planets users create can not only be their own levels, but, depending on the users’ whims and dedication, could even be their own stand-alone games within the “Pioneers” framework. Thanks to Stride PR‘s Lena LeRay for all her help!

In which I chat and giggle with Stride PR‘s CEO Robert Brown. Representing clients like PAX and IGDA, not to mention bunches of studios and games like Hyperkinetic Studios and their “Epic Tavern,” Brown is in the thick of gaming PR all over the world. I was particularly struck by his model of not necessarily having massive offices on Wilshire Blvd. here in LA, but rather having reps who can handle clients from LA to Australia. Thanks to Stride PR’s Lena LeRay for all her help!