Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games

Roguelike expert and advocate Kawa (@KawaiiDragoness) stops by to talk Death in Roguelikes, and the power and potential of the post-death "morgue" experience. We also dig into our relationship to dying in Spelunky, and recount our best deaths! Links from the interview with Kawa: Nethack fanfic dramatic reading Original fic A Trip to the Morgue Roguelike Radio Twitter: @kawaiidragoness Discord - Kawa#7680 Our best Spelunky deaths: NickAndy @toythatkills@aaronkearsley @aaronkearsley2d_tea @tictacfoe

Spelunky creator Derek Yu joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on his design philosophies for approaching a sequel, embracing chaos in design, and so much more. This is a special one, so brew some tea, grab a pug, and get comfortable!

We dive deep into the core design of Spelunky - what exactly fuels its procedural perfection, and why is its world still so compelling? And what design touches do our listeners love, and which would they send to Hell? Plus some new Spelunky 2 tidbits!

Master trailer craftsman Derek Lieu stops by to go deep on the making of the awesome Spelunky 2 trailer! We talk through his process, the unique challenges of working with a procedural game, and even unearth a few new Spelunky 2 tidbits along the way.

We welcome world-record speedrunners and all-around Spelunky experts Jamie “Kinnijup” White and Aaron “ix” Kearsley to the show! We talk about the culture of competitive Spelunky, recent record-breaking runs, and why speedrunning feels like skateboarding.

The Spelunky Beginner’s Guide! For anyone who ever hit a wall, we’re here to help. We dive into both the practical and philosophical approach to upping your Spelunky game, and share some great tips submitted by listeners. Plus the first Weekly Challenge!

Hands-on Spelunky 2 demo impressions! Nick is fresh off the PAX plane, and Andy, Zach, and Doug are here to grill him on the details, while the whole crew breaks down the first gameplay trailer, chat about the new art, branching paths, mounts, and more.