Play, Watch, Listen

Tim Schafer, acclaimed game designer and founder of Double Fine, discusses the studio’s future beyond Xbox. He explores creative independence, crowdfunding, recovered publishing rights, new funding models, and adapting projects to changing realities. The conversation also covers Double Fine’s culture of experimentation, collaborative leadership, healthy team practices, and navigating uncertainty in the games industry.

This week, Mike and Alanah sat down with Em from A Shell in the Pit to talk about BIG WALK, and, ultimately, steal foley (sound design) knowledge for use in their own games. Hey, at least we admit it.

In this week's episode, the crew discusses THE DEFINITION OF ART (2026 ver), and finding inspiration in the real world rather than other media, as a result of Alanah visiting Barcelona and exploring Antoni Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia.

Mike Bithell, independent game director and founder of Bithell Games, unveils Vampirium 1997 and its overhead immersive-sim twist. He breaks down prototype origins, Godot-driven tools, and how verbs and map abstraction communicate gameplay. They cover narrative hooks, tabletop-like untimed action, audio/art approaches, team size, early access rationale, and production discipline.

This week, we talk a bit about composing for early access, and how much scores (and VFX) influence films.

This week, Mike, Austin, and Alanah mostly talk about human nature. No, really. The new James Bond game is also spoken about for about 10 minutes at the end.

Alanah and Mike chat to game director Nic Tringali about science-fantasy city-builder "Amberspire".

Mike and Alanah chat about the pit-falls of working for yourself, and how to manage your time as a freelance (or self-funded indie) game developer.

SORRY AUDIO LISTENERS: podcast services briefly put a hold on our uploads, so you'll get a few in a row as we catch up! This episode features Austin, Mike, and Alanah talking about the changes at Xbox, among other things.

A lively chat about indie game culture, from cosplay turning into social media work to teams designing characters for cross-promotion. They debate Early Access: why developers love it, how first impressions shape reception, and whether to stay in pre-release. Conversations also cover indie collaboration, demo design dilemmas for Metroidvanias, and the value of kindness and long-term networking.