Back Seat Designers

It’s a special! So special we only talk about adventure games for about 10 minutes at the end. So, things have got a bit chaotic in the BSD household. Various big life events (for the Danes rather than the Limey) have resulted in us having to take a little bit of a break. But weContinue reading Special: Life… uh… finds a way

It has been roughly a year since we said goodbye for the last time on season 4 and got blown to pieces took a hiatus, and it feels rather fitting to end this latest season as the summer sun threatens to tan our pallid hides. Once again, we have spoken to a lot of interestingContinue reading Season V, Episode 12: Season Finale Round Table

“Diversity” has become one of those words so overused in such inappropriate ways that it’s almost lost all meaning. But it does mean something. What is it? And how does it apply to narrative gaming? We invited Jess Haskins along to find out. There is so much nonsense talked about diversity, and we were determinedContinue reading Season V, Episode 11: Bechdel Designers

Staying motivated in the games industry must sometimes be hard. Especially if you were an adventure game developer in the late 90s and being told that your beautifully hand-painted 2D game had to change into an ugly, polygonal mess before any publishers would so much as deign a glance in its direction. Charles Cecil livedContinue reading Season V, Episode 10: I Am Delighted to Say I Had Absolutely Nothing to Do With “Custer’s Revenge”

We’ve all been there. We’re playing a game from a bygone era — perhaps one we remember fondly — and thinking to ourselves, “Wouldn’t it be great if someone updated this for the modern era?” And then, having thought this, perhaps even out loud, we immediately stop and think: “No, wait. This game is soContinue reading Season V, Episode 9: I Can See What I Was Trying to Do, But I Wish I Hadn’t Done It

Interfaces are vastly important. They are what allows you, the player, to interact with the game world, and just as an intuitive interface can enhance the story of a game, a non intuitive one can conversely bring the whole thing down. With the interface playing such a pivotal role in narrative-driven games, it’s not strangeContinue reading Season V, Episode 8: It’s sort of a vocabulary dick-waving contest

First off, we must apologize to all the fans of Alexander Mejia, the Colombian soccer star who was in the squad for the FIFA World Cup in 2014. We have an entirely different Alexander Mejia on the show. One who is working on some truly trailblazing shit. Alexander’s company, Human Interact, is working on aContinue reading Season V, Episode 7: Not the Footballer

We’re nothing if not self-referential on this show. And this show harkens back to the very first episode we ever did, all the way back in August 2014, where Fred and I talked about the impending revival of Sierra as “Sierra Games.” When we did the original episode, we were quite hopeful that this mightContinue reading Season V, Episode 6: Sierra 404

Worldbuilding in any work of fiction is not something to be trifled with. It takes a lot of effort to construct a believable world that you can immerse yourself in, but it takes almost zero effort to yank you out of that illusion. Consider a science fiction work in which an entire planet is coveredContinue reading Season V, Episode 5: I Think You Like It

We’re only four episodes into this season, but already we can sense a pattern emerging. Much of the conversation we’ve had so far has evolved around “the rise of the auteur,” so to speak: Games that are, essentially, developed by a single person. With the prevalence of digital distribution and ready-made tools at everyone’s disposal,Continue reading Season V, Episode 4 – Juggling (Frozen) Doves

Fresh off the mass murder of the BSD hosts at the end of Season 4, we welcome back Francisco Gonzalez (a.k.a. Grundislav Games) to talk about streaming, adventure games and Virginia Capers. Doing shows with people we have met “eye arr ell” is always a treat. We managed to spend some quality time with “San”Continue reading Season V, Episode 3 – Poking the Well-dressed Bear

If you’re familiar with our little show, you may recall that one time we interviewed Shawn Mills for a special episode about the impending demise of his company Infamous Quests. Even by our standards, it was a particularly salty, expletive-laden romp, containing everything from jabs aimed at overly nostalgic gamers and thieving cunts (the soundboardContinue reading Season V, Episode 2 – Four Men and a Little Lady

Fortune smiles upon us this season premiere, and indeed, vicariously, onto you. For we have with us in our midst, yet again, a self-made man with a plan — Mr. Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games. Dave has been with us once before, back in August 2016, where he gave his perspective on how theContinue reading Season V, Episode 1 – A Licence to Print Money

So. A fortnight ago we released the final episode of Season 4, in which Jean-Baptiste de Clerfayt and “San” Francisco Gonzales talked at length about adventure game communities before the brutal and horrible murder of the regular hosts. That wasn’t our first attempt to record that episode. On the evening of 8 May, we arrangedContinue reading S4 “Memorial Episode”

Sometimes, you only really consider something when it’s held in front of your face. For instance, I first met my co-hosts, Troels and Gareth, on teh interwebz around 2002. While I am not completely certain as to when curt resentment turned into friendships, I do now count the two gentlemen as two of my best friends. Shut up.Continue reading S4E17 – “Handjobs In a Parking Lot” Is One Of Bono’s Finest Songs

I am sometimes asked what games I play by people who don’t play games. I try to explain what an adventure game is by mumbling words like “story-driven” and “object puzzles,” and often the faux-interested response is, “Like, role playing games?” That’s around the time I suckerpunch them in the face repeatedly until their teethContinue reading S4E16 – We Are Not Done Yet, And I Will Not Tell You Anything

One of the wonderful perks of getting noticed more and more for our juvenile microphone antics is that we sometimes get approached by actual game designers, who will ask us if we’re interested in featuring their game on the podcast. (That was essentially how last week’s episode came together, too.) But way back before we evenContinue reading S4E15 – A Strange, Erotic Journey from Milan to Minsk: A Phat Paradigm Post-Mortem

We’re back from our mid-season break. Today, we’re interviewing Marcus, Matthias, and Tristan of Backwoods Entertainment, creators of the upcoming mystery adventure game Unforeseen Incidents. It’s a mystery game in several ways. First of all, the story in itself is a mystery, as in it’s one of those stories you’re thrust into that gradually unfoldsContinue reading S4E14 – What Is the Safe Word?

Startling news and revelations! One of the Back Seat Designers quits on the air! And, for some reason, we didn’t stop recording, kept going, edited, and released the episode anyway! Well, of course it’s just a joke, because we really are quite terrible at pretending on this show. The joke about me selling t-shirts wasContinue reading S4E13 – I Quit

They say, “Never meet your heroes.” Luckily, they are sometimes wrong. With apologies to my two lovely co-hosts, I’d like to start this blog post with a personal anecdote. Through the magic of simply switching on a microphone and yammering into the void, I have been fortunate enough to actually talk to people I usedContinue reading S4E12 – Pandora’s Big Box

The history of computer games. A list of one fucking game after another leading to perfection – King’s Quest V. We have pushed this view of history for a long time on this show. But apparently there’s another way to look at things. To put us straight, we phoned up Laine Nooney and asked herContinue reading S4E11 – A Fucked Up Stick Figure Looking Game That Doesn’t Make Any Sense

Background music in fiction is something we tend to take for granted. That’s not to do say it’s not appreciated. It very often is. But how often do you sit down in front of a game and consider what dramatic impact the music has because it sounds exactly like it does? We’re going to returnContinue reading S4E10 [TEN] – This Is Brown Note Territory

It’s sort of amazing how positive things will converge at random times. The entire guest roster for this season makes us all warm and fuzzy inside, but once in a while, a very special guest will say yes to partake in our shenanigans. Truthfully, we admire every single person we invite to join us here,Continue reading S4E9 [NINE] – I Was Left With a Whole Bunch of Digitized Nazis and a Thing to Explain

There are certain topics you should not trust a partly Danish conglomeration with. Global warming is one, but the one topic that really stirs up controversy is religion. We’ve never actively tried to shy away from controversy on the show, but when you suddenly find yourself soliciting guest appearances from some of the coolest peopleContinue reading S4E8 – I Was Surprised You Were 16

You remember Richard Cobbett, right? From our scintillating Christmas special of Open Crowd Source back in 2015? No? Then you might remember him from other things, such as the talk about comedy in games, or the interview with Rihanna Pratchett, or the panel about games journalism, from AdventureX 2016. Perhaps you even recognize him byContinue reading S4E7 – Have You Ever Been Al Lowe’d?

Look, let’s be honest. If you had told us a couple of months ago that we’d be interviewing John Romero on the show, we’d have told you to fuck off, you lying piece of shit. But this is our life now: we’re the dudes who spend a little over an hour teaching the man whoContinue reading S4E6 – I’ve Made a Lot of Mistakes, And You’re Not My First One

We’ve all done it, so there is no use hiding in shame anymore. We’ve all spent time on our own doing this dirty deed, knowing that if anyone could see us, they would be utterly shocked and appalled. I am, of course, talking about loudly and incompetently acting out the voices of characters when playing gamesContinue reading S4E5 – Father Karras Just Fell Down the Stairs

It’s a wonderful feeling when you meet someone and you instantly click on a personal level. Perhaps you share the same hobbies and interests; perhaps you have similar political affiliations and moral values … or perhaps you just have the same affinity for speaking your mind with no regards for societal norms. This week, weContinue reading S4E4 – Because of Polygonal Tits

The apocalypse is really bad this time. We’re pretty used to political narratives in books, films and songs. But what about narrative gaming? Plenty of people have certainly given it a go – with mixed results. We talk to someone who is currently trying her hand at it. Laney Berry, the creator of The St.Continue reading S4E3 – Am I in a Liberal Circle Jerk Right Now?

Hello! Did you miss us? If you have an issue, here is a tissue: Sorry about that. On the subject of awful humour, there is an old saying that embarrassing grandmothers like to post on social media, about how you only use 17 facial muscles to smile, while you use a whopping 43 to frown.Continue reading S4E2 – Which I Now Realise May Have Sounded Like a Holocaust Joke

You weren’t expecting that title were you? Good. Because this episode is about subverting expectations. Our very special guest this week is Steve Gaynor of the Fullbright Company, perhaps best known as the writer and designer of the award-winning Gone Home – one of the best adventure games of recent years. He’s also done levelContinue reading S4E1 – Big Motherfuckers with Flamethrowers

So, as we may have already said, the new season of Back Seat Designers starts tomorrow. I can tell you’re excited. To get you in the mood – and while teasing who our guest might be – we peel back the curtain and show you exactly the sort of crap we have to cut outContinue reading S4 Preview – Soundboard of Doom

Greetings, exhausted ones! As you may have learned from our shamelessly narcissistic social media profiles, we are gearing up for another season of Back Seat Designers goodness. In fact, we already recorded our inaugural episode, which features a spectacular guest appearance by [REDACTED]. But that is not what this post is about. You will haveContinue reading A special announcement, or “The Ice Cream Wizard Cometh”

So, yeah. We went to AdventureX. We had a good time. I think that about does it, doesn’t it? No, actually, it doesn’t. We had an absolute blast. We came back from it so inspired and fired up. Fred got off his ass and finished the talkie version of that game we worked on lastContinue reading AdventureX Special #2: Our post-orgasmic reflections

Next weekend, all three of us — Gareth, Frederik and myself — will be in London at Goldsmiths University, participating in this year’s AdventureX conference. That’s right, we’ll be alongside greats such as Charles Cecil, Dave Gilbert, Theodore Waern, Richard Cobbett, Rhianna Pratchett, and — lest we forget — Natalie “Resulka” Juhasz, one of theContinue reading AdventureX Special #1: Hopes, dreams and anticipation

For our third and final off-season special, we complete our trilogy of prodding well-known adventure game people to give their take on the state of the adventure game industry. This episode, we light some poultry butts on fire and address several elephants of varying colors in the room with Katie Hallahan, co-founder and PR director of PhoenixContinue reading Special III – Katie Hallahan, Phoenix Online Studios

Well, after our troubles last time, we didn’t learn our lesson. What we did learn is that Dave Gilbert listened to our special episode with Infamous Adventures’ co-founder Shawn Mills about the problems they had recently gone through. And he offered to have a chat about the state of the business from the Wadjet EyeContinue reading SPECIAL II – Dave Gilbert, Wadjet Eye

It’s the surprise special you didn’t know you wanted! Actually, you probably didn’t want it, but cut me some slack, will you? It’s been a while. It was, however, a surprise that I wanted when we decided to reconvene for a special off-season episode last month. We’re still working out what exactly season 4 of thisContinue reading SPECIAL – Shawn Mills, Infamous Quests

Why come up with an original idea when you can slap a new coat of paint on an old one? OK, perhaps that’s a bit cynical. It’s not as if this is a new thing. Even Oul Ken Williams knew that remakes were a way to make a quick buck. And Oul Ken Williams wasContinue reading S3E12 – Remakes and Reimagining

Gareth is off doing something more important today, so he has left me in charge of announcing this week’s episode. At least, that’s the reason he claimed. It’s quite fortuitous that I am able to comply, actually, having recently dodged a chance to check into Club 27. If you ever find yourself in Denmark, never allowContinue reading S3E11 – Adventure Elements in Other Games

Obviously, the first thing you’ll notice about this week’s episode is that it’s a day late. And you have every right to be angry. Furious, even. I know I speak on behalf of all of the Back Seat Designers in sharing your frustration. But, please, put the gun down. I know we can talk aboutContinue reading S3E10 – Based on a True Story

The back seat designers are about to start throwing stones up in this bitch. We love adventure games, and the beautiful people that make them. But sometimes they have some really annoying habits. Yeah, we know. There are all sorts of constraints that designers and engineers have to labour under. Limited funds. Limited time. TheContinue reading S3E9 – What Adventure Games Need to Stop Doing

It’s Sunday, and while most major religions has that day down as a “sit around and twiddle your thumbs”-sort of affair, that means that we are hocking another golden loogie of bullshit wisdom into the ether for you to gag on. This week’s subject is unlikeable protagonists in adventure games. Many of us are familiar with the antics ofContinue reading S3E8 – Unlikeable Protagonists

Imagine if half way through The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo shot a storm trooper, turned to the camera and said: Right. Wanna see if we get off this cloud base? Here. Complete this sudoku. It would sort of break the flow, right? Even if the sudoku were Star Wars themed… Christ, those things actuallyContinue reading S3E7 – Bad puzzles in otherwise good games

Well, we all know what they say: But, actually, you can do good things with an adaptation. Or “adaption,” which Fred insists on calling it, because he speaks much better English than the rest of us. So we take the rounds and talk about some of our favorite movie/tv show/novel/comic book-to-game adaptations, and vice versa.Continue reading S3E6 – Adaptations

Yes, one week late, we have all recovered sufficiently from binge drinking and/or embarrassment to give you the episode we promised. This week, we’re talking about breaking the fourth wall. Which is a bit of a love/hate-mechanic among adventure gamers, if the input we received from our listeners is anything to go by. Breaking theContinue reading S3E5 – Breaking the Fourth Wall

So, here’s the thing. Some weeks we have good planning. We pick a time. We make doubly sure that Troels knows the difference between Denmark time and British time. And then we sit down, fire up Skype and have a chat. Everything runs smoothly. Occasionally, the episodes are actually good. This week was more complicatedContinue reading S3E4β – “Bonus” episode

A new generation of adventure gamers are being brought up with one ubiquitous phrase: “So-and-so will remember that.” Thanks, Obama– er, Telltale! Of course, the concept of adventure games shaping their narrative depending on the player’s choice is nothing new. It’s been around for quite some time, all the way back to the grand oldContinue reading S3E4 – Choices Matter

Technology can be a two-headed beast. On one hand, it allows us to embark on magical adventures, the likes of which could never exist in ye olde borefest that we call “real life”. On the other hand, technology can also make an otherwise dapper skeleton wear a wheelbarrow as a skirt: I stand by my year-old reaction. Therefore,Continue reading S3E3 – When technology gets in the way

The subject may be mature, but we aren’t. The subject of violent video games has been a recurring issue in the general press. “Won’t somebody think of the children?” We’re not saying that’s illegitimate. But, as ever, it’s a little more complicated than that. So – what place does violence have in adventure games? IContinue reading S3E2 – Gore and Violence