A series of personal, intimate, friendly interviews with videogame developers, looking into their lives, their hopes, their dreams, their fears. An accompaniment to the Making Games Is Fun articles.
This episode is with the spectacular Shay Thompson!
This episode is with third time returning guest - so nice we had her on thrice - Anna Hollinrake
This episode is with the man himself - Masud Milas
This episode is with the marvellous Alex Donaldson
This episode is with the ever brilliant Paul Kilduff Taylor
This episode is with the magnificent Frankie Ward!
This episode is with the powerful Inel Tomlinson!
This episode is with the vibrant mister Steffan Powell!
This episode I take you on a journey to Scotland to meet the Scottish games contingent and to partake in the wonderful Glesgames!
This episode is with the man himself - it's George Osborn! (no not that one)
This episode is with the magnificent Luke Hebbelthwaite
This episode is with the fabulous Johnny Chiodini
This episode is a special. off-season podcast where I visit WASD, which was held at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch
This episode is with ustwo games producer Mike Anderson
This episode is with co founder of new game studio Electric Saint, Anna Hollinrake
This episode is with Landlord of the King Billy pub and one fifth of the Regular Features podcast Jon "Log" Blyth
This episode is with radio DJ and mastermind of the Stak podcast network, Pete Donaldson!
This episode is with Sarah Dyer, community manager at Splash Damage
This episode is with Lauren Kaye, presenter and creator of the She Plays Games Podcast and YouTube channel Final Fantasy Union
Season 5 Episode 3 is with Lana Zgombić, producer at Playstation London and co-founder of the Limit Break mentorship program.
Season 5 Episode 2 the MGIF Pod is with podcast legend and co-host of TCGS, Sean Bell
Season 5 Episode 1 of the newly branded MGIF Pod is with the fantastic stand up comedian Masud Milas.
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with Anita Wong.Anita works at the PR company Indigo Pearl, known for their work with Devolver Digital and Blizzard, amongst many others. We look at Anita’s early, rubbish jobs before she got into PR, as well as how she got the job at Indigo Pearl. We talk about the business of PR and how it’s actually very important and not full of evil people. We explore Anita’s love of fashion and how she would like to make more meaningful connections between fashion and games. There’s also a LOT of talk about shit and piss for some reason (definitely her fault not mine). She also always insists on doing a version of the photo below whenever we work together: You can follow Anita at @houndstoothianThanks for listening. If you’re new to the series, take a look at our Patreon to find out what I’m all about, why I love doing this and how you can help. Just go to patreon.com/MGIF. The smallest contribution makes the biggest difference when everyone pitches in, so if you have two dollars you won’t miss every month, head on over to the patreon and support this ongoing document of the industry. Thanks!
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with Ho-Yee Li.Ho-Yee is a producer at Mediatonic, and has just released their first game, Murder By Numbers. We talk about how it feels to be, at the time of recording, on the cusp of releasing a videogame. We also chat about extracurricular activities, such as Ho-Yee’s contributions to the upcoming Animal Crossing podcast, Asstown (the name will be explained). We also talk about growing up with social gaming and arcades, and how we try to replicate that in modern times. We also get into Ho-yee's route into the industry and how difficult it was to find a way in, as well as explore the ever-expanding breadth of roles available to people in the industry. Finally, we chat about the amazing, now-released picross / murder mystery / visual novel crazy hybrid that is Murder By Numbers. You can follow Ho-Yee at @feline_dacatThanks for listening. If you’re new to the series, take a look at our Patreon to find out what I’m all about, why I love doing this and how you can help. Just go to patreon.com/MGIF. The smallest contribution makes the biggest difference when everyone pitches in, so if you have two dollars you won’t miss every month, head on over to the patreon and support this ongoing document of the industry. Thanks!
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with George Batchelor of State of Play.George works at State of Play by day, and by night he creates “sad animal games”; conversation-based experiences featuring a broad variety of charming fauna. He is currently working on “Bird Alone”, a sort of “Headspace” meets “Bury Me My Love” number, expect significantly more light-hearted. We talked about the inspiration and ideas behind Bird Alone, how his work is an opportunity for him to reflect himself and answer some questions of his own and how indie titles convinced him he wanted a job in games. You can follow George at @georgebatch Thanks for listening. If you’re new to the series, take a look at our Patreon to find out what I’m all about, why I love doing this and how you can help. Just go to patreon.com/MGIF. The smallest contribution makes the biggest difference when everyone pitches in, so if you have two dollars you won’t miss every month, head on over to the Patreon and support this ongoing document of the industry. Thanks!
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with Dan Maher, editorial director at Explosive Alan, although you may know him from Inside XBox and Videogame Nation. We chatted about Dan growing up with a love of games, and how he knew from a young age tha being a games journalist was all he wanted to do in life. We also discussed being brought on to salvage Videogame Nation and turn it into the fun, memorable show it became and we look at his career path from Inside XBox to Explosive Alan. You can find Dan on Twitter at @MrPointyHeadThanks for listening. If you’re new to the series, take a look at our Patreon to find out what I’m all about, why I love doing this and how you can help. Just go to patreon.com/MGIF. The smallest contribution makes the biggest difference when everyone pitches in, so if you have two dollars you won’t miss every month, head on over to the patreon and support this ongoing document of the industry. Thanks!
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with Ricky Haggett!Ricky, previously of Honeyslug, now heads up Hollow Ponds with his wife and is working on a currently unannounced title. I talked to Ricky about how Hohokum came about from a variety of prototypes, and his process of taking various game ideas to fruition, and the little “accidents” that occur along the way. He also talks of making games for old mobile phones and for the mighty Amiga back in the day.Ricky also reveals how Wilmot’s Warehouse started life as what he considered to be a mad idea by his colleague Dick Hogg, as well as getting into a playfight with Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari Damacy, as they tested the game they made together, Tenya Wanya Teens. You can find Ricky at @KommanderKlobbThanks for listening. If you’re new to the series, take a look at our Patreon to find out what I’m all about, why I love doing this and how you can help. Just go to patreon.com/MGIF. The smallest contribution makes the biggest difference when everyone pitches in, so if you have two dollars you won’t miss every month, head on over to the patreon and support this ongoing document of the industry. Thanks!
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with the wonderful Daniel Krupa of RKG. Dan formed YouTube channel RKG with his two friends and work colleagues Gav Murphy and Rory Powers when they left their roles at IGN UK to turn their IGN youtube series Prepare To Try into a full time endeavour. I chat to Dan about starting RKG and the continuation of the Let's Play series with Retry. We explore what going on that adventure felt like and the decision behind doing it in the first place. We look back at RKG’s one year anniversary and how it feels to get that milestone under their belt. From left to right: Gav Murphy, Daniel Krupa and Rory Powers, the trio behind RKG Video We also talk about Dan’s relationship with games growing up, his Ukranian background, and how IGN brought him out of his shell and helped make him who he is today.Dan is a wonderful man and a great podcast guest, so it was a pleasure to hear his story so far.Thanks for listening. If you’re new to the series, take a look at our Patreon to find out what I’m all about, why I love doing this and how you can help. Just go to patreon.com/MGIF.You can follow Dan at @krupa
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with Jim Unwin.Jim is a game artist and a UI/UX developer currently working at Glowmade, an indie dev studio based in Guildford.Jim has worked in the industry for many years, being involved with Core Design back in the day. He has also worked at Lionhead, Kuju, Media Molecule and Sony, amongst others.I sat down with Jim in Loading Bar Brighton to discuss his early gaming memories, the story of his career so far, how being a headstrong, arrogant young man taught him a few important life lessons, his involvement with the swell in popularity of videogames around the Playstation 1 era, and his hopes for the future. Jim is lovely and an industry veteran, so it was great to get insight and stories from his life to paint a picture of an industry that has grown large, but still needs to grow up somewhat. You can follow Jim @jim_unwinThanks for listening. If you’re new to the series, take a look at our Patreon to find out what I’m all about, why I love doing this and how you can help. Just go to patreon.com/MGIF. The smallest contribution makes the biggest difference when everyone pitches in, so if you have two dollars you won’t miss every month, head on over to the patreon and support this ongoing document of the industry. Thanks!
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. We start 2020 with an absolute STONKER of a pod with George Osborn. George is head of communications at UKIE, but he’s much more than that - he’s an ambassador for the charity Special Effect, the founder of Gamerbake, a well of industry knowledge and a great talker.We look at George’s life growing up with games and how he got into the industry - as per for the pod. We try to get to the bottom of his Football Manager and Rocket League addictions, before getting down to discussing a variety of industry topics and getting a good insight into the landscape of the games industry.My thanks to George for his time and for providing such an entertaining start to the new season of Making Games Is Fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!You can find George at @georgeosborn
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. While you await the new series of Making Games Is Fun, I thought I’d put a mini bonus episode together from my visit to EGX.And, well, here it is!This episode features a catch up with Alex of Polygon Treehouse, previous guests on the podcast, a look at Unto The End and it’s all rounded off with a chat with Jack Attridge of Flavourworks on the release of their first title, Erica.I am currently working on recording and processing the episodes for the new series of MGIF, so keep an eye out for posts, follow me on twitter for the info, and subscribe to the pod! Also get on the patreon for early access and other rewards:www.patreon.com/mgif
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. This episode of Making Games Is Fun is with videogame journalist and historian Holly Nielsen. We talk about when Holly's interest in both videogames and history began, and how she managed to marry the two and make that into a career. We get into the history of gaming and how communities formed around games. We also look at the use of history in videogames and where games can do better moving forward. I wanted to get Holly on the podcast to show how broad a range of careers are possible in the industry; whatever your skillset or specific interest, there is most likely a place for you. Videogames are becoming broader and broader as an art form now, and we are seeing all kinds of new roles pop up. This can only be good for the games we play in the future. You can follow Holly @nielsen_holly
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. I sat down with Anna in their home to chat about their artwork and the process of creating concept art, as well as their extraordinary personal work in which Anna creates beautiful landscapes with a tangible sense of place. We also get into Anna’s history with art and videogames and we even reminisce about the ancient series of digital pet games on the PC known as “Petz”, and Anna delivers a hilarious revelation that stuns me into silence. It’s a delightful blend of 50% intellectual and 50% daft chat as we flit between subjects. Anna is a delight to be around and their personality and enthusiasm for art shines through in their work. This is a great one and I hope you enjoy it too. You can follow Anna and their incredible work on twitter @annahollinrake
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. New episodes release every other week. Subscribe to the Patreon today to get the next episode of Making Games Is Fun a week early. Go to www.patreon.com/MGIF to find out more. For this episode, I visited Paul Kilduff-Taylor of Mode7 Games in his home in Warwick. We discussed the release of his first solo project, Wardialler (available now for free here) as well as the rise of Mode7, the departure of his co-founder Ian Hardingham and we get VERY deep into videogame music chat (I also manage to crowbar Street Fighter in there somehow). Follow Paul @mode7games
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. I sat down with the incredible Alexis Trust during their last days at Attention Seekers, a London based creative agency specialising in videogame content. I spoke with Alexis about their incredible, varied career and life, from growing up in a poor family, to joining the army at age 15, their path to being a successful person in the games industry, their battles with cancer, prejudice and anything else life decided to throw at them along the way. We also mention Alexis’ move to Chucklefish, a truly lovely company who MGIF has worked with in the past to make a video documentary series. You can find those videos here. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with Alexis and if you want to help support more work like this, please head over to the Making Games Is Fun Patreon, which you can find at www.patreon.com/MGIF. Help fund MGIF’s ongoing documentation of the people of the games industry. Follow Alexis at @AlexisTrust
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. Emily Gera is a freelance videogame journalist who has written for Variety, Polygon, Eurogamer and The Guardian, amongst many others. In this episode, we talk about the process of writing for videogames, how Emily got where she is today and why she prefers writing over speaking. This turns into a therapy session about self confidence sprinkled with games chat and, for the second time this series, Ecco The Dolphin crops up.You can follow Emily at @twitgera
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. Luca Redwood is the creator of 10000000 and You Must Build A Boat, a pair of light-hearted, beautifully designed match 3 action RPG games for mobile. His latest game, Photographs, is a huge departure from previous titles, as a series of five tragic vignettes moved forward by five different puzzle games. We sat down in Stratford’s Loading Bar to chat about the reason behind the switch in tone, the moral mirror the game holds up to you and what’s the most important to us when we face a moral quandary, as well as getting into Luca’s success story and his plans for the future. You should play Photographs, it’s great.You can follow Luca @lucaredwood
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. To calm my nerves after going so far out of London in the last episode (Cambridge), I decided to delve deep into the heart of the city and interview Haley Uyrus of Mediatonic. Haley recently left Failbetter Games, a previous guest of this podcast, and we talk about what it’s like to move from a smaller studio to a much larger, 150 person setup. We get into Haley’s background and gaming memories, and there’s a massive horror games tangent too, because we love tangents on MGIF. You can follow Haley @absintheuse
Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe. Episode seven of this series is with Polygon Treehouse. Polygon Treehouse are an indie dev studio from Cambridge, and are made up of two ex Guerilla Games and Sony veterans Alex Kanaris-Sotiriou and Tom Jones. I ventured JUST OUTSIDE OF LONDON (gasp) into the beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside to interview them about their first game as a studio, the beautiful Röki. We talk about how it feels moving from a massive AAA studio to branching out on your own and going indie, childhood game inspirations and why Alex thinks it’s OK to have a two hour bath. You can find Polygon Treehouse, Alex and Tom respectively at:@polytreehouse@kanaratron@itsnotunusual
This episode I sit down with State of Play's Daisy Fernandez. We talk about game dev courses and how they've improved over the years, what Daisy cares about when it comes to telling stories in games and we reminisce about old games and how they made us feel.
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