The Examined Game

Steven Lake
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  • VIDEO GAMES

Visit theexaminedgame.com for all episodes.What do video games reveal about us? In The Examined Game Podcast, peabody-nominated documentary producer Steven Lake speaks with the creators of the world’s most celebrated video games about how they were made and the personal and professional impact games have had on their lives.Steven is a Peabody-nominated producer whose work has appeared on Netflix, BBC Storyville, PBS, and The Guardian. About Steven Lake Steven Lake is the host of The Examined Game Podcast and a Peabody-nominated documentary producer. His work has appeared on Netflix, BBC Storyville, PBS, Al Jazeera, and The Guardian. His films include Roll Red Roll, described by The New York Times as “an essential watch,” as well as Phantom Parrot, rated 4 stars by Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, and Dungeon Masterhood, a coming-of-age documentary with dragons.

Episodes

  1. The Mathematics of Interactive Storytelling - Jon Ingold (80 Days, Heaven's Vault, TR-49)

    5 DAYS AGO

    The Mathematics of Interactive Storytelling - Jon Ingold (80 Days, Heaven's Vault, TR-49)

    Send us Fan Mail In today's episode of The Examined Game I speak with co-founder of Inkle Studios, Jon Ingold. I am a huge fan of the work both he and Joseph Humfrey have done under Inkle Studios. Beyond finding new ways to iterate on the adventure game genre, they’ve also done an incredible job of creating mobile-friendly games, giving audiences who might otherwise never play a game like 80 Days the chance to experience one. One clear takeaway from this conversation is that Jon loves writing. If you've ever played an Inkle Studios game, you'll know that writing is the absolute foundation of their work. We discuss the profound influence that text adventure games had on Jon, as well as games like Monkey Island and his lasting love of The Last Express, and the collaborative approach he and Joseph take to getting projects off the ground. There is nothing quite like an Inkle Studios game. Whether it’s 80 Days, Heaven's Vault, Overboard!, Expelled!, or their most recent game TR-49, there’s a reason their work resonates so deeply with players. One of my favourite parts of this conversation is Jon going into detail about the concept of choice in video games, and the work they do at Inkle to remove the feeling of binary “PRESS A or PRESS B” decisions, instead steeping players in the emotional reality of decision making. Finally, we discuss the similarities between mathematics (Jon originally trained as a mathematician) and writing, and the power of finding the most efficient and succinct path to a solution, whether through numbers or through words. The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 26min
  2. The Dial Up Entrepreneur | Scott Miller (Apogee Entertainment, Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D)

    4 MAY

    The Dial Up Entrepreneur | Scott Miller (Apogee Entertainment, Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D)

    Send us Fan Mail In this episode I speak with Scott Miller, founder of Apogee Entertainment (Commander Keen, Duke Nukem) and 3D Realms (Max Payne, Prey). Scott helped pioneer the shareware model of game distribution in the late 80s and early 90s, releasing large chunks of games for free online long before Steam existed, and asking players to mail in cheques or call directly to order the full version. Scott literally helped build the gaming industry as we know it today from the ground up. After being rejected by major publishers in his early years in the industry, he decided to do things his own way. We discuss his early attempts to break into the industry, the rejection from publishers like EA and Sierra, and how that pushed him to build his own path through BBS systems, dial-up distribution, and early online communities. I’ve been playing Scott’s games since I was in single digits. Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure and Wolfenstein 3D were some of my favourite games growing up, playing them on our family Amstrad with the dining table chair pulled up to the keyboard. The conversation covers his work with John Romero and John Carmack at id Software on Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D and the rise of the FPS genre, as well as the development of Duke Nukem 3D and how it differentiated itself from Doom through humour, interactivity, destructible environments and world design. We also talk about the early PC gaming era, game demos, shareware, PC Gamer magazine culture, box art, game marketing, and how games like Duke Nukem, Max Payne, Shadow Warrior, Rise of the Triad and Prey were shaped by player feedback and experimentation. This is a conversation about the foundations of PC gaming, the origins of indie distribution, and the mindset that helped shape modern game development long before digital storefronts and platforms like Steam existed. The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    59 min
  3. Hell Broke Loose - The Making of Far Cry 2 | Clint Hocking (Creative Director)

    27 APR

    Hell Broke Loose - The Making of Far Cry 2 | Clint Hocking (Creative Director)

    Send us Fan Mail Today I’m talking with Clint Hocking, Creative Director of Far Cry 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion. Clint has had a long and varied career in the video game industry, working on the original Splinter Cell games, as well as roles at Ubisoft, Valve, LucasArts, and Amazon Game Studios. This ended up being one of the most dense and thought-provoking conversations I’ve had the privilege of recording. The way Clint thinks about video games and how we as players engage with them was such a pleasure to listen to. We spend a huge part of the conversation diving into Far Cry 2 and unpacking the systems and mechanics that make it feel so distinctive all these years later. Clint talks about the philosophy behind the game’s hostile world design, the tension between player freedom and frustration, and how the team approached emergent gameplay in a way that allowed players to create their own stories through systems colliding with one another. This was really one of the first games that allowed you to feel chaos ensure as you interact with the world around you, and of course inspired what the Far Cry series would go on to be.  We talk about the psychology of players, the idea of safety and vulnerability in open world games, and why certain mechanics completely change the way we emotionally relate to a space.We discuss things as deceptively simple as whether a character should be able to pet a cat in a game which opens up a much bigger discussion around player expectation and character consistency. There’s also a lot in here about immersive sims, tabletop RPGs, “ludonarrative dissonance,” and the challenge of designing games that trust players rather than constantly guiding them. If you’re interested in game design, player psychology, or the thinking behind one of the most divisive and influential shooters ever made, I think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation. The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1 hr
  4. Making Atomfall: Risk & Reward | Ben Fisher (Head of Design)

    21 APR

    Making Atomfall: Risk & Reward | Ben Fisher (Head of Design)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode, I speak with Ben Fisher, Head of Design on Atomfall and Sniper Elite: Resistance. Ben is a key creative figure at Rebellion, and we take a deep dive into the philosophy and design process behind Atomfall’s open-world RPG structure.  We talk about the steps that Atomfall had to go through to teach players how to engage with the world they were entering from the very first moments. Atomfall has a different pace to your average open world game, so Ben breaks down the game’s opening in remarkable detail, explaining how environmental cues, limited ammunition, enemy placement, dialogue systems, and even the way the player physically holds a weapon were all carefully designed to communicate that this is not a traditional “run and gun” shooter. Instead, Atomfall pushes players toward caution, observation, uncertainty, and exploration.  We also discuss the game’s ambitious “leads” system, which replaces traditional quest structures with something far more open-ended and investigative. Rather than being told exactly where to go and what to do, players gather fragments of information and piece together their own understanding of the world. Ben talks about the enormous creative risk behind that decision, how the system evolved late into development, and why the team wanted players to feel more like detectives than objective-followers.  Along the way, we explore the influence of immersive sims, British speculative fiction, and games like Riven, Dark Souls, Fallout, and Deus Ex. Ben also talks about the iterative reality of game design, how Rebellion balances creative risk with player expectations, and why so much of game development comes down to building systems that allow you to fail, adapt, and discover the right ideas over time.  The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 3min
  5. Writing Outer Wilds: Joy, Grief, and Letting Go | Kelsey Beachum (Outer Wilds, Avowed, Outer Worlds)

    14 APR

    Writing Outer Wilds: Joy, Grief, and Letting Go | Kelsey Beachum (Outer Wilds, Avowed, Outer Worlds)

    Send us Fan Mail Today I sit down with Kelsey Beachum, writer of Outer Wilds, for a deeply honest conversation about the creative process, including what it was like collaborating with her brother Alex Beachum on one of the most loved indie games of the past decade. Kelsey clearly poured so much of herself into the writing for Outer Wilds. I actually had no idea just how personal this game was for her. This of course bought up a ton of questions about what it must be like to put your heart on your sleeve for the whole world to see. As you can imagine she has some thoughts on this! We also get into the strange phenomenon of imposter syndrome that can come even when the response from players is overwhelmingly positive. Kelsey reflects on what it means to feel disconnected from the success of a game like Outer Wilds and how she learned to navigate that emotionally. We talk about burnout in the games industry, what causes it, what it costs creatively, and the importance of finding collaborators, studios, and creative environments whose values genuinely align with your own. Beyond Outer Wilds, we also discuss Kelsey’s work on Avowed and The Outer Worlds.  This was one of the most open and generous conversations I’ve had on the show. Kelsey held nothing back, and I think anyone who makes things, games, films, documentaries, music, writing will find something here that resonates. This is basically a conversation on creation and what we give to our projects. It reminds me about the disconnect between the maker and the audience. What we put into a creative endeavor is often different to what the audience gets out of it. I don't see this as a bad thing in the slightest and there is a joy in see how ones work is interpreted compared to what was going through our heads when we made it.  The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 9min
  6. Scope, testing, and Finishing Games | Nina Freeman (Cibele, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage)

    6 APR

    Scope, testing, and Finishing Games | Nina Freeman (Cibele, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode I speak with game developer Nina Freeman about mistakes, reflection, and the role personal experience can play in game design. Nina is known for her autobiographical approach to games, incorporating real moments from her own life into projects like Cibele, as well as her work on Tacoma and, more recently, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.  We talk about her early experiences with games, from edutainment titles at the public library through to discovering games like Myst and how they shaped the way she thinks about storytelling and interaction. Nina came up through New York game jams and collaborating with friends. A large part of the conversation centres around learning from mistakes. And learning to learn from mistakes. Nina has not been able to avoid the trap of scope creep, but rather than seeing it as a bad thing she has learn't to live with the fact that this is just something that developers do, and to sometimes just embrace it. Nina discusses why she values finishing projects over chasing perfection, how she approaches playtesting and criticism, and the difficulty of revisiting released work when all you can see are the things you wish you had more time to improve. We also get into what it feels like to release such personal work and the strange feeling of having strangers connect deeply with experiences drawn from your own life.  We spend time talking about narrative design in games and the unique way games allow players to embody characters unlike themselves. Nina explains how mechanics, dialogue choices, and environmental storytelling can help players inhabit another person’s perspective in ways film often cannot. We also discuss her work on Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, building believable friendships, nostalgia, and why seemingly small interactions can carry emotional weight in games.  Finally, Nina talks about her upcoming horror project exploring body image, memory, and her relationship with her mother. The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 19min
  7. Why Platformers need to evolve | Chris Wade (Big Hops)

    30 MAR

    Why Platformers need to evolve | Chris Wade (Big Hops)

    Send us Fan Mail The Examined Game #5 In today’s episode I speak with Chris Wade, creator of Big Hops. Big Hops immediately caught my attention as a platformer. While most modern platformers still build on the foundations laid down in the 1990s, Big Hops takes inspiration from emergent gameplay systems found in games like Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Arkane Studio's Dishonored and applies to the platformer genre. If that sounds like an interesting proposition you're right it is.  Chris talks about the early development of the game and his decision to move away from the traditional “make a fun toy first” style of development and instead approach Big Hops from a top-down design philosophy. His core question was simple: what would happen if a 3D platformer embraced systemic gameplay and player-driven experimentation in the same way Breath of the Wild did for Zelda?  We discuss the challenge of making a platformer stand out in 2026, the importance of having a strong gameplay hook, and why the frog tongue mechanic became the central design pillar of the game. Big Hops contains no combat. This decision added an extra level of complexity when it came to giving players enough to do in the world to keep them interested. Chris' design philosophy is that most indie combat systems feel underwhelming compared to movement mechanics, and instead focused on traversal, experimentation and player expression.  We talk about his team losing their publisher late into production, how they kept the game alive, and the strange experience of watching players and speedrunners completely break systems in ways the developers never expected. We also talk about Nintendo’s design philosophy, Zelda, Mario, Banjo-Kazooie, Animal Crossing, Psychonauts, Dark Souls, storytelling in platformers, voice acting, emergent gameplay and why players form emotional connections to virtual worlds in the first place.  The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 7min
  8. Why Great Games still Fail | Mario R. Kroll (Video PR & Marketing expert)

    23 MAR

    Why Great Games still Fail | Mario R. Kroll (Video PR & Marketing expert)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode I speak with Mario R. Kroll, founder of UberStrategist . Mario has spent more than 30 years working across PR, publishing and marketing in the video game industry, helping studios figure out how to get their games noticed in an increasingly crowded market. This was a candid conversation about visibility, marketing, networking and the realities of trying to launch games today. We talk about what actually gets a game noticed, why so many developers leave marketing until far too late, and how difficult it has become for smaller games to cut through the noise when thousands of titles launch every year. Mario shares how he first entered the games industry after teaching himself web development to build and run Wargamer.com, a fan-made matchmaking and community site for strategy gamers in the 1990s. What started as a hobby eventually turned into a full-time operation and led him into publishing, PR and eventually the founding of UberStrategist, where he now works with studios across games and tabletop. We also discuss the changing state of games media, the rise of influencers, how AI is changing discoverability, and why strong community building is now just as important as making a good game. Mario talks openly about imposter syndrome, networking culture at industry events, and the pressure developers put on themselves trying to do everything alone instead of asking for help. We also get into retro games, strategy games, tabletop RPGs, Nightdive Studios, Atari, game preservation, and why some older games still hold up decades later while others don’t. This was a really thoughtful conversation about the business side of games, but also about the people behind them and the challenge of staying creative and motivated in such a competitive industry. The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 15min
  9. How Portal Was Written | Erik Wolpaw (Portal)

    17 MAR

    How Portal Was Written | Erik Wolpaw (Portal)

    Send us Fan Mail The Examined Game #4 In this episode of The Examined Game I speak with Erik Wolpaw on writing for video games.  Erik is best known for his work on Portal, Portal 2, the Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two, as well as his time at Valve and Double Fine Productions working on Psychonauts. We talk about environmental storytelling, just how difficult it is to make games funny, and how much of Portal’s world was built through suggestion rather than exposition. Erik breaks down how characters like GLaDOS and Wheatley evolved during development, and why constraints often lead to stronger creative decisions. The fact that Portal was way into development before he came on-board as a writer says a lot about just how strong the writing for Portal is, considering it is so well known for its characters and world building. We talk about the realities of the writing process itself: procrastination, self-doubt, collaboration and playtesting. Erik talks candidly about the creative culture at Valve during the development of The Orange Box, the pressures of shipping games, and why most writers secretly hate writing.  I got to talk with Erik about Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and some of his favorite games including ICO, Slay the Spire and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This was such a great deep dive into the power of writing in video games but above all else, you must remember: the cake is a lie. The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 11min
  10. Why Play Matters | Julia Minamata (The Crimson Diamond)

    5 MAR

    Why Play Matters | Julia Minamata (The Crimson Diamond)

    Send us Fan Mail The Examined Game #3 Julia Minamata is the solo developer of The Crimson Diamond, a love letter to the classic Sierra On-Line parser adventures. I adored playing The Crimson Diamond and wanted to talk with Julia about the power of play in video games and why classic adventure games still resonate so strongly with players today. We discuss Julia’s inspiration for the game and the idea of building a game like a doll’s house for the player to lose themselves in. We wade into some hard-core adventure game depths including discussions on The Colonel's Bequest, King's Quest, Space Quest, Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and Maniac Mansion, as well as why parser based gameplay creates a very different kind of player immersion compared to point and click adventures. What I love about Julia's commitment to tex parser games is that she has found a way to introduce a decades old mechanic and make it work for a modern audience. She has been surprised by how many new, and often young players have picked up her game and enjoyed it. Julia talks about the pressures of being a solo developer and how making the game became its own escape for Julia when her work as an illustrator was stalling. The Crimson Diamond had a long development process and Julia really did pour her heart into it. From retro game design, EGA graphics, nostalgia, indie development and the challenge of creating a game that feels so personal this is such a great conversation about the golden era of adventure games, and how devs like Julia are keeping them alive for modern gamers.  At the core of this conversation is an exploration into the relationship between games, imagination and physical play spaces, including doll houses, LEGO and mystery fiction, and why older games often encouraged players to slow down and engage with virtual spaces. Steam Page: The Crimson Diamond on Steam Official Website: The Crimson Diamond Official Website The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 4min
  11. Restoring the Mona Lisas of video games | Larry Kuperman (Nightdive Studios)

    2 MAR

    Restoring the Mona Lisas of video games | Larry Kuperman (Nightdive Studios)

    Send us Fan Mail In today’s episode I speak with Larry Kuperman, Vice President of Business Development at Nightdive Studios. Larry retired not long after this interview, so I was pleased to chat with such an industry veteran. Nightdive have made a well-deserved name for themselves with their remakes and remasters of classic games including System Shock, System Shock 2, Blade Runner, Star Wars: Dark Forces, The Thing, Quake and many others. I sat down with Larry to discuss the ups and downs of remastering and remaking games. We talk about player expectations and the legal maze involved in resurrecting these games. How missing source code, lost contracts and rights ownership make for a “fun” puzzle when it comes to getting these games to see the light of day again, as well as game preservation and the technical challenge of bringing older PC games onto modern hardware and consoles. Based on Larry’s experience, some games are far more difficult to preserve than others, and we get into the “games that got away”, at least for the time being. The studio’s current white whale being No One Lives Forever. We talk about nostalgia and why certain games stay with players for decades. Larry talks about growing up during the early PC gaming era, the impact of studios like id Software and why games like Doom and Descent mean so much to him as games he played with his son. We also discuss the emotional connection people have to games from the 1990s and early 2000s, and why replaying them can feel like reconnecting with a specific moment in life. This leads into the pressure that comes when you, as Larry put it, “remaster the Mona Lisa of video games”. The conversation also covers Nightdive’s early relationship with GOG, the decline of physical PC games, digital distribution, modding communities and the growing importance of game preservation, and why the goal is not to recreate games exactly as they were, but to make them feel the way players remember them. We also get into titles like I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, No One Lives Forever and SiN. These are the games of my youth, so talking with Larry on this subject was, for me, fascinating. The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 3min
  12. When Naughty Dog Took A Risk On Uncharted 2 | Richard Lemarchand (Uncharted, Naughty Dog)

    23 FEB

    When Naughty Dog Took A Risk On Uncharted 2 | Richard Lemarchand (Uncharted, Naughty Dog)

    Send us Fan Mail I sat down with co-lead game designer on the original Uncharted trilogy, Richard Lemarchand, to talk about the creative process Naughty Dog took when making Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and how Naughty Dog approached pacing, cinematic gameplay and level design. Richard talks about working alongside Amy Hennig, Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann on the original Uncharted trilogy, and how the studio evolved from games like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter into more story-driven games like Uncharted and The Last of Us. A large part of the conversation focuses on the Tibetan village sequence in Uncharted 2 and why the team decided to slow the player down after the train level. Richard explains how the level was designed to create contrast with the action sequences and why some people at the studio thought it would not work. We also talk about player psychology, environmental storytelling, audio design and how quieter moments can change the pacing of a game. Richard discusses some of the games that influenced him, including ICO, Shadow of the Colossus and The Graveyard by Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn. We also get into Naughty Dog’s development process, how the studio used vertical slices and game design documents during pre-production, and how the team approached cinematic action sequences like the moving train level in Uncharted 2. Years ago I heard Richard talk about the Tibetan village level and wanted to ask him more about how it came together. This interview goes into the details behind that sequence and the wider design philosophy behind the Uncharted games. Richard now teaches game design at the University of Southern California. He says the biggest mistake his students make is being to ambitious in their scope for their games. I can relate to this as a film-maker. His philosophy is to do one thing extremely well rather than many things poorly. Richard clearly borrows from music, film, books and TV to inspire his work, just look at the book shelf behind him during our interview.  The Examined Game Each week, host Steven Lake asks the creators behind some of the world’s most influential video games about the meaning of life (in video games), leading to conversations about the personal and creative impact games have had on their lives.

    1hr 6min
  • 12 Episodes

About

Visit theexaminedgame.com for all episodes.What do video games reveal about us? In The Examined Game Podcast, peabody-nominated documentary producer Steven Lake speaks with the creators of the world’s most celebrated video games about how they were made and the personal and professional impact games have had on their lives.Steven is a Peabody-nominated producer whose work has appeared on Netflix, BBC Storyville, PBS, and The Guardian. About Steven Lake Steven Lake is the host of The Examined Game Podcast and a Peabody-nominated documentary producer. His work has appeared on Netflix, BBC Storyville, PBS, Al Jazeera, and The Guardian. His films include Roll Red Roll, described by The New York Times as “an essential watch,” as well as Phantom Parrot, rated 4 stars by Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, and Dungeon Masterhood, a coming-of-age documentary with dragons.

Information

  • Creator
    Steven Lake
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Examined Game
  • Show Website
    The Examined Game
  • Provider

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