The Game Developers' Library

Joe Baxter-Webb
  • 5.0 (1)
  • EDUCATION

A regular "book-club" style podcast where Joe Baxter-Webb [Indie Game Clinic] chats with a range of guest co-hosts about the books we think game developers should read (or at least know the gist of!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. 1D AGO

    ep06 - Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art

    In this episode we attempt to verbally describe a comic book. But not just any comic book. Scott McCloud's 1993 "Understanding Comics" is a comic about comics; not necessarily how to make them, but how they "work" for readers. Your librarians Tom and Joe jump about the book in no particular order, picking apart what they personally got from the book, and highlighting areas where we think there's something interesting in there for an indie dev.  TOPICS INCLUDE: > how videogames are interactive cartoons > semiotics and the psychology of images > how "gaps" and "holes" in stories create engagement > nonlinear narrative in different media > starting projects with "ideas" vs starting with craft TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 intro  01:45 why this book 06:15 overview 11:35 indie games and cartoon aesthetics 14:02 two mediums with the same status issue 16:22 iconic representation and identification 18:55 history and definition of comics 23:02 the semiotics of comics 30:12 the three types of image 41:00 gamers love a ruined city 44:48 time is weird in comics 49:45 "closure" in media psychology 52:33 non-linear moments in comics 57:29 the meaning of lines and colours 59:20 showing & telling / multimodality 65:35 self-referentiality as a sign of a mature medium 68:50 McClouds 6 Steps of Creativity 73:20 finishing projects vs starting new ones 68:13 what's next? OTHER REFERENCES: Juniper Dev on Little White Guys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=banRsciq1ww Ian Bogost's 2023 essay on Gone Home: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/perpetual-adolescence-the-fullbright-companys-gone-home/ "Storyteller" Comicbook-Interface Puzzle Game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/Storyteller/ "Her Story" Narrative Puzzle Game https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/Her_Story/ "The Beginner's Guide" (example of a "reflexive"/self-referential game) https://store.steampowered.com/app/303210/The_Beginners_Guide/ wiki page of Pierre Bourdieu's "Distinction" (sociology of taste) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinction_(book) The original game design "MDA Theory" paper: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://users.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf McCloud's 6 Steps of Creativity explained using SoundCloud Rappers: https://rudycraiglcgr.blogspot.com/2016/08/this-for-lcgn-class-we-had-to-read.html Derek Yu on finishing games: https://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-game Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 21m

  2. 11/09/2025

    ep05 - Kim Nordström - UP DOWN UP: Why some game companies succeed, while others fail

    Other Sources Discussed Failing to Fail: The Spiderweb Software Way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stxVBJem3Rs&t=2794s Radical Candor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Candor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 10m

  3. 09/07/2025

    ep04 - Jason Schreier - Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

    In this episode we discuss Jason Schreier's journalistic account of the creation of a bunch of different games, ranging from huge AAA games like DragonAge: Inquisition, to smaller indie ones like Shovel Knight and Stardew Valley. Game Developers' Library is a regular podcast covering books which may be helpful to people who make games. Tom Hughes is a full-time game developer, and Joe Baxter-Webb is a game designer and game dev content creator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 28m

  4. 07/31/2025

    ep03 - Jesse Schell - The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

    In this episode we cover this weighty game design textbook, discussing its stronger and weaker areas, how it can help new developers to understand design and player psychology, and why so many more technically-oriented folks bounce off the book. Host Joe Baxter-Webb is a game design educator and YouTuber. He has previously been the course lead in Game Design at Canterbury Christ Church University, and has helped develop for multiple commercial games companies including King (Candy Crush Soda Saga) Karta (Blackpink in Roblox, Spotify in Fortnite) and Adult Swim Games. Guest host Jeremy Johnson is an indie dev and also Assistant Professor of Video Game Development at St. Edward's University, Texas, USA, where he teaches from A Book of Lenses every semester.  Most books mentioned are available via my bookshop.org affiliate page. This allows you to purchase books online in a way which benefits small local retailers. https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/indiegameclinic other things cited: Deck of Lenses, the free online version: https://deck.artofgamedesign.com/#/menu/0/?lang=enBrian Eno's Oblique Strategies, online version: https://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.htmlAchievement Relocked: Loss Aversion and Game Design by Geoff Engelstein: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Achievement-Relocked-Aversion-Playful-Thinking/dp/026204353XFermat and Pascal on Probability (on the games-based origins of probability math): chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/pascal.pdfGeorge Fan: How I Got My Mom to Play Through Plants vs. Zombies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbzhHSexzpYPurple Cow by Seth Godin, Animated Book Summary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QkPaJ299UkThe Writer Will Do Something by Matthew Seiji: https://matthewseiji.itch.io/twwdsthe "Japanese inventor with 3500 patents" was Dr. Nakamatsu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnjSjJOEfSc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 16m

  5. 06/26/2025

    ep02 - Raph Koster - A Theory of Fun For Game Design

    I discuss Raph Koster's game design classic from 2004. Is this a book about craft, or about ethics? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 17m

  6. 05/18/2025

    ep01 - Derek Yu - Spelunky

    We discuss Spelunky by Derek Yu, which was published by Boss Fight Books in 2016. This episode is hosted by Joe Baxter-Webb (game design educator and host of Indie Game Clinic) and game developer Tom Hughes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 16m
  • 6 Episodes

About

A regular "book-club" style podcast where Joe Baxter-Webb [Indie Game Clinic] chats with a range of guest co-hosts about the books we think game developers should read (or at least know the gist of!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Joe Baxter-Webb
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Indie Clinic Media Ltd.
  • Show Website
    The Game Developers' Library