Play Dead

Gabby DaRienzo

4.7 (3)
VIDEO GAMES
UPDATED DAILY

Welcome to Play Dead, the first and only podcast that looks exclusively at death in video games. Hosted by Gabby DaRienzo, Play Dead explores the different ways that death is used in video games and the meanings it has for both players and developers.

03/07/2020

Afterparty and Oxenfree with Adam Hines and Bryant Cannon

In this episode, Gabby talks with Adam Hines and Bryant Cannon of Night School Studios, the creators of the critically-acclaimed game Oxenfree and the upcoming game Afterparty. They talk about writing for grief, the consequences of changing the past, and how Afterparty is going to deal with the subject of death. The music used in this episode comes from the Oxenfree and AfterParty soundtracks, both of which were composed by scntfc.

19 min
03/07/2020

Doki Doki Literature Club with Dan Salvato

In this episode, Gabby talks with Dan Salvato, the creator of the critically-acclaimed, romance-slash-horror visual novel game Doki Doki Literature Club. They discuss writing mental health and horror games, subverting the visual novel genre, and how DDLC uses deletion as “death”. Warning: This episode contains spoilers for the game Doki Doki Literature Club, and discussion about sensitive subjects such as suicide and self harm. The music used in this episode comes from the Doki Doki Literature Club soundtrack which was composed by Dan Salvato.

19 min
03/07/2020

What Remains of Edith Finch with Ian Dallas

In the season three premiere, Gabby talks with Ian Dallas, the Creative Director of Giant Sparrow, about the studio’s critically-acclaimed What Remains of Edith Finch. They discuss the development of Edith Finch, the team’s careful approach to the depiction of children’s deaths, and how Ian’s personal experiences with death impacted the game’s overall design and development. The music used in this episode comes from the What Remains of Edith Finch soundtrack composed by Jeff Russo. You can learn more about him at JeffRusso.com.

30 min
03/07/2020

Grim Acres with Matt Klimas

In this episode, Gabby speaks with Matt Klimas, the Virginia-based graphic designer and game developer behind the graveyard-building card game Grim Acres. They talk about the beauty of graveyards, the challenges of game balance, and the creative processes for card games and board games with a physical component. The music in this episode comes from Robby Duguay. You can check out more of Robby’s work by following him on Twitter @RobbyDuguay or check out his website at composer.games.

15 min
03/07/2020

Flipping Death with Klaus Lyngeled

In this episode, Gabby speaks with Klaus Lyngeled of Zoink! Games about the upcoming games Fe and Flipping Death, the latter of which will be out soon for the Nintendo Switch. The music used in this episode comes from the Flipping Death soundtrack, which was composed by Gustav Davidsson and Erik Bengtsson, and the Fe soundtrack, which was composed by Joel Bille.

16 min
03/07/2020

Crashlands and Cancer with Sam Coster

In this episode, Gabby speaks with Sam Coster of Butterscotch Shenanigans about developing Crashlands shortly after being diagnosed with cancer and having to face his mortality. They also talk about how death is used in games, and what games affected Sam the most while he was going through cancer treatments. The music used in this episode comes from the Crashlands soundtrack, which was written and composed by Fat Bard. You can check out the OST and listen to more of their music at FatBard.bandcamp.com.

26 min
03/07/2020

RIP Special Vol. 2

In this special episode, Gabby speaks with all of Play Dead’s Season 2 guests about their most memorable video game deaths, including Daniel Rosen, Stephanie Harvey, Justin Kuiper, Adam Saltsman, Kim Koronya, Andrew Willans, and Niamh Schönherr (you can also catch up with Season 1’s memorable deaths over here). The music used in this episode was written and composed by Justine, and comes from their latest mix on Soundcloud, which you can check out at https://soundcloud.com/sintecta/sets/mishmash. You can also hear more of Justine’s music at https://sintecta.bandcamp.com/ and follow them on twitter @Sintecta.

35 min
03/07/2020

Death in VR with Andrew Willans and Kim Koronya

In this special VR episode, Gabby speaks with Andrew Willans (EVE: Valkyrie) about the mechanical challenges VR developers face when designing death in their games; and Kim Koronya (Globes VR) about creating empathy using VR, and the ethics that need to be considered when creating VR games involving death. The music used in Andrew’s parts of this episode comes from the EVE: Valkyrie soundtrack, which was written and composed by Rich Maccoull. You can hear more at soundcloud.com/ccpgames. The piano tracks used during the opening and during Kim’s parts come from http://www.bensound.com.

34 min

4.7

out of 5

3 Ratings

Welcome to Play Dead, the first and only podcast that looks exclusively at death in video games. Hosted by Gabby DaRienzo, Play Dead explores the different ways that death is used in video games and the meanings it has for both players and developers.

Creator

Gabby DaRienzo
Episodes

22
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Gabby DaRienzo
Show Website

Play Dead