Honest Indies Podcast

Honest Indies
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Interviewing indie devs about their history playing and making games, what led them to game dev and what they're working on.

Episodes

  1. Sep 7

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 7 - Busy Bee Zelda - Kitten Cup Studio Interview

    I loved chatting with Bee about Capy Castaway, queer joy, D&D, and a whole lot more. Having streamed the first demo last year, interviewed another dev at the studio previously, have a review wrap up, and now this, it feels like Honest Indies had a whole Capy Castaway sage that's come to a close. Play Capy Castaway yourself and report back when you beat it :) https://store.steampowered.com/app/2890240/Capy_Castaway/ If you missed it, here is Episode 1 where talked with Saffron Aurora from Kitten Cup studio. I think it's fun to hear how the game changed over the last year and how this show has grown: https://youtu.be/qYvmbLQGz48?si=szEE_-imhhVo0Z0b This is the podcast that Bee joined during Season 3 and mentioned later in this episode: https://open.spotify.com/show/3zkX7azMygmGSxMFVG7QKJ Follow along on Patreon where there are previews, listicles, written developer interviews, and more: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HonestIndies Time codes: 0:00 – Intro and pitching the game. 2:11 – SPOILERS 4:09 – Talking about the new patch and post-launch development. 6:00 – Where and how Toronto appears in the game . 9:00 – Favorite NPCs and balancing serious conversations with playful moments. 11:25 – The importance of chosen names. 17:40 – Finding an audience and how the game changed over time. 26:40 – Breaking down our thoughts on Corvi. 30:00 – Adding co-op to the game and inspirations for it. 32:15 – 90's Nintendo, our childhood gaming experiences, and the games that stuck with us. 44:00 – How a podcast and D&D lead to a career in games. xoxo Chris

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 7 - Busy Bee Zelda - Kitten Cup Studio Interview

  2. Aug 24

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 6 - No Wings Required In Game Development - Zuko Studios Interview

    It was wonderful to put a face to the name and chat with Asif for the show instead of through text. The most unexpected reveal from our conversation was that without Bladerunner 2049, No Wings required likely wouldn't exist. What an interesting path to game dev. Here is that previous interview with Asif for anyone who hasn't read it yet: https://www.patreon.com/HonestIndies/posts/developer-asif-159562383 Checkout the studio on Steam and give the demo a try for yourself: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3876490/No_Wings_Required/ Zuko Studios and discord: https://www.instagram.com/zuko.studios/ Follow along on Patreon where there are previews, listicles, written developer interviews, and more. Time codes: 0:00 – Intro and how No Wings Required ended up being the studio's first PC game. 9:50 – Making AR escape rooms and early days of development. 13:00 – Demo takeaways, Toronto Games Week, and learning marketing. 23:50 – The unexpected parts of game dev and figuring out what the game is as you go. 33:45 – Asif's early gaming days with his uncle and being a competitive gamer. 38:30 – How Bladerunner lead to augmented reality work and eventually game development. 46:20 – Final thoughts and what to look forward to. xoxo Chris

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 6 - No Wings Required In Game Development - Zuko Studios Interview

  3. Jun 1

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 5 - Choosing Kindness With Jenny Windom - Wholesome Games Interview

    I am a tremendously big fan of who Jenny is as a person and the work that she does within the video game industry. She continues to uplift and platform so many folks plus has helped put fantastic indies into players' hands. There's a lot of links to share this time around. Despite the longer episode, there's still so much we didn't cover. We only briefly mentioned Jenny working at Soft Not Weak, who released Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592170/Spirit_Swap_Lofi_Beats_to_Match3_To/ That's also a good reminder that folks should checkout Episode 3 with Sherveen as he was not only my instructor, but taught Alex from Soft Not Weak as well. Until recently Jenny was also working at Ivy Road; the studio behind Wanderstop: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1299460/Wanderstop/ Unfortunately the studio was unable to secure funding for its second project and closed in March of this year. Head here to watch the Wholesome Games direct or signup for their newsletter (it's a good one): https://wholesomegames.com/ Speaking of newsletters, I mentioned the one that Doot and Blibloop do and it's fantastic. The latest one also presents an opportunity to play test Milki Delivery before its upcoming Steam demo: https://subscribepage.io/DootTinyNewsletter For anyone who doesn't already follow Geeks & Grounds, Jenny has cultivated a wonderfully supportive bunch of gamers along with the podcast itself: https://www.geeksandgrounds.com/ Oh and I found the event post for that last show I worked: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9usj7XD-pv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Follow along on Patreon where there are previews, listicles, written developer interviews, and more.: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HonestIndies Time codes: 0:00 – Intro and the early days of Wholesome Games. 10:0 – How years of teaching carries over into games and championing others. 17:00 – Growing up as player 2 and playing RPGs. 26:40 – Becoming a teacher, reconnecting with games, starting content creation for fun, and that content leading to working in games. 36:0 – Working at Rose City Games and how that lead to doing biz dev at Kepler Interactive. 45:15 – Diving deeper into Wholesome Games and how it is the culmination of everything else Jenny has worked on. 48:55 – Working too many jobs at the same time and somehow accidentally talking about lockdown and the early days of covid. 59:25 – How Animal: Crossing New Horizons got more people into games and boosted the audience for Wholesome Games. 1:03:30 – Wholesome Games Presents and getting into game publishing. 1:32:43 – Curating Wholesome Games Direct and how this year complicates that a little more. 1:44:32 – Geeks & Grounds deep dive and why games are important. xoxo Chris

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 5 - Choosing Kindness With Jenny Windom - Wholesome Games Interview

  4. May 18

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 4 - Allie Wu's Queer Christmas Crisis - Monsoon Games Interview

    I had a wonderful time getting to talk to Allie face to face (sort of) rather than via emails and dm's. Just like during out written interview from January, she had such thoughtful responses. I find many characters in Merry Crisis rather endearing and am now even more excited for the final game. Wishlist the game on steam and checkout the current demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3975250/Merry_Crisis/ The studio website has info about both games in development and you can play the text-based versions of each: https://www.monsoon-games.com/ Allie's Tumblr also doubles as a dev log: https://www.tumblr.com/merrycrisis-if And here is the Office Crush game that Allie mentioned: https://rienichii.itch.io/office-crush-ds Follow along on Patreon where there are previews, listicles, written developer interviews, and more. You can also read the written interview Allie & I mentioned during the episode: https://www.patreon.com/cw/HonestIndies Time codes: 0:00 – Intro & telling y'all to read the written interview with Allie, too 2:14 – Pitch for Merry Crisis and accidentally giving Nat a theme song. 4:50 – Breaking down the dateable characters and what it's like to write them. 14:46 – Committing to characters having player-chosen genders. 21:50 – Talking about Allie's collaborators at Monsoon Games and working her first in-person gaming event. 35:55 – Writing characters and emotional beats that are based on real life experiences. Researching musicians. 42:45 – What life is like since revealing the game and making game dev more than a hobby. xoxo Chris

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 4 - Allie Wu's Queer Christmas Crisis - Monsoon Games Interview

  5. Apr 30

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 0 - Me, Myself, and Indies

    This bonus episode sorts is the first and last episode of the show that won't have a guest. I thought it would be fun to have a test of my own medicine by answering my own questions and providing some more context of who I am to all of you. The May episode will feature Allie Wu of Monsoon Games (Merry Crisis), June will be welcoming Jenny Windom (Wholesome Games, Geeks & Grounds, Soft Not Week), and later this summer Tanat Boozayaangool (Building Relationships). Homework for the next ep = checkout the written interview with Allie before listening to the second interview with her :) Time codes: 0:00 – Intro & growing up gaming. 4:35 – Starting to read about games and think of making them. 7:25 – Giving up games and struggling through college. 13:00 – Code Coven and trying to break into the industry. 15:30 – Starting Honest Indies xoxo Chris

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 0 - Me, Myself, and Indies

  6. Mar 30

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 3 - Navigating Early Access w/Sherveen Uduwana - Team Midautumn Interview

    I got to catch up with an old mentor of mine to discuss their journey to game dev, exploring early access, and the state of working in the industry. Play the game for yourself: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1582380/Midautumn/ And if you play it, leave a review. Checkout the work being done by United Video Game Workers: https://uvw-cwa.org/ The TTRPG Kickstarter for Spirit Swap that we mentioned: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/softnotweak/spirit-swap-a-slice-of-life-ttrpg Time codes: 0:00 – Intro & growing up gaming in southeast Asia. 15:05 – Moving to California and going to school for game dev. 23:00 – Waiting through immigration and breaking into the industry. 29:00 – Code Coven, Soft Not Week, being Sherveen's student. 40:00 – Career shift as the pandemic hit. 45:00 – Developing Midautumn and growing during early access. xoxo Chris

  7. Feb 19

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 2 - The Doctor Developer, Miko Charbonneau - prettysmart games Interview

    I was lucky enough to with the Creative Director and Co-Founder of prettysmart games, Dr. Miko Charbonneau, shortly after the release of the studio's latest title, The Spirit Lift. We talked about the many somewhat obscure consoles Miko grew up with access to, a $10,000 camera starting on fire, running a remote indie studio, making games with your partner, and dive deep into The Spirit Lift. The first video episode of the podcast wasn't intended to be the second episode, so there will still be at least one audio-only release coming up. But with The Spirit Lift have just released a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to get this one out asap. Checkout the game for yourself: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/THE_SPIRIT_LIFT/ And if you play it, leave a review. And keep up with prettysmart games: https://prettysmartgames.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d15c1d7b2930908cb83c6143c&id=e2923b14a7 Time codes: 0:00 – Intro & celebrating the release of The Spirit Lift. 4:09 – Learning about Miko's gaming history from early consoles to grad school. 15:51 – Interning at Microsoft, meeting her husband at work, and starting prettysmart games. 34:00 – Sharing personal stories through art, diving into family history & doing prettysmart full-time. 38:30 – Starting The Spirit Lift backstory; building out the remote studio, establishing company culture, what led to this game. 44:36 – Shouting out everyone's work on the game & going into pure The Spirit Lift talk the rest of the way. 1:34:20 – Wrapping up, Shouting out the Minn Max ICE Out fundraiser. Take care of each other. xoxo Chris

  8. Feb 19

    Honest Indies Podcast EP. 1 - The Many Hats of Saffron Aurora - Kitten Cup Studio Interview

    This release is long overdue. I had the pleasure of chatting with the Creative Director and Co-Founder of Kitten Cup Studio, Saffron Aurora. We talked about formative childhood games, university in Canada, breaking into the industry, starting the studio, and a Capy Castaway. Stay for the very end for a detailed, inside baseball chat about Pekoe remaining in Early Access. While I have been a part of several different podcasts for a few years, none of those have been around since 2020. So please bear with me on getting my recording setup & audio settings more locked in. Things will never be perfect but hopefully as I get more into the swing of things, they'll steadily improve. Give Capy Castaway a wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2890240/Capy_Castaway/ Checkout Pekoe in early access: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1626350/Pekoe/https://store.steampowered.com/app/1626350/Pekoe/ And keep up with Kitten Cup Studio: https://kittencupstudio.com/ Time codes: 0:00 – Intro, learning about Saffron's early gaming memories. 10:21 – Arts high school, going to university to learn to make games, making "a hat that vibrates." 14:10 – Ubisoft Next, early career experiences. 16:50 – Stacking things on your head in Capy Castaway 18:40 – Back to Ubisoft chat & getting a job. 20:30 – Working at Impossible Things, making AR apps. 21:50 – The inspiration for Pekoe and starting Kitten Cup Studio. 23:40 – Capy Castaway deep dive (minus a quick dog interruption). Discuss influences on the game. Love letter to Toronto. 52:47 – Pekoe early access chat. Going inside baseball on why the game hasn't hit 1.0 yet. xoxo Chris

  • 8 Episodes

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Interviewing indie devs about their history playing and making games, what led them to game dev and what they're working on.

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