The Examined Game

Steven Lake
  • 5.0 (1)
  • 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.

  1. We're All Going to Die - Creating Outer Wilds | Alex Beachum Creative Director

    6d ago

    We're All Going to Die - Creating Outer Wilds | Alex Beachum Creative Director

    Send us Fan Mail In today's episode of The Examined Game, I am talking with the creator of Outer Wilds, Alex Beachum. We get into the weeds of how the original prototype of the game came about back when Alex was studying game design, his approach to development, including the idea of "emotional prototyping", which helped build the bedrock that would become one of the most loved games of all time. Honestly, I don't think that is an understatement. People who play Outer Wilds love Outer Wilds, and there is a reason for that. A few weeks ago, I got to speak with Alex's sister and writer for Outer Wilds, Kelsey Beachum, and we also get to hear from him about how the two of them influenced and inspired each other by creating comics and games for the other to enjoy. I loved hearing directly from Alex about some of the games that inspired him, including the likes of Dark Souls, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Wind Waker, and, funnily enough, The Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System. This really is an interview about funnelling passion, interests and philosophies into a game, and finding out what it's like for a developer to make something where they feel as if they really did leave nothing on the table. 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.

    1h 8m
  2. Mastering The Modern Adventure Game | Francisco Gonzalez (Rosewater, Lamplight City, A Golden Wake)

    May 25

    Mastering The Modern Adventure Game | Francisco Gonzalez (Rosewater, Lamplight City, A Golden Wake)

    Send us Fan Mail Today we are talking with Francisco Gonzalez as we go in depth on the genre of video game that I have been playing longer than any other in my life: point and click adventure games. I have been a fan of Francisco's games ever since I stumbled upon Lamplight City. I then had the pleasure of playing back retrospectively through his earlier work, which includes A Golden Wake and Shardlight, before eagerly anticipating the release of Rosewater, an epic western point and click adventure. We talk about our shared love of Jane Jensen's Gabriel Knight series, and the fact that we both made pilgrimages to New Orleans primarily because of the first game in the series. Francisco has some fantastic insight on what it takes to create a standout point and click adventure in an age where one is balancing modernising the classic format while borrowing what worked so well from a genre that has been around for nearly half a century. We of course cover the classics: Monkey Island, Broken Sword, King's Quest V, Police Quest III, and, as mentioned, the Gabriel Knight series. I've been waiting to talk with Francisco for a while now. I think point and click adventure games are a tough genre to market and sell, and much like the classic point and click games of my youth, I believe the reason he has been so successful in what he does is because of the attention to detail he pays to character, story, and creating what always feels like a rich, lived-in world. #monkeyisland #brokensword #rosewater #pointandclick #adventuregame #adventuregamestudio #kingsquest #sierra #lucasarts  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.

    1h 14m
  3. The Talent Behind Video Game Hair Design | Amandine Marest (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

    May 18

    The Talent Behind Video Game Hair Design | Amandine Marest (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

    Send us Fan Mail Today I get to talk with Amandine MarestHair & Technical Character artist Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. We cover all things hair related in video games. Amandine's work in Clair Obscure is incredible and it was such a pleasure to deep dive into just how much she and the team thought about the hair in this game and how it represented the personalities of its characters. We also discuss her love of Final Fantasy hair, including Lighting's from Final Fantasy 12 and of course I get into my own rabbit hole about the contradiction between Cloud's hair and his personality in Final Fantasy 7. We also discuss how games like The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption and God of War inspired Amandine's work, as well as how she got into the industry and her decision as a student to double down on focusing on hair design. This interview shows just how much love and attention was put into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as we are able to go into so much detail about one single aspect of the game, and how it works alongside all of the other incredible moving parts.  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.

    1h 5m
  4. The Mathematics of Interactive Storytelling - Jon Ingold (80 Days, Heaven's Vault, TR-49)

    May 11

    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.

    1h 26m
  5. The Dial Up Entrepreneur | Scott Miller (Apogee Entertainment, Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein 3D)

    May 4

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

    Apr 27

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

    Apr 21

    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.

    1h 3m
  8. Writing Outer Wilds: Joy, Grief, and Letting Go | Kelsey Beachum (Outer Wilds, Avowed, Outer Worlds)

    Apr 14

    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.

    1h 9m
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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
    15
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Examined Game
  • Show Website
    The Examined Game