Good Game Club Podcast

About Good Game Club Podcast

The Good Game Club Podcast 🎙️- where conversations about good gaming happen. Hosted by Jude Ower MBE and Mathias Norvig, we shine a light on gaming’s hidden and unexpected benefits, and the positive impact digital play can have on people and the planet. In partnership with Tencent. Please give your valuable feedback - https://form.typeform.com/to/XMt11pO5

Publisher

Good Game Club Podcast

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Nov 2025

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

23 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Osric Chau | Gaming, Representation and the Power of Play

   Actor, producer, entrepreneur and lifelong gamer Osric Chau joins the Good Game Club to explore why games can give us something other media cannot: the chance to see ourselves, become someone else and actively shape the experience. From representation and community to indie creativity and the lessons games teach us about failure, Osric makes the case for gaming as a powerful tool for connection, identity and innovation — and explains why sometimes having less is exactly what forces us to create something better. 00:00 – Representation, Agency and CreativityWhy seeing yourself in a game can unlock imagination — and why constraints can become a catalyst for innovation. 01:36 – From Martial Arts to Acting and GamingOsric’s journey from Vancouver martial artist to actor, producer and entrepreneur, and the role games have played throughout his life. 03:31 – Life Is a GameWhy Osric sees gaming as a transferable skill for understanding rules, objectives, strategy and even business. 06:12 – Why Representation Is More Powerful in GamesHow becoming a character creates a different level of intimacy and agency than simply watching someone on screen. 08:03 – Games as a Tool for CommunityHow shared objectives create experiences, memories and connections — including around charitable causes. 10:33 – Good Games, Bad Games and Healthy PlayMoving beyond the idea that all gaming is inherently good or bad, and why we should amplify games that create genuinely positive experiences. 13:08 – Games, Fairness and Learning to FailWhy clear rules can make games feel fairer than real life — and help players learn how to struggle, fail and try again. 16:53 – Growing Up Without Seeing Yourself on ScreenOsric reflects on Asian representation, becoming an actor without visible role models and why representation can change what the next generation believes is possible. 22:31 – UGC, AI and Lowering the Barriers to CreationHow new technology could give more communities and creators the tools to build the entertainment and experiences they want to see. 24:14 – Stardew Valley and Creating for the CraftWhy Eric Barone and Stardew Valley represent a model of game development centred on creativity, community and long-term care. 26:20 – Make Someone’s Favourite ThingWhy games and films become less distinctive when creators try to appeal to everyone — and the case for creating something somebody will truly love. 28:34 – Games as Cultural Time CapsulesFrom Dota LAN parties to Nintendo button-mashing, how games become shared generational memories. 30:48 – If Your Culture Isn’t Represented, Build ItWhy lower barriers to game creation could help developers around the world tell authentic stories instead of perpetuating stereotypes. 36:51 – Want to Understand Gamers? Ask Why They PlayOsric’s advice to parents, policymakers and non-gamers: approach players with curiosity rather than preconceived ideas. 40:34 – Constraints Create InnovationWhy making a great game is only one challenge, how discoverability becomes another game entirely, and why limited resources can force creators to find their most inventive solutions. Chapters and Timestamps

2. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Great Games Can Come From Anywhere | Meet Xsolla’s Gamescom Scholars

   The future of games can come from anywhere. In this special episode of the Good Game Club, we meet the developers brought to Gamescom through Xsolla’s Developer Scholarship Program - emerging studios and creators from across the world building everything from cozy games and precision platformers to mathematical roguelikes, strategy RPGs and experimental takes on chess. We begin with Xsolla’s Justin Berenbaum to explore why access to events like Gamescom matters, what it takes to turn a great game into a sustainable business, and why sometimes the secret to success is simply surviving long enough to get lucky. Then we hear directly from the scholars themselves about the games they’re building, the cultures and experiences inspiring them, and what being given access to the global games industry could mean for their studios and the communities they represent. Chapters and Timestamps 00:00 – Opening Doors for the Next Generation of Game DevelopersJustin Berenbaum introduces Xsolla’s scholarship initiative and why getting talented developers into the right room can change careers. 01:08 – Why Great Games Can Come From AnywhereHow removing financial and geographical barriers can uncover new studios, perspectives and ideas from emerging games markets. 04:47 – How Xsolla Chooses Its Scholarship StudiosFrom hundreds of submissions to 20 studios: gameplay, originality, opportunity and the ability to make the most of Gamescom. 07:01 – The Business of Games Nobody Teaches YouWhy developers need more than a great game — and why the objective at an industry event isn’t necessarily to close a deal. 08:30 – What Does Success Actually Look Like?Networking, confidence, global perspective and resilience — and why success means something different for every studio. 10:46 – Gameplay, Pitch and PresentationWhy self-releasing isn’t the same as self-publishing and why a brilliant game still needs to be communicated effectively. 13:21 – Meet the Gamescom ScholarsThe spotlight shifts to the developers themselves: rising studios bringing new games, stories and perspectives to the global stage. 14:29 – Alhambra: Turning Fear Into Courage Through PlayA Colombian team explores childhood fear, light and darkness, and how games can help us confront rather than simply defeat our fears. 19:29 – Subspecies: Building an Indie Studio in IrelandHowling Hamster Games discusses underwater tension, the strange beauty of the ocean and why Irish developers need greater access to funding. 24:17 – Slowing Down Through Birds and NatureA Costa Rican developer explains how birdwatching inspired a game about observation, calm and paying attention to the world around us. 28:27 – Froggy’s: Cozy Games, Home and Malaysian CultureA game inspired by returning home after living abroad becomes a story about community, tea, slowing down and representing Southeast Asian culture. 34:13 – Tattered Banners and the Power of Emergent StoriesBuilding a systemic fantasy world where cities rise and fall, bandits become rulers and failure becomes part of the player’s story. 39:47 – Beyond the Board: Reinventing Chess Through ExplorationTaking chess beyond its traditional rules to create a game about curiosity, discovery and the creative freedom indie developers need. 44:59 – Croak: Making Failure Feel RewardingHow a hand-drawn precision platformer turns repeated failure into immediate satisfaction through accessible design and fast iteration. 49:11 – From Rhythm Games to Making Maths FunRhythm Towers turns music into an interactive strategy system before we meet a Norwegian team using games to transform mathematics from a linear task into a creative tool for problem-solving.

3. 

   30 Sept 2026

   From Baku to the World | Building Azerbaijan’s Games Industry

   What does it take to turn an early game idea into a studio capable of competing on the global stage? Recorded at the Xsolla Clubhouse during Gamescom 2026, this episode of the Good Game Club Podcast explores Azerbaijan’s emerging games ecosystem and the Xsolla Incubation Program helping a new generation of developers take their first steps into the international industry. We speak with Manny Hachey, Senior Director of Developer Success at Xsolla, about building sustainable studios, creating Azerbaijani-owned IP and giving developers the mentorship and connections they need to succeed. We then met three teams who have been through the programme - the creators of Swarm, Enjoy Your Stay and Dead Ducks Don't Bluff - to hear how they started, what they have learned and what it means to bring games from Baku to Gamescom. Chapters and Timestamps 00:00 – Building Azerbaijan’s Games IndustryManny Hachey introduces Xsolla’s work with emerging studios and explains why Azerbaijan has become a focus for developing new games businesses and talent. 02:57 – How the Xsolla Incubation Program WorksFrom turning paper concepts into playable demos to preparing more established studios for their next stage of growth. 04:25 – What Makes a Promising Games Studio?Why passion, commitment, originality and a strong concept can matter more than previous industry experience when selecting developers. 07:02 – Mentorship, Expertise and Industry AccessHow developers receive ongoing mentoring alongside specialist support covering everything from game design and engineering to marketing and IP. 08:10 – From Incubation to Sustainable Games BusinessesThe long-term measure of success: helping studios secure funding, launch games and create intellectual property that can become a cultural export for Azerbaijan. 11:24 – Meet BloodBuzz Studio and SwarmIbrahim Qurbanov introduces a four-player stealth-action game with an unusual premise: mutated mosquitoes working together to take revenge on a farmer. 13:29 – Learning to Focus on the Core GameHow the incubation programme helped BloodBuzz move from learning development through online resources to receiving professional mentorship - including one crucial lesson about focusing on core gameplay. 15:03 – Taking Swarm to the Next LevelThe team arrives at Gamescom looking for publishers and investors, with an ambition to build one of gaming’s most successful co-op experiences. 16:38 – Meet Massive Dreamers and Enjoy Your StayNiyazi Khidirov and Turzan Dunyamaliyev share how a writer and programmer found each other online and began building games together. 18:20 – Building Games Without an Established EcosystemWhat it was like trying to create games in Azerbaijan before recent support programmes — and why Xsolla and the Innovation & Digital Development Agency have changed what feels possible. 18:50 – “Never Be Afraid of Showing Your Game”One piece of mentoring advice transformed how Massive Dreamers approaches development: show your work, seek feedback and start building relationships before the game feels perfect. 19:47 – Inside Enjoy Your StayA narrative-focused hotel simulation about an amnesiac receptionist, a suspicious manager and a much bigger mystery - with the team hoping to bring a distinctly Azerbaijani perspective to players around the world. 23:56 – Meet VIA Studio and Dead Ducks Don't BluffZeqam Huseynli and Isgamdar Panahov explain how meeting through online gaming eventually led them to create their own studio and reinvent a familiar tabletop game. 26:19 – Learning How to Pitch to the Global Games IndustryHow mentorship transformed VIA Studio’s original domino game, taught the founders how to build a pitch deck and prepared them to present their work to publishers at Gamescom. 31:18 – Bringing Azerbaijani Culture to Players Around the WorldWhy creating games from new regions can introduce players to new cultures - and the ambition to make players feel as though they are sitting in Baku while playing.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.