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!)<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
The Game Developers' Library
Claim This Podcastby Indie Game Clinic
5.0(2 reviews)
8 episodes
Updated Daily
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4
Podcast Authority
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Podcast Overview
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!)<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
5/18/2025
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Episode Length
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Recent Episodes
June 18, 2026
Anna Anthropy - Rise of the Videogame Zinesters
<p>In this episode, Tom and Joe read and respond to Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives Are Taking Back an Art Form.</p><br><p>Patreon.com/indiegameclinic</p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
March 21, 2026
Tynan Sylvester - Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences
<p>In this episode we read Rimworld creator Tynan Sylvester's design textbook.</p><br><p>00:00 intro</p><br><p>OVERVIEW</p><p>01:34 situating the book in our collection</p><p>07:55 signposting cultural politics</p><p>10:30 book's structure & approach</p><br><p>PHILOSOPHY & PSYCHOLOGY </p><p>17:33 engines of experience</p><p>20:30 events and anticipation</p><p>23:09 emotion and human values</p><p>27:50 an interesting take on "flow"</p><br><p>INTERESTING AREAS/CHAPTERS</p><p>30:30 challenge & mastery</p><p>34:12 flexible meanings of "narrative"</p><p>40:34 decisions types & intensities </p><p>47:05 strategy design & balance</p><p>50:18 predicting your opponent ("yomi")</p><p>55:38 game theory & griefing</p><p>01:01:40 some other chapters/topics</p><br><p>PRODUCTION / PROCESSES</p><p>01:03:20 the market and the specificity of game appeal</p><p>01:02:45 processes and planning</p><p>01:07:40 knowledge, research, and evaluating ideas</p><p>01:09:00 the dependency stack</p><p>01:13:00 collaboration, sensitivity and the Rimworld controversy</p><p>01:31:05 what we're reading next time</p><br><p>The theme song was produced by show host Joe Baxter-Webb.</p><p>The Ludonarrative Dissonance jingle was "Carvings" by Blood of Geruda, licensed from Epidemic Sound. </p><br><p>RELATED TOPICS:</p><p>Misattribution of Arousal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misattribution_of_arousal</p><p>Game Theory & (ir)rationality: https://larspsyll.wordpress.com/2025/02/15/what-is-wrong-with-game-theory/</p><p>Swagless Games: https://www.polygon.com/code-vein-2-swagless-game/</p><p>Jeff Vogel GDC talk about serving a market gap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stxVBJem3Rs&t=1746s</p><p>Tynan Sylvester GDC talk on the idea reservoir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdqhHKjepiE&t=3113s</p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
February 16, 2026
ep06 - Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics, The Invisible Art
<p>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. </p><br><p>TOPICS INCLUDE:</p><p>> how videogames are interactive cartoons</p><p>> semiotics and the psychology of images</p><p>> how "gaps" and "holes" in stories create engagement</p><p>> nonlinear narrative in different media</p><p>> starting projects with "ideas" vs starting with craft</p><br><p>TIMESTAMPS:</p><p>00:00 intro </p><p>01:45 why this book</p><p>06:15 overview</p><p>11:35 indie games and cartoon aesthetics</p><p>14:02 two mediums with the same status issue</p><p>16:22 iconic representation and identification</p><p>18:55 history and definition of comics</p><p>23:02 the semiotics of comics</p><p>30:12 the three types of image</p><p>41:00 gamers love a ruined city</p><p>44:48 time is weird in comics</p><p>49:45 "closure" in media psychology</p><p>52:33 non-linear moments in comics</p><p>57:29 the meaning of lines and colours</p><p>59:20 showing & telling / multimodality</p><p>65:35 self-referentiality as a sign of a mature medium</p><p>68:50 McClouds 6 Steps of Creativity</p><p>73:20 finishing projects vs starting new ones</p><p>68:13 what's next?</p><br><p><br></p><p>OTHER REFERENCES:</p><p>Juniper Dev on Little White Guys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=banRsciq1ww</p><p>Ian Bogost's 2023 essay on Gone Home: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/perpetual-adolescence-the-fullbright-companys-gone-home/</p><p>"Storyteller" Comicbook-Interface Puzzle Game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1624540/Storyteller/</p><p>"Her Story" Narrative Puzzle Game https://store.steampowered.com/app/368370/Her_Story/</p><p>"The Beginner's Guide" (example of a "reflexive"/self-referential game) https://store.steampowered.com/app/303210/The_Beginners_Guide/</p><p>wiki page of Pierre Bourdieu's "Distinction" (sociology of taste) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinction_(book)</p><p>The original game design "MDA Theory" paper: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://users.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf</p><p>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</p><p>Derek Yu on finishing games: https://makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623767/finishing-a-game</p><br><p><br></p><br><p><br></p><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
8 total episodes available
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