Pixel Pizza

You made it to Friday! 🙌 Rest your weary head with an all-new Pixel Pizza featuring two of the founding members of the Zurich-based Lululu Entertainment. Aaron Abt & Tim Bürge join the show to discuss their multiplayer boomerang action game Bamerang and the super unique recently released puzzle game, Henry Halfhead! Featuring music from The Divingons!LINKS:🗣️ Lululu Socials: @LululuEntertainment🎮 Henry Halfhead: https://henrygame.com/💿 The Divingons: https://thedivingons.bandcamp.com

Tune in to an all-new episode of the Pixel Pizza Podcast featuring music video director, commercial producer, and game developer Jennifer Jupiter Stratford! JJ's new FMV game Blippo+ is out on PlayDate and coming soon to Nintendo Switch. We get into recapturing the public access era of TV in a loving and authentic way, building confidence as an artist, and also her work with Sabrina Carpenter! Plus music from CMYKitsune & Alison Grace 🦊LINKS:📺 TeleFantasy Studios: https://telefantasystudios.com/📸 JJ's Instagram: @JJStratford🏰 Dungeon Majesty: https://dungeonmajesty.com/💿 CMYKitsune & Alison Grace: https://cmykitsune.bandcamp.com/

Drop on in for an extremely fun episode this week featuring the director of the acclaimed indie adventure game OneShot, NightMargin! She tells us about pivoting from biology studies to game development, the process of creating OneShot, and her current work on the upcoming Margin of the Strange! Then we swap stories about our strangest dreams and keeping things too long in the freezer. Featuring music from BeatScribe!LINKS:☁️ NightMargin's BlueSky: http://nightmargin.bsky.social💿 BeatScribe: https://beatscribe.bandcamp.com

Dive into a new Pixel Pizza featuring accomplished game designer James Beech! James has contributed design work to AAA games like Crysis 3, Darksiders 3, and Metroid Prime...4! He's also been making his own independent games: the philosophical exploration-focused titles Ultraworld and Carceri. We discuss gameplay flow in Metroidvanias, telling a story within an individual game level, and go to some really deep places by the end. With music from Luke Carlin again!LINKS:☁️ James' Bluesky: http://neonserpent.bsky.social💿 Luke Carlin: https://anfeorh.bandcamp.com/

This week we had a blast chatting with Galen Drew, Art Director at Aggro Crab! Galen's worked on a number of VR and AR projects for major studios, the award-winning soulslike Another Crab's Treasure, and recently released one of the summer's biggest hit games: Peak. Galen tells us about the joy of the process over the product, the challenges of going into a leadership role as a creative, and applying game design to procedural level generation in Peak. Plus a lot more! With music from Pink Orca~LINKS:☁️ Aggro Crab BlueSky: https://aggrocrabgames.bsky.social📸 Galen's Instagram: @Galens_good_art💿 Pink Orca: https://pinkorca.bandcamp.com/

Rain or shine, we are here with another Pixel Pizza! This week's guest is Doinksoft Creative Director, Britt Brady. Britt and his team have put out some incredible pixelated action games including Gato Roboto, Gunbrella, and Demon Throttle. Britt discusses his process on character controls, team communication, and his side projects for the Game Boy Color. Plus new music from Minus World!LINKS:☁️ Britt's BlueSky: brittbrady.bsky.social💿 Minus World: https://theminusworld.com/

On this week's show it was a blast talking with the Nebula Award-nominated and BAFTA longlisted narrative designer/writer, Karrie Shao! You might know her best from the recent roguelike hit Pacific Drive, but she's also worked on the lore for League of Legends and done marketing for games like BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. We get into all of the unique opportunities she's had in her career and how to get players invested in game stories without cutscenes. With music from Hypervolt ⚡️LINKS:☁️ Karrie's BlueSky: karriebear.bsky.social📸 Karrie's Instagram: @Karrieburr💼 Karrie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karrie-shirou-shao-38758715/💿 Hypervolt: https://hypervolt.bandcamp.com/

On this week's show we're talking with Systems Designer Jan Stec Russo! His work has spanned across multiple studios, including Toys For Bob, Schell Games, Phoenix Labs, and his current role at Magic Soup. Jan talks about nailing down Crash's signature spin move in Crash 4 & Crash Team Rumble, mentoring young designers, and how he processed getting laid off and was able to move on. With music from Lili Gasanj! LINKS:💼 Jan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janstec/💿 Lili Gasanj: https://liligasanj.bandcamp.com/

This week on the show we've got the designer of two of the most iconic and artistic games to hit mobile: Monument Valley and Florence! Ken Wong tells us about how fan art led us to his work on Alice: Madness Returns, designing games with social media UI in mind, and taking (and giving) inspiration from a variety of sources. Plus, music from Bloomfield Machine!LINKS:📸 Ken's Instagram: @Kenwong.art💿 Bloomfield Machine: https://bloomfieldmachine.bandcamp.com/

Get some valuable insight on leadership, solo game development, and persistence with this week's guest: Renee Gittins! Renee served as Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association and General Manager at Phoenix Labs (developers of Dauntless) among many other studios before starting her own studio, Stumbling Cat. Alongside game development, she also makes comedic TikTok vids about her experience in the industry! Hear about all of this and more on this week's show, plus chiptunes from Conkos!LINKS:🗣️ Renee's Socials: @Rikukat💼 Renee's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reneegittins/🎮 Potions: A Curious Tale: https://www.stumblingcat.com/💿 Conkos: https://conkos.bandcamp.com/

This pizza IS fit for consumption 🍴 Take a seat and join us for a delicious chat with Consume Me developers Jenny Jiao Hsia & AP Thomson! Jenny and AP share a bit about bringing the game's minigames into a cohesive whole, taking on hobbies outside of game development, and the teenage experience. With music from The Red Noob!LINKS:🎮 Consume Me: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/Consume_Me/📸 Jenny's Instagram: @Q_dork📷 AP's Instagram: @Bad_tetris💿 The Red Noob: https://rednoobmusic.bandcamp.com/

Take a seat by the campfire and join us for a deep conversation with Vidu of Team Empreintes, developers of the asymmetrical conversation game Fireside Feelings. Vidu tells us about how he pivoted from working on film to games, making an experience focused on listening, and sending pop-up cards to publishers! With music from Hoznok~LINKS:📸 Team Empreintes Instagram: @team_empreintes☁️ Team Empreintes BlueSky: team-empreintes.bsky.social👾 Team Empreintes Discord: https://discord.com/invite/jBM4TC58Af💿 Hoznok: https://hoznok.bandcamp.com/

Step into the macabre, poetic world of the hand-sculpted adventure game The Midnight Walk with its co-directors, Klaus Lyngeled and Olov Redmalm! Klaus speaks on his decades of experience in the industry with Shiny Entertainment and Zoink, and how he came to meet and bond with Klaus over their shared sensibilities in making games like Lost in Random. The duo share their character-first creation process, maturing the themes of their games over time, and how the recently announced TV adaptation came to be! Featuring music from 29Q 🎧LINKS:🗣️ Moonhood Studios Socials: @MoonhoodStudios📸 Klaus's Instagram: @Zoinkling📸 Olov's Instagram: @Olovr💿 29Q: https://nin29q.bandcamp.com/

Join us this week for an in-depth chat with Animation Lead at Fair Play Labs, Ariana Bolaños Guevara! She's directed animated projects for a variety of studios, and is now working on the upcoming SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed. Ariana gets vulnerable about her childhood and how it defined her as a creative. She also gets into the process of animating fighting game characters and communicating across disciplines. Plus, music from Dane Certificate!LINKS:💼 Ariana's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariumami/📸 Ariana's Instagram: @Ariumami💿 Dane Certificate: danecertificate.bandcamp.com

Draw your sword and prepare for an exhilarating repartee with Concept Artist & Art Director Julien Fenoglio! We discuss the many hats he wore on the production of the indie hit swashbuckler En Garde! Julien also shares stories from his experience translating, researching world mythologies, and other wisdom from ten years in the industry. With music from (T-T)b!LINKS:📸 Julien's Instagram: @Julfenart💿 (T-T)b: https://t-tb.bandcamp.com/☁️ Pixel Pizza Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pixelpizza.bsky.social

Swipe right on this week's episode to hear from writer on the hotly anticipated dating sim Date Everything, Jay Choi! Jay tells us about his background in writing for animation and film, finding his way into the industry by being a "LEGO drug dealer", and making wholesome romantic storylines. Music from Epshirey!LINKS:🌐 Jay's Website: Jayperior.com ☁️ Jay's BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jayperior.com📸 Jay's Instagram: @Jayperior🎮 Date Everything!: https://dateeverything.com/💿 Epshirey: https://epshireytcc.bandcamp.com/

It's been a while since the last compilation episode, but here we are again with a little taste of the past year of Pixel Pizza. Hear some stories you might have missed about making connections, making mistakes, and making concepts into reality! If you like what you hear, please go back and listen to the full episodes these are taken from! With new chiptune music from Panther Cat Animal 🐆Devs featured include Arvi Teikari (Baba is You), Megan Fox (Skatebird), Stoyan Stoyanov (Enotria: The Last Song), Remy Siu (1000xResist), Ali Cedroni (What the Golf?!), Aoife O'Friel (Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora), and Kenneth C.M. Young (Astro Bot). LINKS:💿 Panther Cat Animal: https://panthercatanimal.bandcamp.com/☁️ Pixel Pizza Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pixelpizza.bsky.social

Hey hey! We're back with a talk with composer & community manager Kimi Arquines. Kimi talks about how her work as a social worker informed both her music making process and how she brings people together as part of the AAPI in Gaming group, Amir Satvat's Games Community, and her job at Intel Gaming. She’s also composing for an upcoming indie game by Guava Pixel Studios (guavapixelstudios.com). Plus the story of how I won $10,000 on a game show! Music from Azakaela 🎶LINKS:🌐 Kimi's Website: kimikimimore.com☁️ Kimi's BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kimikimi-more.bsky.social📸 Kimi's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimikimi_more/💿 Azakaela: https://azakaela.bandcamp.com/

Pizza à la mode? More likely than you think 🍕🍦 This week we've got the co-founders of à la mode games, C.B. & Tom Bedford, on to discuss their horror story of love and self-acceptance, Sorry We're Closed. We get into how the two of them met over Phantasy Star Online, the challenges of designing a game with two worlds, and debate the merits of cold pizza. Featuring music from the game!☁️ à la mode Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alamodegames.bsky.social🌐 à la mode Website: https://alamode.games/🫀 Sorry We're Closed Physical: https://store.serenityforge.com/products/sorry-we-re-closed-premium-edition

For our 157th show (yes, really 🤯), we are joined by game composer & narrative designer Hassan DuRant! Hassan talks about his narrative work on games like WarGroove 2, making themes and trailer music for Ooblets, plus his past as a science journalist. Music from Minus World!LINKS:☁️ Hassan's BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mrhassansan.bsky.social💿 Minus World: https://minusworld.bandcamp.com/