Andrew Lowen of the bord game Deliverance is something of a Renaissance Man. Having dabbled in sales, UFC fighting, wrestling, and now game design he is aiming to provide a game that speaks the truth of the Gospel while also knowing what makes a game fun.
Dan Kazmaier, Creative Director at Steeped Games is one of those rare individuals who has a heart matched only in size by his Midas touch as Chris puts it. A Semi-professional Chess player in Calgary, Dan became involved in games after a round of Uno with refugees taught him the universal experience of gaming and how it can be used to deal with trauma and forge connections with others. So grab a cup of tea and milk and join Drew and Chris as they interview Dan Kazmier.
Sen-Foong Lim of "Junk Art" and "Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time", joins Drew and Chris for a conversation that covers nearly everything. Sen, who is a provincial martial artist, DJ, professor, parent, therapist, and occasionally a board game designer talks about the tension between parents and their children as Drew and Chris go deep into their own experiences with gaming and growing up.
Kate Kadowaki, one of the founders of Love Thy Nerd was the drummer for the former Disney pop/rock group "KSM" (and no, even she doesn't know what it stands for). Kate talks to Drew and Chris about the path that led her out of the church and into the band. The conversation covers the effects of fame, the difference between the "normal" routine or "real life", and how a quick decision to play for the church again led her to her husband and a strengthening of her faith.
Chris Skaggs of Soma games joins Drew and Chris to talk about his unintended path to game development, conversion to Christianity, and the culture of the longest surviving "Christian" game studio.
Liberty Kifer is a pro photographer, mother of 4 girls, a black bear tamer, and an amazing board game designer. Crystallo has a unique origin story with close ties to her family which we wholeheartedly recommend everyone pick up at your local Barnes & Noble! We talk about her Norwegian family history, questionable Lutefisk dietary experiences, and the struggle of believing in a God that would put people in damnation for all eternity.
Yannic Lejac finishes his conversation with Drew and Chris about his time at Blizzard and his transition from game journalism and narrative design to social work.
Yannick LeJacq joins Drew and Chris for the inaugural 2021 season of Humans of Gaming! Reminiscing about their days as writers for Kill Screen, Drew and Yannick talk about the absurdity of the US health care system with its "gamification" of absurd roadblocks that benefit everyone but the patient. The conversation moves onto Yannick's Jewish upbringing and his experiences writing for Kotaku. You can help contribute to Yannick's GoFundMe as he continues to struggle with medical debt from his procedures.
Cheif Resource Nerd April-Lyn Caouette joins Drew and Chris to give some insight into the many facets of Love Thy Nerd's mission to bring hope and love to the varied "nerd" cultures.
Elizabeth Hargrave joins Drew and Chris to talk about game Wingspan as well as her personal story. She is the daughter of a biochemist father and lawyer mother and is herself an avid bird watcher. Growing up as a Unitarian Universalist in southern Illinois and then Gainseville, FL she has had a unique experience with more conservative Christianity. Her search for personal truth and her respect for others on their own search for truth is part of what influenced her design for Wingspan.
Drew and Chris host author and streamer Maria "Mxiety" Shanley as part of our series celebrating women in the game industry. M, as she likes to be called, tells an amazing story of her youth: being kidnapped by her mother to Russia, public panic attacks that ended one career and helped push her on the path to the one she wanted, and how the movie Tangled changed her life.
Continuing our series on celebrating women in gaming, Drew Dixon hosts "Gamer Doc", a medical doctor, a gamer, and someone who has a passion for improving the quality of life for gamers. Using her Twitch channel she hosts sessions recommending the best PC setups, console setups, and general health tips to keep you and other gamers playing as well as possible. The pair converse about her Christian upbringing and the current state of her faith, the state of the gamer's stereotype when it comes to personal health, and her determination to become a gamer and doctor despite being told girls don't play Call of Duty, and doctors don't play games at all.
Astrid Refstrup, is the Co-Founder of Triple Topping, the Welcome To Elk co-writer & Director, and the producer of Ynglet. Drew sits down with Astrid to talk about Welcome to Elk and Ynglet along with the challenges of running a small studio and overcoming the almost habitual desire to "crunch" during development. Sharing wisdom to each other as parents, Astrid shares her worries and hopes for her children along with what inspires her to keep working.
This week we are taking a quick break from our 10 episode series featuring women in different roles in the gaming industry as Drew was at PAX East in Boston checking out some of the amazing projects currently in development. In this episode, Drew interviews a diverse group of developers and content creators. We hope you enjoy this little one-off episode that we hope embodies the diversity that Humans of Gaming is searching to feature on a regular basis.
Humans of Gaming returns for the first season of 2020 as we focus on the women in the video and board game industry. Amy Green of Numinous games joins Drew and Chris to talk about their new project with Cyan (MYST, RIVEN) in VR titled Area Man Lives. Originally titled Untethered, the project was unable to be finished but with the combined forces of Cyan and Numinous games, it will be released later this year. Amy also tells about her path to video game narrative design that was born out of the game, That Dragon, Cancer, and how her lack of knowledge on what can and can't be done by commonly held coding practices helped stretch the creativity of the team at Numinous games and cemented her role as a narrative designer.
Josiah Martindale describes himself as being "liberally minded." The writer of a Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" inspired D&D campaign currently on Kickstarter, Josiah is not talking politics as much as traditionalism vs new chaos. Drew and Chris talk to him about his love of Kansas, good brisket BBQ, and what it is like to go from accountant to successful game story writer.
Alexis has been working in animation for over 10 years including stints with Slap Happy Cartoons, the current producers of Tom & Jerry. She currently is working on a game about trying to be somebody, Chicory: A Colorful Tale. The conversation turns to Alexis' history in Brisbane, Australia and her realization that she suffers from OCD. She confides to us her struggles and the unique way in which religious language and works of art can affect her OCD.
Pat and Kat Lysagt of Chara us again during their "reboot" year. Hurricane Michael, 2 moves, and 4 kids find one of our favorite designer families at a point where the best laid plans have been put to the side in the interest of family. Drew and Chris talk to Pat and Kat about the time off, the difficulty of artisan support within Christendom, and the workaholic personality.
Chris Gwaltney and Assignment Editor Madeline Turnipseed host developer Peter Brinson of Infinite Children as they talk about a game with an audio book as the medium. The game changes as more people play and earn achievements and explores the ideas and fears of being left behind. In the second half of the Chris and Madeline turn to Peter's youth and how his mental connection of Christianity and hatred influenced his thinking and his games today.
Richard Rouse III returns to talk about life after his indie release, The Church in the Darkness. Richard talks about the life of being an indie developer and the different cycle of development, marketing, and patching that is normally separated in larger studios. Drew and Chris also ask if producing a game about a religious cult has had any kind of transformative effect on his way of thinking or perception on of groups of any kind such as Christians or vegetarians.