Advertise on podcast: Pixel Pizza

It's a blast from the past on this week's Pixel Pizza as I catch up with my former game development teacher Sam Eng! Sam is a founding member of the NYC developer workspace GUMBO, and the creator of last year's surreal hit Skate Story 🛹 He gives insight on capturing the danger and physics of skateboarding, promoting on social media, the benefits of avoiding reviews, and a whole lot more. Featuring music from Phanomium! LINKS: 🗣️ Sam's socials: @BySamEng 🎮 Skate Story: https://skatestory.com/ 💿 Phanomium: https://phanomium.bandcamp.com/

This week we welcome concept artist, UI artist, and 3D modeler Silvia Lara Blanco to the show! Silvia currently works at Undercoders, the Spanish development studio behind the upcoming high-octane train runner game Denshattack! She tells us about her passion for accessibility in UI, the way Denshattack's exaggerated sense of scale comes to life, and how she's been passing on her gamedev knowledge as a professor at the ENTI school in Barcelona. Featuring music from Jetdarc 💥 LINKS: 🎮 Denshattack: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2524850/Denshattack/ 💿 Jetdarc: https://jetdarc.bandcamp.com/

Hey and welcome back to the show! On the mic with us this week is Creative Director at Thunder Lotus, Nicolas Guérin. An industry veteran of 20 years, Nick worked on AAA titles like the Assassin's Creed franchise before working on the beloved indie game Spiritfarer. We discuss the themes of his upcoming project At Fate's End, the artistry of Rayman Origins, and how games can help us process our feelings. With music from Incognizant! *Spiritfarer Spoilers: 39:18-44:22* LINKS: 🎮 At Fate's End: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2210150/At_Fates_End/ 🪷 Thunder Lotus Games: https://bsky.app/profile/thunderlotusgames.com 💿 Incognizant: https://incognizant.bandcamp.com/

After a holiday hiatus, Pixel Pizza is hatching into the new year with Austo, lead developer at New Future Kids ✨ He's currently working on the cozy digital pet sim Bobo Bay! We discuss building upon the influences of Sonic Adventure 2's beloved Chao Garden mode, building a community on Patreon, water physics, and more. With music from Falling Starheart! LINKS: 🎮 Bobo Bay: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1889810/Bobo_Bay/ ☁️ Austo on Bluesky: http://austofrosto.bsky.social 👾 Bobo Bay Discord: https://discord.com/invite/HjBn4B6X47 💿 Falling Starheart: https://fallingstarheart.bandcamp.com/

Suit up for an all-new Pixel Pizza! Joining us from Chicago is the President of Trinket Studios, Tom Eastman. You may know their work from the Kickstarter success Battle Chef Brigade and the recently released sci-fi deckbuilder Battle Suit Aces 🚀 Tom shares stories about his time working on games for Disney, how he formed a three-person studio, and the unique challenges of developing and marketing a visual novel/deckbuilding game. Featuring music from P Crema! LINKS: ☁️ Tom's BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tom.trinketstudios.com ✉️ Trinket Studios Newsletter: https://trinketstudios.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=834b406929647d10102efe915&id=6fd2af1b22 👾 Trinket Studios Discord: https://discord.com/invite/trinketstudios 💿 P Crema: https://pcrema.bandcamp.com/

Sitting down with us this week is the incredibly talented animator Aniket Natekar! Aniket most recently was Animation Director on one of this year's breakout hit games, Dispatch. Aniket discusses his beginnings in animated film, entering the game industry at Hangar 13, and the process behind some of Dispatch's most hard-hitting scenes. Featuring chiptune music from Aubery aka Elysian Tunes! LINKS: 📸 Aniket's Instagram: @aniket.natekar 💼 Aniket's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aniket-natekar-143aa04/ 💿 Elysian Tunes: https://elysiantunes.bandcamp.com/

We're back after a holiday break with a jam-packed new episode! This week we are joined by Dmitry Minsky of the Lithuanian game studio Button Mash. The demo of their upcoming typing battle royale game, Final Sentence, has been making waves on Steam for its unique premise and addictive gameplay loop. Dmitry goes into the many failed projects it took before finding success, the importance of keeping a game idea "on freeze" for the right time, and how many hours there REALLY are in a day. Featuring DnB music from Baychimo! LINKS: 🎮 Final Sentence Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4021860/Final_Sentence_Demo/ 💼 Dmitry's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmitryminsky/ 💿 Baychimo: https://baychimo.bandcamp.com/

Joining us this week is developer of the beloved Runner series, Mike Roush of Choice Provisions! We revisit Mike's career through his days at Santa Cruz Games, then making his own games at the beginning of digital distribution for consoles and mobile, all the way to his more recent work with Riot Games on Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story. Plus, we go deep into our shared love and memories of David Bowie 💫 Featuring music from OGNOMO! LINKS: 🌐 Choice Provisions Website: https://choiceprovisions.com/ 🎮 Choice Provisions Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Choice%20Provisions 💿 OGNOMO: https://ognomo.bandcamp.com/

Put on your nicest pair of headphones and get ready for a masterful audio experience with music designer Seth Wright! Seth's brought his talents to acclaimed titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Marvel's Iron Man VR, and Batman: Arkham Shadow. Most recently he's gone freelance and founded Wright Music Interactive. We discuss the making of those projects and a bunch more on this week's show! Featuring music from Waddoop 🐸 LINKS: 💼 Seth's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-wright-04305a173/ ✉️ Seth's Email: [email protected] 💿 Waddoop: https://waddoop.bandcamp.com/

We are back with a brand new game industry interview, and it's a blast! WayForward Producer Austin Ivansmith joins us to talk about his directorial process on games like DuckTales Remastered and The Mummy Demastered, as well as the live TV-like interactive experience Silent Hill: Ascension. We also discuss unconventional ways to communicate your vision to your teammates, typos in emails, and woodworking. With music from Grounds.! LINKS: ☁️ Austin's Bluesky: ivandashsmith.bsky.social 🐦 Austin's Twitter: @Ivandashsmith 🌐 Austin's Website: www.austinivansmithgames.com 💿 Grounds: https://gggrrrooouuunnndddsss.bandcamp.com/

No new guest this week, sorry! 😞 Rather than another encore episode, though, I decided to use this week to yap about all the games I've played this year so far. From a software perspective it's been an incredible year for gaming and I've had so many unforgettable experiences going through many of these titles. Regardless of if you want recommendations for stuff to check out or just need background noise while you're driving, I hope you're able to get some enjoyment out of this one! We've got a packed guest lineup November so stay tuned for that too 👀 Featuring music from 8BitGang! LINKS: 💿8BitGang: https://8bitgang.bandcamp.com/

Get crafty with us this week as we chat with Art Director & UI Artist Sofie Wikström! Sofie worked for years on the LittleBigPlanet franchise, as well as other popular titles like SteamWorld Build and the recently released Islanders: New Shores. She tells us about overcoming burnout, breaking down the art style of a franchise when developing sequels, and the importance of making environments look literally good enough to eat! Featuring tunes from JamelBurger 🍔 LINKS: ☁️ Sofie's BlueSky: http://sofiewikstromart.bsky.social 🎨 Sofie's ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/sofiewikstrom/ 💿 JamelBurger: https://jamelburger.bandcamp.com/

This week we have a fantastic conversation with Co-Lead at 7th Beat Games, Kyle Labriola! Kyle has worked on the popular rhythm games A Dance of Fire and Ice and Rhythm Doctor, and he's also done animation work on some of the Jackbox games. We discuss how Kyle "fell into" the industry, his initial reluctance to call himself a game developer, how Rhythm Doctor has evolved in its 10+ year development cycle, and accessibility for blind players. Plus music from PICE! LINKS: ☁️ Kyle's BlueSky: https://kylelabriola.bsky.social 💿 PICE: https://8bitpice.bandcamp.com/

Gear up for an all-new Pixel Pizza with multidisciplinary artist Mark LaCroix! Mark runs the development & publishing studio Noble Robot. He talks about creating animations for the show Parks & Recreation, building an open-source engine for the PlayDate handheld, game design philosophies, and his involvement on previous guest JJ's Blippo+! Plus lots more AND music from Kaskatron! LINKS: 🤖 Noble Robot: https://noblerobot.com/ 🎙️ Nice Games Club Podcast: https://nicegames.club/ 💿 Kaskatron: https://kaskatron.bandcamp.com/

Take a trip out of the airwaves and Into the Unwell with Mathias Johansson and Andreas Göransson of the Swedish game studio She Was Such a Good Horse! Mathias is the studio's Co-Founder and Andreas is its Creative Community Manager, and they're currently hard at work on the cartoon-inspired roguelike brawler/platformer Into the Unwell. We discuss recreating the classic rubber-hose animation style in 3D, the importance of contextual abilities in roguelikes, and giving power to the powerless. Featuring music from GLLTCH! LINKS: 🗣️ She Was Such a Good Horse Socials: https://linktr.ee/suchagoodhorse 👾 Into the Unwell Discord: https://discord.com/invite/SJaBnJFsgj ☁️ Andreas' BlueSky: https://shutterandreas.bsky.social 💿 GLLTCH: https://glltch.bandcamp.com/