The MGIF Podcast

Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe.

To calm my nerves after going so far out of London in the last episode (Cambridge), I decided to delve deep into the heart of the city and interview Haley Uyrus of Mediatonic.

Haley recently left Failbetter Games, a previous guest of this podcast, and we talk about what it’s like to move from a smaller studio to a much larger, 150 person setup. We get into Haley’s background and gaming memories, and there’s a massive horror games tangent too, because we love tangents on MGIF.

You can follow Haley @absintheuse

Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe.

Episode Five is with the spectacular Alysia Judge, a freelance games journalist, presenter and producer.

Bit of a change of the rules with this one as historically I've always spoken to game developers, but I wanted to interview Alysia to get her take on the broader subject of games culture, where it is and where it's going. We chat about Alysia's history, the origin of her love of games and how she got into the industry. Plus there's a LOT of silliness. This is an absolute smasher and I have to thank Alysia for her time. She's a joy to be around and the kind of sharp mind games journalism needs.

We also cover what it's like to be a naturally positive person in a somewhat cynical country and what it means to be genuine. It's basically a Making Games Is Fun full house.

I hope you'll join me in wishing Alysia luck in whatever the freelance life has planned for her.

@alysiajudge

Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe.

Failbetter Games are an indie game studio responsible for Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies and browser based game Fallen London.

I sat down and spoke to Hannah Flynn, Olivia Wood and Lesleyann White about life in an indie dev studio, the importance of building a community and a fanbase around your games and paying attention to feedback. We also discuss their love of games past and present, the challenges of making gaming accessible and the state of representation and diversity in gaming today.

This was a really fun episode to make. Hannah, Olivia and Les are a fantastic, riotous trio, and we are treated to some excellent insight into indie game dev. It was a privilege.

Hannah Flynn, Communications Director, Failbetter Games

Lesleyann White, Support and Quality Analyst, Failbetter Games

Olivia Wood, Narrative Editor, Writer and Content Manager, Failbetter Games

After falling in love with Ninja Theory's Hellblade, released in August 2017, I sat down with Dominic Matthews, Tameem Antionades and the face and voice of Senua herself, Melina Juergens, to discuss Hellblade's development, as well as their own development as people and as a studio. We also discuss mental health and its depiction in videogames, and why this game was so important and personally relevant to me.

Hit play for the podcast interview below. MGIF is also available on iTunes or with whatever podcast software you use. Just search for "Making Games Is Fun" and hit subscribe.

In the National Videogame Arcade in Nottingham, there currently hangs a gallery of my photodocumentary following ustwo games over the course of 15 months as they made Monument Valley 2. As this is Making Games Is Fun, it was a study of the people there as well as the game they were making.

Lauren Cason, an artist at ustwo, is about to fly the nest to return to America, so I felt it was time for us to chat. I like to interview people on the cusp of change, which is why I interviewed Jessica Curry as she was due to take a step away from The Chinese Room and Aubrey Hesselgren as he ventured into the world of freelance. Like many of us, both of their lives have changed significantly in the last couple of years.

Similarly, Lauren is very much about change, variety, adventuring. I wanted to talk to her about how she was feeling about leaving and what makes her so keen to soak up as many experiences as she can.

We eat a delicious meal, we go for a walk in the beautiful early afternoon sunshine and we even draw a few tarot cards to find out what our futures hold for us. And whilst Lauren will be missed, we know that, when it's once again time for her to move on, we'll see her back here some day.

@miss_lady_pants

@makingamesisfun