Writers Max and Nick Folkman sit down with other writers and developers to discuss storytelling in video games.
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June 9, 20261 hr 17 min
Courtney Woods & Ari Martinez
We've returned with a more focused episode on the Ghost of Yotei, and we're joined by Courtney (Senior Writer on Yotei, previously a Lead Writer & Narrative Director on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake for Aspyr Media, and a Writer on Bioware's Dragon Age: Inquisition: The Descent, and Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire) and Ari (Senior Writer on Yotei, and previously a Narrative Director at Postcard Game Studio, Writer on Guerilla's Horizon Forbidden West, Narrative Designer at Capcom, and teacher of game writing at Vancouver Film School) to discuss the relationship between theme parks and game design, Ghost of Yotei’s open world design, the narrative tool developed for the game, exposition rules, their relationship with design, making weapon tutorials more resonant, what makes ideas worthy for games as opposed to other mediums, not getting lost in the details of a game, and some of their favorite people they’ve worked with.
Stuff We Talked About
GDC 2026: Flipping the Script: Overhauling Sucker Punch's Writing Pipeline for 'Ghost of Yotei' (GDC vault members only)
Sucker Punch's other talks from GDC 2026
Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita
December 22, 20251 hr 22 min
Yuri Lowenthal & Nhi Do
Happy holidays!!! We have returned from the crisp winter cold of work deadlines with a brand new episode containing Yuri Lowenthal (Actor on such games as Marvel’s Spider-Man, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Persona 3 and 4, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth, Helldivers 2, and more, not to mention his work in cartoons and anime. He also co-wrote the book Voice-Over Voice Actor with his wife Tara) AND Nhi Do (Actress and producer of the stage and screen, and voiced the lead character in the Peadbody-winning 1000xResist. Her other recent projects include Invasion, The Irrational, Sight Unseen, Spread, Door Mouse, and more)! They join us to discuss coming from theater, crazy requests they’ve made in the booth, how they’ve managed to develop deep relationships were certain studios, not knowing where your character is going in a story, how they prefer to receive direction, favorite/least favorite pieces of direction, do they ever push back when they see a line that doesn’t feel right for the characters, has the way they’ve handled auditions changed over the years, what it’s like being married to actors, how often they make discoveries with a character after they’ve started recording, is there a game or character they’ve wished they worked on, and so much more!Our GuestsYuri Lowenthal, and his new acting class: Voice-Over Voice Actor: The CourseNhi Do, and her upcoming film: Sawtooth MountainStuff We Talked About1000xRESISTGrendelRemy Siu's GDC talk is in the vault still, but here's a version of the talk he gave at Full Indie Summit: Controlled Chaos in the Writer's Room of 1000xRESISTDevised TheaterMarvel’s Spider-ManBeyond: Two SoulsBioshock 2Double Fine PsychOdysseyVoice-Over Voice Actor by Yuri Lowenthal and Tara PlattOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita
July 21, 20251 hr 31 min
Karrie Shao & Ros Dachtler
We're over halfway through 2025 and we've got Karrie (Lead Writer and Lead Narrative Designer of Pacific Drive, previously wrote and designed on League of Legends for Riot Games, Totemic for Collage Games, and Not Tonight 2 for Panic Barn. Also worked as a Director of Marketing at Strangely Compelling Multimedia, a Producer at tinyBuild Games, a Lead Narrative Designer at The Exit Game, and was a BAFTA Breakthrough talent for 2024) and Ros (Senior Mission Designer on the upcoming game Last Sentinel, previously Senior Narrative Designer on Clockwork Revolution, Narrative Designer on Deathloop, Narrative Designer and Audio Lead on Battlefield V, and an audio designer on Star Wars Battlefront X-Wing VR, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and Battlefield One) in to talk about breaking into games via Craigslist, what Ros has been up to since working on Battlefield 1, who/what taught them the most about storytelling, changing a game in response to fans, how Karrie’s experience making escape rooms and working in marketing influenced her narrative work, handholding players too much, rules they adhere to for getting exposition across successfully to players, how to make a good opening, how they feel about games that get “good” after a certain amount of time, favorite openings, favorite and least favorite tools for storytelling, strategies for breaking through creative blocks, things they’ve had to unlearn in their work, the rule of cool, how do you tell when something is funny enough, and how open you should be with artistic intent after releasing something.Our GuestsKarrie's Website and BlueskyRos' WebsiteStuff We Talked AboutCraigslistPacific DriveLOSTBioshock’s OpeningFinal Fantasy X-2’s OpeningInscryptionSkin DeepOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita
May 27, 20251 hr 17 min
Brendon Chung & Laura Michet
Hello hello! We're back with returning guests Brendon Chung (founder of Blendo Games and creator of such games as Gravity Bone, Flotilla, Atom Zombie Smasher, Thirty Flights of Loving, Quadrilateral Cowboy, and the recently released Skin Deep) and Laura Michet (writer and editor who's worked on such games as Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Frog Fractions 2, Swan Hill, You Got This, Brutadon!, The Brigand’s Story, and more. She was a Principal Writer and Editor at Riot Games, was the Narrative Director on Skin Deep, and is currently a Narrative Director at Heart Machine) to talk about the recently-released Skin Deep as well as Brendon working with VO for the first time, the goals that came out of deciding Skin Deep would be a comedy game, earnestness in storytelling, making a comedy game with multiple writers, documentation, their process working together as a married couple, the narrative challenges of working on a sim game, what they think makes a good game opening, advice for people wanting to get better at writing dialogue, their processes for writing down ideas, how they power through blocks, what they’re playing and watching these days that gets them excited, how they toe the line between creative expression and making a living, explaining and over-explaining things, how do they not overwrite outlines while providing openings for design, deranged subreddits, and a whole lot more!Our GuestsBrendon Chung and Laura Michet would love it if you played Skin Deep and left a review on Steam!Stuff We Talked AboutSkin DeepThiefDeus ExSystem ShockThe SubstanceDreddSplinter Cell: ConvictionHitmanWheel WorldPrey (and Mooncrash)Another WorldMercenariesWorkflowyThe Devil’s PlanPhysical: 100Culinary Class WarsOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita
April 7, 20251 hr 8 min
The GDC 2025 Grab Bag Episode
We return with another grab bag episode for GDC 2025! Like last year, we brought a bunch of simple questions to ask folks, and in these three groups you get to hear how their answers differed. In our first group we had Chase Dodge (NYU student), Ruari Root (NYU student), Calliope Ryder (prev Lead Producer on Tales of the Shire at Weta Workshop), Chandana Ekanayake (Co-Founder and Creative Director of Outerloop Games), Hudson Janow (NYU student, Gay Gaming Professionals scholar), Apollo Umbra (Northwestern student, Gay Gaming Professionals scholar). Our second group had Lis Moberly (Lead Game Designer at Walt Disney Company, 20th Century Games), Vincent Perea (Senior Art Director at Disney Experiences), Lola Shiraishi (Co-Founder of Stellium Studios), and Meghan Thornton (Story Manger at Insomniac Games). And our last group had Emma Kidwell (Writer at Firaxis Games), Natalie Checo (PR Consultant at Future Friends Games, Journalist, and Game Writer/Editor), Sam Low (Global Communications Exec at Neon Noroshi, and SEA Brand Development Manager for Critical Reflex), Nessa Cannon (Game Writer and Narrative Designer), and Bria Davis (Community Director at Young Horses)Topics included: favorite people they’ve worked with, hobbies that have paid off the most in their work, underrated game faves, ideas and mechanics that they are keen to put in their next games, what to do when you’re feeling drained and in need of inspiration, most recent games they’ve been playing, someone in the industry who did something nice for them, games they keep returning to, if they could force developers to do one thing what would it be, times they’ve messed up and what they learned from it, game character crushes, something they do as their process that saves time, what they would have on their ideal writing/narrative design test, how they creatively rejuvenate themselves, and more!Our GuestsGroup 1: Chase Dodge, Ruari Root, Calliope Ryder, Chandana Ekanayake, Hudson Janow, Apollo UmbraGroup 2: Lis Moberly, Vincent Perea, Lola Shiraishi, Meghan ThorntonGroup 3: Emma Kidwell, Nessa Cannon, Natalie Checo, Sam Low, Bria DavisStuff We Talked AboutFear the SpotlightTangle TowerChants of Senaar30 Flights of LovingSpiritfarerMÖRK BORGHues and CuesLife is StrangePapers, PleaseUrban ShadowsArctic EggsCitizen SleeperMetaphor RefantazioRimworldFrostpunk 2Monster Hunter WildsHades 2Return of the Obra DinnDragon Quest VSubnauticaThe Artist’s WayFinal Fantasy VIIOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.
February 3, 20251 hr 35 min
Adam Dolin & Jolie Menzel
It’s been an embarrassingly long time but we are BACK! Again!!! And this time we’ve brought returning guests Adam Dolin and Jolie Menzel to discuss breaking in, how they define narrative design, the differences between creative directors who come from narrative versus other displiclines, the three c’s, can game writers exist without knowing narrative design, favorite narrative tools, what makes a good opening to a game, tutorials, letting players have choices where the results lead to them missing lots of content, bad habits they’ve noticed in younger writers/narrative designers, the future of the industry, pieces of media they go back to get reinvigorate/inspired, the themes they’re always writing into their stories, stuff they’re always editing out of their writing, how to write good dialogue, and maybe one or two other things. It’s great!Our Guests on the InternetJolie's Linkedin. Adam's Linkedin and BlueSky, and his ELVTR class starts in April!Stuff We DiscussedLarian Cinematics: A Top-Down Look at Our Bottom-Up Approach in 'Baldur's Gate 3'Jolie's 3C's of Game Design PresentationTwineVisual Studio CodeHighland 2 (FYI looks like a Highland 3 launch is imminent)InkYarnSpinnerCastlevania: Symphony of the NightPentimentAgainst the StormUFO 50BalatroMagic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast The Callisto ProtocolGod of War (2018)Detroit: Become HumanThe Darkness 2Another Crab’s TreasureThe Videogame Industry Does Not Exist by Brandon KeoghSonic Adventure 2Hank confronts Walter in Breaking BadBarryThe Adventures of Brisco County, JrBurn NoticeClerksDogmaNick's Dialogue PlaylistGame Narrative Summit: Building Rome in a Day: A Sociological Storytelling PrimerTomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle ZevinFuturama Commentaries Tetris ForeverListen To a MovieScript Lock BlueSkyOur Theme Music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita. The vampire sucking noise was created by Robinhood76.
June 20, 20241 hr 20 min
Jaclyn Seto & Christal Rose Hazelton
Moving on from our GDC episodes, we're back with Jaclyn (Writer at Respawn Entertainment on Apex Legends, instructor & student mentor at Vancouver Film School. Previously a Writer on RPG Puzzle Legends and Merge Tales for Microfun) and Christal Rose (previously a Writer at Respawn Entertainment on Apex Legends and an Associate Writer on Hogwarts Legacy at Avalanche)! Together we discuss writing fanfiction, doing work you’re proud of without getting too attached, finding a way into a character, being funny on demand, self-imposed rules, whether their writing styles have changed over the years, writing with constraints, worldbuilding pet peeves, most overused words, what practice would they standardize across the industry, and common themes in their writing.Our Guests on the InternetJaclyn's Twitter, Website, and Lore Trailer for Alter. Christal Rose's Twitter, Website, and Lore Trailer for Conduit. Stuff We Talked AboutJaclyn and Christal Rose's GDC talk: Creating Diverse Characters: Writing What you Know and Don'tThe Gasoline Baby NPC Convo in Marvel's Spider-Man 2Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.
May 6, 20242 hr 2 min
The GDC 2024 Grab Bag Episode
Hey hey! We're back with our second episode that we recorded at this year's GDC, and it's a doozy! In a switch from how we normally do things, we brought a grab bag of simple questions to the conference and hit up people who were free, and so y'all get to see how everyone's answers differed. In our first group, we had Ben Starr (actor, Final Fantasy XVI), Alexa Ray Corriea (senior writer at Cliffhanger Games on Black Panther), Kait Tremblay (narrative director at Soft Rains), and Kelsey Beachum (writer / narrative designer). In our second group (starting at 35:21) we had Adam Dolin (writer), Kate Dollarhyde (senior narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment), and Kelsie Mhoon (senior narrative designer at Obsidian Entertainment on The Outer Worlds 2). Our third group (starting at 1:19:39) had Emma Kidwell (writer at Firaxis), Nessa Cannon (game writer), and Calliope Ryder (lead producer Weta Workshop on Tales of the Shire). And we closed things out (at 1:47:33) with Chandana Ekanayake (co-founder / creative director of Outerloop Games, and director of Thirsty Suitors). Topics include: hobbies that aren't related to game development, current game of the year, favorite villains / antagonists, a time you messed up and what you learned from it, how you stay positive, games you keep returning to, favorite choice you've ever made in a game, people in this industry who did something nice for you, favorite NPCs, games you're always referencing that nobody else has ever heard of, games that made you think differently about something, first game you played where the story really affected you, what you'd force devs to change during production, games you wish you'd gotten to work on, how to get team members to read documentation, something in your process that saves a ton of time, advice for people wanting to get into game narrative, and so SO much more it's kinda insane!!!Our Guests on the InternetGroup 1: Ben Starr, Alexa Ray Corriea, Kait Tremblay, Kelsey BeachumGroup 2: Adam Dolin, Kate Dollarhyde (wants you to play Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire), Kelsie Mhoon (wants you to play Jak 2)Group 3: Emma Kidwell (wants you to play Hindsight and Midnight Suns), Nessa Cannon (wants you to wishlist Star Trucker), Calliope Ryder (wants you to wishlist Tales of the Shire)Group 4: Chandana Ekanayake (wants you to play Thirsty Suitors)Stuff We Talked AboutPrince of Persia: The Lost CrownFinal Fantasy VII RebirthDave the DiverChants of SenaarGarden GalaxyAdvent RisingPrey - MooncrashPyre Original SoundtrackLonely Rolling Star - Katamari DamacyAquatic Ambiance - Donkey Kong CountryLiberi Fatali - Final Fantasy VIIITony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 creditsAnna Megill's Game Writing GuidesAdam's LLVTR game writing class is no longer being offered otherwise we'd link it :'[Packing Up the Rest of Your Stuff on the Last Day at Your Old ApartmentDredgeGrowthNina Freeman's GamesFull ThrottleBellatroA Short HikeLong Live the QueenGame Dev StoryOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.
April 3, 202441 min
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland & Sarah Elmaleh
Coming to you NOT LIVE from GDC, we've got a special episode of the podcast covering SAG-AFTRA's negotiations with game studios! Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA) and Sarah Elmaleh (Chair of the SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media (IMA) Negotiating Committee, as well as actor in titles like Helldivers 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Halo Infinite, Gears 5, Afterparty, and Gone Home, and VO Director for titles like Goodbye Volcano High, The Wreck, and Fortnite) join us to discuss the overall situation as regards to the potential strike, the issue of Artificial Intelligence, studios trying to exempt certain types of performances from AI protections, dealing with the convenience bargaining group (aka the studios), their experiences at GDC, the ways devs can support SAG's members, if there's been anything they learned at the conference this week that surprised them, how people can get more involved in organizing, whether the negotiations for this year are different than the ones for last year, next steps, how they keep themselves relaxed during these stressful times, and much more!Our Guests on the InternetDuncan on TwitterSarah on Twitter, and you should listen to Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games PodcastStuff We Talked AboutSAG-AFTRA 2024 Tiered Budget Independent Interactive Media AgreementOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.
February 21, 20241 hr 13 min
Stephen Rhodes & Danny Homan
First ep of 2024! We've got Stephen (scriptwriter and narrative designer, currently Narrative Director on Motive's untitled Iron Man project in collaboration with Marvel Games. Previously a Senior Writer on Vampyr and Greedfall, Associate Narrative Director/Lead Narrative Designer on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Lead Narrative Designer/Senior Story Designer on Call of Duty: Vanguard, Lead Scriptwriter on Immortals Fenyx Rising, Senior Scriptwriter on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and more) and Danny (lead writer at Respawn Entertainment where he’s worked on Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. Previously a lead writer on Borderlands 3, its dlc, and Borderlands 2, as well as Battleborn and one of its story operation DLCs. He was also a narrative design consultant for Eko, a story consultant for Unbound Creations, lead writer for Ansimuz Games’ Elliot Quest, and writer for My Evil Twin Gaming Corp, Trendy Entertainment, and TRU Darknet) in to talk about the UT Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, accountability in writing, having the spine of the story figured out in pre-production, communicating changes that affect other departments, being custodians of story, soft skills, unlearning bad habits, getting better at pitching, building teams, their most used words, staying open to new ideas without losing sight of the vision, taking and prioritizing feedback, and letting go of your projects after they’re released.Our Guests on the InternetStephen's Twitter.Danny's Website and Substack.Our theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.This episode was brought to you by Backlight Gem. If you're a narrative designer or writer in the world of video games, Gem is a powerful tool that empowers you to bring your stories to life by streamlining the narrative design process from ideation to release. Learn more at https://bit.ly/Gem-Script-Lock
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