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EP: A Year of UFO 50 - Cyber Owls

Release Date: 09/05/2025

The Secret Lives of Games

We're joined by droqen (The End of Gameplay, Starseed Pilgrim), Darius Kazemi (Tiny Subversions, Harvard Applied Social Media Lab), and Tara Macalister (mathematician, composer) to discuss Vertex Dispenser, the second game in our year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough. Next Month: Kompendium Audio edited by Dylan Shumway. Discussed in this episode: Vertex Dispenser Michael Brough’s Website Four color theorem Graph coloring Starcraft II Splatoon Dota 2 Droqen’s rare color graph/explanation lots of michael brough games The Sense of...

151: Games of the Year 2025

The Secret Lives of Games

The gang's all here to count down our favorite "games" of "2025", alongside a bevvy of great picks from previous guests and listeners. Happy new year! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Our GOTY Picks (SPOILERS!): ~~~~~~~~~ Rob 5. - Deconstructeam, Selkie Harbour 4. - Dogubomb 3. - German Trick Taking Game 2. - Mossmouth 1. - Freehold Games Zach - Team Cherry - Game Freak - Chunsoft (Bonus: - Adam Saltsman) (N64) - Lucasarts 1. - HAL Laboratory Doug 5. - Robert Yang 4. () () - James Ward 3. - Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy 2. - Kart...

All Systems Brough - 868-HACK

The Secret Lives of Games

We're joined by Shawn Alexander Allen (Beatdown City Survivors), Cole Wehrle (Root), and Drew Wehrle (Pax Pamir) to discuss the first title in our year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough: 868-HACK. Next Month: Vertex Dispenser Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: 868-HACK Michael Brough’s Website XPerience Studios “King Me”: A Defense of King-Making in Board Game Design Leder Games Wehrlegig Games 7-Day Roguelike Jam blog post 868-HACK Release Trailer (2015) PRACTICE 2013: Michael Brough ...

150: Making It Great with Kimmo Lahtinen (Sektori)

The Secret Lives of Games

Nick is joined by guest co-host Chris Plante (Post Games) for a chat with Kimmo Lahtinen (aka gimbll) about his dynamite new twin-stick shooter, Sektori. They discuss the joy of the genre, pursuing excellence in an oversaturated genre, and how personal limitations shape solo development. Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Sektori Day Repeat Day Barbearian Drift and Drive Resogun Outland Dead Nation Super Stardust Portable Geometry Wars Rez Infinite Post Games podcast Besties...

Into the Depths: Caves of Qud Finale

The Secret Lives of Games

We’re proud to present the final installment of our over-a-year-long Into the Depths series on , as well as our last episode with our recently retired Eggplant branding. Caves of Qud is a massive open-world roguelike RPG that has been in development since 2007 and Early Access since 2015, and we give it an appropriately epic sendoff with nearly four hours of deep discussion. Doug and Rob, joined by special guest host Star St. Germain, dive into the game’s finale and overarching themes with narrative designer Caelyn Sandel and co-creators Jason Grinblat and Brian Bucklew. Be warned, major...

All Systems Brough - Introduction

The Secret Lives of Games

We're joined by Frank Lantz (Q-UP) and Mare Sheppard + Raigan Burns of Metanet (N++) for the first episode of All Systems Brough, a year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough. We share our thoughts on why Michael's oeuvre demands a deep dive, add some historical context, and share the plan for the year ahead. We also introduce a (final?) rebrand to the podcast! Next episode: 868-HACK (it’s also recommended that you start playing Vesper.5 now to prepare for later) (Tentative) Episode/play order: 868-HACK Vertex Dispenser Zaga-33 Vesper.5 Corrypt Kompendium (plus...

149: Making A Meal Of It with Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson (Consume Me)

The Secret Lives of Games

Rob, Sarah, and Doug chat with Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson about Consume Me, an award-winning autobiographical resource-management RPG about the pressure cooker of young adulthood. We discuss the game’s ten-year development cycle, balancing dynamic difficulty in a game about overachievement, the complex dynamics of mining your own story, and more! Heads up: This episode includes discussion of disordered eating and religious upbringing. Audio edited by Dylan Shumway. Mentioned in this episode: Consume Me Prototyping Personal Experience – Jenny's talk at A MAZE 2017 Papers Please by...

148: Carving Out Some Time with Adam Robinson-Yu (Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival)

The Secret Lives of Games

Laura, Rob, and Sarah chat with Adam Robinson-Yu about The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival, a communal and virtual festival experience hosted every ~October for the last six years. We discuss the logistics of running a seasonal multiplayer game, encouraging emergent interactions through limited tools, highlighting pumpkin artistry, expressing embodiment in digital space, building secrets over time, and more! NOTE: If you want to avoid spoilers of this year’s additions to the game, skip the section from 1:12:40 to 1:22:00! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Ghost Town...

147: Digging Deep with The Roottrees are Dead

The Secret Lives of Games

Laura chats with Jeremy Johnston and Robin Ward about The Roottrees are Dead, their genealogy, murder-mystery, “static deduction” game. We discuss the development process of taking a jam prototype to full release, developing hints and systems that lead players to satisfying discoveries, and the taxonomy of games like The Roottrees are Dead and The Return of the Obra Dinn. Spoilers abound, so consider playing the game first before tuning in. Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: The Roottrees are Dead (Steam) The Roottrees are Dead (itch.io – Global Game...

EP: A Year of UFO 50 - Epilogue: Final developer interview

The Secret Lives of Games

We're joined by (most of) the developers of UFO 50 - Derek Yu, Jon Perry, Eirik Suhrke, Tyriq Plummer, and Paul Hubans - to close out our series with a project-spanning discussion of their development process, how they're feeling a year out from launch, and so much more. Next week: Who knows?? Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: 868-HACK Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games Presents: A Year of UFO 50 Finale Eggstravaganza - LIVE! Recording Eggplant Merch! A Year of Block Koala Roguelike Celebration 2025 (Including Fireside Chat with Jon Perry!)...

More Episodes

We're joined by Izzy Kestrel (Gexfeld, A Good Videogame), Shawn Alexander Allen (Treachery in Beatdown City), and the one and only Rand Hall (UFO 50 Voicemailer Extraordinaire) to discuss Cyber Owls, the 50th and final* game in the UFO 50 collection.

“A superweapon threatens to destroy the world, and it's up to the Cyber Owls to save the day!”

Next week: [REDACTED]

Audio edited by Dylan Shumway

Discussed in this episode:

Eggplant Merch!

https://cottonbureau.com/people/eggplant-the-secret-lives-of-games-podcast

Cherry Rush YouTube Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/@Cherry-Rush

Derek Yu’s Wikiquote

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Derek_Yu

Roguelike Celebration 2025 (Including Fireside Chat with Jon Perry!)

https://www.roguelike.club/event2025.html