openindie - An indie dev Podcast

In this episode of our podcast, we delve into the captivating world of Tiny Rogues, a game that seamlessly blends gameplay elements from iconic titles like Hades, Dark Souls, Diablo, and Binding of Isaac.

Tiny Rogues made waves on Steam, amassing over 3,200 reviews with a staggering 97% positivity rate.

Join us as we sit down with Benji, the talented indiedev and founder of Studio Pixlpunk from Austria behind this gem. We explore the journey of Tiny Rogues from its Early Access debut to the highly anticipated massive update released just before the year (2023) ends. Benji shares insights into his gaming career, the challenges of game development, and what it's like crafting games in Austria.

Iv, engages in a conversation with Benji, unraveling the story behind Tiny Rogues and the creative process that led to its success.

As always, have fun listening :)

In this exciting episode of openindie, join us for an one-on-one interview with James Letherby, co-founder of CATASTROPHIC_OVERLOAD, an indie game dev studio located in Bristol, UK.

Discover the fascinating journey of CATASTROPHIC_OVERLOAD, co-founded by James Letherby and Josh Burr, as James shares their passion for crafting captivating co-op experiences. Learn about their creation "Drink More Glurp," which was released in August 2020 during the pandemic as a unique co-op adventure.

James gives us an insider's look into the upcoming release, "Bish Bash Bots," a fusion of casual tower defense and intense brawling action that promises an adrenaline-pumping delight and co-op fun.

Join us as James shares his personal journey into game programming, the challenges he faced, and the triumphs that fueled his dedication to creating unforgettable gaming experiences.

As always, have fun listening :)

Three friends - Sarah, Ben and iV - share their top 3 favorite indies of 2022 and what game they are looking forward to in 2023 the most.

#Indiegames from these awesome #indiedevs covered during this cozy talk:

Darkest Dungeon 2 by Red Hook Studios

Midnight Fight Express by Jacob Dzwinel

Hellslave by Ars Goetia

Retro Gadgets by Evil Licorice

Vampire Survivors by poncle

The Last Spell by Ishtar Games

The Talos Principle by Croteam

Dome Keeper by Bippinbits

Disco Elysium by ZA/UM

Tiny Rogues by Rubidev

Stray by BlueTwelve Studio

Replaced by Sad Cat Studios

Universe for Sale by Tmesis Studio

As always, have fun listening :) 

Ada Quest by Red Potion Studios is the second indie game that is showcased at the Indie Area at 2022´s DreamHack in Hannover.

Studio Founder Marcin Kugler took the time to tell us about his upcoming game that aims to blend Card Battle, Dungeon Crawling and Strategy game.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Tchia is an beautiful open-world-adventure-game where you play as a little girl with the power to take control of objects and animals. 

The game is being developed by the French studio Awaceb. Phil Crifo is the Co-Founder and Game Director and met us at Gamescom to tell us about his upcoming game.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Vikings on Trampolines is the next big party game from the makers of the 2016 indiegame-hit Owlboy. We played a few rounds as bouncy Vikings with the guys from D-Pad Studio, Jo-Remi Madsen - CEO and Programmer - and Simon Stafsnes Andersen - CEO and Art Director - and are hooked!

As always, have fun listening :) 

Hamster Playground is Tamagotchi meets party game sprinkled with the cutest hamsters we have seen anywhere at Gamescom. Indie studio We Dig Games PR- and Marketing-Manager Michal Azarewicz met us at the Indie Arena Booth and shared the story behind the game.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Diluvian Winds was already a featured game in Episode 8. Time for us to re-visit the 2D-management-adventure game where relationships and surviving the consequences of climate change are the focus.

Nicolas Derio - Founder and Concept Artist - and Mathis Lenormand - Producer and Game Designer from Alambik Studio gave us an update on the progress of their upcoming game.

As always, have fun listening :) 

The Wandering Village is a city builder with beautiful visuals and a twist. Imagine living on a large creature and have to figure out if you want to be a parasite or live in symbiosis.

Your existence may depend on your decision since you have to survive in a toxic world. Roger Winzeler - UI Designer and Artist at Stray Fawn Studio talked to us during Gamescom about the upcoming release and the idea behind the game.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Potion Tycoon creates, markets and sells the exotic potions that let your character stay in the game. Dmytro Zhovtobryukh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Snowhound Games and answered our questions during Gamescom.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Lucie Robert, Lead Designer at the swiss indiestudio Naraven Games, joyfully welcomed us at their booth at Gamescom. 

She told us about their upcoming game Backfirewall_ which is similar to The Stanley Parable but has it's own style and story: In this comedic-first-person-adventure, you are an update assistant inside a smartphone and you try to prevent the installation of a new OS because the old OS doesn't wanna get deleted. Never change a running system? Find out what difficulties the devs had to face and what they are really proud of.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Universe for Sale is a sci-fi narrative game, set on the planet Jupiter, on which you follow a mysterious cultist who meets a vendor in a bar where she explains that she has the ability to create universes. Confused yet? We were! But this game is supposed to be cryptic and should motivate you to explore. Our interest is peeked for sure!

Still, we've got some answers, from Federico Chiummento, Game developer, and Zeno Colangelo, Artist, from the Italian studio Tmesis Studio.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Paper Cut Mansion is a rogue-lite horror game, in which you play a police detective, who needs to explore a creepy mansion. Being able to make paper models is already an amazing skill. Being able to use them as models for your game is even cooler. They give the game a unique look and it plays great as well.

Gabriele Caruso is a British Artist and Sound-Designer, working at Space Lizard Studio, and he's the one making the paper models!

As always, have fun listening :) 

A Keyart which raised many questions fueled the development of the cinematic-puzzle-adventure Planet of Lana, made by the Swedish studio Wishfully.

Adam Stjärnljus and Klas Eriksson, Directors at Wishfully, tell us at Gamescom, how the game developed from this keyart and what challenges they had to face, coming from a film production background.

As always, have fun listening :) 

The spanish devs of SandBloom Studio are showcasing a cinematic voxel-adventure at this years Gamescom. It's called DE-EXIT - Eternal Matters - which starts with you dying!

But your character is waking up again in a surreal world in which he tries to be a hero. Listen to the devs Julien Gatumel and Gabriel Jiménez, Lead-Writer and Creative Director of SandBloom Studio who tell us about their game and the message it has.

As always, have fun listening :) 

The puzzle-adventure Airhead is developed by the danish indie studio Octato.

You play as a small boy who needs to find air tanks on his journey, to keep his head inflated. Listen to our Gamescom-Talk with Andreas Bødker, Director at Octato, and discover the dev-story behind this.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Imagine a 2D-action-adventure with a world made completely out of stained glass - that's Saga of Sins visual style! This game is playable at Gamescom 2022, planned to be released in 2023.

If you want some infos beforehand, listen to this episode with openindie-Host Sarah and Rupert Ochsner, the Co-Founder & Game Director of the German indiedev studio Bonus Level Entertainment.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Melanie Taylor is the founder of the German based indie studio Mellow Games. Her upcoming game Blueberry is a platformer with an unique and emotional twist - the levels are representations of a woman’s mind from birth to death.

While preparing for Gamescom, she talked to Sarah about the motivation for her new game and the experiences you make as indiedev.

As always, have fun listening :) 

The guys from German-based indie studio Besworn Games are hard at work to create a game with an unique Pop-Up Book feeling.

Daniele Martines, Lead Game Designer and Martin Langer, Lead Game Developer tell us all about The Orphan: A Pop-Up Book Adventure, playable at Gamescom 2022 and currently scheduled for release in 2024. 

As always, have fun listening :) 

We Made A Thing Studios or WEMAT are the fifth Australian indiedevs we talked to during Gamescom 2022.

Tom Phillips and Jeremy Kelly-Bakker  are presenting their game Box Knight in which you fight your way through a cursed office tower. Office politics was yesterday now it´s time for office mayhem!

As always, have fun listening :) 

Australia is the official partner-country of gamescom 2022. We openindies managed to talk to some Australian indiedevs, like Jonathan Bradley, who’s the Art Director of the studio Toast VR.

You might know their famous (and scary) VR-game Richies Plank Experience.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Next up is Craig Ritchie, he’s the Founder and Game Director of the Australian indie studio Drop Bear Bytes.

They are currently working on Broken Roads, a narrative-driven RPG, with turn-based combat, set in a post-apocalyptic Australia.

As always, have fun listening :) 

Zilin Su and Raymond Corrigan from the Australian indie-studio Earthlingo are currently working on a language learning game - which is also called Earthlingo.

You play as an alien who's trying to understand earthly languages and by helping him understand, learn a language yourself.

As always, have fun listening :) 

It’s the end of August and that means it's time for Gamescom! And it's back on-site in Cologne, Germany. This year the convention partnered up with Australia, so we checked out 5 Australian indies to see what they are working on.

First up is Ben Lee from Blowfish Studios. He talks to Sarah about their upcoming open-world space sim Phantom Galaxies and why they implemented NFTs in the game.

As always, have fun listening :) 

tERRORbane was developed by the italian indie-devs of BitNine Studio – a̷n̴d̷ ̴i̵t̶’̶s̸ ̷f̴u̶l̴l̴ ̵o̵f̸ ̶e̸r̴r̵o̸r̷s̷.̷ Why do we need such a game, when there are enough buggy and glitchy games out there?! 

Well, let’s check the story behind this. The story-writer of the BitNine-team, Andrea Leoni, did not only tell me their intentions but also, if players actually have fun playing a broken game. Also, find out, why their studio switched from mobile to other platforms and what the gaming industry is like in Italy.

Today’s game is all about music – No, not Guitar Hero or Lets sing – it’s a simulator where you’ve got to plan, organize and host your own festival! It’s called “Festival Tycoon” and it’s out now for PC.

The developer of this game is Johannes Gäbler, he’s from Austria and “Festival Tycoon” is his very first game. 

He designed that while still studying! How he managed to develop this management game, why he came up with the idea in the first place and what other stories he has to share, now on openindie.

As always, have fun listening :) 

If you want to find more info's about this game and our previous guests, visit us at www.openindie.eu and tell your friends (and also your enemies) about us.

With their upcoming game Frank and Drake the Spanish dev studio Appnormals Team covers a story of two roommates who are as different as day and night. Inaki Diaz took the time to talk to Sarah about the unique story, art style and player feedback during a demo of the game. If one game wasn´t enough they are also developing a second game in parallel (Terracotta) that is a pixel-art action puzzle adventure. Reason enough for us to ask what unique challenges the team has to face when working on two games at once.

As always, have fun listening to this new episode of openindie :) 

If the pandemic doesn't let you go on a road trip, the indiegame Road 96 does! Alicia Magistrello from the french indie-dev-studio DigixArt tells us the story of how the game was made! Even though Alicia is a 3D-Animator, she told Sarah why acting skills were also important while working on the game. 

As always, have fun listening to this new episode of openindie :) 

Łukasz Korzanowski from the Polish dev studio Eremite Games sits down with Sarah and chats about their Beaver City Builder Against the Storm. They also discuss why it can be dam nice to be indie, their approach to player feedback in the early access phase of the game (available on Epic) and what challenges they face. 

As always, have fun listening to this new episode of openindie :)