French indie game studio Guard Crush Games joins us to talk about their 2025 rogue 'em up Absolum which is nominated for Best Indie Game at the Game Awards this week.

We speak to Montréal-based devs Cyrille, Léo and Bo about the studio's history and process, working on beat 'em ups using your own engine, getting nominated for Best Indie along with games like Hades II and Silksong as well as more questions about their work (some from our Discord).

Follow Guard Crush on Twitter (or "X"), Facebook and Steam and get Absolum on PC and Consoles! Play it in co-op to make Cyrille and the team happy :)

MUSIC:

00:00 - The Resistance (Main Theme) by Gareth Coker (Absolum OST)

11:01 - Yeldrim by Gareth Coker ft Rachel Hardy (Absolum OST)

29:31 - Character Select by Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage 4 OST)

47:18 - Azra, Pride of the Sun King by Gareth Coker (Absolum OST)

HOSTED & PRODUCED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON)

❤️ made possible thanks to our lovely Patrons ❤️

Dev's Games on Steam, itch.io, Tumblr & Patreon | Slaughterneko on Twitch & YouTube
Article referenced: Solo-Devs and Risk-Takers (An Artistic Exploration of Experimental Tools by Nathalie Lawhead

Indie dev, level designer, patron and apologist-to-God Devon Wiersma joins us to discuss their latest release Centauri Dark- as well as life since going full-time indie after the Beans Team games industry'd them. We commiserate on the search for games with better verbs and share thoughts on how we can get this industry and these games to stop being so goshdarn bad lol no for real we're not too cynical it's a really fun chat.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro Music by @catbaux (Toronto, ON)
01:49 Reign of the Septims by Jeremy Soule (USA)
06:23 Quentin Tarantino on Charlie Rose 04/22/2004
08:10 Devolver Direct 2020
20:40, 30:47, 37:42 - Idea by Jenerikku (Chicago) from Bombing!! 2: A Graffiti Paradise
38:59 Bill Hader talking to The Script Lab
46:43 Imagine by John Lennon (Central Park, various locations)

HOSTED & PRODUCED BY: Stephan “RIPS - rest in peace steve” Reilly

Support us on Patreon | Join the Discord | Follow on "Twitter" @CanadaGameDevs | Follow on TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Follow on Instagram @canadiangamedevs

Read the Full Episode 240 Show Notes on CanadianGameDevs.com

Checkout the Quiver Games Incubator!

See the student game Meowmentum David mentioned

CANADIAN GAME DEV JOBS | CANADIAN GAME DEV EVENTS

This week we're joined by David Boguslavsky (@BOmaniaFTW) Brand & Community Manager at Quiver Games, a "one stop solution to connect with other developers, build up a portfolio, and join people together into dream game dev teams to make amazing games." He tells us about their upcoming Games Incubator (Deadline June 14!) and then joins us for the regular pod to discuss local Vancouver studio Relic Entertainment's turbulent last few years, IGN Entertainment buying everything and the rest of our usual show.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON)

00:13 Intro, Events, Jobs!

12:06 'Last Words' by Supergiant Games (San Jose) from Hades OST

12:54 News!

26:34 'The Keeper' by Paul Ruskay (Vancouver, BC) from Homeworld II Remastered

27:02 Wishlist This

36:34 Robots at Midnight The MIX trailer by @FinishLineGames (Toronto, ON)

37:10 Discord Discussion

42:47 Kickstarter Korner

48:02 What We've Been Playing (Hades, Laika: Aged by Blood, Stardew IRL)

53:21 Wrap Up

55:04 Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

CREDITS:

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & (usually) @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "Games Are Horrible Little Devices" Reilly

Join the Discord | Follow on "Twitter" @CanadaGameDevs | Follow on TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Follow on Instagram @canadiangamedevs

Read the Full Episode 239 Show Notes on CanadianGameDevs.com

Checkout Eric on LinkedIn lolol (homer voice "Neeeeeerd") No for real Eric's Discord kept dropping but we power through the pain like Rocky punching the meats.

CANADIAN GAME DEV JOBS | CANADIAN GAME DEV EVENTS

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON), 00:13 Intro, Events, Jobs!, 16:11 'Coral Crown' from Hades II OST by Supergiant Games (San Jose), 16:43 News!, 33:36 'Bruising The Fat (Shar Ikal)' by @chefdabu (Montréal, QC) & @simonswerwer (Barcelona), 34:09 Wishlist This, 41:21 Discord Discussion, 1:02:35 'Balatro Main Theme - Funk Fusion Cover' by Dom Palombi (Bridgewater, NJ), 1:03:14 What We've Been Playing (Hades II, should be Gigantic instead of Overwatch 2 lol), 1:13:37 Wrap Up, 1:19:50 'todd and his sweet little lies' by Crowbcat (YouTube), 1:20:27 Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

CREDITS:

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "Give us the Gifs!!" Reilly

FIND US:

Join the Discord | Follow on "Twitter" @CanadaGameDevs | Follow on TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Follow on Instagram @canadiangamedevs

Read the Full Episode 238 Show Notes on CanadianGameDevs.com

sdsadas

Checkout Twinolli & Highlighters:

Highlighters on Steam | Twinolli on Twitter | Highlighters Composer Tori Roberts on Twitter

LINKS:

JOBS | EVENTS | Joydrop Unionization Labour Board Case Info

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON)

00:13 - Intro

09:27 - Theme from Russian Subway Dogs by @CoinsElectro (Toronto, ON)

09:50 - News!

34:15 - theme from A Knight in the Attic by Neil Quillen

34:40 - Dad Deck Update

36:16 - Wishlist This

44:40 - 'Soba' from Highlighters by @torrybobs

44:53 - Twinolli Interview

56:07 - 'Hasen' from Highlighters by @torrybobs

56:34 - Twinolli Interview Cont'd

1:11:51 - 'Done Tutorial' from Highlighters by @torrybobs

1:12:14 - What We've Been Playing

1:36:22 - Wrap Up

1:38:10 - Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

CREDITS:

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "Rephan Steilly" Reilly

POD MAIN FEED ART BY: @Poltergust234! (Ko-fi - Alberta)

FIND US:

Join the Discord | Follow on "Twitter" @CanadaGameDevs | Follow on TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Follow on Instagram @canadiangamedevs

Award-winning Québécois game developer Kevin aka @dragon_slumber (creator of Tech Support, Arelite Core, Astral Traveler and most recently Aethernaut) joins special guest host Flynn Ringrose for an electrifying discussion of Kevin's recent plays, watches and step away from full time game dev to other work.

Checkout Dragon Slumber's Steam catalogue

Follow Flynn on LinkedIn (lol)

You can also follow Kevin on LinkedIn?! (lolol)

Full show notes are available on our site <3

Joydrop Unionization Labour Board Case Info

JOBS | EVENTS

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON)

00:13 - Introduction/Events/Jobs

08:37 - 'Player Select' from Streets of Rage 2 by Motohiro Kawashima & Yuzo Koshiro

08:58 - News!

13:43 - 'Battle Music 3' from Baldur's Gate III by Borislav Slavov

14:03 - News Cont'd

21:35 - 'The Vale Two' from The Vale: Shadow of the Crown by Tom Mullins

22:10 - Wishlist This

32:19 - Discord Discussion: Random DM's

34:50 - Steve's Sega Saturn shit

36:36 - Kickstarter Korner

41:01 - 'Tea Party' from Ravenlok by @mikelizolarocha (Ottawa x Toronto)

41:15 - Been Playing (GUNHEAD, Alone in the Dark (2024), more of Steve's Sega Saturn shit, Can Stardew OR Overwatch 2 be stopped?)

48:26 - Wrap Up

49:15 - Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

CREDITS:

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "Nintendo Entertainment" Reilly

POD MAIN FEED ART BY: @Poltergust234! (Ko-fi - Alberta)

FOLLOW:

Join the Discord | Follow on "Twitter" @CanadaGameDevs | Follow on TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Follow on Instagram @canadiangamedevs

Full show notes on our website <3

Joydrop Unionization Ontario Labour Board Case Info!

CANADIAN GAME DEV JOBS | CANADIAN GAME DEV EVENTS

NEWS:

Montréal: Sea Of Stars Gets Surprise Co-op Mode To Celebrate 5 Million Players

Montréal & Toronto: Behaviour Interactive snaps up Fly Studio

Vancouver & int’l: Tails Noir Developer Eggnut Closes

WISHLIST THIS:

Goeland by @MaartiGames in Montreal, QC. Releasing TBD, Wishlist on Steam;

ctrl.alt.DEAL by @OnlyByMidnight in Edmonton, AB. Releasing TBD, Wishlist on Steam - (Listen to our 2020 interview with the team);

Engineered To Purpose by Confidence Roll Games by @ConRollGamesETP in the GTA. Releasing March 26, 2024 - Wishlist on Steam.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Producer's Note

00:14 - Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON)

00:27 - Introduction & Events

07:13 - 'Battle On!' from Sea of Stars by @ericsabotage 

07:45 - News!

18:14 - Wishlist This

29:15 - 'Drums and Stuff' by @WesMcClintock (Toronto, ON)

32:23 - Been Playing (Spider-Man 2, Deep Rock Survivor, Helldivers 2)

43:14 - 'A Cup Of Liber-Tea' from Helldivers 2 by @WilbertRoget 

43:43 - Been Playing (Hotline Miami PS5 BUGGED?!?, FFVII Rebirth)

53:18 - Wrap Up, Winner Gagnez!

59:02 - Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

CREDITS:

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "pls unionize quebec" Reilly

Join the Discord | Follow on "Twitter" @CanadaGameDevs | Follow on TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Follow on Instagram @canadiangamedevs

See the Winners of our 2023 Community Awards Poll Here!

We reveal the winners and runner-ups for our '23 Community Awards, go over some exciting Toronto indie game dev news and cap off with a long conversation about good (?!) microtransactions and lax technical standards in recent AAA games- and why Spider-Man 2 didn't give us the immediate fatigue Ragnarok did.

CANADIAN GAME DEV JOBS | CANADIAN GAME DEV EVENTS

CANADIAN GAMING NEWS:

Toronto, ON: friend-of-the-site indie dev Devon Taking Beta Sing-ups for Upcoming FPS (closes Feb 16!)

Toronto, ON: DrinkBox Gives First Teaser of Future Project (very bottom of post, concept art)

WISHLIST THIS:

Captain Soda by @Poe_Flower in BC. Releasing 2024, demo available, Wishlist on Steam on Steam;

Spring in Summer by @LORENINEstudios in Canada. Releasing TBD, demo available, Wishlist on Steam;

DEEP DOWN by Devil Studios in Montréal, QC. Releasing TBD, Wishlist on Steam.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Producer's Note (sorry its late)

00:45 - Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON)

00:15 - '23 Community Awards Poll Winners Revealed/Discussed (apologies for Stephan's bad audio through most of it)

10:07 - 'The Shroud of the Deep' from the Darkest Dungeon II OST by @chatwood (Vancouver, BC)

18:41 - 'Another Year' from Dwarf Fortress OST by @simonswerwer (Barcelona)

19:20 - Wishlist This (these? lol)

31:10 - Spring in Summer Trailer song by @LORENINE (Canada)

31:46 - Sports Talk

37:08 - Stephan finished Spider-Man 2 

44:18 - you get next gen Hotline Miami free?!

47:33 - more like Pokemon Scar-bleh

49:14 - Bridge Theme from Final Fantasy

49:40 - Steve Enjoys Final Fantasy

54:38 - "Get Helldivers" begs Steve

01:01:01 - Wrap & Credits

01:02:11 - Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

CREDITS:

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "Solidarity is Forever" Reilly

PODCAST ART BY: @Poltergust234! (Ko-fi - Alberta)

Join the Discord | Follow on "Twitter" @CanadaGameDevs | Follow on TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Follow on Instagram @canadiangamedevs

Vote in our Community Awards Poll

This week thousands more game developers join Stephan in the "terminated by evil, stupid people" camp as layoffs hit tons of studios all over Canada and the world. We discuss Sonic as well. Sonic supports Unionizing your Workplace!

FULL SHOW NOTES HERE (more job resources here)!

CANADIAN GAME DEV JOBS | CANADIAN GAME DEV EVENTS

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "f*#king Unionize" Reilly

PODCAST ART BY: @Poltergust234! (Ko-fi - Alberta)

SOCIALS:

Join the CanadianGameDevs' Discord! | Formerly Twitter @CanadaGameDevs | TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Instagram @canadiangamedevs!

CREDITS:

00:00 - Producer's Note (sorry its late), 00:26 - Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON), 00:38 - Events, GOTY Nominees, 18:29 -  'Morning Dove' by Sam Webster & Nick Bausbaum from Rift of the Necrodancer OST (Vancouver, BC), 18:48 - News! such sad, sad news…, 39:36 - Celeste: Fragments of the Mountain OST (Vancouver, BC), 40:06 - Wishlist This, 51:41 - What We've Been Playing, 56:15 - 'Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1' from Sonic Mania OST, 56:40 - What We've Been Playing Cont'd, 01:11:31 - Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

Steve adds an obscene amount of demos to his Steam Deck (Dad Deck), we talk about everything Canadian coming up in gaming in 2024 to distract from Stephan's recent termination at the hands of a true coward. Steve's also going to have a baby, so if you want to help us with the site sometime this year reach out lol onward!

-> <3 Nominate your favourite Canadian games in our '23 Community Awards polls right here <3 <-

FULL SHOW NOTES HERE!

CANADIAN GAME DEV JOBS | CANADIAN GAME DEV EVENTS 

WISHLIST THIS:

1. Elemental Survivors by @SamobeeGames in BC, Canada. In Early Access till Feb - Aug ‘24, Wishlist on Steam.

2. Lil' Guardsman by @PlayHilltop in Toronto, ON. Launching 23 Jan, 2024, Wishlist on Steam.

3. Fowl Damage by @moltanem2000 and @rednexusgames in Victoria, BC. Launching TBD, Wishlist on Steam.

EPISODE CREDITS:

MUSIC USED:

- 57sec - Intro Music by @jakebutineau (Toronto, ON)

- 11min28sec - The Power from Baldur's Gate 3 OST

- 27min29sec - Sailor of Bogs from Sea of Stars OST

- 42min42sec - Sovereign Syndicate Menu Music

- 1hr02min52sec - Outro Music by @Composingdan (Toronto, ON)

HOSTED BY: @StephanReilly (London, ON) & @StephenLCrane (Owen Sound, ON)

PRODUCED BY: Stephan "f*#king Unionize" Reilly

PODCAST ART BY: @Poltergust234! (Ko-fi - Alberta)

SOCIALS:

Join the CanadianGameDevs' Discord! | Formerly Twitter @CanadaGameDevs | TikTok @canadiangamedevs | Instagram @canadiangamedevs!