A speedrunner, first-person shooter crossed with a parkour platformer, Neon White is upon us and it's glorious.

Join Stace and John as they detail and dissect their experience the game in a bid to understand what's going in Ben Esposito's latest video game offering and how he's hit Neon White's sweet spot.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 200 hours in Elden Ring, our very own Stace Harman has some thoughts and we're ready to 'review' it.

We cover the ups and the downs, the memorable bosses, the sense of engagement, worldbuilding, narrative design and more.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When playing a video game, how are you embodying the character onscreen? Are you playing as yourself and making decisions based on how you think you'd act in a given situation, or are you acting as the character as it's written for you?

Maybe the answer is that it's a combination of both, or maybe it's something else entirely.

Join John and Stace as they discuss this and figure out how they themselves play games and how that impacts their interpretations.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Stace and John are remaking Legacy of Kain: Soul Revear, 1999's PlayStation classic and a game that had so much to offer through its narrative, gameplay and aesthetic.

Join us for in rediscovering Soul Reaver by designing how it could look and play today.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Returnal can be a difficult game to play, understand and unlock the Platinum Trophy for. Having achieved the latter, how is the context, interpretation and playing of the game altered?

Join John Robertson and Stace Harman as chat returning to Returnal for the Ascension update and unlocking the game's famously difficult Platinum Trophy.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, it's one of the most beloved, most respected and most reverred games of all time. For many it's comfortably the finest Star Wars game ever released.

And yet, despite having worked in the games industry for over three decades collectively, it's a game that Stace and John had never played. It's the time for that to change.

Join them as they discuss their early experience of the game, how it relates to their expectations and other RPGs and how they've gone about indulging in such a classic of gaming history.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John and Stace are talking about Doki Doki Literature Club this week on Gaming: The Podcast.

A seemingly 'normal' visual novel, Doki Doki has some surprises and ideas up its sleeve that make it something altogether more subversive and challenging than it initially communicates.

Join us as we discuss the power of its storytelling and its stunning ability to get under your skin in a number of different ways.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the launch of Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Stace and John ask themselves: Why do we enjoy trashy, B-movie style games?

There are games that are crying out to be rejected and forgotten due to their inadequicies. And yet, in some cases, such games result in a memorable and personal experience that you wish more people would find joy in. Listen to Stace and John explore and discuss exactly that and why it happens.

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Elden Ring the easiest of From Software's Soulsborne games? This is the question that has consumed many since Elden Ring's launch and it's a topic that is much deeper than it can seem on the surface.

In this episode Stace and John discuss Elden Ring's difficulty, how it is delivered and contextualised by the choices the game gives you, how the ways to 'game the systems' within Elden Ring play into the difficulty and to what extent player creativity affects the challenges you're likely to come across.

Ultimately, the real question is: Does Elden Ring's difficulty, easier or not, make for a better game?

Come and get involved in the conversation with us on Twitter @IndieByDesign and via our Discord, which you can find via our Twitter.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Visit us at IndieByDesign.net and @IndieByDesign.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John and Stace discuss their experiences of Elden Ring's first 50 levels and how the game presents itself in such a way as to offer challenge, spectacle and the opportunity to experiment in a way that feels both grand and intimate.

Discussion covers class builds, exploration, how information is presented to players, boss fights and the general difficulty curve.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Visit us at IndieByDesign.net and @IndieByDesign.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elden Ring is a game of choices. Your class, your weapons, your tactics, your story - every choice you make is met with a response that alters and defines your journey through the game.

Stace and John discuss these choices and their outcomes and examine how they combine to create meaning for both you as an individual and for any discussion around the game.

Gaming: The Podcast is released every Tuesday and is brought to you by Indie By Design, creators of books and podcasts that delve into the history, culture and design of video games.

A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube.

Visit us at IndieByDesign.net

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.