Episode 151 - The SPECTACULAR SWAPMEAT SPECIAL

Jamie Strombreaker from One More Game joins Ben this week to discuss game design philosophy and the amazingly zany and fun game SWAPMEAT—a third-person shooter featuring a unique part-switching mechanic. Jamie and his team are very excited to share their full “out of early access” version of the cooperative-focused roguelite with the world on June 17th, so there is a LOT of juicy conversational MEAT to consume. As a perfectly marbled audio morsel, no additional gravy is required or encouraged.

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00:00:58 - Lawyer input, industry to independent, Saros is a seven, THAC0, and for all ten of us
00:07:00 - Swapping origins, Steam verification, meat quote despair, and the Pounding Fathers
00:15:19 - Beyond early access, listening to and engaging the community, and planet renaming
00:17:51 - In-office consoles, Alpha-driven development, and building games in public view
00:24:55 - Expectation reset, thoughts on sequels, RTS games, and playing with vs. versus
00:32:00 - Multiplayer roguelite challenges, talking to players early, and don’t roast Jamie
00:35:42 - Ben’s thought path, revisiting games as a dev, and balancing difficulty with empathy
00:40:51 - How loot is distributed in SWAPMEAT to minimize competition, and playful banter
00:43:34 - Solo play, early access perks, the definition of independent, and institutional support
00:48:30 - Fresh ideas, end-to-end enjoyment, Indies are the innovators, and taking risks
00:51:15 - AI concerns, no joy in average, automation, art is made by humans, and breaking art

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References, Links, and Tags

For more information on SWAPMEAT and One More Game shenanigans…
https://www.playswapmeat.com/
https://www.onemoregame.com/games/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2790700/SWAPMEAT/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCKk5i2zueI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tGNHwQQljc

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