#Brainarcade
Huge respect for indie devs who plan, persevere, and actually ship!

I chatted with Chris Knauer about his path from TV writer to game designer, lessons from making his own Unreal game, and how to keep scope in check so you finish.

Listen In:
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#GameDev #IndieDev #BrainArcade
From TV to Unreal with Chris Knauer
Writer Chris Knauer joins Brain Arcade to talk about his leap from writers’ rooms into Unreal Engine. We dig into what it means to treat games as a conversation with players, how art and…
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November 6, 2025 at 1:51 AM
What’s the biggest challenge for creators today?
Discoverability.

I talked with Emmy-winning Stephan Bugaj (Pixar, Telltale, Genvid) about how game marketing has changed, and why finding your community early matters more than ever.

🎧 Listen here: buff.ly/g7qoADe

#GameDev #IndieDev #BrainArcade
From Pixar to Silent Hill: Stephan Bugaj on Storytelling, Community & Discovery
Stephan Bugaj (Pixar, Telltale, Genvid) joins me to explore the real reasons games succeed and why traditional marketing no longer cuts it. We dig into the saturation of the games market, the myth of…
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October 14, 2025 at 10:07 PM
I say this all the time, traditional marketing is dead.
Arthur von Nagel joins me to unpack why discoverability is broken, and how indie hits like Balatro & Cult of the Lamb found their people through community.

🎧 Listen in
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#gamedev #indiegamedev #gamemarketing #brainarcade
Discoverability, Community, and the Death of Traditional Marketing
Chris chats with Producer and previous VP of Production, Arthur von Nagel (Ubisoft, Genvid, Telltale), about how small teams build community-driven hits like Vampire Survivors, Balatro, and Cult of…
youtu.be
October 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
What does it take to ship an indie game in 2025?

Joe Mirabello walks us through creating Battle Train and surviving 4 years of dev, funding, growing a company, and finding the right publisher to successfully make a 9/10 on Steam!

🎧 buff.ly/WqvtYDH
#BrainArcade #GameDev #IndieDev #battletrain
September 2, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The layoffs keep coming! We need to talk about what happens when spreadsheets and creativity meet. Steve Hoffmann joins me on Brain Arcade to talk game history and the business of creative industries.

🎧 Join the convo!
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#Gamedev #Indiegamdev #Brainarcade #Gamepodcast
August 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
How do you design player choices? Show consequences like Telltale—or hide them like Chrono Trigger? 🎮 In this Brain Arcade ep, I chat with Martin Montgomery on agency, dissonance & what makes outcomes feel meaningful.

🎧 buff.ly/BflPNJU

#gamedev #indiedev #BrainArcade
Answering your questions! Hidden Consequences vs. Explicit Feedback
Today we answer your questions and we had a great question come from Plexicraft! Narrative expert, Martin Montgomery, returns to Brain Arcade to dig into how player choices shape narrative. From…
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August 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I hire designers who make sound effects 🎶
Sounds ridiculous but sound design and game design truly go hand in hand. Jon Ontiveros talks how audio can shape a player’s heartbeat, heighten tension, and build terror.

🎧Listen Now!
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#GameDev #IndieDev #BrainArcade #Sounddesign
August 12, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Can’t find the MMO you want to play? David Siddock couldn’t either, so he’s building one.
We talked nostalgia, what we're missing today, and what MMOs could be next.

Listen here:
buff.ly/iNEAlot

#indiegamedev #MMORPG #gamedev #BrainArcade
August 5, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Blockchain? Yeah, I know some of it's crazy😅 but knowledge is power so let's talk about it! Is there a way small teams could use it to build trust and transparency?

Episode here: buff.ly/nHMQHsq

#IndieDev #GameDev #BrainArcade #NewPodcast
July 28, 2025 at 9:31 PM
What can indie teams learn from Spider-Man?
Veteran Art Director, Art Manager, and Lead Artist Jason Priest talks building smarter with procedural modeling, modular assets, environment storytelling, and the illusion of realism.

🎧 Listen Now!
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#GameDev #BrainArcade #GameArt
July 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Creative, embraces challenges, and always player-first: Tatiana Funk talks designing for Nightingale in a live game environment.

If you're into game design or trying to break in, this episode of Brain Arcade is for you!

🎧New Ep: buff.ly/zLUmtfj

#GameDev #GameDesign #BrainArcade #Nightingale
July 1, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Theater to Games! Jessica Woodard, Writer/ Producer Terrible Posture Games, talks building thriving indie teams and how stagecraft maps directly to game dev.
Congrats to Jess & team on Battle Train! buff.ly/njW5KDK

🎧 New Ep
buff.ly/YZBWgxM

#gamedev #brainarcade #IndieDev #gameproductoion
June 24, 2025 at 4:51 PM
“Games are a series of interesting choices.”
Too many? That’s how you get analysis paralysis!
UX lead Ed Moore gives us tips about information hiding, cognitive load, friction, and designing with empathy.

🎧 Episodes: buff.ly/YZBWgxM
🧠 What game overwhelmed you?

#Gamedev #UXdesign #BrainArcade
June 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
✨Neopets! What made this kids game so successful? Natalie Odien, Design Director, talks about her work on Neopets, the difference between designing “for kids” vs. “family-friendly” and how respecting young players creates lifelong fans.

Episodes:
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#GameDev #BrainArcade #GameDesign
June 3, 2025 at 10:12 PM