The Sweater + Sock Combo w/ Alanna Okun and Chase Allhart | X-Strike Summer #2

This week AJ chats with Alanna Okun and Chase Allhart about their experiences with game design (and game design adjacent) education! They also confront the age old question: what even is a video game, anyway? Into the Game Jam Links itch page: https://itch.io/jam/itgj-summer-2024 Find the forum thread on the TWG Discord: Navigate to the "Games Forums" category, select the games-events forum, find "Into The Game Jam (Summer 2024)" forum thread and say hello! Alanna's Links Website: https://alannaokun.xyz Buttonmash newsletter: https://buttonmash.substack.com/ Games made with bitsy: https://itch.io/games/made-with-bitsy Chase's Links Video Game Podtimism: https://podtimism.com Discussed: TWG's Into the Game Jam (Summer 2024), Chase's Gamer Cred, Alanna's journey to game design, Alanna's Majora's Mask piece, what is a game, Journey, idea games, Bitsy, telling stories through mechanics, the search for tighter experiences (again), Outersloth , 1000xRESIST, Unicorn Overlord, Animal Well, sweet and salty games, Elden Ring, an embarrassment of riches, Persona 3 in its various forms, Skald: Against the Black Priory, Slice & Dice, Loop Hero. --- Find us everywhere: https://intothecast.online Buy some merch if you'd like: https://shop.intothecast.online Join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intothecast --- Follow on Threads: https://threads.net/@intothecast Follow on Tumblr: https://intothecast.tumblr.com --- Follow Stephen Hilger: https://stephenhilgerart.com/ Follow Brendon Bigley: https://threads.net/@brendonbigley Produced by AJ Fillari: https://bsky.app/profile/ajfillari.bsky.social --- Season 6 Cover Art by Scout Wilkinson: https://scoutwilkinson.myportfolio.com/ Theme song by Will LaPorte: https://instagram.com/ghostdownphoto --- Timecodes: (00:00) - Intro (01:02) - TWG's Into the Game Jam! Links in the show notes!! (02:18) - Gamer Credentials (02:39) - Chase's journey (05:14) - Alanna's journey (13:04) - What is a video game? (33:46) - The search for tighter experiences (44:30) - 1000xRESIST | An infomercial for the game by sunset visitor (51:55) - Unicorn Overlord | A masterful segue (54:41) - Animal Well | The "five M&Ms" of gaming (01:01:32) - Elden Ring | The quest to git gud again (01:03:43) - Persona 3 | A safe space (01:12:02) - Skald: Against the Black Priory | Chase what is this game!!!! (01:16:02) - Slice & Dice | Granola-likes (01:20:13) - Loop Hero | oreH pooL (01:23:19) - Where to find Alanna and Chase online (check the show notes!) (01:27:09) - Wrapping up --- Thanks to all of our amazing patrons including our Eternal Gratitude members: Grok Corey Z Directional Joy Susan H Olivia K Dan S Isaac S Will C Jim W Evan B David H min2 Aaron G V Erik M Brady H Joshua J Tony L Danny K Seth M Adam B Justin K Andy H Demo Parker E Maxwell L Spiritofthunder Jason W Jason T Corey T Minnow Eats Whale Caleb W fingerbelly Jesse W Mike T Codes Wesley Erik B mebezac Sergio L ninjadeathdog Rory B A42PoundMoose Andrew Justin M Peter Stellar.Bees Brendan K Scott R wreckx Noah O Michael G Arcturus Chris R hepahe Cory F Chase A LoveDies Nick Q Wes K Chris M RB Michaela W Adam F Scott H Alexander SP Therese K jgprinters Jessica B Murray David P Jason K Bede R Kamrin H Kyle S Philip N ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★