indie game garden

18 - Matt Fister (AKA Freezebeam) of Realmfold & Towerbound

Matt Fister is an indie game developer based in Boston, Massachusetts. He goes by the tag Freezebeam and is known for creating surreal bitscapes across genres and modes of play in his games. I’m a particular fan of his shmups: Unseelie Chorus and Escape Wizard. His game Towerbound is perhaps the most clever take on tower defense I’ve seen to date, featuring small tweaks to the tried-and-true formula that change the entire flow of the genre in a way that feels fresh. And his newest game is a peaceful city builder called Realmfold. Go play it now!  Play Realmfold and all of Matt's games on his itch page HERE: https://freezebeam.itch.io/ Check out Domino Grove: https://ezra-szanton.itch.io/domino-grove AND our interview with Domino Grove creator Ezra Szanton here: https://indiegamegarden.transistor.fm/6 Subset Games (creators of Into the Breach and FTL): https://subsetgames.com/ Dorfromantik (video game version): https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455840/Dorfromantik/ Dorfromantik (board game version): https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/370591/dorfromantik-the-board-game Sol Cesto: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2738490/Sol_Cesto/ Rift Wizard: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1271280/Rift_Wizard/ Path of Achra: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2128270/Path_of_Achra/ Animal Well: https://store.steampowered.com/app/813230/ANIMAL_WELL/ DEMON'S TILT: https://store.steampowered.com/app/422510/DEMONS_TILT/ XENOTILT: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2008980/XENOTILT_HOSTILE_PINBALL_ACTION/ Obsidian (notetaking app): https://obsidian.md/ My silly little game, Harley & Bleak: https://darthmalks.itch.io/harley-bleak

17 - Pete of Chaystar Unlimited, the makers of Asbury Pines

Pete is part of a two-person development team called Chaystar Unlimited. They are the developers of Asbury Pines, an expansive, narrative-driven idle game about a small town through the ages. In Asbury Pines, Pete's unique perspective on game design and storytelling comes through in a way that you have to experience to believe. Join us for a conversation about games writing, making independent projects, and the joy that can stem from treating characters with care. Go buy Asbury Pines! It's AMAZING: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2212790/Asbury_Pines/ Check out Chaystar's other game, Lilith Odyssey: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1450800/Lilith_Odyssey/ Join the Asbury Pines Discord and follow along with Pete's development journey: https://discord.com/invite/thyYmrT Flink Pamingo on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/flinkpamingo Chaystar's early webcomic, SEa DoPe! https://www.moddb.com/games/sea-dope

16 - Dave Lloyd of Powerhoof, the makers of The Drifter

Dave Lloyd’s video games inspire me more than any other pieces of media I’ve consumed in recent memory. Dave is a champion of the adventure game genre, having explored everything from pulpy thrillers to high fantasy adventures through the art form that has become a bit of a dying breed in games. Since the heyday of LucasArts adventure games that spanned from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, the genre has decreased in popularity thanks to what some players perceive to be outdated mechanics and the rise of other, similar genres – like the visual novel. Dave’s work is not only dedicated to telling outstanding stories. It’s also very much about keeping the adventure game alive, while simultaneously pushing the genre to new heights. His magnum opus to date is The Drifter, a gritty, time-jumping thriller that also manages to portray an intimate story of love and loss in the modern day. He released the tool he used to make The Drifter on public forums for free. PowerQuest is a Unity framework that helps devs make engaging adventure games while not getting overwhelmed by the breadth of the engine at large. Dave’s commitment to making adventure games communal is as inspiring to me as his masterful artwork, coding, and storytelling. It is such a genuine honor to have him on the show. Go do yourself a favor and play The Drifter: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1170570/The_Drifter/ Powerhoof's itch.io page is a trove of hidden treasures: https://powerhoof.itch.io/ Make your own adventure game with PowerQuest! https://powerhoof.itch.io/powerquest And...check out Dave & Barney's website: https://www.powerhoof.com/

15 - Nic Tringali of Amberspire

Nic Tringali is a game designer and director at Bithell Games, an independent game studio that specializes in sci-fi stories. Nic works at Bithell’s Lunar Division label. They are most known for The Banished Vault, John Wick Hex, and Sun Dogs, and have a particular interest in science fiction, tabletop and analog designs, and rich interactions between players and game systems. Nic’s most recent game, Amberspire, came out on Steam on May 6th. It’s a science fantasy dice city builder in which players are tasked with constructing buildings, managing resources, and building in harmony with an alien ecology atop the ruins of an abandoned moon. It’s an honor to have Nic on the show today to talk more about Amberspire and their perspective on making indie games. Pick up Amberspire!! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3350750/Amberspire/ Keep up with Nic on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:a7fta5rcdchq42rjf7op3p6j Couldn't find the blog :(

14 - Allen Goode of FloWHOA, the makers of Scallywags

Allen Goode is a co-founder of the startup FloWHOA, the game studio currently making Scallywags, a tactical crew management roguelike inspired by FTL and One Piece, where players quest to become Pirate Legends. Allen helped found FloWHOA in 2023, alongside Mike Schmalz. Although he wears a lot of different hats at FloWHOA, Allen’s main expertise is housed in his position as Creative Director – with over 20 years of experience working on mass-market, AAA, franchises such as Wayfinder, Warframe, Halo, Bioshock, SOCOM, and Company of Heroes. SCALLYWAGS IS MAKING ITS DEBUT AT STEAM OCEAN FEST RIGHT NOW! Go play the demo and give it a wishlist :) https://store.steampowered.com/app/3770820/Scallywags/ Check out FloWHOA on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowhoa.inc/