216: Isles of Sea and Sky (with Jesse Guarascia)

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Join Dave and special guest Jesse Guarascia (noclip, noclip_2 and more) as they strengthen their block-pushing muscles for a deep dive into Isles of Sea and Sky (Cicada Games, 2024). They discuss its rich world full of secrets, why Sokoban-style puzzles feel like a great foundation for weird narratives or layers of secrets, whether the open-ended design works well, and much more. As always, no spoilers for a while. Guest info: Jesse Guarascia (he/him) Check out noclip https://www.youtube.com/@NoclipDocs And check out noclip2 https://www.youtube.com/@Noclip2 And Blowback! https://blowback.show/ Follow on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/jesseguarascia.com TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title 0:22 Introductions 6:16 Our Histories with Isles of Sea and Sky 11:26 Top-Level Thoughts 18:38 Game Setup and Open Structure 29:19 Puzzle Design 40:40 Sokoban as a Base Layer for Building Secrets 53:15 Visual Design 1:00:00 Music and Sound 1:03:32 Who Should Play? 1:08:28 Jesse's Work at NoClip and More 1:16:53 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:19:17 Spoiler Section Music used in the episode is credited to Craig Collver. Tracks used: Isles of Sea and Sky, Ancient Island, Stoney Cliffs, Tidal Reef, From Sea to Sky Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures