224: Titanium Court (with Emily Merritt - No Small Games)

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Join Dave and special guest Emily Merritt (No Small Games) as they do their best to unpack AP Thompson's Titanium Court. Even AP Thompson's simplified description of "a match-3 tower defense game for people who like to read" still hides a mountain of detail, so this was a fun discussion about those component parts and especially how they tie together into a genuinely interesting narrative and commentary on the way we play games and "consume" media in general. As always, no spoilers for a while- enjoy! Guest info: Emily Merritt (she/her) Check out No Small Games https://nosmallgames.com/ Follow on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/aspecificegg Follow on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/aspecificegg.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title 0:20 Introductions 4:52 Our Histories with Titanium Court 8:18 Top-Level Thoughts 14:59 Story Setup and Worldbuilding 22:46 Theatre Inspiration and Humor 33:02 Visual Design 41:04 Music 48:45 Gameplay- Jobs and Goals 59:23 Gameplay- High/Low Tide 1:12:22 "Addictive" Games 1:17:24 Who Should Play? 1:23:04 No Small Games 1:28:19 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous 1:30:17 Spoilers- Curses Lifted 1:45:11 Spoilers- Story Discussion 1:57:00 Spoilers- Story, Continued Music used in the episode is credited to AP Thompson. You can purchase the soundtrack on Steam. Tracks used: Chimera Solo, Timeskip Titlecard and the Ten Years Later, The One AP Doesn't Like, Metamind Defense Grid Blues, Biome Select, Fourth Quarter, For a Dollar Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures