Skip to content
IBD #08 - The Chinese Room interview episode artwork

May 10, 2017 56 min

IBD #08 - The Chinese Room interview

from Gaming - The Podcast

The Chinese Room was founded by husband and wife duo, Dan Pinchbeck and Jessica Curry. As writer and composer, Pinchbeck and Curry have led their studio to BAFTA wins for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and helped define a genre with Dear Esther, a title that started life as a Source Engine mod. That latter title was in part a response to Pinchbeck’s frustration with games academia of the time, which he felt was too preoccupied with the theory of game design and not enough with the practical application of ideas. He’s kept a foot in the academic world thanks to his position as visiting lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, and ongoing discussions with PhD students. And that’s where we kick off this week’s hour-long chat, with discussion of The Chinese Room’s ties to the world outside of the day-to-day running of a successful indie studio. Later in the episode we talk about the delivery of story through game play, the danger of deskilling over the course of a long project, and Pinchbeck’s frustration with the heavy focus on frame-rates and the technical minutiae of game creation. First though, we start with him talking about the joy of public speaking and keeping a hand in the wider discussion surrounding game design. Brought to you by the writers and creators of Independent By Design: Art & Stories of Indie Game Creation, the Indie By Design Podcast (IBD) is the show that goes behind the scenes to explore the world of game design and game designers. Visit us at indiebydesign.net - Twitter: @indiebydesign - Facebook/independentbydesign Music by Ben Prunty.

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

IBD #08 - The Chinese Room interview

0:00 56:57

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Gaming - The Podcast?

This episode is 56 minutes long.

When was this Gaming - The Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on May 10, 2017.

Can I download this Gaming - The Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.