Joshua Pulsifer: Encountering Life, Death, and Art Through Video Games

In this episode, we are joined by Joshua Pulsifer - narrative designer and co-director at Zipit! Games, an indie studio in New York. Joshua and his partner Ben are building The Wide Open Sky is Running Out of Catfish, a story-driven photography game set on the back of a giant flying catfish. Beneath its playful exterior lies a meditation on memory, friendship, and the impermanence of life. We dive into a super fun journey exploring: whether video games are a good storytelling medium, what creates powerful emotional arcs, and why we need to take video games seriously as art. Along the way, we also confront death - both as a universal fear and as a source of connection and meaning. It’s an episode about creativity, mortality, and the stories we play that shape who we are.Socials: @zipit_games