Jacob interviews Karla and Zimonja from Ivy Road about their experience building the characters, world, and gameplay systems of their recent release, Wanderstop. PLAYERS: Jacob McCourt (Bluesky) SPECIAL GUESTS: Davey Wreden (Bluesky) Karla Zimonja (Bluesky) SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Housekeeping 2:00 - Intro 4:30 - Prototypes & Inspirations 7:00 - Approach to Cozy Games 9:10 - How Wanderstop Supports Chill 13:00 - Nodes 15:10 - Monster 20:45 - Finding the Right Balance with Monster 24:30 - When Karla Met Davey 28:20 - Tea vs. Coffee and the Machine 32:50 - The Business Boys 36:00 - Pacing 37:55 - Dirk Warhard 40:30 - The Team at Ivy Road 44:30 - COVID 49:00 - Ren 56:15 - Nana 56:45 - Zenith 1:01:45 - The Last Choice and Why It Doesn't Matter 1:05:15 - Looking Back at Development 1:10:45 - The Risk of Hurting Players 1:16:45 - Despelote 1:19:30 - What Now? RESOURCES: Episode 4: Interview with Karla Zimonja Episode 196: Wanderstop BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!
