Best Inklecast Podcasts (2025)

What is it about 3D games that makes them so much more appealing and valuable to players - and surely 3D games aren't so much harder to build?By inkle

1
A History of Violence 23:20

Play Pause

9y ago23:20

23:20

History is full of bloodthirsty battles and dreadful wars. But does that mean games should play with history more - or less? And what makes some settings more acceptable than others?By inkle

1
Crafting 21:34

9y ago21:34

21:34

We hate crafting systems. Or do we?By inkle

1
Stopping Points 17:22

9y ago17:22

17:22

If and when designers provide opportunities for players to stop playing can have a massive impact on the addictiveness and longevity of a game. Should games be designed with stopping points in mind?By inkle

1
Fast Travel 19:21

9y ago19:21

19:21

Jon is upset that Lara Croft's fast travel breaks the story canon, sparking a general discussion about how and why quick travel has become so widespread.By inkle

1
Unpicking: Really Bad Chess 20:41

9y ago20:41

20:41

Jon's been playing Really Bad Chess (which is apparently really good), and it's got us talking about fairness in games.Get Really Bad Chess - http://reallybadchess.com/By inkle

1
The state of mobile gaming 20:01

9y ago20:01

20:01

Inkle take a (somewhat nostalgic) look at the state of mobile gaming, and Jon doesn't lose a finger.By inkle

1
What's Next 18:40

9y ago18:40

18:40

With Sorcery wrapped up, we take a cryptic peek behind the curtain of the Next Big Thing; a game that's been brewing for the last two years...By inkle

1
Sorcery Series Retrospective 28:19

9y ago28:19

28:19

With the Sorcery! series finally complete, Jon and Joe reflect on four years of development.Buy Sorcery 4 on Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/504800/By inkle

1
IGN's Sorcery! 4 preview party playthrough 1:21:27

9y ago1:21:27

1:21:27

In this special episode of the inklecast, we bring you the live recording of IGN and inkle's preview playthrough of Sorcery! 4 at the launch party, recorded on 15th September 2016 at Loading Bar, London.By inkle

1
Chasing White Whales 14:04

9y ago14:04

14:04

If we could find the time, work out how to do it, or make someone else do it for us, what would we build? A dancing cat conman game, apparently.By inkle

1
Religion in Games 16:22

9y ago16:22

16:22

Why do games so rarely include religion as a theme? Jon, Joe and Tom's discussion tackles controversy, cynicism, and Batman.By inkle

1
80 Days: The Board Game? 13:34

9y ago13:34

13:34

How do you turn a story game into a board game? Tom, Jon and Joe discuss the hypothetical 80 Days: The Board Game.By inkle

1
Making the trade 18:58

9y ago18:58

18:58

This week, we look at designing gameplay around the business of trade. Does the cut and thrust of business make for good gameplay, or will buying low and selling high always just turn into a fetch quest? Find out if we cinch the best deal, or walk away short-changed.By inkle

1
How to run an indie game business! 18:50

9y ago18:50

18:50

How does the reality of running an indie game business compare with the dream?By inkle

1
User Testing 16:16

9y ago16:16

16:16

This week, we chat about testing Sorcery 4. What does Inkle's testing process look like compared to other studios?By inkle

1
Unpicking: Uncharted 4 22:43

9+ y ago22:43

22:43

Despite some pretty solid review scores, we've got our reservations about Naughty Dog's latest.By inkle

1
On Interactive Film 27:17

9+ y ago27:17

27:17

After playing Late Shift, we discuss about the potential of interactive films as a storytelling medium.Late Shift - http://lateshift-movie.com/By inkle

1
What does inkle think about VR? 15:46

9+ y ago15:46

15:46

This week, we weigh in on the VR debate; will it take off, and are there interesting storytelling opportunities?By inkle

1
Oh the places you'll go 23:51

9+ y ago23:51

23:51

This week, how games (over)use maps, minimaps and UI to help get players to where they need to go.By inkle

1
Lessons from Interactive Fiction (Part 2) 20:49

9+ y ago20:49

20:49

The second part in our retrospective on the turn-of-the-century IF scene; focusing on how authors created characters in their stories.Galatea - http://pr-if.org/play/galatea/Varicella - http://jayisgames.com/games/varicella/Make It Good - http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/5oezm5qia0wu1dkwqrrgbw/make-it-good…

1
Ink: Latest updates 14:19

9+ y ago14:19

14:19

We give a round up of some of the latest developments on our narrative scripting language, and talk about some games that are using ink. If you're using ink for your game, we'd love to hear from you!Links for some of the projects and games discussed in this episode:Ink developments:- ink: http://www.inklestudios.com/ink- Quill: An online ink editor…

1
Lessons from Interactive Fiction (Part 1) 20:20

9+ y ago20:20

20:20

The first in mini-series where Jon reveals some of the best ideas developed in the highly prolific, but often overlooked late-90s/early-00 interactive fiction scene. This week, IF that leveraged the relationship between the player and protagonist, looking at Spider and Webb, Aisle, and Make it good.By inkle

1
Why narrative games need slick UI 18:27

9+ y ago18:27

18:27

How much does the design of the interface and user experience of interactive fiction matter? Jon talks parser-based interactive fiction, and Joe discusses his experience designing the Inkle text flow.By inkle

1
Secrets of Sorcery! 19:50

9+ y ago19:50

19:50

Revealing the weirdest way to beat Sorcery 3's toughest boss, an unlikely friendship with a giant insect, and a Molyneux-tastic easter-egg.By inkle

1
Teasing Sorcery 4! 18:48

9+ y ago18:48

18:48

Jon emerges from the writers room to drop some hints about the final part of the Sorcery series!By inkle

1
Can a game drown a story? 19:37

9+ y ago19:37

19:37

We try to answer a question we've been throwing around a bit recently: Is it's possible for strong game mechanics to weaken the player's connection with a story?By inkle

1
Visual storytelling, with Jay Gunn 22:56

9+ y ago22:56

22:56

We're joined by comic book writer Jay Gunn (@GunnComics) to discuss how games can capture the expressiveness of comic books.By inkle

1
The Intercept: A new open source ink game 13:56

9+ y ago13:56

13:56

We've just released a new open source game called The Intercept, which you can play for free right now! We chat about the origins and themes of the story, and the toolset it's built with.http://www.inklestudios.com/ink/theintercept/http://www.inklestudios.com/ink/By inkle

1
Messing around with board games! 18:10

9+ y ago18:10

18:10

Tom talks about the challenges of designing abstract strategy games for an Inkle side project, while Joe and Jon muse over story integration and the advantages of allowing employees to work on their own projects.By inkle

1
Sorcery 3 Steam Special! 23:09

9+ y ago23:09

23:09

Sorcery 3 is joining the collection on Steam next week, so we're back with another Sorcery special!Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/445040By inkle

1
Ink: Now open source! 16:52

9+ y ago16:52

16:52

We're proud to reveal that the latest incarnation of our in-house interactive fiction authoring engine, Ink, is now open source! Jon, Jon and Tom discuss the kit, which our developer-inclined listeners can play with right now at: http://www.inklestudios.com/ink/By inkle

1
Games, books, and the book game 24:36

9+ y ago24:36

24:36

Joe and Jon open up on Inkle’s relationship with books, and Tom challenges them to a literature-themed game design improv session.Catch us on Twitter! twitter.com/inkleStudiosBy inkle

1
Unpicking: Oxenfree 22:00

9+ y ago22:00

22:00

Joe, Jon and Tom chat about Oxenfree's real time dialogue system, and mull over how players relate to characters, looking at This War of Mine and The Witcher 3.Catch us on Twitter! twitter.com/inkleStudiosBy inkle

1
"The name of the game" 21:17

9+ y ago21:17

21:17

While mulling over the name for Inkle's latest project, Tom, Jon and Joe chat about what makes good names work, and find some interesting connections between some of their favourites. Catch us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/inkleStudiosBy inkle

1
Inklecast Sorcery Special Part 2 16:03

9+ y ago16:03

16:03

To celebrate the Steam release of Sorcery 1 & 2, Jon and Joe delve into the design of the hit seriesBuy on Steam - store.steampowered.com/app/411000/Welcome to the inklecast! The idea is simple: we - Joe Humfrey, Jon Ingold and Tom Kail - get around a table, talk about interactive fiction, narrative games, game design or whatever else comes along, …

1
Inklecast Sorcery Special 16:11

9+ y ago16:11

16:11

To celebrate the Steam release of Sorcery 1 & 2, Jon and Joe reminisce on the origins and design of the acclaimed series.Buy on Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/411000/Welcome to the inklecast! The idea is simple: we - Joe Humfrey, Jon Ingold and Tom Kail - get around a table, talk about interactive fiction, narrative games, game design or…

1
Roleplay in Narrative Games 5:57

9+ y ago5:57

5:57

Welcome to the inklecast! The idea is simple: we - Joe Humfrey, Jon Ingold and Tom Kail - get around a table, talk about interactive fiction, narrative games, game design or whatever else comes along, then cut out the best bits and put them up in bite-sized chunks.In this episode, we discuss the role of roleplay in narrative games.…

1
Are choices limiting? 9:06

9+ y ago9:06

9:06

Welcome to the inklecast! The idea is simple: we - Joe Humfrey, Jon Ingold and Tom Kail - get around a table, talk about interactive fiction, narrative games, game design or whatever else comes along, then cut out the best bits and put them up in bite-sized chunks.In this episode, we discuss discrete versus analogue controls. Is it limiting to have…

1
Persistence of choice & Encouraging rebellious play 14:10

9+ y ago14:10

14:10

Welcome to the inklecast! The idea is simple: we - Joe Humfrey, Jon Ingold and Tom Kail - get around a table, talk about interactive fiction, narrative games, game design or whatever else comes along, then cut out the best bits and put them up in bite-sized chunks.For our first episode, we're talking about games that encourage players to rebel agai…