The So Many Games Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

This month we sat down with Game Director and Co-Founder Oli Clarke Smith, Technical Director and Co-Founder Phil Crabtree and Art Director Rachel Noy from Kaizen Game Works to discuss their latest video game, Promise Mascot Agency.

We go into the game's origins, how the team found designing an open-world game, the struggle to not overbear a player, the collectables, how the van was implemented and much more! 

A huge thank you goes out to Oli, Phil and Rachel for taking time out to talk to me but also for being as open as they were.

Follow Kaizen Game Works on BlueSky

Take a look at their website

If youd like to read our review of Promise Mascot Agency, you can do so here

Promise Mascot Agency is out now on Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC and Xbox Series X|S

We’d Also like to thank Rach Macpherson for helping to organise the interview. If you need any PR for your video game, then Rachel is certainly worth considering.check out her website for more info:

https://rach-macpherson-freelance.prezly.com/

Chapters

[00:00] Intro

[01:22] Guest Intros & Game Development Histories

[08:20] Promise Mascot Agency

[36:33] Music Break – Straight To The Sea Composed by Ryo Koike

[37:18] More Promise Mascot Agency

[1:03:06] Outro

So Many Games Links

Follow us on ⁠BlueSky⁠

Check out our ⁠website⁠

Take a look at our ⁠Linktree

Music by ⁠Jerden Cooke

The music clip used in the break comes from the Promise Mascot Agency soundtrack co-composed by Ryo Koike. Permission to use the track was kindly granted by Kaizen Game Works.

For episode six of the podcast, Jason was joined by voice actor Sally Beaumont.

Sally has been a staple of video game voice acting, starring in many high-profile games including Harold Halibut, Loco Motive and Old Skies.

Sally was very kind to spend some of her spare time to talk about her time voicing Fia from Old Skies and on voice acting itself. It was a fascinating and fun conversation that we hope you enjoy listening to.

We also had questions from the community, so thank you to Astronoluke and Louie for the questions featured in this episode.

Sally Beaumont Links

Please visit Sally's YouTube channel, where she has a host of behind-the-scenes videos from when she was recording for Fia.

Follow Sally on BlueSky, and if you are after a highly skilled voice actor, then please check out her website.

Chapters

[00:00] Intro

[00:44] Sally on Old Skies and Voice Acting

[45:43] Musical Break

[46:08] More Old Skies!

[1:24:08] Outro

So Many Games Links

Follow us on ⁠BlueSky⁠

Check out our ⁠website⁠

Take a look at our ⁠Linktree

Music by ⁠Jerden Cooke

The music clip used in the break comes from the Old Skies soundtrack composed by Thomas Regin. Permission was kindly granted by David Gilbert.

In this episode, some of the So Many Games crew sit down for a roundtable discussion, with the hope that not only will you get to know us a little better, but also for us to get to know each other a little more too.

Tofr, Kurosh, Michael and Erik sit down with Jason to discuss their other projects and gaming histories, and each brought one of their favourite games to discuss.

Hopefully the rest of the crew – Matt, Jacob, Elsa and Steven – can make it onto a future episode.

*Chapters*

00:00 Intro

05:33 Other Projects

28:20 Gaming Histories

1:01:50 Favourite Games

1:35:53 Outro

*Links*

Erik on BlueSky

Pages of Play Podcast

Tofr on BlueSky

Tofr Linktree

Kurosh on BlueSky

SavePoint Stories Podcast

Michael on BlueSky

Tiny Game Chronicles Podcast

*So Many Games Links*

- Follow us on ⁠BlueSky⁠

- Check out our ⁠website⁠

- Take a look at our ⁠Linktree ⁠for all of our links

- Music by ⁠Jerden Cooke

For episode four of the So Many Games podcast, we are joined by two fantastic people.

Firstly, So Many Games writer and podcaster Erik Lunde joins in the fun as co-host on his first appearance on the podcast.

And for our second guest, we were delighted to welcome the amazing Jenny Windom!

In the first half of the episode, we chat about her many projects, including the Wholesome Directs, her podcasts and being a classroom teacher!

In the second part we discuss three indie games that have left important impressions on Jenny. Those games were 1000xresist, The Outer Wilds and In Stars & Time. We get into why these games are so important to Jenny, as well as Jason & Erik sharing some of their thoughts too!

*Important Note*

When we first started making this podcast, we were determined to make these as video podcasts. Over the last three episodes, our naivety has shown that this way was a much deeper time sink than we ever thought. So we have come to the decision to prioritise the audio version over its video counterpart.

We will still release on YouTube, with a custom video, but the production of the video will be heavily scaled back. We apologise if this causes any disappointment, and we wish we had more time to dedicate to it, but sadly that is not the case. Many thanks for your understanding and we hope you'll continue to enjoy our podcast.

*Chapters*

00:00 Intro

00:16 Jenny's Projects

34:54 Jenny's Favourite Indies

1:27:15 Outro

*Jenny Windom Links*

- Wholesome Direct

- Geeks and Grounds

- The Indie Council

- Jenny on BlueSky

- Jenny on Instagram

*So Many Games Links*

- Follow us on BlueSky

- Check out our website

- Take a look at our Linktree for all of our links

- Music by Jerden Cooke

This episode of the podcast brings two developers of the puzzle RPG game Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure to So Many Games.

The designer and programmer of Arranger, Nico Recabarren, and the game artist, David Hellman, share insights into the game's development, from concept to the challenges faced, and a look into how the game's art was made and realised.

Arranger is out now on PC, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, and Netflix.

*Chapters*

00:00 - Intro

09:22 - Arranger Interview

1:08:57 - Outro

*Links*

Arranger: A Role Puzzle Adventure website

https://arranger.quest/

Nico Recabarren on BlueSky

https://bsky.app/profile/cabezotta.bsky.social

David Hellman on BlueSky

https://bsky.app/profile/davidhellman.bsky.social

David Hellmans Website

https://davidhellman.art

Arranger on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2596420/Arranger_A_RolePuzzling_Adventure/

*So Many Games Links*

Follow us on BlueSky

https://bsky.app/profile/somanygames.co.uk

Check out our website

https://somanygames.co.uk

Take a look at our Linktree for all of our links

https://linktr.ee/somanygames

Episode 2 of the So Many Games podcast is filled with Ultros goodness as we welcome the narrative designer of the game, Pelle Cahndlerby and the writer of the upcoming Lost in Cult Design Works Ultros book, John Rogers, to the show. The first half of the episode focuses on the Ultros design works book, how John got involved with the project, what to expect to find inside the book, and that mightily impressive deluxe version.

The second half concentrates on the development of Ultros, how Pelle tackled the writing of the game and its many characters, plus a bunch more amazing chat on the game. Many thanks to Pelle and John for taking time out to join me, and below you can find links to their social media and other projects.

*Chapters*

00:00 - Intro

06:38 - Ultros Design Works Book

27:48 - Ultros Trailer

29:09 - Ultros Development

1:13:50 - Outro

*Links*

Follow Pelle on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/cahndlerby.bsky.social

Follow John on BlueSky:

https://bsky.app/profile/gaminginthewild.bsky.social

Find the Gaming in the Wild Podcast on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0gVnXCO1k5CuFXLnKOB3P5

Ultros Steam Page (now also available on Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PS5):

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2386310/Ultros/

Take a look at the So Many Games website:

https://somanygames.co.uk

Find So Many Games on BlueSky:

https://bsky.app/profile/somanygames.co.uk

Check our Linktree for all our links:

https://linktr.ee/somanygames

After finishing Citizen Sleeper 2, we were bursting to talk about our experiences. So, Jason and Tofr did exactly that, and so The So Many Games Podcast was born.

Here, we discuss the original game before jumping into a spoiler-filled chat about Citizen Sleeper 2, our experiences, the new additions to the gameplay, how we felt about them, and much more! We would like to thank Fellow Traveller for very kindly sending review codes for Citizen Sleeper 2. It was very much appreciated.

[Important Note]

Although we knew and respect Gareth Damian Martin's pronouns before recording, there are instances where Jason refers to Gareth as "he” in the video. We would like to mention that Jason meant no disrespect to Gareth, and Jason always strives to recognise the importance of people's preferred pronouns. We apologise if this causes any distress to Gareth or to anyone else.

[Links]

Read Tofr's Citizen Sleeper 2 Review

Please check out our written reviews on our website

For all our other links, including our Bluesky, please check our Linktree

Episode 9 of The So Many Games Podcast finally brings not only one of the best video games created to the podcast but also its Creator Director, Remy Siu.

We have an insightful conversation on the game, from Remy's goals at the start of development to its incredible narrative, visuals and soundtrack.

We finish up with some wonderful questions from the community, with much thanks to Matt, Dave and Steven for submitting them.

We would also like to thank Fellow Traveller for arranging the interview with Remy. We are very grateful for all their help and assistance.

Remy Siu Links

BlueSky

Sunset Visitor Website

1000xRESIST on Steam

Chapters

[00:00] Intro

[02:36] Remy Siu Interview

[1:00:36] Outro

So Many Games Links

Follow us on ⁠BlueSky⁠

Check out our ⁠website

⁠Join our Discord server

Take a look at our ⁠Linktree

Music by ⁠Jerden Cooke

The music clips used in this episode come from the 1000xRESIST soundtrack by Line Katcho, Drew Redman, and guest songwriter Alex Mah.

We break from the usual format to bring you a deep discussion on one of this year's biggest games, Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Jason is joined by fellow So Many Games writers Matt and Erik to share their experiences of their playthroughs of the game. We delve into most aspects of the game in our discussion, from our expectations. coming into the game to our favourite locations, mechanics, its difficulty level and a meaty chat on the game's bosses.

Although we split this episode into two, with the second part dedicated to a heavy spoilery discussion, some very light spoilers did creep into the first part; such was our enthusiasm for the game.

Make sure to stick around to the very end of the podcast, as this episode debuts us playing adverts from our content creator friends. You may discover your next favourite podcast!

Check out our written review of Hollow Knight: Silksong

Take a look at Matt's podcast, Bit Harmony and Erik's podcast, Pages of Play

Chapters

[00:00] Intro

[06:34] Hollow Knight: Silksong

[43:49] Musical Break – Moss Grotto Composed by Christopher Larkin

[44:30] Music Break – Hollow Knight: Silksong Spoilers Chat

[1:36:31] Outro

So Many Games Links

Follow us on ⁠BlueSky⁠

Check out our ⁠website

⁠Join our Discord server

Take a look at our ⁠Linktree

Music by ⁠Jerden Cooke

The music clip used in the break is Moss Grotto from the Hollow Knight: Silksong soundtrack composed by Christopher Larkin