Continuity mixes two game concepts you’d never expect and does it with panache. Between its novelty and polish, it’s no wonder that the game took home the prize for Best Student Game at the IGF. Developer Stefan MIkaelsson was manning the booth when I stopped by, and he walked me through the game’s foundations, its inspiration, and the team’s upcoming projects.

Boryokudan Rue is the kind of deadly serious adventure game that the world hasn’t seen since the noun + verb interface went extinct. However, Joshua Nuernberger is reviving the style, and he shared a bit on why and how. Read on for information on the game’s story delivery, the action system, and development efficiency.

Vessel is still early in development, so it’s just starting to really take shape. Fortunately John Krajewski was willing to walk me through features implemented and conceived, their realistic fluid modeling system, and even a bit about the transition from corporate to indie development. Read on for the full interview.

In today’s interview, I talk to Krystian Majewski, the designer of Trauma. We both come from academic backgrounds, so we wax nerdy on topics like naturalistic gestural controls, smoothing an agency-dependent internal monologue, and even the relationship between point-and-click exploration and human visual cognition. Best of all, we manage it without invoking all that elitist jargon I just used to make it sound fancy. Click and read; he has good stuff to say.

Jordan Fehr is the sound designer for Super Meat Boy, though his scope is hardly limited to that bailiwick. He’s broadly informed, a little mischievous, and a colorful speaker. For today’s interview, he walked me through the current state of the commercial release of Super Meat Boy, the game’s challenge and accessibility goals, and even the controversial Super Guide. Read on for oldschool platforming wisdom.

Loren Schmidt is the sole developer of Star Guard and a consummate designer. He’s constantly critical of his own work, which is probably why his game feels so polished. Read on for his insights into the hazards of low-penalty death, building a game that works at multiple skill levels, and how to make an action game fair.

Pixelsocks speaks to senior artist Corie Geerders and managing editor Mario Wynands abound their game Shatter. They discuss the process of reinventing the retro title Breakout, the state of independent publishing, and the creation of ninety minutes of music for an arcade-style game. They also discuss the new modes available in the Steam version of the game, which launched just after the GDC.

The Shank interview was the first one I’d scheduled at the IGF. So, of course the shuttle completely failed to get me there at the appointed hour. Fortunately, creative director Jeff Agala was kind enough to let me ambush him at the booth and indulge my questions about inspiration, art mechanics, and the combo system. Shortly thereafter, Klei CEO Jamie Cheng revealed secret Shank knowledge (within the limits of his NDA).

Not every company gets to return to the IGF, but Ratloop is back after last year’s Mightier. Actually it’s Ratloop Asia, and their new game Rocketbirds: Revolution bears nearly no resemblance to last year’s title. Fortunately, director/programmer/artist/renaissance man Tan Sian Yue was on hand to explain the ins and outs of the team’s latest project. He also covers the origins of the game and his company, why they used Flash for content delivery, and control loading.

I’m always a little nervous when comparing IGF and mainstream games during a developer interview. I have this (probably irrational) fear that they’ll take my attempts at clarity as an attack on their indie cred. However Owlboy developers Adrian Bauer and Simon Anderson aren’t shy about it and cite influences from Kid Icarus to Cave Story. Having set me at ease, they also shared their thoughts on platforming, pixel art, and even love. Read on to find out what they are.