Interviewing Daniel Benmergui, sole developer of Today I Die, was ill-fated from the word go. I caught him leaving the expo hall on the last day, and when I got in touch by email, I caught him leaving for Europe. However, he has some fascinating thoughts on his game’s novel approach to exploration, how to teach players a new mechanic, and monetizing a free game without being crass. So just think how easy it is to click that link and read! We really do live in the future.

Enviro-Bear 2000 is a little bit like last year’s You Have to Burn the Rope: both games are subversive, alternately piss off and enrapture internet connoisseurs, and neither game’s creator seems to take it too seriously. However, Justin Smith is the guardian of secret knowledge, and he shared just a bit with me about his game’s message, its origin, and most critically, its secret to getting noticed in the App Store.

We last caught designer Tyler Glaiel at PAX, where he showed a four month build of Closure along with artist Jon Schubbe. It’s a puzzle platformer of light and dark, where the parts of the world wink in and out of existence along with the light that illuminates them.

Tyler and Jon are the same compact speakers as they were at PAX, which allowed us to hit on diverse topics like the updated build, their new music designer, and their inspiration for polishing the game.

Dr. Ian Bogost is an associate professor at Georgia Tech, founding partner at the development studio Persuasive Games, a published author, and developer of IGF finalist A Slow Year.

In his spare time, he seems happy to answer questions about making games for the Atari, making game poems accessible to gamers, and the state of indie games.