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Listen "Kai Oliver (201) - Interactive Theatre, Play with Purpose, and Co-Ops"
Episode Synopsis
Hi everyone, and welcome to today’s episode of the Indie Dev Game Break Podcast. Today’s guest is Kai Oliver. Kai hails from the United Kingdom originally and now moves between Halifax, Nova Scotia and the UK. Kai is a Game Designer and Developer with a range of skills and projects behind him. Kai is also a co-founder of the participatory theater partnership BAGEL+BALLOON.
Among his professional pursuits Kai also found the time to enter the Just Play Jam in 2023, focused on themes of justice and accountability, where their team's game Drawing up Dust won an award, and he traveled down to SXSW, Texas to accept and showcase the game.
The recent devastating rounds of layoffs in the game industry has inspired Kai to dig deeper into co-operatives, specifically worker-owned organizations with highly democratic governance, minimal pay gaps, and a focus on growing the working conditions over profits as a metric of success.
Our conversation included:
Moving to Nova Scotia from the UK
His journey into the indie game industry
Party games and handcrafted games
Interactive theater and VR combined with real world spaces
Indie Game Co-Operatives
SXSW and his award for the game Drawing Up Dust
His trip through the the Dust Bowl of America to SXSW
And of course, the top 5 games that influenced him
Resource Links:
Affinity Photo / Designer - https://affinity.serif.com/
Audacity Audio Editing - https://www.audacityteam.org/
Freesound: https://freesound.org/
Trello Project Management: https://trello.com/
More on Kai Oliver and BAGEL+BALLOON:
Website: https://kaioliver.co.uk/
BAGEL+BALLOON: https://bagelandballoon.org/
Drawing up Dust on Itch: https://gradiustheguide.itch.io/drawing-up-dust
Twitter or Twitch: @Kraydius
Discord: @Kai_McDulover
Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com
Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228
Follow Stray Voltage Games / Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca
Stray Voltage Games on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2221440/Kip_and_Odosan
Among his professional pursuits Kai also found the time to enter the Just Play Jam in 2023, focused on themes of justice and accountability, where their team's game Drawing up Dust won an award, and he traveled down to SXSW, Texas to accept and showcase the game.
The recent devastating rounds of layoffs in the game industry has inspired Kai to dig deeper into co-operatives, specifically worker-owned organizations with highly democratic governance, minimal pay gaps, and a focus on growing the working conditions over profits as a metric of success.
Our conversation included:
Moving to Nova Scotia from the UK
His journey into the indie game industry
Party games and handcrafted games
Interactive theater and VR combined with real world spaces
Indie Game Co-Operatives
SXSW and his award for the game Drawing Up Dust
His trip through the the Dust Bowl of America to SXSW
And of course, the top 5 games that influenced him
Resource Links:
Affinity Photo / Designer - https://affinity.serif.com/
Audacity Audio Editing - https://www.audacityteam.org/
Freesound: https://freesound.org/
Trello Project Management: https://trello.com/
More on Kai Oliver and BAGEL+BALLOON:
Website: https://kaioliver.co.uk/
BAGEL+BALLOON: https://bagelandballoon.org/
Drawing up Dust on Itch: https://gradiustheguide.itch.io/drawing-up-dust
Twitter or Twitch: @Kraydius
Discord: @Kai_McDulover
Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com
Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228
Follow Stray Voltage Games / Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca
Stray Voltage Games on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2221440/Kip_and_Odosan
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