This week, for our Christmas podcast, we discuss joy. Games should be fun, right - so why are so many so grim? Season's Greeting, y'all!Oleh inkle

What happens if Sherlock gets it wrong? When players are in control, designers need tricks to prevent the player from breaking the story.Oleh inkle

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?Oleh inkle

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?Oleh inkle

We hate crafting systems. Or do we?Oleh inkle

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?Oleh inkle

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.Oleh inkle

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/Oleh inkle

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

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...Oleh inkle

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/Oleh inkle

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.Oleh inkle

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.Oleh inkle

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

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

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.Oleh inkle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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…

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…

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.Oleh inkle

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.Oleh inkle

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

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

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?Oleh inkle

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

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/Oleh inkle

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.Oleh inkle

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

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/Oleh inkle

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/inkleStudiosOleh inkle

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/inkleStudiosOleh inkle

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/inkleStudiosOleh inkle

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, …

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…

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.…

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…

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…