John Murphy (Young Horses Games) on influences and innovation in video game design

Todd Nief's Show

As I mention in the intro to this podcast, I know John Murphy as the pilot of a 90s era Pontiac Trans Sport — aka the “Egg Van.”

The world, however, knows John as co-founder and gameplay designer at Young Horses, the indie games collective responsible for the much beloved hit Octodad.

As a lad, I was an obsessive and nerdy player of role-playing games for the Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Chrono Trigger…as well as “also rans” like Breath of Fire and Illusion of Gaia.

Since then, I haven’t kept up much with video games, so I was excited to pry into John’s creative process in a medium that I think is often underrated by outsiders in terms of its potential for expressiveness and imagination.

John was also part of a team that — despite all the odds — turned a school project into an international video-gaming hit. I can tell you that none of my school projects ever approached anything that anyone would possibly care about, so we also discussed the dynamics of building a real business from an unlikely beginning.

Check out more from John, Young Horses, and Bugsnax here:

• Twitter: @johmmmmmm | @YoungHorses
• Website: www.younghorsesgames.com | www.octodad.com | www.bugsnax.com

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Show Notes:

• [02:30] Is it ethical to leverage the powers of technology and understanding of human psychology to lock people into fantasy worlds?
• [15:18] How did Young Horses turn a school project into Octodad — a game with international success and renown?
• [24:22] How do different “scenes” work in the video game industry? How do these scenes lead to innovation and creativity?
• [33:51] The process of developing a video game involves a certain amount of “lock in.” How do developers get user feedback and iterate? How does this impact the creative process?
• [43:35] How do “influences” impact the creative process of game design? What games and developers influence John and Young Horses?
• [58:06] Existing between “genres” in the video game space — how does Young Horses balance the strangeness of their games with the playfulness?
• [01:08:45] Is finding the right genre necessary for success in marketing a video game?
• [01:21:12] How to play Young Horses’ games — including Bugsnax holiday 2020

Links and Resources Mentioned

• DePaul MFA in Game Design
• The Fireside Bowl
• Revealed preference
• The Last Dance
• “Loot boxes in online games and their effect on consumers, in particular young consumers” from Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies | European Parliament
• Opportunity cost
• Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• “Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for Its “Brain Training” Program” from Federal Trade Commission
• Independent Games Festival
• Andy Nelson
• Danny Polak
• Three 6 Mafia
• Ayn Rand
• Marty Friedman
• Megadeth
• Square
• Rare
• Like Rats
• Weekend Nachos
• James Brown
• Pixar
• Kero Kero Bonito
• “The 7 Romantic Comedy Movie Poster Clichés” from Empire
• Being John Malkovich
• “I build a world with fantasy master N.K. Jemisin” from The Ezra Klein Show
• Jonathan Blow
• Devon Scott-Tunkin

Games Mentioned

• World of Warcraft
• Fortnite
• Acid Couch
• SimTower
• Battletoads
• BioShock
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• GoldenEye 007
• Donkey Kong
• Pokémon Snap
• Ape Escape
• Call of Duty
• Ooblets