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

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