The Game Developers' Library
The Game Developers' Library
Podcast Description
A regular "book-club" style podcast where Joe Baxter-Webb [Indie Game Clinic] chats with a range of guest co-hosts about the books we think game developers should read (or at least know the gist of!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
Focuses on game design literature, ethics in gaming, and industry insights with episodes covering influential works such as Raph Koster's 'A Theory of Fun For Game Design' and Derek Yu's 'Spelunky', exploring both craft and philosophical elements relevant to game development.

A regular “book-club” style podcast where Joe Baxter-Webb [Indie Game Clinic] chats with a range of guest co-hosts about the books we think game developers should read (or at least know the gist of!)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Buy Books But Not From Bezos: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/indiegameclinic
IGC Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indiegameclinic
Music:
GDL Theme created by Joe Baxter-Webb especially for the show. No Generative AI was used.
The music during the ad break was Backdrop Lady by John Runefelt, licensed via Epidemic Sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NkdfV5NQxw
Games in the Book:
Elite: https://playclassic.games/games/space-simulation-dos-games-online/play-elite-online/
Rogue: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/rogue-4n/play-4n
Spelunky: https://playclassic.games/games/platform-windows-games-online/spelunky/
Dwarf Fortress: https://store.steampowered.com/app/975370/Dwarf_Fortress/
Caves of Qud: https://store.steampowered.com/app/333640/Caves_of_Qud/
AI Dungeon: https://aidungeon.com/
Games in the Book We Neglected to Discuss:
Black & White: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/postmortem-lionhead-studios-i-black-white-i-
Creatures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-6DzI-krUQ
Additional Resources on Key Topics:
Mike Cook ProcGen Talk 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3daNITP9vBc
Mike Cook ProcGen Talk 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SGEcrRFuv4
ProcJam on itch.io: https://itch.io/jam/procjam
Drunk Cats in DF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yWf6BHqiWM
Probability Curves with Dice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEW6OufmGfs
Wave Function Collapse explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI_y2GAlQFM
Redblock Games Perlin Maps: https://www.redblobgames.com/maps/terrain-from-noise/
Cyclic Dungeon Generation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wvkTT-6P3Q
Doom Level Progress Diagrams: https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/100569-level-progress-diagrams-%E2%80%93-2002ado/
Perlin Noise explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMj3WU4gORI
Spelunky Level Gen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqk5Zf0tw3o
Article on “Yomi”: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/what-is-yomi-
Jamie Cheng interview on Designer Notes: https://soundcloud.com/idlethumbs/designer-notes-jamie-cheng
Derren Brown vs 9 Chess Players: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAXIubSTkc
Design/Play/Disrupt at the V&A https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/videogames?srsltid=AfmBOopAVyltddhnMhkoRQrXIT01B80O1KNmBq8zMCDYpmq0PKb7GRv4
Engelstein on Loss Aversion at GDC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_1YcCcBVfY&t=2958s
Other Games Mentioned
Map Painter ’84: https://acellular.itch.io/map-painter-84
Elite Dangerous: https://store.steampowered.com/app/359320/Elite_Dangerous/
Populous: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populous_(video_game)
Dungeon Keeper: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1996630/Dungeon_Keeper_Gold/
Rimworld: https://store.steampowered.com/app/294100/RimWorld/
Bad North: https://store.steampowered.com/app/688420/Bad_North_Jotunn_Edition/
Baldurs Gate 3: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086940/Baldurs_Gate_3/
Disco Elysium: https://store.steampowered.com/app/632470/Disco_Elysium__The_Final_Cut/
Skyrim: https://store.steampowered.com/app/489830/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim_Special_Edition/
Alien Isolation: https://store.steampowered.com/app/214490/Alien_Isolation/
Arc Raiders: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1808500/ARC_Raiders/
Fable 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_III
Oregon Trail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pze05Fz_rh8&t=1s
Tom’s itch.io: https://tchom.itch.io/
Joe’s Stuff:
Golem Gourmet on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4209800/Golem_Gourmet/
Strange Voyage on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/strangevoyage.bsky.social
ThanetGuide on X: https://x.com/ThanetGuide
Joe’s article of Baldur’s Gate 3 and the silliness of seeing D&D as “IP” when it’s also a pre-designed ruleset: https://medium.com/@indiegameclinic/dungeons-dragons-isnt-just-i-p-the-real-game-dev-lessons-of-baldur-s-gate-3-c086bc6c4f35
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.