Hey Chat!

Today Jess sits down with hilarious Twitch streamer, Youtuber, podcaster and certified Tamagotchi fanatic Joseph Birdsong, AKA Halfmoon Joe!

They discuss Nancy Drew subculture, the realities of streaming for a living while (mostly) keeping your sanity, and the futility of trying to get through missions in Red Dead Redemption 2 while your unhinged (but amazing) chat actively spawns old maiden-type mobs.

Then during Joe's Stupid Little Game we find out which Tamagotchi is most likely to start a Fight Club!

You can catch Halfmoon Joe on Twitch, YouTube, The Show with Sam and Joe, and Bluesky. Join the HMJ community, it's a hoot!

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Stupid Little Games is a podcast all about gaming from the inside out!

Each week, I (Jess Pardue) sit down with an insider from various parts of the gaming industry, from indie to AAA. We talk about our current gaming obsessions, tell stories from projects past and present, and then play a Stupid Little Game I write especially for each guest.

On this week's very special episode, Audio Engineer Gabe has taken the reigns and interviews Jess for a change! Jess is completely comfortable with being on the other side of the microphone . . . yeah let's go with that.

They chat about Gabe's two rules for his Baldur's Gate 3 characters (Spoiler alert: one of them is being naked at all times), how Jess went from retail in SC to video games in NYC, and how operations management skills translate so well to being a good producer. They also wax poetic about making this very podcast.

Then they play a Stupid Little Game all about cats in video games! (He's really perpetuating the "Jess is a crazy cat lady" stereotype. What did we expect from Jess' nemesis?)

Great job hosting this week Gabe, but you still suck ass. You've gotta belv in youself.

Special thanks to today's sponsor:

Phantoms, Ghosts, & Other Heartbreaks - a debut novel by Beth Morton. You can find it on Amazon paperback and kindle. Available now!

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Stupid Little Games is a podcast all about gaming from the inside out!

Each week, I (Jess Pardue) sit down with an insider from various parts of the gaming industry, from indie to AAA. We talk about our current gaming obsessions, tell stories from projects past and present, and then play a Stupid Little Game I write especially for each guest.

Thanks so much for listening!

Hey y'all, onboarding is hard...

So this week Jess sits down with Xbox Principal User Researcher and onboarding expert Dr. Deborah Hendersen!

They talk about the psychology behind onboarding for all types of games, Dark Souls being a bastard (but that's a good thing!), and the importance of playtesting, playtesting, playtesting.

Then they play a Stupid Little Game about the psychology of playground games, and Jess learns about the concept of puppyguarding. (Spoiler alert it's the rated G version of teabagging...)

You can follow Deborah on LinkedIn or, if you are a game developer of any kind (indie to AAA) and would like to help shape the future of Xbox game development, you can sign up here! United States - International.

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Stupid Little Games is a podcast all about gaming from the inside out!

Each week, I (Jess Pardue) sit down with an insider from various parts of the gaming industry, from indie to AAA. We talk about our current gaming obsessions, tell stories from projects past and present, and then play a Stupid Little Game I write especially for each guest.