The award that changes the lives of its winners

Plus: a limited, hand-numbered launch poster by Sonny Ross

Programming note: For launch day, Post Games is live early. Moving forward, new Post Games episodes will premiere on Fridays at 5 PM ET on Patreon. The free edition will be published the following Monday at 5 PM ET. For example, Patreon subscribers will hear the next episode — on the abundance of porn and lewd games — this Friday; free subscribers will hear it next Monday evening.

This week on Post Games, “You won the biggest award in indie games. Now what?”

• Act 1: The history of indie games and its biggest award, The Independent Games Festival’s Seamus McNally Grand Prize

• Act 2: An interview with the latest IGF Grand Prize winners about how post-award life changes — and stays the same

• Act 3: The news of the week, including incredible and rare games you can now play in English

• Plus: For Patreon subscribers, a bonus interview: The story of the high school kids who won the first-ever IGF Grand Prize in 1999 for Fire and Darkness. One of the game’s creators hopped on a call and shared what became of the team and their lost game

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Image: Outer Wilds, winner of the 2015 IGF Grand Prize (Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive)

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Subscribe to Post Games on Patreon. Keep the show alive, get tons of cool stuff, and listen to new episodes early!

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A bonus episode: the Post Games FAQ

Featuring: An interview with Platformer’s Casey Newton on indie journalism

Want to know more about what’s happening behind the scenes at Post Games? Curious where the show is heading in its first year? Wondering if you should subscribe to the Post Games Patreon? “Episode 0” serves as an audio FAQ. Structured like a traditional episode, this podcast prequel features an interview with Platformer founder and Hard Fork co-host Casey Newton about independent journalism's history, function, and value.

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Reference materials:

Act 1: The IGF

• A web memorial for Seamus McNally at Gamedev.net, including photos of the family accepting the IGF Grand Prize and Seamus standing alongside John Cormack and his Ferrari. Cormack

• A letter by Cormack on meeting Seamus through the Starlight Foundation

• Helsing’s Fire

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Act 2: Consume Me:

• Consume Me on Steam

• Jenny's guide to prototyping personal experience

• Jenny’s 2017 GDC talk “Put a Face on It: The Aesthetics of Cute.”

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Act 3: News of the Week

One of my fave newsletters, Read Only Memo. covered the brand new localization of Sakura Wars 2. To quote a review that ROM found: “Sakura Wars 2 is a shining light not just of RPGs but games as a whole. It's a triumphant masterpiece, and every day I try to live my life a little bit more like it.”

Also localized: Princess Crown, a beloved Sega Saturn game made by the team that would become Vanillaware – 13 Sentinels!

Other exciting localizations: Ganbare Goemon 2

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Surprise: We have a (limited edition) launch poster

The immensely talented illustrator Sonny Ross designed a poster to celebrate the Post Games launch. You can buy a limited, hand-numbered print at the Post Games Etsy shop! Funds support the artist and the show’s production costs.

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Over at the Patreon…

• Bonus Act: The story of Fire and Darkness, the lost winner of the first IGF Grand Prize

  • Photos and stories from the very first IGF

• The free game of the week

  • (GTA - guns) + nude dude

• The week in video game links

• What else I’m playing, watching, and reading

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