jordan bradley

And so here we are, the final episode of My Favourite Game - Season 6, the All-Ireland Season. And we pick up where we left off last week with Jordan Bradley of Amber Isle developer Ambertail Games talking of Neopets as her favourite game.

Tonight, the final episode of Season 6 delves into other creature character games like Pokemon, Tomogatchi, Spore and more; the black market economy of Neopets and more. We also delve a little more into Ambertail's upcoming life-sim Amber Isle - a lot of which has been covered already here, but there are a few other nuggets here too - and wholesome as a movement.

And that is Season 6 of My Favourite Game. As always, thank you so much for listening to this season and any other episode of My Favourite Game. You're all awesome.

Look after yourselves and take care. <3

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Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@TalunsArt

And so we come to the beginning of the end. The All-Ireland themed Season 6 of My Favourite Game hits its last game with Neopets and kicks off a two-part finale that has roots tied back to the start of 2020.

As I said announcing the full guest lineup back in January, the initial inspiration about doing a season of the show based on the Irish games industry harkens back to Ambertail Games co-founder Jordan Bradley and an interview with her for a Press Play episode that year, recorded before the start of the pandemic at the pan-Irish games event Run for the Border.

“I know we have talks and networking, but what if we had mini game jams where North and South came together or workshops or even having this event more often?,” she said when I asked about potential collaborations between the games industries in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. “I know that’s a whole lot of work with organisation, but the reward is far greater, I find.

“There are many ways I can see it changing. Even just online – let’s make a Discord server where we all come together because there’s one for North, one for South. Why not have an [All-Ireland] one? That would be cool.”

Two years on from that interview in Co Dundalk that gave the idea of doing an All Ireland season of the show, Bradley wraps up Season 6 with an in-person episode in Belfast talking of Neopets as her favourite game.

In the first of a two-part finale, we talk of the duality of a person such as with Jordan and how Neopets shaped that for her, the community built up around it, how the end of service of Flash has cratered the game as it is and a lot, lot more.

Links: Play Diaries|Twitter|Facebook|Patreon
Twitter: @JohnnyCullen|@TalunsArt

Over the past few years, but especially since the pandemic began and has gone on, an emerging trend has appeared within the games industry: cosy, wholesome games. These games have existed long before 2020, but in a time where the world has become a lot more cynical and scary thanks to outside events and in need of something comforting while we’ve been stuck inside for the better part of two years at this point, they’ve become a lot more prevalent.

But outside of games like Animal Crossing or other bigger games within the area, a subspace of smaller games in the wholesome space from independent developers was mainly overlooked. That was until a Twitter account started profiling these titles and grew a following off the back of it to the point where it now hosts online showcases showing them off, including its yearly annual Direct presentations during E3.

"I think that's like so one of the best things about the online showcases is that sort of accessibility," said Wholesome Games co-founder James Tillman on the advantages of hosting an online showcase like its headline Wholesome Direct event.

"It costs a fortune to come from Ireland or anywhere else to the US and there are passport issues and all these other things for showcasing in-person. Online, it's a way more level playing field - like there are language gaps sometimes, there's definitely time zones that are a problem. But it's something we really try to be mindful of."

Adds Ben Wassler of Ooblets developer Glumberland, itself a key game within the scene, on how Wholesome Games has helped shine a spotlight on these games: “That group of folks has been super supportive and kind to us and they work really hard to uplift game developers and support the community.

“We've been participating in their events and stuff since the beginning, but the key pillars of the movement are the individuals on their team”

In a special 90 minute long episode of Press Play, developers of wholesome games as well as key figures within Wholesome Games the community including co-founders Matthew Taylor, James Tillman and Wholesome Direct host Jenny Windom talk to Play Diaries on delving into the area, its growth, what comes next and a movement that could arguably become a full-blown genre in its own right, if not already.

Links: Play Diaries|Twitter|Facebook|Patreon

Mid-January

I’m on my way from my home in Derry, Northern Ireland – literally four days after launching Play Diaries – for a three hour trip across the border to the Republic of Ireland. Depending which way you’re going from in Derry, if you head east, you can be heading across into the border into Bridgend in Co Donegal within 15-to-20 minutes or Lifford – also in Donegal – in 45 minutes if you head south via the town of Strabane in Co Tyrone.

However, for this adventure, we’re having to go through Belfast to Dundalk for Run for the Border, a meet up between the Irish game development communities in both countries.

The event takes place in the shadow of Brexit two weeks after, but unbeknownst to what would happen months down the road with the worldwide Covid-19 outbreak. But before all of that, the event sees a jovial and friendly crowd as it hears from a pack of speakers on their respective works: how to make and publish your own boardgame, the experiences from funding some of Northern Ireland’s games scene, making 3D art on a budget and how the idea for Northern Ireland’s biggest games production ever came to be respectively.

Not to mention, chatting and nattering over a few drinks and a few slices of pizza. All that good craic.

“The mentality behind it was that we all became aware that the Northern Irish and the Republic of Ireland rarely get together on the island,” says Run for the Border lynchpin and Italic Pig boss Kevin Beimers. “We might go to San Francisco and bump into a few familiar faces at GDC, might do the same thing at gamescom, but in terms of the North going down to State of Play or the South coming up to the Belfast Media Festival, there’s not a lot of transfer there.

“It’s almost like it’s just a little bit too far away to spend a day on it, you save your money for another bigger event. So we thought if we could get the two teams together, we’re so close, it’s a two hour drive the there might be partnerships, there might be ways that different funds could be used against each other.”

Adds Vicky Potts, co-founder of Belfast-based Murder at Malone Manor developer Whitepot Studios: “The general vibe for Run for the Border, like it’s really got that kind of friendly, you know, everyone’s really excited to see each other type thing. When you arrive, you get these unrelated sort of trading cards almost. So it’ll be like different names for different games or TV shows and you have to sort of swap with other people to try and collect all of the same set.

“It’s got that sort of feel when you’re starting a new year at school or whatever, and you’re trying to find someone to trade Pokemon cards within the playground. Yeah, it’s good. It’s fun, friendly.”

In a special feature-length episode of Press Play, we delve into Run for the Border, how Northern Ireland’s biggest games production ever in Paleo Pines came into existence but almost didn’t (as already written about here, though this episode has more details and background than what’s in the piece), how Brexit will affect the scene and how both the North and South can collaborate together among several subject matters.