Yahtzee Interviews Andrew Shouldice, Creator of Tunic

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Yahtzee interviewed the developers of three of his favorite games of 2022 at GDC 2023.
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[@lnt305]

Must be a lot less uncomfortable, interviewing people who made games you actually liked 😄

[@TalesWithHaggis]

Right?! I wanna see him talk to David Cage.

[@jaykolokithas9329]

​@WasteOfAmmunition there'd be no interview just the sound of yahtzee guiding his teeth while desperately trying to ask one sided question. Like "why are you terrible?""have you considered not doing....*gestures at him broadly* literally any of this?"

[@helplmchoking]

​@@TalesWithHaggis I think graphic stabbings are against KZbin's ToS, sadly. I'd very much like to see that

[@rolandointeriano3007]

Seeing Yahtzee interact with other living beings and trying to communicate with them is fascinating.

[@dosbilliam]

Heh, you should go back and watch the John Romero interview. :D

[@helplmchoking]

​@@dosbilliam Romero himself is at least as bad 😂

[@Nathanael_Forlorn]

I didn't quite know what my uncanny feeling was, but you hit the nail right on its head.

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

I love how a seeming awkwardness to create small talk skips right over the fluff and we get the kind of interview we are used to when it comes to "real" forms of culture, like movie, books or theater. It is still unusual that games can be a relevant experience outside our little indie bubble and most game "journalists" are a lot like sport "journalists", comparing numbers and blabbering about redundant games.

[@Gboy86ify]

The “trying” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

[@CheesecakeMilitia]

I hope Andrew Shouldice doesn't feel too pigeonholed by including crazy secrets in all his games from now on - he's really good at it and I'd love to see more of that aspect in games. The Outer Wilds crew also do a similar schtick very well.

[@raph2550]

Yeah, looking at Tunic, he looks like a master at it so I think it's good if he keeps going in the same direction

[@bird3713]

In ZP, people are always breaking into Yahtzee's house to ask him questions - it's nice to see the reversal for once

[@2CPhoenix]

Tunic is so full of secrets, even the waveforms in the sound files spell things out

[@BobisOnlyBob]

"Content for no-one!"

[@seanw1783]

Tunic was such a gem. I was very hesitant to try it, but from the moment I first booted it up I was just captivated - it really made you feel like every tiny morsel of progress was something you werent meant to find/do (and therefore was more rewarding). I think the closest I've felt playing a game to that was all the way back when I first tried Fez

[@GameDevYal]

I feel like Tunic is a lot better than Fez at rewarding exploration, I remember figuring out the alphabet using the funny background event where a quick fox jumps over a lazy dog, going to the ruined cyberpunk city expecting to find hella lore, and being immensely disappointed when all the signs read out things like "EAT MEAT" and "WATCH OUT FOR BLACK HOLES"

[@mr.matthews8002]

Tunic has got to be one of my favorite games, it was able to evoke that sense of mystique that was intended, and the final secret for the last bit of completion makes you feel like you're really smart too.

[@kingt34]

Tunic's in my top 5 games of all time for sure, I just can't stop thinking about it or talking about it, I really really love it.

[@wifishark8]

I always love seeing these interviews, so wholesome.

[@TheMarkoSeke]

Considering he started working on the game in 2015, he definitely deserves a break.

[@frempy4426]

I tried his 2016 prototype at a computer science student beerhall event and it was really cool, even back then! Excited to finally play the game when I get the chance...

[@335449286]

I was worried these interviews would be really long and complex but I like this style of interview of a couple minutes with really concise answers

[@stpirate89]

It's good that they don't outstay their welcome, but I'd have liked a bit more to them, there's only like 3 questions in that one. The length of a ZP could be good.

[@Colopty]

Long and complex interviews probably wouldn't fit into a GDC schedule anyway. Major networking events like that tend to involve talking to hundreds of people over just a few days.

[@huntercrindson3927]

Imagine if he interviewed the developers of Hellpie. Yahtzee: So your game was kind of fun and.... Developer: and? Yahtzee: Utterly disgusting.

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

Yeah, he mentioned it is fun to play, but very gross. I can agree having done the 100%.

[@huntercrindson3927]

@@AlmightyPolarBear I also 100% but couldn't eat jelly for like a week....

[@GameDevYal]

I don't think it's gonna be possible to top Tunic's final "it was right in front of you all along!" moment, it's the best videogame secret I've ever seen.

[@raph2550]

Thx for the subtitles

[@rossseed1451]

Loved this game:) thank you so much!

[@BalthierOnette]

Every good game needs some "secret legend"s. It gives their players something to explore, find, and achieve on their own, without being hand-held like most modern experiences.

[@TheCreepypro]

really cool to hear from the creator of this awesome game

[@Zooptopus27]

I hope this guy has another game in the works. Tunic is a work of art and an incredibly polished game. It will be remembered fondly by others, and it will definitely stand the test of time.

[@pepi560]

I think tunic is very much a game

[@zennvirus7980]

Now imagine Yahtzee interviewing someone from the AAA industry...

[@Agent00Pi]

I thought he got along really well with John Romero?

[@longdongsilver3267]

Nothing really to say, but I enjoyed this video. Thanks for making and sharing it.

[@IAmTheAce5]

“Couldn’t have done it without you“ 🤣

[@Tsunamidusher]

Surprised Tunic had no influences from feeling of playing foreign games. I played and beat many Japanese titles from the SNES, GBA and PSP era. Really thought he woulda touched on that... I guess some things are just universal, even from the same regions

[@gothlover73]

This game made me so mad and I've never felt more accomplished when beating a video game. The librarian was a pain in my butt!

[@kuukeli]

yay

[@bluemooninthedaylight8073]

Ooh, a fellow C64 user. The adventure games from that era not only told you little but were also very brutal. And I would argue games like Forbidden Forest and Aztec Adventure are precursors to early survival horror games like Alone in the Dark. You are meek, alone, and if not careful, ya gonna get squished.

[@pacificblue5461]

Begin from the starting point? All right well, it all began in December 1983 with the birth of a babyvboy in a hospital in Rochester New York

[@starplatinum7753]

I was holding my breath for Andrew to mention Tunic 2. Perhaps 2nic? 😉

[@hanniballahr94]

Excellent game. Really the only part I didn't like was the combat mechanics, but the puzzles were excellent!

[@erakfishfishfish]

Agreed. I hated the sluggishness of the combat controls and the difficulty of the bosses. (They came across as cheap and unfair, as opposed to something like Cuphead where the bosses are difficult, but the deaths always felt like my fault.) The exploration of the game, however, was among the best I ever played.

[@chrishyde952]

2 secret 2 legend

[@Hostilenemy]

Jin and Tunic.

[@ironsoul1990]

Lucas Pope next!

[@matosz23]

Oh wow, a Yahtzee in the wild. Fascinating.

[@Jagerbomber]

You too.

[@darkjanggo]

seeing that this is the facet of the game they focused on, it makes me sad that Yahtzee never played Rain World

[@seanmcgrath2049]

2:14 Ask From Software how unhealthy doing one thing very well is XD they've been doing pretty well for themselves re-making essentially the same game for the last fifteen years.

[@cipherpunk7409]

Someone once said that the purpose of gameplay is to hide secrets.

[@anthonykiefer1797]

Did he just say recreational programming?

[@BumpySoup]

I'm no expert but I bet andrew actually could have done it without yahtzee

[@robertlinke2666]

having good reviews makes a game have more reach. so maybe he could have dont it without particular reviewers, but not without reviews, if that makes sense

[@HUNbullseye]

I'm no expert either but it really seems like a recurring joke as cold open.

[@aldar8240]

no, I don't think he could've gotten onto yahtzee's top 5 games list without yahtzee, personally

[@BumpySoup]

@@aldar8240 I hadn't considered that he was talking about the list rather than the game. my lack of expertise is showing.

[@FisherKing9633]

@@BumpySoup Nah man. Honestly I thought you were referring to Yahtzee’s Top 5. Made me laugh.

[@yolo-lz2qv]

The video focus though. Ouch

[@nickg131]

Stray beating out tunic in the game awards is just proof that those awards mean nothing. Stray is barely a game. Sure it's pretty, and the cat is cute. But it's mostly..walk, hit contextual button prompt. Yay all done. Even if you don't ENJOY the game itself (how tf?), Tunic is OBJECTIVELY better designed. It's brilliant really. The intricacies of the puzzles, having both set puzzles that are clearly puzzles and also environmental ones (a la The Witness), the manual mechanic, the show don't tell storytelling. All of it. Side note: I got to the point where I knew what >part< the language symbols meant, but not what >thing< within that part, and had to look up a guide for full translation. Really kickass job with the "I invented a new writing system" lol

[@Stedman75]

I want to see Yatzee interview John Romero, or any of the other people hes been tearing a new arsehole for almost 2 decades

[@PowerZordan]

You'll be glad to learn that a video called "Yahtzee Interviews John Romero About Empire of Sin" exists

[@ashleysmith38]

Tunic 2 whatever it is will be an interesting game tho just making a number 2 to a game like that feels like its missing the point so im curious as to his next project

[@Jagerbomber]

Threenic 3nic

[@Rebar77_real]

I hope he had time to pick some brains and not have to rush everywhere. These are almost too short, but thanks!

[@Ivanselectsongs]

HONEST ARCHEOLOGY

[@ytm23ak]

British people pronounce it Chunic, that’s the rule.

[@nauziraf]

Weird, my brain is telling me Yahtzee is smilling. Must be that covid brain fog thing!

[@tommysalty5864]

I'm loving these short interviews, great idea! Also, I'm totally for wearing masks, it's safer and simply respectful to other people.

[@tylerwarner3677]

Recreational programming

[@eleccy]

At this point in time, masking seems just a little bit overly cautious.

[@randomdude8202]

Was it sarcasm at the beginning, or Yahtzee really had an impact on game success? It is hard to tell due to masks

[@Cryten0]

These are a tad token. IE feel like keeping up appearances.

[@miloother3661]

First

[@duffeknol]

In Yahtzee's own words: you are a champion of the human race.

[@projectkairos2231]

Why are they wearing masks???

[@HUNbullseye]

Cons are notorious of people getting the cold/flu.

[@jaydamalley3398]

"California" Nough said.

[@Rinienna]

Small thing called a pandemic and ongoing health crisis that a decent amount of people are still observant of, especially in big crowded spaces.

[@jaydamalley3398]

@@Rinienna Nope, it's over. And still they wear them, despite the lack of evidence on whether they even work.

[@Feeble_cursed_one]

​@@jaydamalley3398 You strike me as the kind of fella who will sneezes in someone's face, good news that masks are a great defense against snobs like you : - )

[@jerrodshack7610]

Tunic is one of the best games I've ever played