On this episode we speak with Wyatt Moss-Wellington on his article with Paul Martin, titled “Benign Trials, Vexing Violations: Reading Humour in Puzzle Games.” We learn about benign violation theory and the role of psychological distance in creating humour out of tragedy and puzzles.

“Games all inherently have benign violations written into them, in that they’re forms of play that offer continuous attempts to frustrate one’s abilities, and resolving this stands in the way of progress. [...] Platform genres are unusually happy to frustrate players in their sense of progress [...] so they have a particular structure of threat to motor and cognitive skills…” - Wyatt Moss-Wellington

Manuel Garin speaks to us about his book chapter “On Nintendo’s Visual Humour: Slapstick Cinema and Comic Theatre in Super Smash Bros.” We chat about sight gags across film and games, slapstick, and consider the relationship between Buster Keaton and Mario. 

“[Nintendo] essentially does a comedy show. I think their marketing strategy is that, and it's super intelligent in my opinion, because it broadens audiences…” - Manuel Garin

On this episode of the podcast we talk with Daniel Hessler about the relationship between puzzles, jokes, and humour’s role in narrative design. Plus you get to learn the answer to the age-old Finnish riddle “One pig, two snouts: what is it?” 

“Being a designer, a writer, or a director - humour is very powerful and it is very difficult to create but it is a really important tool for anything to do with narrative, because narratives always change between catching people and distancing people from what you’re trying to tell them. [Narrative design] is an art about showing and hiding, and humour is very much about that…” - Daniel Hessler.

”On this episode of the podcast we sit down with Dooley Murphy and discuss humour in VR experiences, and how the cycle of suspense, curiosity, and surprise works across dramatic, action, and comedic gameplay through the concept of the ‘interactive gag’.

“Gags in games work for me because there’s no one there laughing at you, but it’s the game developer laughing with you.” - Dooley Murphy

On the second episode for this season, we sat down with Nele Van de Mosselaer, and got a chance to hear about their chapter, Comedy and the Dual Position of the Player in Video Games and Comedy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022).

Welcome back for the final season of the Humour & Games podcast series!

For this last run, we’re releasing full length discussions with the authors featured in Video Games and Comedy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022). For this first episode, we speak with Krista Bonello Rutter Giaponne, Tomasz Z. Majkowski & Jaroslav Švelch, the editors of the book, about their formative experiences with comedy in games, and what led them to work on this book.

This week, we have our final full interview for this batch of episodes, with Dr. Carly Kocurek. We had the chance to learn more about the interplay between humour, game technologies and moral panics.

Another week, another episode. This time around, we have our full interview with Karina Popp. Tune in to learn more about how humour in games crosses over with capitalism, irony and dolphins.

This week, we’ve got our interview with Dr. Aaron Trammell!

We had the chance to hear more about the differences between digital and analog games, the challenges of humor in tabletop and the power dynamics in those spaces.

Today we chat with Jamie MacDonald about Nordic Larp, Feminist Comedy Clubs, and Type 2 Fun!

This week, we have our full interview with Dr. Jaakko Stenros on Nordic Larp and the role of humour in dark or transgressive play.

This week, building on last week’s foundation, we take a look at how the form and impacts of humour can shift as games themselves can change. From digital to analog technologies, individual to group play, and the market considerations that can impact those changes.

Humour and Games is back with a new season!

This time around, we turn to the serious and silly uses of humour in social activism and pedagogy.

In this special episode of the podcast, we talk with Allison Kyran Cole & Dora Rogers about their upcoming game Alchemistresses!

Allison and Dora discuss the game’s design, as well as the ins and out of the specific kinds of laughs that come from self-discovery, feelings and the wacky scenarios that come from reincarnating as a magical-girl who might need to pose just right to get that special move off.

After a long break, we’re back with the final episode of season one. Audio issues won’t stop us from delivering. In this season finale, we’ve got our full interview with Osama Dorias!

Osama is a Senior Partner Relations Manager at Unity. He's also a game design teacher at Dawson College and a co-host of the Habibis podcast. Osama loves to empower people in expressing themselves through game making.

In this penultimate episode of the season, we’re thrilled to bring your our interview with Dr. Ida Toft!

Ida is a media artist who works with games and game-like sculptures, especially games that cater for not-quite-human and cross-species environments.

This week, we have the privilege of featuring our interview with Dr. Kishonna Gray!

Dr. Gray is an interdisciplinary, intersectional, digital media scholar whose areas of research include identity, performance and online environments, embodied deviance, cultural production, video games, and Black Cyberfeminism

Back for another episode! This week, we have an interview with Eva Toker!

Eva is the Chief Creative Officer at Rogue Harbour Game Studio. She has over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry and is a lifelong enthusiast for video games, art, and storytelling.

This week, we have someone close to the Concordia University community! It’s Dr. Pippin Barr!

Pippin Barr is a videogame maker, educator, and critic who lives and works in Montréal. He is an Assistant Professor of Computation Arts at Concordia University and the Associate Director of the Technoculture, Art, and Games (TAG) Research Centre.

Episode 11, up now! Listen to our full interview with Montreal-based game maker narF.

narF is a game designer by day and a podcaster by night. Interested in the decentralized web, planning the demise of the internet giants and making weird sounds with virtual synths on a Raspberry Pi.