DGC Ep 428: Fez (part three)

DGC Ep 428: Fez (part three)

Author: Brett Douville and Tim Longo April 30, 2025 Duration: 1:09:54

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on 2012's Fez, looking at coming back to a puzzle game and perception in its many forms, among other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.

Sections played:
More cubes!

Issues covered: video game development ephemera, coming back to a puzzle game, not enjoying the map but maybe you should be, a text adventure map, secret doors, retraining your brain, key ordering, not knowing if you should walk away from puzzles, developing trust with the game, being motivated to solve every puzzle, when do you walk away, planning for the player to get stuck, adventure game slop, getting stuck in a more linear game, putting in scaled difficulty, getting to a point where you're stuck everywhere, different types of puzzling in the game, the steps of a particular puzzle, a meta discussion, a game about perspectives where the activity is manipulating perspectives, being proud of being in games, recontextualizing your perception, having to retrain your brain, overestablishment of genre, having confidence, working on top of a common language, recognizing that you have the tool, mechanics in a neighborhood, experimenting when you've been away, being able to innovate in more major ways, achievements/trophy hunting, being lost in the realm, Turing-complete redstone.

Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Sean Vesce, Zack Norman, Interstate '76, VGHF, LucasArts, Space Quest, The Witness, Blue Prince, MYST, Tomb Raider, Zelda, The Fool's Errand, Metroid (series), Hollow Knight, Kingdom Hearts (series), MegaMan (series), Mario (series), Colin from PA, PlayStation/Xbox/Steam, Minecraft, LostLake, Mors, Kaeon, Bvron, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. 

Notes:
Brett referred to Fez's year as 2013 or 2014, but clearly it was 2012. Whoops.

Next time:
Finish(?) the game?

Twitch
Discord
DevGameClub@gmail.com


Dev Game Club is a conversation between two working game developers who have been there. Each week, hosts Brett Douville and Tim Longo pick a classic video game from the past-often a title that shaped design thinking or introduced a new technical standard-and break it down from their professional perspective. Their discussions go beyond nostalgia, examining how these older titles functioned, why certain creative decisions were made, and what lasting impact they left on the industry. You’ll hear specific analysis of game mechanics, narrative structure, and technical achievements, all filtered through decades of hands-on development experience. The goal isn’t just to reminisce but to extract tangible lessons that are still relevant for creators and deeply interesting for passionate players today. They invite you to play the game in question alongside them, then settle in for a detailed, insider’s post-mortem. This podcast offers a unique blend of critical appreciation and practical insight, treating video game history as a living textbook. It’s for anyone who loves games and wants to understand the craft behind them on a deeper level. New episodes release regularly, diving into a different influential game from the archives.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Dev Game Club
Podcast Episodes
Discord Game Club Ep 9 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:34:45
It's the doldrums of summer this week, so we are reaching into the Discord Game Club interview archive. This time around, BioStats and Kaeon interview Calamity Nolan, a member of the Discord and usual interviewer who is…
DGC Ep 440: Papers, Please (part one) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:11
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on indie games, by looking at Papers, Please. We talk a bit about Lucas Pope, its creator, and then turn to the game's mechanics and themes. Dev Game Club…
DGC Ep 439: The Stanley Parable Bonus Interview with William Pugh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:52
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on indie games with an interview with William Pugh of Crows Crows Crows, one of the principal developers of The Stanley Parable. Dev Game Club looks at cla…
DGC Ep 438: Gone Home Bonus Interview with Karla Zimonja [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:58
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we revisit our series on Gone Home and walking simulators with an interview with Karla Zimonja. We talk about Karla's early career before transitioning to talking about Minerva's…
DGC Ep 437: Spelunky (part three) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:25
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series on 2D indie platformer-ish things with our final episode on Spelunky. Tim talks a little bit about Derek Yu's book, the rigor and how the game just plays d…
DGC Ep 436: Spelunky (part two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:06
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Spelunky, part of a larger series on independent games. Tim uses the B word about the game, and we talk about the rigor with which one approaches the ga…
DGC Ep 435: Spelunky (part one) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:30
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our major series on various indie games, now looking at some 2D action games with Spelunky. We talk very briefly about its director and then Tim marvels over a dynami…
DGC Ep 434: Cave Story (part two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:47
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we finish our series on 2004 indie classic Cave Story. We talk a lot about difficulty, a bit about story, and also just what a miracle a game like this is from one person. Dev Ga…
DGC Ep 433: Cave Story (part one) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:20
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new game in our series on independent games with 2004's Cave Story. We briefly set the game in its time, talk a little about its developer, and then talk about the gam…
DGC Ep 432: The Stanley Parable/Walking Simulators (part three) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:18
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we complete our series within a series on walking simulators, this time with The Stanley Parable. We talk about the multiple paths, the humor, the zany meta of it all, and then t…