148: Carving Out Some Time with Adam Robinson-Yu (Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival)

148: Carving Out Some Time with Adam Robinson-Yu (Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival)

Author: The Secret Lives of Games October 24, 2025 Duration: 1:28:29

Laura, Rob, and Sarah chat with Adam Robinson-Yu about The Annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival, a communal and virtual festival experience hosted every ~October for the last six years. We discuss the logistics of running a seasonal multiplayer game, encouraging emergent interactions through limited tools, highlighting pumpkin artistry, expressing embodiment in digital space, building secrets over time, and more!

NOTE: If you want to avoid spoilers of this year's additions to the game, skip the section from 1:12:40 to 1:22:00!

Audio edited by Dylan Shumway

Discussed in this episode:

Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival
https://adamgryu.itch.io/pumpkin-carver 

Laura E. Hall's 31 Days of Halloween newsletter
https://buttondown.com/31daysofhalloween 

Adam's Itch
https://adamgryu.itch.io/ 

Adam's Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/adamgryu.bsky.social


https://eggplant.show/ 

https://discord.gg/eggplant 

https://www.patreon.com/eggplantshow 

https://www.youtube.com/eggplantshow 


Ever wonder what really happens between the initial spark of an idea and the final product you play? The Secret Lives of Games pulls back the curtain, offering a rare, unvarnished look at the creative journey. Each episode is built around a candid conversation with a game creator, moving far beyond simple promotion to explore the messy, beautiful, and often surprising realities of their work. You’ll hear about the late-night breakthroughs, the frustrating dead ends, and the personal philosophies that shape the games we love. This podcast is less about reviews or news and more about understanding the human effort behind the pixels and code. It’s for anyone who’s curious about the art and craft of game development, whether you’re a seasoned player, an aspiring designer, or simply fascinated by creative processes. Listen in for genuine stories about problem-solving, narrative design, artistic choices, and the intricate process of building interactive worlds. These are the detailed, behind-the-scenes discussions that reveal how games truly come to life.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Secret Lives of Games
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