My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin

Luke Whittaker is a British game designer and creative director. With a background in animation and games design, he co-founded the BAFTA-winning indie studio State of Play in 2008, helping establish a reputation for meticulous, hands-on craft and playful experimentation. He was the creator and lead designer of Lumino City, the puzzle adventure built entirely from hand-made paper and card models, which won a BAFTA for Artistic Achievement.

Since then he has worked on a string of distinctive projects including the Apple Award-winning pinball painting game INKS and the paper-crafted puzzle games KAMI and its sequel. As writer, director, and lead artist on South of the Circle, he even travelled to Antarctica to research a deeply human Cold War love story. Now, with Spycraft, a 1960s spy adventure that blends a physical board with video game mechanics—and comeswith a physical gadget built to play it—he continues to blur the boundaries between digital play and physical craft.

Relevant Links:

Luke Whittaker & State of Play
State of Play Games – official site
State of Play – about the studio

Spycraft & the Board device
Spycraft – State of Play Games page
Spycraft – on the Board store
Board – the gaming device Spycraft runs on

South of the Circle
South of the Circle – State of Play Games page
South of the Circle – Steam
South of the Circle – Apple App Store

Luke's Perfect Console
North & South (1989) – Wikipedia
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure – Wikipedia
Sega Rally Championship – Wikipedia
ICO – Wikipedia
Firewatch – official site
Firewatch – Wikipedia

Other games and references mentioned
Lumino City – State of Play Games page
Samorost – Amanita Design
Machinarium – Amanita Design
KAMI 2 – State of Play Games page
Shadow of the Colossus – Wikipedia
Oxenfree – Night School Studio
RetroPie – retro gaming on Raspberry Pi
The Turner Contemporary – Margate
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Rob Dubbin is a comedy writer and game designer whose work spans late-night television, journalism, and interactive storytelling. After studying History and Literature at Harvard University, he began his career in comedy, becoming an Emmy-winning writer on The Colbert Report and later The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Away from television, his writing has appeared in publications including The New Yorker and The Verge.

More recently, he has moved into game design and tools, becoming the co-creator of Scripto, a collaborative writing platform for format-driven work—from television scripts to video games—where he serves as Head of Games. His current projects include co-hosting The Secret Lives of Games podcast and he recently launched the boardgame Starfriends. Across all of his work, he has become a thoughtful advocate for clarity and economy in writing—particularly in games, where he believes every word must earn its place.

SHOW LINKS:

Rob Dubbin
Rob Dubbin – official website
Rob Dubbin – work & projects
Roblemsolving – Rob's blog
Rob Dubbin – itch.io

Brainfruit Studio / Star Friends
Brainfruit Studio shop
Star Friends – official site
Star Friends – Kickstarter campaign

Scripto
Scripto – collaborative writing software
Scripto – about
Scripto – eight takes on game writing

The Secret Lives of Games / Eggplant
Eggplant – the Secret Lives of Games podcast network
Eggplant – about
The Secret Lives of Games – on Apple Podcasts

Rob's Perfect Console
ZZT – zzt.org archive and community
ZZT (1991) – Internet Archive
Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters – open source port
Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters – Steam
Master of Magic Classic – Steam
Master of Magic Classic – GOG
Slice & Dice – developer site
Slice & Dice – itch.io
Slice & Dice – Steam
Caves of Qud – official site
Caves of Qud – Steam
Caves of Qud – itch.io

Other games and references discussed
Letterboxd – film rating and diary app
Wavelength – party game
Apples to Apples – official site
Game Developers Conference (GDC)
Harvard University
The Colbert Report – Comedy Central
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – CBS
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Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025
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George Osborn is a journalist, strategist, and analyst whose work explores the increasingly fraught intersection of video games, business, and politics. He has worked as a reporter, consultant, and as Head of Campaigns and Communications at Ukie, the UK trade body for games, developing a rare vantage point on how the medium shapes, and is shaped by, power.

He is also the founder of Half-Space Consulting and the editor of the Video Games Industry Memo newsletter, where he examines the forces driving the modern games business. In his new book, Power Play: Video Games, Politics, and the Battle for Global Influence, he argues that games have become far more than entertainment: they are now digital third places, contested spaces in which authoritarian regimes, populists, and extremists seek to wield influence.

LINKS:

George Osborn:

The book: Power Play – buy via Bookshop.org UK (supports independent booksellers)Power Play – Waterstones
Power Play – Bookshop.org US

The newsletter: Video Games Industry Memo – George's newsletter (free to subscribe)

The Games:

GoldenEye 007 (N64, 1997)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64, 2000)
Championship Manager 01/02
Mass Effect 2
Balatro

Also mentioned Bellingcat – investigative journalism outlet founded by Eliot Higgins
Support My Perfect Console on Patreon
Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025
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Gabríel Ólafs is an Icelandic pianist, composer, and producer whose work blends classical tradition with fantasy and a strikingly modern sense of atmosphere. Born in Reykjavík in 1998, he began playing piano at the age of five, receiving both classical and jazz training before emerging as a recording artist while still a teenager.

His debut album, Absent Minded, was released in 2019, and his subsequent work has expanded steadily in scope—from the solo intimacy of Piano Works to the folk-inspired Lullabies for Piano and Cello, which grew out of a 1906 Icelandic songbook he discovered in an antique shop.

He is also the co-founder of the Reykjavík Orkestra, and has quickly become one of the most distinctive young voices in contemporary instrumental music. Most recently, with Polar, he has moved further into speculative, atmospheric composition, drawing in part on the dreamlike emotional language of video games.

Gabriel Ólafs:
Website Releases Archive Spotify Apple Music YouTube Instagram

Polar:
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music Buy CD (Decca Classics) Buy from Decca Records US YouTube Playlist

Polar: Traveler's Log:
Listen on Spotify

Polar: Building A World:
Watch on YouTube

The Waves:
Listen on Spotify

Forza Horizon 6:
Official Site Xbox

Other Gabriel Ólafs Releases / Labels:
Oli Records Decca Classics Releases Archive

Jóhann Jóhannsson / IBM 1401:
Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Nils Frahm:
Website Spotify

Gabriel's Perfect Console: World of Warcraft The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered God of War Death Stranding Baldur's Gate 3

Other Games Discussed The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Diablo IV Metal Gear Solid 2
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Elise Kova is a fantasy novelist whose rise from online serial writer to international bestseller has made her one of the defining voices in modern fantasy. She began writing young, producing her first novella in sixth grade, and later returned to storytelling in earnest when she started Air Awakens in 2012 as a hobby, posting chapters online and building an early community of devoted readers. After querying the book without success, she chose to publish it independently in 2015, a decision that gave her full creative control and transformed her career.

Within a year she had become a full-time author, and soon afterwards her work began appearing on bestseller lists, from USA Today to the New York Times. Since then, her novels have reached readers around the world, selling millions of copies and spawning a string of beloved fantasy series, including the Loom Saga, Married to Magic, Dragon Cursed and Arcana Academy. Next, she returns to that world with Prince of Swords, one of her most eagerly awaited books yet, publishing in July 2026.

Elise Kova – Website & Books:
Elise Kova's official website
Elise Kova – About & FAQ
Prince of Swords – Elise Kova's website
Prince of Swords – Penguin Random House

The Games:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Final Fantasy X
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Persona 3
Bloodborne

Music mentioned:
Zedd – Clarity (Spotify)

Simon's books & projects:
Trial of the Space Invaders: The Case that Changed Video Games
Look for the Light: The Last of Us Anthology – Tune & Fairweather (pre-order)
Support My Perfect Console on Patreon

Next week's guest Gabríel Ólafs – Polar (Spotify)
Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.