As the world is ravaged by toilet paper shortages, Dan Thurot is joined by Erin Lee Escobedo to discuss the ins and outs of tactical starvation in her game Meltwater, how its spiritual grandparents would make for history’s oddest couple, the artificiality of some of gaming’s biggest narrative choices, and the difficulty (but value) of conceding defeat. Cheery stuff for the second episode of the Space-Biff! Space-Cast! Listen over here or download here. Timestamps and information about our next episode can be found after the jump.

Timestamps

2:33 — Meltwater as an elevator pitch

4:36 — the inspirations behind Meltwater

12:19 — Thomas Malthus and starvation

38:06 — board games as models of systems and feelings

43:32 — Spec Ops: The Line and moral decisions in games

54:00 — conceding in games

Next time, Dan chats with a longtime personal inspiration.

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