The Return of Couch Play at PAX East 2019

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The tenth annual PAX East was held last month, and I was honored to host two panels of brilliant speakers. One, “The Art of Craft: Inspiring Game Creations”, can be seen and heard on the Polygamer podcast. The other was “The Return of Couch Play”, looking at offline multiplayer as an alternative to online games such as Fortnite, PUBG, and Tetris 99.

Steam, PS+, and Xbox Live make it easier than ever to get matched online — yet gamers are increasingly rediscovering the appeal of local, offline play. What are the unique challenges and opportunities of taking a game offline? How do you design a game for competitive or cooperative gameplay on the same screen? We’ll look at how to innovate this ancient tradition and design a game that makes the most of couch play.

Featuring:

• Ken Gagne [Digital Content Developer, Gamebits]
• Tanya X. Short [Creative Director, Kitfox Games]
• Christoffer Holmgård [Director, Die Gute Fabrik]
• Danny Silvers [CEO, Lantana Games]
• Zachary Johnson [Code / Design, Space Mace LLC]
• Tommy Sunders [Art / Design, Space Mace LLC]

Watch the video above, or download the audio edition below or from Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Pandora, Spoke, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, or RadioPublic.