Polygamer - A podcast of equality & diversity in gaming

Polygamer #128: Reflecting on Eight Years

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Ken Gagne

The Polygamer podcast launched in July 2014 to broaden the discussion of diversity and equality in gaming. Across eight years and 137 guests, hundreds of stories have been told, looking at everything from masculinity and polyamory to accessibility and ludomusicology.

In this final episode, I tie those stories together, bringing Polygamer to a close with reflections and clips from eight of my most memorable interviews.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 37:39 — 43.9MB) | Embed

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Polygamer #127: Helene Utterback on polyamory

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Helene Utterback is a practitioner and advocate of polyamory, or transparently having multiple romantic partners. As an alternative lifestyle to traditional monogamy, polyamory allows individuals to have various emotional and physical needs met by more than one person. It’s a form of romance rarely seen in video games, a medium that instead allows or encourages players to “romance” no more than one non-player character (NPC) at a time.

In this podcast, Helene and I chat about the communication tools and skills necessary to participate in polyamory; how polyamorous individuals work through feelings of jealousy, insecurity, and possessiveness; why society stigmatizes polyamory, leading it to be rarely represented in gaming; the game mods and expansions that allow polyamory to exist in games such as The Sims 4 and Stardew Valley; and how polyamory doesn’t reduce storytelling opportunities, but greatly expands it.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03:34 — 73.7MB) | Embed

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Polygamer #126: Aenne Schumann of Arcade Spirits

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Aenne Schumann is one of the narrative designers of Arcade Spirits and Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers, a pair of visual novels set in a fictional timeline where arcades still reign supreme. Both games feature a diverse cast of characters to meet and, optionally, romance, while telling stories of personal discovery and social justice. When not writing games or speaking on convention panels about romance in games, Aenne is a streamer for Stumptgamers and Rainbow Arcade and works by day as a licensed veterinary technician.

In this podcast interview, Aenne and I chat about how they and Arcade Spirits director Stefan Gagne divvied up the script; weaving social justice into game narrative; the storytelling options introduced by the Fist of Discomfort 2 minigame; how to know when it’s time to end a podcast; deciding what games to stream to Twitch and which to host on YouTube; juggling multiple jobs when living with ADHD; and an alternative history for full-motion video (FMV) games.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:19:55 — 92.5MB) | Embed

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Polygamer #125: Game to Grow

Posted on May 18, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Game to Grow is a non-profit that promotes the therapeutic, educational, and community growth benefits of gaming. With structured online sessions of Dungeons & Dragons and Minecraft, as well as their own tabletop game called Critical Core, Game to Grow teaches gamers of all ages and to become more confident, creative, and socially capable.

In this episode, Game to Grow executive director Adam Davis and director of education and training Dr. Elizabeth D. Kilmer join Ken to discuss the history of gaming therapy; what makes a game more conducive to therapeutic benefits; why Game to Grow is for everyone, not just those with diagnoses; what led Game to Grow to create Critical Core; how games such as Dark Souls and Celeste can encourage a growth mindset; and why de-escalation is a valuable skill, even (or especially) among collaborative players.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:28 — 74.8MB) | Embed

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Polygamer #124: Cyndi Wiley, Iowa State University’s Digital Accessibility Lead

Posted on April 20, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Cyndi Wiley is the Digital Accessibility Lead for Iowa State University’s Digital Accessibility Lab. Equipped with everything from screenreaders to Xbox consoles, the Lab helps students and faculty create, advocate for, and consume media that is accessible to users of all different abilities.

In this interview, Cyndi and I chat about how disability is a social construct; what the phrase “Nothing About Us, Without Us” means; why users need to be paid for accessibility testing; the distinction between accessibility and usability; whether accessibility diminishes a video game’s difficulty; how to test video games for accessibility; and whether video games are a civil right.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:27 — 74.7MB) | Embed

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Polygamer #123: Honey P. Rosenbloom of Friendship Garden

Posted on March 23, 2022 by Ken Gagne

Honey P. Rosenbloom is the executive director of Friendship Garden, an organization that supports developers from historically marginalized community with resources. A software developer themself, Honey believes in games as a gentle, playful, and sustainable way for players to connect with each other and themselves. Honey is also a founding member of the Alphabet Workers Union, consisting of and representing employees of Google and its parent company.

In this podcast, Honey and I chat about how to get diverse developers the media and recognition they deserve; how Friendship Garden supports developers with scholarships to attend GDC; what a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) does; the power of unions to encourage moral business practices; what a master’s degree in entertainment technology entails; the contrasts in Kentucky Route Zero; and Kickstarter’s use of blockchain technology.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:09:23 — 80.3MB) | Embed

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