This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each week, a guest on the show talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that forged connections with others and games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints! 

Today's guest is Chris Crawford, an iconic figure in the history of videogames. Chris was a visionary creator in a time when the industry was still finding it's feet and when anything seemed possible. Many of his design ideas and principles are still taught and read by new developers, and his influence can be seen through the generations. Not least of which in the annual Game Developer's Conference which Chris founded in 1987. The first GDC was in his living room.   

His longing for videogames to broaden their horizons and his desire for new ways of playing led him to leave the established community in 1992 to focus on pushing these boundaries himself. His mission was laid out in his now famous Dragon Speech where he implored videogame creators to reach for the impossible, and warned how cycles of refinement and redevelopment could lead to stagnation. 23 years later he continues his lofty task of creating games about people rather than things, with Siboot being the most recent example. 

We talk about his beginnings in game design,  working at Atari during the videogame crash, how he's currently building a tank (!), what prompted him to make the Dragon Speech, how he perceives stories as algorithms and why he thinks maths is the key to the future of our civilisation. We touch on Pacman, Balance of Power, Gossip, Civilisation and Papers Please. Dream well.

Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk

Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

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