Doomed to Fail…? | Behind the Scenes

We Started a Podcast | It’s a Behind the Scenes Story

Zach had the idea. You know him as the fantastic artist behind the Green Ember. Well, he recorded a bunch of our conversations as we prepped to share our new project and turned it into a podcast story series. It’s fun! If you wonder what it’s like to do try something audacious that might not work, then listen in!

Let’s hear from Zach:

Do you know what goes into making a game? (Would you mind telling us?) Ha! Joking!

In all seriousness, our Helmer book/video game project is enormous and taxing our team to its limits. If you’re interested in a behind the scenes glimpse at our roll-out, maybe you’d like to listen to this short podcast series. It’s a good way to bide the time (and better than biting your nails) while we await the final results of our Kickstarter. 

If you haven’t yet, support our Kickstarter to see how the Green Ember is going forth. If you have supported it, thank you. And feel free to check back every 37 seconds, like we do, to track the progress of our Bunny-Brawler Dungeon Crawler.

For the Mended Wood,

Zach Franzen, creator of Green Ember Goes Forth

The first episode, An Audacious Adventure…Doomed to Fail? gives you a peek behind the scenes on what it takes to grow Green Ember off the page.

Listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or iHeart Radio.

Form Follows Function

Our own Kelly Keller, managing editor at Story Warren, offers a powerful reflection on how form, purpose, and storytelling intersect in the world of gaming—and why it matters so much for families.

It’s a beautiful read, and a strong case for why projects like this need to exist.

How does this idea of “form follows function” intersect with what Story Warren is up to these days? We think it’s simple. If a game designer believes that a game is for having fun and enchanting the player with a good story, he will design a game that’s mostly about the fun and the story. It is the player who takes precedence.

If a game designer wants to make money, he will design a game that refuses to be left alone—one that asks for money to level up, one that calls the player back with increasing notifications, and one that pushes ad content to the forefront. It is the profit that takes precedence.

Continue reading Form Follows Function: Why We’re Making a Different Kind of Game.

More Interviews

I really hope you’ll listen to our new podcast, but it’s also been a real honor to be a guest on lots of others this month. Here are some you may want to check out!

• This Devoted Life | Stories That Shape Our Children/Advocate vs Accuser
• Mere Christians with Jordan Raynor
• The Good Clean Nerdcast with Love Thy Nerd
• Warrior Poet Society with John Lovell
• Read Clean YA with CJ Milacci
• & more.

Thank you to everyone who is supporting us in this endeavor. If you’ve backed, grab your goodies here.

I’m on your side,

Sam