Fireside Chat with Jakub Dvorský
summary
Amanita Design narrative: started as a one‑person studio and grows into 27 people across four teams, self‑publishing hand‑crafted adventures like Machinarium, Botanicula, Samorost, Creaks, Pilgrims and Happy Game. Development takes years: at least a year of ideation, months of art‑style prototyping, and heavy in‑house audio collaborations (Phlox, Hidden Orchestra, Joe Richardson). Studio abandons Flash and now uses Unity; current projects include Phonopolis, a dystopian city with a narrator (first use of text), plus a tabletop experiment. Independence, careful hiring, and rigorous playtesting drive decisions.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (30)
- 0:00Welcome
- 0:49Returning to live events
- 1:51Jakub’s path to game dev
- 3:48Czech animation influences
- 4:33Early career projects
- 6:43Founding Amanita Design
- 8:08Creative process behind games
- 11:25Narrative without words
- 13:56Sound and music in storytelling
- 16:03Growing to 27-person team
- 18:12Managing creative team
- 20:00Balancing management and creativity
- 21:06Pandemic impact on Amanita
- 22:30Current and upcoming games
- 26:11Remaining an indie studio by choice
- 28:16Indie scene evolution
- 31:12Marketing for indie games
- 33:03Playing other indie games
- 36:00Reflecting on Flash
- 37:27Trends and advice for devs
- 39:39Finding inspiration and passion
- 42:28Exploring other media
- 43:58Advice to younger self
- 45:59Supporting new talent
- 50:15Standalone vs sequels
- 52:48Tumblr controversy
- 55:18Self-publishing strategies
- 57:25Designing puzzles
- 1:01:45Subconscious creative growth
- 1:03:31Closing remarks
related talks
54mDesigning Immersive Experiences
42mPanel - The Many Faces of Game Development
01h 04mFireside Chat
01h 00mA trip through the Norwegian Game Development scene
50mA Tale of Inspiration, Empathy & Totalitarian Powers
56mThe Process of Creating an Experimental Commercial Indie Game
46mHow to Grow a Game Studio Through Challenging Times
34mGame Developers Are Becoming Directors, Not Coders