In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Joseph Mansfield for his threepeat appearance on the podcast to discuss the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase 2025 and the recently premiered Thinky Direct!

This episode has a video version that you can watch here: https://youtu.be/RVNMsXXeatk

A copy of each of our shortlist of recommended games, some of which did not get discussed in the episode:



Games Discussed:

Bonfire Peaks - Lost Memories Parts 2+3

Gentoo Rescue

Kiko's Apple Adventure

Spooky Express

Compress(space)

Shape Sender Deluxe

Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping

Map Map: A Game About Maps

Schrodinger's Cat Burglar

Pup Champs

He Who Watches

Blue Prince

Isles of Sea and Sky

868-BACK

Memory's Reach

The Button Effect



Other recommendations we ran out of time to discuss:

Stuffo the Puzzle Bot

Hiding Spot

SOLAS 128

Linelith

Is this Seat Taken

Headlong Hunt

The Court of Wanderers

Toki Tori 2+

LOK Digital

Echo Weaver



Episode 28: Cerebral Puzzle Showcase and Thinky Direct

In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Zachary Johnson, a developer behind games like Joggernauts and Stage Fright. Zach is also the inspiration for Draknek's next game, Spooky Express - a fact he did not know when the recording started. Topics include an overview of Zach's career, stories from Train Jam, and Zach's hopes for Spooky Express.



The Spooky Express demo is live now, so go ahead and give it a try after listening to this episode!

Episode 27: Zachary Johnson (Stage Fright)

In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Luke Spierewka, the developer behind Pup Champs and Railbound. Topics include the development of Afterburn's games, developing games in shorter turnarounds, and lessons learned across multiple successive puzzle games.

Episode 26: Luke Spierewka (Pup Champs)

In this special episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Lucas Le Slo, a puzzle designer on the newly announced Spooky Express. Topics include the development of Spooky Express and its inception, the project's goals, as well as Lucas' other work on puzzle games such as Lab Rat.

Episode 25: Lucas Le Slo (Spooky Express)

In this episode...

Well, sometimes when you set out to create something, it doesn't actually end up looking at all like what your goal was. That statement applies to both this podcast episode as well as The Electrifying Incident. Syrenne and Alan are joined by Ben and Phoenix from the development team and things go off the rails fast as Syrenne re-experiences the intense scope creep and change that happened on this title.

Please keep in mind that this episode contains FULL SPOILERS for all seven achievements of The Electrifying Incident. And remember folks: this isn't a 3-v-1, this is a 1-v-3 and I'm winning.

Episode 24: The Electrifying Incident Retrospective

In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Annika Maar the developer behind Duck Detective. Topics include the development of the game, short development timelines, and making approachable and funny games with deep thinky mechanics.

Episode 23: Annika Maar (Duck Detective)

In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Gwen Frey the developer behind Lab Rat. Topics include the development of the game and its large scope, Gwen's long career in games, and the state of funding in the industry.

Episode 22: Gwen Frey (Lab Rat)

In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Izzy Kestrel from the Electrifying Incident development team. Topics include the development of TEI, Thinky Games as social experiences, Gex, and A Little Game Called Mario.

Episode 21: Izzy Kestrel (Electrifying Incident)

In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Tana Tanoi, the developer behind Shape Sender Deluxe. Topics include the development of Shape Sender Deluxe, the Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant, and the difficulties of making a thinky physics puzzle game.

Episode 20: Tana Tanoi (Shape Sender Deluxe)

In this episode, hosts Alan and Syrenne are joined by Laure and Kitt from Balloon Studios, the developer behind Botany Manor. Topics include the development of the game, the inspiration for setting the puzzles in a manor, and tricking players into playing puzzle games.

Episode 19: Balloon Studios (Botany Manor)

Join Alan and Syrenne from Draknek & Friends as they talk to developers of some of their favorite puzzle games, shedding light onto how games get made and the people behind them!

Draknek & Friends Official Podcast