Defenders of Easy Games with Dr Matthew White (S2E08)

Safe Space: The Video Games Mental Health Podcast

In this episode of Safe Space, Rosie and Sky talk to Dr Matthew White, CEO of Whitethorn Games about the culture around easy and casual games.

We chat about Matthew's path into the games industry, and going through the teaching aspect as an assistant teaching professor at Penn State University, having been in the industry for several years and now as CEO for Whitethorn. Matthew discusses the ethos behind Whitethorn and the games that they work on, as 'defenders of easy games', which leads to our discussion on gatekeeping difficulty within gaming.

We look at APICO, one of Whitethorn's latest releases, as a cosy beekeeping simulator about breeding, collecting, & conserving bees, and how games can make a real-world impact. Matthew tells us about his mental health journey within his career, and how he wants to see the industry change for the better.

"While our games might challenge you, they’ll respect your time, they’ll make sure you can play, and most importantly, they’ll never punish you."

Links

Whitethorn Games

APICO