In episode 5, Susan talks with Pablo Quarta, an Argentine writer, narrative designer, and game producer whose work sits at the intersection of games, politics, and queerness. From co‑founding "Matajuegos", Argentina’s first video game workers’ co‑op, to producing the award‑winning surreal documentary game "Atuel", Pablo’s journey is about using games to talk honestly about labor, climate justice, identity, and Latin American realities.

Throughout the conversation, Pablo discusses "Matajuegos’" origins as a bilingual blog and dev collective formed to push Argentine indie games toward real-world, Latin American perspectives and more inclusive community conversations, later becoming Argentina’s first video game workers’ co-op in 2021. They describe co-op operations, benefits, challenges, and explains why and how "Matajuegos" came to an amicable end in March 2024. Then, Pablo talks about "Atuel, "a 20–30 minute surreal documentary game where players embody Argentina's Atuel river and its ecosystem. He narrates how the game is contextualized amid climate crisis themes, was created alongside the 12.01 Project’s film, and has been shown widely at festivals and museums around the world. Finally, Pablo outlines hyperlocal storytelling and his enduring interest in queerness and feminist issues, climate justice and neocolonial extractivism.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:48) - Partners & Sponsors
• (01:28) - Meet Pablo Quatra
• (04:40) - Matajuegos
• (09:01) - The Co-op Model & Video Game Development
• (20:21) - Making Atuel Documentary Game
• (26:09) - Hyperlocal Games
• (28:04) - A Museum Piece
• (31:31) - The Issues at Hand
• (36:36) - What the Future Holds
• (40:38) - The Throughline
• (41:59) - Where to find Pablo
• (45:39) - Outro

Where to find Pablo:
LinkedIn
BlueSky

Check out Atuel and Matajuego's other games on itch.io

Join our Substack - https://tinyurl.com/GGJPodcastSubstack
This Episode was Sponsored by the University of Miami's School of Communications & the Knight Foundation

In episode 4, Susan talks with Thorsten S. Wiedemann, founder and artistic director of AMAZE, the international art house games and playful media festival that helped redefine how the world sees independent games. From Berlin bar nights and DIY talk shows to a global network of experimental, subversive, and deeply personal games, Thorsten’s journey is about building spaces where artists, punks, and misfits can treat games as culture, not just products.
As A MAZE approaches 15 years, Thorsten traces his path from Berlin nightlife and DIY talk shows to festival-making, endeavor that began after attending GDC in 2007 and discovering indie games. He then discusses launching A MAZE with a focus on game art and cultural critique, key milestones including early bar-based events, the first full festival in 2010, A MAZE Indie Connect in 2012, and adopting an arthouse games focus around 2016–17. He reflects on struggles with funding, a 2024 code-of-conduct breach, personal growth, and how the community came together in 2019 to save A MAZE with a Kickstarter campaign. Thorsten also shares about his international work including A MAZE Johannesburg (2012–2017) and supporting Playtopia a in Cape Town, South Africa, plus goals like broader Global South representation and an arthouse game archive.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:18) - Introducing Thorsten S. Wiedemann
• (03:30) - What is A MAZE?
• (04:28) - The Accidental Path to Games
• (07:17) - The First A MAZE Events & Discovering a Passion for Games
• (11:25) - Building Something from Nothing
• (14:28) - The Arthouse Games
• (16:06) - The 2018 Global Game Jam Keynote
• (20:16) - Crisis and Personal Growth
• (26:50) - A MAZE South Africa
• (32:32) - The Future of A MAZE
• (35:01) - What A MAZE Wants to See Next
• (38:21) - Where to find Thorsten
• (40:49) - Outro

Thorsten's Socials

LinkedIn
BlueSky
X (Twitter)
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

Checkout A MAZE

LinkedIn

BlueSky

X (Twitter)

Instagram
Facebook

Youtube

www.a-maze.net
www.amaze-berlin.de
www.amaze-magazine.de
www.amaze-space.com

In episode 3 Susan talks with Limpho Moeti, South African producer, business developer, Playtopia co-founder, and the first IGDA chair from the global south, about how she’s spent her career making things happen for other developers. Limpho describes her path from theater, film, and comics into games via Free Lives and Nyamakop, where she supported community meetups, game jams, and biz dev. She advocates for developers outside North America and Europe, highlighting barriers in South Africa and across Africa: limited access to tools, internet, and career pathways; high hardware costs; small, historically white industry; funding and data gaps; monetization challenges; and limited government support. Moeti emphasizes community, kindness, mentorship, and “finding your people” as elements to finding success.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:48) - Sponsors and Partners
• (01:36) - Meet Limpho Moeti
• (03:22) - The Connector Mindset
• (06:16) - The “Hunger” for Non-Western Stories; Advocating for African Games
• (08:12) - Breaking into Games
• (10:17) - Barriers in the African Video Games Industry
• (15:57) - Mission, Ubuntu & Leadership
• (23:10) - Kindness and Community
• (25:11) - Mentors
• (27:27) - Belonging and Confidence
• (29:40) - Why Lead and Advocate; Building a Safer Industry
• (36:56) - The Future
• (40:47) - Key Take Aways
• (43:19) - Where to find Limpho
• (44:41) - Thank you!

Check out Limpho's Linkedin
IGDA
Playtopia

Join our Substack!

This episode is sponsored by The University of Miami, School of Communications and the Knight Foundation