This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest on the show talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that forged connections with others & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

Continuing the December theme of speaking with devs who made some of my favourite games of 2016, I'm joined this week by Jonathan Burroughs, one of the creators of Virgina and co-founder of Variable State. The team have recently been nominated for Writer's Guild of Great Britain award for the writing in the game too, so huge congratulations to them for that.

In addition to his almost accidental career path - which took him from QA on Burnout 3 to starting his own game company via Battlefield and writing House of the Dead - Overkill - we talk about his Spectrum in a briefcase, an early love of Cannon Fodder and Wing Commander, designing levels for Marathon, the story of Virgina, how Lumines can be a cure for anxiety and how Gamedev Story can mend a broken heart.

"There was a fish in the percolator!"

The drawing game I couldn't remember the name of is Drawception, and it's still absolutely amazing https://drawception.com/

PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Mini Metro, Persona 4 Golden, Virginia, Battalion Wars, Burnout 3, Earthworm Jim, Monkey Island 2, Wing Commander, Cannon Fodder, Draw Something, Lumines, Gamedev Story, Asterisk, Kentucky Route Zero, Passage, Golden Axe, Dictator, Giddy Game Show.

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Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow

Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk

Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki