The Summoning Hour
The Summoning Hour is an everything-gaming podcast and live show hosted by Joe “Rakaul” Belousek, a veteran game producer exploring games and the people who make, play, study, and love them. From developer interviews and roundtables to gameplay streams, solo development sessions, and live whiteboard breakdowns, the show looks at games from every angle. Sometimes that means talking with industry guests. Sometimes it means breaking down a feature, reviewing an indie game, designing something from scratch, or thinking out loud about how games actually get made. The Summoning Hour is analytical and educational, but still cozy, conversational, and approachable. It is for aspiring developers, curious players, indie creators, and anyone who wants deeper conversations about games without losing the joy of why we play in the first place. At its heart, this show is for the love of the game, whatever your game is. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and Deezer. Watch live streams on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Join the conversation on Discord! Recurring Shows: Ready Check - Developer interviews, roundtables, and industry conversations. Draft & Craft - Whiteboard sessions where you design, break down, or rebuild ideas live, with or without guests. Ship Happens - Production, project management, live service, feature delivery, and “how games actually get made” breakdowns. Patch Notes Pending - Game reviews, indie spotlights, gameplay impressions, and technical/design breakdowns. Solo Queue Dev - Solo development in Godot with AI support LFG Spotlight - Short 10–15 minute conversations highlighting developers, producers, artists, designers, QA folks, and other game workers looking for their first or next opportunity. The Game Table - Casual gameplay sessions, multiplayer hangs, and “just for the love of the game” streams.
Episodes
Your first indie game is probably still too big.
In this episode of The Summoning Hour, host Joe Belousek sits down with Noatak Post and Riley Sikes of Gllama Games, the two-person team behind Upstream. What began with a reused salmon sprite from a fishing-themed game jam became a commercial two-button physics platformer on Steam.
Noatak and Riley explain how they found the game's core, divided responsibilities, handled Steamworks, a...
Why are fighting games easier to pick up than ever, yet still so difficult to truly enter?
Modern controls, detailed training tools, rollback netcode, and free-to-play releases have lowered many of the genre's traditional barriers. None of them can completely remove the moment when a new player meets decades of accumulated skill, loses repeatedly online, or is told that improvement requires a specialized controller. Accessibility ca...
What actually happens when thousands of people apply for one game-development job, and the recruiter on the other side is balancing far more than a stack of résumés?
Game-industry talent acquisition leader Christeen Mackey joins Joe Belousek to explain what recruiters generally control, what sits with hiring managers and studios, and what candidates may not see when a process slows down or goes quiet.
Drawing on nearly fifteen years ...
Why do the best game ideas rarely survive contact with a team—and why is that a good thing?
Game designer and published author Joey Kalitovic joins Joe Belousek to explore why game development is a team sport. Drawing on twelve years across narrative, character, gameplay, combat, cloud-gaming controls, indie projects, mods, and game jams, Joey explains why collaboration produces stronger work than protecting a single creator's...
What happens when a fictional civilization develops its consciousness instead of its machines?
Cultural researcher and worldbuilder Zhenya Zerkalenkov joins Joe Belousek to explore how believable fictional cultures form, why the hero’s journey can become limiting, and how game developers, writers, and narrative designers can imagine worlds built around entirely different assumptions.
Drawing from his background in Sinology, cul...
What Does 20 Years in Games Design Teach You?
In this episode of The Summoning Hour, Joe Belousek sits down with veteran game designer Nellie Hughes to explore more than two decades of experience designing, shipping, and leading games across the industry.
From MMO development and live service design to leadership roles, Nellie shares the lessons she's learned about creating engaging player experiences, building healthy development te...
Why do some fantasy worlds stay with us long after we leave them?
In this episode of The Summoning Hour, Joe Belousek sits down with world builder and game designer Dmitry Ryabchuk to explore how mythology, language, anthropology, and history shape believable game worlds.
Dmitry shares how his background in linguistics and anthropology influences his approach to game development, from creating the Slavic-inspired Garda Realm setting ...
Can You Monetize Games Without Losing Player Trust? | Tamerlane Barak
Monetization is one of the most debated topics in game development, but the reality is more complicated than “microtransactions are bad” or “developers are greedy.”
In this episode of The Summoning Hour, Joe Belousek talks with veteran game developer Tamerlane Barak about the business, psychology, and ethics behind game monetization. They ex...
SUMMARY:
In this episode of the Summoning Hour podcast, host Joe Belousek interviews 3D artist Tyler Labelle, exploring his journey in the gaming industry, particularly his experiences in VR game development and outsourcing. Tyler shares insights into his favorite games, the challenges of working in VR, and the collaborative nature of game development. The conversation also touches on Tyler's aspirations for future projects, inc...
"Games connect us through shared stories and experiences"
Joe Belousek reintroduces The Summoner Hour Podcast, exploring the enduring human connection through games, industry insights, and community building. Join us as we discuss game design, community stories, and the future of gaming industry adaptation.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Summoner Hour Podcast
03:09 The Evolution of Gaming and Community Engagement
06:16 The Joy of Pl...
The Summoning Hour - Garvey the Director of Student and Education Programs at Twitch
A long and glorious return to networking and sharing the good work of folks in the collegiate esports space. This week I am joined by the highly regarded and sought after, Garvey! This episode is filled with so many great nuggets of knowledge and oozes genuine desire to see students and this space built up on inclusivity, diversity and future plann...
The Summoning Hour - AFK Live Stream
Catching up on all the things and doing some out loud talking!
This week, I catch up with Mark McCready, President from Queen Maragaret University Esports, and Scottish representative within British Esports Association. It has been about a year since Mark and I first spoke on the podcast. So today, is a little recap as well as a whole bunch of original yumminess - inclusiviness, collegiate esports' role in professional esports....for the next 5-10 years!
Mark's info:
I finally get to talk to NYIT! And what a doozy! Duran comes in fast with the history of NYIT, how the stars aligned and how the club is managing to put its best foot forward even calling early tryouts! Making adjustments early and often shows a group that is ready to take their program to the top of the collegiate scene while actively supported by faculty and other staff. What a ride it will be to see them continue adding to their...
The Summoning Hour - Back with Christian Gross
Christian and I reconnect with new developments and how AVGL is striking at the heart of assisting colleges make more content and connect with their communities!
Christian Gross' contact info:
- email: ChristianGross@boom.tv
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-gross-esports/
- https://twitter.com/Seadoggydog
Check out AVGL at:
Hey Everybody!
This last February I had the chance to talk about founding this podcast and who I've been interacting with and why I chose this space to be in. I have a lot of thanks to give out on this one:
- My Dad
- Paul Chaloner
- Jason DeShong
- Jacques Crochet
- Marco
- Scott Zackman
- University of Oklahoma Esports
- Kevin Mitchell and the rest of CEX for inviting me and coordinating everything to let me have this opportunity ...
Black Lives Matter.
In this episode, I discuss with Zeke, Jermal and Sergio their experiences with racism. Some truly heartbreaking stories that our next generation has experienced. Knowing that it has been like that for every generation previously but even harder, is devastating to process. Everyone is realizing just how much farther there is to go.
Here are a few sites I've used to find ways to contribute to this movement:
Join in, you're just at the beginning! That's right St. Mary's Esports is just starting but they're starting with the full support of the administration and a dedicated resource in Kaitlin Teniente as Head Coach. Developing and growing a community on campus is difficult enough, but doing so during COVID-19 quarantine orders only makes it more so. Listen in on how this club is still pushing forward.
Kaitlin Teniente & St. ...
After running their first online event, Ashley Denktas has accomplished a lot at UCLA Esports. The club has thrived up until this point; the point of handing off the club to the next wave of leadership. This is something they’ve been preparing for and it shows.
Grab some popcorn, sit down and enjoy the show!
You can reach Ashley and UCLA Esports at:
In this episode I re-connect with Kaylan Duncan, the esports program director for Norwich University Esports. Kaylan and I met at the ESI New York event in 2019. There's the saying, 'game recognizes game' and that's how it goes. Kaylan and I are very much on the same page and have a blast in this episode talking about Norwich and their varsity program.
Grab some popcorn, sit down and enjoy the show!
You can reach Kaylan at:
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