Eurogamer: Kim Swift Interview

Over at Eurogamer today I have a great big interview with Kim Swift, the project lead on Portal who has recently moved to head up a team at Airtight Games. It's part of EG's Retro Sundays, so the focus of the interview was on Narbacular Drop, how that game came into existence, and the path it took to become the seed that inspired Portal. We also discuss that games that preceded it at DigiPen, and later Swift's philosophy of gaming and where she'd like to see the medium heading. Also she mocks me. Here's a chunk of it. The rest of it is here.

Eurogamer: And what makes something fun?

Kim Swift: Well, I suppose the word fun is really relative. I think games should be something really entertaining and should make players react in a tangible way. Whether that be anxiety and tension from Shooters, or sorrow from a character dying in an RPG, or a good laugh at an amazing line of dialogue. Games should give players the opportunity to create their own story because those are the sorts of experiences that they're going to really remember. When people talk about games to other people they talk about what they did or what they played through, not the cut-scene that they idly watched. It's the player's actions that really count.