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Say It Like You Play It

Say It Like You Play It

By: Ibi Baxter-Webb & Joe Baxter-Webb
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About this listen

The podcast about games, language and culture. With hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe. Dr. Ibi has a Ph.D. in Linguistics and likes to play games. Dr. Joe has a Ph.D. in Media & Cultural studies, and designs games for a living.


📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/


☕ If you would like to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/sayitlikeyouplayit


📺 We're also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SayItLikeYouPlayIt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ibi Baxter-Webb & Joe Baxter-Webb
Science Fiction
Episodes
  • Blue Prince: puzzles, puns, and politics
    Aug 29 2025

    In this episode we discuss the puzzle adventure game Blue Prince by Dogubomb. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including:


    • The game's world & lore
    • Word play in puzzles, as clues, & for fun
    • Colour semiotics
    • Sign versus noise ratio
    • The (un)translatability of the game


    Songs that are low-key about playing Blue Prince: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6DbDTBrBK23NIV4u077vcx?si=d8ed31681e964979


    Contains some strong (and other types of) language.


    ☕ If you would like to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/sayitlikeyouplayit


    📺 We're also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SayItLikeYouPlayIt

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Semiotics and (video) games
    Jun 30 2025

    In this episode we discuss a concept which has been important – but implicit – in many previous episodes: semiotics, or meaning-making through signs. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including:


    • The linguistic foundations and broad applications of semiotics;
    • Definitions and different types of signs;
    • Multi-modal semiotics in (video) games;
    • Genre-specific and genre-independent semiotics;
    • The relationship between signs and ludemes;
    • Examples such as UI, rarity colours, and controls;



    Contains some strong (and other types of) language.


    ☕ If you would like to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/sayitlikeyouplayit


    📺 We're also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SayItLikeYouPlayIt


    Resources:


    Blomberg, J. 2018. 'The Semiotics of the Game Controller', Game Studies, 18(2). https://gamestudies.org/1802/articles/blomberg


    Chandler, D. 'Semiotics for Beginners'. https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/semio2.htm


    Hawreliak, J. (2018). Multimodal Semiotics and Rhetoric in Videogames. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315159492

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    57 mins
  • Chants of Sennaar & Sethian reactions: what makes a good language puzzle game?
    Jun 4 2025

    In this episode we talk about our experience playing two language puzzle games, 'Chants of Sennaar' by Rundisc and 'Sethian' by Duang! Games, LLC . Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including:


    • language puzzle and translation mechanics
    • embedding conlangs in game worlds
    • player versus player-character knowledge of conlangs
    • complexity of conlangs and how to make them decipherable



    Contains some strong (and other types of) language.


    ☕ If you would like to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/sayitlikeyouplayit


    📺 We're also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SayItLikeYouPlayIt

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    50 mins
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