493: “Flash Games Should Never Have Died” – Alex Johansson, Experimental Game Maker - The Retro Hour EP493

The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

The Retro Hour

Technology, Leisure, Video Games

4.9 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2025

⏱️ 94 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week we are joined by award-winning experimental designer, educator and game maker Alex Johansson of ALYO Games. He is the mind behind wild alt-controller creations like Muppet Boxing, syringe-powered co-op games and his new Morse code-based strategy title Morse. We dive into the wonderfully strange world of odd inputs, discuss why Flash games should have been preserved, explore how gaming can reach older and underserved communities, and hear how Alex’s love for tactile play has taken him from cardboard-box cockpits to the heart of the ham radio scene.

Alex's website: https://alexvscoding.itch.io/

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
43:13 - Alex Johansson Interview

Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:

Crawley Gaming Market: https://www.crawleygamingmarket.com/

Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com

Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour

We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you'd like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:

https://theretrohour.com/support/

https://www.patreon.com/retrohour

Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd

Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8

Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour

Show notes

Heretic and Hexen remasters: https://tinyurl.com/k6ueyunb
PS1 clone will also play Sega CD and Sega Saturn: https://tinyurl.com/fvd37ypa
Monty Mole games: https://tinyurl.com/mtskfsxh
AOL is turning off its dial-up after 34 years: https://tinyurl.com/4f95wrf6
40 years of the Amiga as an album tribute by Allister Brimble: https://tinyurl.com/2d4a5c85

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Coming up on this week's show to classic FPS games get the remaster treatment.
0:05.6	The end for dial-up internet.
0:07.9	And we chat Flash, alternative controllers and tying ham radio into retro gaming with Alex
0:14.0	Johansson.
0:26.9	The Retro Hour podcast is brought to you each and every Friday with our friends, our sponsor Bitmap Books.
0:28.4	Now coming up from them this month, their new title, 50 indie games that changed the world.
0:34.7	Now, this is the ultimate celebration of gaming outside of the typical
0:39.0	triple A studio system, including some of the most influential indie games that have been
0:43.9	released in the last couple of decades, including pixelated classics like Shovel Night and
0:47.9	Dead Cells, masterpieces like Super Meat Boy and Limbo and weighing in at more than 450 pages.
0:55.0	If you love indie gaming, you can get notified when that's available.
0:58.4	Express your interest right now and check out the rest of their retro gaming collection at bitmapbooks.com.
1:04.5	And with our lovely friends at PCB Way.
1:07.5	Now, you know, PCB way, massive supporters of the retro community, and they offer fully featured custom PCB prototyping, low-cost, fast turnaround quality boards and if you're looking for someone to do services like 3D printing and injection molding, they've got your covered.
1:21.6	And while you're on their website, check out their shared project section. Big supporters of the retro community. Get an instant quote right now,
1:28.3	PCBway.com. Hello and welcome to the Retro Hour podcast episode number 493. Your weekly dose of
1:37.1	retro gaming and technology news with me, Dan Wood. Me Ravi Abbott and me Joe Fox. And a very warm welcome
1:43.2	to this week's show, the podcast that every single Friday takes you on a nostalgic journey back to the golden age of video games.
1:51.0	And of course brings you up to date on what's been happening in the wonderful world of retro gaming and technology, all the big stories from the last week and welcomes on more veterans of the industry and just people
2:01.8	that we find really interesting from the retro gaming community onto the podcast for an
2:06.3	interview in part two of the show. Now actually when this episode lands on Friday, you and I
2:13.1	will be on our way. Actually, we love landed, I think, weren't we? In a lovely Norway,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Retro Hour, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Retro Hour and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.