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Games That Push Back with Bennett Foddy

March 24, 2026·1 hr 7 min·12 clips

Bennett Foddy got into game development while procrastinating on his philosophy dissertation at Princeton.

Bennett Foddy, the legendary game designer behind QWOP, Getting Over It, and Baby Steps, joins to discuss his unique approach to creating games that challenge conventional design wisdom. Foddy's journey began in 2005 while procrastinating on his philosophy PhD at Princeton, discovering the emerging indie game scene through Adobe Flash development. His breakthrough came when QWOP unexpectedly went viral in 2010, leading him to transition from academic philosophy to game design at NYU's Game Center. Foddy explains his physics-driven design philosophy, where gameplay emerges from experimenting with physics rigs rather than implementing predetermined ideas. He creates numerous prototypes, discarding most to find the rare systems that offer rich, discoverable gameplay. His preference for humanoid characters stems from their immediate relatability and embodiment psychology, eliminating the need for extensive tutorials. The discussion explores his collaboration on Baby Steps, which evolved from a failure-focused game like QWOP into a more competent walking simulator through years of iteration. Foddy challenges the oversimplified concept of 'difficulty' in games, arguing for more nuanced language to describe different types of player frustration, comparing it to wine tasting where subtle distinctions matter. He examines the current trend toward high-stakes gaming without checkpoints, from Dark Souls to hardcore Minecraft modes, viewing it as a cyclical fashion that trades safety for emotional investment. The conversation touches on streaming culture's impact on his work, particularly how Getting Over It became more widely experienced through streamers than direct play. Foddy advocates for games being used in unintended ways, citing TrackMania's community-created challenge maps as examples of emergent player creativity. Throughout, he maintains that his games aren't necessarily difficult but rather subvert player expectations, with the humor and challenge arising from the gap between anticipated competence and actual performance.

As heard by us

A sharp talk about difficulty, accessibility, and how streaming and speedrunning change the way hard games are played.

Bennett Foddy's games are the starting point, but the real subject is how frustration turns into meaning. Joe Nash keeps the conversation moving through QWOP, Getting Over It, and Baby Steps while staying on the mechanics underneath them: why challenge matters, how accessibility…

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Why you'd press play

Hear Bennett Foddy talk through why difficulty and frustration matter in his systems-driven game design.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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