216: Isles of Sea and Sky (with Jesse Guarascia)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson
Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog

Join Dave and special guest Jesse Guarascia (noclip, noclip_2 and more) as they strengthen their block-pushing muscles for a deep dive into Isles of Sea and Sky (Cicada Games, 2024). They discuss its rich world full of secrets, why Sokoban-style puzzles feel like a great foundation for weird narratives or layers of secrets, whether the open-ended design works well, and much more. As always, no spoilers for a while.

Guest info: Jesse Guarascia (he/him)

Check out noclip https://www.youtube.com/@NoclipDocs
And check out noclip2 https://www.youtube.com/@Noclip2
And Blowback! https://blowback.show/
Follow on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/jesseguarascia.com

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title
0:22 Introductions
6:16 Our Histories with Isles of Sea and Sky
11:26 Top-Level Thoughts
18:38 Game Setup and Open Structure
29:19 Puzzle Design
40:40 Sokoban as a Base Layer for Building Secrets
53:15 Visual Design
1:00:00 Music and Sound
1:03:32 Who Should Play?
1:08:28 Jesse's Work at NoClip and More
1:16:53 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous
1:19:17 Spoiler Section

Music used in the episode is credited to Craig Collver. Tracks used: Isles of Sea and Sky, Ancient Island, Stoney Cliffs, Tidal Reef, From Sea to Sky

Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Cicada Games”

216: Isles of Sea and Sky (with Jesse Guarascia)