Jordan Thomas, a veteran game director known for his work on titles such as BioShock 2 and The Blackout Club, revealed that he spent over 7,000 hours playing Path of Exile during the development of the co-op horror game. This revelation came as part of PC Gamer's 'Disk Cleanup' feature, which explores the PCs of industry luminaries.
Thomas's early gaming experiences were shaped by the shareware era, with Commander Keen serving as an initial gateway into darker titles like Wolfenstein and Quake. His career in the industry began at Ion Storm Austin, where he contributed to Thief: Deadly Shadows, notably designing the acclaimed Shalebridge Cradle level. He later moved to Irrational Games, led the design of BioShock's Fort Frolic, directed BioShock 2 at 2K Marin, and worked on BioShock Infinite before co-founding Question, the studio behind The Magic Circle, The Blackout Club, and South Park: Snow Day.
Question's latest release is The Killing Stone, a roguelike deckbuilder inspired by Shakespearean drama that has recently exited early access. Thomas described the game as a series of challenges where players aim to lift curses from a family's souls by extracting inherited sins.
Current Gaming Habits
Thomas is currently playing Hellraiser: Revival, a survival horror game he finds to be a lurid yet faithful adaptation of the source material, exploring themes of decaying relationships in non-Euclidean spaces. He draws parallels between Hellraiser's gameplay loop and that of Condemned, a game he praised for its focus on melee combat and systemic enemy AI. He noted that Monolith's enemy programming in Condemned was pioneering in creating believable enemy behavior.
Prior to Hellraiser, Thomas played REPO with friends, a game he lauded for its emergent multiplayer gameplay and dark humor. He found REPO's design, which emphasizes physical interaction and limited communication, to be incredibly expressive and a source of great laughter, reminiscent of the improvisational challenges faced during The Blackout Club's development.
Foundational Games
The oldest game still installed on Thomas's PC is likely the original X-COM. He revisited the title for research on The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and was reminded of its effective use of negative space and atmospheric tension, which he believes could be compatible with horror game design.
When asked about the game he has the most hours in, Thomas cited Path of Exile. He explained that during the development of The Blackout Club, he and Ken Strickland played the ARPG for over 7,000 hours as a crucial stress relief mechanism. Thomas found particular joy in optimizing his character builds and enjoyed the collaborative aspect of discussing game systems with Strickland.
Un-uninstallable Titles
Two games stand out as permanent fixtures on his PC. The first is Darkest Dungeon 1, which has become a family favorite due to its accessible dark tone and memorable narration, often referred to by his children as the "torch game." The second is Baldur's Gate 3. Thomas anticipates that the game's burgeoning mod scene could lead to a longevity akin to Skyrim, making it a permanent addition to his library.
Essential Software
Beyond games, Thomas relies on Audacity, a free audio editor. He found it indispensable for editing the audio recordings of actors for The Blackout Club, which often involved remote setups due to the game's live narrative component. This experience, which included working with union talent from shows like Critical Role and voice actor Ashly Burch, required extensive audio manipulation. He continues to use Audacity for minor tweaks on his current project, The Killing Stone.
Regarding his desktop organization, Thomas admits it's "terrible." He attributes this primarily to Audacity, as he prefers to keep various iterations of voice lines readily accessible rather than meticulously organizing them.