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My experiences echo those above. It is laid back. Programmers are generally pays a bit less than programming in some industries, but the pay is also high compared to most white-collar jobs.
Also: Every company is different, they have different corporate environments, policies, and general feeling. Every team is different, they have different styles of work. Every project is different, some are trivial and others feel like a death march. Every individual is different, what you enjoy may be something other people hate.
Most game companies will treat you nice. Some of them won't.
Two easy indicators are to look at the demographics, and visit the parking lot.
How many old people do they have? If everybody is under 30 and they don't have any old people, ask yourself why. Old people are generally less willing to work in bad environments, and know enough to shop around for good employers.
Visit the parking lot on a few times in an evening, or on a weekend. How many vehicles are there? Do they look just as busy at 3:00 PM as they do at 7:00 PM? Or later? Are many people there on Saturday? This can tell you a lot about expectations.
Those indicators won't tell you everything you need to know, but they can give you insights that are difficult to ask about.
When you interview you'll want to look at as many other things as you can. Look at the attitude of the people. Look at their work environment. Pay attention to idle chatter. Look at desk decorations. Look at wall decorations, whiteboard contents. Look at building maintenance (they won't paint or repair if money is tight, or if they're planning to move or remodel). Look at the soda machine and the kitchen area to see how it is stocked. Look to see if people are spending late nights by looking for take-out food containers. These things will give you information that can help in your decision.