The Short Game

Titanium Court. An absurd game that refuses to explain itself. Winner of the 2025 Whoever McSomeone Grand Prize.

This week we're talking Skate Story, a skateboarding game where you're a demon made of glass and pain on a mission to eat the moon. We open with skaterboi stories before kicking into the game's large arsenal of tricks, vaporwave soundtrack, and surprisingly difficult boss fights. Curse you, The Eternal Centipede!(00:00) - Skate Story (02:00) - Skater Bois and Girls (09:36) - Skating in Video Games (14:55) - Aesthetics (16:45) - In praise of Bizarre (19:33) - Mechanics (22:33) - Late Night Gaming (24:00) - It's tricky, tricky, tricky (25:34) - The Camera Angle (30:21) - Yes, This Game has Boss Fights (33:39) - The Skater's Dream (35:34) - Controls (38:52) - Shattering into a Million Shards (40:25) - Final Verdict (41:26) - Outro

This week on The Short Game, we're toodling around bicycle Valhalla in Wheel World, the open-world cycling game from the developers of Nidhogg. Laura and Shane explore beautiful Italian landscapes, customize bikes, and discuss why this might be the most relaxing racing game we've played.This episode was recorded way back in the summer during our long hiatus. Hopefully you'll feel it holds up!  (00:00) - Wheel World (41:35) - What's Making Us Happy (41:42) - Shane's New Bike (48:43) - Laura Talks Movies (58:18) - Wrap Up

In this episode of The Short Game, Nate, Laura, and Shane dive into BALL x PIT, a roguelite block breaker published by Devolver Digital. Recorded a couple of months ago, the episode comes out in time for the release of a free DLC adding new content to the game. The discussion covers the game's unique blend of ball-firing mechanics, character abilities, and city-building elements. Does BALL x PIT respect your time? Maybe, maybe not, but it's a good time either way.

A voice is saying your name. A WWII-era machine, long hidden in a church basement, whirs to life. Through a crackling speaker, a man asks you to find a stolen book. He only knows the title. Time is running out.Inkle has made a Database Thriller. An Interface Game. Or are we just calling these SamBarlow-likes? And it's a taut 4 hours, and just $7, which is also five bucks. (00:00) - TR-49 (45:34) - Spoiler Break (01:09:37) - Wrap-up

This week we are talking about Absolum, a roguelike beat 'em up from Streets of Rage 4 developers Guard Crush Games and publisher Dotemu. This was one of those games that would probably have been near the top of our 2025 GOTY list if we'd managed to all play and discuss it before the end of the year. It combines the incredible beat 'em up mechanics from Streets of Rage 4 with Hades-style progression mechanics. It really kicks ass. There's also one of our classic slightly too long digressions about the Steam Deck and Linux about 33 minutes in. Sorry, and you're welcome.(00:00) - Absolum (26:21) - Digression about Steam Deck and Linux (33:24) - Back to Absolum (52:42) - Wrap up

We're continuing to shake the cobwebs out of the podcast, and this week we're bringing you our coverage of IFComp 2025. Normally we cover the whole competition with multiple episodes as its running, but this year we didn't quite manage that. We couldn't escape 2025 without talking about the comp some though. In this "lost" episode (recorded in late October 2025) we discuss some of the games we had time to check out this year, including a few of the top winners. We'll be releasing a patron exclusive "what's making us happy" episode next week (join us on Patreon!) followed by an episode on Absolum. See you in 2026! (00:00) - Intro & Welcome (00:52) - What Is IFComp? (04:45) - How We’re Covering IFComp 2025 (06:12) - Detritus by Ben Jackson (19:48) - Lady Thalia and the Case of Clephan by N. Cormier (26:44) - The Wise-Woman's Dog by Daniel M. Stelzer (34:59) - The Secrets of Sylvan Gardens by Lamp Post Projects (48:43) - A Visit to the Human Resources Administration by Jesse (53:08) - The Little Four by Allyson Gray (59:11) - The Witch Girls by Amy Stevens (01:03:24) - HEN AP PRAT GETS SMACKED IN THE TWAT by Coral Nulla (01:08:44) - Wrap Up

It's been a weird year, but we're ready to round up the best Short Games of 2025! We're also awarding our other highly prized honors like Dirtbag of the Year and Most "Little Guy who Goes Around."This might be the last episode of 2025, but it's also the first episode of The Short Game Season 2. We figured 444 episodes was enough for Season 1, and we are changing up our format slightly. We're looking forward to a great new year! (00:00) - Short Game Game of the Year 2025 (10:08) - Dirtbag of the Year (15:37) - Most Little Guy Who Goes Around (22:54) - Best Galerius (33:25) - Best Mario (38:26) - Late to the Party (44:35) - Best game that nearly killed the podcast (48:37) - Gaming Moment of the Year (58:04) - Best Rerelease (01:01:22) - Shout out to games ineligible for GOTY (01:02:40) - Game of the Year 2025 (01:08:31) - Wrap-up

After a somewhat unplanned summer break, the Short Game crew is returning to talk about the fourth chapter of Deltarune! (00:00) - 444: Deltarune Chapter 4 (03:17) - Surprise! Structure is Different! (10:32) - Picking up right after Chapter 3 (11:19) - Going to Church! (19:29) - Noelle's House (30:30) - You'll Never Make Me Play The Dark Route (35:56) - Back to the Church (49:23) - Climbing is Fun! (53:20) - Now we're going to spoil Nate (01:15:21) - Outro (01:17:17) - Outro

The Steam Deck is the number one console(ish) platform for playing ILLEGAL GAMES that Nintendo doesn’t want you to play! This week we’re talking about games that STEAL intellectual property from the RICH FAT CATS at Nintendo and their cronies and remix it into FREE GAMES for the PEOPLE. (00:00) - 443: Fan Games on Steam Deck (03:42) - What Counts as a Fan Game? (06:20) - Explaining Steam Deck Desktop Mode (16:38) - Where do you find fan games? (24:34) - The (Fan) Games (25:26) - Celeste: Strawberry Jam (33:42) - Other Fan Games of Indies (36:06) - Sonic Fan Games (38:36) - Sonic Robo Blast 2 (41:24) - Sonic and the Fallen Star (44:14) - Sonic Triple Trouble 16-Bit (50:33) - Link's Awakening DX HD (01:09:16) - Streets of Rage Remake (01:21:37) - Lightning Round (01:22:24) - Zelda3 (01:24:01) - Dungeons of Infinity (01:24:55) - ZIIAOL (01:26:11) - Decomps - Ship of Harkinian (01:27:38) - AM2R & Metroid Planets (01:28:51) - Wrap-up

Toby Fox is back, and it’s TV TIME! Previously: Episode 320 – Chapter 1 Episode 324 – Chapter 2 Episode 65 – Undertale Episode 66 – Undertale Spoilers (00:00) - 422: Deltarune Chapter 3 (14:37) - Remembering Chapters 1 and 2 (26:50) - Spoiler Break - Chapter 3 Story Spoilers! (54:40) - Wrap Up

From the depths of Steam and YouTube comes ENA, a strange polygonal girl in a surreal hypercapitalist dreamscape. Your hosts were left wondering what the hell this was all about, and why is it so incredibly beautifully animated? (00:00) - ENA: Dream BBQ (33:21) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (33:26) - Shane: Getting Into 3D Printing (41:16) - Raygan - New NAS Goofin' (46:55) - Laura: The Clock (1945) (53:10) - Outro

Indie game royalty Blendo aka Brendan Chung, creator of Thirty Flights of Loving and Quadrilateral Cowboy among others has come out of his cicada-like 7 year dev cycle with another instant classic. Skin Deep is an immersive sim about popping the detachable heads off of space pirates and flushing them down space toilets in order to save a bunch of talking space cats. It’s an easily the funniest and probably one of the best immersive sims ever made. (00:00) - 440: Skin Deep (47:07) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? - Fantasy Novel Edition (01:00:36) - Outro

A video game memoir by Ecuadorian indie developers Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena, and published by Panic, Despelote takes you back to a childhood in 2001 Ecuador, and the magical grip soccer held over the entire country during the lead-up to the 2002 World Cup. This is something we have never seen in video games before. (00:00) - 439: Despelote (01:00) - Soccer Memories (08:07) - Despelote (14:05) - A long aside about Great Wolf Lodge (16:43) - Despelote! (21:52) - Another digression about child endangerment (24:08) - Despelote!!! (41:36) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (41:52) - Nate: A Sandworm's Dream (44:26) - Shane: Moms & Myst (47:17) - Laura: Jet Lag: The Game (52:11) - Outro

We’re talking about Many Nights a Whisper, a short, meditative archery (kinda!) game from Red Strings Club developer Deconstructeam and Selkie Harbour. The Dreamer has prepared their entire life for one impossible shot that will define a generation. Hear the wishes of your people, and prepare for your one chance to make them come true in this interactive essay on the flight of wishes and the pressure of expectations. In “What’s Making Us Happy”, Nate is playing the classic Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Raygan recommends an app. An app! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Doorhttps://www.suppermariobroth.comhttps://reederapp.com/ (00:00) - Many Nights a Whisper (31:29) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (31:36) - Nate: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (42:23) - Raygan: Reeder (53:03) - Outro

We spent this week playing a bit more of Inkle’s follow up to Overboard!, and made some shocking discoveries! (00:00) - Expelled! Spoilers! (05:42) - Big Surprises (30:51) - The Content Warnings! (32:38) - Getting Away With It (47:35) - Loose Threads (56:19) - Resetting your Evil Meter (59:24) - Wrap-up

This week, Laura and Nate dive into Trash the Planet, a free, browser-based resource-management game that subverts clicker mechanics to serve its narrative. You play as a group of raccoons who start out collecting trash and, through a rapid evolution of society, end up ruling the planet—manipulating the stock market with absolutely no consequences. Stick around for the return of What’s Making Us Happy This Week. (00:00) - Trash the Planet (36:26) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (36:45) - Nate: Paper Mario: The 1000 Year Inter-Library Loan (40:24) - Laura: Crossed Skis (44:28) - Outro

Shane and Nate were buzzing about FlyKnight, a $5 indie dungeon crawler that surprised us with its humor and depth. In this episode, we break down what makes this tiny first-person RPG so fun, from its retro aesthetic and first person Souls-like combat to its great co-op potential. Should you bug your buddies to play it? Let’s find out! (00:00) - Intro (01:20) - FlyKnight (01:02:16) - Outro

Expelled! is the latest game from all-star narrative design studio Inkle. It’s a follow up to our 2021 Game of the Year winner Overboard!, and it builds on that game’s strengths in every conceivable area. A School Prefect has been pushed out of a window, and everyone says YOU did it! Now you have one day to clear your name. Can you uncover the culprit — or find someone else to take the fall? (00:00) - Intro (01:49) - A Sequel(ish!) to Overboard! (06:59) - Welcome to Miss Mulligatawney's School for Promising Girls (09:34) - The Bad Girl Meter (13:47) - I Didn't Do It, Dad! (15:48) - Optimized for Replay (19:09) - Sparkling Dialogue (21:05) - Verity's Day (32:46) - Filth Book (38:11) - Bringing it all together (44:27) - There's some wild stuff in here (49:49) - Wrap Up

Steam Next Fest just concluded and the Short Game team searched through the mountain of demos to discuss some of the most exciting games with short game energy coming out this year. 00:00 Intro04:09 WYRMHALL: Brush and Banter09:12 Wheel World18:19 Despelote25:08 Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 333:33 Haste: Broken Worlds39:50 Is This Seat Taken?46:54  Art of Reflection51:01 Bambas!52:56 Run TavernQuest54:45 Nitro Express58:06 Lightning Round and Outro (00:00) - Intro (04:09) - WYRMHALL: Brush and Banter (09:12) - Wheel World (18:19) - Despelote (25:08) - Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 (33:33) - Haste: Broken Worlds (39:50) - Is This Seat Taken? (46:54) -  Art of Reflection (51:01) - Bambas! (52:56) - Run TavernQuest (54:45) - Nitro Express (58:06) - Lightning Round and Outro

All four co-hosts are present and accounted for as we talk about ultra-short platformer, Sheepy: A Short Adventure. It’s right there in the name! Sheepy is a FREE game on Steam and itch.io, and it’ll take you about an hour. It’s surprisingly polished for a free release, with charming animations and very good music, plus some incomprehensible lore! We also go into some tech tips for those playing on Steam Deck, since the game is completely playable but technically “unsupported”. (00:00) - Intro (01:47) - Mysterious Production (06:21) - Cool Game (06:33) - A last minute update! (08:29) - Back to the Episode (11:07) - It's A Platformer (15:06) - Mobility (22:11) - Animation (25:08) - Aww (31:18) - Steam Deck Issues (37:14) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (37:17) - Laura: NBA (41:42) - Raygan: TRMNL (48:57) - Nate: Garmin Forrunner 165 (57:36) - Shane: Bike Lane Win (01:02:01) - Outro

Rats with Knives! It’s time to finally talk about Fight’N Rage! This has been on the back burner for a while; it was first suggested to us nearly 4 years ago as a modern, mechanically interesting beat ’em up in the vein of Streets of Rage 4. “Easy to play, hard to master” is a bit of a cliche, but it feels very apt here. Fight’N Rage channels the golden age of arcade brawlers with deep, satisfying combos, chunky pixel art cheesecake, and a branching structure that gives you lots of options. It pays homage to classics like Final Fight while advancing the genre in interesting and distinct ways. (00:00) - 431: Fight'n Rage (12:26) - Raygan's Retro Corner (16:05) - More Fight'n Rage (46:19) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (46:29) - Shane: Weed Rats (48:03) - Raygan: Not Getting Picked (50:47) - Nate: Free from Star Trek Discovery (53:57) - Outro

This week we are welcoming long time friend of the show Jason McIntosh (aka Jmac, aka Halstrick) who’s joining us to talk about the Valve Steam Deck. It’s been about three years since the Steam Deck launched, and it’s had a profound effect on the way all of us play games. Also, Laura just got one! We had a long chat about the how we’ve used the Deck and what it’s meant in our gaming lives for these last few years. Jason has a great short-form podcast/audio-zine all about the Steam Deck called Venthuffer. Check it out! New episodes coming in 2025! (00:00) - 430: Steam Deck Chat (03:17) - Valve Hardware (05:50) - What do you play on your Steam Deck? (09:00) - Suspend & Resume (12:57) - Playing Docked (15:36) - Touch Pads: Using Them ? (20:34) - Do The Normies Know? (21:40) - Traveling with the Steam Deck (26:10) - Doing Computer-y Stuff (44:23) - The Steam Deck's Effect on PC Gaming (52:59) - Hail Corporate! (58:20) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (58:31) - Jason: Notebooks & Stickers (01:01:52) - Laura: Lord of the Rings Marathon Party (01:06:52) - Raygan: Travel Tech (01:11:59) - Shane: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman (01:15:47) - Outro

How has it taken us ten years to get around to covering a Sokpop game? The venerable but very weird indie collective has put out a fascinating perfectly normal gardening game.  Ahem. OK fine, Grunn is a short take in the non-linear, first-person, time-loopy, exploration, Outer Wild-like genre, which we are resolutely not calling “metroidbranias”. Hope you like skeletons and garden gnomes! Find it for $12.99 on Steam and itch.io. (00:00) - 428: Grunn (00:06) - Grunn (41:24) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (41:30) - Shane: Cat Quandary (46:13) - Nate: Revisiting Overcooked 2 (49:20) - Raygan: Scary Mouse (51:50) - Laura: Fancy Chocolate (56:48) - Outro

I’M ON ANOTHER… ON ANOTHER LEVEL This week we are talking about the retro-inspired, Ska-infused rally car racer Parking Garage Rally Circuit. Race through the most iconic parking structures of the US! It’s a really great little game to welcome the show back to 2025. Stick around after for our first What’s Making Us Happy of the year! (00:00) - 428: Parking Garage Rally Circuit (45:53) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (46:05) - Nate: Dave the Diver (50:54) - Raygan: Mechanism Gaming Pillow (53:39) - Laura: British Crime Classics (57:51) - Shane:  The Fortunate Fall

It’s Game of the Year time again! This week we’re looking back at 2024 to pick the best short video game of the year, and recognize some other great games as well. 00:00 Intro04:52 Game of the Year12:00 Short Short Game of the Year – For Rules Lawyers!15:51 1000 Hour Short Game23:47 Most Unfairly Overlooked Game of 202430:32 Dirtbag of the Year35:00 Galerius of the Year40:06 Most Little Guy Who Goes Around43:11 Best Short Game in a Not Short Genre49:46 Late to the Party54:44 Honorable Mentions01:06:58 Outro (00:00) - Intro (04:52) - Game of the Year (12:00) - *Short* Short Game of the Year - For Rules Lawyers! (15:51) - 1000 Hour Short Game h (23:47) - Most Unfairly Overlooked Game of 2024 (30:32) - Dirtbag of the Year (35:00) - Galerius of the Year (40:06) - Most Little Guy Who Goes Around (43:11) - Best Short Game in a Not Short Genre (49:46) - Late to the Party (54:44) - Honorable Mentions (01:06:58) - Outro

This Thanksgiving week the hosts gathered to play a bit of a game, trying to match short games to randomly chosen genres and adjectives. What’s a David Lynchian Platformer, or an “I Want To Go To There” Card Game? What on Earth is Snacks ‘n Jaxson? All will be revealed. Happy Holidays!

Press Y to Neva There’s a certain sector of our listenership that loves it when we talk about games that don’t work for us. If that’s you, then please enjoy our discussion of Neva, the latest game from the developers of Gris. Raise your teleporting wolf-deer-puppy, nurturing her through many double-jumps, until finally she can become a gun. (00:00) - Neva (43:23) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (43:28) - Laura: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (47:01) - Shane: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (55:18) - Raygan: Bluesky

What a story. 1000xRESIST is one of the best works of science fiction we’ve seen in a game, and it opens new territory at the intersection of visual novels, adventure games, and interactive fiction while drawing on other media like film and theater. 1000 years in the future, humanity is all but extinguished and a disease spread by an alien occupation keeps the survivors underground. You are Watcher. You dutifully fulfil your purpose in service of the ALLMOTHER, until the day you learn a shocking secret that changes everything. This game is a LITTLE long for us at about 12 hours, but it’s divided into ten tightly plotted chapters and respects your time in every conceivable way. (00:00) - 1000xRESIST (42:05) - Spoiler Break

This is a show nominally about video games. (00:00) - Miscellaneous (02:24) - Crazy Story, Shane! (07:06) - Raygan's VR Corner (22:37) - Arcade Expo (37:20) - What to play with family at Christmas? (46:00) - Books? (56:31) - Some other recommendations (01:02:33) - Outro

An unsettling game for the tail end of spooky season. Mouthwashing is a non-linear narrative horror game about a doomed space freighter and her crew. Please enjoy Dragonsbreath X mouthwash. (00:00) - Mouthwashing (22:31) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (22:53) - Nate: Cuphead and Piano (26:24) - Raygan: VR Golf (36:41) - Outro (38:14) - Spoiler Break

We cover a few more games before the close of the comp. Get those votes in! 00:00 IFComp 2024 Part III 01:50 An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House & What You Found There by Mandy Benanav 08:29 The Apothecary’s Assistant by Allyson Gray 15:37 Imprimatura by Elizabeth Ballou 22:45 Welcome to the Universe by Colton Olds 30:16 Turn Right by Dee Cooke 39:21 Doctor Who and the Dalek Super-Brain by jkj yuio 44:58 A Death in Hyperspace by Etc… 54:33 Outro (00:00) - IFComp 2024 Part III (01:50) - An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House & What You Found There by Mandy Benanav (08:29) - The Apothecary's Assistant by Allyson Gray (15:37) - Imprimatura by Elizabeth Ballou (22:45) - Welcome to the Universe by Colton Olds (30:16) - Turn Right by Dee Cooke (39:21) - Doctor Who and the Dalek Super-Brain by jkj yuio (44:58) - A Death in Hyperspace by Etc... (54:33) - Outro

This has been recommended to us a lot, so we finally decided to clean out those drawers and organize those bookshelves. A surprisingly fun series of tiny organization puzzles which added up to an interesting discussion! (00:00) - A Little to the Left (35:14) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (35:28) - Laura: Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman (41:48) - Raygan: Meta Quest 3 (43:54) - Shane: Fever House by Keith Rosson (46:14) - Nate: How To Break Up With Your Phone (57:26) - Outro

Laura and Raygan talk about another handful of games from this year’s interactive fiction competition. [00:00:52] LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST by THE BODY & THE BLOOD [00:21:46] A Very Strong Gland by Arthur DiBianca [00:27:22] Bad Beer by Vivian Dunstan [00:30:32] Birding in Pope Lick Park by Eric Lathrop [00:37:56] The Den by Ben Jackson Thanks to the authors, and to all our patrons who are sharing their IFComp experiences on the Discord! (00:00) - IFComp 2024 Part 2 (00:52) - LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST by THE BODY & THE BLOOD (21:46) - A Very Strong Gland by Arthur DiBianca (27:22) - Bad Beer by Vivienne Dunstan (30:32) - Birding in Pope Lick Park by Eric Lathrop (37:56) - The Den by Ben Jackson (45:47) - Checking in on The Apothecary's Assistant (48:04) - Cosigned: You Can't Save Her by Sarah Mak (49:20) - Outro

A quick episode about a very fast game. I Am Your Beast is the latest game from Strange Scaffold and Xalavier Nelson Jr. Even more “boomer shooter”-y than previous Short Game favorite El Paso, Elsewhere, I Am Your Beast tells a John Wick-meets-Rambo story across a series of compact score-attack shooter levels. It’s very cool, but also very hard. Each level is very short, but you’ll need to play each several times to optimize your approach. We haven’t finished this one, but think it’ll likely take most players between 5 and 8 hours to complete (assuming they can get good.) (00:00) - I Am Your Beast (26:02) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (26:10) - Shane: The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman (33:11) - Raygan: Transparent CRT (39:22) - Outro

Surprise! The comp started early! Well we were surprised anyway. We’re kicking off our coverage of this year’s IFComp with impressions of the following games: The Bat by Chandler Groover ROD MCSCHLONG GETS PUNCHED IN THE DONG by Hubert Janus You Can’t Save Her by Sarah Mak Forsaken Denizen by C.E.J. Pacian KING OF XANADU by MACHINES UNDERNEATH Quest for the Teacup of Minor Sentimental Value by Damon L. Wakes The Apothecaries Assistant by Allyson Gray As with all our IFComp coverage, we need your help to decide which games to check out in the limited time we have. Let us know what you’re playing or interested in, and join us on Discord to discuss. The comp closes on October 15th! (00:00) - Intro to IFComp 2024 (14:00) - The Bat by Chandler Groover (29:26) - Digression about Mapping Tools (33:12) - ROD MCSCHLONG GETS PUNCHED IN THE DONG by Hubert Janus (41:23) - You Can't Save Her by Sarah Mak (45:18) - Forsaken Denizen by C.E.J. Pacian (56:16) - KING OF XANADU by MACHINES UNDERNEATH (59:56) - Quest for the Teacup of Minor Sentimental Value by Damon L. Wakes (01:05:40) - The Apothecaries Assistant by Allyson Gray (01:06:31) - A surprisingly long sidebar about cryptic crosswords (01:09:49) - Outro

Frog Fatigue and Frog Enthusiasm abound in this discussion of open world first person mountain climbing game Valley Peaks. (00:00) - Intro (04:44) - Valley Peaks (34:11) - Frog Fatigue (35:26) - Frog Enthusiasm (39:07) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (39:10) - Laura - The Talented Mr. Ripley (42:54) - Raygan - Moaan Inkpalm Plus (48:39) - Shane - Gladys The Magic Chicken (56:06) - Outro

In this topic episode, Laura and Raygan go through their bookshelves to talk about the video game books they have enjoyed. Art books, game design books, history, and even novels. (00:00) - 415: Video Game Books (00:10) - Intro (01:02) - Video Game Books (02:24) - Art Books (03:10) - Bitmap Books and Retro Game Art Collections (14:08) - The Victoria and Albert Exhibit (20:00) - Hyrule Historia and Concept Art (21:43) - Dogs in Video Games (24:45) - Game History Books (34:36) - 50 Years of Text Games (37:56) - Personal Essays on Video Gamess (41:20) - Game Design Books and Tools (47:01) - Game Guides (54:16) - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (57:16) - Outro

A surreal comedy “slapformer” about a little guy who goes around. (00:00) - 414: Thank Goodness You're Here! (26:54) - Outro

You click it real good. (00:00) - Clickolding (26:39) - What's Making Me Happy This Week? (26:52) - Shane - No Man’s Sky Updates (32:27) - Nate - Laughing at Star Trek Discovery (38:40) - Raygan - The Hands of the Emperor (47:09) - Outro

Doth these nitwits hast what it takes to properly divine the qualities of this absolutely bizarre JRPG?

Let’s dig into the memory hole and try to remember why we love games. What are some of your favorite gaming moments?

Can this podcast run Doom? (00:00) - Doom (1993) (02:16) - Why Play Doom? (06:18) - Development History (21:22) - Playing for Speed (24:31) - More History (26:00) - Deathmatch (29:21) - Playing Doom in 2024 (47:49) - The Doom Scene (54:59) - Buy Doom (57:45) - Wrap Up (01:07:33) - Outro

It’s a Nate Game this week, as we’re talking about Cobalt Core, a card-based roguelike deckbuilder about a space ship full of furries stuck in a time loop. (00:00) - Cobalt Core (44:43) - Outro

I’ve finally pushed my co-hosts down the Animal Well. This uneasy, mysterious, combat free take on the Metroidvania genre asks you to live in a hole and be terrified of kangaroos. It is both shorter, and longer than you think. (00:00) - Animal Well (01:06:03) - Outro

Sure, this game about a duck detective solving an office lunch theft is cute, but did you know it’s also an introduction to Cold-war era Berlin for children? Duck Detective is a deducktion/adventure game that plays like an introduction to the Obra Dinn/Golden Idol style of mystery solving game. It’s only about 2 hours long, and would be great to play with a kid. (00:00) - Duck Detective (30:32) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (30:41) - Laura: Ball of Fire (36:14) - Raygan: SPQR (43:28) - Outro

A single bullet to kill a whole bunch of cultists. Children of the Sun is a puzzle sniping game, where THE GIRL is out to kill THE LEADER of THE CULT. Telekinetically redirect your single bullet in flight to head-shot all the cultists in each level. It’s a game that turns out to be much more puzzle game than shooter. Expect it to take around 3-4 hours to complete. In the What’s Making Us Happy This Week segment this week, Shane recommends a horror novel, and Raygan overthinks his e-reader situation. (00:00) - Intro (02:05) - Children of the Sun (31:30) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (31:46) - Shane: 'Leech' by Hiron Ennes (41:27) - Raygan: Overthinking eBooks (58:02) - Outro

Indika is a young nun in 19th century Russia, suffering from a crisis of faith, delusions, and puzzles. It’s one of the most cinematically interesting games we’ve played in a long time, and ended up spurring nearly two hours of discussion about a four-ish hour game. (00:00) - Intro (05:46) - Gameplay and Comparisons (08:24) - Visuals and Cinematic Techniques (14:48) - Cut One Puzzle, Please! (15:51) - Odd Meter, Russia, and Ukraine (21:02) - Who is Indika? (24:13) - Faith Points (36:14) - Summing Up (37:27) - Making Me Happy: Shane is a Manor Lord (51:47) - Spoiler Break

Your ex-girlfriend, queen of the vampires, has holed up in an El Paso motel to perform a ritual that will bring about the end of the world. As John Savage, veteran monster hunter and bullet-time gun-diver, you’ll need to fight through all 50 floors of the surreal extrandimensional motel to stop her. Soon to be a major motion picture! (00:00) - El Paso, Elsewhere (48:14) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (48:18) - Nate - Slay the Spire Board Game (54:55) - Raygan - BlueRetro (01:01:07) - Shane - Time Locker (01:08:53) - Outro

Slumps. Ruts. Dulldrums. Whatever you want to call them, most of us have likely experienced times when you couldn’t play or enjoy games in the way you might want for one reason or another. In this topic episode we talk about the various reasons we’ve ended up in gaming slumps, and what we did to get out of them. (00:00) - Topic Episode: Gaming Slumps (40:30) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (40:57) - Laura - Fancy Playing Cards (46:47) - Raygan - Fallout (TV) (49:57) - Shane - I Can’t Find Him! (54:39) - Outro