Browsed by
Tag: Indie Games

Tentacles or Bust

Tentacles or Bust

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, our hosts dive deep into the video game pool as Andrew gets his caveman farming on with Soda Den’s Roots of Pacha while D. Bethel finds a lot of adventure and fun in the deeply Lovecraftian adventure puzzle game, Call of the Sea by Out of the Blue.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Your Cursor is My Prisoner” (19 February 2016): Where D. Bethel talks about another fun walking simulator, Firewatch.
  • Love the Stank” (30 December 2016): Where Andrew begins his long love affair with Stardew Valley.
  • Starting By Starting” (3 January 2020): Where D. Bethel plays a different––in many ways––Lovecraftian adventure game, The Sinking City.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Dragon Crap

Dragon Crap

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew gets entranced (and a little ill) playing the hit indie rhythm game, Trombone Champ, while Dan gets charmed by the hit AppleTV+ show, Ted Lasso.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Jerry Goldsmith White Noise Machine” (6 March 2015): Where D. Bethel talks about John Carpenter’s first album of instrumental music, Lost Themes.
  • An Existential Poem” (12 August 2018): Where D. Bethel talks about John Carpenter’s second album of instrumental music, Lost Themes II.
  • Toxic Delivery Mechanism” (12 October 2018): Where our hosts discuss another of John Carpenter’s incredible entries into the horror genre, Halloween.
  • Chasing Chickens” (17 July 2020): Where Andrew shares his excitement for an early AppleTV+ show, For All Mankind.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

An Optimistic Dystopia

An Optimistic Dystopia

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew endures convalescence by getting a double dose of survival horror, by watching the premiere season of Netflix’s live-action Resident Evil series while also playing through Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 3. D. Bethel, on the other hand, finds incredible connection in the first game from Blue 12 studio’s Stray.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Tile Pile” (22 November 2019): Where D. Bethel discusses his time with another Annapurna-published game, Outer Wilds.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Hobbit Seasons

Hobbit Seasons

WEEK IN GEEK: A lot of video games were played this week, some new, some old. Andrew plays the new hotness that is Cellar Door Games’ Rogue Legacy 2 and finds it engrossing. D. Bethel plays two video games, first working his way through the Metroidvania classic, Ori and the Blind Forest, and the new arcade beat ’em up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Super Sleep Mode” (28 November 2014): Where Andrew first discusses his time with the first Rogue Legacy.
  • With Space Hands” (12 June 2015): Where D. Bethel talks about his time with Rogue Legacy.
  • The Game of Life” (23 February 2018): Where Andrew talks about the ins and outs of Cellar Door Game’s follow-up to Rogue Legacy, Full Metal Furies.
  • Baguettevania” (24 August 2018): Where D. Bethel talks about a recent popular rogue-like, Motion Twin’s Dead Cells.
  • Scumbag Removal” (16 April 2021): Where Andrew talks about the unique rogue-like, Four Quarters’ Loop Hero.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Rural Byrd

Rural Byrd

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew actually gets into sports (kind of) after watching the first season of the new HBO basketball docu-drama, Winning Time. D. Bethel plays Studio Koba’s recent release, Narita Boy, and is delighted by its retro stylings and gameplay but also impressed by its impressive step into modern storytelling and themes.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Droopy Doo

Droopy Doo

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew watches the first season of HBO’s pirate rom-com, Our Flag Means Death, while D. Bethel has a lot of fun with Acid Nerve’s charming game about being a grim reaper, Death’s Door.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Baguettevania” (24 August 2018): Where Andrew discusses his time playing Moonlighter.
  • Sad News Theme” (28 February 2020): Where D. Bethel discusses his time playing Moonlighter.

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Zeldavania

Zeldavania

A MISERABLE PILE OF SECRETS: Our hosts spend a bit of time reminiscing on the 25th anniversary of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night––the video game that put the “-vania” in “Metroidvania.”

WEEK IN GEEK: After a week off, our hosts have been busy being nerdy! Andrew finally caught up with all the Spider-Man movies while D. Bethel dipped another toe into deck-building video games with the very popular Slay the Spire, developed by MegaCrit.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Nerd Business” (31 July 2014): Where Andrew and D. Bethel first discuss Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a game that matters.
  • Trusty Rusty” (10 August 2018): Where Andrew talks about the video deck-building game adapted from a physical one, One Deck Dungeon.
  • We Still Don’t Know $#!&” (31 May 2019): On the show’s fifth anniversary, our hosts discuss the prevalence of “RPG elements” throughout, basically, all video games at this point.
  • Good Gamefeel” (28 June 2019): Where our hosts discuss the first non-Castlevania Metroidvania game developed by the adopted father of the series––Koji “Iga” Igarashi––Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
  • Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where D. Bethel plays his first real roguelike deck-building game, Meteorfall: Journey.
  • Smell the Duke” (04 February 2022): Where D. Bethel plays a bit of the clever deck-building game, Griftlands.
  • Bigger Than the Batman” (11 March 2022): Where D. Bethel talks about the indie game currently on his docket, A Plague Tale: Innocence.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Bigger Than The Batman

Bigger Than The Batman

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew watches the most recent entry into the Scream franchise, while D. Bethel finds mild catharsis in the not-at-all-cathartic game from Asobo Studios, A Plague Tale: Innocence.

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Inserting Spaces

Inserting Spaces

STANDING WITH UKRAINE: Our hosts take a minute to discuss the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

REVIEWING REVIEWS: The release of FromSoftware’s newest game, Elden Ring, has many people talking about reviews due to the fact that many outlets rated the game 10/10 (or whatever metric they use) while the reviewers openly admit that they didn’t finish the game (this was due to FromSoftware releasing review codes to websites really late). This lead D. Bethel and Andrew to consider what the role of a review is––heck, what even is a review when the gamut runs from professional reviews to user-written Amazon reviews.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Starting By Starting” (03 January 2020): Where D. Bethel discusses his time playing Frogwares’ The Sinking City.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Smell the Duke

Smell the Duke

SHIFTING SANDS: For a short bit, our hosts discuss The New York Times paying a large amount for the popular website-based word game, Wordle, as well as the announcement that Sony intends to buy the former Microsoft-owned studio, Bungie.

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew peruses the rule book for Renegade Game Studios’ new licensed tabletop RPG, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, while D. Bethel is intrigued and impressed by the newest release from Klei Studios, Griftlands.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • The Space Dog and Bacchus Show.” (21 August 2014): Where Andrew interviews game designer, Kai Cambra.
  • Applejacks. Hot Dogs. Thursday. Fire Truck.” (13 May 2016): Where Andrew talks about playing Klei’s Invisible, Inc.
  • States of Play” (30 August 2019): Where Andrew develops an obsession with Klei’s Oxygen Not Included.
  • Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where D. Bethel discusses his time with a real deckbuilding mobile game, Slothworks’ Meteorfall: Journey.
  • Makes a Taste” (13 March 2020): Where Andrew discusses playing the tabletop superhero RPG, The Spectaculars.
  • Films in Quarries” (18 June 2021): Where Andrew first discusses his current obsession with sentai shows.

RELEVANT LINKS:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC: