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Tag: Indie Games

The 2-Body Solution

The 2-Body Solution

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WEEK IN GEEK: Our hosts jump right into it as Andrew gets sucked back into the world of Stardew Valley with their most recent update and D. Bethel taps into the zeitgeist and plays the roguelike, deckbuilding, poker-themed (?!) game, Balatro.

THE SEASON OF REGENERATION: With the release of the trailer for the new series of Doctor Who, it contains all that fans could hope for––action, humor, adventure, drama…and it’s “season 1”?

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(00:00) Intro – Andrew got too distracted to podcast…

(01:37) …because he got sucked into Stardew Valley‘s 1.6 release.

(15:33) D. Bethel can’t stop playing the not poker video game, Balatro.

(28:49) Outro – In May we start Doctor Who‘s…first season?

(31:35) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Love the Stank” (30 December 2016): Where Andrew first dives into the addictive world of Stardew Valley.
  • “States of Play” (30 August 2019): Where Andrew shares his first experiences with Klei Entertainment’s Oxygen Not Included.
  • “Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where D. Bethel shares his first experiences diving into the world of roguelike deckbuilding games with Meteorfall: Journey.
  • “Smell the Duke” (4 February 2022): Where D. Bethel discusses the roguelike conversation/combat deckbuilding game by Klei Entertainment, Griftlands.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Day of the Diver

Day of the Diver

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DOCTOR NEW: Our hosts spend a little bit of time discussing the newest episode of Doctor Who, “The Church on Ruby Road.”

FISHING & STUFF: Our hosts talk about the charm, the complexities, and frustrations of the hit video game, Dave the Diver.

THE CALL OF PUBLIC DOMAIN: With the new year brings a new slate of texts into the public domain. While most people are talking about Disney’s latest loss, Andrew focuses in on a piece of cosmic horror that has officially entered public domain this year, H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.”

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Doctor Who
(03:11) Dave the Diver
(28:59) Outro – New items in the public domain
(32:48) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Quite Easily Done” (08 June 2018): Where our hosts discuss a documentary by the video game documentarians, NoClip, about the history of the developer, Bethesda.
  • “Academic Quality Entertainment” (04 August 2023): Where Andrew talks about his time playing Dredge.
  • “Pleasure Quotes” (22 December 2023): Where our hosts talk about the bigeneration episode that introduced the new Doctor as played by Ncuti Gatwa.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Privilege of Ubiquity

Privilege of Ubiquity

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STALLED ENGINE: Creators of the popular game engine, Unity, made some disquieting news this week when it announced some changes to its licensing policy for developers. Andrew and D. Bethel do their best to break down the changes and examine some of the response from developers.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Fair Point, Dude” (1 June 2018): Where Andrew discusses his dabblings with game development in the Unity engine.
  • “An Optimistic Dystopia” (12 August 2022): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts on his initial playthrough of Stray.

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The Soundness

The Soundness

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A LESSON IN SURVIVAL: Our hosts are going to take it easy this week, but they’re stopping in for a quick look at what’s been drawing their attention. Andrew gets frustrated by the difficulty to be found in Green Hell while D. Bethel dips a toe into the wildly popular independent game, Vampire Survivors.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Where the Hands Touch” (13 January 2017): Where D. Bethel first discusses the video game documentary YouTube channel, Noclip.
  • “It’s Always a Game” (8 February 2019): Where Andrew shares his impressions about Subnautica.

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Bedroom Heat

Bedroom Heat

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EVEN STRANGER: This week, our hosts reflect on the recently finished second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and, to no one’s surprise, have nothing negative to say about it.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Aggressive Modulation” (4 November 2022): Where our hosts ponder the influence and impact of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • “Klingon Time Lords” (15 July 2022): Where our hosts share their thoughts about the very compelling and referential season one finale to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

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Academic Quality Entertainment

Academic Quality Entertainment

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WEEK IN GEEK: It’s all about indie video games this week as both of our hosts have been indulging in new ludic adventures. Andrew participates in the eldritch fishing adventure of Dredge while D. Bethel has been having roguelike RPG fun with Star Renegades.

RIP PEE-WEE: Paul Reubens died after a long bout with cancer on July 30; our hosts spend a bit of time memorializing his work.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Baguettevania” (24 August 2018): Where our hosts discuss the roguelike Metroidvania, Dead Cells.
  • “Hobbit Seasons” (24 June 2022): Where Andrew talks about the iterative awesomeness of Rogue Legacy 2.
  • “Tentacles or Bust” (12 May 2023): Where D. Bethel shares his experience with the Lovecraftian adventure game, Call of the Sea.

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Tentacles or Bust

Tentacles or Bust

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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.

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Dragon Crap

Dragon Crap

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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.

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An Optimistic Dystopia

An Optimistic Dystopia

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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.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Hobbit Seasons

Hobbit Seasons

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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.

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