This week, we've played an unconscionable number of demos, so we run through a whole bunch of the ones we mostly liked at Steam Next Fest and the Tribeca Festival. Then, Willa interviews Tribeca Games vice president Casey Baltes with a tin can inside a submarine apparently and Robin tries her hardest to make it listenable.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Just a whole bunch of nothing

(04:35) Dice Gambit

(10:30) Cast and Chill

(14:00) Morse

(18:15) Prison of Husks

(28:30) MotionRec

(33:20) Coffee Talk Tokyo

(35:30) Project Arrow

(37:15) KuloNiku: Bowl Up!

(41:10) Dispatch

(47:15) MIO: Memories in Orbit

(55:45) Possessor(s)

(1:00:55) Absolum

(1:04:46) Death Howl

(1:09:00) Cairn

(1:13:10) Sleep Awake

(1:15:40) Take Us North

(1:22:35) Mixtape

(1:29:30) Casey Baltes Interview

(1:55:10) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Fire Emblem: Three Houses, a very good video about Dark Souls 2)

Mentioned this week:

Prison Of Husks Feels Like Playing A Dream About Dark Souls

I'm Bad at Video Games, So I Played Dark Souls 2

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The worst part of the year was even worse this year. We slogged through Summer Game Fest and a few showcases that didn’t suck and now we’re here to talk about what we saw there and why everyone’s so mad.

CW: Discussions of disordered eating in Consume Me from 52:30 to 57:05

Timestamps:

(00:20) Our mortal enemy, summer

(01:30) State of Play had a few good games

(13:15) Ciri Showcase and Unearthed Treasure Room

(17:30) SGF was even worse than it always is

(33:00) Mina the Hollower is good as hell

(38:55) Remembering that good video games exist at Day of the Devs

(52:30) CW: Eating disorders Consume Me is unbelievably good

(57:05) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Mishima - A Life in Four Chapters and another cinematic masterpiece)

(1:04:30) Some announcements!

Mentioned this week:

The Unearthed Treasure Room

Consume Me Turns Gaming’s Obsession With Stats Into A Trap For Players

You can now give us money if you really want to

Watch Annie and Robin on Twitch Wednesday at 7 pm ET!

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We have a handful of games to talk about this week, including an excellent new farming game, a so-so story from the creator of Katamari Damacy, and a turn-based RPG about death (no, not that one).

Timestamps:

(00:30) Corndog update

(04:10) Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is the second coming of Harvestella

(24:50) To a T is cute I guess

(40:55) Galactic Glitch is simple fun

(44:10) Danchi Days is delightful and weird

(50:25) The Time I Have Left now lives rent-free in Robin's brain

(57:15) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Hacks, You’re Wrong About - Coyotes! and Lesbian Seagulls)

Mentioned this week:

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Review: A Bountiful Blend of Life Sim and RPG

To a T Feels Like A Saturday Morning Cartoon’s Rough First Season

Gio’s good post

The Quest To Revive A Summer Festival Is Off To A Strong Start In Danchi Days

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This week, Robin and Willa have a conversation no one will disagree with about a game everyone is being reasonable about. We talk through why Clair Obscur, the FRPG of the year, didn’t live up to the hype for either of us, and inevitably detour into why criticism is good and cool and doesn’t have to make you a killjoy.

Timestamps:

(00:30) Setting le tableau (or, don’t yell at us about Clair Obscur)

(03:40) Prologue: A Very Somber State Fair

(35:00) Act 1: Lost Syndrome

(45:45) Act 2: We Don’t Care That [REDACTED] [REDACTED]s

(53:00) Act 3: Every Frame A Painting

(1:04:50) Epilogue: Blaming Women

(1:18:18) Inspirations and comparisons

(1:29:40) Why everyone is being so weird about this game/why criticism isn’t a dirty word

(1:42:00) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Gundam GQuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuX, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown)

Mentioned this week:

The best part of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is it explains nothing

Close Reading Is For Everyone

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s style is its substance

I Want to Be Potboy! (with Robin and Tori!) - Into the Aether

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CW: Brief reference to suicide between (01:05:00) and (01:05:45)

This week, Robin and Willa dive into the work of Selkie Harbour, developer of the recent (and excellent) Many Nights a Whisper. We get into the interesting parallels and outliers among the studio’s catalog and come away more excited about ice skating than we ever thought possible. We also completely spoil all of these very short games, so consider taking a couple hours to play through all of them if you don’t want to hear about them first!

Also check out Robin's recent appearance on Into the Aether, where she talks indie deckbuilders and Expedition 33 with Stephen and Press Start's Tori!

Timestamps:

(01:20) X-Men belongs to the dolls

(02:45) A walking tour of Selkie Harbour’s itch page

(6:15) A Message for the Stone King

(12:15) The Well

(19:30) Everything You Didn’t Get To Do

(31:50) Sunset Shift

(40:20) I.C.A. Calendar Photoshoot 2023 (see Robin's calendar here)

(46:10) Rêverie

(51:30) The Anglerfish Project

(58:35) Wrapping up Selkie Harbour

(1:00:40) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. Easy Delivery Co., Apocalypse Hotel, a great piece on Superhot VR, Blue Prince)

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This week, Robin talks to the delightful hosts of the equally delightful Emmi & Annie Talk Indie podcast. We discuss a whole mess of games, with tangents on sexualizing playing cards, furry-friendly pizza restaurants, the games that taught us to type, and learning the name for a group of butterflies.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Introducing Emmi and Annie (who talk indie)!

(14:30) Making dogs immortal in Many Nights a Whisper

(43:30) A food service soap opera in The Chef’s Shift :3

(1:02:55) Christine Mi’s games make us want to make games

(1:23:00) Growing a story in Tiny Garden

(1:26:45) Worshipping the devil after gym class in Expelled!

(1:39:00) What else have Annie, Emmi, and Robin been up to this week? (feat. traumatic YA books, gacha-based disappointment, The Apothecary Diaries, Changes of Heart, Look Back, a 29-year-old calling herself old and instantly killing Robin)

Mentioned this week:

Listen to EATI!

Follow Emmi, Annie, and EATI on Bluesky

Annie, Emmi, and EATI’s websites

A very good Christine Mi comic

Dotzip on Worm Girlfriend Dating Simulator

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Like everyone else, we’re still reeling from the destruction of Polygon and Giant Bomb, but trying to do more than curl up into the fetal position about it. After the most constructive takes on games media we can muster, we talk through a few great games Robin's played recently, put a pin in a not-great one, and check in with Willa’s three favorite things (the Mets, weird New York lore, and gay mutants).

Timestamps:

(00:20) Meet today’s guest, Willa Rowe

(01:20) The shocking delay of GTA 6, which no one saw coming

(06:00) RIP Polygon and Giant Bomb

(12:30) The future of games media, if there is such a thing

(21:21) Navigating games journalism in its death throes

(25:20) You don’t need to pay $80 for games

(30:10) Many Nights a Whisper

(36:30) Ending spoilers for Many Nights a Whisper

(38:00) StarVaders fuuuuuucks

(40:05) We will talk about Clair Obscur at a later date

(41:05) Brief LudoNarraCon shoutouts

(43:30) Surprise Mets/Astoria the turkey update

(46:30) What else have Willa and Robin been up to this week? (feat. The X-Men, Super Cub)

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Selkie Harbour

Many Nights A Whisper Lets You Decide What Wishes Are Worth Granting

I Can’t Believe How Good StarVaders’ Deckbuilding Riff On Space Invaders Is

Willa’s deranged Clair Obscur thread

LudoNarraCon talks

The Senga Genesis post

Hazel’s Anime Countryside video

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This week, critic and essayist Autumn Wright joins Robin to talk about Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, a game about growing up as a queer woman that’s just as messy as the real thing. We discuss how the game still works even when it’s fraying at the edges and wonder whether the mid-budget talky game can survive even if Don’t Nod doesn’t.

Timestamps:

(00:20) Welcome Autumn!

(24:50) Tape 1 ending spoilers

(29:10) Tape 1 Spoilers end/Tape 2 spoilers begin

(38:25) Tape 2 ending spoilers begin

(1:17:05) Tape 2 spoilers end/Don’t Nod and conversation games broadly

Music:

Street Food by FASSounds

Mentioned this week:

Autumn on Bloom and Rage Tape 1 and Tape 2

Robin on Bloom and Rage Tape 1 and Tape 2

Follow Autumn on Bluesky

Read Autumn on Unwinnable

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