MindGames Podcast

Surprise! It's that time of year again! The MindGames crew is together discussing our Festive Favourites. So join us as we gush over the games which we loved playing most this year. Today's Games (in order of appearance): Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Conan Exiles (Funcom) It Takes Two (EA) Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games) Death Stranding (Kojima Productions) My City (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS)    

Preamble Hello, and welcome to MindGames! In this month's episode we're activating beast mode: we're talking animals and pets! What sort of animals are represented in games, and how do games explore human-animal relationships? Why do people feel such a strong affinity for animal companions over human ones? Join us for a walk on the wild side as we address all these questions and more!   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Pokemon (GameFreak) Zoo Tycoon (Blue Fang Games) Planet Zoo (Frontier Developments) Fallout (Bethesda) The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt Red) Fable 2 (Lionhead Studios) Bioshock: Infinite (2K) The Last of Us (Naughty Dog) Mass Effect (Bioware) Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions) Megaquarium (Twice Circled) Parkosaurus (Washbear Studio) Planet Coaster (Frontier Developments) Temtem (Crema) Monster Sanctuary (Moi Rai Games) Monster Hunter (Capcom)   The dustbowl hellscape nightmare of rutting warthogs: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/planet-zoo-is-temporarily-a-game-about-mass-producing-knackered-warthogs   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Find us on twitter @mindgamespod Website: https://mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/ Pop a comment below, or let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

Preamble Hello, and welcome to MindGames! In this month's episode we discuss a topic everyone has some idea of, “Home”. How do peoples ideas of home bleed into their work? How do games tug on our heartstrings and make us feel at home? And just why is Steve reading about preserved mutton and smoked tongue? Join us as we address all these questions and more in this months episode Today's Games (in order of appearance): Star Dew Valley (ConcernedApe) Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth, BlitWorks) Animal Crossing (Nintendo, MORE) The Sims (Maxis, Electronic Arts) Spirit Fairer (Thunder Lotus Games) Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) Mass Effect (BioWare ) Dragon Age (BioWare, Edge of Reality) Hades (Supergiant Games) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Domestic Economy (Faulkner & Co) The House Wife (Colossal Wreck) Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy ) Ticket to Ride Stay at Home (Days of Wonder, Alan R. Moon) Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)   The lovely Domestic Economy art: https://www.wopc.co.uk/uk/faulkner/domestic-economy   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Find us on twitter @mindgamespod Website: https://mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/ Pop a comment below, or let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

Preamble Hello, and welcome to MindGames! In this month's episode, we discuss accessibility in games. How have games responded to the different needs and abilities of their players, and how have they represented these types of people in their worlds? Join us as we explore issues such as colour blindness, dyslexia and physical interfaces. Encouraging progress has been made across the games industry in recent years, but there is still so much more to be done...   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Among Us (Innersloth) Warhammer (Games Workshop) Loop Hero (Four Quarters) Carcassonne (Klaus-Jürgen Wrede) Hades (Supergiant Games) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Shandalar (Wizards of the Coast) Hearthstone (Blizzard Entertainment) Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games) Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) Dungeons and Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Magic: the Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Pop a comment below, or let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com   **The MindGames Game: 20 Questions* You have 20 guesses with yes/no answers to guess the game. Game 1: Spelunky Game 2: Skyrim Game 3: Pokémon Blue Game 4: inFamous Game 5 (Tie Breaker): Chrono Trigger   Check out Meeple Like Us here: https://www.meeplelikeus.co.uk/ Even more reading on this topic: http://gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/full-list/ https://remptongames.com/2018/06/09/games-for-everyone-accessibility-in-board-games/ https://www.meeplelikeus.co.uk/on-board-game-accessibility/ https://brandonthegamedev.com/how-to-develop-visually-and-physically-accessible-board-games/#:~:text=Accessible%20games%20are%20ones%20where,presents%20a%20barrier%20to%20enjoyment   Don't forget to follow us at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, and subscribe on your favourite podcast app.

Preamble Welcome to this month's MindGames! In this episode, we immerse ourselves in the audio world of games. We ask why soundtracks are such a big part of games, and what role music plays in the games we love. We are lucky to be joined this month by Rachel, a very special guest who last appeared in Season 1's 'Faith in Games'. This month, she brings her expert insight into songs, singing and acoustics. Ever wondered why your singing sounds so much better in the shower? Rachel has the answer! Pop your headphones on, sit back, and listen as we explore the ways in which music is in our games, and our DNA.   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly) Bloodborne (FromSoftware) F-Zero GX (Amusement Vision) Escape: The Curse of the Temple (Kristian Amundsen Østby) Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Guitar Hero (Harmonix) Flower (Nicholas Clark) Audiosurf  (Dylan Fitterer) Beat Saber (Beat Games) Silent Hill 2 (Konami) Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games) Lisa: The Painful (Dingaling) Ni No Kuni 1 & 2 (Level-5) Street Fighter IV (Capcom) Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar) Avernum (Spiderweb Software) Left for Dead (Turtle Rock Studios) Dead Space (Visceral Games) Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com   **The MindGames Game: MindGames 'Humbug'* Tune 1: Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Saria's Song (Lost Woods) https://youtu.be/jKrhPHSuy4Q Tune 2: Stardew Valley, Overture https://youtu.be/sfATf-aMvbA Tune 3: Terraria, Day Music https://youtu.be/x23I8f9PwlI Tune 4: Europa Universalis IV, The Voyage https://youtu.be/hGrtN02XTI0   Check out Milodice: Music for Board Games here https://melodice.org/ Reading on rhythmic universals https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26124105/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0007#ref-CR1 Don't forget to follow us at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, and subscribe on your favourite podcast app.

Preamble Welcome, young listener, to the wise and venerable MindGames podcast! In this month's episode, we discuss ageing, both in terms of growth ('coming of age') and decline ('senescence'). This month, we tackle big questions around how games have 'come of age' over the past 40 years; do they age gracefully, or are we perpetually enraptured by the cult of the new? In what ways have games presented the process of getting older and experiencing more about the world and ourselves, and how does this reflect the life journeys of their players and designers? Sit back and rest those weary bones as we ramble about all these questions - and stick around to the end for a real nail-biter of a MindGames Game!   Today's Games (in order of appearance): GoldenEye 007 (Rare) King's Quest (Sierra Entertainment) Passage (Jason Rohrer) Pokémon (GameFreak) Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix) The Last of Us (Naughty Dog) Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems, Koei Tecmo) The Longing (Studio Seufz) Massive Chalice (Double Fine, Brad Muir) Crusader Kings 3 (Paradox Interactive) Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games) Chronos: Before the Ashes (Gunfire Games) Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com   **This Month's Weird Games** One Hour One Life (Jason Rohrer) Paul Matijevic, 'Ah, dang! Mothman won't move out (he said it was just for the weekend)' (Check it out here, and support the creator as much as you can: https://ettin.itch.io/mothman?download) Agarest: Generations of War (Idea Factory, Red Entertainment and Compile Heart)   **The MindGames Game** MINDGAMES BLACKJACK Rules: You'll be asked to provide games that meet a certain criteria. You must give answers that, collectively, are as close to 21 years old as possible. At any point you can ‘stick', banking your collective years. You will each take turns to give responses until each person has decided to stick. If you exceed 21, you strike out and get no points. If a game has been used, it cannot be used for the remainder of the game. 1 point if you win, 0 points if you lose or 'strike out'. Oldest player goes first (age before beauty)! Questions: Give me games that feature a male main character. Give me games that have a female main character. Give me board games. Give me games that start with a vowel.   Special thanks to the following Reddit users, who helped with the research for this episode: u/DrunkenMonkeyNU u/ZakAmetyst u/savaghost u/fishwithfish u/King_Allant u/OneManFreakShow u/catinterpreter Don't forget to follow us at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, and subscribe on your favourite podcast app.

Welcome to Season 3 of the MindGames podcast! War, huh? What is it good for? Turns out it's podcasting! In this month's episode we reflect on how games have tackled the politics, drama and desperation of war. Why does war excite so many works of art, and can an interactive medium truly capture the horror and the atrocity of conflict? Join us as we delve into how we wage miniature warfare, and what that says about our real world. Content warning: A (brief) discussion of historic genocide.   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Diplomacy (Allan B. Calhamer) Game of Thrones (Christian T. Petersen) Western Empires (Flo de Haan, Gerart de Haan, John Rodriguez and Francis Tresham) Call of Duty (Activision/Treyarch) Total War (Creative Assembly) Memories Retold (Digixart) Through the Darkest of Times (Paintbucket Games) This War of Mine (11 Bit Studios) Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) Twilight Struggle (Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews) Warhammer: Age of Sigmar & Warhammer 40k (Games Workshop) God of War (Santa Monica Studio) The Division (Ubisoft)   **This Month's Weird Game** Metal Waltz: Anime Tank Girls (Shanghai JingCai Computer Software Development Co., Ltd)   **The MindGames Game** Pass the warhead - Starts with a fuse of 3. Who gets it 1st is decided at random. Correct answer does not decrease the timer and passes it to the other person. If the weapon is real and featured in a game, the correct answer will be a real weapon because that came first. Wrong answer decreases it by 1. Real life Weapon of War or video game weapon? The Tachanka - REAL LIFE The Blutsauger - GAME THE DMR - GAME The Puckle gun - REAL LIFE The EX grenade - GAME Zanbatō - REAL LIFE Who Me? - REAL LIFE Belle-Magrave 4.46 mm rifle - GAME M7 Lancer - GAME The Chicken Powered Nuclear Bomb - REAL LIFE The Staff of Jordan - GAME   Did you enjoy the first episode of season three? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, plus all the behind-the-scenes MindGames madness.

Christmas may be cancelled for millions in the UK, but the MindGames team are here for you! In this final bonus episode, we'll be topping off an awful year with some lovely chat about some lovely games. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. ~~~ Our 2020 Festive Favourites: Steve: Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch) & Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix) Pix: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) & Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games) Milos: Pathologic 2 (Ice-Pick Lodge) & Ultrakill (Arsi 'Hikita' Patala) Other mentions: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware) The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment) The Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital) Planescape Torment (Black Isle Studios) Baldur's Gate (Bioware) Doom: Eternal (Bethesda) ~~~ MINDGAMES CHRISTMAS GAME ANSWERS Red and orange, yellow and green, the finest veggies Cyseal's ever seen! (Divinity: Original Sin) A man chooses, a slave obeys. (BioShock) In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is only war. (Warhammer 40,000) Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. (Darkest Dungeon) I'm a doctor, not a combined creature scientist! (Impossible Creatures) War, war never changes. (Fallout) Strip the flesh, salt the wound. (Borderlands) Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle! (Super Mario Bros) ~~~ Some interesting articles on Pathologic 2:   https://uppercutcrit.com/scars-of-the-risen-god-healing-in-pathologic-2/   https://bulletpointsmonthly.com/2020/06/25/the-world-unsettled-pathologic-2 ~~~ Wishing you all a safe and merry Christmas and New Year. Look out for Season 3 launching in January! Got comments or suggestions for next season? There's still time! Email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Don't forget to follow the MindGames gang on Twitter at @mindgamespod

Keep yourself warm this November with the soft glow of Nostalgia. Milos and Sophie talk about  Neopets. Its crazy economy, its links to Scientology and the lost plush of a paintbrush for Sophie's pet.   For some of Sophie's work: https://www.instagram.com/dragonet_girl/ Email us about your neglected neopets at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com or send us neocash on twitter @mindgamespod   Alex Irpan: Stories From the Neopets Economy https://www.alexirpan.com/2018/11/10/neopets-economy.html Sarah Bellman: Neopets was run by Scientologists https://theoutline.com/post/4190/neopets-was-run-by-scientologists?zd=1&zi=lhfreh4m

The UK isn't the only place to see fireworks this bonfire night, as the Trump v Biden election continues to sizzle and spark with tension. Trump has already tried to falsely claim victory, armed protesters are on the streets, and meanwhile millions of people across the USA are still awaiting the results of Tuesday's poll to determine their next president. Today, we take another look at last episode's election wargame to see how accurate those takes turned out to be. Though the outlook is cautiously optimistic, the vote still hangs in the balance - and we're right in the thick of it. The visions of the future within this game have never seemed so relevant and important. email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com or tweet deranged statements in angry capitals at us @mindgamespod

With the US election around the corner, we take a look at an innovative research project that has used games to predict the outcome of Trump v Biden. Ever wondered how on earth Trump will get out of this? It's a real rollercoaster, this one. Protests, sabotage and even a secession crisis. Oh, and as a special treat for this bonus episode, Milos reveals his ISIS-inspired stripper name... 'Where the System May Break' A war-game exercise simulating the 2020 election unmasked some key vulnerabilities https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/how-2020-election-could-go-wrong/614842/ Check out a PDF of the game here: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7013152/Preventing-a-Disrupted-Presidential-Election-and.pdf  Game Results Game One: Ambiguous Result Game Two: Clear Biden Victory Game Three: Clear Trump Win Game Four: Narrow Biden Win   Here's the grossly disingenuous and misleading Republican attack ad on Joe Biden and Black Lives Matter, 'Meet Joe Biden's Supporters' https://youtu.be/JmXj613HPN8 For a sense of these kind of games in action, take a look at the Shut Up & Sit Down 'Alien Invasion' megagame: https://youtu.be/hN71v9H_gg8   Got comments or suggestions for next season? Email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Don't forget to follow the MindGames crew on Twitter at @mindgamespod

Hi everyone. Two quick updates for you regarding the MindGames podcast. 1) We're now entering our long overdue summer break period. We're really happy with our progress in Season 2: we introduced a new format, tackled some massive topics, and even interviewed some real-life game designers and artists. To make Season 3 even better, we're going to be taking this time to plan our topics a little more in advance, so if you have anything you'd really like to see please get in touch. Our normal episodes should resume after our Christmas special in December. We'll be using this time to try out a few things that don't normally fit the format of the usual monthly episodes, so we'd love your feedback on these episodes. 2) We will eventually be moving the podcast entirely over to our own libsyn website. This gives us more control over how we present our content and will cut down on the costs of running the podcast. If you currently only listen through SoundCloud, make sure you are also subscribed to us over at our libsyn page. Libsyn link: www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com Libsyn direct RSS feed link: mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/rss Got feedback? Comment or email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

In this bonus episode of the MindGames podcast, we take a long look into the mirror of our souls with a deep dive discussion of Disco Elysium. We talk about the world, its history and its technicolour characters. Massive spoilers for anyone who hasn't played this unique game. We hope you enjoy. Haven't played, still listening in, and want to get a sense of what the game's all about? Check out the first 26 minutes of Disco Elysium here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAiaY1YC3F4 Don't forget to meet Mega Rich Light-Bending Guy if you haven't. He's a delight. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoLrn-aIzCE&t=140s Like/dislike this episode structure? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Either way, check out our website at www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com And follow the MindGames crew on Twitter at @mindgamespod

This month we talk about THE GRIND, the bizarrely commonplace aspect of games that is a repetitive chore. Why are games uniquely susceptible to grind? Can grind be... good? And finally, what can the existence of grind in games tell us about the world that creates them? We'll be discussing all these topics and more over the next hour, and we promise it won't be a grind. Also, keep listening to the end to discover Milos' Ultra Grindy Mindgames Game - so grindy, in fact, that we simply refused to play. That's the only way to win, after all. Today's games (in order of appearance): Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Final Fantasy (Square) Hades (Supergiant) Destiny 1 & 2 (Bungie) World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet) The Elder Scrolls Online (ZeniMax Online Studios) Disgaea series (Nippon Ichi) Rainbow Skies (SideQuest Studios) Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Shandalar (Microprose) Dark Souls (FromSoftware) Stardew Valley(Eric Barone) Monster Hunter: World (Capcom) Albion Online (Sandbox Interactive) Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (EasyGameStation) Earthbound (Shigesato Itoi) Football Manager 2020 (Sports Interactive) Cursed Images but with Earthbound Music www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD77CYdmepM Bored? Why not send us emails over and over again in the hope of a response at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Make sure you listen to us on our lovely new website www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com And follow your favourite pod on Twitter at @mindgamespod

Join us for the second part of our discussion of power in games. We talk power fantasies, the philosophy of game balance, and we even get a little bit political with a discussion of the UK's Clap for Carers/Boo for Boris. Stick around for our first ever Super Special Guest MindGames Game - it's a real cracker. You can check out Part 1 here: https://mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/season-2-ep-8-power-gaming-ft-bez-tiz-part-1 Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Bez Shahriari (@stuffByBez) Tiz Creel (@tizcreel) Today's games (in order of appearance): Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Diplomacy (Allan B. Calhamer) Monopoly (Charles Darrow, Elizabeth J. Magie) Trump: The Game (Jeffrey Breslow, Howard J. Morrison and Rouben Terzian) **Our First Ever Super Special Guest MindGames Game** "Red, Bread, Chicken, Grass or Hammer?" 1. What is the most powerful thing? 2. Which is the fastest? 3. Which is the most fun? 4. Which is the tastiest? 5. Which is most intelligent? 6. Which is the weakest? 7. Which is the slowest? 8. Which is the most boring? 9. Which is the most disgusting? 10. Which is the dumbest? 11. Which is the most Trump? 12. Which is the most 'tramp'? 13. Which is the most Putin? 14. Which is the most Boris? 15. Which is the most Kim Jong-un? Check out all of our guests' stuff! BEZ: Twitter! @stuffByBez Streams! twitch.tv/stuffbybez Stuff! www.stuffbybez.com/ TIZ: Twitter! @tizcreel Instagram! @tizcreel Art! www.tizcreel.com/ More lovely people and places: Lucky Sparrow Games Cafe luckysparrow.co.uk/ West End Games ('The WEG') www.westendgames.co.uk/ You can also listen to us on our lovely website, www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com Not only that, but you can also follow us on Twitter at @mindgamespod Or hey, why not send us some electronic mail at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

You're in for a real treat in this month's jumbo, jam-packed double bill episode of MindGames, where we take on power dynamics in games. Together, we discuss limitations and possibilities around play. How do games tackle power? What do the power dynamics we create in games tell us about power in the 'real world'? And ultimately, what does the ways in which we play teach us about power in our society? We are absolutely honoured to be joined by two proper professional game designers, Bez and Tiz, who join us for an interview around their design process, their journey so far, and how their latest project deals with power. Stay tuned for part two, where we continue our discussion around power in games. In this episode, we briefly acknowledge current protests in response to the murder of George Floyd and systemic racism. We didn't have the time to discuss this in detail, and it's not something I personally felt we could do justice in this discussion. As Milos said, 'learning history is one thing, feeling it is different'. If you'd like to learn more on this topic, we highly recommend the Brown Girls Do It podcast. Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Bez Shahriari (@stuffByBez) Tiz Creel (@tizcreel) Today's games (in order of appearance): In A Bind/Yogi (Bez Shahriari) Kitty Cataclysm(Bez Shahriari) Twister (Chuck Foley, Reyn Guyer and Neil W. Rabens) Fluxx (Adam Looney) Shuffle: Twister (Hasbro) The Landlord's Game (Elizabeth Magie) Seize the Power (Bez Shahriari and Tiz Creel) Dog Eat Dog (Liam Liwanag Burke) Diplomacy (Allan B. Calhamer) Fog of love (Jacob Jaskov) Further reading/viewing: The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game (Mary Pilon) Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Scott McCloud) Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms (Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev) Fountain (Marcel Duchamp) Mazes & Monsters (Steven Hilliard Stern) Check out all of our guests' stuff! BEZ: Twitter! @stuffByBez Streams! twitch.tv/stuffbybez Stuff! www.stuffbybez.com/ TIZ: Twitter! @tizcreel Instagram! @tizcreel Art! www.tizcreel.com/ Seize the Power will be coming to Kickstarter in 2021: itbboardgames.com/2020/05/14/comin…seize-the-power/ We now have a lovely website, mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com Cool kids can also follow us on Twitter at @mindgamespod Or get in touch the old way, at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

In this month's bumper episode of MindGames, we bring you our Coronavirus lockdown favourites. Join us for a look at how these extraordinary times have changed the way we play, the games we play, and how we look at the world around us. As a special treat, this episode brings you not one but two (!) MindGames Games. You lucky ducks. Today's games (in order of appearance): Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix) Mass Effect 3 (BioWare) FIFA (EA Sports) Rocket League (Psyonix) Spelunky (Derek Yu) Hand of Fate 1 & 2 (Defiant Development) Dishonored (Bethesda Softworks) Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) Skyrim (Bethesda) Pathologic 2 (Ice-Pick Lodge) Tabletop Simulator (Berserk Games) Dominion (Donald X Vaccarino) Twilight Imperium (Christian T Petersen) Camel Cup (Steffen Bogen) Codenames (Vlaada Chvatil) Mansions of Madness (Nikki Valens) Mysterium (Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko) Carcassone (Klaus-Jürgen Wrede) Drawful 2 (Jackbox Games) Golf with your friends (Blacklight Interactive) **MindGames Game I: "Who played it more?"** You wake up locked in a dungeon. Your jailor, a weaselish creature whose devilish wit is only matched by his devilish handsomeness, offers you your freedom. You must simply answer 2 questions correctly to escape. However – there is a catch. Either you all escape, or none of you do. Together, you must choose which person answers each question. You must guess who played each game more. Sean: Europa Universalis III Steve: Europa Universalis IV Milos: Lisa, the Painful Steve: Godus Sean: Call of Duty Modern Warfare II Milos: Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Sean: Twilight Struggle Milos: Terraria Sean: Tabletop Simulator Steve: For The King Milos: Team Fortress 2 Steve: Total War: Shogun 2 **MindGames Game II: Milos' 40-hour grand space strategy epic** Check out the Google Doc at https://preview.tinyurl.com/yd82gt2q We hope you're enjoying/tolerating/surviving your lockdown. Have you been particularly enjoying a specific game? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Stay safe everyone, and stay at home if you can.

This month, the MindGames team get down with the sickness. It's disease in games! Please enjoy our group therapy session produced under nationwide self-isolation. Make sure you keep your ears peeled for Milos' epic monologue about Pathologic 2 in our Weird Games segment. None of us realised at the time that he prepared the review himself, so we did not give him anywhere near the recognition he deserved. Stay safe everyone, and wash your damn hands! Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Sean Steve Today's games (in order of appearance): The Last of Us (NaughtyDog) Bioshock (2K) Fallout (Bethesda, Obsidian) Two Point Hospital (Two Point Studios) Pandemic (Matt Leacock) Pandemic Legacy (Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau) World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Plague Inc. (Ndemic Creations) **Weird Games** Pathologic 2 (Ice-Pick Lodge) Sneeze (Wellcome Trust) **Viral Quiz** In The Last of Us, what are the zombie-like creatures known as? Walkers Runners Clickers Moaners Who published the Pandemic board game? Zman CGE Fantasy Flight AEG What was the zombie infection in The Last of Us? A leaked American bio-weapon A disease that originated in dogs A mutated fungus Divine judgement What was the World of Warcraft pandemic known as? The Great Pet Plague The Corrupted Blood Incident Debuff Disease Wowvid-05 Which of these is not a disease in Two Point Hospital? Turtle Head Pudding Blood Headcrabbedness Monkey Nuts Which of these was not a World of Warcraft pandemic? Great Zombie Plague of ‘08 Green Fire Ironforge Item Glitch The Corrupted Blood Incident Which of these is not a Pandemic spinoff board game? P andemic: Fall of Rome Pandemic: Hot Zone North America Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu Pandemic: Europe Which of these is a disease-themed Magic card? Diseased vermin Viral invasion Filthy swine Pox of mortals   More Pathologic content: Pathologic 1: Video by Hbombergy https://youtu.be/JsNm2YLrk30 Pathologic 2: deep dive with major spoilers by SulMatul https://youtu.be/FKhSbZPBEKc After we recorded this, George Monbiot published an excellent piece in The Guardian with a similar message regarding community response to the outbreak. It's well worth a look https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/31/virus-neighbours-covid-19 Special mention to A Plague Tale: Innocence, which didn't come up in conversation but which has some interesting things to say about disease https://youtu.be/wORYxwz1Zlk Reach out to us without exposing yourself to potential viral transmission through literal physical contact by emailing us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

This month, the MindGames team are dying to tackle the biggest topic of our lives. It's death in games! Join us as we journey into gaming's underworld. We investigate deaths of all flavours to find out how our relationship with life's greatest mystery has changed through the history of the medium. From early steps in cash-grabbing arcades to deep and thoughtful recreations of purgatory-like worlds, we look ahead with excitement to gaming's deathless (or death-filled!) future. So gather round, children, and discover how Pix died of hypothermia in Aberdeen in 2012. Wait, that's not quite right... Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Steve Today's games (in order of appearance): XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis) Nuzlocke Challenge, Pokemon (GameFreak) Spyro (Insomniac) New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) Yoshi's Woolly World (Nintendo) Journey (Thatgamecompany) Pyre (Supergiant Games) Celeste (Matt Thorson and Noel Berry) The Witcher 2 (CD Projekt Red) Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games) The Binding of Isaac (Edmund McMillen, Florian Himsl) Children of Morta (Dead Mage) Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (Ubisoft) Bioshock (2K) Borderlands (Gearbox Software) Dark Souls and Bloodborne (From Software) The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker (Nintendo) Noita (Nolla Games) Lisa: the Painful (Dingaling Productions) Hades (Supergiant Games) Transistor (Supergiant Games) Betrayal Legacy (Rob Daviau, Noah Cohen, JR Honeycutt, Ryan Miller, Brian Neff and Andrew Veen) Dune (Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge and Peter Olotka) Planescape: Torment (Bioware) **Weird Games** Upsilon Circuit (Studio Robot Loves Kitty) One Life (One Life) Spelunky (Derek Yu, Mossmouth) Slay the Spire (Megacrit) Leisure Suit Larry (N-Fusion Interactive) **MindGames Game** 1. In the smash hit Mario Bros., how many hits does it take to kill Bowser? 2. If Mario has the flower powerup, how many hits can he take before he dies? 3. In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, how many heart containers can Link obtain throughout the game? a. 5 b. 10 c. 15 d. 20 4) In the Ocarina of Time, how many heart containers do you need to accumulate to get a new heart piece? 5) In the bloodbath of B-R5RB in Eve Online, how many NPC deaths were there? a. 5 million b. 10 million c. 15 million d. 20 million 6) What was the real world cash value that was lost as a result of this battle? a. $50,000-100,000 b. $100,000-200,000 c. $200,000-300,000 d. $300,000+ 7) In the World of Warcraft, what raid led to the great plague? a. Onyxia's Lair b. Molten Core c. Zul'gurub d. Temple of Ahn'Qiraj 8) In Guild Wars 2, how many players witnessed the execution of a player for cheating? a. 10,000 b. 100,000 c. 325,000 d. 500,000 More reading: "You Are Dead. Continue?": Conflicts and Complements in Game Rules and Fiction, Jason Tocci https://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/view/43/81 6 games that do death differently, Ashley Reed https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/games-deal-death-creative-way/ 15 Most Bizarre And Disturbing Video Game Deaths Of All Time, Steve Wright https://www.thegamer.com/bizarre-disturbing-video-game-deaths/ Let us know you're still alive by emailing us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

In this month's episode, we tackle god games. We come to the genre with a whole range of questions; - How do we define a god game? - What is the relationship between a god-player and their world, and how does this reflect our real-world understanding of the roles of gods? - And finally, why do people gravitate towards this style of control? One thing's for sure: gods may not play dice, but they certainly seem to enjoy a good RTS! Today's Cast Grant (Pix) Milos Steve Today's Games (in order of appearance): Populous (Bullfrog Productions) Black & White 1 & 2 (Lionhead Studios) Lego Island (Mindscape) Golden Sun (Camelot Software) Universim (Crytivo Games) Universe Sandbox 2 (Giant Army) Spore (Maxis) SimEarth (Will Wright) Godus (22Cans) Fable (Lionhead Studios) Utopia (Don Daglow) Dungeon Keeper (Bullfrog Productions) From Dust (Eric Chahi, Ubisoft) Crest (Eat Create Sleep) Star Wars Episode 1: The Gungan Frontier (Lucas Learning) Tilt Brush (Google) Spirit Island (R. Eric Reuss) Magic: the Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) **Weird Games** Species: Artificial Life Real Evolution (Quasar) ActRaiser (Yuzo Koshiro) This month's MindGames Game: 'Is God Real?' 1 point for guessing whether this god is real or fictional, 1 point from the other player for guessing the culture or IP. 1. Eru Ilúvatar 2. Orlanth, God of the Storm 3. Ishtar, Goddess of Sex and War 4. Baron Samedi 5. The Crimson King 6. Cardea 7. Sheela Na Gigs 8. Anoia See also: 30 Years of God Game History (Indigo Gaming) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt4-tBFIcsI Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

The weather outside is frightful, but the gaming is so delightful! This month we take stock of our favourite games of 2019. Stay tuned for Old Man Steve's Grinch List, Milos' bizarrely dark, post-apocalyptic Favourite Game of All Time, and Pix's agony in this month's MindGames game. Today's Games (in order of appearance): Pokemon Sword & Shield (Game Freak) Dragon Quest (Square Enix) Lisa the Painful (Dingaling Productions) Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance (Square Enix) Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark (6 eyes studio) Wildermyth (Worldwalker Studios) Fire Emblem (Intelligent Systems) Greed Corp (W! Games) Stardew Valley (Eric Barone, Sickhead Games) Harvest Moon (Amccus) Factorio (Wube Software) House Flipper (Empyrean) Battletech(Harebrained Schemes) Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope) Doom (2016, id software) Rimworld (Ludeon Studios) MindGames Games: Stardew Valley (Eric Barone, Sickhead Games) Elder Scrolls Online (ZeniMax Online Studios) Cities: Skylines (Paradox Interactive) Stellaris (Paradox Interactive) Terraria (Re-Logic) Fallout 4 (Bethesda) Orcs Must Die: Unchained (Robot Entertainment) Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment) HBomber's analysis of Lisa: the Painful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-5_zoEsY6c Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the MindGames team! Thanks to Robinhood76 for free use of jingle bells sound effects via FreeSound.org Get in touch at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

Drink! Drink! ...think? In this month's episode, we discuss representations of beer in games: the good, the bad, and the vomit-y. Join us as we ponder how designers can possibly represent the diversity of inebriated experiences in a mechanical framework. If you've ever wondered whether Milos would be able to effectively plan urban developments whilst under the influence of twenty pints of scrumpy, you're in the right place. As a special 'feature' today, we'll be having a few nice craft ales whilst discussing a whole range of games. Think the MindGames team can't get any more rambling and chaotic? Hold my beer! Today's cast: Milos, Grant (Pix) Today's games (in order of appearance): Concrete Jungle (ColePowered Games) GTAIV - (Rockstar North) The Witcher series (CD Projekt Red) Fallout 4 (Bethesda) Mass Effect series (BioWare) The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (Bethesda) Gwent: The Witcher Card Game (CD Projekt Red) Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (Sierra On-Line) Duke Nukem Forever (3D Realms/Gearbox Software) **Weird Games** Mortal Kombat X (NetherRealm Studios) Conker's Bad Fur Day (Rare) **The MindGames Game* Bioshock (BioWare) Crackdown 3 (Sumo Digital) Legend of Kay Anniversary (Neon Studio/Kaiko) Fallout 76 (Bethesda) Sea of Thieves (Rare) 'How realistic is video game drunkenness?' https://kotaku.com/how-realistic-is-video-game-drunkenness-5766182 'Beer in Games' by NakeyJakey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUT4G3Kfw2s  

The MindGames team are back for a second season of musings on life, love, religion, politics... and games! In this episode, we discuss how games reflect and reinforce our understanding of the natural world. Come with us as we explore how games have modelled dystopian post-nuclear futures, the fallacies of infinite economic growth, and the fundamental question of free will in a shared world. Also in this episode: how to commit eco-terrorism in friendly train management game Transport Tycoon, the best way to turn an Egyptian goat into a recycling machine, and a glimpse into our Squid-based future. Today's games (in order of appearance): Starcraft 2 (Blizzard Entertainment) Sid Meier's Civilization II (Microprose) Sim Earth (Maxis) Civilization VI (Firaxis Games) Transport Tycoon (Chris Sawyer) Oxygen Not Included (Klei Entertainment) Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Treyarch) Fallout 3 (Bethesda) Bioshock (2K Boston) Frostpunk (11 bit studios) Catan: Oil Springs (Erik Assadourian and Ty Hansen) Minecraft (Notch, mod by Nick Porillo) Iconoclasts (Konjak) Eco (Strange Loop Games) **Weird Games** Garbage Dreams (Mai Iskander) Splatoon (Nintendo) Like our new format? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com The 10-year Civilisation game: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/uxpil/ive_been_playing_the_same_game_of_civilization_ii/ Download an open source version of Transport Tycoon for free here: https://www.openttd.org/ For evidence of climate change, see https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ (No garbage goats were harmed during the making of this episode)

Hello everyone! You may have noticed that we have not uploaded a new episode this month. Well, it's because we're on a bit of a summer break. All of our lives have gotten a bit hectic this summer for various reasons. Instead of compromising on our research or the quality of the episodes we've decided to take a break and return to a monthly schedule at the end of September with a new episode. We'd like to thank everyone for listening and I am honestly floored that over a hundred people regularly listen. Thankyou to everyone who has subscribed and especially to the people who give us regular feedback and constructive criticism, foremost among these people is Cy who has been giving me editing advice since episode one. Also a big thank you to Avolov for making a remix of the Mind Games intro based on the great original one Grant did. You heard that at the end of the last episode. Please keep an eye on this feed, we're NOT DEAD and we WILL BE BACK at the end of September with a new episode. As always, please get in touch at: themindgamespodcast@gmail.com --------------------- More of Avolov's work: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6VyGnMxklltDgAo3XaqS6q?si=N_Jf_b5HTNOdy_gU-w02KA  

Can war be a vital and healthy tool to balance hyperinflation? Can you live off gold farming when your country's economy has collapsed? When you can sell your items for real money, is banning your account theft? (Spoiler alert, the law is still working on that) In this episode Milos and Steve take a broad look at the use of currency in games. From a balancing tool in single player experiences to managing an MMO economy and real world digital property rights. And yes dear listener, we talk about Microtransactions and Loot boxes. Correction: The Two Worlds 2 developer, Reality Pump, patched microtransactions, not loot boxes, into the game 6 years (not 7 as stated) after launch.  Games in order of appearance: Resident Evil Series (Capcom) Dark Souls (Sony Computer Entertainment, Atlus USA, Bandai Namco Entertainment) Metro 2033 (4A Games) Final Fantasy 7 (Square) Dark age of Camelot (Mythic Entertainment, Electronic Arts) Morrowind (Bethesda) Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios) Magic the Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Dungeons and Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Skyrim (Bethesda) The Witcher (CD Projekt RED) Diablo 2 (Blizzard Entertainment) World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Jam City) Warframe (Digital Extremes) Guild wars 2 (ArenaNet) Eve Online (CCP Games) Old School Runescape (Jagex) Second Life (Linden Lab) Lordmancer II (Active Games) Star Wars Battlefront 2 (Electronic Arts) NBA 2K18 (Visual Concepts) Gears of war (The Coalition) Call of Duty (Activision, Infinity Ward) Two Worlds 2 (Reality Pump) Recommended watching - Extra credits - Hyperinflation in MMOs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sumZLwFXJqE Papers used during the research for this episode: http://manager.faa.ro/download/456_709.pdf http://faculty.trinity.edu/adelwich/worlds/articles/trinity.sam.kaminski.pdf https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/801/1/012090/pdf Post Upload Update (01/07/2019) - The day after we upload this, The Jimquisition released an emotionally charged rundown of the harmful effects of loot boxes and micro transactions on players, especially those with addiction in their past: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S-DGTBZU14 Post Episode Update (16/01/2020) - For those interested in diving into the economics of Eve Online, the Youtube channel Economics Explained produced a good summary of the virtual economy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrW6p5ns8K8  

Today we dive into the swamp of propaganda games throughout history, including games produced by fascist & communist regimes, white supremacists... and western democracies. Includes some irreverent discussion of racist, fundamentalist views. Today's references (in order of appearance): Ethical Game Design (Extra Credits) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP4_bMhZ4gA Our Guys in Salisbury (Igroland) PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation) Force for Peace (Tencent) Gwent: The Witcher Card Game (CD Projekt Red) Glorious Mission (Giant Interactive Group) Incorruptible Warrior (Ningbo Social Affairs) Anti-Japan War Online (PowerNet Technology) Call of Duty (Infinity Ward) America's Army (United States Army) Kremlin (Urs Hostettler) The Death of Stalin (Armando Ianucci) Trump: The Game (Milton Bradley Company) Socialism: The Unofficial Monopoly Expansion (Diogenes Games Ltd) Assorted Soviet Union games: https://thecharnelhouse.org/2012/10/02/soviet-board-games-1920-1938/ Game of the British Empire or Trading with the Colonies (Glevgum Games) The British Empire (Norvic Mill) Flying around the British Empire (Roberts Brothers) Juden Raus (Gunther & Co) Bomber uber England (Herold) Mit "Prien" gegen England (Franz Schmidt) Hunting for the Coal Thief (Lepthian-Schiffers) Ethnic Cleansing (National Alliance) Purification Thanks for listening. Contact us with comments and suggestions at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

Some members of the video game community were annoyed because other players used mods to ease the difficulty in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (From Software). Most people think this is a pretty ridiculous position, but it prompted some interesting discussion in the MindGames crew. Inspired by this recent 'controversy' we discuss what difficulty means, how challenge has been used in games, and what this means for designers and players. This one's a bumper episode - so sit back, and enjoy! Recommended Watching: Depth vs Complexity (Extra Credits) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVL4st0blGU A Difficult Subject (The Jimquisition) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIWivb-8C1w Dragon's Lair Playthrough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-dg4J9_nes Analysis: The Effects of Salt (Core-A Gaming) https://youtu.be/ZbjSeBOP-MA Today's Games (in order of appearance): Tetris (Alexey Pajitnov & Vladimir Pokhilko) World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Offworld Trading Company (Mohawk Games) Europa Universalis IV (Paradox Interactive) They Are Billions (Numeria) F.T.L. (Subset Games) Dwarf Fortress (Tarn & Zach Adams) Rimworld (Ludeon Studios) Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3 (From Software) Street Fighter (Akayuki Nakayama) Tekken V (Namco) Dragon's Lair (Rick Dyer & Don Bluth) Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S (Arc System Works) Divekick (One True Game Studios) Starcraft II (Blizzard Entertainment) Dragon Ball FighterZ (Arc System Works) Golden Sun (Camelot Software Planning) The Secret of Monkey Island (Lucasarts) Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet) Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios) Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian Entertainment) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios) Left 4 Dead (Turtle Rock Studios/Valve) Super Meat Boy (Team Meat) Final Fantasy VII (SquareEnix) Mario Kart (Nintendo) Blur (Bizarre Creations) Albion Online (Sandbox Interactive) Catherine (Atlus) Hollow Knight (Team Cherry) Dear Esther (The Chinese Room) Firewatch (Campo Santo) The Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope) Star Fox Zero (Nintendo/PlatinumGames) Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (CD Projekt Red) Magic: the Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Get in touch at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

Thank you for choosing the MindGames Podcast! Or did you? Today we discuss how games, a typically 'interactive' media, tackle the issue of choice. We were particularly inspired by the newish movie/game, Black Mirror's "Bandersnatch", which is available on Netflix. Oh, and Pix couldn't help waxing lyrical - about his favourite game of all time... Today's Games (in order of appearance): Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Charlie Brooker) Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale (Roy Burdine & Johnny Castuciano) Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters: The Breakout (Kevin Burke) Give Yourself Goosebumps (R. L. Stine) Choose Your Own Adventure (Multiple Authors) City of Thieves (Ian Livingstone) The Stanley Parable (Galactic Café) Bioshock, Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite (2K Games) The Walking Dead (Skybound Games & Telltale Games) Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment) Mass Effect (BioWare) Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios) inFamous (Sucker Punch Productions) Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games) We hope you choose to tune in next month!

In today's episode we discuss one of our favourite games of all time - Magic: the Gathering, by Richard Garfield. Join us as we nerd out over the way in which this fragmented collectable card game manages to tell a deep and engaging story. Find the 99% Invisible podcast episode here: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/gathering-the-magic/ Final Parting http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=442981 Settle the Score http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=442991 In Bolas' Clutches http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=442942 Liliana, Heretical Healer/Liliana, Defiant Necromancer http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=439339 Sharktocrab http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=457350 Hydroid Krasis http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=457327 Prime Speaker Vannifar http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=457339 Peace of Mind http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414328 Catacomb Crocodile http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=457211 Recommended artists: Nils Hamm, Seb McKinnon and Christopher Moeller A flavourful introduction to five guilds of Ravnica https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/flavorful-guide-guilds-ravnica-2018-10-03 We also briefly reference Eternal, a game developed by former Magic: the Gathering pro players Direwolf Digital. You can try both games online for free; just do a standard internet search for Eternal or MTG Arena. Note of Correction: The two expansions that Milos describes in standard together were Eldrich Moon and Kaladesh, not Shadows over Innistrad and Kaladesh. He has been suitably pilloried and shamed for his foolishness. Like or hate MTG? Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com We hope you enjoy, and apologies for the delay. Normal service to be resumed next month!

In today's episode, we discuss how games approach love, dating and relationships. Today's Games (in order of appearance): Mystery Date (Henry Stan) Girl's Garden (Sega) Tenshitachi no Gogo (JAST) Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School (Square) Sweet Fuse: At Your Side (Idea Factory) If My Heart Had Wings (Pulltop) Super Seducer and Super Seducer 2 (RLR Training) Date Ariane (ArianeB) Hatoful Boyfriend: A School of Hope and White Wings (PigeoNation Inc.) Panzermadel: Tank Dating Simulator (DEVGRU-P) Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (Game Grumps) Nier: Automata (Platinum Games) Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 (BioWare) Higurashi: When They Cry (07th Expansion) Doki Doki Literature Club! (Team Salvato) School Days (0verflow) Fog of Love (Jacob Jaskov) Florence (Mountains) Florence Review, by Simon Parkin https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/mar/03/florence-iphone-video-game-review-simon-parkin  

A special bonus Christmas episode of MindGames, where we talk all about our favourite games from this year. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to all! Today's Games (in order of appearance): Two Point Hospital (Two Point Studios) Florence (Mountains) Dungeon Keeper Mobile (Mythic Entertainment) Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Jam City) Europa Universalis IV and Stellaris (Paradox Interactive) Emperor of the Fading Suns (Holistic Design) Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition (Fantasy Flight Games) Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger (Prospero Hall) Tales of the Arabian Nights (Anthony J. Gallela, Eric Goldberg, Kevin Maroney and Zev Shlasinger) Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (Bernard Bittler, Arnaud Demaegd, Nils Gulliksson, Neriac, Pascal Quidault and Stefan Thulin) Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Square Enix) Golden Sun (Camelot Software Planning) Advance Wars, Advance Wars: Dual Strike and Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (Intelligent Systems) Pikmin (Nintendo EAD) Time Splitters (Free Radical Design) Psychonauts and Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin (Double Fine Productions) Into the Breach and FTL (Subset Games) Slay the Spire (MegaCrit) Kingdom: Classic, Kingdom: New Lands and Kingdom: Two Crowns (Raw Fury) Katamari Damacy (Namco) Overcooked and Overcooked 2 (Ghost Town Games) Starwhal (Breakfall) The Long Dark (Hinterland Games) Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together (Klei Entertainment) Dragonball FighterZ (Arc System Works) Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden (TOSE/Bandai) Iconoclasts (Joakim Sandberg) Celeste (Matt Thorson and Noel Berry) Super Meat Boy (Team Meat) The Binding of Isaac (Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl) FEZ (Polytron Corporation) Brass: Lancashire (Martin Wallace) Brass: Birmingham (Gavan Brown, Matt Tolman and Martin Wallace) Caverna (Uwe Rosenberg) Carcassone (Klaus-Jurgen Wrede) StarCraft: The Board Game (Corey Konieczka and Christian T. Peterson) Games from “Who Played More?” Team Fortress 2 (Valve Corporation) Orcs Must Die: Unchained (Robot Entertainment) Divinity: Original Sin 2 (Larian Studios) Papers Please (Lucas Pope) Bomber Crew (Runner Duck) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios) Puzzle Quest (Steve Fawkner) The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Nicalis) The Last Remnant (Square Enix) Total War: Warhammer (Creative Assembly) More on Vladimir the Great, who converted to Christianity from Slavic paganism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_the_Great Special thanks to juskiddink for allowing free download and use of the Jingle Bells sound effect from freesound.org

This month, we discuss our playthrough of Dog Eat Dog and the wider theme of colonialism in games. Dog Eat Dog Characters: The Colonisers (Sean) Sapro (Milos) Glucks (Pix) The Dog Eat Dog Rules: 1. The Islanders are inferior to Diogenians 2. Islanders must not get in the way of the dogs 3. Islanders must use Diogenian technology 4. Islanders must not act uncivilised in the presence of Diogenians 5. Islanders must not congregate outside of the town square 6. Islanders must answer all questions from the Diogenians in full Today's games (in order of appearance): Dog Eat Dog (Liam Liwanag Burke) Settlers of Catan (Klaus Teuber) Unsettling Settlers of Catan (Golboo Armani) Archipelago (Christophe Boelinger) Spirit Island (R. Eric Rauss) The Last of Us (Naughty Dog) Freedom: The Underground Railroad (Brian Mayer) Europa Universalis IV (Paradox Interactive) The Shooting of an Elephant (George Orwell): https://www.theshortstory.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Short-stories-George-Orwell-The-Shooting-of-an-Elephant.pdf Shut Up & Sit Down's Review of Dog Eat Dog: https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/review-dog-eat-dog/ Review of Spirit Island: https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/review-spirit-island/ This was a really heavy series of episodes. If you have any questions or comments for us, please get in touch! Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

The third and final episode of our Let's Play of Dog Eat Dog. Dog Eat Dog was created by Liam Liwanag Burke, is published by 'Liwanag Press', and is available here for free (suggested price $5): www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198050/Dog-Eat-Dog Credit and huge thanks for the range of music used in this and previous episodes. In this episode, common use resources employed were Navajo Night (Audionautix) and Almost in F - Tranquillity (Kevin MacLeod), accessed via the YouTube free video library. Sound effects were The Coast by DL Sounds, Boat Horn by Blume, Ferry Ship Engine by JGRZinch and Crowd Mob Noise by Fillmat on Freesound.org Navajo Night by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/ Almost in F - Tranquillity by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100394 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Comments or questions? Contact us at the mindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

Dog Eat Dog was created by Liam Liwanag Burke, is published by 'Liwanag Press', and is available here for free (suggested price $5): www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198050/Dog-Eat-Dog The Island's Rules (as of the beginning of this episode): 1. The Islanders are inferior to the Diogenians 2. The Islanders must not get in the way of the dogs 3. The Islanders must use Diogenian technology Enjoy (if that's really the word)! We are thankful for the use of a number of royalty-free common use sound resources for this podcast. The beautiful lute music, 'Suonatore di Liuto', was composed by Kevin MacLeod. Sound effects include Dogs Growling by JustKiddink, Dog Sniffing by RalphWhitehead, Dogs Yelping by Unfa and Cat Meowing by TheArxx08. All were genuine recordings of animals, and we're pretty sure none of them were harmed in the recording of their barks, yelps and meows. We also used Door Slam by Corpocracy, Jungle Atmosphere by Anne82, Door Knock by Ragamuffin, Door Opening by InspectorJ and Double Door Knock by DesignDean. Door Knock and Forcing Open Door by Qudodup, who seems to be some sort of door sound specialist. Each to their own! All the sound effects we used are freely available on freesound.org, and we are incredibly grateful to these creators for helping these episodes come alive. Comments or questions? Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

In this month's podcast, we discuss Colonialism in games. To start off, we play 'Dog Eat Dog', a role-playing game that aims to simulate the experience of pacific island inhabitants through the process of colonisation. Dog Eat Dog was created by Liam Liwanag Burke, is published by 'Liwanag Press', and is available here for free (suggested price $5): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198050/Dog-Eat-Dog Thanks to special guest Sean McCay for playing the most uncomfortable role in this game - our imperialist oppressor. We are also grateful for the use of a number of royalty-free common use sound resources for this podcast. This includes the Nights Markets Music (Stardew Valley OST), by Eric Barone, and 'Empire' from Filmstro. Sound effects include 'The Coast' by DL sounds and Rain & Thunder (Flathill), Dogs Barking (Ivolipa) and Crowd (Klankbeeld) on freesound.org Enjoy! Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

In this episode, we haphazardly grasp our way towards one of the biggest, defining questions of humanity. Today we are hunting for a God between the pixels, with a wide-ranging and slightly shambolic discussion about faith in games. Today's references (in order of appearance): Halo (Bungie) God of War (Santa Monica Studio) Dante's Inferno (Visceral Games) Religion in Games (Extra Credits): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVb2WECSLw Binding of Isaac (Edmund McMillen & Floriam Himsl) Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal & Ubisoft Toronto) The Birth of Venus (Sandro Botticelli) https://tinyurl.com/nj27wd5 Ominous Horizons: A Paladin's Calling (N'Lightning Software) Settlers of Canaan (Klaus Teuber) Crusader Kings II (Paradox Interactive) Europa Universalis IV (Paradox Interactive) Civilization IV (Soren Johnson & Firaxis Games) Civilization V (Firaxis Games) Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Religion in Games - Less a Leap of Faith, More a Suspension of Belief: https://kotaku.com/5509058/religion-in-games-less-a-leap-of-faith-more-a-suspension-of-belief The Last of Us (Naughty Dog) Warhammer 40K (Games Workshop) Psychonauts (Double Fine Productions) Horizon: Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games) Song to the Sun - Evening (Jonathan Williams): https://open.spotify.com/track/494SVBiToevMdY5lF5qO7S Snakes & Ladders Special thanks to our first ever super special guest, Rachel, for adding much-needed knowledge and experience in the ways of faith. Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

Inspired by a recent conference on invisible work throughout history, today we discuss the ways in which games represent work, what work means for the protagonists of some of our favourite games, and why 'the terror of the state' is so prevalent in work-focussed single player experiences. Today's Games (in order of appearance): The Stanley Parable (Davey Wreden) Portal (Valve) Portal 2 (Valve) Fable (Lionhead Studios) Dark Souls (FromSoftware) Albion Online (Sandbox Interactive) ‘Everybody Matters' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl21oPOawM8 World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet) The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt Red) Cook Serve Delicious (Vertigo Games) Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (EasyGameStation) Rimworld (Ludeon Studios) Oxygen Not Included (Klei Entertainment) Papers, Please (Lucas Pope) Game Dev Story (Kairosoft) Beholder (Warm Lamp Games) Cart Life (Richard Hofmeier) Much love to Steve and Milos for powering through sickness to produce this 'cast, and to all the Venezuelan and North Korean members of the official Albion Online Mind Games Guild. Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

In this first ever podcast we discuss the meaning of play, why it's such a big deal, and the wide variety of games that we enjoy. We also interrogate our relationship with games, and the impact that gaming has on the way in which we see and interact with the world. Today's Games (in order of appearance): Little Big Planet (Media Molecule) Carcassone (Klaus-Jurgen Wrede) Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation) Fortnite (Rare) Super Meat Boy (Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes) The Binding of Isaac (Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl) Dear Esther (The Chinese Room) Junkworld (Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim) Overcooked (Ghost Town Games) Nintendo Labo (Nintendo) Tales of the Arabian Nights (Anthony J. Gallela, Eric Goldberg, Kevin Maroney, Zev Shlasinger) Sea of Thieves (Rare) Maelstrom (Gunpowder Games) Sid Meier's Pirates (Firaxis Games) Merchants and Marauders (Kasper Aagaard, Christian Marcussen) The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker (Nintendo) Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar) Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft) Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios) Final Fantasy VII (Square) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Final Fantasy All the Bravest (BitGroove) Gwent: The Witcher Card Game (CD Projekt Red) FarmVille (Zynga) World of Warcraft (Blizzard) Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet) Eternal (Dire Wolf Digital) Magic: The Gathering Arena (Wizards of the Coast) Hearthstone (Blizzard) Cookie Clicker (Crazy Games) Football Manager 2010 (Sports Interactive) Big shout out to Chang, our number one (imaginary) international fan.