SideQuests

In this episode we discuss Starcraft. A lot. We also talk for a little bit about Final Fantasy 7, which will is replaying.

In this episode we discuss Death Stranding and how it might just be the remake of The Postman we've been waiting for. We also discuss Will's stream where he teaches programming and Scratch called Built from Scratch, which can be found at twitch.tv/built_from_scratch. Finally we start a conversation about violence in games, but we'll have to continue that later.

In this episode we talk about learning something from the beginning even when you already know some of it, and we discuss how you decide to stop playing a game, using examples from Celest and Stardew Valley. Also, math comes up a surprising amount.

In this episode we talk about Pandemic Legacy and events in games that make it feel harder, but actually make it easier.

The theme of this episode is theme. We talk about boardgames in addition to video games, talk about D&D and other stuff.

In this episode we discuss Scoop, the game we made for the most recent game jam, Ludum Dare. We also discuss some games we're playing, including Celeste, and how games can have multiple paths, such as in Oddworld. Lastly, we briefly talk about Terraria and Her Story.

In this episode we discuss some recent life updates and talk a bit about the game we've been working on for a while, which is about an adorable robot. We discuss how projects and places of work grow in complexity over time so getting up to speed (or back up to speed) can be difficult. We also talk about the games we've been playing, discuss rogue likes, and Super Mario Odyssey! Also many other things.

In this episode we cover some breaking news! Well, not so much breaking as we are about a week late on this one, but the news explains why we were late. We also talk about the definition of games and the game of definitions.

In this episode we talk extensively about, and stay surprisingly on the topic of, Metagame. In response to a question Jeff asked about strategy in Starcraft, we compare play style with metagame and use many examples from Starcraft, Magic: The Gathering, and Hearthstone.

In this second part of a two part episode we pickup where we left off discussing in-person multiplayer. We continue to discuss how having a shared experience with friends improves the game, and more games should have this as a feature. We later discuss Shadow of the Colossus which Bryce really loves and was re-released recently. Finally, Jeff calls in and opens a whole can of worms about multiplayer preference, which we start to discuss, but it turns out it's too big a topic and needs its own episode.

In this one we talk for a long time about education and math before coming around to how games are educational experiences and that good games teach their players well. We also talk about how in person multiplayer games are good, but we talked for too long. The discussion will continue next week!

In which we discuss the inner workings of the updated version of our game Starbage Man and why we made certain decisions. We also discuss the Public Lab, Peter Gray, education and many other topics including baking.

In which we discuss Zelda: Breath of the Wild and how many things you can do in it as compared to how many things you WANT to do in it. We also discuss controllers and the use of buttons, and just how good Oddworld was. Also a call with Jeff!

In which we discuss how we used to use minigames instead of systems to build rich experiences. We also discuss bureaucracies, bubbles, and blockchains. Also, other stuff. Thanks to Jeff who wrote the tune we use a little in this episode!

In which we discuss how linear games can still contain exploration, specifically Mario. We also talk about a lot of other things.

In which we talk about narrative in games. We compare the story of the original Final Fantasy to Mario, talk about Scratch and Minecraft and learning to code before getting technical about collisions and rendering. Somehow we talk about Bushido Blade (the best fighting game) and talk about narrative as a reward and how it fits into the interest curve of a game. We also talk about lots of other things.

We recently participated in Ludum Dare, a game jam in which we made a game called Starbage Man. We talk about the jam, our process, and how we work. Then we devolve into talking about how film and sports relate to video games.

Will has just played Halo for the first(ish) time and we talk about it, story in games, and lots of other things. We somehow talk about Final Fantasy in this one, too.

In this episode we prepare for Will to play the original Halo for the first(ish) time. We discuss the history of FPSs and our experiences growing up playing and/or not playing them. This is the first part of a two part episode. Between episode we play the original Halo and next time we'll come back and talk about how it went.

I this episode we discuss Metroidvanias, the style of video games exemplified by Metroid and Castlevania, but also includes lots of other games and game types. We also don't stay on topic very well.

This episode continues and concludes our conversation about the “video game canon”

In this episode we talk about the idea of a video-game canon.