The Short Game

Skate Story

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0500

This week we're talking Skate Story, a skateboarding game where you're a demon made of glass and pain on a mission to eat the moon. We open with skaterboi stories before kicking into the game's large arsenal of tricks, vaporwave soundtrack, and surprisingly difficult boss fights. Curse you, The Eternal Centipede!

(00:00) - Skate Story
(02:00) - Skater Bois and Girls
(09:36) - Skating in Video Games
(14:55) - Aesthetics
(16:45) - In praise of Bizarre
(19:33) - Mechanics
(22:33) - Late Night Gaming
(24:00) - It's tricky, tricky, tricky
(25:34) - The Camera Angle
(30:21) - Yes, This Game has Boss Fights
(33:39) - The Skater's Dream
(35:34) - Controls
(38:52) - Shattering into a Million Shards
(40:25) - Final Verdict
(41:26) - Outro

Wheel World

The Short Game — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 02:36:30 -0600

This week on The Short Game, we're toodling around bicycle Valhalla in Wheel World, the open-world cycling game from the developers of Nidhogg. Laura and Shane explore beautiful Italian landscapes, customize bikes, and discuss why this might be the most relaxing racing game we've played.

This episode was recorded way back in the summer during our long hiatus. Hopefully you'll feel it holds up!

(00:00) - Wheel World
(41:35) - What's Making Us Happy
(41:42) - Shane's New Bike
(48:43) - Laura Talks Movies
(58:18) - Wrap Up

BALL x PIT

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:00:00 -0600

In this episode of The Short Game, Nate, Laura, and Shane dive into BALL x PIT, a roguelite block breaker published by Devolver Digital. Recorded a couple of months ago, the episode comes out in time for the release of a free DLC adding new content to the game. The discussion covers the game's unique blend of ball-firing mechanics, character abilities, and city-building elements. Does BALL x PIT respect your time? Maybe, maybe not, but it's a good time either way.

TR-49

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 16:03:11 -0600

A voice is saying your name. A WWII-era machine, long hidden in a church basement, whirs to life. Through a crackling speaker, a man asks you to find a stolen book. He only knows the title. Time is running out.

Inkle has made a Database Thriller. An Interface Game. Or are we just calling these SamBarlow-likes? And it's a taut 4 hours, and just $7, which is also five bucks.

(00:00) - TR-49
(45:34) - Spoiler Break
(01:09:37) - Wrap-up

Absolum

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:00:00 -0600

This week we are talking about Absolum, a roguelike beat 'em up from Streets of Rage 4 developers Guard Crush Games and publisher Dotemu. This was one of those games that would probably have been near the top of our 2025 GOTY list if we'd managed to all play and discuss it before the end of the year. It combines the incredible beat 'em up mechanics from Streets of Rage 4 with Hades-style progression mechanics. It really kicks ass. There's also one of our classic slightly too long digressions about the Steam Deck and Linux about 33 minutes in. Sorry, and you're welcome.

(00:00) - Absolum
(26:21) - Digression about Steam Deck and Linux
(33:24) - Back to Absolum
(52:42) - Wrap up

IFComp 2025

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 15:35:43 -0600

We're continuing to shake the cobwebs out of the podcast, and this week we're bringing you our coverage of IFComp 2025. Normally we cover the whole competition with multiple episodes as its running, but this year we didn't quite manage that. We couldn't escape 2025 without talking about the comp some though. In this "lost" episode (recorded in late October 2025) we discuss some of the games we had time to check out this year, including a few of the top winners.

We'll be releasing a patron exclusive "what's making us happy" episode next week (join us on Patreon!) followed by an episode on Absolum. See you in 2026!

(00:00) - Intro & Welcome
(00:52) - What Is IFComp?
(04:45) - How We’re Covering IFComp 2025
(06:12) - Detritus by Ben Jackson
(19:48) - Lady Thalia and the Case of Clephan by N. Cormier
(26:44) - The Wise-Woman's Dog by Daniel M. Stelzer
(34:59) - The Secrets of Sylvan Gardens by Lamp Post Projects
(48:43) - A Visit to the Human Resources Administration by Jesse
(53:08) - The Little Four by Allyson Gray
(59:11) - The Witch Girls by Amy Stevens
(01:03:24) - HEN AP PRAT GETS SMACKED IN THE TWAT by Coral Nulla
(01:08:44) - Wrap Up

Short Game Game of the Year 2025

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 08:00:00 -0600

It's been a weird year, but we're ready to round up the best Short Games of 2025! We're also awarding our other highly prized honors like Dirtbag of the Year and Most "Little Guy who Goes Around."

This might be the last episode of 2025, but it's also the first episode of The Short Game Season 2. We figured 444 episodes was enough for Season 1, and we are changing up our format slightly. We're looking forward to a great new year!

(00:00) - Short Game Game of the Year 2025
(10:08) - Dirtbag of the Year
(15:37) - Most Little Guy Who Goes Around
(22:54) - Best Galerius
(33:25) - Best Mario
(38:26) - Late to the Party
(44:35) - Best game that nearly killed the podcast
(48:37) - Gaming Moment of the Year
(58:04) - Best Rerelease
(01:01:22) - Shout out to games ineligible for GOTY
(01:02:40) - Game of the Year 2025
(01:08:31) - Wrap-up

444: Deltarune Chapter 4

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 08:00:00 -0500

After a somewhat unplanned summer break, the Short Game crew is returning to talk about the fourth chapter of Deltarune!

(00:00) - 444: Deltarune Chapter 4
(03:17) - Surprise! Structure is Different!
(10:32) - Picking up right after Chapter 3
(11:19) - Going to Church!
(19:29) - Noelle's House
(30:30) - You'll Never Make Me Play The Dark Route
(35:56) - Back to the Church
(49:23) - Climbing is Fun!
(53:20) - Now we're going to spoil Nate
(01:15:21) - Outro
(01:17:17) - Outro

443: Fan Games on Steam Deck

The Short Game — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:43:18 -0500

The Steam Deck is the number one console(ish) platform for playing ILLEGAL GAMES that Nintendo doesn’t want you to play! This week we’re talking about games that STEAL intellectual property from the RICH FAT CATS at Nintendo and their cronies and remix it into FREE GAMES for the PEOPLE.

(00:00) - 443: Fan Games on Steam Deck
(03:42) - What Counts as a Fan Game?
(06:20) - Explaining Steam Deck Desktop Mode
(16:38) - Where do you find fan games?
(24:34) - The (Fan) Games
(25:26) - Celeste: Strawberry Jam
(33:42) - Other Fan Games of Indies
(36:06) - Sonic Fan Games
(38:36) - Sonic Robo Blast 2
(41:24) - Sonic and the Fallen Star
(44:14) - Sonic Triple Trouble 16-Bit
(50:33) - Link's Awakening DX HD
(01:09:16) - Streets of Rage Remake
(01:21:37) - Lightning Round
(01:22:24) - Zelda3
(01:24:01) - Dungeons of Infinity
(01:24:55) - ZIIAOL
(01:26:11) - Decomps - Ship of Harkinian
(01:27:38) - AM2R & Metroid Planets
(01:28:51) - Wrap-up

442: Deltarune Chapter 3

The Short Game — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 08:00:00 -0500

Toby Fox is back, and it’s TV TIME!

Previously:

(00:00) - 422: Deltarune Chapter 3
(14:37) - Remembering Chapters 1 and 2
(26:50) - Spoiler Break - Chapter 3 Story Spoilers!
(54:40) - Wrap Up

441: ENA: Dream BBQ

The Short Game — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 08:00:00 -0500

From the depths of Steam and YouTube comes ENA, a strange polygonal girl in a surreal hypercapitalist dreamscape. Your hosts were left wondering what the hell this was all about, and why is it so incredibly beautifully animated?

(00:00) - ENA: Dream BBQ
(33:21) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(33:26) - Shane: Getting Into 3D Printing
(41:16) - Raygan - New NAS Goofin'
(46:55) - Laura: The Clock (1945)
(53:10) - Outro

440: Skin Deep

The Short Game — Fri, 30 May 2025 08:00:00 -0500

Indie game royalty Blendo aka Brendan Chung, creator of Thirty Flights of Loving and Quadrilateral Cowboy among others has come out of his cicada-like 7 year dev cycle with another instant classic. Skin Deep is an immersive sim about popping the detachable heads off of space pirates and flushing them down space toilets in order to save a bunch of talking space cats. It’s an easily the funniest and probably one of the best immersive sims ever made.

(00:00) - 440: Skin Deep
(47:07) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? - Fantasy Novel Edition
(01:00:36) - Outro

439: Despelote

The Short Game — Sat, 17 May 2025 14:15:52 -0500

A video game memoir by Ecuadorian indie developers Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena, and published by Panic, Despelote takes you back to a childhood in 2001 Ecuador, and the magical grip soccer held over the entire country during the lead-up to the 2002 World Cup.

This is something we have never seen in video games before.

(00:00) - 439: Despelote
(01:00) - Soccer Memories
(08:07) - Despelote
(14:05) - A long aside about Great Wolf Lodge
(16:43) - Despelote!
(21:52) - Another digression about child endangerment
(24:08) - Despelote!!!
(41:36) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(41:52) - Nate: A Sandworm's Dream
(44:26) - Shane: Moms & Myst
(47:17) - Laura: Jet Lag: The Game
(52:11) - Outro

438: Many Nights a Whisper

The Short Game — Mon, 05 May 2025 22:57:32 -0500

We’re talking about Many Nights a Whisper, a short, meditative archery (kinda!) game from Red Strings Club developer Deconstructeam and Selkie Harbour. The Dreamer has prepared their entire life for one impossible shot that will define a generation. Hear the wishes of your people, and prepare for your one chance to make them come true in this interactive essay on the flight of wishes and the pressure of expectations.

In “What’s Making Us Happy”, Nate is playing the classic Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Raygan recommends an app. An app!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Door
https://www.suppermariobroth.com
https://reederapp.com/

(00:00) - Many Nights a Whisper
(31:29) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(31:36) - Nate: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
(42:23) - Raygan: Reeder
(53:03) - Outro

437: Expelled! Spoilers!

The Short Game — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 22:57:29 -0500

We spent this week playing a bit more of Inkle’s follow up to Overboard!, and made some shocking discoveries!

(00:00) - Expelled! Spoilers!
(05:42) - Big Surprises
(30:51) - The Content Warnings!
(32:38) - Getting Away With It
(47:35) - Loose Threads
(56:19) - Resetting your Evil Meter
(59:24) - Wrap-up

436: Trash the Planet

The Short Game — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 22:44:57 -0500

This week, Laura and Nate dive into Trash the Planet, a free, browser-based resource-management game that subverts clicker mechanics to serve its narrative. You play as a group of raccoons who start out collecting trash and, through a rapid evolution of society, end up ruling the planet—manipulating the stock market with absolutely no consequences.

Stick around for the return of What’s Making Us Happy This Week.

(00:00) - Trash the Planet
(36:26) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(36:45) - Nate: Paper Mario: The 1000 Year Inter-Library Loan
(40:24) - Laura: Crossed Skis
(44:28) - Outro

435: FlyKnight

The Short Game — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 01:41:17 -0500

Shane and Nate were buzzing about FlyKnight, a $5 indie dungeon crawler that surprised us with its humor and depth. In this episode, we break down what makes this tiny first-person RPG so fun, from its retro aesthetic and first person Souls-like combat to its great co-op potential. Should you bug your buddies to play it? Let’s find out!

(00:00) - Intro
(01:20) - FlyKnight
(01:02:16) - Outro

434: Expelled! An Overboard! Game

The Short Game — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:01:00 -0500

Expelled! is the latest game from all-star narrative design studio Inkle. It’s a follow up to our 2021 Game of the Year winner Overboard!, and it builds on that game’s strengths in every conceivable area.

A School Prefect has been pushed out of a window, and everyone says YOU did it! Now you have one day to clear your name. Can you uncover the culprit — or find someone else to take the fall?

(00:00) - Intro
(01:49) - A Sequel(ish!) to Overboard!
(06:59) - Welcome to Miss Mulligatawney's School for Promising Girls
(09:34) - The Bad Girl Meter
(13:47) - I Didn't Do It, Dad!
(15:48) - Optimized for Replay
(19:09) - Sparkling Dialogue
(21:05) - Verity's Day
(32:46) - Filth Book
(38:11) - Bringing it all together
(44:27) - There's some wild stuff in here
(49:49) - Wrap Up

433: A Huge Year for Small Games

The Short Game — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:53:00 -0600

Steam Next Fest just concluded and the Short Game team searched through the mountain of demos to discuss some of the most exciting games with short game energy coming out this year.

00:00 Intro
04:09 WYRMHALL: Brush and Banter
09:12 Wheel World
18:19 Despelote
25:08 Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3
33:33 Haste: Broken Worlds
39:50 Is This Seat Taken?
46:54 Art of Reflection
51:01 Bambas!
52:56 Run TavernQuest
54:45 Nitro Express
58:06 Lightning Round and Outro

(00:00) - Intro
(04:09) - WYRMHALL: Brush and Banter
(09:12) - Wheel World
(18:19) - Despelote
(25:08) - Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3
(33:33) - Haste: Broken Worlds
(39:50) - Is This Seat Taken?
(46:54) - Art of Reflection
(51:01) - Bambas!
(52:56) - Run TavernQuest
(54:45) - Nitro Express
(58:06) - Lightning Round and Outro

432: Sheepy: A Short Adventure

The Short Game — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:41:10 -0600

All four co-hosts are present and accounted for as we talk about ultra-short platformer, Sheepy: A Short Adventure. It’s right there in the name!

Sheepy is a FREE game on Steam and itch.io, and it’ll take you about an hour. It’s surprisingly polished for a free release, with charming animations and very good music, plus some incomprehensible lore! We also go into some tech tips for those playing on Steam Deck, since the game is completely playable but technically “unsupported”.

(00:00) - Intro
(01:47) - Mysterious Production
(06:21) - Cool Game
(06:33) - A last minute update!
(08:29) - Back to the Episode
(11:07) - It's A Platformer
(15:06) - Mobility
(22:11) - Animation
(25:08) - Aww
(31:18) - Steam Deck Issues
(37:14) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(37:17) - Laura: NBA
(41:42) - Raygan: TRMNL
(48:57) - Nate: Garmin Forrunner 165
(57:36) - Shane: Bike Lane Win
(01:02:01) - Outro

431: Fight’N Rage

The Short Game — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 08:00:00 -0600

Rats with Knives! It’s time to finally talk about Fight’N Rage!

This has been on the back burner for a while; it was first suggested to us nearly 4 years ago as a modern, mechanically interesting beat ’em up in the vein of Streets of Rage 4. “Easy to play, hard to master” is a bit of a cliche, but it feels very apt here. Fight’N Rage channels the golden age of arcade brawlers with deep, satisfying combos, chunky pixel art cheesecake, and a branching structure that gives you lots of options. It pays homage to classics like Final Fight while advancing the genre in interesting and distinct ways.

(00:00) - 431: Fight'n Rage
(12:26) - Raygan's Retro Corner
(16:05) - More Fight'n Rage
(46:19) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(46:29) - Shane: Weed Rats
(48:03) - Raygan: Not Getting Picked
(50:47) - Nate: Free from Star Trek Discovery
(53:57) - Outro

430: Steam Deck Chat

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 08:00:00 -0600

This week we are welcoming long time friend of the show Jason McIntosh (aka Jmac, aka Halstrick) who’s joining us to talk about the Valve Steam Deck. It’s been about three years since the Steam Deck launched, and it’s had a profound effect on the way all of us play games. Also, Laura just got one! We had a long chat about the how we’ve used the Deck and what it’s meant in our gaming lives for these last few years.

Jason has a great short-form podcast/audio-zine all about the Steam Deck called Venthuffer. Check it out! New episodes coming in 2025!

(00:00) - 430: Steam Deck Chat
(03:17) - Valve Hardware
(05:50) - What do you play on your Steam Deck?
(09:00) - Suspend & Resume
(12:57) - Playing Docked
(15:36) - Touch Pads: Using Them ?
(20:34) - Do The Normies Know?
(21:40) - Traveling with the Steam Deck
(26:10) - Doing Computer-y Stuff
(44:23) - The Steam Deck's Effect on PC Gaming
(52:59) - Hail Corporate!
(58:20) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(58:31) - Jason: Notebooks & Stickers
(01:01:52) - Laura: Lord of the Rings Marathon Party
(01:06:52) - Raygan: Travel Tech
(01:11:59) - Shane: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
(01:15:47) - Outro

429: Grunn

The Short Game — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 08:00:00 -0600

How has it taken us ten years to get around to covering a Sokpop game? The venerable but very weird indie collective has put out a fascinating perfectly normal gardening game.

Ahem. OK fine, Grunn is a short take in the non-linear, first-person, time-loopy, exploration, Outer Wild-like genre, which we are resolutely not calling “metroidbranias”. Hope you like skeletons and garden gnomes! Find it for $12.99 on Steam and itch.io.

(00:00) - 428: Grunn
(00:06) - Grunn
(41:24) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(41:30) - Shane: Cat Quandary
(46:13) - Nate: Revisiting Overcooked 2
(49:20) - Raygan: Scary Mouse
(51:50) - Laura: Fancy Chocolate
(56:48) - Outro

428: Parking Garage Rally Circuit

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 08:00:00 -0600

I’M ON ANOTHER… ON ANOTHER LEVEL

This week we are talking about the retro-inspired, Ska-infused rally car racer Parking Garage Rally Circuit. Race through the most iconic parking structures of the US! It’s a really great little game to welcome the show back to 2025. Stick around after for our first What’s Making Us Happy of the year!

(00:00) - 428: Parking Garage Rally Circuit
(45:53) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(46:05) - Nate: Dave the Diver
(50:54) - Raygan: Mechanism Gaming Pillow
(53:39) - Laura: British Crime Classics
(57:51) - Shane: The Fortunate Fall

427: Game of the Year 2024

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 08:00:00 -0600

It’s Game of the Year time again! This week we’re looking back at 2024 to pick the best short video game of the year, and recognize some other great games as well.

00:00 Intro
04:52 Game of the Year
12:00 Short Short Game of the Year – For Rules Lawyers!
15:51 1000 Hour Short Game
23:47 Most Unfairly Overlooked Game of 2024
30:32 Dirtbag of the Year
35:00 Galerius of the Year
40:06 Most Little Guy Who Goes Around
43:11 Best Short Game in a Not Short Genre
49:46 Late to the Party
54:44 Honorable Mentions
01:06:58 Outro

(00:00) - Intro
(04:52) - Game of the Year
(12:00) - *Short* Short Game of the Year - For Rules Lawyers!
(15:51) - 1000 Hour Short Game h
(23:47) - Most Unfairly Overlooked Game of 2024
(30:32) - Dirtbag of the Year
(35:00) - Galerius of the Year
(40:06) - Most Little Guy Who Goes Around
(43:11) - Best Short Game in a Not Short Genre
(49:46) - Late to the Party
(54:44) - Honorable Mentions
(01:06:58) - Outro

426: Game Mixology

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:58:07 -0600

This Thanksgiving week the hosts gathered to play a bit of a game, trying to match short games to randomly chosen genres and adjectives. What’s a David Lynchian Platformer, or an “I Want To Go To There” Card Game? What on Earth is Snacks ‘n Jaxson? All will be revealed. Happy Holidays!

425: Neva

The Short Game — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 12:00:36 -0600

Press Y to Neva

There’s a certain sector of our listenership that loves it when we talk about games that don’t work for us. If that’s you, then please enjoy our discussion of Neva, the latest game from the developers of Gris. Raise your teleporting wolf-deer-puppy, nurturing her through many double-jumps, until finally she can become a gun.

(00:00) - Neva
(43:23) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(43:28) - Laura: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
(47:01) - Shane: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
(55:18) - Raygan: Bluesky

424: 1000xRESIST

The Short Game — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 13:30:13 -0600

What a story. 1000xRESIST is one of the best works of science fiction we’ve seen in a game, and it opens new territory at the intersection of visual novels, adventure games, and interactive fiction while drawing on other media like film and theater.

1000 years in the future, humanity is all but extinguished and a disease spread by an alien occupation keeps the survivors underground. You are Watcher. You dutifully fulfil your purpose in service of the ALLMOTHER, until the day you learn a shocking secret that changes everything.

This game is a LITTLE long for us at about 12 hours, but it’s divided into ten tightly plotted chapters and respects your time in every conceivable way.

(00:00) - 1000xRESIST
(42:05) - Spoiler Break

423: Miscellaneous

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 11:29:20 -0500

This is a show nominally about video games.

(00:00) - Miscellaneous
(02:24) - Crazy Story, Shane!
(07:06) - Raygan's VR Corner
(22:37) - Arcade Expo
(37:20) - What to play with family at Christmas?
(46:00) - Books?
(56:31) - Some other recommendations
(01:02:33) - Outro

422: Mouthwashing

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 08:00:00 -0500

An unsettling game for the tail end of spooky season. Mouthwashing is a non-linear narrative horror game about a doomed space freighter and her crew. Please enjoy Dragonsbreath X mouthwash.

(00:00) - Mouthwashing
(22:31) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(22:53) - Nate: Cuphead and Piano
(26:24) - Raygan: VR Golf
(36:41) - Outro
(38:14) - Spoiler Break

421: IFComp 2024 Part 3

The Short Game — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 17:02:41 -0500

We cover a few more games before the close of the comp. Get those votes in!

00:00 IFComp 2024 Part III
01:50 An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House & What You Found There by Mandy Benanav
08:29 The Apothecary’s Assistant by Allyson Gray
15:37 Imprimatura by Elizabeth Ballou
22:45 Welcome to the Universe by Colton Olds
30:16 Turn Right by Dee Cooke
39:21 Doctor Who and the Dalek Super-Brain by jkj yuio
44:58 A Death in Hyperspace by Etc…
54:33 Outro

(00:00) - IFComp 2024 Part III
(01:50) - An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House & What You Found There by Mandy Benanav
(08:29) - The Apothecary's Assistant by Allyson Gray
(15:37) - Imprimatura by Elizabeth Ballou
(22:45) - Welcome to the Universe by Colton Olds
(30:16) - Turn Right by Dee Cooke
(39:21) - Doctor Who and the Dalek Super-Brain by jkj yuio
(44:58) - A Death in Hyperspace by Etc...
(54:33) - Outro

420: A Little to the Left

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 08:00:00 -0500

This has been recommended to us a lot, so we finally decided to clean out those drawers and organize those bookshelves. A surprisingly fun series of tiny organization puzzles which added up to an interesting discussion!

(00:00) - A Little to the Left
(35:14) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(35:28) - Laura: Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman
(41:48) - Raygan: Meta Quest 3
(43:54) - Shane: Fever House by Keith Rosson
(46:14) - Nate: How To Break Up With Your Phone
(57:26) - Outro

419: IFComp 2024 Part 2

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 08:00:00 -0500

Laura and Raygan talk about another handful of games from this year’s interactive fiction competition.

[00:00:52] LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST by THE BODY & THE BLOOD
[00:21:46] A Very Strong Gland by Arthur DiBianca
[00:27:22] Bad Beer by Vivian Dunstan
[00:30:32] Birding in Pope Lick Park by Eric Lathrop
[00:37:56] The Den by Ben Jackson

Thanks to the authors, and to all our patrons who are sharing their IFComp experiences on the Discord!

(00:00) - IFComp 2024 Part 2
(00:52) - LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST by THE BODY & THE BLOOD
(21:46) - A Very Strong Gland by Arthur DiBianca
(27:22) - Bad Beer by Vivienne Dunstan
(30:32) - Birding in Pope Lick Park by Eric Lathrop
(37:56) - The Den by Ben Jackson
(45:47) - Checking in on The Apothecary's Assistant
(48:04) - Cosigned: You Can't Save Her by Sarah Mak
(49:20) - Outro

418: I Am Your Beast

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 10:17:43 -0500

A quick episode about a very fast game. I Am Your Beast is the latest game from Strange Scaffold and Xalavier Nelson Jr. Even more “boomer shooter”-y than previous Short Game favorite El Paso, Elsewhere, I Am Your Beast tells a John Wick-meets-Rambo story across a series of compact score-attack shooter levels. It’s very cool, but also very hard. Each level is very short, but you’ll need to play each several times to optimize your approach. We haven’t finished this one, but think it’ll likely take most players between 5 and 8 hours to complete (assuming they can get good.)

(00:00) - I Am Your Beast
(26:02) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(26:10) - Shane: The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
(33:11) - Raygan: Transparent CRT
(39:22) - Outro

417: IFComp 2024 Part 1

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 08:00:00 -0500

Surprise! The comp started early! Well we were surprised anyway. We’re kicking off our coverage of this year’s IFComp with impressions of the following games:

The Bat by Chandler Groover
ROD MCSCHLONG GETS PUNCHED IN THE DONG by Hubert Janus
You Can’t Save Her by Sarah Mak
Forsaken Denizen by C.E.J. Pacian
KING OF XANADU by MACHINES UNDERNEATH
Quest for the Teacup of Minor Sentimental Value by Damon L. Wakes
The Apothecaries Assistant by Allyson Gray

As with all our IFComp coverage, we need your help to decide which games to check out in the limited time we have. Let us know what you’re playing or interested in, and join us on Discord to discuss. The comp closes on October 15th!

(00:00) - Intro to IFComp 2024
(14:00) - The Bat by Chandler Groover
(29:26) - Digression about Mapping Tools
(33:12) - ROD MCSCHLONG GETS PUNCHED IN THE DONG by Hubert Janus
(41:23) - You Can't Save Her by Sarah Mak
(45:18) - Forsaken Denizen by C.E.J. Pacian
(56:16) - KING OF XANADU by MACHINES UNDERNEATH
(59:56) - Quest for the Teacup of Minor Sentimental Value by Damon L. Wakes
(01:05:40) - The Apothecaries Assistant by Allyson Gray
(01:06:31) - A surprisingly long sidebar about cryptic crosswords
(01:09:49) - Outro

416: Valley Peaks

The Short Game — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 08:20:37 -0500

Frog Fatigue and Frog Enthusiasm abound in this discussion of open world first person mountain climbing game Valley Peaks.

(00:00) - Intro
(04:44) - Valley Peaks
(34:11) - Frog Fatigue
(35:26) - Frog Enthusiasm
(39:07) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(39:10) - Laura - The Talented Mr. Ripley
(42:54) - Raygan - Moaan Inkpalm Plus
(48:39) - Shane - Gladys The Magic Chicken
(56:06) - Outro

415: Video Game Books

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 10:12:04 -0500

In this topic episode, Laura and Raygan go through their bookshelves to talk about the video game books they have enjoyed. Art books, game design books, history, and even novels.

(00:00) - 415: Video Game Books
(00:10) - Intro
(01:02) - Video Game Books
(02:24) - Art Books
(03:10) - Bitmap Books and Retro Game Art Collections
(14:08) - The Victoria and Albert Exhibit
(20:00) - Hyrule Historia and Concept Art
(21:43) - Dogs in Video Games
(24:45) - Game History Books
(34:36) - 50 Years of Text Games
(37:56) - Personal Essays on Video Gamess
(41:20) - Game Design Books and Tools
(47:01) - Game Guides
(54:16) - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
(57:16) - Outro

414: Thank Goodness You’re Here!

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 08:00:00 -0500

A surreal comedy “slapformer” about a little guy who goes around.

(00:00) - 414: Thank Goodness You're Here!
(26:54) - Outro

413: Clickolding

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 08:54:15 -0500

You click it real good.

(00:00) - Clickolding
(26:39) - What's Making Me Happy This Week?
(26:52) - Shane - No Man’s Sky Updates
(32:27) - Nate - Laughing at Star Trek Discovery
(38:40) - Raygan - The Hands of the Emperor
(47:09) - Outro

412: Felvidek

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 08:00:00 -0500

Doth these nitwits hast what it takes to properly divine the qualities of this absolutely bizarre JRPG?

Favorite Gaming Moments

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 08:00:00 -0500

Let’s dig into the memory hole and try to remember why we love games. What are some of your favorite gaming moments?

410: Doom (1993)

The Short Game — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 23:00:08 -0500

Can this podcast run Doom?

(00:00) - Doom (1993)
(02:16) - Why Play Doom?
(06:18) - Development History
(21:22) - Playing for Speed
(24:31) - More History
(26:00) - Deathmatch
(29:21) - Playing Doom in 2024
(47:49) - The Doom Scene
(54:59) - Buy Doom
(57:45) - Wrap Up
(01:07:33) - Outro

409: Cobalt Core

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 08:00:00 -0500

It’s a Nate Game this week, as we’re talking about Cobalt Core, a card-based roguelike deckbuilder about a space ship full of furries stuck in a time loop.

(00:00) - Cobalt Core
(44:43) - Outro

408: Animal Well

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:22:23 -0500

I’ve finally pushed my co-hosts down the Animal Well. This uneasy, mysterious, combat free take on the Metroidvania genre asks you to live in a hole and be terrified of kangaroos.

It is both shorter, and longer than you think.

(00:00) - Animal Well
(01:06:03) - Outro

407: Duck Detective: The Secret Salami

The Short Game — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 23:41:01 -0500

Sure, this game about a duck detective solving an office lunch theft is cute, but did you know it’s also an introduction to Cold-war era Berlin for children?

Duck Detective is a deducktion/adventure game that plays like an introduction to the Obra Dinn/Golden Idol style of mystery solving game. It’s only about 2 hours long, and would be great to play with a kid.

(00:00) - Duck Detective
(30:32) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(30:41) - Laura: Ball of Fire
(36:14) - Raygan: SPQR
(43:28) - Outro

406: Children of the Sun

The Short Game — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 08:00:00 -0500

A single bullet to kill a whole bunch of cultists. Children of the Sun is a puzzle sniping game, where THE GIRL is out to kill THE LEADER of THE CULT. Telekinetically redirect your single bullet in flight to head-shot all the cultists in each level. It’s a game that turns out to be much more puzzle game than shooter. Expect it to take around 3-4 hours to complete. In the What’s Making Us Happy This Week segment this week, Shane recommends a horror novel, and Raygan overthinks his e-reader situation.

(00:00) - Intro
(02:05) - Children of the Sun
(31:30) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(31:46) - Shane: 'Leech' by Hiron Ennes
(41:27) - Raygan: Overthinking eBooks
(58:02) - Outro

405: INDIKA

The Short Game — Mon, 20 May 2024 08:00:00 -0500

Indika is a young nun in 19th century Russia, suffering from a crisis of faith, delusions, and puzzles. It’s one of the most cinematically interesting games we’ve played in a long time, and ended up spurring nearly two hours of discussion about a four-ish hour game.

(00:00) - Intro
(05:46) - Gameplay and Comparisons
(08:24) - Visuals and Cinematic Techniques
(14:48) - Cut One Puzzle, Please!
(15:51) - Odd Meter, Russia, and Ukraine
(21:02) - Who is Indika?
(24:13) - Faith Points
(36:14) - Summing Up
(37:27) - Making Me Happy: Shane is a Manor Lord
(51:47) - Spoiler Break

404: El Paso, Elsewhere

The Short Game — Tue, 07 May 2024 09:16:41 -0500

Your ex-girlfriend, queen of the vampires, has holed up in an El Paso motel to perform a ritual that will bring about the end of the world. As John Savage, veteran monster hunter and bullet-time gun-diver, you’ll need to fight through all 50 floors of the surreal extrandimensional motel to stop her. Soon to be a major motion picture!

(00:00) - El Paso, Elsewhere
(48:14) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(48:18) - Nate - Slay the Spire Board Game
(54:55) - Raygan - BlueRetro
(01:01:07) - Shane - Time Locker
(01:08:53) - Outro

403: Gaming Slumps

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:30:21 -0500

Slumps. Ruts. Dulldrums. Whatever you want to call them, most of us have likely experienced times when you couldn’t play or enjoy games in the way you might want for one reason or another. In this topic episode we talk about the various reasons we’ve ended up in gaming slumps, and what we did to get out of them.

(00:00) - Topic Episode: Gaming Slumps
(40:30) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(40:57) - Laura - Fancy Playing Cards
(46:47) - Raygan - Fallout (TV)
(49:57) - Shane - I Can’t Find Him!
(54:39) - Outro

402: Terra Nil

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:00:34 -0500

It’s the ultimate video game power fantasy: the power to clean up after ourselves. Terra Nil is a unique “city builder” in the lineage of Sim City, but with tasks you with revitalizing a wilderness on a ruined Earth, and ultimately with destroying what you’ve built, erasing all evidence of your presence and leaving the Earth to heal.

It’s a strange union of theme and mechanics. It’s also the first “city builder” we’ve covered on the show. Not a genre known for short games, or even games with endings!

(00:00) - Terra Nil
(45:16) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(45:26) - Nate - Slay The Spire: The Board Game
(51:20) - Raygan - Gamecube Mod Corner
(56:52) - Shane - Book Recs
(01:03:36) - Outro

401: Open Roads

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 16:14:33 -0500

After an incredibly troubled development, we finally have the latest game from the team that brought you Gone Home and Tacoma… Sort of. Open Roads, from publisher Annapurna and the developers known here as The Open Roads Team, is a narrative “walking simulator” with some unusual twists, like 2D animated dialogue in a 3D world, and a story that plays out across multiple locations and the car rides in between. Tess is a teenager in 2003, packing up the remains of her life with her mom after her father’s sudden departure and her grandmother’s death. While cleaning up aunt Helen’s house, Tess discovers a family mystery that propels her and her mother on a road trip to discover who they really are, and who they are to each other.

We enjoyed this game a lot, but also spent a good amount of this episode discussing the strange and upsetting circumstances of its development, and where the “walking sim” genre stands today, over 10 years after it rose to prominence with Gone Home.

(00:00) - Open Roads
(59:10) - Outro
(01:01:07) - Spoiler Break

400: Episode 400 Trivia Spectacular!

The Short Game — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 08:00:00 -0500

400 episodes. Nearly 10 years. I absolutely can not believe it. To celebrate, Laura put together an incredibly well produced trivia night game for us to play! Who knows the most about the last 10 years of The Short Game?

(00:00) - Introduction
(05:22) - Round One: Name That Game!
(14:30) - Round Two: How Long To Beat?
(27:24) - Round Three: The Short Snippet!
(38:45) - Tiebreaker and Looking Back at 400 Episodes
(52:37) - What’s Making Us Happy?
(53:20) - Nate - Death Squared
(58:15) - Raygan - Sea World
(01:02:38) - Laura - Blackberry
(01:04:59) - Shane - Inside The Personal Computer
(01:11:57) - Outro

A Quick Word on Slice & Dice 3.0

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 08:00:00 -0500

Slice & Dice is a game that just keeps giving, and we don’t just mean incredible dice-rolling gameplay. Since we last covered Slice & Dice, it has received two major updates. As we prepare for our 400th episode, Nate & Laura put together a quick episode about what makes this game so great and why you should absolutely play the new release, even if it means begininng a new (or returning to) a major addiction.

398: Home Safety Hotline

The Short Game — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 09:05:16 -0500

As we close in on Episode 400 (where did the time go?) Shane and Raygan are talking about weird-horror phone bank simulator Home Safety Hotline. Is that caller suffering from bedbugs, or Bed Teeth?

398: Grab Bag! Mario and More

The Short Game — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 08:57:37 -0500

This week we go rogue and chat about a whole bunch of games — Super Mario Wonder (short to mid-length), Helldivers 2 (long!), and an assortment of “daily games” (seconds to minutes!).

397: Balatro

The Short Game — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 09:30:23 -0600

A card based roguelike that is arguably related to Poker has been blowing up recently, so naturally we gave it a shot. Turns out, yeah, it’s good!

396: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:06:44 -0600

Debatably a short game, but indisputably a classic. Raygan has played SotN many times but the rest of the crew is experiencing it for the first time. What will they make of this revolutionary 1997 PlayStation game?

395: Subpar Pool

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 08:00:00 -0600

Golf + pool + the developer behind holedown? Be still our hearts. Subpar Pool brings polish and charm to the (pool) table, with tons of variations and challenges to keep it fresh — we highly recommend you pick it up on mobile, Switch, or Steam. Plus, a tour of your hosts’ various attempts to play games in bars.

394: The Forever Labyrinth

The Short Game — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:53:24 -0600

When inkle drops a surprise release, we dive in — and this time, we dove into a maze of art from museums around the world. The Forever Labyrinth is a totally free, browser-based “replayable narrative rogue-like adventure” made in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture. In addition to reviewing the game, we took this as an excuse to talk about our favorite museum-going experiences and our feelings about corporate-sponsored games. (Encarta may also come up.)

Expect each run to take about twenty minutes, with multiple trips through to uncover more secrets.

(00:00) - Introduction
(01:02:35) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:02:44) - Laura - Starter Villain by John Scalzi
(01:05:07) - Shane - Grand Tour Legends
(01:08:33) - Nate - Cheek Face
(01:11:55) - Outro

393: Gravity Circuit

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 08:44:49 -0600

Turns out all of us skipped the tutorial and (whaddayaknow!?) had a really hard time with the early hours of this retro action platformer. Don’t be like us! In the end though we all had a blast with this indie spin on Mega Man.

(00:00) - Gravity Circuit
(47:02) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(47:11) - Nate - Español!
(52:09) - Raygan - Void Stranger
(57:47) - Shane - Mudkip and the Uniball One P

392: Playdate Update

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 21:24:32 -0600

I can’t believe it’s been almost two years since we last talked about the Playdate, the cute little console with a crank. We start with an update on if/how we’re still playing out Playdates, and then talk about some of the games that have been turning our cranks lately.

(00:00) - Intro
(01:48) - Panic & Teenage Engineering
(06:23) - How's it holding up?
(14:34) - Root Bear
(17:16) - ✨ Catalog ✨
(22:44) - The Playdate Niche
(26:31) - Recommendation Dog
(29:05) - Real Steal
(32:47) - Space Rat Miner
(36:34) - Under The Castle
(39:03) - Ratcheteer
(45:41) - Demon Quest 85
(48:33) - Upcoming: Mars After Midnight
(50:40) - Spellcorked
(53:02) - Snak
(55:38) - Zipper
(58:08) - Omaze
(01:00:22) - France Horn
(01:01:31) - Paku Paku
(01:04:17) - Outro

391: The Roottrees Are Dead

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 21:18:18 -0600

The famous Roottree sisters and their parents, heirs to a billion dollar candy empire, have suddenly died in a plane crash. The inheritance is in question, with a massive family tree full of potential beneficiaries.

Fortunately, it’s 1998 and you know how to use the internet.

We discuss this exciting free entry into the Obra-Dinn-like mystery game sub-genre.

You can play the game for free on the web at the developer’s itch.io page. Expect it to take between four and eight hours depending on your research style, and whether or not you have a smart friend like Laura to help.

390: Jusant

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 11:25:14 -0600

This week Nate and Laura cover Jusant, somehow our second 2023 tower game and our second 2023 climbing game — but micro-genres aside, Jusant’s got plenty of charms of its own. Don’t Nod, the creators of Life is Strange, blend a rock-solid control scheme with scenic vistas and meditative vibes. Expect it to take about 4-8 hours, depending on your route planning and completionism.

389: Game of the Year 2023

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 10:02:34 -0600

We’re a little late, but it’s time to talk about The Short Game’s Game of the Year! As with previous years we’re also handing out many superlatives, including returning awards like Dirtbag of the Year.

Patrons also get access to our unedited, recorded planning meeting where we hashed all of this out. Support us on Patreon if you want to hear that nonsense!

(00:00) - Introduction
(05:32) - Game of the Year
(10:42) - The "Short Hike" award, or DemiGOTY
(14:06) - Dirtbag of the Year
(19:52) - Galerius of the Year
(22:26) - Mario of the Year
(26:09) - Late to the Party Award
(31:07) - Best Reissue
(34:31) - Best Mobile Game
(39:09) - Best Airplane Game
(42:20) - “I’m Hungry and I’m Crying” Award
(45:48) - “What Is A Game” of the Year
(52:13) - “I’m Glad I Quit The Casino, But I Still Loved This Game”
(57:07) - Playdate Game of the Year
(01:00:51) - Long Game of the Year
(01:03:17) - Best Game My 6 Year Old 100%’d Three Times
(01:08:15) - One More Thing
(01:13:50) - Outro

388: Chants of Sennaar

The Short Game — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 08:00:00 -0600

Laura and Raygan manage to shift one small shovel of their pile of shame before the holidays. We’re so glad to have made time for Chants of Sennaar, an incredible puzzle adventure game in which you climb a Tower of Babel, learning languages as you go.

(00:00) - Chants of Sennaar
(35:25) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(35:37) - Raygan - Doom Guy and a new Murderbot book
(46:26) - Laura - Superhero Cartoons
(50:54) - Outro
(52:02) - Spoiler Break

387: A Highland Song

The Short Game — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 23:00:00 -0600

The latest game from Short Game favorite Inkle has proved to be a bit divisive. Laura enjoyed it, but Raygan hit some major issues that spoiled the experience. It made for an interesting conversation!

(00:00) - A Highland Song
(52:33) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(52:36) - Laura - Milk Punch
(55:56) - Raygan - A Bride's Story
(01:01:09) - Shane - Super Mario Brothers Wonder
(01:07:59) - Warning: Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom Ending
(01:09:30) - Wrap up
(01:12:49) - Spoiler Break

386: Short Game Gift Guide

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 09:32:50 -0600

Oh dang it’s a holiday weekend and we don’t have time to prep for an episode… Let me see what everybody else on the internet is doing right now…

…

So here’s the Short Game Holiday Gift Guide!

(01:52) - "Gamer Gifts"
(08:11) - Game Plushies
(12:39) - A Large Tray
(14:36) - Controller Storage
(17:10) - Boppy
(19:23) - RGB shit?
(21:42) - Setting up a retro handheld for a kid
(26:52) - Goose Game Key Holder
(31:18) - Shane is a Bandana Guy
(34:48) - Controllers as gifts?
(46:12) - Video Game Vinyl
(53:44) - Outro

385: Slay the Princess

The Short Game — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 08:00:00 -0600

You’re here to slay the princess. Don’t believe her lies.

This horror adventure (visual novel?) sets you a simple if trope-reversing task right in the title, then blows the doors off with an extraordinarily wide branching structure. There’s a lot to talk about with this one!

(00:00) - Slay the Princess
(42:59) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(43:15) - Laura: Night Of The Hunter
(47:43) - Raygan: Framework Laptop
(53:22) - Nate: Spidah-Mahn
(58:56) - Shane: The Killer
(01:09:49) - Admin and Outro
(01:11:23) - Spoiler Break

384: Cocoon

The Short Game — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 21:07:17 -0600

Orb! Orb orb orb orb orb. Orb Orb? Orb Orb Orb!…

(00:00) - Cocoon
(40:50) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(40:59) - Shane - Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
(44:34) - Raygan - Nintendo DSi
(49:11) - Laura - MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios
(55:48) - Outro

383: IFComp 2023 Part 2

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 10:56:50 -0600

We continue our coverage of IFComp 2023 with a few more games AND THEN WE GET KICKED IN THE NUTS!!!!

[00:02:39] LAKE Adventure Follow-up by B.J. Best
[00:08:27] Assembly by Ben Kirwin
[00:19:05] The Whisperers by Milo van Mesdag
[00:26:38] Fix Your Mother’s Printer by Geoffrey Golden
[00:35:32] CODENAME OBSCURA by Mika Kujala
[00:43:01] Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head by The Hungry Reader
[00:48:54] DICK MCBUTTS GETS KICKED IN THE NUTS by Hubert Janus
[00:57:54] All the Troubles Come My Way by Sam Dunnachie

(00:00) - Intro
(02:39) - LAKE Adventure Follow-up
(08:27) - Assembly by Ben Kirwin
(19:05) - The Whisperers by Milo van Mesdag
(26:38) - Fix Your Mother's Printer by Geoffrey Golden
(35:32) - CODENAME OBSCURA by Mika Kujala
(43:01) - Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head by The Hungry Reader
(48:54) - DICK MCBUTTS GETS KICKED IN THE NUTS by Hubert Janus
(57:54) - All the Troubles Come My Way by Sam Dunnachie
(01:02:01) - Outro

382: Gordy and the Monster Moon (and a Spooky IFComp Double Feature!)

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 23:12:14 -0500

Gordy and the Monster Moon is a bite-sized exploration-driven game about a pumpkin astronaut going on spooky adventures. It’s also a tiny part of the Frog Fractions extended universe, brought to us by Jim Stormdancer. It’s made entirely in Pico-8, and is available on Steam and itch.io for $4.

It’s a great short game that made for a quick conversation, so Shane also brings us a seasonally appropriate game from IFComp 2023: Dr Ludwig and the Devil by SV Linwood. It’s a mad scientist puzzle parser game that’s full of character and humor, and also Satan.

(00:00) - Introduction
(06:01) - Gordy & The Monster Moon
(27:31) - Dr Ludwig and the Devil by SV Linwood
(38:50) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(39:00) - Laura - Fort Green Partk Pupkin Costume Contest
(40:45) - Raygan - Pirate Weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival
(42:21) - Shane - NYTimes Connections
(52:02) - Nate - Ready or Not
(55:06) - Outro

381: Gunbrella

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 08:00:00 -0500

This week we’re talking about Gunbrella, a game that gets in its own way more than anything we’ve played in a while.

(00:00) - Introduction
(54:06) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(54:32) - Laura - Material Girls Podcast
(59:34) - Raygan - Powkiddy RGB30
(01:03:26) - Nate - Budapest, Running & The Fall of the House of Usher
(01:09:32) - Outro

380: IFComp 2023 Part 1

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 08:00:00 -0500

This week we are kicking off our coverage of IFComp with coverage of a handful of games, including some new names and returning Short Game favorites. Looking forward to playing more over the coming month!

[00:00:00] Intro
[00:06:28] Xanthippe’s Last Night with Socrates by Victor Gijsbers
[00:16:05] 20 Exchange Place by Sol FC
[00:20:10] LAKE Adventure by B.J. Best
[00:28:01] The Vambrace of Destiny by Arthur DiBianca
[00:37:24] Dysfluent by Allyson Gray
[00:43:44] Help! I Can’t Find My Glasses! by Lacey Gren
[00:48:14] One King to Loot them All by Onno Brouwer
[00:50:59] Outro

(00:00) - Intro
(06:28) - Xanthippe's Last Night with Socrates by Victor Gijsbers
(16:05) - 20 Exchange Place by Sol FC
(20:10) - LAKE Adventure by B.J. Best
(28:01) - The Vambrace of Destiny by Arthur DiBianca
(37:24) - Dysfluent by Allyson Gray
(43:44) - Help! I Can't Find My Glasses! by Lacey Gren
(48:14) - One King to Loot them All by Onno Brouwer
(50:59) - Outro

379: Baldur’s Gate 3

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 21:28:18 -0500

This week Shane and Raygan betray the premise of the podcast and have a nice long chat about Baldur’s Gate 3, an immense game we’re both enjoying immensely, with some digressions into D&D and (ding) Magic the Gathering.

378: Mechanics We Hate

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 22:29:31 -0500

As a follow up to our episode on our favorite mechanics, a listener suggested we talk about which ones we hate! So we did!

(02:11) - Collect X of Y to Open the Boss Door
(13:27) - Adventure Game Puzzle Design
(21:08) - Finding Objects in 3D Spaces
(29:17) - Photography Mechanics
(38:11) - Microtransactions & Random Loot Drops 🙃
(47:37) - Text Parsers
(55:11) - Outro

377: PICO-8

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 09:39:23 -0500

This week we’re celebrating PICO-8 games! PICO-8 is a fantasy console for making, sharing and playing tiny games that runs on PC/Mac/Linux. Raygan, Nate, and Shane talk a little about the “console” itself, then review a ton of games, including:

Celeste
Mimic
What is a Cart?
Pico Driller
The Shadow King
Combo Pool
To A Starling
Super Crane Bug
Dusk Child
Shelled Shinobi
Mai-Chan’s Sweet Buns

(00:00) - What Is Pico-8?
(12:11) - Let's Talk Games
(13:44) - Celeste
(14:31) - Mimic
(17:38) - What is a Cart?
(21:02) - Pico Driller
(22:54) - The Shadow King
(31:31) - Combo Pool
(34:00) - To A Starling
(38:40) - Lexoffle BBS
(41:58) - Pico-8 Devices
(43:38) - Shane Opens the Tomb and the CRT Ghoul Escapes
(45:17) - Super Crane Bug
(53:41) - Dusk Child
(54:37) - Shelled Shinobi
(56:34) - Mai Chan's Sweet Buns
(01:01:30) - Wrap-up

376: Dredge

The Short Game — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 09:59:13 -0500

Set sail with your Short Game hosts on a spooky adventure about… fishing? This week we’re covering Dredge by Black Salt games, who describes it as “a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent.” What will you dig up from the depths?

375: Our Favorite Mechanics

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 22:46:37 -0500

From Flying to Fleas, this week we’re just about some of our favorite mechanics from the many games we’ve covered over the years.

(02:29) - Charms from Hollow Knight
(13:03) - Magic: The Gathering's Saga cards
(21:30) - When a game tempts you into non-optimal choices
(31:02) - Superhot’s Whole Deal
(35:16) - The Hint Fleas in The Wizard Sniffer
(42:38) - Looping in Loop Hero
(46:17) - Fun But Useless Buttons
(48:31) - Space Flight in Outer Wilds
(52:13) - Outro

374: South Scrimshaw

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 08:00:00 -0500

South Scrimshaw is uses the visual novel form to do something very unusual: a science fiction nature documentary. Using hundreds of beautiful bespoke watercolor and ink illustrations, South Scrimshaw tells the story of a whale calf on an alien world as it is born and travels with its in injured mother across dangerous seas. It’s one of the most artistically beautiful games we’ve played, and it’s available on Steam and itch.io completely free. Expect it to take about one to two hours to completely experience.

(00:00) - South Scrimshaw Part One
(36:42) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(36:46) - Laura - Good Movies As Old Books
(39:53) - Raygan - Garfield Using Computers
(43:03) - Nate - Nobody Saves The World
(49:03) - Outro

373: Venba

The Short Game — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 21:59:25 -0500

Hope you’re hungry… for narrative fiction! This week we’re dealing with dosas and building biriyanis in Venba. It’s a story-driven cooking game centered on a South Indian family living in Canada. Expect it to take an hour to an hour and a half, depending on your culinary skill and reading speed.

(00:00) - Venba
(27:34) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(27:46) - Nate - My Job is Beach
(30:02) - Raygan - Baldur’s Gate 3
(35:16) - Laura - Um, Actually
(42:30) - Outro

372: Viewfinder

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 08:00:00 -0500

We’re finally playing this long anticipated first person puzzler. (No Shane you can’t call the genre a “Portalortal”.) It’s a breezy but inventive and incredibly well executed exploration of perspective. We wrap up with one of the best Making Me Happy segments in ages!

(00:00) - Viewfinder
(40:36) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(41:14) - Shane - The Hobbit, Illustrated Edition
(49:52) - Raygan - Hello Kitty Island Adventure
(57:15) - Laura - The Main Theme to Pacific Rim
(01:03:39) - Outro

371: Fall of Porcupine

The Short Game — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 08:00:00 -0500

Laura and Raygan are back to talk about a very Night in the Woods inspired narrative adventure game that focuses on the medical industry. Fall of Porcupine follows new intern Finley (a big-eyed pigeon, did I mention they’re all animals in this?) as he navigates professional and moral difficulties working at the only hospital in rural Porcupine. Great conversation about this unusual game. Finally, in What’s Making Us Happy This Week, Laura and Raygan both unpack from their travels.

(00:00) - Fall of Porcupine
(43:01) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(43:07) - Laura - DIY Food Crawls
(47:11) - Raygan - Inside Passage Tiki Bar
(51:44) - Outro

370: Betrayal at Club Low

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 08:50:06 -0500

Shane and Nate take on a bizarre mission full of pizza, dice, and pizza dice in Cosmo D’s Betrayal at Club Low. It’s a unique RPG set in the same surreal world as Cosmo D’s other games Off-Peak, The Norwood Suite, and Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1. but requires no knowledge of those games. It feels like a perfect homage to the short, punchy zine tabletop RPGs that inspired it.

Club Low is available on PC, Mac, and Linux, via both Steam and Itch.io. Expect it to take around 3 hours to complete, with multiple endings possible.

(00:00) - Intro
(02:22) - Betrayal at Club Low
(32:07) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(32:15) - Shane - The Bear
(39:32) - Nate: The Righteous Gemstones
(44:39) - Outro

369: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 08:00:00 -0500

If you saw the title of this episode and thought “What? Tears of the Kingdom? On The Short Game podcast?!” then dear listener so did I. No, we’re not making some tortured argument for how this is actually a short game (though it can be completed in under an hour.) No, Laura and Raygan were traveling this week and Shane and Nate just had a lot to say about everyone’s favorite unofficial Kerbal Space Program sequel. It was a great conversation, and we’ll be back to our usual deal soon!

(00:00) - Tears of the Kingdom
(59:19) - Outro

368: Apple Arcade Check-In (plus Apple Vision Pro And Game Porting Toolkit)

The Short Game — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 22:43:34 -0500

This week we check in on the last year or so of releases on Apple Arcade, and mostly what we find are a bunch of ports of good Short Game games and an excellent coloring book app for toddlers, plus a car with legs! We also take the opportunity to talk about the latest news in the weird world of Apple and gaming. Is the Apple Vision Pro going to be any good for games? Does the Game Porting Toolkit hold out any hope for running real game-ass games on Macs?

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:48) - Apple Arcade Releases
(31:53) - Apple Vision Pro
(34:59) - Game Porting Toolkit
(48:51) - Apple Design Awards 2023
(01:04:02) - Outro

367: A Plumber For All Seasons (Super Mario World Rom Hack)

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 08:00:00 -0500

This week, for the first time, we’re covering a rom hack. A Plumber For All Seasons is a Super Mario World rom hack that is an almost total conversion of the game. 37 original levels, custom hand made graphics, an original soundtrack, and more make this feel like a true sequel to SMW rather than just a level pack. It’s a project that took rom hacker Eric Kaiser nearly a decade to complete, and it’s an incredible labor of love.

Links for this episode:

A Plumber for All Seasons

Thread on SMWCentral.net

SMWCentral beginners guide

Online Rom Patcher

Psychonauts 2 Documentary

The Bobiverse Books

The Lyttle Lytton Contest

(00:00) - A Plumber for All Seasons
(02:57) - What is a Rom Hack anyway?
(06:12) - A True Labor Of Love
(11:52) - Seasons!
(28:30) - If You're A Cop You Have To Tell Me
(33:41) - How Do I Run This
(40:52) - 1990 Looks Better Than Ever
(46:59) - Some Other SMW Rom Hacks
(49:26) - Wrap-up
(54:02) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(54:07) - Laura - Psychonauts 2 Documentary
(01:02:30) - Raygan - The Bobiverse Novels
(01:06:48) - Shane - Lyttle Lytton Contest
(01:09:29) - Outro

366: Mask of the Rose

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 09:24:53 -0500

Editor’s note: If your episode has gaps/silence around the 16 minute mark, please delete and re-download the episode. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Laura has been telling us all about Fallen London, the cult interactive fiction browser game from Failbetter Games, for nearly a decade. It’s a vast and varied game centered around the Fallen London setting: a cosmic-horror tinged world where Victorian London fell into the earth and its denizens have been forced to adapt to a new and disturbing world.

After producing two other games set in the world of Fallen London, Sunless Seas and Sunless Skies, Failbetter has turned its attention to romance. Mask of the Rose is nominally a “dating sim” set immediately after the fall, and working as a sort of prequel to all other Fallen London properties.

Does this game work as an introduction to this decade-long cross-media property? Does it work for long time devotees?

(00:00) - Mask of the Rose
(44:24) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(44:28) - Raygan - Return of Bear
(47:15) - Laura - Normal Gossip
(50:27) - Outro

365: Heist Draft!

The Short Game — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 21:57:06 -0500

Something a little different this week — in the words of Gregg from Night in the Woods, lets do crimes!

This week we have our first-ever draft: a Short Game Heist. Each of us assemble a five-person caper crew, filling our teams with characters from games covered on the show.

Who gets away with the goods? Who’s pinning it on a patsy? Whose plan relies heavily on suction cup hands? Fire up a sweet jazz soundtrack and head into the heist draft to find out…

(00:00) - Introduction
(04:57) - The Draft
(41:46) - Our Squads
(47:25) - Discards
(50:24) - Best Detective/Who Hooks Up?
(53:39) - Outro

364: Laya’s Horizon

The Short Game — Mon, 29 May 2023 22:32:41 -0500

The latest game from Snowman, developer of the Short Game favorite Alto’s Adventure/Odyssey games, has made a loosely related 3D wingsuit flying game for Netflix’s weird mobile game subscription collection.

Laya’s Horizon seems like it checks all the boxes for us, but somehow Shane loves the game while it leaves Raygan cold. We also discuss some of the other eclectic games Netflix has added to their collection. A good conversation!

Laya’s Horizon is available for iOS and Android, exclusively for Netflix subscribers.

(00:00) - Laya's Horizon
(41:29) - Netflix Games Thoughts
(48:17) - Outro

363: Lil Gator Game

The Short Game — Mon, 15 May 2023 08:00:00 -0500

This week the hosts played Lil Gator Game, an adorable open world adventure game about a lil kid (also a gator) playing who just wants his big sis to come play hero with him. We also have a surprisingly long digression on Bluey and children’s TV, and recommend some great books in the “What’s Making Us Happy This Week” segment.

Lil Gator Game is available on Steam and Nintendo Switch. It’ll only take about four hours away from your busy Tears of the Kingdom schedule.

(00:00) - Lil Gator Game
(15:28) - A Surprisingly Long Digression About Kids Shows
(19:08) - More Lil Gator Game
(35:03) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(35:12) - Nate - Nobody Saves The World
(41:57) - Raygan - Children of Time & Children of Ruin
(46:03) - Shane - The Ministry for the Future
(51:45) - Outro

362: LudoNarraCon 2023

The Short Game — Mon, 08 May 2023 08:00:00 -0500

LudoNarraCon is a digital convention celebrating narrative games, hosted by indie label Fellow Traveller. It includes an online panel series, a narrative focused Steam sale, and most importantly for this episode, a bunch of new demos for upcoming narrative indies.

Laura and Raygan took this week to discuss some of the demos we played as a part of the event, and talk about what upcoming indies we have our eye on for the show.

This is a sort of new format for us, so let us know what you liked and didn’t! And if you liked it, let us know if there are other events you’d like us to give a similar treatment.

(00:00) - LudoNarraCon 2023
(07:31) - Slay the Princess
(14:33) - Dead Pets Unleashed
(21:47) - Sucker for Love: Date to Die For
(29:57) - Loco Motive
(33:49) - Wrestling With Emotions: New Kid on the Block
(40:25) - Astronaut: The Best
(47:44) - Other Demos
(01:01:26) - Outro

361: Before The Green Moon

The Short Game — Mon, 01 May 2023 08:00:00 -0500

Turnfollow, developers of Short Game favorite Wide Ocean Big Jacket, have returned with an extremely unexpected game. Before The Green Moon is a 3D farming sim with a clearly early-3D inspired aesthetic, whose story is a far cry from other farming sims. You play as a young farmer living at the base of a space elevator. It’s a game about building community at the fringes of space capitalism and climate disaster, but also about preparing to leave that community, as you save up for a ticket to the moon.

(00:00) - Before The Green Moon
(34:50) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(35:09) - Shane - NeoBenshi
(36:53) - Raygan - Old ThinkPad
(39:10) - Laura - Screen Drafts
(49:02) - Spoiler Break

360: The Nine Best Short Games – Ninth Anniversary Special!

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 10:20:45 -0500

The Short Game began in April of 2014, so this month marks our 9th anniversary! To celebrate, we’re doing the impossible (and probably inadvisable): We are going to produce a totally inarguable and completely 100% perfect list of the best nine short games of all time. Or at least we’re going to try! Kind of!

Here’s a link to our complete list and personal lists on our Patreon page!

The top nine:

Night in the Woods
Kentucky Route Zero
Celeste
Katamari Damacy
Return of the Obra Dinn
80 Days
The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
What Remains of Edith Finch
Pyre

(00:00) - Introduction
(06:25) - The Rules
(07:50) - Ranking!
(41:56) - Promo Swap: Overtired
(43:22) - More Ranking!
(01:22:31) - The Top 9 Games!
(01:25:48) - Patron Lists!
(01:28:19) - Outro

359: The Forest Quartet

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 08:00:00 -0500

Laura and Raygan discuss a lyrical puzzle game about a jazz band preparing for a farewell concert for their lead singer, and about that singer’s spirit as she explores the mental landscapes of her band-mates helping them move on. It’s way less of a bummer than it might sound! Stick around for a great What’s Making Us Happy segment about Dog Beach and the Tetris movie.

(00:00) - The Forest Quartet
(23:44) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(24:10) - Laura - Dog Beach and Slow Horses
(28:16) - Tetris Movie Digression
(32:06) - Raygan - Curse Crackers: For Whom the Belle Toils
(36:40) - Outro

358: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

The Short Game — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 10:43:48 -0500

We learn to love all the sh*tty friends in this weirdly-not-just-a-joke release from the Sonic the Hedgehog social media team.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was a surprise release for April Fools 2023. In this visual novel point and click adventure, you play as YOUR_NAME_HERE the Quokka, waiter and microwave operator to the Sonic crew, as they celebrate Amy Rose’s birthday with a murder mystery dinner party aboard a robotic train. But what’s this? Sonic’s been… murdered?! Help Tails solve the mystery, and rub elbows with the entire sh*tty friends squad in this warm and funny tribute.

This game is FREE on Steam for Windows. Expect it to take 2-3 hours to complete.

(00:00) - The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
(42:13) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(42:37) - Nate - Baseball is Back!
(44:29) - Raygan - Sleep!
(50:29) - Shane - The Scholomanse Series
(54:06) - Outro

357: Titan Station

The Short Game — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 08:00:00 -0500

This week Raygan reveals his complete lack of knowledge about the various planetary moons of our solar system as we talk about Titan Station, a “walking simulator” set on a space station in the far future year of 1999. This is a game by friend of the show Joakim Larsen, who has managed to create an incredible photorealistic environment for what Nate describes as “a story about poor password hygiene.”

Titan Station is available on Steam and GOG for Windows PCs. Expect it to take about 3-5 hours to complete.

(00:00) - Titan Station
(55:48) - Spoiler Break

356: How We Play

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 15:41:40 -0500

A chat between Raygan and Shane about the “Fitting Games Into Your Life” aspect of The Short Game. We talk about what’s working and what’s not in terms of our gaming setups, our schedules, and ourselves.

(02:43) - Schedules and Stuff
(11:54) - The Playdate
(16:59) - Steam Deck Improvements
(20:26) - Get Out Of My Office, Kid
(34:26) - An Unnecessary Digression About Soldering
(38:10) - Moar Elite Gamer Roomz Stuff
(42:53) - An Xbox For Every Screen
(48:19) - Sofa App
(52:43) - Not Working: Game Streaming
(56:45) - Not Working: Social Gaming is Still Hard
(01:00:12) - Thanks, patrons!

355: Storyteller

The Short Game — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 11:04:13 -0500

Storyteller won the IGF Nuovo award in 2012 (!!!) and finally releases today, making it the longest in development game we’ve ever covered. Finally emerging from development hell and partnering with publisher Annapurna, developer Daniel Benmergui has delivered a charming and intuitive “continuity simulator”, in which you build a simple comic strip from drag and drop actors and scenes, trying to produce a specific ending.

Storyteller launches today on Steam and Nintendo Switch. Expect it to take around 2-5 hours to complete.

(00:00) - Storyteller
(38:52) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(39:01) - Laura: Never Let Me Go
(45:32) - Raygan: The Murderbot Diaries
(53:01) - Outro

354: Hi-Fi Rush

The Short Game — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 00:05:56 -0500

Hi-Fi Rush was a surprising January “shadow drop” (is that really what we’re calling these?) from previously horror focused developer Tango Gameworks. Part beat ’em up, part music game, part Saturday moring cartoon, and a whole lot of fun if you can jam to its dad rock soundtrack. Hi-Fi Rush is available on PC and Xbox consoles, and via Game Pass. Expect it to take around 11 hours to complete.

(00:00) - Hi-Fi Rush
(06:12) - Mandatory Banter: Breaking In Your Headphones
(10:20) - Hi-Fi Rush
(47:52) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(47:58) - Shane: Sons of the Forest
(55:51) - Laura: Nonsense Musicals
(59:40) - Outro

353: Case of the Golden Idol

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 09:57:06 -0600

Solve a string of bizarre historical murders in this extremely clever deduction game.

Previously if you liked Return of the Obra Dinn and wanted to play something with a similar deduction mechanic, your options were basically zero. Now they’ve increased to one! Golden Idol has a very different presentation, art style and structure to Obra Dinn, but feels like it builds on that game’s excellent game design in some great ways, producing a game that is a bit less ambitious but far more accessible. It left us feeling like geniuses.

Golden Idol is available on Steam and GOG for Windows and Mac. Expect it to take about 6 hours to complete.

Find links to all our socials at shortgame.fm

Support the show and join our Discord community at Patreon

Buy The Short Game Logo Tee at Cotton Bureau

(00:00) - Case of the Golden Idol
(36:06) - Laura: Northern Exposure
(40:32) - Raygan - Shrek, lol
(47:27) - Outro
(50:27) - Spoiler Break

352: Pizza Tower

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 08:00:00 -0600

Is Pizza Tower a revival of one of platform game design’s most fascinating evolutionary dead ends, or something new? Is it, as Shane put it, “Celeste for Weirdos?”

Pizza Tower is available on Steam for Windows. Expect it to take about 6-8 hours to complete, but with a lot of room for additional score attack and speedrun challenges.

(00:00) - Introduction
(01:04) - Mandatory Banter
(06:15) - Pizza Tower
(54:18) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(54:31) - Nate: Scythe Video Game Conversion
(55:20) - Raygan - Case of the Golden Idol
(56:04) - Shane - Minecraft, Baby!
(01:00:52) - Outro

351: Luck be a Landlord

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 08:00:00 -0600

Luck be a Landlord is a roguelike deckbuilder (hello Nate!) about using a slot machine to earn rent money and defeat capitalism. This strange but compelling game recently emerged from early access and has started finding an audience, so we checked out out! Nate really checked it out.

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:13) - Mandatory Banter
(07:33) - Luck Be A Landlord
(49:20) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(49:51) - Nate: Scythe
(52:25) - Raygan: the Pinecil Soldering Iron
(58:08) - Shane: HeroQuest
(01:05:34) - Outro

350: UnderDungeon

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 08:00:00 -0600

This week Nate and Raygan are talking about UnderDungeon, a game with awesome 1-bit pixel art that somehow seemed like less than the sum of its parts. Not, ultimately, a recommendation, but a good discussion!

(00:00) - UnderDungeon
(34:27) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(34:34) - Nate: Star Trek: Lower Decks
(41:02) - Raygan - Hot Water!
(44:58) - Outro

349: Afterplace

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 16:10:34 -0600

Afterplace is the first mobile game that has really grabbed me beginning to end in a long time. The game, from solo developer Evan Kice, is a whole-assed open world indie action adventure game, but for phones. It takes a lot of inspiration from games like the Legend of Zelda and Undertale, but brings them to your iOS or Android smartphone with touch-native controls and a world that is designed to be viewed in portrait orientation.

Everything about the game seems carefully tailored for mobile, but it’s also unlike any mobile game I’ve played in years, with charming characters and animation, an involving story, and difficult but fair combat.

Afterplace clocks in at about 6-10 hours, depending on how lost you get during the game’s less directed sections. It’s a steal at $6.99 on the iOS and Android app stores.

(00:00) - Afterplace
(40:48) - A Cereal Question
(45:17) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(45:29) - Laura: Golden Banana of Film Discord
(51:13) - Shane: Infinity Pool
(54:30) - Raygan: omg.lol
(59:56) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 99: Pocket Card Jockey

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 08:00:00 -0600

Pocket Card Jockey is a weird footnote. A lesser known but beloved 3DS side-project by Game Freak, the creators of Pokémon. It‘s a brilliant and hilarious mash up horse racing and solitaire, first released in Japan in 2013, and in the US in 2016 when we covered it for The Short Game.

Now the game has been remastered (or remade?) for iOS! Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! is available now on the Apple Arcade subscription service.

We’re taking this opportunity to rerelease our original episode on the game. Laura and Shane kick things off with a brief intro before we jump into episode 99 of the show.

(00:00) - 2023 Intro
(10:55) - 99: Pocket Card Jockey

348: Isle of Arrows

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 13:42:20 -0600

We haven’t covered a mobile game, or a tower defense game, in quite a while! Isle of Arrows comes from Gridpop, aka Daniel Lutz, best known as the creative director of Hitman GO and Lara Croft GO, and this game brings that aesthetic and polish to the venerable tower defense genre while freshening some things up with a touch of roguelike and board game mechanics. It’s a total bullseye.

The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

(00:00) - Intro
(04:01) - Question: What old gaming genre would you bring back?
(14:07) - Isle of Arrows
(55:01) - Outro

347: Tinykin

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 08:00:00 -0600

We absolutely love stuff where little guys go around, the littler the better.

Tinykin upended our expectations around 3D platformers, and manages to out-Pikmen Pikmen. It’s about 6 hours, and is on Switch, Steam, PS4/5, and your various Xboxeees, and is included with GamePass.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygan@bird.rodeo
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Intro
(01:25) - Peppa Pig and Elden Ring
(05:43) - Tinykin
(08:28) - Mandatory Banter Segment
(18:03) - Tinykin
(32:23) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(32:38) - Raygan - Scale by Greg Egan
(41:05) - Shane - ChatGPT
(51:53) - Outro

346: Game of the Year 2022

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Dec 2022 08:00:00 -0600

It’s been a great year, and we played some great games. It’s our Game of the Year special for 2022!

In addition to our Game of the Year, we’re handing out lots of honors and superlatives, some returning like our coveted Dirtbag of the Year award, and some new that you’ll need to listen to discover!

Patrons also have access to our unedited planning session, if you want to hear how the sausage was made for some reason.

Happy New Year!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygan@bird.rodeo
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(01:13) - Raygan Asks
(05:08) - Format
(06:32) - Game of the Year
(12:45) - Best Puzzles
(14:59) - Best Choices
(16:48) - Best Writing
(20:39) - Worst Location
(23:16) - Best 10 Year Old Game To Come Out as a Remaster But Is Secretly A Whole New Game
(26:16) - Late to the Party
(29:34) - Most Replayable
(35:59) - Best Slicing & Dicing
(38:13) - Best Mario
(40:19) - Dirtbag of the Year
(44:20) - Best Galerius
(48:51) - Most Radical Tune
(50:31) - Outro

345: Chop Goblins

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 08:00:00 -0600

BANG! BANG! CHOP! CHOP! In this single-sitting first-person shooter, you gotta chop some goblins before they chop you. Other times you gotta shoot, stake, shotgun, or impale them. Because once chop goblins are loosed across time and space, someone’s gotta stop ’em. And that someone is you. (Because you set them free in the first place.)

Chop Goblins was a surprise end-of-year release by the creator of Iron Lung, DUSK, and Squirrel Stapler — and it’s available now on Steam for Windows. The game takes 30 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on your skill level.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(01:22) - 404: New Segment Name Not Found
(10:23) - Chop Goblins
(37:29) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(37:42) - Laura - Laura's Book Corner
(43:48) - Raygan - 💩
(45:35) - Nate - Age of Empires 2
(49:17) - Outro

Short Game Classic — 10: Portal

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 08:00:00 -0600

This week, we’re revisiting an episode for a game that many of you have probably played: Portal. On December 11, Nvidia released a remastered version called “Portal RTX” with upgraded, ray-traced graphics (fancy) — and if you own it on Steam, you’ve automatically got a copy. This shiny new coat of paint is a great excuse to boot up Portal and remember how very awesome it is.

Even back at episode 10, we were convinced the game was a stone-cold classic. Raygan and Shane break down the qualities that made the game so successful, and its widespread impact on gaming in general.

Once again, we command you: GO PLAY PORTAL AGAIN!

Links for this episode

The Last Guardian

Our Broken Age Episode

The Banner Saga

Casual Shenanigans Podcast on YouTube

Star Citizen

The Veronica Mars Movie

Transistor

Transistor Trailer

Bastion for iOS

The original Portal trailer

Portal: The Flash Version

ASCIIPortal

Narbacular Drop

Download Narbacular Drop

The Orange Box

Johnathan Coulton

Still Alive – YouTube link

Portal’s patched ending

Teslagrad on Steam

Our Thomas Was Alone episode

Thinking with Time Machine

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

344: Pentiment

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 08:00:00 -0600

Fans of medieval manuscripts, murder mysteries and marginalia, rejoice! Pentiment is here to fill your Northern Renaissance needs. Raygan and Laura discuss this rich tale of abbeys, intrigue, and 16th century life in the Bavarian Alps. Do we describe the classic book Name of the Rose as “a vibe”? How do we feel about Big Head Mode? Will we accuse innocent people of murder? Dear listener, there is only one way to find out…

Pentiment is available on PC/XBox (Gamepass), and is a little on the long side for us at 12-15 hours.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(49:24) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(49:35) - Laura: The Big Brunch on HBO Max
(54:37) - Raygan: Aqara Opple
(01:00:37) - A digression on the title
(01:02:25) - Admin and Outro
(01:06:54) - Spoiler Break

343: Thanksgaming

The Short Game — Thu, 24 Nov 2022 10:34:25 -0600

This week’s episode is a little early and lightly edited, since we are all busy with Thanksgiving. Just a quick, fun conversation about things we were thankful for in gaming in 2022! Back to regularly scheduled programming with Pentiment next week. Happy Thanksgiving!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(01:41) - Raygan - The Year The Vaporware Handhelds Materialized
(16:08) - Laura - In Person Co-Op Board Games
(25:22) - Shane - More Co-Op: Unrailed
(35:36) - Raygan - The Year Game Pass Got Good
(49:39) - Laura - Indie Puzzle Box Mail Day
(54:59) - Outro

342: The Entropy Centre

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 08:00:00 -0600

Now we’re thinking with time reversals! The Entropy Centre is a first-person puzzler set in a collapsing space station on the brink of the end of the world. But it’s not all doom and gloom, for there’s a cheerful robot inside your entropy gun to help you rebuild pillars and reheat tea. Expect it to take 8-12 hours, depending on how good you are at brain-bendy puzzles.

The Entropy Centre is available on XBox, PlayStation, Steam, and GOG.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - The Entropy Centre
(34:35) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(34:43) - Shane - Love You To Bits
(38:26) - Laura - Learned League
(46:16) - Raygan - Mastodon
(54:39) - Outro

341: Card Cowboy

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 08:00:00 -0600

Mosey on over to this here podcast fer some of the worst accents this side of the Mississippi — it’s time to cover Card Cowboy, yeehaw! Saddle up to take revenge on the Gunman who killed your dad, wooed your mom, and kicked your dog. Card Cowboy is basically Western mad libs and we’re happy as hornets. Each playthrough takes about 30 minutes. (Yall make sure to pick up the Steam version, which is fully voice acted.)

What’s been making us happy this week:

Nate: Marvel Snap
Laura: The Great Pupkin Costume Contest (photos and more photos)
Shane: Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(24:37) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(25:01) - Nate: Marvel Snap
(36:54) - Laura: Dog Costume Contest
(42:22) - Shane: Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
(57:47) - Outro

340: IFComp 2022 Part 2

The Short Game — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 08:00:00 -0500

This week, we pick back up our coverage of IFComp 2022 with seven more games:

Into The Sun by Dark Star
The Absence of Miriam Lane by Abigail Corfman
Admiration Point by Rachel Helps
Star Tripper by Sam Ursu
To Persist/Exist/Endure, Press 1 by Anthony O
The Only Possible Prom Dress by Jim Aikin
Trouble in Sector 471 by Arthur DiBianca

Let us know if you’ve got a favorite we haven’t reviewed yet, and we’ll do our best to check it out before judging on November 15!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame.

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(03:37) - Into The Sun by Dark Star
(14:54) - The Absence of Miriam Lane by Abigail Corfman
(30:59) - Admiration Point by Rachel Helps
(40:00) - Star Tripper by Sam Ursu
(52:14) - To Persist/Exist/Endure, Press 1 by Anthony O
(01:00:44) - The Only Possible Prom Dress by Jim Aikin
(01:06:46) - Trouble in Sector 471 by Arthur DiBianca
(01:17:45) - Outro

339: Multitasking & Games

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 08:00:00 -0500

We love a game that respects our time. But what if you don’t have *any* time? Do two things at once, of course!

To celebrate Raygan’s return amidst new baby mode, we praise games that let us multitask — whether we’re watching tv, listening to podcasts, or even completing a chore or two.

When should you multitask? When shouldn’t you? What sorts of games are good fits? What games require every single bit of your attention? All this and more!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro & Raygan Life Update
(05:42) - Multitasking & Gaming
(01:04:06) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:16:55) - Outro

Short Game Classic — 117: Night in the Woods

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 16:59:47 -0500

The leaves are turning, the air is brisk, and we are feeling our seasonal feelings by re-releasing our episode on Night in the Woods. This game’s not only giving us autumnal vibes, it also was one of our 2017 games of the year — we even created the inaugural “Dirtbag of the Year” award to capture our love for Mae Borowski.

If you’re new to Night in the Woods, it’s a story-focused adventure game about a college dropout returning home to a distressed mining town, Possum Springs. It’s about reconnecting with your friends and finding things aren’t the same as when you left.

Also, everyone is a talking animal.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(45:27) - Spoiler Break
(01:12:01) - After Show: The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild

338: IFComp 2022 Part 1

The Short Game — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Happy 28th birthday to IFComp! We’re thrilled to start our seventh year of competition coverage with discussions of seven brand-new interactive fiction games. Nate and Laura open with a brief overview of IFComp for the unfamiliar/forgetful, before diving into individual reviews.

The Grown-Up Detective Agency by Brendan Patrick Hennessy
Esther’s by Brad and Alleson Buchanan
The Thirty Nine Steps by Graham Walmsley
Nose Bleed by Stanley W. Baxton
Use Your Psychic Powers at Applebee’s by Geoffrey Golden
Glimmer by Katie Benson
HOURS by Aidanvoidout

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame.

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro to IFComp 2022
(07:00) - The Grown-Up Detective Agency
(12:00) - Esther's
(17:27) - The Thirty Nine Steps
(24:40) - Nose Bleed
(32:19) - Use Your Psychic Powers at Applebee's
(37:00) - Glimmer
(40:24) - HOURS
(47:27) - Outro

337: Slice & Dice

The Short Game — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 08:00:00 -0500

It’s all there in the title — there’s both slicing and dicing in this turn-based roguelite! Nate, Laura, and Shane take on liches, witches and other classic monsters across Slice & Dice’s 20 increasingly challenging levels. But it’s not all luck — despite a game full of literal dice rolls, there’s a lot of strategy involved too.

Slice & Dice is available on itch.io for Windows, Mac, and Android (plus there’s a free demo.) A good run will take about an hour to an hour and a half, depending on your undo button use.

What’s been making us happy:

Laura: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
Shane: Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal
Nate: Midnight Mass

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame.

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Slice and Dice
(38:31) - What's Been Making Us Happy

336: Kirby and the Forgotten Land

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:28:41 -0500

In Case Of Impending Baby, Break Glass and Discuss Kirby.

Raygan is preparing for the birth of his third child this week so Shane and Raygan are discussing Nintendo’s best 2022 release (sorry Splatoon fans) Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It’s a game we mostly played with our kids, so expect lots of discussion of that side of the experience. We also talk about Shane’s newly arrived Steam Deck, and Raygan’s new obsession Dungeon Encounters.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Introduction
(03:51) - Steam Deck Digression
(06:44) - Kirby's Dream Buffet
(08:51) - Kirby and the Forgotten Land
(43:45) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(44:38) - Raygan: Dungeon Encounters
(56:22) - Shane: Steam Deck Arrived!
(01:08:42) - Outro

335: Tunic

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Laura played Tunic when it launched earlier this year, and has been encouraging us to play it for the show ever since, but it’s a bit long (up to 20 hours for completionists) and the discourse around its launch was that it was perhaps too hard for for some folks, so we put it off. As in all things, we should have trusted Laura. It turned out that this long-in-development cross between Zelda and Dark Souls with a lot of mystery thrown in was just what we needed.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Tunic
(50:11) - Spoiler Break

334: Immortality (Part 2, Spoilers & Analysis)

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 08:00:00 -0500

In this special double length episode, we’re revealing all the secrets of Marissa Marcel. (Ok, most of them? Some at least, certainly!) We talk about the meta-narrative of Immortality, break down the plots and production stories of each of the three movies, and debate the ending. If you have questions about Immortality, we have answers! And also more questions!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Here Be Spoilers!
(04:39) - Hidden Scenes, Hidden Story
(17:11) - The Meta-narrative
(41:27) - Navigating Secret Scenes
(48:14) - The Movies
(49:31) - Ambrosio
(01:06:37) - Late Night Interview Show
(01:11:40) - Minsky
(01:29:05) - Two of Everything
(01:54:31) - Outro

333: Immortality (Part 1, No Spoilers)

The Short Game — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0500

“Marissa Marcel was a film star. She made three movies. But none of the movies was ever released. And Marissa Marcel disappeared.” Short Game royalty Sam Barlow (Her Story, Telling Lies) is back with a third entry in his not-a-trilogy of FMV masterpieces. This game, Immortality, ups the ante from the previous two in every conceivable way.

Explore the unedited, unordered clips from this trio of ill-fated films using a new match-cut symbol mechanic, both more accessible and more mysterious than the previous games. Uncover the stories in front of and behind the camera of these three almost-fully-realized movies.

There is so much to talk about with Immortality that we’re dedicating two episodes to it. This first episode will be a spoiler free discussion of the game’s mechanics, production, and surface level story. In next week’s episode we will be diving deep into story and unraveling the mystery of Marissa Marcel.

332: Iron Lung

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0500

What better pitch than “A short horror game where you pilot a tiny submarine through an ocean of blood on an alien moon?”

Iron Lung is an exercise in feeling doomed. Lost in space with all habitable planets mysteriously vanished, you are a convict piloting a blind submarine on a suicide mission, using only a map and a low resolution still camera to navigate. It’s a lo-fi dread generator. It’s also shorter than many horror movies!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Iron Lung
(30:33) - Laura: Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
(36:16) - Raygan: Cursed to Golf
(40:29) - Shane: Grown Up Story Time
(42:38) - Outro

331: Haiku, The Robot

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Haiku the Robot is a fantastic “adventure-exploration” game (ok maybe that is better than “metroidvania”) that wears its Hollow Knight inspiration on its sleeve, but the quirky post-human robot world has a charm of its own. The focus is on exploration, but Haiku also has very good combat! Really a great game, and more manageable than a lot of other games in its genre at around 6-10 hours.

Stick around for a fun What’s Making Us Happy segment!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Haiku, The Robot
(40:56) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(41:00) - Laura: FBoy Island
(44:49) - Raygan: Sandman
(49:19) - Nate: Into The Breach DLC
(53:08) - A Digression about Netflix Games
(59:27) - Outro

330: South of the Circle

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0500

An Apple Arcade original that is finally making its way out into gen pop, South of the Circle is a film-like narrative game set in the Cold War 60s. It alternates between a climate scientist struggling to survive after an antarctic plane crash, and his memories of the people and events that lead him to this dangerous moment.

We start the episode with a pretty lengthy discussion of the state of Apple Arcade, which has just had its first game delistings, and at 34:55 talk about what’s making us happy this week, before our spoiler break at 52:30.

South of the Circle is available on all the current Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch consoles as well as on Steam and GOG on PC. The Apple Arcade version is still available for iOS, iPad OS, tvOS, and Mac. Expect the game to take 3-4 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(03:37) - Apple Arcade Delisting
(13:44) - South of the Circle
(34:55) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(35:22) - Shane: Artists Ermsy and Eric Klug
(41:53) - Raygan: Kaguya-sama: Love is War Volume 23
(45:17) - Laura: Carl Franklin Noir Movies
(51:03) - Outro
(52:20) - Spoiler Break

329: Stray

The Short Game — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 10:40:00 -0500

It’s the cat game everyone is talking about, but it still managed to surprise us. While we had some nits to pick, the charming kitty protagonist and incredible lived-in spaces kept us tapping our toe-beans.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

328: The Miyoo Mini, And A Retro Roundup

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Prompted by the fact that all four of our hosts recently got the Miyoo Mini emulator handheld, the hosts chat about the device itself and what retro games we’ve been playing on it.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(03:46) - Raygan's Retro Handheld Corner
(12:58) - Miyoo Mini Hardware Impressions
(22:42) - Some games!
(01:04:00) - Outro

327: Shotgun King

The Short Game — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Ludum Dare 50 winner Shotgun King is a wild twist on chess, with dashes of roguelike deckbuilding and a scattering of buckshot. As the Black King, all your subjects have abandoned you. Face off against the White King and all his pieces armed only with your royal shotgun.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Introduction
(40:32) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(40:40) - Nate: Waterpark!
(42:38) - Raygan: Tetris Rosy Retrospection and Apotris
(48:25) - Shane: Bugsnax & Fans
(53:54) - Outro

326: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

The Short Game — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 10:10:19 -0500

Somehow the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became one of the most persistent media properties of our lifetimes, yet it’s been years since a good Turtles game came along. Shredder’s Revenge is reverent of the old Konami turtles games almost to a fault, but it’s lots of fun and fueled a lot of nostalgia even for those of us who didn’t think we were big turtles fans.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Turtle Memories
(23:21) - Shredder's Revenge
(56:25) - Outro

325: Citizen Sleeper

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 08:00:00 -0500

This week we played Citizen Sleeper, the second game from In Other Waters developer Jump Over The Age, solo developer Gareth Damian Martin. Citizen Sleeper is a narrative game with mechanics inspired by tabletop games and visual novels. It tells the story of a Sleeper, a human consciousness in a robot body, who has escaped their corporate masters and washed up on a lawless post-revolutionary space station. It’s a great story of disability, community building, and transhumanism, and it’s one of the best games we’ve played this year.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Citizen Sleeper
(48:03) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(48:13) - Shane- Poinpy
(52:29) - Raygan - Earthsea
(57:32) - Laura - Local Trivia Night
(01:00:57) - Outro

324: Deltarune Chapter 2

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:33:21 -0500

Now’s your chance to be a big shot! We‘re all caught up on Deltarune, and now we have to wait forever for the next chapter just like everyone else. Torture!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:22) - Differences vs. Chapter 1
(07:43) - Character Development!
(11:41) - Cyber World
(15:43) - Deltarune is Persona
(24:03) - Alternate Paths?
(28:26) - Secret Boss
(34:06) - Favorite Character Bits?
(40:27) - Music
(42:55) - Endings
(51:33) - Chapter 7 When, Toby?
(53:06) - A Too-Long Digression About Star Wars
(54:58) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(55:20) - Nate - Skilled Craftspeople
(57:09) - Raygan - Miyoo Mini
(01:02:59) - Laura - 50 Years of Text Games
(01:08:12) - Outro

323: FRANKEN

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 08:00:00 -0500

FRANKEN is a short, free RPG parody from solo indie developer splendidland, and at least to my taste it’s one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. You owe it to yourself to Jordan Starkweather from the excellent Pocketoid podcast joins us to talk about the game and how it lovingly comments on the RPG genre.

Laura is away this week due to an apartment move (congrats!) and Shane is out due to injury (ouch!) so thanks to Jordan for being a pinch hitter! (See Nate, I can make sports metaphors too!)

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Jordan Starkweather – @jackal27

(00:00) - FRANKEN
(44:29) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(44:53) - Jordan - Citizen Sleeper
(50:21) - Raygan - F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch
(54:31) - Nate - Jetski
(57:27) - Wrap-up

322: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

The Short Game — Mon, 30 May 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Turnip Boy is an immediate contender for our dirtbag of the year award. This game packs a lot of jokes into its 2-ish hours, some of which are even funny!

Check out the game on Nintendo Switch, Windows/Mac, iOS, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series S/X platforms, where it was recently added to Game Pass.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
(34:33) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(35:05) - Nate - Ibb & Obb
(37:58) - Raygan - Everdrives, Made In Ukraine!
(41:56) - Shane - Knotwords
(47:38) - Wrap Up

321: Playdate

The Short Game — Mon, 23 May 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Since the 90s, Panic has been known as a creator of playful, functional software. Then, nearly two decades into their existence they took an unexpected swerve into video game publishing. During that time they also managed to somehow grow a weird idea for a corporate gift into a brand new handheld video game platform. The Playdate!

The Playdate is a tiny handheld video game console, kind of like a quirky modern Game Boy, with a crank on the side. It feels like a strange merger of retro and modern, with a high resolution 1-bit black and white display, and a “Season” model for game distribution where every Playdate receives new games automatically over the internet, two a week for 12 weeks after you unbox it. It’s really neat.

Short Game Bird Correspondent Mark Bramhill joins us for this episode. Mark interviewed the Panic team about the history of their MP3 player application Audion for his incredible Welcome to Macintosh podcast (it’s a great listen!) and talks about seeing prototype Playdate hardware all the way back in 2016!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Mark Bramhill – @mcbramhill

(00:00) - Intro
(03:08) - Panic & Playdate History
(15:19) - Hardware
(28:27) - Reverse Fantasy Console
(32:12) - Season Model
(38:28) - Vibe Check
(43:29) - Season 1 Games
(44:40) - Whitewater Wipeout
(51:18) - Casual Birder
(57:28) - Crankin's Time Travel Adventure
(01:03:49) - Boogie Loops
(01:07:27) - Pick Pack Pup
(01:12:28) - Lost Your Marbles
(01:22:19) - Flipper Lifter
(01:25:43) - Echoic Memory
(01:28:25) - Sideloaded Games
(01:40:45) - Wrap Up

320: Deltarune Chapter 1

The Short Game — Tue, 17 May 2022 09:12:44 -0500

Thank you to the listeners and patrons who kindly kept asking us when we were covering Deltarune. The answer is NOW! Thank you for your patience these last… checks watch… nearly four years!

Deltarune is the sequel follow up (?) to Undertale, a game whose seismic impact is still being felt today. Developer Toby Fox took a different approach with Deltarune, breaking it up into chapters and releasing them over time, with the first chapter having been released in 2018 and the second chapter last year. We are covering Deltarune Chapter 1 this week, and will probably cover Chapter 2 in 2-3 weeks.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - We're Finally Covering Deltarune
(07:54) - Development and Release
(19:12) - How is this related to Undertale?
(29:23) - Mechanics
(41:27) - Puzzles
(43:50) - Pre-Spoiler Wrap-Up
(48:15) - Spoiler Break

319: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

The Short Game — Mon, 09 May 2022 10:01:40 -0500

More than a re-release, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a massive expansion of the original game, with new endings, new jokes, and a bucket. This episode features light spoilers for the original Stanley Parable before the spoiler break, then new content and ending spoilers afterward.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
(39:02) - Spoiler Break
(01:22:52) - Outro

318: Norco

The Short Game — Mon, 02 May 2022 08:00:00 -0500

NORCO describes itself as a “Southern Gothic point & click narrative adventure that immerses the player in the sinking suburbs and verdant industrial swamps of a distorted South Louisiana.” It’s full of vivid characters, beautiful prose, and uncomfortable near-future sci-fi psychedelia.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Norco
(49:43) - Whats Making Us Happy This Week?
(49:49) - Laura - Heartstopper
(54:11) - Raygan - Peglin
(58:57) - Shane - The Goblin Emperor
(01:08:00) - Outro

317: Steam Deck

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 15:05:06 -0500

Raygan has had his hands on a Steam Deck for about a week, and so we decided to chat about the device and what it means for our corner of the gaming landscape. Turned out to be a longer and more interesting conversation than we expected!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

316: Game Boy Homebrew & GB Studio

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 11:28:09 -0500

This week we played several Game Boy homebrew games, all made using the free game making tool GB Studio. All these games can be played on the web, in a Game Boy emulator, or on actual Game Boy hardware, and all are short and interesting! We also had a lengthy and sometimes disturbing digression about opossums.

00:00:00: Intro to GB Studio
00:12:40: Opossum Country by BenJelter
00:19:28: Spoilers for Opossum Country
00:25:10: Opossum Discourse
00:33:18: Mud Warriors by Polyducks, Ryan Veeder, Lance Campbell
00:45:57: Deadeus by -IZMA-
00:55:09: Penalty Kick ‘91 – Kid Phoenix
01:02:12: An Autumn with You by leafthief
01:07:56: The Year After by Hadrian Lin
01:14:26: Outro

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro to GB Studio
(12:40) - Opossum Country by BenJelter
(19:28) - Spoilers for Opossum Country
(25:10) - Opossum Discourse
(33:18) - Mud Warriors by Polyducks, Ryan Veeder, Lance Campbell
(45:57) - Deadeus by -IZMA-
(55:09) - Penalty Kick ‘91 - Kid Phoenix
(01:02:12) - An Autumn with You by leafthief
(01:07:56) - The Year After by Hadrian Lin
(01:14:26) - Outro

315: A Memoir Blue

The Short Game — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 08:00:00 -0500

A Memoir Blue is the latest release from publisher Annapurna, and first from developer Cloisters Interactive. The developer describes it as “interactive poem” in which an olympic swimmer reflects on her childhood and her relationship with her mother, told via dreamlike metaphorical scenes, contrasting 2D and 3D characters and scenes.

While not our absolute favorite thing, this game prompted a really interesting discussion!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - A Memoir Blue
(54:32) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(54:40) - Shane - Shane’s Backpack
(56:05) - Laura - Movie Recommendations
(59:20) - Raygan - Romance Audiobook Confessions
(01:05:30) - Nate - Birthquake by Thor Axe
(01:08:26) - Outro

314: Vampire Survivors

The Short Game — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Raygan and Nate are a little late to the party with this chat about the virally popular casual bullet hell Vampire Survivors. Plus a lengthy digression about popcorn!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Vampire Survivors
(11:13) - A lengthy digression about popcorn
(16:14) - Back to Vampire Survivors
(40:40) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(40:43) - Nate - Palm Springs
(44:06) - Raygan - Kirby and the Forgotten Land
(51:35) - Outro

313: Beast Breaker

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 08:00:00 -0500

Nate, Shane, and Laura discuss the mouse-bouncing tactical pachinko RPG Beast Breaker, from Asher Volmer’s studio Vodeo Games.

Beast Breaker is available on Nintendo Switch and on PC via the Epic Games Store. Expect it to take around 10-12 hours to complete, depending on how the mouse bounces.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Beast Breaker
(51:19) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(51:34) - Shane - Scream (2022)
(58:51) - Laura - Pudding.cool: Identifying Generational Gaps in Music
(01:05:05) - Nate - Bloodywood
(01:06:49) - Outro

312: Itch.io Bundle for Ukraine

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 08:00:00 -0500

The Itch.io bundle for Ukraine (organized by Necrosoft Games) included a ton of great stuff. We spent some time this week combing through the nearly 1000 games and other works in the bundle, and have come back with a few suggestions!

(To browse or filter your bundle games, try https://randombundlegame.com)

00:10:54: Games We Have Previously Covered

00:27:26: Combo Postage

00:32:44: Sunlight

00:35:42: Cecconoid

00:37:55: Cloud Gardens

00:39:00: The Mortician’s Tale

00:42:44: GoNNER

00:46:54: Landlord of the Woods

00:50:25: Welcome to Elk

00:51:50: Death and Taxes

00:54:01: Dépanneur Nocturne

00:55:01: Bard Harder

00:55:43: [SPEER]

00:57:48: Toree 3D and Toree 2

00:59:03: Grapple Force Reina

01:01:07: Dumpy & Bumpy

01:02:52: Kuso: Love 2

01:04:51: ZeroRanger

01:06:44: CrossCode

01:08:16: Outro

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(10:54) - Games We Have Previously Covered
(27:26) - Combo Postage
(32:44) - Sunlight
(35:42) - Cecconoid
(37:55) - Cloud Gardens
(39:00) - The Mortician’s Tale
(42:44) - GoNNER
(46:54) - Landlord of the Woods
(50:25) - Welcome to Elk
(51:50) - Death and Taxes
(54:01) - Dépanneur Nocturne
(55:01) - Bard Harder
(55:43) - [SPEER]
(57:48) - Toree 3D and Toree 2
(59:03) - Grapple Force Reina
(01:01:07) - Dumpy & Bumpy
(01:02:52) - Kuso: Love 2
(01:04:51) - ZeroRanger
(01:06:44) - CrossCode
(01:08:16) - Outro

311: Far: Changing Tides

The Short Game — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 08:00:00 -0500

The sequel (or “sister game”) to 2018’s Far: Lone Sails returns us to a world in which driving a train/boat requires an awful lot of running around.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(49:27) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(49:38) - Shane - Elden Ring
(53:59) - Nate - Settlers of Catan Mobile
(58:34) - Raygan - Bundle for Ukraine
(01:06:45) - Laura - Theater Friend Gossip
(01:15:03) - Spoiler Break

310: Dodgeball Academia

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 08:34:30 -0600

A world in which dodgeball is the solution (and cause) of every problem! Dodgeball Academia is a somewhat overlooked sports RPG released in 2021 for PC and consoles (and included in Game Pass), and we had a lot of fun with it! We all stan Baloony.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Dodgeball Academia
(53:54) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(54:01) - Laura - Snacking Cakes
(58:32) - Raygan - Bulk Chocolate
(01:06:19) - Nate - Skiing
(01:08:48) - Outro

309: Oops, All ‘What’s Making Us Happy’, Hardware Edition

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 08:00:00 -0600

We’re taking a break from our regular format this week and doing an all What’s Making Us Happy This Week episode. First, Shane talks about the out-of-the-box experience of his new Quest 2 VR headset, and Laura talks about her return to the Xbox family after a generation away.

After the hardware talk, Raygan embarrasses himself by recommending some anime, Shane talks about Guillermo del Toro‘s latest movie Nightmare Alley, and Laura recommends some TV shows.

We’ll be back to our regular format next week with Dodgeball Academia, and then with some of the games you voted on in our upcoming episode poll.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(02:34) - Quest 2 VR
(30:29) - Xbox Series S (aka The Game Pass Box )
(47:32) - Raygan’s Recent Anime Recommendations
(01:05:30) - Nightmare Alley
(01:16:10) - Laura's TV Recommendations
(01:22:36) - Outro

308: Webbed

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 09:01:37 -0600

Webbed from Sbug Games is a puzzle platformer starring a charming little spider on a quest to save her boyfriend. It has incredible movement and webbing mechanics, and fantastic animation (all those legs!) but suffers from some early game pacing issues. We discuss why we loved the game, and how to get past some of the early game hurdles and into the fun stuff quickly.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Webbed
(01:01:34) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:01:38) - Laura - Normal Gossip
(01:04:26) - Raygan - Synology NAS
(01:08:39) - Shane - Kamigawa Neon Dynasty
(01:14:19) - Outro

307: Record of Lodoss War -Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-

The Short Game — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 08:00:00 -0600

The biggest surprise of Wonder Labyrinth is that it was made at all. Team Ladybug‘s 5-10 hour Symphony of the Night clone inspired game is based on a nearly forgotten early anime property, yet released in the year 2021. If you ignore the minimal but mostly unintelligible story content, this is a really good metroidvania in the direct lineage of the Koji Igarashi Castlevanias. It’s available on Windows, Switch, PS4/5, and Xbox One/Series, and is included in Game Pass.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

306: ElecHead

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 13:34:07 -0600

ElecHead is a little robot with a high voltage head. Touch any surface to electrify it, or throw your head to electrify things at a distance, but pick it up in 10 seconds or explode! That’s the whole premise of this clever and breezy puzzle platformer from Japanese indie dev NamaTakahasi.

Stick around after for one of my favorite ”What’s Making Us Happy This Week” segments in a while

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(36:43) - What's Making Us Happy This Week
(36:48) - Laura - Music Recommendations
(39:42) - Nate - More Music Recommendations, Yoga with Adrian
(43:07) - Raygan - Combo Postage Winter Update
(47:14) - Shane - AstroJax

305: Tux & Fanny

The Short Game — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 08:00:00 -0600

Tux & Fanny began as a 2019 film by Albert Birney, released in parts on Instagram and as a feature-length film on Vimeo. Barney has since developed the idea into a video game that mixes the quirky oddness of the film with an almost bottomless well of lavish but incongruous inclusions. Full of delightful one-time throwaway mechanics and unnecessarily fleshed out mini-games, Tux and Fanny begins as a parody (?) of traditional point and click adventure games, but ends up something completely different and unique. Tux & Fanny is available on Nintendo Switch and for Mac/PC on itch.io, for $10. Expect it to take around 6-8 hours to complete, but if you decide to read the unabridged copy of Moby Dick included in the game it could be a bit longer.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Tux & Fanny
(57:51) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(58:04) - Nate - Central Heating
(01:00:38) - Raygan - Tetris Micro Arcade
(01:04:01) - Laura - Poppy Manicure Tool
(01:08:17) - Outro

304: Sable

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 08:00:00 -0600

This week we’re talking about Sable, a long-in-development open world coming-of-age story set on a beautiful but desolate alien planet. Afterward, in the What’s Making Us Happy segment, Shane has very bad opinions about the execrable M. Night Shyamalan movie Old.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Sable
(46:21) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:00:16) - Outro

303: Word(le) Games

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 08:57:52 -0600

Word games are ubiquitous, and almost universally short, but most are too slight to make for a full Short Game episode. This week we’re starting by discussing the virally popular Wordle, then moving on to talk about our favorite word games over the years.

For Patrons, check the Patreon exclusive feed for a separate recording of Nate and Laura playing Shane’s “Guessing Game!”

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Wordle
(33:18) - 7 Little Words
(35:52) - Codenames
(38:47) - Shane’s Guessing Game
(43:05) - Puzzlejuice
(44:35) - Upwords
(49:03) - New York Times Spelling Bee
(52:56) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(53:18) - Shane - Beast Breaker
(59:11) - Laura - Moulin Rouge on Broadway
(01:02:40) - Nate - Bit Brigade Live Speedrun Soundtracks
(01:07:53) - Outro

302: Exo One

The Short Game — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 09:07:59 -0600

We are pondering our orb this week, with Shane and Raygan talking about Exo One, a game that is hard to describe as anything other than “Flappy Bird meets 2001: A Space Odyssey“ in 3D.

We also launched our new questions segment, so skip to the 39 minutes or use the chapter marker for that if you want! Let us know if you have a question for the show, or if you think we should put the Questions segment before the main discussion (Raygan hasn’t quite made up his mind.)

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Exo One
(39:20) - Listener Question
(50:56) - Outro

301: Game of the Year 2021

The Short Game — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 10:00:39 -0600

Our slightly belated GOTY 2021 episode is here, and we’re honoring our favorite games of this complicated year. (If you’re a patron, you can also tune in for our unedited horse-trading and planning session in the Patreon podcast feed!)

Thanks for sticking with us in 2021. We’re looking forward to a bright 2022!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(04:12) - Game of the Year
(14:38) - Best Feelings
(19:11) - Most “Holy Shit” Moments
(22:32) - Best Galerius
(28:08) - Best Action
(32:40) - Best Mario
(36:27) - Dirtbag of the Year
(41:52) - Honorable (Disqualified) Mentions
(54:36) - Non-Game Experiences of the Year
(57:50) - Final Thoughts

300: Episode 300 Q&A

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 08:00:00 -0600

It’s absolutely inconceivable that we have been doing this for 300 episodes. We’re celebrating this milestone by answering your questions and a few of our own, and generally just hanging out. Thank you!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - It’s Episode 300!
(11:24) - What game sparked the idea for the show?
(20:42) - In 300 episodes, what’s changed? What’s next?
(25:30) - What game was a little too long?
(31:46) - Shortest game we’ve covered?
(34:36) - Worst near-miss games?
(38:02) - More retro game reviews?
(42:44) - Gameplay/Story Swap?
(48:10) - What genres need more short games?
(55:14) - Go-to 20 minute play sessions?
(01:00:04) - Are Roguelikes The Way?
(01:06:12) - What game would you vacation in?
(01:08:18) - Best Character Name?
(01:09:50) - Force your cohosts to play one game for the rest of their lives?
(01:10:59) - What Genre Do You Identify As?
(01:13:23) - Best/Worst Gaming Christmas Gifts?
(01:21:40) - Thank You

299: Inscryption (Part 2, All Spoilers)

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 22:17:02 -0600

We’re still talking about Inscryption, a game that… well there’s a lot to talk about here.

Next week is episode 300!!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

298: Inscryption (Part 1, No Spoilers)

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 08:47:40 -0600

We’re spending the next two episodes talking about Inscryption, the wild new deckbuilding roguelike meets escape-room horror game from Pony Island developer Daniel Mullins. We’re taking the unusual step of breaking this into two episodes (similar to what we did with Undertale several years ago) because while the game has a lot of incredible cards (literal and figurative) hidden up its sleeves, the cards it plays face up, right away are also extremely interesting and worth talking about at length. So we do! This episode mainly covers the card and roguelike mechanics. Shane brings up Magic the Gathering many, many times.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

297: Unpacking

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 08:00:00 -0600

The second game from Witchbeam, the developers of Short Game favorite Assault Android Cactus, is completely different but equally great. Unpacking is an intricate pixel art game about… unpacking! This chill, open ended puzzle-ish game tells the story of a life through the mundane, familiar experience of taking objects out of boxes and trying to find some place to put them. Each new house comes with an opportunity to see how a person changes over time and how their possessions tell the story of that change.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

296: IFComp 2021 part 3

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 08:26:12 -0600

IFComp 2021 voting closes TODAY!

Our third and final episode on IFComp 2021 just before the close of the comp covers four absolute bangers. We will return in a few weeks to discuss the results, and play any high placing games we missed!

[00:03:17]: What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed by Amanda Walker
[00:17:19]: Fine Felines by Felicity Banks
[00:30:11]: A Paradox Between Worlds by Autumn Chen
[00:42:41]: You are SpamZapper 3.1 by Leon Arnott

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(03:17) - What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed by Amanda Walker
(17:19) - Fine Felines by Felicity Banks
(30:11) - A Paradox Between Worlds by Autumn Chen
(42:41) - You are SpamZapper 3.1 by Leon Arnott
(58:13) - Wrap-up
(01:01:02) - Shane - Movie Recommendations
(01:07:35) - Raygan - Home Theater Upgrade
(01:10:33) - Laura - Book Recommendations
(01:14:29) - Outro

295: Monster Train

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 08:35:24 -0600

Despite some high profile and popular examples, the deck-building roguelike genre is a hyper-specific niche comprised of such a small number of games that every major new entry still seems like quite an event. 2020’s biggest deck-building roguelike release was Monster Train, which made its way to Nintendo Switch this year. It’s a must for fans of the genre, and might be a great entry point for new players.

We’re fully on our bullshit for this one, as Nate gets to talk about Slay the Spire, Shane gets to talk about Magic: The Gathering, and Raygan gets to complain about both of them.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Monster Train
(57:03) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(57:05) - Nate - Horizon Zero Dawn & the Musee Mechanique
(01:04:29) - Raygan - Big Good Friend
(01:07:31) - Shane - Hanging Out with Hunter Pence
(01:10:43) - Outro

294: IFComp 2021 part 2

The Short Game — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Continuing our coverage of the 2021 Interactive Fiction Competition, we’re back with impressions of six more games, including some really incredible ones!

00:03:23: Closure by Sarah Wilson
00:12:26: Funicular Simulator 2021 by Mary Goodden and Tom Leather
00:19:30: we, the remainder by Charm Cochran
00:29:19: Taste of Fingers by V Dobranov
00:35:14: Dr Horror’s House of Terror by Ade
00:41:23: And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One by B.J. Best

More IFComp coverage coming soon, so keep the recommendations coming!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
with special guest Raygan Kelly – @raygank

(00:00) - Intro
(03:23) - Closure by Sarah Wilson
(12:26) - Funicular Simulator 2021 by Mary Goodden and Tom Leather
(19:30) - we, the remainder by Charm Cochran
(29:19) - Taste of Fingers by V Dobranov
(35:14) - Dr Horror's House of Terror by Ade
(41:23) - And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One by B.J. Best
(51:37) - Wrap Up

293: Devotion

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Our spooky game for spooky season this year is Devotion, an atmospheric first person horror game from Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games. Devotion was well received at its 2019 release but was very quickly pulled from stores due to a very strange situation involving the Chinese Communist Party and Winnie the Pooh. The game remained as hauntingly unavailable as PT for years, until Red Candle began selling it direct to consumers via their website this March.

Devotion tells the tragic story of a family in 1980s Taiwan torn apart by mental illness and religious fanaticism. It combines storytelling devices from the ”walking simulator” genre with horrifying visuals and cinematic editing to create a uniquely haunting domestic tragedy.

You can buy Devotion direct from Red Candle Games via their website for $16.99. It is available DRM free for PC and Mac. Expect it to take 3-4 hours to complete.

We’ll be back next week with more IFComp 2021!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(03:24) - Devotion
(07:03) - Development
(13:57) - Release And Controversy
(25:40) - Gameplay and Storytelling
(46:36) - Wrap Up
(51:53) - Spoiler Break

292: IFComp 2021 Part 1

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:49:27 -0500

This is the start of our IFComp 2021 coverage, and it’s looking like a good year! We discussed 9 games, and will be covering many more over the coming weeks.

00:13:09: Grandma Bethlinda’s Remarkable Egg by Arthur DiBianca
00:25:48: The Golden Heist by George Lockett and Rob Thorman
00:33:31: The daughter by Giovanni Rubino
00:41:40: A Papal Summons, or The Church Cat by Bitter Karella
00:48:57: Cyborg Arena by John Ayliff
00:55:42: Enveloping Darkness by John Muhlhauser, Helen Pluta, Co-written by Othniel Aryee
01:00:25: Smart Theory by AKheon
01:05:39: Sting by Mike Russo
01:14:02: My Gender Is a Fish by Carter Gwertzman

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Introduction
(13:09) - Grandma Bethlinda's Remarkable Egg by Arthur DiBianca
(25:48) - The Golden Heist by George Lockett and Rob Thorman
(33:31) - The daughter by Giovanni Rubino
(41:40) - A Papal Summons, or The Church Cat by Bitter Karella
(48:57) - Cyborg Arena by John Ayliff
(55:42) - Enveloping Darkness by John Muhlhauser, Helen Pluta, Co-written by Othniel Aryee
(01:00:25) - Smart Theory by AKheon
(01:05:39) - Sting by Mike Russo
(01:14:02) - My Gender Is a Fish by Carter Gwertzman
(01:18:26) - Wrap Up

291: Bowser’s Fury

The Short Game — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 08:00:00 -0500

A complete, mainline Mario game you can complete in 3-6 hours? Yes, Bowser’s Fury is more than a “new mode” for the Switch re-release of Super Mario 3D World. It also has more cats per minute than any game in recent memory.

Hope you’re feeling better, Nate!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(03:25) - Super Mario 3D World
(12:05) - Bowser’s Fury
(56:00) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(56:13) - Nate - Spider Man Miles Morales on PS5
(58:19) - Raygan - World Flipper
(01:05:20) - Shane - Hive
(01:10:03) - Outro

290: Interactive Fiction Romance – Choice Of Games and Heart’s Choice

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 08:31:33 -0500

This week we are getting romantic with a few interactive fiction romance novels from Choice of Games and their new imprint Heart’s Choice.

Crème de la Crème from Choice of Games
Dawnfall and A Player’s Heart from Heart’s Choice
Creatures Such as We from Choice of Games
Laura’s recent guest appearance: 471. Romance Games and Interactive Fiction with Laura Nash of The Short Game Podcast | Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(26:18) - Creme de la Creme
(47:44) - Dawnfall
(01:00:54) - A Player’s Heart
(01:08:01) - Creatures Such As We
(01:11:56) - Outro

289: Project Avatar & Escape Rooms

The Short Game — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 08:00:00 -0500

This week The Short Game played an online escape room experience called Project Avatar, in which we commanded an “avatar”, a real live human person in a warehouse in Ukraine, through a series of puzzle challenges. It was a supremely weird and wildly entertaining experience. We also discuss escape rooms generally, including online and at-home escape room experiences.

Here are Laura’s links and resources for this episode:

Main review — Project Avatar: Stalker

https://projectavatar.fun/

Games Mentioned

Trapped Takeout: https://www.trappedpuzzlerooms.com/trapped-takeout/

The Emerald Flame (PostCurious): https://postcurious.myshopify.com/

Colby’s Curious Cookoff https://curiouscookoff.com/

SCRAP’s Escape From the Science Lab of Scifting Rules (the Baba Is You-y one) https://roomescapeartist.com/2021/04/02/scrap-escape-science-lab-shifting-rules-hivemind-review/

Bluefish Games: https://www.teambluefish.com/

Box One: https://store.theory11.com/products/boxone

Guides to finding good at home games

My favorite reviewers, cause they do hiveminds where multiple people review the same room (and they ran the conference I liked)

https://roomescapeartist.com/

2020 Online Escape Room Awards https://terpeca.com/2020/#onlinerooms

An index for at home game reviews:

https://escapethereview.co.uk/location/play-at-home/

A flowchart

https://www.escapethereview.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/PlayAtHomeFlowchart.pdf

Which Room in a Box should I buy?

https://escapethereview.co.uk/which-room-in-a-box-should-i-buy/

Meta list of lists of at-home games https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1anO0NQhwwOFZLmydCuoY4cd4R6x52KnxOAfAxZCGt1c/edit

Puzzle Hunt Calendar http://puzzlehuntcalendar.com/

Want to know more about Escape Rooms?

RECON Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvtiar8OygeaCKLog9ff_TBmJKuW-b8ZZ

Escape Room Design Links: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lwSTxIews8azOqzHEy0vyoSrX7orx55pRImXWuBVkjU/edit

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(04:45) - Escape Rooms Online And Off
(20:26) - Project Avatar
(58:09) - Other Games And Resources
(01:18:15) - Outro

288: Music Episode 2021

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 10:57:55 -0500

With a little help from our listeners, we’re bringing back our music episode format. We have a few picks from the hosts, and a lot of listener suggestions!

Nate’s pick:

A Colorful Tale – Chicory: A Colorful Tale by Lena Raine

Raygan’s Picks:

Boku No Chikyu Bokura no Chikyu – Mr. Driller DrillLand by Go C-Na
Burn My Dread – Persona 3
Mind of a Hero – Wonder Boy III The Dragon’s Trap

Shane’s Picks:

Blueprint for a Slow Machine – No Man’s Sky
Connected (Yours Forever) – The Tetris Erffect – Hydelic
Mouth of Styx – Hades – Darren Korb

Listener Picks:

Now that this world is ending – Far Cry 5
Battle with the four fiends – FFIV PIXEL Remaster
The King and the Bull – Hades – Darren Korb
One more road song – death road to canada – Joey Grady
Garbage Day – Donut County – Daniel Koestner
Clock Town – Majora’s Mask – Theophany. Remix
Strike The Earth!- Danimal Cannon – Just shapes and beats
Main Theme – Black Knight 2000
Lucent – Cloud Gardens – Amos Roddy
Feisty Flowers – Everhood
Dartmouth – Hollow Knight

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(02:55) - Nate's Picks
(05:26) - Raygan Picks
(15:40) - Shane’s Picks
(28:01) - Listener Picks

287: Twelve Minutes

The Short Game — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 08:56:51 -0500

The Twelve Minutes Defender (Shane) and the Twelve Minutes Hater (Raygan) are locked in an endless cycle of discourse. This time loop thriller adventure game has garnered some really mixed reviews, and we can’t give it a full throated recommendation, but it ended up generating a really interesting conversation.

The Groundhog Day “fan fiction” podcast Shane refers to in this episode are episodes 72 and 73 of the Imaginary Advice podcast.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Twelve Minutes
(53:20) - Spoiler Break

286: Boyfriend Dungeon

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 12:11:57 -0500

We’re taking a romantic dip into the “dunj” this week and playing Boyfriend Dungeon from Kitfox Games! We talk about the smooching, the slashing and talk about our favorite Baeblades.

Boyfriend Dungeon is available on Steam, Gamepass (Windows and Xbox) and Nintendo Switch. Expect it to take between 5 and 10 hours to complete depending mostly on how many swords you want to smooch.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(01:16) - Summary
(09:49) - Eric & Content Warnings
(20:01) - Some Cute Touches
(25:25) - Dungeon Crawling Mechanics
(34:52) - Dating In The Dungeon
(40:25) - Smoochable Blades
(42:16) - A brief aside on texts from Mom
(49:32) - Hot Knives
(01:10:36) - Raygan’s Game Breaking Bug 😭
(01:13:32) - Wrap Up
(01:16:55) - Outro
(01:21:05) - Spoiler Break

285: The Forgotten City

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 11:35:05 -0500

The Forgotten City is a mystery adventure game of exploration and deduction, and a re-imagining of an award winning Skyrim mod. Travel 2,000 years into the past and relive the final days of a cursed Roman city, where if one person sins, everyone dies.

We absolutely loved this game. It’s a masterpiece of narrative design, and one of the most fun examples of a Groundhog Day style time loop in video games (and that’s saying something in a category that include the previously covered Outer Wilds and The Sexy Brutale!)

Shane brought a friend for this episode! We’re joined by Rahul Rao, Houston area performance artist.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Rahul Rao

(00:00) - The Forgotten City
(45:06) - Wrap Up
(49:51) - Spoiler Break

284: Button City

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Button City is a cute (you might even say wholesome) adventure game about an adorable fox and his animal friends in a dayglow 90’s nostalgia infused world, trying to protect their local arcade from an uncaring real estate developer. Unfortunately, it’s also… not very good.

Nate and I had a chat about what this promising game got right, and why it ultimately failed to move us. We also have a chat about the Wholesome Direct where this game was featured heavily, and wrap up with a fun What’s Making Us Happy This Week segment.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Button City
(03:42) - …we don’t like it
(32:37) - Wholesome Games
(49:13) - Wrap Up
(54:37) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(54:50) - Nate - Schmigadoon!
(01:01:49) - Raygan - Repairing a Macintosh SE
(01:08:34) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 02: The Stanley Parable

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 09:01:51 -0500

This week I was thinking about The Stanley Parable, which had a great recent episode on Watch Out For Fireballs and is also probably, finally getting its updated re-release this year, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe.

This was only the second episode of the podcast, originally released in April of 2014, and we were still figuring everything out. The format is weird, the takes are stale, the audio quality is poor… but I had fun listening back to it. Hopefully you will too, and hopefully you’ll forgive us for anything dumb we say. I added a couple of chapter markers. in case you want to skip past the 15-20 minutes of banter about such current topics as ”should I buy a Playstation 4.”

We’ll be back next week with a new episode. Thanks for listening!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(02:10) - Preamble Ramble
(23:50) - The Stanley Parable

283: Metroid Fusion

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Our patrons voted for it, and we played it! It’s Metroid Fusion! A 5-7 hour Metroid game for the Game Boy Advance. This was Samus Aran’s first game in 8 years following Super Metroid, but it picks up seemingly right where the SNES game left off. We talk about the good, the bad, and the controversial in this soon-to-be-prequel to Metroid Dread.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro and Metroid History
(10:34) - How To Play This Game
(20:12) - Story
(32:02) - Map and Secrets
(37:19) - Linearity
(43:21) - More… “Story”
(49:43) - Most and Least Favorite Bits
(01:08:27) - Does It Hold Up?
(01:16:07) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(01:16:21) - Laura - Pilot Preppy Fountain Pen
(01:17:28) - Laura - Super Yaki
(01:19:50) - Raygan - Retro Computer Warehouse Sale
(01:24:15) - Nate - Overcooked 2
(01:27:36) - Outro

282: Death’s Door

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Play as a tiny crow with a huge sword, tasked with reaping souls in a world in which no one has died for hundreds of years. Death’s Door is a top-down exploration and combat focused action adventure game in the mold of the Legend of Zelda, from developers Acid Nerve (the developers of Titan Souls) and published by Devolver Digital.

You can find Death’s Door on Steam for PC and Xbox platforms, where it’s currently a console-exclusive with a $20 price tag. Expect it to take somewhere between 6 and 15 hours to complete. (We recorded a couple of hours before I actually completed the game, but my final clock at credits was 14 hours. How Long To Beat currently lists 6.5 hours for the main story, with most playthroughs in the 6-10 hour range, so perhaps I am just bad at this game! I still had a great time though. Plus: Bird Content!)

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Death’s Door
(04:48) - Vibes and World Aesthetic
(09:29) - World/Level Design
(13:34) - Side Note: The Hazards of Playing Games Before Release
(15:51) - Flying Without A Map
(23:14) - Combat
(32:51) - Bosses
(40:27) - Wrap Up
(41:13) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(41:16) - Raygan - The Fear Street Movies on Netflix
(45:19) - Shane - 🇲🇽 🛫
(47:22) - Admin and Outro

281: Griftlands

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 08:00:00 -0500

This week we are talking about the long in Early Access roguelike deck-building RPG Griftlands, and if you just heard a sound it was Nate vibrating in his seat. This isn’t that short a game, with a completed run taking up to 8 hours (and completing all three characters will likely take over 20 hours) but it sneaks in with our increasingly unjustifiable exception for roguelikes!

Griftlands was in early access for two years, but it’s in full release as of June 2021 and it’s available on ALL the platforms, including Steam for Mac and Windows, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One, each for about $20.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Griftlands
(49:32) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(50:11) - Raygan - The 3DS
(55:24) - Shane - Trip to Mexico
(57:50) - Nate - Playing D&D IN PERSON
(01:00:16) - Laura - Olympics Drama
(01:06:16) - Outro
(01:08:18) - Spoiler Break

280: Boomerang X

The Short Game — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 08:00:00 -0500

This week we played Boomerang X, a new first person shooter boomeranger from developer DANG! published by Devolver Digital. Fling your boomerang (and yourself) through the air in a series of increasingly insane combat arenas as you delve into a lost civilization and test your agility against the swarms of dark creatures within.

Boomerang X is available today on Switch and Steam for Windows. Expect it to take around three to four hours to complete, with a New Game+ available after completion. This game was reviewed on PC via a pre-release download code provided by the publisher.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Boomerang X
(38:26) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(38:35) - Shane - D&D Campaign Pitches
(54:04) - Raygan - There’s So Much Golf
(01:05:03) - Outro

279: Ynglet

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 08:00:00 -0500

This week we are covering Ynglet, a weird little anti-platformer for PC/Mac. Enjoy us trying mightily to describe the abstract main character creature (betasseled space squid?), and stick around for Shane’s What’s Making Me Happy when he finds a way to troll me by just enjoying sparkling water.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Ynglet
(29:22) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(29:29) - Shane - Liquid Death Sparkling Water
(34:35) - Laura - Mythic Quest Season 2
(36:53) - Raygan - For All Mankind
(40:42) - Outro

278: Chicory: A Colorful Tale

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 10:05:51 -0500

Chicory is a game about a black and white world, and an unlikely artist-dog given a magic paintbrush and tasked with coloring it in. Like developer Greg Lobanov’s previous game Wandersong, it’s also a deceptively well written and emotional story with engaging characters facing real problems. Chicory deals intelligently with themes of depression, impostor syndrome, the nature of art, and what it does to the artist and to the world, while remaining fun and warm throughout. Explore the Picnic Province, meet dozens of fun animal characters, and save the world with your art!

Chicory is available on PC/Mac and the PS4/5. Expect it to take about 8-10 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

277: The Magnificent Trufflepigs

The Short Game — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 09:22:13 -0500

When one of the creators of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture makes a Firewatch-inspired game about running a metal detector over the British countryside, we pay attention. Unfortunately, despite some very good ideas, this game’s writing was a bit of a misfire. It’s a very interesting failure, though!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - The Magnificent Trufflepigs
(39:05) - Spoiler Break
(54:03) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?
(54:43) - Nate: Bo Burnham: Inside
(57:49) - Raygan: Instax Mini Link
(01:02:42) - Laura: In The Heights & Girls5eva

276: Overboard!

The Short Game — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 09:29:52 -0500

Overboard! is the latest game from Inkle, creators of Short Game favorites 80 Days and Heaven’s Vault. Developed in just over three months during the Covid-19 pandemic, Overboard is a deeply repayable detective game where you’re the one whodunnit. Designed to be played in under an hour, but with numerous routes and endings and an advanced narrative design allowing for enormous amounts of player choice, this brief, finely tuned narrative puzzle box is one of our easiest recommendations in years. Stick around after the spoiler break for in depth discussion of characters and secrets.

Overboard! is available for iOS, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Expect each play-through to take about 30-45 minutes. Most players will want to complete multiple play-throughs.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Overboard!
(40:27) - Wrap-up
(46:03) - Spoiler Break

275: Mundaun

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 11:21:35 -0500

Mundaun is a pleasant mountain hike gone dreadfully, dreadfully wrong. First person protagonist Curdin returns to his grandfather’s home in Mundaun, a secluded village in the Swiss Alps, to find his grandfather dead in mysterious circumstances and the mountain haunted by a dark presence. This folk-horror-adventure game’s unique art style was achieved by hand-penciling all of the textures for a moody sketchbook appearance. Impressive gameplay variety and an intriguing central mystery kept us climbing up the mountain for the game’s entire ~8-10 hour run time.

Stick around for Shane’s impressions on Resident Evil Village!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(34:40) - Resident Evil Village Talk
(38:23) - Outro
(40:07) - Resident Evil Village Talk Continues
(51:21) - Outro

274: Peggle!

The Short Game — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 14:38:52 -0500

Who would have thought we could talk for nearly an hour about Peggle, a game that according to Nate doesn’t even exist in his home timeline.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Peggle!
(50:34) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(50:42) - Nate - Going to a Baseball Game! IRL!
(54:26) - Raygan - Getting Together With Laura! IRL!
(55:40) - Shane - Wingspan
(01:03:45) - Outro

273: Sneaky Sasquatch

The Short Game — Mon, 24 May 2021 08:00:00 -0500

This overlooked open-world kitchen sink game might be Apple Arcade’s best exclusive. Sneaky Sasquatch looks on its surface like a light stealth game aimed at children, but get past its first minutes and you’ll. discover a game that is eager at every moment to show you one more fun thing.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Sneaky Sasquatch
(38:37) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(38:45) - Shane - Norse Mythology
(41:58) - Laura - I, Claudius
(47:39) - Nate - Going To A Movie!
(56:44) - Raygan - Nier Replicant
(01:02:06) - Outro

272: Knights of San Francisco

The Short Game — Mon, 17 May 2021 11:01:03 -0500

In IFComp 2017, we were excited by the possibilities Filip Hráček showed in his comp game Insignificant Little Vermin, built with his bespoke choice-based system Egamebook. Now Hráček has released the first commercial Egamebook game for iOS and Android. Knights of San Francisco is a 90 minute mobile RPG with simulated combat and a text based presentation. It’s a story about a young necromancer climbing the Transamerica Pyramid in the ruins of far-future San Francisco, with a really impressive UI and set to a dope playlist.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Knights of San Francisco
(56:17) - What's making us happy this week
(56:31) - Raygan - New Car!
(58:42) - Shane - Monster Hunter Rise
(01:04:02) - Nate - Making Group Spotify Playlists for Hang Outs
(01:08:17) - Laura - Walking Broadway
(01:11:42) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 108: Severed

The Short Game — Mon, 10 May 2021 08:00:00 -0500

This week we are re-releasing our episode on Severed, a game from Guacamelee developer Drinkbox Studios that originally released on Vita and has since been ported to just about everything including iOS and Switch. It’s long been one of our favorite games, and Drinkbox has a new game coming out later this year so we thought it might be worth revisiting. If you haven’t ever played this fantastic touch-and-gamepad based action dungeon crawler, give it a try!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

271: Apple Arcade, Revisited

The Short Game — Mon, 03 May 2021 22:09:30 -0500

This week we are renewing our Apple Arcade subscriptions and talking about some of the games we’ve checked out since the debut of the service.

00:01:57: Wonderbox
00:07:42: Hitchhiker
00:14:40: A Monster’s Expedition
00:21:40: Sneaky Sasquatch
00:31:11: Clap Hanz Golf
00:41:05: Assorted App Store Greats, Music Games, Etc.
00:51:59: Sp!ng & lumen.
00:55:52: Listener Recommendations and Other Games We Are Looking Forward To Trying

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(01:57) - Wonderbox
(07:42) - Hitchhiker
(14:40) - A Monster’s Expedition
(21:40) - Sneaky Sasquatch
(31:11) - Clap Hanz Golf
(41:05) - Assorted App Store Greats, Music Games, Etc.
(51:59) - Sp!ng & lumen.
(55:52) - Listener Recommendations and Games We Are Looking Forward To Trying
(01:03:39) - Outro

270: Before Your Eyes

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Before Your Eyes is a short narrative game that uses your real life blinks (monitored via your PC’s webcam) as your primary interaction. It’s also an extremely moving story, well written and performed, about what makes a life valuable. You play as Benjamin Brynn, a deceased soul reviewing the moments of his life, but each time you blink, each moment is lost.

Shane and Raygan both found this 1.5 hour experience extremely effecting and emotional, and we strongly recommend it. It’s available on Steam and the Epic Game Store for Windows.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Before Your Eyes
(27:28) - Spoiler Break

269: IFComp 2020 Wrap-Up

The Short Game — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 14:42:03 -0500

Better late than never! This week we are looping back to our promised IFComp 2020 wrap-up, and discussing the four games in the top 10 that we didn’t cover during our colossal four-part coverage last fall. This was a truly colossal comp, and all of the top games are worth your time. This year’s top 10 included two mathematically unlikely ties (!) and included games in a variety of genres and styles from both new and returning authors!

00:04:48: 1st Place (tie): The Impossible Bottle by Linus Åkesson
00:39:10: Places 3 -7
00:44:49: 8th Place (tie): A Murder In Fairyland by Abigail Corfman
00:56:47: 8th Place (tie): Stuff of Legend by Lance Campbell
01:08:05: 10th Place: Sense of Harmony by Scenario World
01:17:44: What’s Making Us Happy This Week

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(04:48) - 1st Place (tie): The Impossible Bottle by Linus Åkesson
(39:10) - Places 3 -7
(44:49) - 8th Place (tie): A Murder In Fairyland by Abigail Corfman
(56:47) - 8th Place (tie): Stuff of Legend by Lance Campbell
(01:08:05) - 10th Place: Sense of Harmony by Scenario World
(01:17:44) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(01:17:52) - Laura - Finally Watching Silence of the Lambs
(01:21:13) - Raygan - RIP Vita
(01:27:53) - Outro

268: Nintendo Game Boy™

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 10:03:57 -0500

This week we’re reminiscing about the ultimate short game machine, the Game Boy, with special guest Jordan Starkweather. Jordan is a host of the Pocketoid podcast, the internet’s longest-running handheld gaming podcast, and also runs @CRTPixels, a popular Twitter account documenting retro games the way they were designed to look. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about the Game Boy with Jordan, and sharing some of our favorite games for the system.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Jordan Starkweather – @jackal27

(02:13) - Game Boy Memories
(34:21) - Donkey Kong 94
(43:19) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan
(51:17) - Trax
(56:30) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(56:41) - Jordan - Delicious in Dungeon
(59:54) - Raygan - City Connection Remixies
(01:07:38) - Laura - The Queen's Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner
(01:11:35) - Outro

267: Yes, Your Grace

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 11:23:30 -0500

Laura and Raygan dive into this character focused kingdom management simulator about a royal family having a really, really bad year.

Yes, Your Grace is available on PC/Xbox (and included in Game Pass for both platforms) as well as Nintendo Switch. Expect it to take about 6 hours to complete.

(04:54) - Mechanics
(18:47) - Story, Act 1
(44:17) - Outro
(45:24) - Spoiler Break (Acts 2 and 3)

266: Hardspace: Shipbreaker

The Short Game — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 12:08:04 -0500

This week Raygan and Shane have been spending time with Hardspace: Shipbreaker, an early access spaceship salvage simulator that is just on the verge of releasing its first real story content. We’ve been following this game since its initial release into early access last year and it seemed like a good time to revisit it to see how it’s coming along.

This episode’s “what’s making us happy this week” segment also might be the most digression-heavy we’ve ever had. Hope you like pizza and the film career of Nicolas Cage.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(41:44) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(41:56) - Shane: Misc. (plus Pizza)
(46:38) - Raygan: Capcom Beat ‘em Ups (plus Nicholas Cage)
(53:41) - Outro

265: Cheat Week

The Short Game — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 10:39:03 -0500

This week we are talking abut some of the long game experiences we’ve had going in between short games lately. Nate talks about deck-building RPG SteamWorld Quest, Raygan has been playing (ugh) Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption II, and Laura talks about playing the Mario 3D All Stars collection.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(02:02) - SteamWorld Quest
(17:16) - Cyberpunk 2077 (is unsurprisingly disappointing)
(30:58) - Red Dead Redemption II
(39:56) - Super Mario 3D All-Stars Etc.
(55:41) - Outro

264: Loop Hero

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 16:05:00 -0500

A nameless hero trudges endlessly through a world of darkness, walking an endless path and fighting the confused and desperate monsters of his forgotten homeland. Is the lost world even worth remembering, or worth saving?

We’re going around and around with Loop Hero, a game from developer Four Quarters and published by Devolver Digital for PC/Mac. Loop Hero combines hands off auto-battle combat with surprisingly deep rogue-lite systems for character upgrades and progression, a really compelling combination.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Loop Hero
(01:01:22) - Spoiler Break HOT STRATS edition

263: Ghostrunner

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 08:00:00 -0600

This week we are talking about Ghostrunner, a first person platforming cyberpunk action slice-em-up tough-as-nails wallrunning robot ninja game from Polish developer One More Level. This game grabbed us and would not let us go.

Ghostrunner is available and looks and plays great on practically every platform under the sun from high end gaming PCs to the humble Nintendo Switch. How long it takes you to complete is likely to vary widely by skill level, with How Long To Beat rating it at around 6 hours but all of us finding it taking between 10 and 15.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

262: A Hand With Many Fingers

The Short Game — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 08:00:00 -0600

A Hand With Many Fingers by Colestia is a first person conspiracy research game. Using advanced tools such as a card catalog and a cork board, uncover the real life spy thriller mystery of Nugen Hand Bank, an Australian merchant bank with ties to drug smuggling, organized crime, and the CIA.

A Hand With Many Fingers is available on Steam and itch.io, where it is Pay What You Can. A demo is also available on itch.io. Expect it to take about two hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - A Hand With Many Fingers
(35:13) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(35:21) - Shane - New PC and No Man’s Sky
(39:40) - Raygan - Lonely Mountains Downhill
(43:29) - Laura - Tea and Perfume Samples
(49:03) - Outro
(50:22) - Spoiler Break

Short Game Classic – 51: Her Story

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 08:00:00 -0600

This week we were disrupted by the massive winter storms in Texas, so we are rereleasing this classic episode from 2015. Her Story is one of the best games we’ve covered on the show, and this episode, which includes an interview with developer Sam Barlow, still ranks as one of my favorites. I’ve updated it with chapters so you can skip straight to the interview or spoilers if you like! See you next week!

(00:00) - Short Game Classic Intro
(03:22) - Her Story Intro
(13:15) - Developer Interview with Sam Barlow
(51:53) - Her Story Impressions
(01:02:52) - Spoiler Break
(01:38:51) - Outro
(01:40:42) - Interview Excerpt - Sam Barlow’s Favorite Crime Fiction & Police Interviews

261: Nuts

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 08:00:00 -0600

Why do these squirrels behave so strangely? Use cameras and other monitoring equipment to track their movement, and uncover the secret hiding in Melmoth forest in this… animal surveillance adventure game? Nuts has a beautiful and impactful art style and a fun central mechanic, and hey, the squirrels are cute. You can play Nuts on Apple Arcade, as well as on PC and Nintendo Switch.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Nuts
(33:33) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week, Studio Ghibli Edition
(44:42) - Outro
(46:36) - Spoiler Break

260: Bugsnax

The Short Game — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 08:00:00 -0600

Oh-oo-oh, we’re Talkin’ ’bout Bugsnax.

We covered Young Horses previous game, Octodad: Dadliest Catch way back in 2014, and here in 2021 they’re back with a new and even weirder game. Bugsnax sends you on a mission to Snacktooth Island, a mysterious place populated by Bugsnax, which are half bug half snack creatures that cause weird, body horror effects in those lucky enough to eat them. This game was a ton of fun.

Bugsnax is available for PS4 and PS5, and on PC/Mac via the Epic Game Store. Expect it to take between 6 and 12 hours to complete depending on your commitment to catching every Bugsnak.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(45:35) - Spoiler Break

259: Eliza

The Short Game — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:47:44 -0600

Eliza is a near-future sci-fi story about the culture of tech, mental health, and the moral and ethical questions around the creation, use, and misuse of the eponymous AI counseling program, Eliza. It’s one of the most thought provoking stories we’ve ever seen in a video game.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Eliza
(06:53) - Content Warnings
(09:17) - Eliza
(01:08:46) - Spoiler Break

258: Carto

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 08:00:00 -0600

We loved Carto, a friendly little puzzle adventure from developer Sunhead Games. It’s a breezy adventure that combines Carcassonne-style map tile laying puzzles with a cute adventure story full of sweet characters in a very strange world. It’s available on pretty much every platform under the sun.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Carto
(41:42) - WMUHTW? Raygan - Backbone Controller
(46:51) - Nate: Search Party
(49:00) - Shane: Psycho Goreman
(53:53) - Laura: Hilda Season 2
(58:07) - Outro

257: In Other Waters

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 08:00:00 -0600

In this “Narrative Exploration Game” by Gareth Damian Martin you play as an AI that inhabits an advanced dive suit worn by scientist Ellery Vas as she explores a distant planet and encounters alien life for humanity’s first time. As an AI, you experience the world through a beautiful but cryptic user interface, and through Ellery’s description of the world around her.

In Other Waters is available for Windows, Mac, and the Nintendo Switch. Expect it to take between, 4 and 10 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(37:48) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(37:53) - Laura: Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
(40:23) - Raygan: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
(45:17) - Shane: Universal Harvester by John Darnielle
(52:39) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 13: Transistor

The Short Game — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 08:00:00 -0600

Transistor was The Short Game’s first Game of the Year, all the way back in 2014. This week we are re-releasing that episode, with some fresh Making us Happy in the intro. We’ll be back to our regular schedule next week!

256: Game of the Year 2020

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 11:37:53 -0600

Thanks for sticking with us in 2020. We can’t wait to see what next year brings.

00:03:20: Game of the Year 2020: Kentucky Route Zero
00:12:44: Shane’s Pick: Streets of Rage 4
00:20:37: Shane’s Bonus Pick: Grindstone
00:28:04: Nate’s Pick: Wide Ocean Big Jacket
00:31:20: Dirtbag of the Year: Mord
00:34:12: Raygan’s Pick: Blaseball
00:43:53: Laura’s Pick: Signs of the Sojourner
00:49:18: Non-2020 Games We Loved In 2020
00:58:00: Other Memorable 2020 Gaming Experiences
01:05:47: Outro

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(03:20) - Game of the Year 2020: Kentucky Route Zero
(12:44) - Shane’s Pick: Streets of Rage 4
(20:37) - Shane’s Bonus Pick: Grindstone
(28:04) - Nate’s Pick: Wide Ocean Big Jacket
(31:20) - Dirtbag of the Year: Mord
(34:12) - Raygan’s Pick: Blaseball
(43:53) - Laura’s Pick: Signs of the Sojourner
(49:18) - Non-2020 Games We Loved In 2020
(58:00) - Other Memorable 2020 Gaming Experiences
(01:05:47) - Outro

255: Orwell’s Animal Farm

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 09:03:36 -0600

Reigns developer Nerial worked with interactive fiction luminary Emily Short to adapt George Orwell’s classic allegory of the Russian revolution to video game form. But is it a farming simulator?

Animal Farm is available for iOS and PC/Mac. A play-through is around 90 minutes to 2 hours, with many possible endings.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(01:29) - The Novel
(10:06) - Orwell’s Animal Farm
(50:24) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(50:28) - Shane - The Expanse
(57:22) - Raygan - Captain Tsubasa: Rise of the New Champions
(01:04:31) - Nate - Hades Story Gets Good!
(01:06:40) - Laura - Movie Watch Alongs
(01:10:31) - Outro

254: The Pathless

The Short Game — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 14:56:12 -0600

Abzu developer Giant Squid and publisher Annapurna Interactive released The Pathless last month, in a strange launch that positioned the game as one of the first “next-gen” indies while quietly also making it available on current gen consoles, PC, and even across all the devices that are part of Apple Arcade. It’s a departure from the Journey-derived style of Abzu but still brings some of that DNA, and blends it with an open world, Breath of the Wild inspired design.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(52:12) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(52:31) - Shane - Off Script With Sohla
(57:14) - Nate - Truth Seekers
(01:00:28) - Laura - Teenage Bounty Hunters
(01:04:55) - Outro

253: Hades

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 10:03:03 -0600

Hades isn’t short! But we’re covering it anyway because we’re Supergiant Games superfans. We’re joined by friend of the show and Hades speedrunner Robert Hawks aka Rubella aka The Patron Saint of Bird Week, who helps us talk about the late game stuff we haven’t seen yet. Did we mention this game is long!?

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Robert Hawks – @JesterRubella

(00:00) - Hades
(01:09:30) - Spoiler Break

252: A Short Game Friendsgiving

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 08:00:00 -0600

We needed a low-prep episode for this holiday week, so we’re taking your questions! Thanks to our patrons and listeners who sent in their questions.

We’d like to make this a recurring feature of the show, so if you have questions for the hosts, send them to us via Discord, Twitter, or the contact form on our website!

(03:34) - Genres We Never Get To Talk About?
(07:19) - What D&D Class Are You?
(10:15) - Longest Game You Have Played?
(16:06) - Other Podcasts You Listen To?
(26:27) - Favorite Game Console?
(28:00) - Games We Are Most Thankful For?
(32:56) - Games That Made Us Think Short Games Were Worth Attention?
(34:15) - What Indeed?
(35:54) - Physical Spaces We Are Thankful For?
(41:22) - Shortest Game That Is Still A Video Game?
(45:28) - What’s Everyone’s Weebiest Game They Like
(48:03) - Game You Keep Coming Back To?
(50:10) - Most Ardent Non-Gaming Hobbies?
(57:03) - Rarest Game You Own?
(59:25) - Favorite Thanksgiving Dish?
(01:02:49) - Outro

251: IFComp 2020 part 4

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 08:00:00 -0600

We’re continuing our coverage of IFComp 2020 with nine more games. We plan to return after the close of the comp to discuss the winners. Thanks for joining us for this year’s comp, and thanks to all the authors and to the IFTF for keeping the comp running!

00:02:01: Academic Pursuits (As Opposed To Regular Pursuits) by ruqiyah
00:09:03: Lore Distance Relationship by Naomi “Bez” Norbez
00:18:44: Captain Graybeard’s Plunder by Captain Graybeard’s Plunder
00:25:42: The Cave by Neil Aitken
00:34:24: Under They Thunder by Andrew Schultz
00:42:37: Tavern Crawler by Josh Labelle
00:52:26: A Calling of Dogs by Arabella Collins, Grey Havens
00:58:16: You Couldn’t Have Done That by Ann Hugo
01:02:20: Stand Up / Stay Silent by Y Ceffyl Gwyn
01:05:50: Outro

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(02:01) - Academic Pursuits (As Opposed To Regular Pursuits) by ruqiyah
(09:03) - Lore Distance Relationship by Naomi “Bez” Norbez
(18:44) - Captain Graybeard's Plunder by Captain Graybeard's Plunder
(25:42) - The Cave by Neil Aitken
(34:24) - Under They Thunder by Andrew Schultz
(42:37) - Tavern Crawler by Josh Labelle
(52:26) - A Calling of Dogs by Arabella Collins, Grey Havens
(58:16) - You Couldn't Have Done That by Ann Hugo
(01:02:20) - Stand Up / Stay Silent by Y Ceffyl Gwyn
(01:05:50) - Outro

250: Reigns: Beyond

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 09:44:26 -0600

The Reigns franchise from developer Nerial and publisher Devolver Digital leaves medieval-ish times and blasts off into rock-and-roll outer space in this Apple Arcade exclusive that shakes up more than just the setting.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Reigns: Beyond
(42:26) - Making us happy
(42:45) - Laura - Taskmaster
(48:25) - Enthusiast!
(53:37) - Shane - Magic the Gathering Commander Legends
(56:56) - Outro

249: IFComp 2020 part 3

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 08:00:00 -0600

We’re continuing our coverage of IFComp 2020 with a new crop of games, and J.J. Guest, winner of IFComp 2018 for his game Alias: The Magpie, is joining us to discuss several of this year’s games!

00:00:00: Intro – Thank you to our guest, JJ Guest!
00:03:52: J. J. Guest on The Magpie Takes The Train
00:06:46: Mother Tongue by Nell Raban
00:12:44: Vampire Ltd by Alex Harby
00:21:53: Jay Schilling’s Edge of Chaos by Robb Sherwin & Mike Sousa
00:30:05: Electric word, “life” by Lance Nathan
00:37:19: Entangled by Dark Star
00:49:14: The Turnip by Joseph Pentangelo
00:56:18: Vain Empires by Thomas Mack and Xavid
01:03:37: Other Suggestions
01:04:59: Outro

For more on J.J. Guest’s games, check his page on IFDB, or his blog!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
J.J. Guest – @JJGUEST_IF

(00:00) - Intro
(03:52) - J. J. Guest on The Magpie Takes The Train
(06:46) - Mother Tongue by Nell Raban
(12:44) - Vampire Ltd by Alex Harby
(21:53) - Jay Schilling's Edge of Chaos by Robb Sherwin & Mike Sousa
(30:05) - Electric word, "life" by Lance Nathan
(37:19) - Entangled by Dark Star
(49:14) - The Turnip by Joseph Pentangelo
(56:18) - Vain Empires by Thomas Mack and Xavid
(01:03:37) - Other Suggestions
(01:04:59) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 98: Reigns

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 08:00:00 -0600

With Reigns: Beyond coming to Apple Arcade on November 6th it seemed an appropriate time to re-release our episode from 2016 covering the original Reigns. This unlikely series has spawned a sequel, a Game of Thrones spin off, and numerous imitators, and is now heading to space. Neat!

We’ll be back next week with more coverage of IFComp.

248: World of Horror

The Short Game — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:53:01 -0500

World of Horror draws inspiration from point and click adventure games, retro computers, horror manga, H.P. Lovecraft, and even recent rogue-lite games, and it’s a unique synthesis. It’s also notably a game “made by one dude in MS Paint”. Anything that gives us an opportunity to talk about Junji Ito for nearly a quarter of the episode is OK by me. Happy Halloween!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(03:06) - Junji Ito and other influences
(13:42) - Gameplay and Interface
(50:50) - Wrap Up

247: I Am Dead

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Morris Lupton is the recently deceased museum curator of the tiny British island of Shelmerston. He’s also the only one who can stop the volcano at the center of the island from erupting. Morris and his ghost-dog Sparky use their ghostly x-ray vision to uncover the mysteries of Shelmerston and save the town they loved in life.

This was an odd one. I Am Dead is a beautifully crafted game, badly served by its central mechanic. We discuss where this newest game from Wilmot’s Warehouse developer Hollow Ponds and publisher Annapurna Interactive succeeds, and where it just… doesn’t. Flawed but interesting games sometimes make for the most interesting conversations!

I Am Dead is available on PC and Switch for $20. Expect it to take about five hours to complete.

Welcome back, Nate!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - I Am Dead
(49:42) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(49:52) - Nate - World War II In Colour and Ted Lasso
(58:50) - Raygan - Blaseball
(01:00:50) - Laura - Playing House
(01:03:55) - Outro

246: IFComp 2020 part 2

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Our IFComp coverage continues, this time with a guest! Long time interactive fiction author and first place 2016 IFComp winner Robin Johnson joins us to talk about a fresh crop of games!

00:00:00: Intro – Thank you to our guest Robin Johnson!
00:05:08: A Rope of Chalk by Ryan Veeder
00:14:48: #VanLife by Victoria
00:20:56: Quest for the Sword of Justice by Damon L. Wakes
00:28:39: The Eleusinian Miseries by Mike Russo
00:33:39: Babyface by Mark Sample
00:39:34: Stoned Ape Hypothesis by James Heaton
00:46:23: The Moon wed Saturn by Pseudavid
00:52:02: How The Elephant’s Child Who Walked By Himself Got His Wings by Peter Eastman
00:57:46: Limerick Quest by Pace Smith
01:07:40: Wrap up

Next week we’ll be returning with a regular episode, but expect more IFComp coverage, and more guests, throughout the duration of the comp!

You can find Robin’s work at his itch.io page.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Intro - Thank you to our guest Robin Johnson!
(05:08) - A Rope of Chalk by Ryan Veeder
(14:48) - #VanLife by Victoria
(20:56) - Quest for the Sword of Justice by Damon L. Wakes
(28:39) - The Eleusinian Miseries by Mike Russo
(33:39) - Babyface by Mark Sample
(39:34) - Stoned Ape Hypothesis by James Heaton
(46:23) - The Moon wed Saturn by Pseudavid
(52:02) - How The Elephant's Child Who Walked By Himself Got His Wings by Peter Eastman
(57:46) - Limerick Quest by Pace Smith
(01:07:40) - Wrap up

245: IFComp 2020 part 1

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0500

It’s fall, and that means IFComp is upon us again. This quick hit episode introduces our coverage of IFComp 2020, and covers the handful of games we were able to check out between the opening of the comp and our recording deadline. More to come soon!

00:11:44: Move On by Serhii Mozhaiskyi
00:17:46: Congee by Becci
00:24:05: Trusting My Mortal Enemy?! What a Disaster! by Storysinger Presents
00:31:17: Sage Sanctum Scramble by Arthur DiBianca
00:42:12: The Magpie Takes The Train by Mathbrush
00:49:57: Wrap Up
00:51:12: What’s Making Us Happy This Week?

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(11:44) - Move On by Serhii Mozhaiskyi
(17:46) - Congee by Becci
(24:05) - Trusting My Mortal Enemy?! What a Disaster! by Storysinger Presents
(31:17) - Sage Sanctum Scramble by Arthur DiBianca
(42:12) - The Magpie Takes The Train by Mathbrush
(49:57) - Wrap Up
(51:12) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(51:17) - Laura - Stump Sohla
(55:39) - Raygan - Crème de la Crème

244: Paratopic

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Paratopic is a cursed Playstation 1 game. Or perhaps it’s an experiment in first person storytelling. Or perhaps it’s just creepy AF. This award winning game from 2018 just came to Nintendo Switch, and it’ll take you under an hour to play.

Paratopic is available on PC (Steam and Itch.io) and on Nintendo Switch for $5.49. Expect it to take about 45 minutes to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Paratopic
(02:50) - PS1 Aesthetic
(10:59) - Jump Cuts
(30:54) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(31:42) - Shane: Feels Good Man - a Pepe the Frog Documentary
(35:56) - Raygan: CrossCode
(42:40) - Wrap Up

243: Hotshot Racing

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 08:00:00 -0500

In the tradition of great arcade racing games like Daytona USA and OutRun2, Hotshot Racing brings fluid 60fps to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Hotshot Racing
(43:08) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(43:14) - Laura - 1920s India Mystery Novels
(47:40) - Raygan - Dolemite Is My Name
(50:45) - Shane - Invincible

242: Moist Game Double Feature – Spitkiss and The Good Time Garden

The Short Game — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 08:00:00 -0500

This week we’re talking about a pair of very short very wet games.

Spitkiss is “a story of boundless love, told through precision platforming.” Navigate the challenges of polyamory by spitting loving loogies through spikey levels. Spitkiss is available for iOS, Android, and Steam.

The Good Time Garden is a beautifully animated surreal adventure game about bodies. It’s available for free on Steam and itch.io and will take about 30 minutes to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(02:11) - Spitkiss
(12:18) - The Good Time Garden
(26:50) - Wrap Up
(27:50) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(28:03) - Laura - Looking At Art Online
(31:11) - Raygan - Double King
(32:14) - Raygan - Tryrush Deppy on Sega Saturn
(36:39) - Outro

241: What The Golf?

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Sep 2020 08:00:00 -0500

What The Golf? for Apple Arcade, Nintendo Switch, and PC, is not a golf game. It is, however, a good excuse for a Raygan Rant.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - What The Golf?
(35:24) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(35:55) - Raygan - The Pout Pout Fish
(37:51) - Shane - The Magnus Archives
(45:31) - Laura - Harley Quinn

240: Blaseball

The Short Game — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 08:00:00 -0500

We are now participating in the cultural event of Blaseball.

Recorded during the final game of the Season 4 Internet Series, we are joined by narrative designer, writer, and Hades Tigers fan Cat Manning. Cat wrote the best explainer article out there for Blaseball. We discuss the game itself, the community around the game (is there any difference between the two?) and what game design lessons can be learned from this unique experience. You can find more of Cat’s writing at her Substack, and her interactive fiction work on itch.io. We recommend What Isn’t Saved (will be lost), an award winning IF work that was included in the recent itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality.

Outro music is Let Me Into The Blaseball by Josh Millard, @joshmillard.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Cat Manning – @cataclypto

(39:10) - Landry Violence Their Spirit

239: Killer Queen Black

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Killer Queen Black is a team-based arcade strategy game based on the original arcade-only Killer Queen. Two teams of four players fight for the glory of their hive, with three ways to win. It’s available for Steam and Nintendo Switch.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

238: Frog Fractions: Game of the Decade Edition & Hop’s Iconic Cap DLC

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 10:00:38 -0500

The classic edutainment title is back in 4K, and now you can pay $10 to give your frog a hat!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Frog Fractions!
(08:16) - Spoiler Break: Frog Fractions Game of the Decade Edition
(18:30) - Spoiler Break 2: Hop's Iconic Cap
(42:25) - Outro and Admin

Short Game Classic – 78: Superhot

The Short Game — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 21:48:16 -0500

It’s a short game rerun this week while Raygan takes some parental leave, but we’re bringing back a timely episode. Superhot Mind Control Delete is out this week and will be our new episode when we return. Let’s reacquaint ourselves with the 2016 original.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

237: Super Metroid

The Short Game — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 21:52:46 -0500

For as long as the show has been around, whenever we asked “what’s a great short retro game?” the nearly unanimous answer was always “Super Metroid!” It’s the game that launched one of our favorite genres, but for various reasons none of us had played much of it. We correct that this week, and brought along a friend for that 1994 perspective.

We discuss the game’s forward thinking design and impact, as well as approaches and tips for playing it in 2020, and some listener responses.

Resources:

Original Manual
The Metroid Library – page with numerous scans of period appropriate guides
- (Raygan mostly used the GamePro guide, which is short and spoiler-light, and the official Player’s Guide)
Game Maker’s Toolkit – Boss Keys: The World Design of Super Metroid
- Dependency chart

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Zoltan

(00:00) - Intro
(02:01) - Our Introductions to Super Metroid
(07:14) - Super Metroid in 2020
(34:33) - Tips and Resources
(55:08) - Favorite Moments
(01:05:37) - Listener Responses
(01:09:55) - Soundtrack
(01:14:39) - Other Metroid Games
(01:20:53) - Wrap Up

236: Superliminal

The Short Game — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 09:49:30 -0500

Superliminal is a first person puzzle game based on optical illusions and forced perspective. In development by a small team since 2014, this game has some incredibly polished tech and clever puzzle design, while its story and theme fall little flat. Still, it has lots of clever ideas to show us in its 2-4 hour runtime.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Superliminal
(53:07) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(53:20) - Raygan - Hardspace Shipbreaker
(01:02:10) - Shane - First Cow
(01:10:44) - Outro

235: JELLY by Tom Lento and Chandler Groover

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Young love in the Lonely Valley.

JELLY is an interactive fiction game co-written by Short Game favorite Chandler Groover and newcomer (?) Tom Lento. It was recently awarded Best in Show at the Spring Thing interactive fiction competition. Laura, Shane, and Nate discuss the game, including a post-show spoiler break.

JELLY is a TWINE work, and is playable via a browser at the Spring Thing website. It can also be downloaded as part of a Spring Thing 2020 bundle on itch.io.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - JELLY By Tom Lento And Chandler Groover
(32:31) - What’s Making You Happy This Week?
(32:40) - Shane - The Raven Tower by Ann
(38:21) - Laura - The Royal Art of Poison
(42:31) - Nate - Playing Chess on SocialChess
(45:23) - Wrap Up
(46:48) - Spoiler Break

234: Mr. Driller Drill Land

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 08:00:00 -0500

This week guest host Anna Anthropy joins us to discuss an unexpected HD remaster of a beloved but obscure Japan-only GameCube game!

The Mr. Driller series burned brightly but briefly from 1999 through the early 2000s, and Drill Land is by far its most elaborate and varied entry. The game includes the classic Mr. Driller arcade-puzzle-action game, along with several variations that keep the same basic mechanics but transform the game in fun ways. We discuss everything that Drill Land brings to the table, from its gameplay to its wonderful soundtrack to its totally unnecessary, wildly elaborate lore.

Thanks again to Anna Anthropy for joining us on this strange descent. You can find more of Anna’s work on her Twitter, at her itch.io page, and this month as part of A Needle in a Gay Stack – A PRIDE Bundle

Mr. Driller Drill Land is available on Nintendo Switch and Steam for $29.99 (but if you’re really hardcore you’ll play an import copy in Japanese on a GameCube via a boot disc.) Length is open ended, but most players will complete the story mode on level 1 difficulty within about 5 hours.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Anna Anthropy – @adult_witch

(00:00) - Mr. Driller Drill Land
(11:42) - What Is A Driller?
(23:27) - Y2K Design
(26:43) - Characters and Lore
(32:57) - Dig A Chance!
(35:32) - Wait, More Lore
(44:49) - The Incredible Soundtrack
(50:31) - Horror House Mode
(55:49) - Hole of Druaga
(01:05:05) - Drindy Adventure
(01:10:55) - Wrap Up
(01:14:32) - Tavern at the End of the World and the Needle in a Gay Stack Pride Bundle
(01:21:49) - Outro

233: Signs of the Sojourner

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 08:25:58 -0500

Set in a colorful post-apocalyptic wasteland, Signs of the Sojourner is a narrative deck-building game about building a character – and deck – through conversations. It has a beautifully illustrated visual-novel style presentation, and a unique card based conversation system with dozens of characters to meet across its large map. Signs of the Sojourner merges narrative and mechanics in a way that is unlike anything else we have played.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Signs of the Sojourner
(38:33) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(38:42) - Laura - Emma
(40:30) - Raygan - Blades in the Dark
(44:59) - Outro

232: Jet Lancer

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Jet Lancer is a free-flying 2D shooter that feels like a colorful, expanded version of Luftrausers. Fly a high-tech jet that can flip 360° mid flight and boost to air-brake, and take on swarms of jets and massive robot bosses. It’s a tough but extremely fun and unique shooter.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Jet Lancer
(47:36) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(47:44) - Shane - Hollow Knight
(52:33) - Raygan - The Most Beautiful CRT Ever Made
(54:57) - Nate - Pokerrrr 2
(57:41) - Outro

231: Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 08:00:00 -0500

This week on the show we are talking about the incredible itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, a pay-what-you-want bundle of over 1000 games supporting the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund. We go over the existing Short Game favorites in the Bundle, some new discoveries, and some recommendations from our listeners.

Black Lives Matter.

Things we’ve covered in the past:

(Links go to our past episode on each game)

There were too many things mentioned for me to add links past here, but the bundle page is searchable!

Nate
Super Win The Game

Raygan
Sky Rogue
Extreme Meatpunks Forever
Loot Rascals
Glittermitten Grove
Eat Girl
Hot Pot Panic
Serre
Zone of Lacryma & Sonar Smash
PHN-HOME
Dusk Child
Pixel Fireplace & Just Rain

Shane

Shane rounds up some of the tabletop RPG content in the bundle

Spreadsheet of TTRPG content in the bundle
One Page Dungeons
One page Lore
Hex Kit
Lancer
Blades in the Dark
Gentleman Bandit

Laura Picks

Laura couldn’t make it but shared her favorites

What Isn’t Saved (will be lost)
A Mortician’s Tale
Signs of the Sojourner
This discord has ghosts in it
Dominique Pamplemoose
Hidden Folks
Art Sqool
Death and Taxes

Listener Responses
Order a Pizza: a Visual Novel
2000:1 a Space Felony (Or How I Came to Value My Life and Murder Mercilessly”
Mausritter
Cuckoo Castle
Dogs Throwing Swords II
Bleed 2!
Wide Ocean Big Jacket
Democratic Socialist Simulator
Glittermitten Grove
One Night Stand
Loot Rascals
Ticket
Combo Postage
The King’s Bird

Other Resources
The games in the bundle are listed on How Long To Beat!
A subreddit just for the bundle
A spreadsheet of all the TTRPG content

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Black Lives Matter
(13:42) - Previously Covered On The Short Game
(49:27) - New To Us Recommendations
(01:09:41) - Tabletop Game Recommendations
(01:24:05) - Listener Submissions
(01:50:57) - Wrap up

A Programming Note – #BlackLivesMatter

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 08:00:11 -0500

No episode this week, but please listen to this brief programming note. #BlackLivesMatter

Our next episode will be covering highlights from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. We’d like to know what stands out to you in the bundle! Listen for info on how to participate.

230: Mini Metro and Mini Motorways

The Short Game — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 08:00:00 -0500

In this episode Shane and Laura talk about Mini Metro and Mini Motorways by Dinosaur Polo Club, a game and its sequel. One has had staying power and one hasn’t.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

229: Bird Week Forever!

The Short Game — Mon, 25 May 2020 15:01:26 -0500

It’s another almost-annual round up of bird-themed games! Mark Bramhill joins us to share some bird facts as we tap-to-flap.

00:00:00: Intro
00:04:11: Songbird Symphony
00:10:36: Bird Fact #1
00:12:39: Toki Tori
00:16:41: Bird Fact #2
00:18:09: Storm Boy
00:24:22: Bird Fact #3
00:25:35: Glass by Emily Short
00:30:47: Bird Fact #4
00:31:56: Blazing Beaks
00:36:40: Duck Souls+
00:42:56: Bird Fact #5
00:43:55: The Bird Museum
00:50:43: An Aside About Virtual Museum Walkthroughs
00:52:00: Bird Fact #6
00:53:33: Fledgling Heroes
00:59:57: An Aside About Happy Feet 2
01:03:20: Bird Fact #7
01:05:20: Revenge of the Bird King
01:15:37: Listen To Sound Escapes From BirdNote

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Mark Bramhill – @mcbramhill

(00:00) - Intro
(04:11) - Songbird Symphony
(10:36) - Bird Fact #1
(12:39) - Toki Tori
(16:41) - Bird Fact #2
(18:09) - Storm Boy
(24:22) - Bird Fact #3
(25:35) - Glass by Emily Short
(30:47) - Bird Fact #4
(31:56) - Blazing Beaks
(36:40) - Duck Souls+
(42:56) - Bird Fact #5
(43:55) - The Bird Museum
(50:43) - An Aside About Virtual Museum Walkthroughs
(52:00) - Bird Fact #6
(53:33) - Fledgling Heroes
(59:57) - An Aside About Happy Feet 2
(01:03:20) - Bird Fact #7
(01:05:20) - Revenge of the Bird King
(01:15:37) - Listen To Sound Escapes From BirdNote

228: Good Job!

The Short Game — Mon, 18 May 2020 08:00:00 -0500

A perfect fantasy about going to an office job, something many of us aren’t able to do right now. Good Job! is a strange comedy puzzle game for Nintendo Switch. As the CEO’s kid, you can do no wrong… or is that everything? Yes, you do everything wrong.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Good Job!
(35:33) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(35:40) - Laura: Never Have I Ever
(38:16) - Nate: American Vandal and Money Heist
(45:54) - Outro

227: Tangle Tower

The Short Game — Mon, 11 May 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Was Freya Fellow stabbed by a painting? Detective Grimoire and his assistant Sally Spears have come to Tangle Tower to find out. Laura and Raygan discuss this incredibly well animated and voice acted mystery game, available on Apple Arcade, Switch, and PC.

Here’s a link to the Twitter thread covering the animation of the game:

As part of our Tangle Tower stream for #LudoNarraCon, I did a short look at our animation system, since it’s one of the things I’m most proud of as the game's programmer.

I’d like to show it in a bit more detail, so here we go!

THREAD (1/20)#MadeWithUnity #GameDev #IndieDev pic.twitter.com/PXm7l02VQ9

— Tom Vian (@SFBTom) April 27, 2020

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Tangle Tower
(40:13) - Spoiler Break

226: Streets of Rage 4

The Short Game — Mon, 04 May 2020 08:00:00 -0500

More than 20 years after the last official game in the series, Streets of Rage is back thanks to a dream team of developers from Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games, and DotEmu. Raygan and Shane, both long time fans of the series, discuss the new entry in depth including an in depth discussion of its new mechanics and encounter design.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

225: The Messenger

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Raygan and Nate dig in to this tough as nails retro-inspired ninja platformer. This game is a little longer than our usual limit, but it hides an interesting structural twist at its midpoint that made it too interesting not to cover.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

224: Kentucky Route Zero Act V

The Short Game — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 13:01:35 -0500

We’re finally saying goodbye to Kentucky Route Zero, with an episode covering Act V as well as the interludes Un Pueblo de Nada and Death of the Hired Man. It’s been a long, strange journey.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(02:02) - Un Pueblo De Nada
(20:30) - Act V
(49:24) - Death Of The Hired Man

223: The Red Strings Club

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 10:22:16 -0500

In a world where all mixers are outlawed, the world’s greatest bartender fights against evil corporations by mixing 50/50 vodka and absinthe.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Red Strings Club
(56:44) - Spoiler Break

222: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 08:00:00 -0500

You demanded it, so this week we’re talking about Animal Crossing. Because Raygan doesn’t know anything about Animal Crossing, Shane brought in two subject matter experts: Returning guest Mark Bramhill is a podcaster and radio producer, and joining us for the first time, Anna Delos Angeles is an artist and designer who does marketing and community management for Coral Sword. We talk a bit about our histories with the series, some of what’s new in this iteration, and dish the dirt on the weird and annoying villagers we are trying to kick off of our islands.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Mark Bramhill – @ mcbramhill
Anna Delos Angeles – @ nannapai
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

(00:00) - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
(01:05:17) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(01:06:27) - Raygan - Hi Score Girl Season 2 on Netflix
(01:11:00) - Mark - LEGO Masters
(01:12:46) - Anna - Support Local Businesses!
(01:14:34) - Shane - Say Nothing
(01:18:37) - Outro

221: Death Crown

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Death Crown stands out with a 1-bit pixel art meets metal album cover aesthetic, but it’s also something we don’t often see: a real time strategy game with a campaign that you can complete in about two hours.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Death Crown
(48:20) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(56:50) - Outro

220: Comfort Food Gaming for These Trying Times

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 23:28:16 -0500

It’s been a pretty normal couple of weeks with nothing strange or concerning happening at all, so we’re curling into a ball and playing comfort food games. What’s comfortable will be different for each person, so we’re sharing our personal picks and talking about broad categories that say “comfort food” to us.

If for some reason you need some human interaction, stop by our Patron only Discord!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(08:40) - What Don’t We Want Right Now?
(11:31) - Ring Fit - If You Can Find It
(12:36) - Re-Playing Things
(23:32) - Playing In-Person Games Remotely
(28:47) - Chill Hang Out Games
(34:19) - Crap Games
(41:33) - Puzzles
(47:26) - Other Chill Quarantine Recommendations
(01:01:44) - Wrap Up

219: Kentucky Route Zero Act IV

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 23:07:56 -0500

Kentucky Route Zero’s fourth act is its longest, most complex structurally, and might be its saddest yet. We continue our discussion of the game as well as the interlude Here & There Along The Echo.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

218: Kentucky Route Zero Act III

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 08:00:00 -0500

As you’ll hear in the intro we initially planned to discuss both Act III and Act IV on this episode, but we had such an interesting talk about Act III that we used up all our time.

We start with a chat about the two interludes Limits and Demonstrations and The Entertainment, then go deep on themes and references in Act III.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(03:28) - First Interlude - Limits And Demonstrations
(13:45) - Carrington
(18:44) - Second Interlude - The Entertainment
(32:56) - Act 3

217 – Game Music Picks

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 22:21:09 -0600

This week we’re returning to something we used to do semi-frequently: we’re highlighting some of our favorite video game music tracks! We haven’t done one of these in quite a while (years!) so let us know if it’s something you’d like to see more of.

For your listening convenience, here’s a link to a Spotify playlist of all of the songs mentioned on this episode!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(01:45) - Gleeokenspiel Battle - Cadence Of By rule
(06:46) - Dancing Mad - Final Fantasy VI
(11:30) - Downstream - Braid
(16:09) - Reach For The Summit - Celeste
(20:39) - Sneaky Driver - Katana Zero
(23:45) - Summer (Nature’s Crescendo) - Stardew Valley
(27:23) - Outer Wilds - Outer Wilds
(32:27) - Abzu - Ichthyosaurus Communis
(34:45) - This World Is Not My Home - Kentucky Route Zero
(41:04) - Wrap Up
(41:45) - What’s Making You Happy This Week?
(41:54) - Laura - Watching Star Trek Slowly
(44:57) - Raygan - Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
(51:00) - Nate - Weather

Short Game Classic – 55: Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 09:00:00 -0600

This week we are re-releasing our 2015 episode covering the Spider series from Tiger Style games. Both Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor and Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon are iOS classics that have recently been re-released in improved versions by GameClub. Since our episode, Shrouded Moon has also been released on Steam, and on Playstation 4 and Vita! If you haven’t played these classics, we highly recommend checking them out!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - A Short Game Classic
(07:10) - Episode Start

216: Speed Dating for Ghosts

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 09:00:00 -0600

Speed Dating for Ghosts seems at first like a riff on the comedic-dating-sim-adventure-game in the vein of Dream Daddy or Monster High, but this short narrative game doesn’t ever do quite what you’d expect. Get to know a cast of 9 ghosts (plus extras!), each of whom has a story to tell. Some funny, some sad, and some just downright strange things happen as you date these spirits.

Recently released on iOS and Nintendo Switch, Speed Dating for Ghosts is also available on Steam and itch.io. Expect it to take around 2 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Speed Dating For Ghosts
(38:12) - Spoiler Break

215: Guildlings

The Short Game — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 09:00:00 -0600

Guildlings is a charming mobile-first adventure RPG set in “a world of wizards and wifi.” We’ll be scribbling bad fan art of the characters in this Apple Arcade adventure for a long time.

Guildlings is exclusive to Apple Arcade, and is playable across all Arcade platforms. Expect it to take around 5 hours to complete, with additional chapters coming as soon as summer of 2020.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(03:34) - Story & World Building
(11:49) - Who Is This For
(14:35) - Mobile Native Experience
(18:50) - 😎 and🔋
(24:21) - ⚔️
(39:38) - Good Bits
(44:41) - Cartoon Art
(47:14) - Devices And Versions
(50:55) - Wrap Up
(53:22) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(53:34) - Shane - What Did Jack Do
(57:41) - Raygan - Revenge Of The Gator
(59:36) - Laura - Gender Swapped Company
(01:04:08) - Outro

214: Wide Ocean Big Jacket

The Short Game — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 09:00:00 -0600

This week we’re discussing Wide Ocean Big Jacket, a story-game camping trip, from developer Turnfollow and publisher Tender Claws. Mord and her boyfriend Ben are on their first camping trip together (like, together together) accompanied by Mord’s uncle Brad and aunt Cloanne. From MEAN TEENS to birdwatching, this game was Short Game bait, and clocks in at 60-90 minutes, or as the developers describe it “like watching a good movie with friends or curling up to read a book”. It’s also an IGF Finalist for Excellence in Narrative! Available February 4th on itch.io, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Wide Ocean Big Jacket
(36:09) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(36:21) - Laura - Meet The Breeds
(40:02) - Raygan - The Witcher Audiobooks
(44:33) - Nate - The Elements Of Pizza
(48:30) - Admin
(49:49) - Spoiler Break

213: Ring Fit Adventure

The Short Game — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 09:00:00 -0600

Shane and Laura take the podcast where it’s never dared to go… up off of the couch! Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch is yet another Nintendo attempt at a fitness game, but it falls much farther on the “game” side of the line than past offerings. Laura and Shane have both been playing the game for a few weeks, and discuss how it’s transformed their approach to exercise.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Ring Fit Adventure
(47:04) - What’s Making Me Happy This Week
(47:13) - Shane - Won A Trip To Mexico!
(48:02) - Laura - Gourmet Makes
(50:17) - Outro

212: Kentucky Route Zero Acts I & II

The Short Game — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 08:00:00 -0600

Kentucky Route Zero, both the game and this episode, have been a long time coming. With the 5th act of the long in-development magical realist adventure game finally coming on January 28th, we decided it was time to cover this frequently requested game. We played and discuss the first two acts, with plans to cover the remainder of the game after the release of chapter 5.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro - Why Are We Covering This Now?
(05:54) - A Magical Realist Adventure Game
(26:53) - Writing
(32:23) - Themes
(44:44) - Story (Acts 1 & 2)
(01:11:59) - Wrap Up

211: A Decade of Indie Games

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 09:00:00 -0600

This week we’re breaking from our usual format to discuss the 2010s, and the arc that indie games (and gaming generally) have taken through the decade.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

210: Katana Zero

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 09:00:00 -0600

As Nate put it, Katana Zero is a game that really goes for it. It goes for ALL of it. Incredible high speed acrobatic melee combat. Clever time-manipulation mechanics. A dialogue system that lets you literally slice through your opponent’s words with your sword. All of this, in service of a story that, well… let’s just say it prompted a very spirited discussion both before and after our spoiler break. This episode was enormously fun, both in the playing and in the discussion.

Katana Zero is available on PC/Mac (Steam) and Nintendo Switch. Expect it to take around 7 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - This Game Really Goes For It
(07:53) - *a*e*s*t*h*e*t*i*c*
(16:20) - Go Into A Room And Kill People With Swords
(36:58) - Synthwave
(38:40) - Some Pre-Spoiler Story Talk
(42:04) - Dialogue System
(46:33) - Pre-Spoiler Wrap Up
(57:51) - What’s Making Us Happy
(57:58) - Laura - Little Women The Movie The Group Text
(59:44) - Raygan - Cats Chats
(01:01:35) - Nate - Ducktales
(01:04:40) - Shane - Playing D&D With Hunter Pence
(01:08:47) - Ring Fit Adventure
(01:12:03) - Outro
(01:12:51) - Spoiler Break

209: Game of the Year 2019

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 09:00:00 -0600

2019 was a divided year in so many ways, so perhaps we should have expected a stalemate when picking a Short Game of the Year. All four hosts run down our exceedingly divergent Short-GOTY picks while also calling out other games we loved in 2019. We also include some listener picks from our Patreon supporters!

00:00:00: Introduction
00:03:58: Raygan’s List
00:25:53: Shane’s List
00:43:35: Nate’s List
00:57:50: Laura’s List
01:06:58: Picking The One And Only Game Of The Year
01:15:17: Long Games Of The Year
01:20:15: Listener Picks
01:25:50: Outro

Raygan’s GOTY: Manifold Garden
Shane’s GOTY: Untitled Goose Game
Nate’s GOTY: Slay The Spire
Laura’s GOTY: Baba Is You

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(03:58) - Raygan’s List
(04:39) - 5) Ape Out
(08:33) - 4) Creature In The Well
(10:46) - 3) Anodyne 2
(15:50) - 2) A Short Hike
(21:17) - 1) Manifold Garden
(25:53) - Shane’s List
(25:55) - 6) Telling Lies
(27:13) - 5) Wingspan
(29:02) - 4) Grindstone
(31:07) - Shane’s Side List Of Mobile Games
(35:47) - 3) Sayonara Wild Hearts
(37:28) - 2) Ape Out
(38:17) - 1) Untitled Goose Game
(43:35) - Nate’s List
(44:23) - 5) Celeste Chapter 9
(45:35) - 4) Untitled Goose Game
(49:19) - 3) Ape Out
(49:34) - 2) Cadence of Hyrule
(53:56) - 1) Slay The Spire
(57:50) - Laura’s List
(58:15) - 5) Grindstone
(01:00:45) - 4) Cadence Of Hyrule
(01:00:57) - 3) A Short Hike
(01:02:27) - 2) Untitled Goose Game
(01:02:51) - 1) Baba Is You
(01:06:58) - Picking The One And Only Game Of The Year
(01:15:17) - Long Games Of The Year
(01:20:15) - Listener Picks
(01:25:50) - Outro

208: Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 09:00:00 -0600

The Detective is back in his second mysterious adventure! We covered the first Frog Detective game earlier this year, and now we’re back with his most intriguing case yet.

The Frog Detective games are really warm and funny, and we think they’d be great to play with a young relative during the holidays. We spend the first half of the episode talking about Frog Detective 2, and the second half talking about short games to play with short people (ie your younger relatives!) Laura has special insight in this area as someone who’s worked on children’s games professionally, so check it out!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Frog Detective 2
(21:01) - Detective With Kids?
(22:22) - Playing Short Games With Short People
(39:17) - Outro

207: Outer Wilds

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 09:00:47 -0600

Outer Wilds is a bit longer than the games we typically cover, but it was such a surprise favorite that we had to talk about it on the podcast before the end of the year. In Outer Wilds you play as an astronaut exploring his tiny solar system and uncovering the mysteries of the vanished species that came before. It’s a game that does exploration and discovery in a way I’ve never seen before.

Because the game is so much about uncovering story through exploration, we wanted to be especially careful about spoilers, so we’ve added a record breaking two spoiler breaks to this episode. Listen up to the first spoiler break for more or less totally spoiler free discussion of the game and its mechanics. Continue past the first spoiler break for a discussion of some unique early game twists. Listen past the second spoiler break for a full on spoiler-cast where we’ll be discussing the ending and what we uncovered.

Outer Wilds is available on PC (Epic Game Store) as well as Xbox One and PS4. Expect it to take around 15 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(06:26) - First, You Wake Up
(17:32) - Astronaut Tools
(28:26) - Your Tiny Rocket
(36:15) - Exploring A 33km Solar System
(41:22) - I Love My Computer
(45:27) - Wrapping Up The Non-Spoilers
(47:33) - First Spoiler Break - Your Several Few Hours
(01:12:13) - Double Secret Spoiler Spoiler Cast

206: Bleak Sword

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 09:00:14 -0600

Bleak Sword is a dark fantasy action game with 1-bit diorama artwork and brutally difficult combat. It’s a surprise inclusion in the opening volley of Apple Arcade, since it’s tough as nails and doesn’t seem like the typical mobile game fare, even with its excellent touch screen controls. This game really made our $5 subscription feel worth it this month!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Bleak Sword
(03:54) - “Dark Fantasy Dioramas”
(10:13) - Souls-like?
(16:23) - Touch Controls
(23:28) - Gamepad Controls
(29:27) - Difficulty With Difficulty
(36:39) - Other Thoughts
(40:37) - Bestiary And Bosses
(44:35) - Strategy And Play Styles
(54:55) - Current Thoughts On Apple Arcade
(01:01:48) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:01:56) - Nate - Outer Wilds
(01:03:20) - Shane - Fungusboys
(01:07:10) - Raygan - Pecan Pie
(01:07:51) - Outro

205: Manifold Garden

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 09:00:59 -0600

A lot of developers have tried their hand at a first person physics puzzle game, but not many have put the artistry, innovation, and sheer time into them as William Chyr has put into Manifold Garden. After seven years in development, the game was finally released last month on Epic Game Store and Apple Arcade, and it’s one of the most impressive games we’ve played this year. In Manifold Garden, gravity is based on your perspective, and impossible spaces loop recursively in all directions.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Manifold Garden
(39:25) - What’s Making You Happy This Week?
(39:34) - Shane - Staycation!
(42:31) - Raygan - New Super Mario Land
(46:51) - Nate - Good TV!
(48:22) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 47: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 09:00:01 -0600

This week we’re re-releasing our episode on the best reason to own a 3DS, Link Between Worlds! This was a great episode thanks to guest host Gary Butterfield.

Now that Raygan’s move is complete and his mic and computer are unpacked we should be returning to a regular schedule next week.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Gary Butterfield – @garybuh

204: My Friend Pedro

The Short Game — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 09:00:30 -0600

Fans of John Wick, John Woo, Deadpool and/or Nate and Laura buddy hour — you’re in luck! We’re covering My Friend Pedro this week, a stylish shooter/platformer that prioritizes making you look and feel like a badass. What time is it? Bullet time! My Friend Pedro is available on Windows (Steam, GoG, Humble) and Switch. Regular price is $19.99, and it should take between 4–6 hours to complete depending on your preference to go in guns blazing or plan out your next move to maximize coolness.

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

203: IFComp 2019 part 3

The Short Game — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 09:00:48 -0600

Our third and likely final episode on IFComp 2019 before the comp ends on November 15th. (Get your ratings in!) We covered the following games:

00:03:18: Chuk and the Arena by Agnieszka Trzaska
00:12:32: Remedial Witchcraft by dgtziea
00:20:29: URA Winner! by Carter Sande
00:30:08: Faerethia by Peter Eastman
00:40:16: Each-uisge by Jac Colvin
00:45:33: Saint City Sinners by dgallagher
00:49:22: Poppet by Bitter Karella

We also offered incomplete impressions on a few games:

00:57:37: Winter Break at Hogwarts by Brian Davies
01:00:27: Very Vile Fairy File by Billy Boling
01:04:06: Enceladus by Robb Sherwin
01:05:30: Meeting Robb Sherwin by Jizaboz
01:09:16: Things We Would Like To Play But Haven’t Yet

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Introduction
(03:18) - Chuk and the Arena by Agnieszka Trzaska
(09:49) - A Digression On Oysters
(12:32) - Remedial Witchcraft by dgtziea
(20:29) - URA Winner! by Carter Sande
(30:08) - Faerethia by Peter Eastman
(40:16) - Each-uisge by Jac Colvin
(45:33) - Saint City Sinners by dgallagher
(49:22) - Poppet by Bitter Karella
(57:19) - Some Incomplete Impressions
(57:37) - Winter Break at Hogwarts by Brian Davies
(01:00:27) - Very Vile Fairy File by Billy Boling
(01:04:06) - Enceladus by Robb Sherwin
(01:05:30) - Meeting Robb Sherwin by Jizaboz
(01:09:16) - Things We Would Like To Play But Haven’t Yet
(01:11:36) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:11:49) - Laura - Watching Star Trek Out Of Order
(01:16:52) - Nate - Grindstone on Apple Arcade
(01:18:42) - Raygan - Bluetooth Stuff!
(01:21:47) - Wrap Up

202: Observation

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 09:00:02 -0500

What went wrong aboard the low earth orbit space station Observation, and what did you do to cause it? In Observation you’ll play as S.A.M., the AI in charge of maintaining the space station, assisting (or hindering?) Dr. Emma Fisher as she attempts to recover control of the station after a massive and mysterious disaster.

This is our Halloween game for the year, and although it’s more of a thriller than straight horror it was a great game for the season. It’s available on Windows (Epic Game Store) and PS4. Regular price is $24.99 but on EGS it’s on sale until 11/1. Expect it to take about 5-6 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Observation
(33:34) - Spoilers
(40:57) - Wrapping Up
(43:40) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(43:46) - Raygan - Moving
(44:56) - Laura - The Films Of Ernst Lubitsch
(47:38) - Outro

201: IFComp 2019 part 2

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 10:55:43 -0500

Our second episode covering IFComp 2019. This week we had a lively discussion of 13 games:

00:03:03: Skies Above By Arthur DiBianca
00:10:00: Limerick Heist By Pace Smith
00:17:32: The Legendary Hero Has Failed. by Tom Martin
00:22:04: Lucerne by Dimitri Kaviani
00:24:30: The good people by Pseudavid
00:31:30: Night Guard / Morning Star by Astrid Dalmady
00:36:13: The Surprise by Candy Meldromon
00:39:27: Girth Loinhammer and the Quest for the Unsee Elixir by Damon L. Wakes
00:46:21: Dull Grey by Provodnik Games
00:56:31: Rip Retold by Hipolito
01:00:01: For the Cats by Lei
01:05:43: Dungeon Detective 2: Devils and Details by Wongalot
01:13:56: Flygskam Simulator by Katie Benson

Thanks to all the authors and organizers of the comp! If there are games you have enjoyed in this year’s comp, be sure to let us know on Twitter, via our website, or on our Patreon supporter Discord!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(03:03) - Skies Above By Arthur DiBianca
(10:00) - Limerick Heist By Pace Smith
(17:32) - The Legendary Hero Has Failed. by Tom Martin
(22:04) - Lucerne by Dimitri Kaviani
(24:30) - The good people by Pseudavid
(31:30) - Night Guard / Morning Star by Astrid Dalmady
(36:13) - The Surprise by Candy Meldromon
(39:27) - Girth Loinhammer and the Quest for the Unsee Elixir by Damon L. Wakes
(46:21) - Dull Grey by Provodnik Games
(56:31) - Rip Retold by Hipolito
(01:00:01) - For the Cats by Lei
(01:05:43) - Dungeon Detective 2: Devils and Details by Wongalot
(01:13:56) - Flygskam Simulator by Katie Benson
(01:17:53) - Outro

200: Gone Home

The Short Game — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 09:00:39 -0500

Our 200th episode is a special milestone, and we’re spending it returning to the topic of our very first episode. Gone Home came out in August 2013 (our show started in April 2014) and its influence is still being felt today! We start by patting our selves on the back for keeping the podcast going for over five and a half years, then discuss the game, focusing on its legacy and influence across the industry.

Gone Home is available on pretty much every platform you can name these days including computers, phones, and tons of consoles. Expect it to take you about 2 hours to complete.

A special thank you to my co-hosts for sticking with me and the show for these many years. -RK

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Episode 200!
(23:14) - Legacy: Why Revisit Gone Home?
(28:25) - Level Design Is Narrative Design
(36:02) - Soft Spoiler Break
(39:23) - Story Stuff
(57:52) - Laura’s First Time Impressions
(01:03:49) - More Story Stuff
(01:18:53) - We Talk About Apples For 2 Minutes
(01:20:27) - Wrap Up
(01:23:41) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:23:45) - Nate - Happy Anniversary, Molly!
(01:24:31) - Raygan - Crawling!
(01:25:54) - Laura - Balcony String Lights
(01:27:25) - Shane - Bulgarian Sheep’s Cheese
(01:29:28) - Outro

199: IFComp 2019 part 1

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 09:00:53 -0500

This is the 25th year of the competition (!!!) and there are a record breaking 82 entries! We’re kicking off our coverage of IFComp 2019 with discussion of the first 8 games we’ve played.

Due to travel and other conflicts it’s just Raygan and Laura for this episode, but Shane and Nate will be back next week for our special 200th episode. After that we’ll be continuing our IFComp coverage with two more episodes. Be sure to let us know what games you’ve enjoyed in the comp so far!

00:01:10: What Is IFComp?
00:07:03: About Our IFComp Coverage
00:10:20: Zozzled by Steph Cherrywell
00:25:47: Turandot by Victor Gijsbers
00:34:54: Eye Contact by Thomas McMullan
00:38:12: Flight of the CodeMonkeys by Mark C Marino
00:44:33: Sugarlawn by Mike Spivey
00:52:37: Pas De Deux by Linus Åkesson
01:01:08: Let’s Play: Ancient Greek Punishment: The Text Adventure by Pippin Barr
01:06:09: Out by Viktor Sobol
01:09:23: What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
01:15:34: Outro

The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Pa treon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(01:10) - What Is IFComp?
(07:03) - About Our IFComp Coverage
(10:20) - Zozzled by Steph Cherrywell
(25:47) - Turandot by Victor Gijsbers
(34:54) - Eye Contact by Thomas McMullan
(38:12) - Flight of the CodeMonkeys by Mark C Marino
(44:33) - Sugarlawn by Mike Spivey
(52:37) - Pas De Deux by Linus Åkesson
(01:01:08) - Let's Play: Ancient Greek Punishment: The Text Adventure by Pippin Barr
(01:06:09) - Out by Viktor Sobol
(01:09:23) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:10:22) - Laura - Starting A New Job At GameClub
(01:11:16) - Raygan - Wayward Son By Rainbow Rowell
(01:15:34) - Outro

198: Untitled Goose Game

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 09:00:44 -0500

Suddenly this horrible goose is all anyone is talking about.

Untitled Goose Game, developed by House House and published by Panic, is a game about being a horrible goose and causing trouble for everyone you meet for no reason other than f**k you I’m a goose. We have brought friend of the show and bird correspondent Mark Bramhill back on the show to discuss this great game and terrible, terrible bird.

The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on P atreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Mark Bramhill – @mcbramhill

(04:49) - House House
(06:14) - Panic
(07:55) - Goose Hype
(12:02) - Introduce The Goose
(16:28) - Accessible Goose Gameplay
(28:37) - Goose Controls
(31:19) - Personal Goose Trauma
(37:59) - Inherent Goose Limitations
(40:47) - Goose Havoc
(46:07) - Dynamic Goose Soundtrack
(54:35) - Goose Wrap Up
(56:44) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(56:57) - Mark - Apple Arcade
(01:01:11) - Laura - The Storm - A Lost Rewatch Podcast
(01:04:57) - Raygan - MiSTeR
(01:07:43) - Nate - Celeste Chapter 9 etc.
(01:11:56) - Outro

197: Sayonara Wild Hearts

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 09:00:23 -0500

Simogo is a legendary developer on iOS. We’ve covered their work in the past, especially the stunning Year Walk. Sayonara Wild Hearts is a big departure from their previous games. Get a load of this marketing copy:

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a dreamy arcade game about riding motorcycles, skateboarding, dance battling, shooting lasers, wielding swords, and breaking hearts at 200 mph.

As the heart of a young woman breaks, the balance of the universe is disturbed. A diamond butterfly appears in her dreams and leads her through a highway in the sky, where she finds her other self: the masked biker called The Fool.

Journey through a custom-written pop soundtrack, chase scores, and set out to find the harmony of the universe, hidden away in the hearts of Little Death and her star-crossed allies: Dancing Devils, Howling Moons, Stereo Lovers and Hermit 64.

Let’s Pop!

We try to sound competent as music critics on this episode, and it kinda works out!

Sayonara Wild Hearts is available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch for $12.99, and as a part of an Apple Arcade subscription. Expect it to take around 2 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(01:49) - Simogo
(08:19) - A Pop Album Video Game
(11:54) - Arcade Influence
(14:41) - Things This Game Isn’t
(17:03) - Let’s Pretend To Be Music Critics
(21:23) - All Caps Large Text
(25:05) - Albums Have Tracks
(31:40) - Zodiac Riddles
(34:25) - Visual Design And Color
(40:47) - Best Songs
(44:50) - Oh, And Narrator
(46:10) - Influences
(55:48) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(56:05) - Shane - Playing Untitled Goose Game With A Kid
(58:37) - Raygan - City Connection Lives!
(01:04:38) - Laura - Steven Universe, Carole and Tuesday, And Other Wholesome Entertainment
(01:07:23) - Outro And Admin

196: Creature in the Well

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 09:00:34 -0500

Marketed as a “pinbrawler” or top-down, pinball-inspired, hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, Creature in the Well seems designed to appeal to Raygan’s specific tastes. It’s tough as nails, and occasionally frustrating, but this is a truly unique game that manages to follow through on its strange promise of injecting pinball (or break-out) mechanics into the tried and true action RPG formula.

Creature in the Well is available for Nintendo Switch as well as Xbox One and Windows for $14.99. It’s also available as part of a Game Pass subscription on Xbox and PC. Expect it to take around 5 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Creature In The Well
(04:47) - Core Mechanics
(06:24) - Story And Characters
(10:21) - Art
(14:10) - Room To Room Progression
(17:00) - Raygan’s Mechanics Corner
(27:34) - Controls
(32:45) - Tools/Weapons
(44:58) - Walk All The Way Back
(54:51) - Length
(56:37) - Wrap Up
(58:27) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(58:44) - Nate - Magic Sword
(01:00:02) - Raygan - Steven Universe The Movie
(01:02:21) - Raygan - Control
(01:03:22) - Shane - Lei Low Tiki Bar
(01:06:56) - Outro

195: Erica

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 09:00:34 -0500

Hot on the heels of last week’s episode on Telling Lies, we’re covering another FMV game. This week it’s Erica, a surprise release from British developer Flavourworks and published as a PS4 exclusive by Sony Entertainment. It was both announced and released in a surprise presentation at Gamescom this year. Erica uses beautifully shot full motion video and Telltale-style interactions to tell a story of a young woman haunted (and hunted) by her father’s murderer. It’s not as successful or innovative as Telling Lies but it makes for an interesting contrast, and a good discussion of what makes an FMV game work.

Erica is available only on PSN for PS4. It costs $10, and you can expect it to take about 2-3 hours for a play through. Multiple play throughs are encouraged to see the complete story.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Erica
(36:55) - Spoiler Break

194: Telling Lies

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 09:00:31 -0500

Telling Lies is Sam Barlow’s long awaited follow up to Her Story. Similarly to that game you’re acting as an investigator, searching through a database of video evidence, experiencing a story through out of sequence full motion video, but Telling Lies takes the format to a new level of polish, with high production values and a large cast of talented actors. Rater than focusing on a single character, Telling Lies focuses on conversations, with most videos being intercepted recordings of video calls, with each side of the call being represented as a separate clip. It’s an approach that makes piecing together the thread of the conversation

In this episode we start with a spoiler free discussion of the game in comparison to Her Story, then have an early spoiler break around 32:00, after which we discuss specifics of the story and characters.

For our interview with Sam Barlow about Her Story, see Episode 51 of The Short Game.

Telling Lies is available on iOS, macOS, and Windows. The mobile version (which we recommend, especially on iPad) is $6.99, while the Steam version is $19.99 with a discount for owners of Her Story. Expect it to take about 5 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(01:24) - Her Story
(05:57) - Interface And Framing
(10:51) - Don’t Forget About The Short Game Patron Discord!
(12:49) - The Most Binge-able Interactive Fiction
(15:28) - Scrubbing And Metadata
(17:48) - Acting And Directing
(21:50) - Content Warnings
(23:23) - Less Soap Opera, More Prime Time
(24:42) - Our First Search Terms
(30:18) - Outro
(32:52) - Spoiler Break
(33:02) - David
(36:48) - Emma
(49:51) - Max
(59:28) - Karen
(01:07:22) - Ending
(01:21:34) - Most Interesting Search Terms

193: Anodyne 2

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 09:00:42 -0500

A few months ago we finally covered Anodyne, an indie developers Sean Han Tani and Marina Kittaka. Now it’s sequel is here, and it’s a massive step forward. Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is a sequel in the Final Fantasy tradition, where no characters, story, or world is shared between the games, and they can be played in any order. This new game pushes the themes and gameplay of the first game forward in a major way. Now the game combines cinematic 3D exploration in the PS1 or Saturn mold with easy to enjoy 2D dungeons that build on the gameplay of Anodyne 1.

Anodyne 2 is available on Mac, PC and Linux on both Steam and itch.io, and costs $19.99 with a discount for Anodyne 1 owners. Expect it to take about 10 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(01:15) - Anodyne 1
(06:32) - Almost Forgot To Plug The Patreon!
(07:48) - Aesthetic And Nostalgia
(09:16) - Big And Small
(13:39) - Story
(16:33) - The World Of New Theland
(21:06) - Balancing Absurdity With Poetry
(28:28) - The “Dungeons”
(41:41) - Oh Yeah You Can Turn Into A Car
(47:42) - Wrap up
(50:00) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(50:07) - Laura - Chicory (On Kickstarter) And GLOW Season 3
(52:03) - Nate - Camping
(52:58) - Raygan - Parenting, And Modding A Fight Stick
(54:58) - Shane - No Man’s Sky PSVR
(01:07:27) - Outro
(01:11:46) - Spoiler Break

Short Game Classic – 44: Katamari Damacy

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:00:41 -0500

This week we’re re-releasing our episode on Katamari Damacy, which originally aired in May of 2015. Katamari still holds a very dear place in our hearts, and fortunately it’s now available on Nintendo Switch and Windows thanks to the new Katamari Damacy REROLL re-release.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

192: Counterfeit Monkey

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 09:00:40 -0500

Counterfeit Monkey is a 2012 interactive fiction adventure puzzle game by Emily Short. What’s special about this game is its brilliant central puzzle mechanic, in which you’ll be removing letters from the names of objects in the world, and consequently changing what those things actually are. Have an apple, but prefer an alcoholic beverage? Remove the Ps and you’ve got a nice glass of ale. It’s a simple mechanic that opens up seemingly endless possibilities.

Emily Short not only fully explores this mechanic through her game design, but also fully explores the world that such a possibility implies. Counterfeit Monkey is absolutely crammed with great writing, with better character and plot than you’ll find in most interactive fiction.

Counterfeit Monkey is free to download and play in your favorite interactive fiction interpreter. (We suggest Lectrote and Frotz.) Expect it to take around six hours to complete.

Links for this episode:
Participate in the 2019 Interactive Fiction Top 50!
Results of the 2019 Interactive Fiction Top 50
Lectrote (Interpreter for Mac/Windows/Linux)
Frotz (Interpreter for iOS)
Counterfeit Monkey on the IFDB
Counterfeit Monkey announcement at Emily Short’s blog
Making of Counterfeit Monkey: Puzzles and Toys
Making of Counterfeit Monkey: Story

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(02:59) - A Very Brief Introduction To IF
(06:11) - It Won All Of The Awards
(06:42) - Interpreters - Playing The Game
(09:36) - Puzzle Mechanic And World
(14:35) - A Balance Of Thoughtful And Silly
(17:20) - Beginning The Game
(22:19) - “Back Of The Box”
(31:14) - Making A Fair Puzzle
(35:25) - Getting Hints
(36:58) - ~Light~ Spoiler Break
(37:47) - Good Jokes!
(47:20) - Great Writing!
(50:46) - A Great Place To Start With IF
(55:05) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(55:12) - Raygan - My Neo Geo Works! Playing Captain Tomaday
(57:17) - Laura - Telestrations
(59:44) - Outro

191: Bird Week!

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Aug 2019 09:00:01 -0500

Long time listeners may remember that way back in 2016 we did a theme week where we discussed only games about or featuring birds (except one, because we’re bad at themes.) We’ve been threatening to do it again ever since, and this week it’s finally Bird Week 2! We’re joined by frequent guest and bird expert Mark Bramhill, who you may not be aware is the assistant producer of BirdNote, a daily(!) radio show/podcast about birds.

Discussed on this episode are:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Mark Bramhill – @mcbramhill

(03:51) - Feather
(10:12) - Bird Fact #1
(11:55) - Eagle Flight
(20:37) - Bird Fact #2
(21:49) - BirdGut
(26:52) - Bird Fact #3
(27:50) - Falcon Age
(39:44) - Bird Fact #4
(40:44) - Eagle Island
(54:40) - Bird Fact #5
(59:22) - A Short Hike
(01:10:22) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:11:56) - Laura - Jane The Virgin
(01:13:28) - Shane - Drawing D&D Maps
(01:15:10) - Raygan - Bernadetta
(01:18:33) - Nate - Stranger Things Season 3
(01:22:41) - Mark - Woodworking
(01:25:56) - Outro
(01:29:44) - Final Bird Fact

190: Sky: Children of the Light

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 09:00:42 -0500

It’s been over seven years since Jenova Chen’s thatgamecompany released Journey, but game’s influence is still being felt today. This month, thatgamecompany is back with a new experience that builds on Journey’s core concept while doubling down on its compassionate social experience. Unexpectedly for what’s essentially an art game, it’s also free-to-play on iOS. Join us as we dig into this sometimes confusing, always beautiful game.

Currently, Sky is available on iOS for iPhone and iPad. It’s coming soon to Android and AppleTV, and versions for other platforms are in development. It is free to play with very optional in app purchases, and takes about 4-5 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(01:30) - Jenova Chen, thatgamecompany, and Journey
(10:50) - How Does This Thing Work?
(15:36) - Movement And Controls
(24:43) - The Social Experience
(34:55) - Goals
(38:45) - 💰💰💰
(43:29) - Compromising For Mobile
(52:54) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(53:19) - Laura - Spherical Miracle Thermos (1935)
(56:03) - Nate - Preparing Group Spotify Playlists For Events
(57:52) - Raygan - 💨
(59:28) - Shane - Provenance by Ann Leckie
(01:01:32) - Patreon!
(01:04:45) - Outro
(01:06:05) - Spoiler Break

189: Slay the Spire

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 09:00:13 -0500

Eric Farraro, developer and designer of the mobile roguelike deck builder Meteorfall, joins us to offer some perspective on Slay the Spire, a deep roguelike deck builder that’s recently come to Nintendo Switch. We discuss some of the ideas and mechanics that make Slay the Spire unique, and talk about how it’s influencing Eric’s own work on his next game; Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Eric Farraro – @slothwerks

(03:09) - Introducing Eric and Meteorfall
(07:43) - Deck Building
(14:28) - What Sets Slay The Spire Apart
(22:06) - Perfect Information
(25:03) - Defense And Resource Management
(28:07) - The Map
(31:41) - Relics
(39:57) - Classes
(48:42) - Interface
(01:00:28) - Strategy Corner!
(01:16:24) - Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale
(01:24:17) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(01:24:25) - Nate - Chance The Rapper On Spotify
(01:25:16) - Raygan - Neo Geo MVS
(01:29:45) - Shane - The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin
(01:32:10) - Eric - Chernobyl and Underlords
(01:34:57) - Outro

188: Cadence of Hyrule (with guest host Gary Butterfield)

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 09:00:01 -0500

We are joined by Gary Butterfield of the Duckfeed.tv network of podcasts to discuss the new collaboration between Brace Yourself Games and Nintendo, Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda. Yes, that’s the full title. This unlikely combination draws on the rhythm-action gameplay of Necrodancer and the art, characters, and overworld structure of the Zelda series (especially Link to the Past) to create a merger that, while never a perfect fit, surprisingly works!

In this episode we’re also announcing The Short Game’s new Patreon. We have big plans for the show going forward and we need your help to achieve them. Patrons will also get access to our Short Game Discord, where we discuss short games, plan episodes, and have the book-club-style discussions that precede every episode of the show. We hope you’ll support us, and we look forward to building a community!

Cadence of Hyrule is exclusive to the Switch, and costs $25. Expect it to take around 8 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

You can support the show by contributing on Patreon. Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

With special guest Gary Butterfield – @garybuh

Gary has been kind enough to join us for several episodes over the years:

(03:56) - The Short Game Has A Patreon!
(06:59) - Crypt of the Necrodancer
(16:03) - How The Hell Did This Get Made
(21:15) - You Got Necrodancer In My Zelda...
(58:50) - Bosses And Areas
(01:06:38) - Final Thoughts
(01:12:18) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(01:12:31) - Laura - I Bought A Projector
(01:13:55) - Raygan - Castlevania Symphony Of The Night
(01:16:25) - Shane - Silent Night Deadly Night V
(01:19:12) - Gary - Fleabag
(01:22:04) - Nate - Killing Eve
(01:25:11) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 21: Crypt of the Necrodancer

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 09:00:28 -0500

We covered Crypt of the Necrodancer in 2014, before the game left early access. Since we will be covering it’s Zelda-infused sequel Cadence of Hyrule next week, and the original episode has dropped off of the feed, we’ve refreshed and re-released this classic episode.

This episode begins with an early version of what is now our “what’s making us Happy this week” segment that is now a bit out of date, since we were discussing the upcoming release of D&D 5th edition among other things. We think it’s still fun, but if you want to skip straight to the game discussion you can use the (new!) chapter markers, or jump to 20 minutes in.

Friend of the show Justin put together a playlist of the best music from the Crypt of the Necrodancer soundtrack. You can find it here.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane

(02:56) - Proto-What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(03:03) - Shane - Dungeons And Dragons 5th Edition
(09:26) - Laura - Fez, And Some Board Games
(12:58) - Raygan - Sonic 3 & Knuckles
(20:19) - Crypt of the Necrodancer
(24:14) - A Roguelike That’s Fair
(30:17) - Cadence’s Quest
(38:05) - Enemies And The Groove Chain
(43:33) - Art And Animation
(45:52) - Gamepad Or Dance Pad
(49:10) - Early Access
(56:00) - Characters And Playstyles
(01:02:54) - Bosses
(01:05:31) - Wrap Up
(01:12:08) - Outro

187: Board Games

The Short Game — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 09:00:57 -0500

In this episode of a podcast that is definitely about video games, we’re talking about our favorite board games we’ve played this year.

Laura is mid-way through a cross country move and her regular microphone is packed away, so apologies for the muffled audio.

You can find links to the games we discussed in this episode in the chapter markers. Did you know pretty much every podcast player now supports chapters, and we use them on nearly every episode? Now you do!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(03:42) - Arraial
(08:48) - Clank! A Deck Building Adventure
(14:49) - Wingspan
(23:06) - Mysterium
(28:27) - The Mind
(30:51) - Near and Far
(38:30) - Hive
(43:17) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(43:35) - Nate - Lola Turns 2
(45:16) - Laura - Roadtrippers
(50:06) - Shane - Deadwood
(52:50) - Outro

186: GameClub with Eli Hodapp

The Short Game — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 09:00:19 -0500

Eli Hodapp, formerly of TouchArcade, joins us this week to talk about his new venture GameClub. We’ve long bemoaned the state of premium games on the iOS App Store, and the team at GameClub are trying to address that by bringing classic premium games that have left the store back to our iPhones as part of a subscription service. We had a great conversation with Eli about his history with iOS games and the future of premium games on the platform.

GameClub is currently in early access, and they’re looking for beta testers to try several of the games they’re bringing back to the store. You can join their early access program and download those games for free at their website, gameclub.io.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
With guest Eli Hodapp – @hodapp

(02:49) - Joining TouchArcade
(08:23) - Problems With iOS Preservation And Monetization
(12:23) - Getting Involved With GameClub
(18:32) - Resurrecting A Game
(27:40) - Can I Put A Game On Your List?
(31:30) - GameClub’s Business Model And Plans
(34:26) - Game Club Early Access
(38:20) - Hook Champ
(44:12) - Space Miner
(47:21) - Chopper 2
(48:54) - Sword of Fargoal
(53:27) - Legendary Wars and Future Games
(56:28) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(56:38) - Eli - Doughboys Podcast
(58:49) - The Film Reroll Podcast
(01:00:51) - Shane - Watabu’s Medieval Fantasy City Generator
(01:04:06) - Raygan - 8bitdo Controller Mod Kits
(01:09:12) - Laura - Letter Jam
(01:12:17) - Nate - Breath of the Wild Master Mode
(01:17:39) - Outro

185: Apple Design Awards 2019

The Short Game — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 09:00:48 -0500

Mark Bramhill of the excellent Welcome to Macintosh podcast joins us again to talk about this year’s crop of Apple Design Award winning games. This feels like a strange transition year for Apple in gaming, and we have a number of things to discuss, from the games Apple chose to award to the upcoming Apple Arcade and support for game controllers in iOS 13. Thanks as always to Mark for joining us for what has become a Short Game tradition!

Links for this episode:
The Gardens Between – By The Voxel Agents
Ordia – Loju
Spitkiss â€“ Spitkiss is a story of boundless love, told through precision platforming
Asphalt 9: Legends – Arcade Racing game by Gameloft
ELOH – Let the rhythm fill your soul.
Thumper Pocket Edition â€” Thumper | A Rhythm Violence Game
My Cat from Hell – Wikipedia
Outer Wilds
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel:Amazon:Books

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Mark Bramhill – @mcbramhill

(00:00) - Intro
(02:48) - The Gardens Between
(07:34) - Ordia
(14:21) - Asphalt 9 Legends
(21:10) - ELOH
(26:39) - Thumper Pocket Edition
(31:26) - Apple In Games In 2019
(42:33) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(42:43) - Mark - My Cat From Hell
(46:11) - Laura - Space Miner
(47:15) - Raygan - Outer Wilds
(52:04) - Shane - Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel by Neal Stephenson
(57:57) - Outro

184: Gato Roboto

The Short Game — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 09:00:05 -0500

Gato Roboto is a retro-styled Metroid-like starring Kiki, a cute kitty in a powerful mech suit. Freshman developer Doinksoft and veteran indie publisher Devolver Digital bring us this 1-bit black and white adventure that might be the most complete Metroid experience you can have in five hours. Find the game on Steam (Windows) or the Switch eShop for just $8.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Gato Roboto
(02:50) - All-Metroid-No-Vania
(07:58) - Good Kitty
(09:20) - Streamlined-vania
(30:02) - Wrap Up
(32:01) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(32:09) - Laura - DOGS/IN/VIDEO/GAMES
(34:57) - Raygan - iOS 13 Supports PS4 & Xbox One Game Controllers
(39:54) - Nate - 5k!
(41:49) - Outro

183: A Plague Tale: Innocence

The Short Game — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 09:00:20 -0500

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a beautiful if gruesome stealth action game from Asobo Interactive. Set in 12th century France, you’ll play as Amicia De Rune, a girl from a noble family in the French countryside, as she tries to protect her young brother Hugo from plague, unnaturally organized swarms of man eating rats, and an almost comically villainous English inquisition.

This is an uncommonly beautiful game for its 10 hour length, with beautiful textures and incredibly well realized rat swarming physics. It’s available on PS4 and XBox One (where it really shines on the “pro” versions of those consoles) and on Windows. Expect it to take about 10 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane

(00:00) - A Plague Tale: Innocence
(01:12) - A Graphical Showpiece
(09:21) - Plot And Early Gameplay
(19:52) - Some Early Game Issues
(26:55) - The Game Turns Around
(39:41) - Wrapping Up
(43:45) - Shane: Being Sick Is Not Making Me Happy
(46:13) - Raygan: The Dreamcast
(50:21) - Outro

182: Micro Mages

The Short Game — Mon, 27 May 2019 09:00:21 -0500

Micro Mages is a NES homebrew with remarkably modern game design. Morphcat Games managed to fit an entire 4-player Towerfall-inspired co-op platfomer into just 40kb. It’s an incredible feat of 6502 assembly programming, and an incredibly fun game to boot!

You can download Micro Mages on itch.io or Steam for $10.99. Either option includes the PC version of the game as well as an NES rom that can play on nearly anything, including actual NES hardware via a flash cart like the EverDrive-N8. Expect it to take about 3-5 hours to complete depending on your NES jump-and-shoot chops.

Links for this episode:
Micro Mages
OpenEmu – Multiple Video Game System
EverDrive-N8 – Stone Age Gamer
Analogue Nt mini – The Ultimate Nintendo FPGA console?:: RGB307 / MY LIFE IN GAMING – YouTube
I Am Error: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform (Platform Studies) – Amazon:Books
How we fit an NES game into 40 Kilobytes – YouTube
Playdate. A New Handheld Gaming System
A Teen Dirtbag Beat-Em-Up With Phenomenal Writing – Kotaku

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(01:45) - Micro Mages
(07:35) - Playing An NES Homebrew Game - How and Why
(14:42) - A Game In 40kb
(23:17) - Classic Console, Modern Design
(39:37) - Power-ups
(41:54) - Multiplayer
(50:02) - Wrap Up
(52:52) - What’s Making You Happy This Week?
(53:01) - Nate - Playdate
(01:00:15) - Raygan - The Friends Of Ringo Ishikawa
(01:08:12) - Outro

Short Game Classic – 36: 80 Days

The Short Game — Mon, 20 May 2019 15:01:20 -0500

Raygan is traveling this week, so in lieu of a full episode we are re-releasing a classic travel-themed Short Game that has just dropped off of the RSS feed. 80 Days was a break out hit for Heaven’s Vault developer Inkle, and it cemented their place at the forefront of narrative game design. In 80 days, Inkle brought interactive fiction and management sim elements together into a totally novel game design. Writer Meg Jayanth’s charming dialogue and world building brought a new anti-colonialist perspective to the sometimes problematic steampunk genre. This is one of The Short Game’s all time favorites, and the game (and this episode) are worth revisiting.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane

(00:00) - Intro
(01:21) - 80 Days
(43:20) - Spoiler Break

181: The Haunted Island, A Frog Detective Game

The Short Game — Mon, 13 May 2019 09:13:01 -0500

After last week’s big episode, Laura and Raygan are taking a moment to relax into a charming little game about a frog. Developer Grace Bruxnor’s The Haunted Island, A Frog Detective Game is a lovely hour long mystery adventure full of charm and humor-that-is-actually-funny. We have a short chat about the good frog boy, and in the What’s Making Us Happy This Week segment we discuss the classic board game Kill Doctor Lucky.

The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game is available on Steam and itch.io (Mac/PC) for $4.99. (As of this writing it is on sale on Steam for $3.99.) Expect it to take under an hour to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - The Haunted Island, A Frog Detective Game
(16:22) - Some Funny Bits
(18:56) - Wrap Up
(20:08) - What’s Making Us Happy?
(20:21) - Laura - Kill Doctor Lucky
(29:14) - Raygan - Our New Logo!
(31:12) - Outro And Admin

180: Heaven’s Vault

The Short Game — Tue, 07 May 2019 12:42:48 -0500

The developer of Short Game favorite 80 Days returns with an ambitious new game, and we are joined by a new guest! Laura Garofalo is a Roman cultural historian and Latinist with experience on archeological digs, who joined us to discuss Heaven’s Vault, an archaeological science fiction adventure game.

At around 15 hours, this is a longer game than we typically cover, and it lead to a longer and extremely interesting discussion. The game is available on PS4 and Windows for $24.99. Stick around after the spoiler break at [1:26:30] for a discussion of some of the game’s secrets and branching paths.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
With special guest Laura Garofalo

(00:00) - Heaven’s Vault from Inkle
(04:48) - Archeology In Games
(07:29) - A Quick Summary
(11:06) - Learning Ancient
(35:42) - The Timeline And Interface
(38:07) - Visuals
(47:39) - Sailing
(56:23) - Actually Meaningful Dialogue Choices
(01:05:06) - The Ink System
(01:13:06) - New Game Plus
(01:16:29) - What’s Making You Happy This Week?
(01:16:57) - Laura G - Plants!
(01:17:30) - Shane - The Tick on Amazon Prime Video
(01:20:11) - Raygan - Nausicaä Manga Box Set
(01:22:30) - Laura - Finishing Your Projects
(01:25:01) - Admin And Outro
(01:26:48) - Spoiler Break

179: Rolando – Royal Edition

The Short Game — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 09:00:32 -0500

Do you know what they call a Rolando in Paris? That’s right, they call it a Rolando: Royal Edition.

One of the earliest smash hit iOS games has just received a beautiful remaster and re-release, years after being pulled from the store. We discuss our early iOS gaming memories, talk about this beautiful new version of a classic, and discuss the problems with iOS game preservation, as well as some possible solutions!

Rolando: Royal Edition is available now on the iOS App Store for $2.99. Expect it to take about 3-5 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:28) - Spherical King Of The Early App Store
(12:22) - Rolando Rolls Off The Store
(18:31) - The Royal Edition
(31:55) - Music
(33:32) - Lost iOS Games
(46:44) - GameClub
(53:53) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(54:14) - Raygan - Say Anything
(56:52) - Laura - Cats & Mats Yoga
(59:04) - Shane - Killing Eve Season 2
(01:01:02) - Nate - Being Done With Moving

Short Game Classic – 28: A Dark Room (Now on Switch!)

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 19:54:06 -0500

A Dark Room is one of the most celebrated mobile games of all time, and one of the most memorable games we’ve covered on The Short Game. It’s just been ported to Nintendo Switch in a new and enhanced version. We’re re-releasing our 2014 episode on A Dark Room, also enhanced with an all new intro!

A Dark Room is a game with many surprising twists and turns, so we have a fairly early spoiler break at 00:24:00.

A Dark Room began as a web game, and you can still find that version online, but it really came to life on mobile. You can find A Dark Room on iOS, Android, and now Nintendo Switch.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro - A Short Game Re-Release
(05:37) - A Dark Room
(08:51) - “The Good Idle Game”
(14:39) - How Do You Describe This Thing?
(24:03) - Spoiler Break
(24:34) - The Reverse Of Peeling An Onion - You Start With The Core
(28:22) - The Philosophy Of The Game
(33:39) - The Builder And The Wanderer
(39:16) - Look And UI Of The Game
(43:20) - Economy
(45:18) - The Dusty Path
(50:59) - Mysterious Moments
(59:49) - Ending
(01:13:27) - Prequel - The Ensign
(01:16:21) - The No Hut Run
(01:25:54) - Closing Thoughts
(01:33:00) - Outro

178: Photographs

The Short Game — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 12:30:09 -0500

This week on The Short Game we discuss Photographs, the latest game by Luca Redwood, developer of show favorite You Must Build A Boat. Photographs is a narrative puzzle game for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android, and it’s a big departure from Luca’s previous games. In Photographs you’ll explore a series of tragic tales, interspersed with puzzles that cast light on the themes of each story. We discuss the game’s themes and mechanics in depth, with a spoiler break at 55 minutes.
Photographs is $3.99 on mobile or $11.99 on Steam. Expect it to take around 3-4 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Photographs
(00:42) - But First, You Must Build A Boat
(03:08) - Photographs - Gameplay
(07:14) - Art Style
(09:34) - Music And Audio
(11:45) - Interaction Between Narrative And Puzzles
(19:15) - Tone And Story
(25:16) - The Photo Taking Mechanic
(36:39) - What’s Making Us Happy
(37:21) - Laura - Crazy Ex Girlfriend Finale
(39:25) - Nate - Galavant
(41:36) - Raygan - Darkstalkers
(47:24) - Shane - Lodge 49
(52:44) - Outro
(55:04) - Spoiler Break

177: Anodyne

The Short Game — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 09:13:21 -0500

Anodyne by developers Sean Han Tani and Marina Kittaka is something we’ve been meaning to cover for a very long time. Originally released in February 2013 (early days of the indie game boom), it’s taken this surreal Zelda-like over six years to get a console release. Now that it’s available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, and on the eve of the release of its sequel, Laura and Raygan visit Anodyne to see how it stands the test of time.

Anodyne is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as iOS, Android, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, for $9.99. Expect it to take around 10 hours to complete.

Links for This Episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Anodyne
(38:27) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(38:39) - Laura - Apollo astronauts left their poop on the moon. We gotta go back for that shit.
(41:25) - Raygan - Hi Score Girl On Netflix
(48:02) - Outro

176: Baba Is You

The Short Game — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 18:14:57 -0500

Game Is Good! This week we’re discussing the award winning puzzle game Baba Is You, from Finnish developer Hempuli Oy. In this mind- (and rule-bending) puzzle game, each Sokoban-style level is governed by a unique set of simply stated rules (Baba Is You, Block Is Push, Flag Is Win etc) each of which is represented by a set of physical rule-objects that can be pushed around and manipulated within the game. Each level involves re-working the rules to create a win-condition. It’s one of the most interesting puzzle games we’ve ever covered on the show.

Baba Is You is available on Switch and pretty much all of the PC game stores including Itch.io, for $15.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Baba Is You
(30:42) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(30:59) - Laura - The Purge: Book Edition
(33:46) - Raygan - So I’m A Spider, So What?
(40:58) - Shane - Dragon War
(47:54) - Outro

175: Ape Out

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 11:21:58 -0500

A violent instrument plays jazz of rage and sorrow on this week’s Short Game. Ape Out is an intense top-down musical beat-em-up from developer Gabe Cuzzillo. We discuss the game’s "virtual drummer" reactive music and Saul Bass inspired art style, and we hear a LOT from Nate about Star Trek: Deep Space 9’s Vic Fontaine.

Ape Out is available for Windows (Steam, GOG, The Humble Store, and Itch.io) and Nintendo Switch for $15. Expect it to take around 5-6 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Ape Out
(46:45) - Spoiler Break
(49:34) - Conclusion (Spoilers Done)
(52:35) - What’s Making Us Happy
(52:43) - Shane - Galaga
(54:29) - Nate - Vic Fontaine
(01:00:20) - Raygan - Costco, I Guess?
(01:02:02) - Laura - The Magicians Season 4
(01:02:52) - Outro

174: Arcade Games on Switch

The Short Game — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 13:05:02 -0500

Arcade games are the ultimate short games, and the Nintendo Switch is home to what might be the largest library of arcade game ports of any current generation console. In this special episode we discuss the state of retro arcade game ports on the Switch while sharing our arcade memories, and a few game suggestions.

Raygan has compiled a complete list of every arcade game currently available on the switch, and published it as a Medium post. Check out the complete list and let us know which are your favorites, and if we missed anything!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro and Arcade Experiences
(14:35) - The Nintendo Switch - The Best Console For Arcade Games?
(21:01) - City Connection
(34:09) - Twinkle Star Sprites
(37:28) - 2020 Super Baseball
(53:16) - Outrun
(01:02:58) - Rapid Fire Recommendations By Genre
(01:15:34) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(01:15:45) - Shane’s D&D Big Bad
(01:16:33) - Taskmaster
(01:18:28) - Berry Chantilly Cake
(01:19:54) - Pizza Techniques
(01:21:11) - Outro

173: The Gardens Between

The Short Game — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 15:07:43 -0600

It’s good to have Frendts. This time the Short Game is playing The Gardens Between, a time-reversing adventure puzzle game from developer The Voxel Agents.

Expect The Gardens Between to take 2 – 4 hours to complete, depending on "puzzle solving confidence". It’s available on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC/Mac/Linux, for $19.99.

What’s making us happy this week?

Laura: @DancerOnFilm on Twitter
Nate: Yoga With Adriene
Raygan: The Denver Public Library
Shane: Umbrella Academy on Netflix

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - The Gardens Between
(38:44) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(39:12) - Laura - @DancerOnFilm
(41:40) - Nate - Yoga With Adriene
(46:41) - Raygan - Denver Public Library
(48:07) - Shane - Umbrella Academy on Netflix
(56:43) - Outro

172: Monster Prom

The Short Game — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 00:38:00 -0600

In this special Valentines episode of The Short Game we’re discussing Monster Prom, the monster dating party game from Beautiful Glitch. It’s a mad dash to date the hottest monsters and get a date to prom while screwing over your friends.

Monster Prom can be played solo but works best as a multiplayer party game for two to four players. Each game takes from 45 to 90 minutes depending on number of players and your choice of short or long game modes, and there are hundreds of events to discover so each time through should be different. The game is $12 on Windows, Mac, and Linux (Steam).

What’s Making Us Happy This Week?

Laura: Moami’s Songs That Get Europeans Screaming
- Twitter Thread
- Spotify Playlist
Raygan: Apex Legends and The Fantod Pack
Nate: Buying a House!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Monster Prom
(38:00) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(38:12) - Laura - Moami's Songs that Get Europeans Screaming (a Spotify playlist)
(40:15) - Raygan - Apex Legends & The Fantod Pack
(46:10) - Nate - I Bought A House
(47:11) - Outro

171: Pikuniku

The Short Game — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 01:09:12 -0600

The best legs in video games are on display as we tippy-tap our way through Pikuniku. This three hour puzzle-adventure is out now on Switch and PC/Mac from developer Sectordub and publisher Devolver Digital.

What’s Making Us Happy This Week?

Nate: Kehinde Wiley
Laura: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Raygan: Full Strength Beer

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(02:23) - The Best Legs In Gaming
(10:24) - Art Style
(13:36) - Puzzle-Adventure-Kicking-Story
(21:31) - Collecting and Mini-games
(30:20) - Platforming Challenges
(38:03) - “New Game +”
(40:39) - Soundtrack
(43:27) - Co-Op
(50:17) - Some Nitupikus
(53:49) - Wrap Up
(55:54) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(56:14) - Nate: Kehinde Wiley
(58:44) - Laura: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
(01:01:21) - Raygan: Full Strength Beer

170: GRIS

The Short Game — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 16:56:46 -0600

GRIS is a beautifully animated and colorful game about a girl on a journey through grief. The artwork is absolutely top tier, while the gameplay is presented without challenge or danger making the game extremely accessible.

Do we have to be moved by this game if it to be a success? Is it okay to be kind of empty if it’s beautiful enough?

GRIS is available on Nintendo Switch and Steam. Expect it to take about three hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(40:50) - x

169: Game of the Year 2018

The Short Game — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 18:35:57 -0600

After a delay in recording due to Raygan’s daughter being born (what a sorry excuse!) we are back with our Game of the Year episode for 2018! It’s been a great year for short games, so the deliberations were fierce. Join us for the results!

Thank you for supporting the show in 2018. We have an exciting year ahead of us in 2019 and we hope you’ll join us! If you like the show, spread the word, and let us know what short games you’re interested in for 2019!

00:00:00: Intro – BOTY 2018
00:04:13: A Great Year For Short Games
00:05:57: GOTY 2018: Celeste
00:15:24: The Rest Of The Top 5
00:16:31: Into The Breach
00:25:32: Minit
00:29:32: Return Of The Obra Dinn
00:36:23: Wandersong
00:41:18: Personal Picks
00:41:43: Shane’s Pick – The Tetris Effect
00:44:29: Nate’s Pick – Guacamelee 2
00:46:14: Raygan’s Pick – Yoku’s Island Express
00:49:49: Laura’s Pick – Gris
00:52:12: Best Soundtracks
00:57:37: Dirtbag Of The Year
00:59:18: VR Game Of The Year
01:01:46: Not Short Games Of The Year
01:10:55: Looking Forward To 2019
01:17:20: Outro

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro - BOTY 2018
(04:13) - A Great Year For Short Games
(05:57) - GOTY 2018: Celeste
(15:24) - The Rest Of The Top 5
(16:31) - Into The Breach
(25:32) - Minit
(29:32) - Return Of The Obra Dinn
(36:23) - Wandersong
(41:18) - Personal Picks
(41:43) - Shane’s Pick - The Tetris Effect
(44:29) - Nate’s Pick - Guacamelee 2
(46:14) - Raygan’s Pick - Yoku’s Island Express
(49:49) - Laura’s Pick - Gris
(52:12) - Best Soundtracks
(57:37) - Dirtbag Of The Year
(59:18) - VR Game Of The Year
(01:01:46) - Not Short Games Of The Year
(01:10:55) - Looking Forward To 2019
(01:17:20) - Outro

168: Return of the Obra Dinn

The Short Game — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 00:21:38 -0600

The Obra Dinn was lost at sea along with all its cargo and 60 crew members. Suddenly the ship has reappeared, but what became of the crew? In this intricate mystery deduction game you’ll use a mysterious pocket watch to see the moment of each crew member’s death and try to reconstruct each of their fates.

Return of the Obra Dinn is available for Windows and Mac on Steam, Humble, and GOG for $19.99. Expect it to take around 10 hours to complete, unless you’re some kind of puzzle wizard.

Note: Due to a technical issue Laura’s direct mic recording was lost for this episode. Apologies for the reduced audio quality.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane

(00:19) - Return Of The Obra Dinn
(13:03) - Dithering
(20:41) - Why Did This Game Work!?
(38:48) - Spoiler Free Tips
(46:31) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(46:58) - Ultrawings
(54:12) - The Sound Of Music Sing Along
(58:07) - Playing Horror Games Like An Idiot
(01:02:46) - Katamari Reroll
(01:05:53) - Outro
(01:10:34) - Spoiler Break

167: The Tetris Effect

The Short Game — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 00:11:51 -0600

The Tetris Effect is the latest music/puzzle/synesthesia experience from legendary game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Shane spends most of this episode mercilessly clowning on me for my Tetris skills while we discuss the benefits playing Tetris in veeeeee arrrrrr.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane

(01:17) - The Story Of Tetris
(07:34) - Tetsuya Mizuguchi
(08:33) - PSVR
(12:45) - The Tetris Effect
(18:29) - Wait, What Is The Zone Meter?
(23:28) - Playing With And Without VR
(33:02) - Tetris For Forty Damn Dollars In 2018
(34:59) - Raygan Is Still A Tetris Idiot
(37:37) - “Okay, Here’s How To Play Tetris”
(42:05) - Other Modes
(44:01) - Favorite Songs/Levels
(49:53) - PSVR: Better Than The Sega 32X
(53:41) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(54:11) - Final Fantasy Tactics: War Of The Lions
(58:38) - Etrata, the Silencer
(01:02:17) - Outro

166: IFComp 2018 part 3b

The Short Game — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 23:03:16 -0600

IFComp 2018 is nearing its conclusion, so it’s time for a few last games! On this episode we discussed:

00:02:09 The Origin of Madame Time by Mathbrush
00:12:01 Terminal Interface for Models RCM301-303 by VigiMech Corporation
00:26:04 Polish the Glass by Keltie Wright
00:33:27 Campfire Tales by Matthew Deline
00:36:18 They Will Not Return by John Ayliff
00:38:09 smooch.click by Devon Guinn
00:43:12 Awake by Soham Sevak
00:46:40 Urs by Christopher Hayes and Daniel Talsky

Be sure to vote by the November 15th deadline!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(02:09) - The Origin of Madame Time by Mathbrush
(12:01) - Terminal Interface for Models RCM301-303 by VigiMech Corporation
(26:04) - Polish the Glass by Keltie Wright
(33:27) - Campfire Tales by Matthew Deline
(36:18) - They Will Not Return by John Ayliff
(38:09) - smooch.click by Devon Guinn
(43:12) - Awake by Soham Sevak
(46:40) - Ürs by Christopher Hayes and Daniel Talsky
(53:40) - Outro

165: IFComp 2018 part 3a

The Short Game — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 22:02:32 -0600

IFComp 2018 is nearly done, and we’re closing the comp talking about some really strong games! This is the first part of a two part episode rounding out our coverage of IFComp 2018. I was going to chat with Laura for a few minutes, but we ended up talking for nearly an hour, so rather than release one massive episode I’m splitting this one in two and releasing the second part (featuring Shane and Nate) early next week.

00:00:00 Intro
00:04:06 Bogeyman by Elizabeth Smyth
00:12:50 Erstwhile By Maddie Fialla and Marijke Perry
00:17:50 Within A Circle Of Water And Sand by Romain
00:28:41 Grimnoir by ProP
00:36:39 Other Notable Games
00:38:29 Let’s Explore Geography! Canadian Commodities Trader Simulation Exercise by Carter Sande
00:47:20: More Notable Games

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(04:06) - Bogeyman by Elizabeth Smyth
(12:50) - Erstwhile By Maddie Fialla and Marijke Perry
(17:50) - Within A Circle Of Water And Sand by Romain
(28:41) - Grimnoir by ProP
(36:39) - Other Notable Games
(38:29) - Let’s Explore Geography! Canadian Commodities Trader Simulation Exercise, by Carter Sande
(47:20) - More Notable Games

164: IFComp 2018 part 2

The Short Game — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 00:03:09 -0500

And we are back with more IFComp 2018! We discuss nine more of the games on this year’s ballot. Horror, mystery, and extended IFComp in-jokes abound!

If you play something in the comp you think we should cover, please let us know! We’re @_shortgame on Twitter, or you can use the contact form at our website.

Games covered in this episode:

00:03:32 En Garde by Jack Welch
00:14:57 Re: Dragon by Jack Welch
00:23:18 The Forgotten Tavern by Peter M.J. Gross
00:29:59 They Will Not Return by John Ayliff
00:35:23 DEVOTIONALIA by G. Grimoire
00:40:20 Cannery Vale by Keanhid Connor
00:55:36 And You May Find Yourself by VPC
01:02:31 Erstwhile by Maddie Fialla and Marijke Perry
01:07:36 I. A. G. Alpha by Serhii Mozhaiskyi

Other Links

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane

(00:00) - Intro
(03:32) - En Garde by Jack Welch
(14:57) - Re: Dragon by Jack Welch
(23:18) - The Forgotten Tavern by Peter M.J. Gross
(29:59) - They Will Not Return by John Ayliff
(35:23) - DEVOTIONALIA by G. Grimoire
(40:20) - Cannery Vale by Keanhid Connor
(55:36) - And You May Find Yourself by VPC
(01:02:31) - Erstwhile by Maddie Fialla and Marijke Perry
(01:07:36) - I. A. G. Alpha by Serhii Mozhaiskyi
(01:17:54) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week
(01:28:51) - Admin & Outro

163: IFComp 2018 part 1

The Short Game — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 22:27:36 -0500

The leaves are changing, folks are putting up Halloween decorations… that’s right it’s IFComp season once again. Long time listeners to this show already know how passionate we are about the Interactive Fiction Competition. Now in its 23rd year, it’s the biggest event in interactive fiction and one of the highlights of our year. We’ve been covering IFComp annually since 2015. If you’re new to interactive fiction or IFComp check out some of our past coverage here.

This year the are 78 games vying for your attention and votes. We’ll be spending the next several episodes playing hand picked (and randomly picked) games, and sharing our thoughts.

If you play something in the comp you think we should cover, please let us know! We’re @_shortgame on Twitter, or you can use the contact form at our website.

Games discussed in this episode

00:08:39 Alias The Magpie by J. J. Guest
00:08:39 Animalia by Ian Michael Waddell
00:30:37 Dead Man’s Fiesta by Ed Sibley
00:36:10 LETS ROB A BANK by Bethany Nolan
00:40:42 Junior Arithmancer by Mike Spivey
00:48:24 Railways of Love by Provodnik Games
00:56:24 + = x by Chandler Groover

Other stuff:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - IFComp 2018
(08:39) - Alias 'The Magpie' by J. J. Guest
(18:12) - Animalia by Ian Michael Waddell
(30:37) - Dead Man’s Fiesta by Ed Sibley
(36:10) - LETS ROB A BANK by Bethany Nolan
(40:42) - Junior Arithmancer by Mike Spivey
(48:24) - Railways of Love by Provodnik Games
(56:24) - + = x by Chandler Groover
(01:03:02) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week?
(01:19:03) - Admin and Outro

162: Wandersong

The Short Game — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 17:28:17 -0500

In Wandersong you play as a bard, and interact with almost everything through a fun and expressive singing mechanic. You’ll do a LOT of singing. Turns out there is no problem that can’t be solved through song, even the end of the world.

Wandersong came along at the right time. Its sweetness and positivity never felt cloying, and despite its story sometimes going to some dark places it felt like just the shot of hope it turned out we needed. We fell in love with this charming game and its vibrant cast of characters.

Get Wandersong on Nintendo Switch or PC/Mac via Steam or the Humble Store. It costs $20 and will take you about 10 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

What’s making us happy this week?

Segment starts at [00:53:06]

Laura: Victoria & Albert Museum · Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt
Mid-September Link Assortment | Emily Short’s Interactive Storytelling
Raygan: Dril Official “Mr. Ten Years” Anniversary Collection
wint (@dril) | Twitter
Shane: Shane’s cute baby and also Destiny 2: Forsaken

Upcoming episodes:

IFComp 2018! Check out our previous coverage here.
Arcade games on Switch? Do you have a favorite? Let us know!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane

(00:00) - Wandersong
(53:06) - Whats making you happy this week?

161: Donut County

The Short Game — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 00:02:16 -0500

After years in development and what seems like decades on the Short Game upcoming games spreadsheet, solo developer Ben Esposito has finally released Donut County. We loved playing as as a hole in the ground in this odd story driven physics puzzle game. Just the right length, and with a ton of charm, this game was made for our podcast.

Donut County is currently available on Steam and GOG for Windows and Mac, as well as on PS4 and iOS.

What’s making us happy this week?

Shane: Magic the Gathering
Laura: On The Grid
Nate: Lola is walking, and Nate is scooting

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitshane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Donut County
(51:06) - What’s Making You Happy This Week?

160: Guacamelee 2

The Short Game — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 16:11:51 -0500

In this, the year of too many Metroidvanias (jk there can never be too many Metroidvanias) Drinkbox returns with a long awaited sequel to their 2013 action platformer hit Guacamelee. (We covered Guacamelee way back in episode 37, and their dungeon crawler slice-em-up Severed in episode 108.

If you played Guacamelee and (like us) you wished for more of it then you’ll find lots to love in Guacamelee 2. The formula is essentially unchanged from the first game, but with lots of tweaks and additions large and small. It’s no secret that we love Drinkbox, and the Guacamelee series deserves your attention even when the feast or famine that is the exploration action platformer genre turns to feast mode as it has in 2018.

Guacamelee 2 is available on PC/Steam and PS4, with other platoforms likely but not announced.

What’s making us happy this week

Laura – Do Men Enter Bathtubs on Their Hands and Knees So Their Balls Hit The Water Last: An Investigation
Raygan – Runaway (1984)
Nate – Friendship and Baseball. Ugh.

(00:00) - Guacamelee 2
(01:04:22) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week

159: Bomb Chicken

The Short Game — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 19:10:08 -0500

Bomb Chicken is the first console game from mobile game royalty Nitrome. It’s a perfect example of a developer creating a entire game based on a single, super polished mechanic. Nitrome uses clever level design to spin their simple one button bomb-egg mechanic into dozens of unique challenges. Also the chicken is so fat. So so fat.

Links for this episode

What’s making you happy this week?

Laura:
* To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (film)
* The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (film)
* Evergarden
Nate: Holedown
Raygan: Mousetrap Monday’s – All 12 Of Mascall’s 427 Year Old Style Mouse Traps

(00:00) - Bomb Chicken
(45:55) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week

158: Peter Panic

The Short Game — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 10:48:52 -0500

It’s an all-singing-all-dancing episode this week as we play Peter Panic, a mobile game that mixes WarioWare style micro games with the magic of musical theater! This mobile game stands out by being a fully-sung musical sung by actual broadway talent.

Peter Panic is available for iOS and Android. It’s free to download and try, with the ability to save your progress available for $2.99.

Links

What’s making us happy this week?

Nate – Sous Vide
Raygan – Kill Six Billion Demons
Laura – Binge Mode Harry Potter
Shane – Ty’s first birthday

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Peter Panic
(46:09) - What's making us happy this week

157: Gaming While Traveling

The Short Game — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 16:06:31 -0500

This week we’re taking a vacation from our typical format to talk about playing games while traveling. The obvious topic is how the Nintendo Switch is chainging how we play, but we also discuss gaming travel memories from childhood, the pros and cons of portable platforms, and even some non-video-games for travel. Have fun on your trip to Ireland, Laura!

00:00:00 Gaming and Traveling
00:01:39 Things we ONLY do on Airplanes
00:05:11 Gaming while Traveling as Kids
00:11:40 Shane’s guessing game
00:16:23 Travel Games
00:32:05 The Switch
00:47:14 Games for Groups
00:48:56 Listner Responses
00:53:02 What’s making us happy

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Gaming and Traveling
(01:39) - Things we ONLY do on Airplanes
(05:11) - Gaming while traveling as kids
(11:40) - Shane's guessing game
(16:23) - Travel Games
(32:05) - The Switch
(47:14) - Games for Groups
(48:56) - Listner Responses
(53:02) - What's making us happy this week

156: Yoku’s Island Express

The Short Game — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 09:51:22 -0500

Yoku’s Island Express is a pinball-metroidvania. Yeah. And as a synthesis of those two seemingly incompatible ideas it actually succeeds incredibly well. We break down what makes this bizarre fusion more than just a novelty.

Yoku is available on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam for $19.99. Expect it to take about 5-8 hours to complete, not including post-game content, secrets, etc…

00:00:00 Yoku’s Island Express
00:50:54 What’s Making You Happy This Week?

Laura: Stardew Valley
Raygan: Steven Universe
Nate: Tapped

00:58:44 Outro

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Yoku's Island Express
(50:54) - What's Making You Happy This Week?
(58:44) - Outro

155: West of Loathing (with guest host Gary Butterfield)

The Short Game — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 17:08:53 -0500

Gary Butterfield of Duckfeed.tv joins us to discuss West of Loathing, the hilarious stick-figure open-world RPG by Asymmetric. West of Loathing originally released last summer on Steam, but it recently launched as a console exclusive on Nintendo Switch. This is an extremely funny game, but it also respects your time in ways that other RPGs and open world games could learn a lot from. Thanks to Gary for a great discussion.

West of Loathing is available on Steam for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, and on the Nintendo Switch eShop, for $11. Expect it to take around 10 hours to complete. Spoiler break at [00:56:36].

What’s making us happy this week?

Laura: Korean reality show The Genius
Nate: The Saint Louis Pride Parade
Raygan: Mario Tennis Aces
Shane: Hive
Gary: John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City

Find Gary’s work at Duckfeed.tv. Gary’s newest podcast, Heartbeat City, is at Heartbeatcity.city.

Past Short Game episodes with Gary:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Gary Butterfield – @garybuh

(00:00) - West of Loathing
(44:54) - What's making you happy this week?
(56:36) - Spoiler Break

154: Apple Design Award Winners 2018 (with guest host Mark Bramhill)

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 09:36:04 -0500

For our fifth year in a row, The Short Game is discussing this year’s Apple Design Award winning games. The ADA winners are often some of the best iOS games of the year, but they also shine a light on the state of iOS as a gaming platform, and give a hint as to what Apple is planning for games on their devices.

Joining us again this year is friend of the show Mark Bramhill. Mark is a radio producer and podcaster, and host of the incredible Welcome to Macintosh podcast. His work has also appeared on shows such as 99% Invisible. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @mcbramhill.

[00:03:48] WWDC impressions 2018
[00:27:15] Award Winning Games
[00:28:52] Florence
[00:33:45] Playdead’s INSIDE
[00:39:52] Alto’s Odyssey
[00:47:05] Frost
[00:58:58] Oddmar
[01:07:58] Non-game Winners
[01:10:28] What’s making you happy this week?
[01:17:51] Outro

Past Apple Design Award episodes:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Mark Bramhill – @mcbramhill

(03:48) - WWDC impressions 2018
(27:15) - Award Winning Games
(28:52) - Florence
(33:45) - Playdead's INSIDE
(39:52) - Alto's Odyssey
(47:05) - Frost
(58:58) - Oddmar
(01:07:58) - Non-game Winners
(01:10:28) - What's making you happy this week?
(01:17:51) - Outro

153: Quarantine Circular

The Short Game — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:47:01 -0500

Mike Bithell’s follow-up to Subsurface Circular is another single sitting dialogue driven text adventure game, but this time it’s on a boat! Also there’s an alien.

We discuss the second “Bithell Short”, a spiritual sequel to the previously covered Subsurface Circular. If you liked Subsurface Circular or interactive fiction this is definitely worth a look.

Quarantine Circular is available on Steam for Windows and macOS for $5.99. Expect it to take around three hours to complete.

[00:00:00] Quarantine Circular
[00:46:58] What’s making you happy this week?
[00:54:20] Spoiler Break

What’s making us happy this week:

Laura: Zero Sum for iOS
Nate: Boats
Raygan: Lizzo
Shane: The Giff – Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Quarantine Circular
(46:58) - What's making you happy this week?
(54:20) - Spoiler Break

152: Far: Lone Sails

The Short Game — Tue, 29 May 2018 21:55:58 -0500

In Far: Lone Sails you’ll pilot a massive rattletrap machine across a beautiful, desolate world. This “atmospheric vehicle adventure game” feels a bit like it was grown in a lab to appeal to The Short Game. It has a presentation that begs comparisons to past favorites like Inside, but the vehicle system feels fresh and keep the game engaging and mechanically interesting throughout.

Far: Lone Sails is available on Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store for Windows and MacOS, with PS4 and Xbox One versions in development. Expect it to take about three hours to complete.

[00:00:00] Far: Lone Sails
[00:45:02] What’s making you happy this week?

[00:53:16] Spoiler Break

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Far: Lone Sails
(45:02) - What's making you happy this week?
(53:16) - Spoiler Break

151: Golf Story

The Short Game — Fri, 18 May 2018 11:11:37 -0500

In a world where absolutely everyone cares about golf…

Golf Story is an indie developed golf RPG in the Mario Golf tradition, developed by Sidebar Games. It was an early indie exclusive on the Nintendo Switch. In this episode we discuss our history with golf and golf games, the bizarre and hilarious world of Golf Story, and get into the weeds with golf game history and mechanics.

Expect Golf Story to take about 15 hours to complete. (A bit on the long side for our show, but this is still a game that respects your time.) It’s available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $14.99.

[00:03:15] The Short Game on Golf
[00:11:40] Golf Video Games
[00:19:36] Golf Story
[01:04:07] What’s Making Us Happy This Week

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(03:15) - The Short Game on Golf
(11:40) - Golf Video Games - History
(19:36) - Golf Story
(01:04:07) - What's Making You Happy

150: Moss and PSVR Check-In

The Short Game — Fri, 11 May 2018 18:21:15 -0500

It’s been 18 months since the release of the PSVR and against all odds there are still great short games coming out! Shane brings us his impressions of the second wave of PSVR games, starting with Moss, a VR game about guiding a sword-wielding mouse through a dangerous storybook world.

Games mentioned in this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

149: Most Video Games Are Too Long – with special guest Patrick Klepek

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 09:23:50 -0500

We’re joined by special guest Patrick Kelpek of Waypoint to discuss his recent article Most Video Games Are Too Long, in which he compares the experience of playing God of War with Minit. We discuss about value of editing and restraint in video game design, and the economic and business factors that drive game length. We also get his suggestions for great short games to play. Thanks to Patrick for coming on the show.

You can find Patrick on Twitter at @patrickklepek
Visit Waypoint on the web at waypoint.vice.com
Check out the excellent Waypoint Radio podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Gorogoa Designer’s GDC Talk

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Most Video Games Are Too Long
(28:06) - Short Game Recommendations
(30:34) - What's Making You Happy This Week?

148: Minit

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 10:11:36 -0500

In Minit, you are cursed to die (and be reborn) every 60 seconds. This makes solving puzzles and Zelda-like action challenges a bit more interesting. The game was developed by a four person team consisting of Jan Willem Nijman (co-founder of Vlambeer), Kitty Calis (who most recently worked on Horizon Zero Dawn), Jukio Kallio (composer), and Dominik Johann (art director of Crows Crows Crows) and published by Devolver Digital.

We loved this breezy action-adventure-puzzle game for its clever minimalism, exciting pace, and manageable length. Expect the game to take about 3 hours to complete, with room for re-plays and a new game plus mode. Minit is available for $9.99 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC/Mac/Linux. See the official site for links to purchase.

[00:42:50] The all new “What’s making you happy this week?” segment (name pending!):

Raygan: Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology for 3DS
Shane: Converting Call of Cthulhu – Tatters of the King to the Fate RPG system
Nate: Sushi Burritos from BLK Mkt in St. Louis

[00:52:52] Spoiler Break

After the spoiler break we discuss specific puzzles, places we got stuck, and the ending of the game.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Minit
(42:50) - What's making you happy this week?
(52:52) - Spoiler Break

147: Into the Breach

The Short Game — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 10:23:10 -0500

Into the Breach is the second game by FTL developer Subset Games. FTL was the focus of the fifth episode of this podcast, way back in May of 2014,and has been a major obsession for all of us (but especially Nate) ever since. This time, Subset has taken on the tactical strategy genre, but their take is one of the most streamlined and cleverly designed games in the history of the genre.

We are joined this week by guest host Sandy Bledsoe, managing partner of Houston gaming tavern Coral Sword, who has spent the time since the game’s release streaming Into the Breach on Coral Sword’s Twitch channel. We discuss the game’s unique mechanics, and try to avoid constant comparisons to FTL. Stick around after the spoiler break at [01:03:17] for in depth strategy talk.

Into the Breach is available for Windows via Steam, Humble, and GOG for $14.99. As a (somewhat) roguelike-inspired game, each battle is short and each run takes around 30-45 minutes, but the game is meant to be re-played for advancement and progression. For Mac users, the DRM free versions of the game (via Humble or GOG) run just fine via WINE. Use tools like WineBottler to install.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Sandy Bledsoe – @sanfordandpun on Instagram
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Into The Breach
(01:03:17) - Spoiler Break

146: iOS Sequels – Alto’s Odyssey, Framed 2, and Monument Valley 2

The Short Game — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 22:08:02 -0500

This episode we’re checking in on the sequels to three landmark iOS games we’ve covered the past: Alto’s Odyssey (followup to Alto’s Adventure), Framed 2, and Monument Valley 2. Laura and Raygan discuss the games and what makes a compelling sequel. Also, Laura is leaving leaving on a five week honeymoon to Europe. Congratulations, Laura, and have a great trip!

Check out all three games on the iOS App Store:

Here are our episodes on the original games discussed:

Other games mentioned:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

145: Florence

The Short Game — Sun, 25 Feb 2018 22:16:55 -0600

The first game from Mountains, a new “craft games” studio headed by Ken Wong (lead designer of Monument Valley), Florence is best described as an interactive graphic novel set to music. It’s a beautifully illustrated and scored story about a young woman’s first first love. The soundtrack by Kevin Penkin (soundtrack composer of Made in Abyss) is especially good, and the entire package is extrordinarily polished.

This is a story driven experience, so our spoiler break is a bit early at [00:20:29].

Florence is available on iOS and (soon) Android, and costs $2.99. Expect it to take about an hour to play.

Links for this episode:

Florence
Giant Days Vol. 1 | Amazon.com
Blankets: Craig Thompson | Amazon.com
To Be Or Not To Be – Ryan North on the App Store
Miley and Lilly Designer Dreams | Laura’s first professional game work. No longer online officially but available here on an unofficial site. Play at your own risk.
Infinite canvas – Wikipedia
Florence (Original Soundtrack) by Kevin Penkin on Apple Music
Florence (Original Soundtrack) by Kevin Penkin on Spotify

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Pre-spoiler discussion
(20:29) - Spoiler Break

144: Celeste

The Short Game — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 19:07:20 -0600

Celeste is the second game from Towerfall developer MattMakesGames, which this time is Matt Thorson (Towerfall), collaborator Noel Berry (Skytorn), and friends.

Nominally a game about climbing a mountain, Celeste is a difficult story-driven platformer that surprised us by becoming one of the best games of 2018 so far.

Celeste is a fairly short game but play times will vary, with main story completion taking between 8-12 hours. A significant amount of optional, post-game, and bonus content is included. The game is available on Steam and Itch.io (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It costs $19.99 on all platforms. See the game’s homepage for links to purchase.

Spoiler break at [01:02:49].

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Celeste
(01:02:49) - Spoiler Break

143: Dream Daddy

The Short Game — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 13:28:29 -0600

Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator’s title says it all—you play a hot dad that gets to date other hot dads. As soon as it was released in July 2017, Dream Daddy stormed to the top of the Steam charts and left social media swooning in its wake. But after the launch afterglow has faded, are we still charmed? (Yes.)

After the spoiler break at [00:36:30], we discuss all-important third dates and other major/minor dad-dating decisions.

Dream Daddy is available for $14.99 on Steam. You’ll spend about 4–5 hours wooing the residents of Maple Bay, depending on how long you audibly groan (or rejoice) at puns.

Our Dadsonas:

Gomez Addams

Jacques Swift

Carl Bonesworth

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

142: Doki Doki Literature Club

The Short Game — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 21:28:01 -0600

Doki Doki Literature Club has been suggested by more Short Game listeners than any game since Undertale. On the surface it’s a moe anime themed visual novel dating sim, but just under the surface is something much darker. As the game’s cryptic Steam description says, this game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

Hard spoiler break at [00:17:31]. Trust us on this one.

Doki Doki Literature Club is available for free on Steam and itch.io, with a $10 “Fan Pack” available that includes a soundtrack, desktops, and an concept art booklet. Expect the game to take about four to five hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

141: Gorogoa

The Short Game — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 00:18:57 -0600

Here’s a fascinating and beautiful little puzzle game that’s almost impossible to describe with words alone, but we’re going to give it our best shot. Gorogoa is a game many years in the making. It’s been winning awards and gaining buzz since at least 2012, but it’s finally out in its final form on iOS ($4.99), Steam, and Nintendo Switch ($14.99).

We discuss the game’s puzzles and art style, as well as attempt to decode its cryptic but thoughtful story. Spoiler break at 00:32:52.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

(00:00) - Intro & Pre-Spoiler Discussion
(32:52) - Spoiler Break

140: Game of the Year 2017

The Short Game — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 21:27:26 -0600

Join us as we finally put 2017 out of its misery! It was a great year for games, if nothing else, and we’re rounding up our favorite short- and non-short-games of 2017.

Our Game(s) of the year:

Other Games Mentioned:

Past GOTY episodes:

There were a lot of great games in 2017 that we missed, some of which we hope to cover soon. Here’s our list:

Dream Daddy
Doki Doki Literature Club
Butterfly Soup
Gorogoa
Rakuen
West of Loathing
Universal Paperclips
Bury Me My Love
A Normal Lost Phone/Another Lost Phone
Four Last Things
Last Day in June
Heat Signature
Everything
Blackwood Crossing
Monument Valley 2
Framed 2
Hidden Folks
Nidhogg 2
Emily is Away Too
Finding Paradise (To the Moon sequel)

And a few games we’re looking forward to in 2018:

Donut County
Manifold Garden
Dreams
Florence
Moss
WATTAM
The Room: Original Sin
The Wolf Among Us Season 2

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this year were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(04:28) - Night in the Woods
(14:23) - Pyre
(21:06) - Other great short games of 2017
(40:49) - Non-Short GOTYs
(57:14) - Listener Responses and Games We Missed
(01:09:43) - Looking forward to 2018

139: Reigns – Her Majesty

The Short Game — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 09:00:37 -0600

The succession is complete, and Reigns finally has an heir, or uh, sequel. This isn’t merely a queen-based rehash of the original game. Reigns: Her Majesty adds to and improves on the Reigns formula in several ways, while keeping its core tinder-swipe kingdom building gameplay.

Reigns: Her Majesty is available on iOS, Android, and Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It costs $2.99. Expect it to take around 3-5 hours to complete.

Spoiler break at 00:34:28.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Pre-Spoiler Discussion
(34:28) - Spoiler Break

138: IFComp 2017 Wrap Up

The Short Game — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 21:13:05 -0600

We’re a little late getting this out, but we’re wrapping up our IFComp 2017 coverage with a discussion of the comp as a whole, the top 10 games, and discussions of a few games that we didn’t cover in our earlier episodes.

Our IFComp 2017 Coverage
– 134: Intro to IFComp
– 135: IFComp 2017 pt. 1
– 136: IFComp 2017 pt. 2

The Top Ten:
– The Wizard Sniffer by Buster Hudson
– Eat Me by Chandler Groover
– Harmonia by Liza Daly
– Will Not Let Me Go by Stephen Granade
– Absence of Law by mathbrush
– The Owl Consultsby Thomas Mack, Nick Mathewson, and Cidney Hamilton
– A Beauty Cold and Austere by Mike Spivey
– 1958: Dancing With Fear by Victor Ojuel
– Future Threads by Xavid
– Domestic Elementalism by fireisnormal

Also Mentioned:
– Violet by Jeremy Freese – 1st place IFComp 2008 and former highest score
– Queer In Public: A Brief Essay by Norbez
– Alice Aforethought by Hanon Ondricek
– Swigian by mathbrush (as Rainbus North)

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - The 2017 IFComp
(07:07) - 1st place: The Wizard Sniffer
(11:27) - 2nd place: Eat Me
(14:19) - 3rd place: Harmonia
(20:28) - 4th place: Will Not Let Me Go
(26:08) - Queer in Public Queer In Public: A Brief Essay by Norbez - The Golden Banana of Discord winner
(32:08) - 5th place: Absence of Law
(36:50) - 6th place: The Owl Consults
(39:13) - 7th place: A Beauty Cold and Austere
(41:43) - 8th place: 1958: Dancing With Fear
(42:55) - 9th place: Future Threads by Xavid
(46:50) - 10th place: Domestic Elementalism
(50:07) - Cool stuff outside the top 10
(59:57) - Wrap-up and Outro

137: Thirty Flights of Loving

The Short Game — Sun, 19 Nov 2017 19:33:04 -0600

This episode we’re discussing short-game touchpoint Thirty Flights of Loving by Blendo Games. Thirty Flights has cast a wide influence over the five years since its release and employs film-like smash cuts and non-sequential storytelling to great effect. We have discussed it in brief on past episodes, but it’s time to talk about it in depth.

Thirty Flights of Loving is available on Steam and the Humble Store for $5.00, and includes the prequel Gravity Bone. It takes about 15 minutes to complete, though you’ll likely want to play through it multiple times.

Links for this episode:

96: Quadrilateral Cowboy – The Short Game

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

136: IFComp 2017 pt. 2

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 12:00:02 -0500

Continuing our coverage of IFComp 2017, we’ve played a dozen more games. Check out past two episodes for an intro to IFComp and our first batch of this year’s games. Let us know what caught your attention from this year’s competition!

Games covered:

00:01:26 Insignificant Little Vermin by Filip Hracek
egamebook

00:11:16 Domestic Elementalism by fireisnormal

00:17:24 Salt by Gareth Damian Martin

00:25:22 Unit 322 (Disambiguation) by Jonny Muir

00:31:42 The Wand by Arthur DiBianca

00:40:39 Deshaun Steven’s Ship Log by Marie L. Vibbert
More games by Marie L. Vibbert

00:46:49 Hexteria Skaxis Qiameth by Gabriel Floriano
Linguistic Relativity, Sapir–Whorf hypothesis – Wikipedia

00:52:57 Measureless to Man by Ivan R.

01:00:29 Transient Skies by dgtziea

01:08:06 Swigian by Rainbus North

01:11:51 Nyna Lives by Sarah Rhiannon Nowack

01:15:29 The Dragon Will Tell You Your Future Now by Newsreparter

01:21:11 Outro

Also discussed:

Sorcery! series
Hadean Lands
Reader’s Block by David Markson
Superluminal Vagrant Twin

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Intro
(01:26) - Insignificant Little Vermin by Filip Hracek
(11:16) - Domestic Elementalism by fireisnormal
(17:24) - Salt by Gareth Damian Martin
(25:22) - Unit 322 (Disambiguation) by Jonny Muir
(31:42) - The Wand by Arthur DiBianca
(40:39) - Deshaun Steven's Ship Log by Marie L. Vibbert
(46:49) - Hexteria Skaxis Qiameth by Gabriel Floriano
(52:57) - Measureless to Man by Ivan R.
(01:00:29) - Transient Skies by dgtziea
(01:08:06) - Swigian by Rainbus North
(01:11:51) - Nyna Lives by Sarah Rhiannon Nowack
(01:15:29) - The Dragon Will Tell You Your Future Now by Newsreparter
(01:21:11) - Outro

135: IFComp 2017 pt. 1

The Short Game — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 15:50:06 -0500

Our coverage of IFComp 2017 finally begins in earnest, with impressions of a dozen of the incredible 79 games entered this year.

If you’re new to IFComp or interactive fiction, check out our previous episode for an introduction.

Games covered:

00:03:06 Eat Me by Chandler Groover
Games by Chandler Groover on IFDB

00:11:50 a partial list of things for which i am grateful by Devon Guinn

00:14:01 The Unofficial Sea-Monkey(R) Simulation by B.J. Best
Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod

00:20:42 The Owl Consults by Thomas Mack, Nick Mathewson, and Cidney Hamilton

00:27:40 The Wizard Sniffer by Buster Hudson

00:37:47 Harmonia by Liza Daly

00:39:14 Will Not Let Me Go by Stephen Granade

00:47:14 1958: Dancing With Fear by Victor Ojuel

00:53:02 10pm by litrouke

00:56:40 The Living Puppet by Liu Zian

01:01:47 Grue. by Charles Mangin

01:03:13 Tuuli by Daurmith and Ruber Eaglenest

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(03:06) - Eat Me by Chandler Groover
(11:50) - a partial list of things for which i am grateful by Devon Guinn
(14:01) - The Unofficial Sea-Monkey(R) Simulation by B.J. Best
(20:42) - The Owl Consults by Thomas Mack, Nick Mathewson, and Cidney Hamilton
(27:40) - The Wizard Sniffer by Buster Hudson
(37:47) - Harmonia by Liza Daly
(39:14) - Will Not LetMe Go by Stephen Granade
(47:14) - 1958: Dancing With Fear by Victor Ojuel
(53:02) - 10pm by litrouke
(56:40) - The Living Puppet by Liu Zian
(01:01:47) - True. by Charles Mangin
(01:03:13) - Tuuli by Daurmith and Ruber Eaglenest
(01:06:36) - Outro

134: Intro to IFComp

The Short Game — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 14:16:01 -0500

In this short episode we’re introducing our upcoming coverage of IFComp 2017 with an introduction to the competition and to interactive fiction for new players. We covered IFComp in both 2015 and 2016, and this year we’re preparing for the best and biggest year the competition has ever had. Join us on our next episode for reviews and reactions to some of the games of 2017.

Want to learn more? Here are a few of our past episodes on IF:

IF Comp 2015: Episode 61, Episode 63
IF Comp 2016: Episodes 102, 104, 107
The Short Game | 31: Interactive Fiction
The Short Game | 45: Spring Thing 2015 – Interactive Fiction Festival
The Short Game | 59: Porpentine: Eczema Angel Orifice
https://www.theshortgame.net/36-80-days/ 80 days

Guides for IF Beginners:

How to Play Interactive Fiction (An Entire Strategy on a Postcard)

Emily Short’s Guide to Interactive Fiction (PDF)

IFComp – About IF

History of the Festival

http://ifwiki.org/index.php/Mathbrush

The twine invasion of 2012 (most interesting moment in the recent history of the comp)

http://www.intfiction.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=22855

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

133: Nex Machina

The Short Game — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 21:49:54 -0500

Nex Machina is an arcade shooter with an incredible pedigree. Super Stardust developer Housemarque teamed up with video game legend Eugene Jarvis, creator of games like Defender, Robotron 2048, and Smash TV to create a modern dual-stick shooter with obvious arcade influences.

Shane and Raygan discuss the game, their history with the dual stick shooter genre, and a few other notable games to check out if you like arcade shooters.

Nex Machina is available on Steam and PS4 for $19.99. It has an arcade structure designed around frequent re-plays and high scores. Expect it to take about two hours to complete a play through, though this will vary widely by difficulty level and ability.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

132: Sonic Mania

The Short Game — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 19:11:24 -0500

Gotta go fast! This episode we’re talking about Sonic Mania, the first Sonic the Hedgehog game in years to recapture the feeling of the original 2D Sonic games. We discuss our history as Sonic fans, the fascinating development story behind the game, and how Sonic Mania measures up as part of the Sonic series.

[00:00:00] The Short Game The Hedgehog
[00:02:25] Sonic Memories
[00:12:47] Sonic Mania Development Story
[00:53:14] Wrap up and Outro

“___ the Hedgehog” Google Image Results:

Raygan the Hedgehog:

Shane the Hedgehog:

Nate the Hedgehog:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - The Short Game The Hedgehog
(02:25) - Sonic Memories
(12:47) - Sonic Mania Development Story
(53:14) - Wrap up and Outro

131: Tacoma

The Short Game — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 18:44:49 -0500

Fullbright’s followup to Gone Home finally arrived last month, and we’re floating in to investigate. Tacoma is a sci-fi exploration/narrative storytelling game set aboard a moon-orbiting space station 70 years in the future. You play a contractor sent to investigate a disaster aboard the station, learning what happened through environmental detail and AR surveillance recordings. Uncover the events personal stories of the six crewmembers who made Tacoma home, and discover how they responded to the disaster that threatened their lives.

Tacoma is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux (via Itch.io, Steam, and GOG) and on the Xbox One. Expect it to take 2-4 hours to complete.

Our spoiler break for this episode is at [00:37:42]

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro & Pre-Spoiler Discussion
(37:42) - Spoiler Break

130: Subsurface Circular

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 23:02:48 -0500

Bithell Beyonce-ed us!

Mike Bithell, creator of Short Game favorites Thomas Was Alone and Volume, surprised us with an unexpected release, and it’s incredibly up our alley. Subsurface Circular is a two-hour text adventure game (with beautiful accompanying graphics) about a robot detective, solving a missing person’s case on the subsurface circular, a robots only subway system.

Before the (early) spoiler break at [00:13:50] we discuss the surprise release and what Mike Bithell’s new “Bithell Shorts” label means for short games. After the spoiler break we discuss some of our favorite moments from the game, and its shocking conclusion.

Subsurface Circular is available on Steam for $5.99. Expect it to take about 2-3 hours to complete, with a developer commentary available on a second play through.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

(00:00) - No Spoilers
(13:50) - Spoiler Break

129: Pyre

The Short Game — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 09:37:18 -0500

This episode originally went live with out-of-sync audio. If you got that version please delete and re-download. Sorry!

Supergiant’s third game is finally here, and it’s… a sports game? In Pyre, you lead a band of exiles competing in a mystical tournament to win their freedom from the beautiful but dangerous Downside. Through a visual-novel-like RPG story you’ll form bonds with your tribe of exiles, then put them to the test in exceptional 3-on-3 sports-like “rites”.

Transistor, Supergiant’s last game, was The Short Game’s Game of the Year for 2014. Pyre measures up to, and in some ways exceeds, that high bar. We discuss the world building and lore, the artistry, and of course, the MONSTER DUNKS.

Pyre is available for Steam for Windows and Mac and on the Playstation 4 for $19.99. Expect it to take roughly ten hours to complete.

Eyvind Earle landscape vs. Pyre landscape

Who wore it better?

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Start
(01:06:03) - Spoiler Break
(01:27:39) - Wrap up and Outro

128: Board Game to Video Game Ports

The Short Game — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 00:45:16 -0500

Laura and Nate discuss a category of games near and dear to them both, board games that have made their way to digital platforms, especially iOS.

Huge link dump for this episode:

Board Game Ports We Mentioned:

Apps As Assistants To Games We Mentioned:

Physical Board Games We Mentioned:

Other Stuff We Mentioned:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

127: Card Thief & Missile Cards

The Short Game — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 10:47:53 -0500

This week we’re shuffling together two different card-based mash-up games on iOS. Card Thief is a stealthy dungeon crawl in card form, and Missile Cards takes Atari Missile Command and reimagines it as a tense game of solitaire.

We start off with a general discussion of both games, then at [00:17:21] we dive into specifics about Card Thief and at [00:42:14] we transition to talking about Missile Cards. We wrap up with a quick discussion of SGDQ2017.

Links for this episode:

SGDQ Speedruns Mentioned

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

126: Little Nightmares

The Short Game — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 09:32:08 -0500

Little Nightmares is a side scrolling puzzle-platform-horror-action game by frequent Media Molecule collaborator Tarsier Studios. It’s the first major independent work developed by the Swedish developers, whose catalog most notably includes side content for the Little Big Planet series, and ports such as Tearaway: Unfolded. Little Nightmares stars Six, a young girl trapped in a mysterious and terrifying complex called The Maw. This wordless and creepy game has serious echoes of Short Game favorite Inside, but it has a number of interesting and notable differences.

Little Nightmares is available for Windows, PS4, and Xbox One and is regularly priced at $20. Expect it to take around three to four hours to complete.

Congratulations to Nate and Molly on the birth of their first child!

Links for this episode:
– The Short Game episode 94: Inside
– Russo Brothers Adapting Video Game ‘Little Nightmares’ for TV (Exclusive) – Hollywood Reporter

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

125: Apple Design Award Winners 2017 (with guest host Mark Bramhill)

The Short Game — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 19:36:46 -0500

Mark Bramhill of the Welcome to Macintosh podcast joins us to discuss the winners of this year’s Apple Design Awards. The ADAs are Apple’s yearly recognition of outstanding design in software for iOS and MacOS, and this year five games were awarded. We talk briefly about the history of the awards, then dive into each game.

Apple Design Awards 2017
[00:14:46] Mushroom 11
Mushroom 11 – The Short Game episode 71
[00:20:20] Severed
Severed – Covered on The Short Game episode 108
[00:23:38] Blackbox
[00:40:01] Splitter Critters
[00:48:43] Old Man’s Journey
[00:54:34] Non-game App Winners

Thanks again to Mark for joining us on this episode. Look forward to season 3 of Welcome to Macintosh coming this summer!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Mark Bramhill – @mcbramhill

(00:00) - Intro
(14:46) - Mushroom 11
(20:20) - Severed
(23:38) - Blackbox
(40:01) - Splitter Critters
(48:43) - Old Man's Journey
(54:34) - Non-game App Winners
(01:04:40) - Outro

124: Ludum Dare 38

The Short Game — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 22:36:17 -0500

Guest host Jupiter Hadley joins us to discuss the Ludum Dare 38. Ludum Dare is a game jam/competition where game developers attempt to create a game from scratch in 48 (or 72) hours. Jupiter brings her expertise and a long list of picks from the almost 3000 games made for this year’s jam.

[02:32] What is a game jam?
[04:04] What is Ludlum Dare?
[13:04] Honey Home
[16:09] Smalltrek
[18:39] Paisley Princess
[21:10] Krilgore
[26:34] Snowed In
[27:50] Super Kaiju Dunk City
[29:49] The Treachery of Game Dev
[33:44] Plonet Atek
[37:29] Floraison

[40:02] Rapid fire

Murder 38 – Episode One: A Small World
Ant Detective
The Deep
Until Tomorrow
Petty Puny Planet 38
A Mind Is A Small Place
Miniature Underwater Polo
Brainstorm 38
The Cashbags Man
Tiny Tony

Jupiter Hadley:

Twitter
Youtube
Patreon
IndieGameJams

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(02:32) - What is a game jam?
(04:04) - What is Ludlum Dare?
(13:04) - Honey Home
(16:09) - Smalltrek
(18:39) - Paisley Princess
(21:10) - Krilgore
(26:34) - Snowed In
(27:50) - Super Kaiju Dunk City
(29:49) - The Treachery of Game Dev
(33:44) - Plonet Atek
(37:29) - Floraison
(40:02) - Jupiter's Picks: Rapid-fire

123: The Sexy Brutale

The Short Game — Tue, 30 May 2017 23:11:04 -0500

The Sexy Brutale is a stylish adventure puzzle game set against the background of a lavish casino mansion, trapped in a single, endlessly looping day. It’s a co-production between Spanish developers Tequila Works and UK developers Cavalier Game Studios. We discuss how the “groundhog day” mechanics and observation-based puzzle solving put a twist on the the adventure game genre.

The game is available on PS4, Xbox One, and for Windows via Steam, GOG, and Humble for $19.99. Expect it to take 6-8 hours to complete.

Spoiler break at 51:29.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

(51:29) - Spoiler Break

122: What Remains of Edith Finch

The Short Game — Tue, 16 May 2017 11:33:24 -0500

What Remains of Edith Finch is the second game from The Unfinished Swan developer Giant Sparrow and creative director Ian Dallas. It’s a sort of anthology game; a collection of family stories tied together by Edith Finch’s attempt to unravel a family curse as she explores her ancestral home. We had a great discussion about what this brings to the first person narrative game genre and why it’s been such a hot take machine. What Remains of Edith Finch is available for PS4 and Windows (Steam). Expect it to take two to three hours to complete.

Spoiler break at 52:18.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(52:18) - Spoiler Break

121: Kero Blaster

The Short Game — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 23:54:57 -0500

Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya helped define “indie” game development with his freeware masterpiece Cave Story. Several years later, his follow up was a strange and possibly under appreciated game. Kero Blaster is a side-scrolling shooter, but unlike Cave Story it draws more inspiration from games like Mega Man and Contra than it does from Metroid or Castlevania.

Kero Blaster came out in 2014 on iOS and later Windows, but recently got its first console release on PS4. We revisit the game and discuss how our perceptions of it have changed since its debut three years ago.

Kero Blaster is $9.99 on PS4 and Steam (Windows only), and $5.99 in iOS. Expect it to take 4-5 hours to complete, not counting the unlockable “Zangyou Mode.”

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

120: Snipperclips

The Short Game — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 10:51:13 -0500

Cut Yourself! (Editor’s Note: Please do not cut yourself.) This week we’re talking the about the sort-of-first-party Nintendo Switch exclusive puzzle game Snipperclips. Break off a tiny controller and chat with us about this unusual game in Nintendo’s launch lineup.

Friend of the show Bryan Wade joins us as a guest. Thanks Bryan!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Bryan Wade – @wadebryanr

119: Blaster Master Zero

The Short Game — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 14:19:20 -0500

We’re hopping aboard Sophia III with Jason Frudnick to help him find his pet frog Fred in this remake/sequel to the classic NES shooter/platformer hybrid. We start with a brief discussion of the Blaster Master series before tunneling into the reboot. Blaster Master Zero is available on Nintendo Switchand 3DS for $9.99. Expect it to take about 8 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

118: Dungeons & Dragons ⚔ Short Game Style!

The Short Game — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 20:39:48 -0500

The Short Game’s official Dungeon Master (that’s Shane) shares his tips on fitting Dungeons & Dragons into your life. D&D is having a bit of a moment lately, but it can still feel like “30 minutes of fun squeezed into four hours.” We discuss ways to enjoy the world’s greatest role playing game, while still respecting your time. We have tips for both Dungeon Masters and adventurers, and advice on organizing and running a game for busy adults.

Links for this Episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

117: Night in the Woods

The Short Game — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 12:05:09 -0600

Night in the Woods is an story-focused adventure game that follows college dropout Mae Borowski as she comes home to distressed mining town Possum Springs and tries to reconnect with her family and friends. It’s a wonderfully written and animated story with tons of variety in the gameplay. Also, everyone is a talking animal.

Stick around after the spoiler break (at 45:28) for a discussion of the game’s themes and politics, as well as the ending and memorable story beats.

Night in the Woods is available for PS4, and on Mac/Windows/Linux via Steam and itch.io for $19.99. Expect it to take around 6 to 8 hours to complete.

This week we also have an after-show (at 01:12:00) discussion of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a decidedly not-short game.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Intro
(45:27) - Spoiler Break
(01:12:01) - After Show: The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild

116: Linelight

The Short Game — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 00:38:20 -0600

Linelight is a minimalistic puzzle game from Brett Taylor and his one-man development studio My Dog Zorro. It’s an action puzzle game distilled down to an incredibly streamlined form. We discuss what makes this deceptively simple puzzle game so engaging and even emotional.

Linelight is $9.99 on Steam and Playstation 4. Expect it to take less than five hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

115: 2064 – Read Only Memories

The Short Game — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 01:14:46 -0600

2064: Read Only Memories is a cyberpunk visual novel adventure game from Midboss, the same diverse team behind the GaymerX convention and Gaming in Color, a documentary about LGBTQ people and themes in gaming. Originally released in 2015 as just “Read Only Memories” the new title indicates an updated version that adds all-star voice acting to this 8 hour dialogue-heavy experience. The art is stylish and the characters are cute and appealing, but how is the game?

2064: Read Only Memories is available on Steam (Mac and Windows) and PS4, with PS Vita and mobile versions coming later this year. It’s usually priced at $19.99 but as of this writing it’s also available in the Humble Freedom Bundle. Expect it to take roughly 8 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(37:13) - Spoiler Break

114: Puyo Puyo (Series)

The Short Game — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 01:47:27 -0600

With the English language release of Puyo Puyo Tetris right around the corner (alongside the Nintendo Switch) we take the opportunity to nerd out about our shared love of Puyo popping, the history of the Puyo Puyo series, and the head-to-head puzzle game genre generally. We also talk a bit about our thoughts on the Nintendo Switch itself.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

113: The Room

The Short Game — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 01:41:38 -0600

The Room series is one of the best selling short game franchises on iOS, known for its beautiful animation and tactile mechanics. Each of the three entries expands on the physical puzzle theme, moving from single boxes in Room One to the multi-room Myst-like mansion of The Room Three.

Nate, Shane, and Laura talk about what it means to solve a physical puzzle on a touchscreen, and what we love and hate about the genre in general. We also talk a little bit about our experience with in-person “escape the room” games: one of us ran a bar and another destroyed Chicago.

The Room and its two sequels are available for iOS and Android. The Room and The Room Two are also available on Windows via Steam. Each title is usually priced at $4.99 and take about two to five hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Intro
(40:00) - Spoiler Break
(46:45) - Wrap-up & Admin

112: Pony Island

The Short Game — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 13:00:10 -0600

Pony Island is two-and-a-half hours of puzzles and surprises. Don’t be put off by its retro-glitch aesthetic or its apparent self-satisfied transgressiveness. Once you break through its shell you’ll find a rapid-fire series of clever ideas.

Pony Island is available on Steam for Windows and Mac for $4.99. Expect it to take about 2.5 hours to complete. A hidden ending is available for completionists. Expect that path to take about five hours.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Start
(24:52) - Spoiler Break

111: Overcooked

The Short Game — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 00:38:44 -0600

Couch co-op comes to the kitchen this week as we talk about Overcooked, a culinary party game from Ghost Town Games. Overcooked was one of the most talked about local multiplayer experiences of 2016 so we’re happy to make it our first game of 2017.

Each game of Overcooked takes only a few minutes, and a pair of dedicated chefs can tackle its co-op campaign mode in around six hours. Overcooked is available on Steam for Windows as well as on PS4 and Xbox One. It’s also available on physical disc for both consoles.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

110: Game of the Year 2016

The Short Game — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 16:02:32 -0600

Recorded and edited just before we drop the guillotine on 2016, it’s our Short Game game of the year round up! Stick around for some gaming memories of 2017, and a drunken message of hope for 2017 from Shane. See you next year!

Fifth Place:

Fourth Place:

Abzû

Third Place:

SUPERHOT

Second Place:

Firewatch

Game of the Year 2016:

Inside

Past GOTY episodes:

Some runner-ups:

(00:00) - Opening
(03:32) - 5th: Tie (Severed, Hyperlight Drifter, Thumper)
(12:42) - 4th: Abzu
(16:57) - 3rd: Superhot
(20:13) - 2nd: Firewatch
(23:59) - GOTY: Inside
(27:01) - Runner-ups
(29:25) - 2016 Gaming Memories
(37:20) - Looking forward to 2017

109: Virginia

The Short Game — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 10:30:47 -0600

Virginia is a “first person interactive drama” that tells a mysterious story of an FBI agent on her first. It’s most notable for its unusual editing style, inspired by film and the game Thirty Flights of Loving. It’s also one of the most critically controversial games of the year. Some reviewers showered it in praise (Time Magazine included it on its Game of the Year list 2016) while others dismissed it or gave it poor reviews. (Its Steam user reviews have trended from Mixed to Negative.)

Raygan loved this game, Laura hated it, and Nate and Shane fell somewhere in between. One of our most interesting discussions in a while! Stick around after the spoiler break at 37:33 for a discussion of the mysteries and symbols of the game.

Virginia is available on Steam as well as PS4 and Xbox One for $9.99. Expect it to take an hour and a half to two hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Pre-Spoiler Discussion
(37:33) - Spoiler Break

108: Severed

The Short Game — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 00:53:28 -0600

Severed is a dungeon crawling touch-based action RPG by Guacamelee! developer Drinkbox Studios. First released as a Playstation Vita exclusive, it has since been released on iOS, Android, Nintendo 3DS, and Wii U. (We suggest the iOS or Vita versions.) It’s a worthy follow-up to Guacamelee (though very different!) and an all around great game that will take you 7 to 9 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

107: IFComp 2016 Results

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 10:00:23 -0600

IFComp, the annual interactive fiction competition, has come to a close and we’re discussing the results. How did your favorites do?

We covered many of the games in this year’s competition in our two earlier episodes:

IFComp 2016 Results

Main Voting

5th Place: 16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds by Abigail Corfman
4th Place: Stone Harbor by Liza Daly
3rd Place: Cactus Blue Motel by Astrid Dalmady
2nd Place: Color the Truth by mathbrush
1st Place: Detectiveland by Robin Johnson

Miss Congeniality

3rd Place: Detectiveland by Robin Johnson
2nd Place: Fair by Hanon Ondricek
1st Place: Inside the Facility by Arthur DiBianca

Golden Banana of Discord

A Time of Tungsten by Devin Raposo

Links of note:
Spider and Web by Andrew Plotkin
Golden Banana of Discord trophy

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Intro
(03:54) - 5th: 16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds
(06:40) - 4th: Stone Harbor
(12:06) - 3rd: Blue Cactus Motel
(14:07) - 2nd: Color the Truth
(19:19) - 1st: Detectiveland
(23:36) - Miss Congeniality 3rd: Detectiveland
(25:00) - Miss Congeniality 2nd: Fair
(28:26) - Miss Congeniality 1st: Inside the Facility
(31:30) - Golden Banana of Discord: A Time of Tungsten
(34:50) - Conclusion & Outro

106: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

The Short Game — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 20:59:52 -0600

This week your intrepid hosts fly through the galaxy rescuing space-bunnies in Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime. Does this couch co-op set our hearts aflutter? Or are we hardened to the charms of neon and techno?

Oh, we’re definitely aflutter.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime was developed by Asteroid Base, and is available on consoles (PS4, Xbox One) and Steam/DRM-free (PC, Mac, and Linux). It typically retails for around $15 (though you may already have a copy from Humble Bundle 17.)

Links for this Episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

105: PlayStation VR

The Short Game — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 02:37:08 -0500

Shane bought a PSVR and The Short Game leaves boring old reality behind. We give our impressions of the hardware, and discuss which of the launch games might be interesting to Short Game listeners.

Links for this episode:

VR Games discussed:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

104: More IFComp 2016

The Short Game — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 01:57:09 -0500

We continue our coverage of 2016’s IFComp, the Interactive Fiction Competition. This continues on from The Short Game episode 102, so if you’re just joining you may prefer starting there. This week we’ve picked and played 9 more games, and some of them are really neat!

Games played this week:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro
(03:24) - A Time of Tungsten
(10:04) - The Mouse
(14:23) - The Shoe Dept.
(17:31) - All I Do is Dream
(21:55) - Sigil Reader (Field)
(30:22) - How to Win at Rock Paper Scissors
(35:16) - Take
(41:03) - The Skull Embroidery
(50:11) - Stone Harbor

103: Hyper Light Drifter

The Short Game — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 15:08:59 -0500

Hyper Light Drifter is a tough-as-nails indie action-RPG game that came out earlier this year. After initially bouncing off the game, we gave it a second look and found a lot to like past its punishing skill barrier and intentional obscurity. Stay tuned past the spoiler break for tips on boss order, and for Shane’s impressions of the new PlayStation VR.

Apologies for the delay getting you this episode. We’ll be back very soon with more coverage of IFComp 2016!

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

(00:00) - Hyper Light Drifter
(46:40) - Spoiler Break
(54:56) - PSVR Impressions

102: IFComp 2016

The Short Game — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 00:22:42 -0500

Now in its 22nd year, IFComp (The Interactive Fiction Competition) is
an annual celebration of new text-based games. We covered last year’s competition in a pair of episodes last October, and this year we’re back with our first impression of this year’s entries.

This is IFComp’s biggest year yet, with 58 games competing. All of them are available to play for free on the IFComp website. This episode was recorded on only 2 days after the start of the competition. We share our thoughts on the games we have tried so far, and note some exciting looking games we’ll be trying before the competition concludes in November.

Last year’s episodes:
The Short Game 61: IFComp 2015
The Short Game 63: More IFComp 2015

Rules for the competition

Played and Discussed:

Detectiveland by Robin Johnson
The Queen’s Menagerie by Chandler Groover
Mirror and Queen by Chandler Groover
Blue Cactus Motel by Astrid Dalmady
The Game of Worlds TOURNAMENT! by Ade
Pogoman Go! by Jack Welch and Ben Collins-Sussman
16 Ways to Kill a Vampire at McDonalds by Abigail Corfman
Fair by Hanon Andresek

Mentioned:

Stuff and Nonsense by Felicity Banks
Black Rock City by Jim Munroe
Evermore by Adam Whybray and Edgar Allan Poe
The Shoe Dept. by Aquanet
Color the Truth by Mathbrush

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

101: Waking Mars

The Short Game — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 02:06:29 -0500

Waking Mars is the second game from Tiger Style, developers of Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor and Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon. On the surface this 2012 follow-up to Spider appears to be a more mainstream, unsurprising game than Tiger Style’s first outing, but as it unfurls its tendrils Waking Mars reveals a complex and involving “action gardening” experience that captivated us.

Waking Mars is available on iOS and Android for $5, and on PC, Mac, and Linux for $10. Expect it to take between 5 and 8 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

100: Episode 100

The Short Game — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 17:20:08 -0500

We apply Big Data (okay, an Excel spreadsheet) to all 434 games played or mentioned in our 100 episode run, in an effort to answer the cocktail party question “Oh you have a video game podcast? What should I play?”

We’ve painstakingly catalogued all 434 games mentioned on the show (thanks Laura!) and broken them down into several categories, and ranked them not necessarily on what’s best, but based on what we’d recommend to a friend. We also re-explore what The Short Game is all about, and why we’re still at it after 100 episodes.

Rather than list every game mentioned in this episode in the show notes, here’s a link to our Google Docs outline for the episode which lists everything we mentioned and then some. If you’re interested, here’s our spreadsheet listing every game we’ve mentioned on the show and which episodes they were mentioned on.

This episode includes chapter markers in Overcast and other podcast apps that support chapterized MP3s.

On a personal note, thanks for listening. This show has been a huge force for good in my life and a big part of that has been the incredible interactions I’ve had with listeners. –Raygan

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Intro to The Short Game
(18:30) - Visual or Narrative Experiences
(24:31) - Puzzle Games
(33:30) - Puzzle Platformers
(41:38) - Adventure Games
(45:59) - Endless Runners
(47:16) - Action Platformers
(52:28) - Multiplayer Party Games
(54:00) - Metroidvanias
(56:56) - Silly Games
(59:12) - Interactive Fiction
(01:02:21) - Roguelikes
(01:06:30) - RPGs
(01:09:22) - Action Shooters
(01:12:24) - Unclassifiable/Truly Unique
(01:16:47) - Games about Games
(01:21:58) - Thanks and Outro

99: Pocket Card Jockey

The Short Game — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 18:20:52 -0500

We’re rubbing the Giddyap button this week with hybrid solitaire and horse racing game Pocket Card Jockey, the surprise 3DS release from Pokémon developers Game Freak.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

98: Reigns

The Short Game — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 01:13:33 -0500

This week we’re swiping right on Reigns, a kingdom management interactive fiction game with a Tinder inspired interface. This clever twist on the Choose Your Own Adventure style has turned out to be a surprise hit on iOS, Android, and Steam.

Reigns is just $2.99 across all platforms. Expect it to take around four hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

97: Abzû

The Short Game — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:37:14 -0500

This week we’re exploring the ocean of Abzu, the first game from Journey art director Matt Nava’s Giant Squid Studios.

We loved Journey so naturally we were eager to play the game some have called its spiritual, aquatic successor. But does it the experience hold up?

Abzu is available on Playstation 4 and Steam for $19.99. Expect it to take 2 to 4 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

96: Quadrilateral Cowboy

The Short Game — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 22:57:57 -0500

Quadrilateral Cowboy is the long awaited new game from Brendan Chung and Blendo Games. Its precursor Thirty Flights of Loving was a brief, carefully edited story of crime and romance, but felt like more of a narrative experiment than a full game. Quadrilateral Cowboy expands that concept into a full fledged narrative driven heist game.

The setting, a retro-futuristic alternate 1980s that Brendan Chung calls “20th Century Cyberpunk”, blends perfectly with the angular low-poly art style. Missions are based around using a number of low/high tech tools, like a futuristic command line hacking “deck”, to infiltrate a series of secure locations. As you plan and execute your heists, an involving story unfolds through wordless environmental storytelling.

Quadrilateral Cowboy is available on Steam and through the developer’s website for $19.99, or $29.99 for the deluxe edition. Expect it to take around 6 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

95: Streets of Rage 2

The Short Game — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 01:00:58 -0500

We’re looking back to the 90s this week as we discuss Sega Genesis brawler Streets of Rage 2.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

94: Inside

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 15:18:38 -0500

The latest (second) game from Limbo developers Playdead games is finally here. Inside initially seems like more Limbo; a puzzle platformer. A mysterious, unsettling story told wordlessly, featuring a young boy exploring a spooky environment. If you’re looking for more Limbo you’ll find it here, but Inside quickly begins surprising you with new ideas and beautiful animation. Over its 4-5 hour run time it moves swiftly from pleasant re-exploration of good ideas to an astonishing achievement and perhaps the best game of 2016.

Inside is available on Steam for Windows and on Xbox One for $19.99. (Expect ports to other platforms eventually.)

Inside – official site
The Short Game episode 57 – Limbo

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

93: Wheels of Aurelia

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 00:01:18 -0500

This week we discussed Wheels of Aurelia by developers Santa Ragione. Though technically still in beta, Wheels of Aurelia is a complete experience that expertly blends a driving game with a focus on characters through the use of a interactive fiction. As their website says, “Based on your choices – and the places you’ll decide to visit – you may end up in car chases, illegal street races, or in tense debates that will make you wonder who your travel companions really are.”

Each play session takes 10-20 minutes and can be played on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is available for $4.99 on itch.io. We highly recommend this game for someone looking for a truly unique and extraordinary experience centered around something ordinary we have all done before: having a great conversation while driving.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

92: Board Game Special 2016

The Short Game — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 22:50:43 -0500

Can it really be two years since our last board game special?! This week we’re rounding up the board and card games we’ve been enjoying when not playing short video games. Join us as we talk about that other gaming hobby!

Games and links mentioned on this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

91: Apple Design Awards Winners 2016

The Short Game — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 10:02:23 -0500

As we did in 2014 and 2015, we’ve checked out this year’s Apple Design Award winning games, and we’re back to talk about what they say about iOS as a gaming platform today and in the years to come.

This year’s winners:

Student Winners:

Linum
Dividr

Also mentioned on this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

90: Expand

The Short Game — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 01:04:18 -0500

Expand is an innovative, difficult to classify game about navigating a circular maze that shifts and expands in response to your movement. It’s a really special experience and we highly recommend it.

Expand is available for Mac, PC, and Linux on Itch.io and on Steam for $6, or $10 with the soundtrack. You’ll want that soundtrack, it’s great. Expect it to take about 4 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

89: Human Resource Machine

The Short Game — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 12:36:13 -0500

This week we’re talking about Human Resource Machine from The Tomorrow Corporation. The makers of Short Game favorites Little Inferno and World of Goo have returned last year with a game that is completely different from either of those. It’s a puzzle game in which you use basic programming to solve simple math problems, but we swear it’s more fun that that might make it sound! If you missed Human Resource Machine, now is a great time to give it a second look since it just received a terrific iOS port.

Human Resource Machine is available for Mac, PC, and Linux for $9.99 and on iOS for $4.99. It’s also available on the Wii U, and it has been a part of a couple of Humble Bundles, so check your Steam library! Expect the game to take between 5 and 8 hours.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

88: $5 on Itch.io

The Short Game — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 15:45:12 -0500

This week we are exploring the insanely varied world of indie game marketplace itch.io. Each of our hosts spent $5 on itch and played two or three games from a variety of vibrant micro-indie creators.

If you’re not familiar with Itch.io, it’s most easily summed up as “bandcamp for video games.” Anyone can post their work on Itch and create a custom store page to tell their story. Creators set prices, from zero to whatever they like, and everything works as a “suggested donation” so you can pay whatever you like above the creator-set minimum. It’s a great place for developers to share and sell their work, especially for games that might be too niche to get through a system like Steam Greenlight. Itch also does a wonderful job of fostering a community by featuring a parade of interesting stuff on their homepage and twitter account.

We discuss a bunch of games this week. We have gathered them together into a collection that you can view on itch.

Mentioned on The Short Game: An Itch.io Collection

Played for this episode

Also mentioned:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

87: The Order: 1886

The Short Game — Wed, 18 May 2016 15:46:38 -0500

This week we played the infamously short game The Order: 1886. Can time (and bargain bin pricing) redeem this beautiful flop? The claws come out as out panel debates the good, the bad, and the artfully blurry of this Playstation exclusive third person shooter.

The Order is available physically or on PSN for $20 regular price, exclusively for PS4. Expect it to take between 7 and 10 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

86: Warbits

The Short Game — Tue, 10 May 2016 14:36:15 -0500

This week we’re talking about Warbits, the long awaited iPhone game that captures the feeling (and many of the specific mechanics) of the popular portable turn based strategy Advance Wars. We discuss what makes Warbits so addictive, how it draws inspiration from its predecessors, and how it stakes out its own territory. We also talk about some of our other favorite asynchronous multiplayer games.

Warbits is available on the iOS App Store for $3.99.

Long time Advance Wars fans Raygan and Shane have been getting crushed by Advance Wars newcomer Nate all week. If you want to do the same, start a game with hashtag #shortgame.

Correction: Small World is only available for iPad, not both iPad and iPhone.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

85: The Wolf Among Us

The Short Game — Tue, 03 May 2016 01:18:08 -0500

This week we discuss Telltale’s mystery/noire adventure set in the Fables comic book universe, The Wolf Among Us. Released episodically starting in October 2013, this was Telltale’s follow-up to The Walking Dead. Now that the game has been out for more than two years (and ported to no less than nine platforms including PC/Mac, consoles, and iOS) we revisit this great story that many people (including us) sadly skipped.

The Wolf Among Us consists of five episodes, each about 90 minutes in length. No spoiler break in this episode as we only discuss events occurring in the first episode.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

84: Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 11:44:32 -0500

Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP celebrated its 5th anniversary recently, and we’re looking back at its art and influence. If you missed this game when it first launched on the iPad now is a great time to play it as it has since launched on iPhone, Android, and Steam (PC, Mac, and Linux.) Put on your best headphones and settle in for a memorable groove experience.

SS&S EP is an unconventional point and click adventure game with a focus on music and mood. Art is by Superbrothers (Craig D. Adams) with music by Jim Guthrie and game design by Capy Games.

Expect the game to take about 4 hours to complete. A moon-phase mechanic means some in game events can only be completed when the moon is in certain real-life phases, but this can be skipped without cheating by altering the moon phase at the “Moon Grotto.” It costs about $5 and was included in Humble Bundle V.

Links for this episode

83: Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

The Short Game — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 19:17:42 -0500

This week Laura and Raygan briefly discuss ghostly postage, haunted mansions, and cleansing clerics.

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is our main topic. It’s the fourth game in a series of short metroidvanias, but it doesn’t require knowledge of the other four to enjoy. Expect it to take about five hours to complete. Momodora: RUtM is available on Steam (Windows only) for $9.99.

Photos of the Ghost Post:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

82: Game Dev Story

The Short Game — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 14:33:38 -0500

We’re all game devs this week as we discuss Kairosoft’s Game Dev Story. This early iPhone game was recently updated for newer devices, and the it’s as strange and inexplicably fun as it was in 2010.

Game Dev Story is available for iOS and Android for $4.99. It features no in-app purchase of any kind. Expect it to take around five hours to complete a career.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

81: Assault Android Cactus

The Short Game — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:00:17 -0500

Assault Android Cactus is a fast paced arcade inspired twin-stick shooter that pits a cast of heavily armed androids against wave after wave of killer robots. We missed this overlooked this gem on Steam, but now that it’s out on PS4 we put it through its paces, both in single player and couch co-op.

Expect the campaign mode to take three to five hours to complete. The Infinity Dive, Daily Dive, and Boss Rush modes add significant replayability. It’s available on Steam and PS4 (and coming soon to Playstation Vita and Wii U) for $14.99.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

80: Jazzpunk

The Short Game — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 12:00:34 -0500

This is a weird one! Jazzpunk is comedy adventure game with a Dadaist bent developed by indie duo Necrophone Games and published by Adult Swim. It was released in February 2014 on Steam for PC, Mac, and Linux, and it’s coming soon to the PS4.

Live action Jazzpunk trailer from Adult Swim

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

79: Until Dawn

The Short Game — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 10:00:10 -0600

Until Dawn is a 2015 horror-movie-styled adventure game for the Playstation 4 from relatively unknown developer Supermassive Games. It’s unusual for being a “Triple-A” adventure game, exclusive to the PS4 and with a duration of only around 8 hours. Guide a group of teens through a dangerous array of horror movie tropes!

Horror movie fans will find a lot to love here but reactions to the game have been mixed. Does a $60 8 hour adventure game have a place in the modern gaming landscape?

This is a story-centric game; our spoiler break is at about 35 minutes.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

78: Superhot

The Short Game — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 01:56:25 -0600

Superhot is a first person shooter where time only moves when you do. That’s the elevator pitch that launched the original version of Superhot from a 2013 7 Day FPS game jam contender to an internet darling and Kickstarter success. Three(ish) years later, the full game is out on Steam and Xbox One. Does its clever but simple premise stand up as a larger game?

You have to check out this game. It’s the most innovative shooter I’ve played in years. SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT.

Superhot is available on Steam and the Humble Store for $24.99. Expect it to take about 2-4 hours to complete the game’s story mode.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

77: Firewatch

The Short Game — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 00:42:26 -0600

Firewatch is a narrative first-person mystery game set in a the Wyoming wilderness. It blends the storytelling of “walking simulators” like Gone Home with the narrative dialogue of Telltale adventure gamesgames (and indeed it is written by Sean Vanaman, the writer of Telltale’s Walking Dead.)

It’s very, very good.

Before the spoiler break (at 29 minutes) we discuss the game’s stunning visuals courtesy of designer Olly Moss, environment artist Jane Ng, and the rest of the small but impressive team.

After the spoiler break we discuss the story. This game is full of twists and turns, so make sure you’ve played the game before listening past the break.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

76: Oxenfree

The Short Game — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 13:22:23 -0600

Oxenfree is the first game from Night School Studio, a team with roots at Telltale and Disney. Dialogue takes center stage here, as a bunch of teenagers set off to spend the night on an island that is home to an old military outpost, in a story with equal measures of supernatural horror and teen adventure nostalgia.

Before the spoiler break we discuss the game’s excellent dialogue and painterly art style. After the spoiler break (about 30 minutes in) we discuss the the strange events of the game and the story’s climax.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

75: Tharsis

The Short Game — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 15:01:11 -0600

In Tharsis, you command the crew of the badly damaged Mars mission Iktomi, scrambling to keep the ship’s systems active and the crew alive. In form it’s closer to a solo board game than a typical video game, with on-screen dice and lots of information and resources. Reviews have been divided, with some loving the game’s take on board game mechanics and others being turned away by the game’s punishing difficulty. We discuss the game, who it’s for, and strategy tips on getting your crew safely to Mars.

Tharsis costs $14.99 for Mac and PC on Steam, and is also available for PS4.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

74: Bird Week!

The Short Game — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 01:30:11 -0600

Birds. Nature’s weirdest dudes. This week, we date birds, we defend birds in court, we shoot birds, and we… I guess birds eat bread right?

We’re talking rounding up four games that for whatever reason we didn’t feel like doing a full episode on, which all conveniently follow a theme.

We also talk about our favorite birds from all of video games. Turns out there are a LOT of birds in video games.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

73: Journey

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 10:07:32 -0600

Journey by thatgamecompany and designer Jenova Chen is the game most often suggested to us by listeners, and for good reason. This 2 to 3 hour wordless game experience changed the critical landscape when it launched on the PS3 in 2012, and it continues to be a touchstone for gamers of all sorts. Some of our hosts are returning to this game and others are completely new to it.

Journey is available for download on PS4 and PS3 and is available on disc for PS3 as part of the Journey Collection.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

72: Cibele

The Short Game — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 23:13:52 -0600

Laura and Raygan discuss Cibele by Nina Freeman and Star Maid Games. Autobiographical and naturalistic to a fault, Cibele tells the story of game designer Nina’s first romance (?) with a boy she meets in an online game. Cibele is one of the most personal and authentic stories we’ve ever seen in a video game and it’s appeared on several best of 2015 lists.

This game isn’t for everyone, and our reaction to the game was as complex as the emotions on display. Expect it to take 1 to 2 hours to complete. Cibele costs $8.99 and us available for Mac and PC on Steam and via the author’s website.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank

71: Mushroom 11

The Short Game — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 09:48:54 -0600

Mushroom 11 is a puzzle platformer with a truly unique movement mechanic. You control a green blob (the Mushroom) by destroying and pruning its cells bit by bit and allowing it to move and regrow. The slightly out-of-control and unpredictable feel combines with clever puzzle designs to provide one of the best puzzle platform games of 2015.

Mushroom 11 is available on Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux for $14.99. (Currently on sale for $10 as of this writing.) Expect it to take between 6 and 8 hours to complete.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

70: Game of the Year 2015

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 12:15:07 -0600

With just a few days left in 2015 we round up our favorite short games of the year.

3) Her Story

2) Tie between Rocket League and The Magic Circle

The Short Game Game of the Year 2015
Undertale

Also Ranked

Other games mentioned in this episode:

Other links:
– DATING START (MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS VER.)by Slime Girls
– New Yorker GOTY list 2015
– Time Magazine GOTY list 2015
– Watch Out For Fireballs EPISODE 63: DISHONORED

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
Like the show? Support us by telling a friend or writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

69: Ori and the Blind Forest

The Short Game — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 10:53:36 -0600

We finally catch up on a game we’ve meant to play since March. Ori and the Blind Forest is a beautiful Miyazaki inspired Metroidvania style romp through a lush forest landscape full of bright characters and fluid animation. We discuss the game’s beautiful art style, its “story” (such as it is,) and compare it with some other high-profile indie Metroidvania style games like Axiom Verge.

Ori and the Blind Forest is available for Xbox One and Windows (Steam) for $19.99. Expect it to take about 7.5 to 9 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

68: Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist

The Short Game — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 16:06:43 -0600

Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist is a 15 minute free heist game from Crows Crows Crows, a new development studio headed by William Pugh, one of the creators of The Stanley Parable. It’s totally free, and absolutely certain to put a huge smile on your face.

Saying more would almost spoil it. So naturally, we talk about it for over half an hour.

We start by catching up on what your hosts have been up to since our last episode, including Laura’s new PS4 and Raygan’s trip to Playstation Experience. After the spoiler break at about 23 minutes in we discuss the game in depth.

If you haven’t already, go grab Dr. Langeskov on itch.io or Steam.

Links for this episode:

For some reason we all decided to share our PSN IDs on this episode. They are as follows:

Laura: spiderlaura
Raygan: raygan
Nate: getpaid4free
Shane: 8bitshane

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

(00:00) - Spoiler free discussion of Dr. Langeskov
(03:46) - What have we been up to?
(22:17) - Spoiler Break
(39:41) - Outro

67: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

The Short Game — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 13:01:37 -0600

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes has more in common with party games played with boards or cards than with most video games. You play it in person with friends, one of whom is the bomb-defuser, looking at a simulated bomb on their laptop (or VR headset) with the others trying to talk them through the complex defusing process with the help of a hilariously complex bomb defusal manual. It’s a game designed to facilitate fun communication, minor panics, and hilarious mistakes.

Each round/bomb takes about 5 minutes to play/defuse. The game is available on Steam for Windows PC, as well as for Samsung Gear VR in the Oculus Store.

Also mentioned in this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

66: Undertale Spoilers!

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 14:35:26 -0600

We’re back with more discussion of Undertale, but this time we’re talking about the story, characters, and endings! This all-spoiler episode follows up on our spoiler free discussion of the game, so if you haven’t played the game, start there!

Thanks for nerding out about Undertale with us some more. Next week we will be back with a quick episode on bomb-defusing pseudo-party-game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes! We’ll also be discussing the results of the 2015 IFComp interactive fiction competition.

Undertale Review – Giant Bomb

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

65: Undertale

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 12:58:50 -0600

The initial version of this episode had a sound issue with Shane’s track that has since been corrected. If you hear any gaps in the audio, please delete and re-download the episode. Sorry for the inconvenience.

This week we’re talking about Undertale by Toby Fox. Described as “the RPG where you don’t have to destroy anyone,” Undertale turned out to be one of the sweetest, funniest, and ultimately most moving games we’ve played.

In the interest of preserving Undertale’s many surprises, we’ve trying a different format this week. This episode is entirely spoiler free. We discuss the game’s unique gameplay and humor, and give a few tips for enjoying it fully. Next week we’ll be returning with a short episode covering details of the story and endings.

Editor’s Note: This is a strong contender for my Game of the Year. Don’t miss it! – Raygan

Undertale is available for Mac and Windows, through Steam, the Humble Store, and the developer’s website, for $9.99. Expect it to take around 10 hours to complete.

Here’s a link to the Temmie Armor, mentioned near the end of the episode.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

(00:00) - Intro
(06:36) - Story
(12:20) - Pixel art
(13:56) - Music
(17:36) - Combat
(24:54) - Puzzles
(29:28) - Making Friends
(36:44) - Saves
(38:50) - Tips
(49:18) - Wrap-up

64: Life is Strange Wrap-up (Episodes 3-5)

The Short Game — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 00:24:37 -0600

In this special episode of The Short Game we are recapping the final acts of Life is Strange, a game we started covering when its first episodic chapter released early this year. If you are new to Life is Strange, start by playing the game or with our first episode on it, but if you’ve completed the game, listen in for some in-depth discussion of the triumphs and frustrations of this important game.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

63: More IFComp 2015

The Short Game — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 11:22:46 -0500

Continuing on with our coverage of IFComp (the Interactive Fiction Competition) we’re back with brief impressions of 11 more games from this year’s whopping 55 entries. Be sure to check out Episode 61 for more games and some background on IFComp.

IFComp 2015 Games Covered in This Episode

Untold Riches by Jason Ermer
Unbeknown by A. DeNiro
The Baker of Shireton by Hanon Ondricek
Taghairm by Chandler Groover
SPY INTRIGUE by furkle
Grandma Bethlinda’s Variety Box by Arthur DiBianca
Ether by Mathbrush
Duel by piato
The King and the Crown by Wes Lesley
Forever Meow by Moe Zilla
A Figure Met in a Shaded Wood by Michael Thomet

Click Here for Download/Play Online links for all 2015 IFComp games

Correction: We described Solarium, by Alan DeNiro, from the 2013 IFComp, as a parser game. It is in fact a Twine game like his 2015 entry.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

62: The Beginner’s Guide

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 16:49:11 -0500

This week we’re talking about The Beginner’s Guide, the new game from Davey Wreden. Wreden’s first game, The Stanley Parable, was the topic of the second episode of The Short Game way back in the distant past (last year.) We loved it, to say the least. This game is a very different beast, and it covers some pseudo-autobiographical territory. Wreaden narrates as he presents a collection of short games by a (fictional) friend, Coda, and explains what each one means to him. But Wreden and Coda have a more complex relationship than is initially on display. The collection delves into deep psychological and ethical waters during its short run-time.

The Beginner’s Guide is available for $9.99 on Steam and the Humble Store for Mac and PC. Expect it to take just an hour and a half to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

61: IFComp 2015

The Short Game — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 11:46:14 -0500

IFComp, the interactive fiction competition, is the longest running and most important event in the interactive fiction scene. Each year dozens of interactive fiction authors submit new work of all kinds, from hardcore parser puzzle games to experimental Twine games, and this year a record 55 games were submitted! With a timely assist from Emily Short we selected a few of this year’s most intriguing entires and bring you some brief impressions. With so many games to try, this is likely just the beginning of our IFComp coverage!

IFComp 2015 Games Covered in This Episode
– 5 Minutes to Burn Something! by Alex Butterfield
– Arcane Intern (Unpaid) by Astrid Dalmady
– Brain Guzzlers from Beyond! by Steph Cherrywell
– Laid Off from the Synesthesia Factory by Katherine Morayati
– Map by Ade
– Midnight. Swordfight. by Chandler Groover
– Sub Rosa by Joey Jones & Melvin Rangasamy

Click here for a ballot and download links for all of the 2015 IFComp entries

Planning on playing along or voting in this year’s IFComp? Let us know your impressions! Use our Contact form or contact us on Twitter at @_shortgame!

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

60: Super Time Force Ultra

The Short Game — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 13:18:47 -0500

It’s Contra meets that-one-level-in-Braid with Super Time Force Ultra! S.T.F.U. was developed by Capy Games (of Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP fame.) It’s a fast paced shooter who’s unique time-out mechanic lets you approach the frenetic bullet-hell madness a bit more like a puzzle game.

Initially launched in 2014 on Xbox 360, Super Time Force Ultra (a newly expanded version) is also available through Steam (Windows only) and on PS4 and Playstation Vita, where it launched in September 2015 as a part of the Playstation Plus program.

Depending on skill and play-style, expect the game to take 4 to 6 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

Shortisode: Laserlife

The Short Game — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 10:17:29 -0500

Laserlife is a game almost too high-concept to exist. A existential-music-biography game in which you play as a laser-based life form investigating the corpse of a human astronaut it finds drifting through deep space. Also there’s techno music. It’s pretty neat!

Laserlife released yesterday (timely!) on PS4 and Steam for PC and Mac for $15 and is coming to Xbox One in late October. It is designed to be completed in a single sitting, two to three hours.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your (solo) host this week was:
– Raygan Kelly – @raygank

59: Porpentine: Eczema Angel Orifice

The Short Game — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 18:46:36 -0500

Porpentine Charity Heartscape is one of the most fascinating figures in interactive fiction. This week we discuss her collected Twine works, released as a nicely packaged collection entitled Eczema Angel Orifice, released in June of 2015. Porpentine’s work is in turns hilarious, insightful, heartbreaking, sexy, unsettling, and beautiful. We discuss some of her more well known works and touch briefly on some of the deep cuts included in the collection.

ECZEMA ANGEL ORIFICE is available from the author’s website or through itch.io. It contains 25 stories, each of which may take between an hour and 5 minutes to experience.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

58: Volume

The Short Game — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 23:46:33 -0500

Have you played Thomas Was Alone dev Mike Bithell’s newest? Volume looks great and brings the classic sneak-em-up gameplay, but how does its writing compare to Bithell’s vaunted debut effort?

We also catch up with Laura about her visit to Bit Bash Chicago, and with Raygan and Shane about Until Dawn and OlliOlli 2.

Links for this episode:

See Laura’s photos from BitBash Chicago!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

57: Limbo

The Short Game — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 11:41:13 -0500

This week we discuss 2012 indie darling Limbo, which recently arrived on PS4. Limbo is a puzzle platformer with a darkly cartoonish black and white art style and a focus on repeated, brutal, and utterly delightful deaths. Limbo has won numerous awards and been ported to basically everything with a processor and screen, including previous and current generation consoles, Steam, and iOS. Expect it to take 3 to 4 hours to complete.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

56: Summer Games Grab Bag

The Short Game — Wed, 26 Aug 2015 18:14:28 -0500

Rather than focus on a single game this week we round up some of the new and exciting short games we’ve been playing this summer. It’s been a really interesting summer for short games with lots of new stuff out now or on the horizon!

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

55: Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon

The Short Game — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:37:03 -0500

We welcome Shane back to the podcast by discussing the Spider series from Tiger Style games. Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor (2009) was one of the iOS App Store’s earliest break-out hits and it still stands out as a great example of environmental storytelling and innovative touch-native design. The sequel, Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon returns to the form of the original while expanding on it with new game mechanics and larger, more detailed levels.

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is available on the iOS app store for $1.99. A separate HD version is available for iPad.
Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon is a multi-platform release, currently out on iOS and Android ($5) and Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux ($12). It’s also coming soon to Playstation 4 and PS Vita.

It’s difficult to give an estimated time to complete this game as different people will approach it with different goals. An observant player can probably explore all of Blackbird Estate in around 5 hours.

Links for this episode:

WE HEAR AND OBEY. Update your Spider #ShroudedMoon. We changed it so YOU DON'T HAVE TO SOLVE PUZZLES TO PROGRESS. http://t.co/Z0ZGlD5lMv

— TIGER STYLE (@tigerstylegames) August 13, 2015

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

54: The Magic Circle

The Short Game — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:40:52 -0500

The Magic Circle is something really unique. In this thoughtful, darkly comic first person puzzle game, you play as the hero of an unfinished video game. The developers have failed you, and it’s your task to break the game and use the powers of the “gods” against them in freeform sandbox puzzles. It’s full of surprises at every turn and packed with commentary on the video game industry, gamers, and what it means to create art.

This game has gotten a criminally small amount of coverage in the press, but it may be our favorite game of 2015 so far. Don’t miss it! The Magic Circle is available on Steam for Mac and PC for $19.99. A free demo is also available. Expect it to take 3 to 4 hours to complete.

We have the Spoiler Break at about 30 minutes in. This game is full of surprises you won’t want to spoil for yourself, so if you haven’t played it do yourself a favor and stop at the spoiler break and give this game a try.

Links for this episode:

Played on Mac OS X using review copies courtesy of the developer.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

53: Attack of the Friday Monsters!

The Short Game — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 09:01:10 -0500

It’s a warm summer day in 1971 and the kaiju are roaming the countryside. We discuss the lovely 3DS eShop game Attack of the Friday Monsters from veteran Japanese game developers Millennium Kitchen, creators of the similarly quaint and nostalgic Boku no Natsuyasumi series. This is one of the most unique and down right pleasant games on the 3DS and entirely worth its short play time. Expect your summer afternoon with Sohta and his friends to take between two and four hours.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl

52: Contrast

The Short Game — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 16:46:34 -0500

This week we discuss Contrast, a flawed but interesting puzzle platformer for PC and consoles. Contrast has an appealing 1920s cabaret aesthetic and a really neat shadow-merging mechanic that had a lot of promise, but the game didn’t resonate with most critics. Is the game worth its three-to-four-hour playtime?

Contrast is available on Steam (Windows), Playstation 4, and Xbox One, as well as previous generation consoles, and costs $14.99. Expect it to take three to four hours to complete.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

51: Her Story (with developer Sam Barlow)

The Short Game — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 13:00:31 -0500

Her Story by Sam Barlow (and starring Viva Seifert) is a game about a woman talking to the police. You are tasked with re-investigating a murder that took place in 1994 by watching a series of police interview videos, trying to discover the facts of a case that seems long-since closed. Your only tools is a very retro and partially broken police database of footage and your own sense of deduction.

This is one of the most unique games we’ve played and you should not miss it.

We begin this episode with an interview with the developer himself, Sam Barlow (@mrsambarlow), and then share our impressions. After the spoiler-break, we discuss our theories about the crime.

Her Story is available for PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad for $5 or $6 depending on platform. Expect it to take 2 to 5 hours to completely explore.

Links for this episode:

Mentioned in the interview:

Aisle – Wikipedia
Aisle on the Interactive Fiction Database (including link to download or play online)
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Viva Seifert
Starship Titanic
Synapse Software
Synapse IF games available as abandonware
Simogo
- We have previously discussed Simogo’s Year Walk and Device 6
Blackbar
Attack of the Friday Monsters
Cinema Paradiso (film)

From our discussion:

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

“My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in our family is dead.”

After show:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

50: Framed

The Short Game — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 11:46:46 -0500

We’re back with our 50th episode, and for our golden anniversary as a show we’re talking about the stylish comic-book-turned-game, Framed for iOS. This game comes to us from Loveshack, a studio formed by refugees of the EA acquisition and subsequent destruction of early iOS powerhouse Firemint (developers of Flight Control and Real Racing.)

In Framed, you’ll swap the panels of comic book style pages around to re-order events, often with surprising results. It’s a beautiful and stylish 2-hour experience that Hideo Kojima called the best game of 2014.

Played "FRAMED" by Liveshack. High sense of gameplay, graphic, & sound. My best game in this year without any doubt. pic.twitter.com/OFy9c9KTHU”

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) November 22, 2014

Links for this episode

Hey Any Parties In The #Prescott #Area Tonight? Especially Ones With Underage Children (Like Me) Consuming Alcohol? Email Me The Coordinates

— Not A Cop (@NotAPoliceman) September 22, 2012

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

49: Apple Design Award Winners 2015

The Short Game — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 13:04:18 -0500

In what’s becoming a bit of a tradition, hosts Nate, Shane, and Laura discuss the six games that won Apple Design Awards at WWDC 2015. While this year’s awards seemed to focus on the use of Apple’s Metal API and innovative use of the “freemium” platform, each game provides a unique experience and really showcases iOS as a gaming platform. We also make sure to point out a few games we felt were snubbed (COUGH COUGH ALTO’S ADVENTURE COUGH COUGH), and couldn’t resist talking about some of the recent news from E3 (FALLOUT HYPE).

Apple Design Award Winners:

Student Winners:

You can also hear our report on last year’s Apple Design Awards way back in The Short Game episode 11.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

48: Helldivers

The Short Game — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 23:46:49 -0500

Raygan and Shane fly solo this week as Raygan visits his bro-host in person! (Please forgive any dip in audio quality.) We discuss Helldivers for Playstation 4, Playstation 3, and Playstation Vita.

Helldivers, from the makers of Magika, is a top-down four-player co-op dual-stick shooter. (That was four, count ’em four hyphens!) It may appear a little generic at first, but it has some of the most thought out game balance of any online co-op game we’ve ever played. We discuss the many design decisions that lead to making this the rare online game that’s fun to play with literally anyone.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

47: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (with guest host Gary Butterfield)

The Short Game — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 08:00:37 -0500

In this special double-length episode, guest host Gary Butterfield of Watch Out For Fireballs! joins us to discuss The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

As you may know, Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to Link to the Past for the SNES, taking place in the same overworld and with many of the same mechanics. It manages to be both deeply nostalgic and incredibly innovative, updating the classic formula with many clever new game mechanics. It also respects your time, with a streamlined structure that allows you to complete the adventure in about 15 hours.

We discuss what makes this the most innovative Zelda game in years, compare and contrast it with its predecessors, and learn about Nate’s strange, sad history as a Navi sympathizer.

Links (heh) for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Gary Butterfield – @garybuh
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

Laura intended to join us for this episode, but was sidelined due to illness. We missed you Laura!

46: Hearthstone

The Short Game — Wed, 27 May 2015 10:19:20 -0500

Special guest Nate Heagy, founder and developer of Amuses Me Games and die-hard Hearthstone player joins us to discuss the hugely successful digital-native collectible card game from Blizzard.

Hearthstone is a bit different from the games we typically cover but it’s a fascinating re-thinking of an existing genre made clearly with fitting-into-your-life in mind. It’s an open-ended experience played almost exclusively online against real people, and it’s a free-to-play game funded by microtransactions and purchases of digital collectibles. All these are things that, in most instances, we kind of hate, yet Hearthstone is a fascinating and instructive example of smart design and general polish that rises above these labels.

We discuss the smart design of the game and why it works where other digital card games have failed, and Nate offers us some advice for new players on picking a class, crafting cards, and winning matches.

Hearthstone is free-to-play for iOS, Android, PC, and Mac. Expect to spend perhaps an hour learning the rules and completing the tutorial. Each match/game to can be completed in around 10 minutes.

Thanks to Nate Heagy for joining us on this episode!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Guest Host Nate Heagy – @amusesmegames
Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

45: Spring Thing 2015 – Interactive Fiction Festival

The Short Game — Wed, 13 May 2015 09:50:47 -0500

This week we talk about the entrants for this year’s Spring Thing interactive fiction festival. Spring Thing is an offshoot of IFComp that focuses on new works (they must debut as a part of the festival) that are freely available, and generally shorter and more experimental than IFComp entries. We collectively played all but one of this year’s entrants and talk about them in detail.

We recorded this on the evening that the voting closed for the Spring Thing Audience Choice ribbon. The winners have since been announced, and Toby’s Nose won both the Audience Choice and the Alumni Choice awards!

We also discuss the results of this year’s XYZZY awards, and some other interactive fiction. This is only the beginning of our coverage of the interactive fiction competition/festival scene, so stay tuned!

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

44: Katamari Damacy

The Short Game — Wed, 06 May 2015 10:45:22 -0500

Na Na, nanananana na na na Katamari Damacy!

This week we’re rolling it all up and talking about this cult hit from 2004. One of the best pick-up-and-play games of that generation, Katamari Damacy still stands out as a truly unique and wonderful game. We discuss a bit about the game’s history, gush about the great soundtrack, and swap Katamari memories.

Katamari Damacy is available for PS2 (disk) and PS3 (PSN download.) As an arcade-inspired game, it can be completed in just a few hours but leaves much room for replay value and score attacks.

Katamari Damacy – Wikipedia
Katamari Damacy for PS2 on Amazon – Around $15
Katamari Damacy® – PSN download for PS3 – $9.99

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

43: The Unfinished Swan

The Short Game — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 12:12:50 -0500

This week we’re discussing The Unfinished Swan, an experimental first person exploration game on Sony platforms from Giant Sparrow. This is a really unique game with some incredible visuals and mechanics. Most famously, it begins in a completely white void where your only way to navigate is to paint the walls and surroundings with a black paint gun, creating/discovering striking 3D monochrome visuals. The game is full of stunningly original ideas; the first 15 minutes alone are worth the price of admission.

The Unfinished Swan is available on PS3, PS4 and PS Vita, typically at $14.99 though it is frequently part of bundles or sales. Expect it to take about 3-5 hours to complete.

UPDATE: The Unfinished Swan will be a part of the Playstation Plus free games for May 2015. If you’re a PS+ member, make sure to check out this great game!

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

Life is Strange Book Club: Episode 2 – Out of Time

The Short Game — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 19:17:07 -0500

This week we’re releasing two – that’s right two episodes. This first one is a continuation of our Life is Strange book club. We eschew our regular format to return to the world of teen drama, time powers, botched diner breakfast orders, and wandering around in junk yards looking for garbage.

Watch this space in just a few days for this week’s regular episode, focusing on The Unfinished Swan

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

42: Pinball! – Physical and Simulated Pinball Games

The Short Game — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 10:23:37 -0500

Wait, isn’t this a video games podcast? Well, kinda. This week, we’re talking about pinball!

We start with a discussion of playing real, actual, physical pinball in 2015. It’s getting hard to find pinball games at arcades, movie theaters, and drug stores, yet somehow it’s never been easier to find pinball tables to play, if you know where to look. We also discuss some notable pinball video games and simulations, from the very realistic to hybrid games like pinball-RPG Rollers of the Realm.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

41: Escape Goat 2

The Short Game — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 18:27:33 -0500

A goat that solves puzzles to escape a magical tower with the help of his little mouse friend. Sure why not. This week we play Escape Goat 2 by MagicalBeanTime and published by Doublefine.

This game has expertly-crafted puzzles perfect for long time puzzle platform players, but has a smooth difficulty curve and low skill barrier that should make it a great game for players at any level. We discuss our thoughts on the puzzle design, and try to fill in the details of the minimalistic goat-themed story.

Escape Goat 2 is available on Steam and PS4 for $20. Best experienced in short dips of a few levels at a time, expect Escape Goat 2 to take around 5 hours to complete (but potentially much more to clear 100%.)

Links for this episode:

Escape Goat (the original)

Other puzzle platforms

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Shortisode 4: More Game Music!

The Short Game — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:52:39 -0500

Following up on our previous Shortisode on Game Music, this week we discuss… more game music!

Nate wasn’t able to join us last time, so we hear his picks and those of some listeners and friends. This was fun to edit.

Note: An earlier version of this episode was published which included an editing error that left large gaps missing after the 16 minute mark. This release corrects the error. We’re releasing it as a separate episode post to ensure folks who already downloaded the first version get the good copy. Sorry for the duplication!

Picks

Nate’s Picks:
– Duck Tales – The Moon
– Sonic the Hedgehog – Green Hill Zone Theme
– Katamari Damacy – Katamari on the Rocks
– Civilization IV – Baba Yetu

Molly’s Picks:
– Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker – Dragon Roost Island
– Banjo-Kazooie: Click Clock Wood (Spring)
– Final Fantasy X: Besaid Island

Justin’s Picks:
– The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – Tal Tal Heights
– Final Fantasy VI – Shadows Theme
– Metroid Prime – Space Pirates Battle

Listener Michael’s Picks:
– Timeline (PC) Title Theme
– The Longest Journey Soundtrack

Other links:
Bastion – Spike in a Rail
Bear Hive

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

40: Grim Fandango

The Short Game — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 10:21:19 -0500

Grim Fandango is arguably the last mass-market adventure game, and is indisputably a great classic of the genre. Tim Schaffer’s last LucasArts adventure is a stunning amalgam of film noir storytelling, Mexican day of the dead and Art Deco imagery, and Aztec mythology into a sublime (if slightly dated) storytelling experience.

Playing this nearly 20 year old game can be a bit daunting, even with the great remaster. We discuss how to get the most out of this great while avoiding the frustration that comes along with its slightly antique game design.

Grim Fandango Remastered is available on PC, Mac, and Linux, and on the PS4 and PS Vita consoles. It’s a steal at only $15! Expect it to take between 7 and 12 hours to complete, depending on your reliance on hints or walkthroughs.

Walkthroughs

Eurogamer walkthrough
Grim Fandango Hints from UHS – Desktop site
Grim Fandango Hints from UHS – Mobile site (less ugly)

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

39: Life is Strange – Chapter 1 (Chrysalis)

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 10:20:16 -0500

This week begins our sort-of-book-club on the ongoing episodic adventure game Life is Strange. Told in what can only be described as the “Telltale” style, this series of 5 episodes follows Max Caufield, an 18 year old art school student who witnesses a murder and discovers she has the ability to rewind time. It’s a high school mystery!

Only the first episode is currently out (as of early March 2015) so we’re not treating this as a review, just talking about the game and what we think of it so far. We’ll be following the rest of the episodes as they are released, maybe with full episodes, or maybe just as follow-up. Let us know what you prefer!

So far we really liked it!

Life is Strange is available for basically every major platform including Windows (through Steam), PS3/PS4, and Xbox 360/One. It is priced at $5 per episode or $20 for the complete game. A demo is available. Expect each episode to take between two and four hours to complete.

links

The Walking Dead by Telltale Games
Storify: 80 Days at GDC (with images, tweets)
The Wolf Among Us by Telltale Games
Why did we talk about these…

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

38: Alto’s Adventure and Endless Runners

The Short Game — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 15:19:00 -0500

This week our podcast literally can not stop running/falling/snowboarding as we discuss the Endless Runner genre. This sometimes celebrated, sometimes maligned mobile focused offshoot of the platform genre is (believe it or not) full of awesome games amongst all the shovelware.

We talk in depth about the beautiful new endless snowboarder Alto’s Adventure, as well as run down the short history of the genre while calling out notable, quality examples.

Raygan would like to re-iterate that his high score in Alto’s Adventure is 130,881. Thank you.

Links:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

37: Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 12:06:03 -0600

This week’s topic is Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition. (That’s a long title for such a short game!) Guacamelee is a “Metroidvania” with combo-based, beat-’em-up combat, and it’s a game we’ve been looking forward to covering on this show since we recorded our first episode. It’s really, really good.

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (the third revision of the game after the original release and the Gold Edition) is available for ALL THE PLATFORMS:
– Steam (Windows) – $14.99
– PS4 – $14.99 (Original version also available for PS3 and PS Vita)
– Xbox One – $14.99 (Original version also available for Xbox 360)
– Wii U – $14.99

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

36: 80 Days

The Short Game — Tue, 24 Feb 2015 09:59:09 -0600

“I have entered into the service of a new gentleman. It would seem he is a gambling man.”

80 Days by Inkle Studios is a video game adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel of world travel and adventure. It’s also one of the best games of 2014. It was named the Time Magazine Game of the Year and was also honored by numerous other publications and critics. This week we look at what makes this interactive storybook based on a familiar tale so very, very compelling, and discuss some of the exciting details of our own trips around the world.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Shortisode 3: Game Music

The Short Game — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 11:40:34 -0600

This week we’re taking another short break from regular format to talk about our favorite video game music!

Did we miss your favorite soundtrack? (We probably did!) Let us know! We’ll play followup to this episode in a future show.

Picks:

Fez – Adventure
Super Mario Galaxy – Star Festival
Chrono Trigger
Chrono’s theme
Frog’s Theme
Festival of Stars
Sim City 3000 – Building
Nights into Dreams – Take the Snow Train
(Shane says Dreamcast when he means Saturn. We regret the error.)
VVVVVV – Pushing Onwards
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker – Title Screen (10 hour loop!)
Dragon Roost Island

Also mentioned:
– Bastion
– Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery
– Canabalt
– Machinarium
– Scott Pilgrim vs The World The Game

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

35: The Swapper

The Short Game — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 11:32:00 -0600

The Swapper is a surprisingly awesome 2D puzzle platformer from small Finnish indie developers Facepalm Games. Released for PC/Mac/Linux in May 2013, it’s now also available for current generation Playstation and Nintendo consoles. Its puzzle design and mechanics are often compared to Portal (though it is a very unique game on its own) and it has an unusual art style, accomplished by building all the in game objects out of clay and photographing them to create the in-game graphics.

Expect the game to take between 5 and 8 hours to complete, depending on what kind of crazy clone swapping puzzle solving space genius you are.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Nate’s Saint Louis Cardinals baseball podcast, Talking About Birds is returning for another season. Check it out!

34: Machinarium

The Short Game — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 10:15:05 -0600

Machinarium, a point and click adventure game by Czech game developers Amanita Design, is our topic this week. Released in 2009, it was their first full-length adventure game after numerous web-based titles. It has been widely praised for its gorgeous art style and a charming story told entirely without dialogue.

Machinarium is available for numerous platforms, including Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and the PS3 and Playstation Vita. A web-based demo is available at their website. It was included in Humble Indie Bundle #2 in 2010 and the Humble Botanicula Debut bundle in 2012.

Expect the game to take about 5 to 6 hours to complete.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

33: To The Moon

The Short Game — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 19:11:57 -0600

To The Moon by Freebird Games is our topic this week. When it came out in 2011 this game was hailed as a triumph of video game storytelling. Using the visual language of 90s RPGs, To The Moon tells the story of a pair of scientists investigating and altering the memories of a dying man to retroactively fulfill his life’s wish: to go to the moon.

To The Moon is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux through Steam and The Humble Store for $9.99. Expect it to take about 4 hours to complete.

Links for this episode:

Our next game:

Machinarium
Machinarium Demo

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

32: Gunpoint

The Short Game — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 11:57:49 -0600

Gunpoint by Tom Francis aka Suspicious Developments is our topic this week. Tom Francis began his game industry career with 9 years as a writer for PC Gamer, and this game is his response to what he learned in his years of game criticism. It was so successful that he was able to quit his boring day job as a games journalist and become an indie game developer full time!

@GunpointGame on Twitter
Developer Tom Francis (@Pentadact) on Twitter

Gunpoint is a puzzle platformer for PC, Mac, and Linux. You can buy it for $9.99 from the developer’s website or on Steam. We recommend buying it through the Humble Store for both a Steam key and a DRM free copy. Expect it to take 3-4 hours to complete

Links for this episode:

How Reviewing Games for Nine Years Helped in Designing Gunpoint – GDC13 Video – 25 min
Heat Signature – Tom Francis’s next game. Looks great!
The Marvelous Miss Take

Join us again next week, as we discuss To The Moon.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame
See our list of upcoming games, and make suggestions..

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash
Nate Heininger – @natestl

31: Interactive Fiction

The Short Game — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 11:42:28 -0600

The Short Game attempts to discuss an entire genre-defying medium of game design: text-based interactive fiction. That’s right, we’re talking about old-school text adventures, but also newer developments like Twine games and more interactive text driven games.

We discuss the history of interactive fiction, the interactive fiction scene today, and recommend a number of games that might be good for beginners or anyone interested in a good interactive read.

Please forgive our decrease in audio quality this week; we were traveling and recording under less-than-ideal conditions.

(Lots of) Links for this episode:

Colossal Cave Adventure
Zork
Interview with the creators of Zork, in the form of a text adventure
Infocom
Feelies
Planetfall Feelies
Bureaucracy Feelies
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Infocom Adventure
Twine – an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories
Inform – a design system for creating parser IF
IFComp – An annual celebration of new, text-driven digital games and stories from independent creators.
Lost Treasures of Infocom for iOS
IFDB – Interactive Fiction Database
Emily Short on the IFDB
Galatea by Emily Short
Frotz for iOS – A great application for playing parser-based IF on iOS
Child’s Play
Savoir-Faire
The Dreamhold – A free IF adventure designed for people who’ve never played IF before, by master IF designer Andrew Plotkin. Our highest recommendation for newcomers!
Spider and Web
Lost Pig
Choice of the Dragon
Counterfeit Monkey
Creatures Such As We – IFComp winner, “A dating sim about how humanity connects through art, even out in the vastness of space.”
King of Dragon Pass
Fallen London aka Echo Bazaar
Icebound
Xyzzy Awards
Spring Thing
People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction – How to Play Card
Brass Lantern – Beginners Page
Inform (parser-based) Interactive Fiction Interpreters
Hadean Lands by Andrew Plotkin
80 Days
Blood & Laurels

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

30: Call of Juarez – Gunslinger

The Short Game — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 13:01:28 -0600

The fourth game in the Call of Juarez series is its first download-only title. Gunslinger follows Silas Greaves, an over-the-top bounty hunter, whose narration carries the show and whose quest for vengeance drives the plot.

Gunslinger was overlooked by many because its predecessor in the series, Call of Juarez: The Cartel, was so poorly received. In 2013, it was also unusual for a large publisher like Ubisoft to release a game in a download-only format, and many took this as a statement on the game’s quality. The game was well received, however, with many positive reviews.

Gunslinger combines the pervasive, unreliable narrator of a game like Bastion with reliably fun arcade-style shooting style and a story straight out of an old west dime novel. It’s a ton of fun.

Expect the game to take about 5 hours to complete.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is available for the following platforms:

Windows PC (Steam) – $15
- Also available in a double pack with Far Cry 4: Blood Dragon – $24.99
Playstation 3 (PSN) – $15
Xbox 360 (Xbox Live) – $15

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Nate Heininger – @natestl

29: Game of the Year

The Short Game — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 10:08:07 -0600

In the final show for 2014, we are counting down our picks for The Short Game game of the year:

3 – Shovel Knight

Shovel Knight is an incredible throwback to the NES, but with a modern indie game energy. Arguably the best platformer of the last decade. Available for PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U, and 3DS, and coming soon to PS3, PS4, and PS Vita.

2 – A tie between Threes and A Dark Room

These two simple iOS games really captured us, but for very different reasons. Threes is the most perfect, simple puzzle game since Tetris, and A Dark Room begins as a simple text-driven adventure but iterates its way out into a deep emotional journey. Both games are definitive mobile game experiences you shouldn’t miss.

1 – Game of the Year: Transistor

Transistor by Super Giant Games blew us away with its beautiful art and deep, fun action-RPG combat. It’s a nearly perfect game that shows you a lot in your first 6-7 hour play through, but rewards dedicated players with a new-game-plus mode that expands on the combat system in really compelling ways. This game is destined to be a classic. Pick it up on PC, Mac, or Linux (Steam) or PS4.

Personal Picks

We each also wanted to mention a game that we thought deserved special attention, even though it didn’t place in our rankings.

Laura – Lords of Waterdeep for iOS

This iOS adaptation of the Wizards of the Coast board game shines as a great pass-and-play experience.

Nate – FTL: Advanced Edition

This free expansion to the incredible FTL: Faster than Light reinvigorated Nate’s unhealthy obsession with this short but infinitely re-playable rogue-like.

Shane – Nidhogg

Nominally a fencing game, Nidhogg is actually a tool designed to destroy relationships. An accessible one-on-one fighting game like no other.

Raygan – Freedom Planet

Freedom Planet came seemingly out of nowhere and destroyed my life for a weekend. It’s a pitch-perfect homage to the classic 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog games, but expanded into new territory. It’s fiendishly difficult too. Don’t let the off-putting anime-styled cartoon animal characters put you off this incredible platformer. (You can turn off the dialogue and cutscenes if you wish.)

Also discussed – Crypt of the Necrodancer

It’s a rogue-like you can play on a DDR-style dance pad. What’s not to love?

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

28: A Dark Room

The Short Game — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:31:15 -0600

A Dark Room is an incredibly simple and yet incredibly deep and even moving game, unexpected qualities in the “idle games” genre.

From the App Store page, you begin with this simple and evocative description:

“Awake. Head throbbing. Vision blurry. Come light the fire.”

A Dark Room was such a sensation that it has been written about at length even in publications not known for gaming coverage. For example, this great article from The New Yorker: A Dark Room: The Best-Selling Game That No One Can Explain.

Availability

A Dark Room began as a web-game that you can play in a browser tab while you work. That version is still available here.

The definitive version is the iOS port, available for iPhone and iPad. – $0.99

Expect the game to take 2-3 hours to complete depending on your play style. The iOS version includes a developers commentary and additional challenge mode following the completion of the main game.

Links

Cookie Clicker
Touch Arcade review of A Dark Room
NimbleBit – makers of numerous quality idle games for iOS
Banished
The Ensign – Prequel to A Dark Room
Space Happens – A Kickstarter-funded web series by Laura Nash and friends, premiering this month! “A satire developed, written & produced by women in comedy. A slash fic between feminism and science fiction. In witty webseries form.”
Bear Hive – Nate’s awesome band, now with an album on BandCamp, Spotify, and iTunes!

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Shortisode 2: Wait, We Like Long Games!

The Short Game — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:39:16 -0600

In this special Thanksgiving holiday edition of The Short Game, we talk bout some of our favorite long games. We named this show the wrong thing!

Shortisodes are a break from our regular format; a chance to talk briefly about… whatever we want. We’ll be back next week with a regular episode, covering A Dark Room.

Links for this episode:

Our FTL episode
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda – Steam link
The Witcher 2 by CD Projekt Red
Great episode on Dishonored from Watch Out For Fireballs
World of Warcraft
- Raygan’s Note: I was wrong about the Mac release date. I guess I was just remembering that I didn’t have a Mac that could run it well at the time.
Divinity: Original Sin
Knights of the Old Republic
- Raygan’s Note: I was wrong about this release date too; the game came out in 2003, Star Wars: Episode I came out in 1999.
Knights of the Old Republic for iPhone & iPad
The Mass Effect series
Banished
SimAnt
New Super Mario Bros. U
Earthbound on the Wii U

27: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Short Game — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 14:58:49 -0600

Update: It took some time after playing this game to get to know the developer, Adrian Chmielarz, on Twitter and through his other writing. While we feel this game is an interesting technical and artistic achievement, we are uncomfortable with Mr. Chmielarz outspoken support of GamerGate and his positions on the social politics of the game industry in general. If the politics of the creator plays into your choice of games, you may wish to read some of Mr. Chmielarz writing before choosing to play this otherwise interesting game.

This week we discuss The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a narrative explanation game with elements of horror and adventure games. In Vanishing, you play Paul Prospero, a detective with supernatural powers, who has been summoned to rural Red Creek Valley by Ethan Carter, a bright but troubled young boy. As you progress through the game you will investigate the mysteriously empty but hauntingly beautiful setting, and uncover the mystery behind your invitation.

Expect the game to take between two and five hours to complete.

This game prompted a lot of great discussion; let us know what you think!

Availability

You can purchase the game on Steam or GOG (Windows only) for just $20.

Links for this episode:

Bear Hive on BandCamp – Nate’s new album! Pay what you want!
THE SHORT GAMES REVOLUTION – The Astronauts Blog
VISUAL REVOLUTION OF THE VANISHING OF ETHAN CARTER – The Astronauts Blog – Here the Astronauts describe using “photogrammetry” to create high resolution textures and objects for the game with a minimum of tiling textures
HOLY GRAIL OF NARRATIVE GAMES, OR HOW TO TELL A STORY THROUGH GAMEPLAY – The Astronauts Blog – The lead developer Adrian Chmielarz gives a talk at Digital Dragons 2014 on creating games that merge story and gameplay
ON THE VANISHING OF ETHAN CARTER’S ENDING (EXTREME SPOILERS) – The Astronauts Blog – The developer comments on the ending. Do not read this if you haven’t completed the game.

26b: The Walking Dead (w/ guest host Gary Butterfield) Part 2

The Short Game — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 09:43:41 -0600

The shocking conclusion to last week’s episode!

Gary Butterfield of Watch Out For Fireballs joins us for an extra-long episode on the groundbreaking adventure game The Walking Dead by Telltale games. This is a game that we’ve been dying to talk about since we launched the show, and we couldn’t be happier to have Gary on to give his take.

A brief programming note about this week’s episode: We had so much fun recording this episode that we ran very long, so we’re bringing you this episode in two parts. This is part two. If you haven’t listened to part one, you can find it here.

Links for this episode

Super Mario Lab: 4VGbyVG
Watch Out for Fireballs! – Gary’s excellent retro gaming podcast
Gary’s blog
Super Dinosaur by Robert Kirkman

Gary and the rest of the Duckfeed.tv crew are doing a 24 hour charity livestream event!

Duckstream 2014 NOVEMBER 21st starting at 6PM PST. 24 hours of charity streaming from your friends at Duckfeed.tv.

All proceeds go to Transactive. Transactive provides a holistic range of services to empower transgender and gender nonconforming children, youth and their families.

Availability

You can get this game for just a few bucks on basically anything that will show pictures on a screen. Rather than try to link to everything, I’m just going to link to Telltale’s purchase page.

We played the game on Steam for Mac & PC as well as on an Xbox 360, but it is also available on PS3, both the PS4 and Xbox One, and on iOS and Android including Android micro consoles like the Ouya.

26a: The Walking Dead (w/ guest host Gary Butterfield)

The Short Game — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 15:52:32 -0600

This week, we talk about zombies.

A brief programming note about this week’s episode: We had so much fun recording this episode that we ran very long, so we’re bringing you this episode in two parts. This part begins with about a half hour of general discussion of the game, followed by about an hour of discussing the game’s plot up to about the half way point. Next week we’ll be bringing you the conclusion of this episode, which clocks in at about forty additional minutes.

Links for this episode

Super Mario Lab: 4VGbyVG
Watch Out for Fireballs! – Gary’s excellent retro gaming podcast
Gary’s blog
Super Dinosaur by Robert Kirkman

Gary and the rest of the Duckfeed.tv crew are doing a 24 hour charity livestream event!

Duckstream 2014 NOVEMBER 21st starting at 6PM PST. 24 hours of charity streaming from your friends at Duckfeed.tv.

All proceeds go to Transactive. Transactive provides a holistic range of services to empower transgender and gender nonconforming children, youth and their families.

Availability

You can get this game for just a few bucks on basically anything that will show pictures on a screen. Rather than try to link to everything, I’m just going to link to Telltale’s purchase page.

We played the game on Steam for Mac & PC as well as on an Xbox 360, but it is also available on PS3, both the PS4 and Xbox One, and on iOS and Android including Android micro consoles like the Ouya.

Shortisode 1: To Hell With Long Games!

The Short Game — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 01:00:08 -0500

The Short Game is experimenting with our format this week, and you’re the guinea pig! We’re calling these shortisodes; half-length (or less) episodes in which we break from our regular format of talking in depth about one game per episode and talk instead about… whatever we want! This will allow us to still get something in your feed each week (cough late cough) while we move to our bi-weekly-ish format.

In this, our first shortisode, we discuss some of the points raised in Ben Kuchera’s recent Polygon article, “To hell with longer games, tell me how SHORT your game is.” We couldn’t agree more.

Links for this episode:

To hell with longer games, tell me how SHORT your game is – Polygon
THE VANISHING OF ETHAN CARTER REVIEW: DISAPPEARING TRICK – Polygon
The Entertainment Software Association – Industry Facts – The average age of a game player is 31, average age of a game purchaser is 35!
The Short Games Revolution – Adrian Chmielarz
City Connection
Teslagrad

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

25: Little Inferno

The Short Game — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 12:21:26 -0500

This week, Laura joins us again to discuss Little Inferno, a game so unique that it defies description. Here, we’ll give it a go: Little Inferno is a game in which you order items from catalogs, burn them in a beautiful interactive fireplace, and somehow this earns you more money to buy more things to burn.

Sound intriguing? We didn’t think so! Yet somehow, developers Tomorrow Corporation (of World of Goo fame) turn this strange, casual game concept into a two-to-four hour experience that we all found deeply emotionally and intellectually satisfying. If you’re into games as art and games as culture, you’ll want to check this one out. A great and utterly unique game, and a great episode of The Short Game.

Availability

Little Inferno on the Wii U eShop – $9.99
Little Inferno on Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux – $9.99
Little Inferno for iOS (iPad and iPhone) – $4.99
Little Inferno for Android – $2.99

Previously offered as a part of Humble Indie Bundle 8.

Links

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

24: Watch Out For Fireballs!

The Short Game — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 21:07:01 -0500

This week, we talk to the hosts of the incredible retro gaming and game design analysis podcast, Watch Out For Fireballs!

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross chat with us about how they run their excellent show, and give us their recommendations for short games that have stood out to them in terms of quality. This was a lot of fun.

Links

Check out Watch Out For Fireballs!

Support them on Patreon!

A few notable Episodes:
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Alpha Protocol
Extrasode 74: Alpha Protocol (With Chris Avellone)

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

Our guests this week were:

Gary Butterfield – @GaryBuh
Kole Ross – @koleross

23: Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons

The Short Game — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 01:18:52 -0500

This week on The Short Game, real life twin brothers Raygan and Shane (plus this other guy) talk about the totally digital brotherhood simulator Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, by Starbreeze Studios. It’s a simple and brisk but really emotionally effecting journey through a fantasy inspired setting. The hook here is the unusual controls; Brothers is a co-op game for one, where you control each brother with one stick of your gamepad. What could be a gimmick is used to great effect, and the game builds a great relationship between its characters over its two-to-three hour runtime.

Availability

We played the game on Windows, but it is available for several platforms:

On Steam for Windows – $14.99
On Xbox 360 – $14.99
On PlayStation 3 – $14.99

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

22: Year Walk

The Short Game — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 11:02:59 -0500

Year Walk, by Swedish indie developer Simogo, is a haunting combination of adventure, puzzle and horror game mechanics, and explores the dark and fascinating territory of Swedish folklore. Players take the role of Daniel, a young Swede in the 1800s about to undertake a Year Walk, or Årsgång, an elaborate divination practice wherein you must contend with many strange supernatural creatures for a chance at a glimpse of the infinite.

This game is beautiful, and also super creepy. Expect it to take about two hours to complete.

In the pre-show, we Nate tells us about Destiny, and Shane delivers his extensive report on the best roguelike games for iOS.

Availability

Year Walk for iOS
Year Walk Companion for iOS

Year Walk for PC & Mac

Links for this episode

21: Crypt of the NecroDancer

The Short Game — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 10:47:15 -0500

This week, we cover Early Access game Crypt of the NecroDancer. This bizarre (yet incredibly smooth) blend of the Rogue-like genre with the the rhythm game genre had us swinging our swords to the beat. This is one of our favorite episodes yet.

Returning from our well-received iOS games episode, Laura Nash is here to share her opinions with regular hosts Raygan & Shane, and generally make the show less bad.

As befits a rhythm game, this episode features more music than any previous episode! Enjoy!

Availability

Crypt of the NecroDancer is available exclusively through Steam Early Access. – $14.99

Links for this episode

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Laura Nash – @laurajnash

20: Papers, Please

The Short Game — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 23:24:31 -0500

Welcome to Aristotska. Cause no trouble.

This week on The Short Game, we discuss the weird and thought provoking indie point-and-click “document thriller” Papers, Please. It’s possibly the most unique game we’ve talked about on the show so far. Is it fun? Maybe, sometimes. Is it worth playing? Absolutely.

Availability:

Humble Indie Bundle 12 – If you act quickly (within about 6 days as of this writing) you can grab Papers, Please along with former episode topics Luftrausers and Gone Home in Humble Indie Bundle 12! There are several real gems in this bundle, do not miss it.
Steam for Mac, Windows, and Linux – $9.99
Direct from Developer – $9.99
Coming soon to PS4 & Vita

Links for this episode:

D&D Official Homepage | Dungeons & Dragons
Sega Genesis games on eBay
Rocket Knight Adventures – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OpenEmu – Multiple Video Game System for Mac OS X
Crypt of the NecroDancer
The Nightmare Cooperative
Octodad – Loving Father. Caring Husband. Secret Octopus.
Our Octodad Episode: The Short Game
Review Of GTA V* | Leigh Alexander
“Instead of only playing as one gross man who commits crimes and swears a lot, you get to play as three different ones. My press kit says this is a narrative innovation. You can’t be a woman. I could be lazy and say this is because women do not commit crimes or swear and nor should they want to, but instead I’m going to come right out and say it’s misogynistic. What, you want to leave me death threats? Go for it! Games are about feeling powerful, and about you getting your way!”
GTA: This Is Why We Video Gaming (Song A Day #1718)

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Your hosts this week were:

Raygan Kelly – @raygank
Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
Nate Heininger – @natestl

19: Tomb Raider (2013)

The Short Game — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 10:38:48 -0500

A note to our listeners: This episode will be followed by a one week break as we catch up and prepare for “season two” of The Short Game! We have a lot of great games to discuss in the coming months, and we want to hear from you! Let us know which current or upcoming games you would like to hear about on the show, or send us feedback on Twitter or at our website!

This week, The Short Game plays Tomb Raider.

Tomb Raider, a reboot of the classic action shooter series, was one of the most incredible games of 2013, but many people missed it when it was brand new and for one reason or another still haven’t made time for this great triple-A game. We discuss what makes this game stand out from other third person shooters, from the history of the Tomb Raider franchise, and from games as a whole.

Availability

Tomb Raider is available on essentially every platform you could want:

Steam for Windows & Mac – $19.99
PS3
PS4 (Definitive Edition)
Xbox 360
Xbox One (Definitive Edition)

Links for this episode

18: Nidhogg

The Short Game — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 16:49:17 -0500

This week on The Short Game, we discuss our first fighting game! Or is this a fighting game? Wait, what is this exactly?

It’s Nidhogg, a game in which two sabre-wielding duelists with infinite respawns face off in a frenetic, bloody tug of war for the right to throw themselves into the gaping maw of the titular Norse snake god Níðhöggr. Chew on that for a minute.

It’s also an incredibly tight and well designed, yet simple and approachable vs. combat game for two players.

We also have a good chat about Game Center CX and Mega Man II, as well as Civilization Revolution 2 for iOS.

Availability

Steam for Windows & Mac – $15
Humble Store with Steam Key (10% goes to charity) – $15
Coming soon to PS3 & PS4!

Links for this episode

17: Freedom Planet

The Short Game — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:31:01 -0500

This week we delve into our shared Sega heritage with fast paced action platformer Freedom Planet. Launched from a Kickstarter budget of just $25,472, Freedom Planet from GalaxyTrail is a love letter to the character platformer and Sega nostalgia. One part Mega Man, one part Gunstar Heroes, one part Rocket Knight, and many parts Sonic & Knuckles; Freedom Planet is a high speed platform game that recalls the glory days of “blast processing.”

We discuss the game, and then spend a good long while talking about some of the kick-ass Sega Genesis games we played and loved over the years.

Availability

Freedom Planet on Steam – $15
Currently Windows only, Mac and Linux versions planned

Links for this episode

16: Shovel Knight

The Short Game — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 21:17:08 -0500

This week on The Short Game, we discuss Yacht Club Games incredible debut and love-letter to the NES, Shovel Knight. This is a game we’ve been dying to discuss on the show and it stands out as both faithfully retro and relentlessly innovative and modern.

We discuss the ways the game pays homage to its inspirations, from Mega Man to Zelda to Duck Tales to Castlevania, and how it improves upon those games with technology and mechanics that feel both old and new. After the spoiler break we discuss the game’s ending and talk about how it made us feel.

Availability:

Steam for PC, with Mac & Linux as soon as they’re available – $15, or $25 for the Deluxe Edition with Soundtrack and PDF manual
3DS eShop – $15
WiiU eShop – $15

Links for this episode:

15: How to Play 400 Games in 4.5 Years: An Interview with Dr. David Heineman

The Short Game — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 09:31:26 -0500

Edit: We fixed a small editing error at around the 2:00 mark.

This week on The Short Game, we bring you an awesome interview with Dr. David Heineman, author of the recent Kotaku article How To Beat 400 Games In 4.5 Years.

David is a real life scholar of video games. He is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies t Blooksburg University of Pennsylvania and author of the forthcoming book “Thinking About Video Games: Interviews with the Experts.” (Indiana University Press) He also hosts the long running Racketboy Podcast, a great show about playing classic games, game collecting, and great interviews with video game creators and luminaries.

We’re a show about fitting games into your life, and David does that in spades. We ask him about his strategies for finishing all the great games in his backlog, and he offers some suggestions of short games you might enjoy.

Follow David on Twitter at @DrHeineman!

Links for this episode:

Texas Instruments TI-99/4A – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shovel Knight | Yacht Club Games
Destiny | Official Site of Destiny the Game
System Shock 2 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tempest (video game) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
VGG Glossary | Wiki | VideoGameGeek – “1CC (acronym) – 1 Credit Clear – Completing a game without using any “Continues”.”
Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening – The Devil May Cry Wiki
Devil May Cry® 3 Special Edition on Steam
Thief: The Dark Project – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
RetroGaming with Racketboy
RF Generation. The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.
Cheap Video Game Shopping, Sales and Deals – Cheap Ass Gamer
Sega-16
Journey (2012 video game) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gunstar Heroes – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Turrican – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
RoboCop Versus The Terminator – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adventure (1979 video game) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mutant Football League misses funding goal, but work on the title will continue | Polygon – “The Kickstarter campaign for Mutant Football League, a revival of EA’s _Mutant League Football _led by the series’ original designer, closed out yesterday having made less than 20 percent of its $750,000 crowdfunding goal, according to the campaign page.”
Eye of the Beholder (video game) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

14: iOS Gaming & Leo’s Fortune

The Short Game — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 09:40:40 -0500

iOS Gaming & Leo’s Fortune

In this episode, Raygan and Nate are joined by friend of the show Laura Nash as we talk about Leo’s Fortune in particular, and the present and future of iOS smartphones as a gaming platform in general.

Leo’s Fortune won an Apple Design Award in 2014 but it’s the one game that none of us had played in time for our Apple Design Award Winners 2014 episode a few weeks ago. This week, we attempt to remedy the oversight.

This also gives us the opportunity to discuss in depth the strengths and weaknesses of iOS and other touch screen devices as gaming platforms. We talk about asynchronous multiplayer, “augmented reality” and the future of quality gaming on a platform where games can seem a little ephemeral, or even disposable.

Links for this episode

Clickteam – Multimedia Fusion 2
TowerFall
California Extreme | An arcade game and pinball celebration
Snacks ‘n Jaxson – Videogame by Bally Sente
Catball Eats It All (iOS) | Joystiq
Spaceteam: Cooperative Party Game for Phones and Tablets
11 – Apple Design Award Winners 2014 | The Short Game
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for Wii U
Rube Goldberg Trailer for Leo ‘s Fortune [Original video]
Leo’s Fortune Rube Goldberg [Behind the scenes]
Tomorrow Corporation : Little Inferno
Sometimes You Die on the App Store on iTunes
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the App Store on iTunes
BADLAND – Atmospheric Side-Scrolling Action Adventure Game from Frogmind
Rolando (video game) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Soosiz for iPhone and iPod touch, Soosiz HD for iPad
Astronut on the App Store on iTunes
Waking Mars
GBA4iOS
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Google Ingress – Augmented reality game
Sphero Robot Ball | Game System for iOS and Android
Sword & Poker on the App Store on iTunes

Thanks to Laura for guest-hosting on our podcast this week.
Laura J. Nash (laurajnash) on Twitter
Space Happens Season 1: How to Save the Universe by The Fake Geek Girl — Kickstarter
- “A satire developed, written & produced by women in comedy. A slash fic between feminism and science fiction. In witty webseries form.”

13: Transistor

The Short Game — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 09:35:31 -0500

This time on The Short Game, your three hosts unite to discuss Super Giant Games new action RPG for PS4 and Windows PC, Transistor.

We discuss the game’s painterly art, its unique setting, and terrific customizable combat system. We also share in depth game tips and strategies, and after the spoiler break (at about 56 minutes in) we speculate about the game’s effecting ending.

Transistor is available on Windows through Steam ($20) and on the Playstation 4 ($20.) Expect it to take about 6-7 hours to complete the first play-through.

(art by DeviantArt’s JenZee, art director of the game)

Links for this episode

The Wirecutter – the best site on the internet for reviews of tech products
The Wirecutter’s Best $500 TV
Close Castles from Threes! developer Asher Volmer
Hoard – action arcade game for PS3 and Steam where everybody’s a dragon.
Bastion – SuperGiant’s first game
Gustav Klimt – painter of the famous The Kiss
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

Check out Game Plus, a great YouTube channel and friend of the show.

12: Towerfall Ascension

The Short Game — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 11:10:19 -0500

Towerfall Ascension

This week we discuss Matt Thorson(@MattThorson) of Matt Makes Games multiplayer masterpiece, Towerfall Ascension.

Towerfall is an arena multiplayer platform fighting game for two to four players. It draws on inspirations like SNES platformers, the Smash Bros series, and the fighting game genre to weave a simple, elegant, and ridiculously fun and hilarious party-fighting-game. You have absolutely got to play it.

Available on Steam for Mac, Windows, and Linux – $15
Available on the PS4, currently free as a part of the PlayStation Plus subscription (normally $15)

If you’d like to see what the game looks like in action (and you do) have a look at this great multiplayer gameplay footage from GameSpot.

Links for this episode:

Papers, Please – A Dystopian Document Thriller
Sunset – a first-person video game thriller – Kickstarter
Galatea – Interactive fiction by Emily Short
Savoir-Faire – Interactive fiction by Emily Short
Frotz – Play interactive fiction on your iPhone or iPad
Blood & Laurels – new interactive fiction in the Versu engine by Emily Short
As you can probably tell, we huge admirers of Emily Short.
Civilization Revolution 2 – Out Now for iOS
As it turns out this game doesn’t have multiplayer yet. So much for our plans.
OUYA – $99 Android microconsole
Towerfall Polygon Game of the Year 2013
Teslagrad – a great game with slightly off jump physics
Braid – another great game with slightly less than Towerfall level physics
Castle Crashers
Puyo Puyo
Puyo Pop Fever
Doctor Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Eurogamer on Towerfall
Competitive Towerfall at EVO 2014
Nidhogg – another fantastic indie fighting game
Starwhal – Just The Tip – a third indie multiplayer fighting game

11: Apple Design Award Winners 2014

The Short Game — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 09:28:09 -0500

Apologies in advance for the sound quality of this episode and for its late release. Your intrepid podcast host was moving cross country this week and our equipment and schedule did not cooperate as planned.

2013-14 has been great for iOS gaming, and Apple has picked five great games to honor with Apple Design Awards at this year’s World Wide Developers Conference. We’ve played (nearly) all of them and share our impressions with you!

Threes

A tiny puzzle game that grows on you

Threes on the iOS App Store – $2.99
Threes on the Google Play Store – $2.99
Threes on the Amazon App Store – $2.99

*(Currently on sale for $1.99.) *

Monument Valley

An illusory adventure of impossible architecture and forgiveness

Monument Valley on the iOS App Store – $3.99
Monument Valley on the Google Play Store – $3.99
Monument Valley on the Amazon App Store – $3.99

Blek

Watching it move is like watching magic

Blek on the iOS App Store – $2.99
Blek on the Google Play Store Out Now! – $2.99
Blek on the Amazon App Store – $2.99

Device 6

A surreal thriller in which the written word is your map

Device 6 on the iOS App Store – $3.99

Leo’s Fortune

A beautiful platform adventure game.

Leo’s Fortune on the iOS App Store

Links for this episode:

The Apple Design Awards
Toribash
Wario Land 4 – Jeremy Parish reviews the game for 1Up in 2011
Nancy Morse’s review of Wario Land 4
Mario Maker
Threes by Asher Volmer, for iPhone, iPad, Android, and soon Xbox One
PuzzleJuice, also by Asher Volmer, for iOS
Why 2048 sucks and Threes is a Masterpiece
The “Threemails” – a publication of the complete process of the game including design documents and emails between the creators, with a note on rip-offs
Video – Asher Volmer (developer of Threes) meets Alexy Pajitnov (developer of Tetris) and Henk Rogers (founder of The Tetris Company)
Threes OST by Big Giant Circles
Whale Trail
Canabalt
Blek trailer
The Room and The Room Two
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors – an escape-the-room visual novel for the DS
Simogo’s Complete Guide to References & Inspirations in DEVICE 6
The Prisoner – TV show
Beat Sneak Bandit
Year Walk for iOS
Year Walk for PC & Mac
Transistor

10: Play Portal Again!

The Short Game — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 09:04:16 -0500

In this episode, we discuss a game that probably all of you have played: Valve’s incredibly popular distraction from Half-Life 3 development, Portal.

Portal is a game so influential it likely requires no introduction. In this episode, Raygan and Shane break down the qualities that made the game was so successful, and its widespread impact on gaming in general.

We command you:

GO PLAY PORTAL AGAIN!

Portal is available on nearly every platform you could want, including:

Through Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux – $9.99
As part of the Orange Box for Xbox 360
or individually as a download from Xbox Live Arcade – $14.99
As part of the Orange Box for Playstation 3
On Android, currently only on the Nvidia Shield – $9.99

Links for this episode

09b: Luftrausers & The Board Game Special part 2

The Short Game — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 12:16:30 -0500

This episode was recorded in two parts. In the introduction, recorded just a few days ago, Host and Bro-host discuss the recent announcements at E3, Tom Cruise movies, and a great quick video game about pseudo-nazi-airplane-submarines! In the second half, we wrap up our recent board game special with a lively discussion of Dominion.

Links for this episode:

The Introduction

The Conclusion to the Board Game Special

09a: Board Game Special part 1

The Short Game — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:35:51 -0500

In this, our first very special episode, we take a bit of a detour and talk about a gaming passion that has less to do with keyboards and gamepads, and more to do with cardboard and dice. This is our first Board Game Special, and we discuss some of the games that brought us into board gaming as a hobby, with a special focus on games that are both quick to play and quick to teach.

We got so carried away talking about great board games that the episode ran long, so we’ve broken it into two parts. Join us next week for episode 9b!

Links for this episode

08: VVVVVV

The Short Game — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 07:36:17 -0500

This week we discuss Terry Cavanagh’s indie gaming masterpiece VVVVVV. Inspired by the Commodore 64 generation of games, this game presents a tough challenge to even the most experienced gamer, while still clocking in at a descent length. Clever level design and a great focused game mechanic make this game shine.

The game is available:
– Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux – $4.99
– Direct from Develper DRM free for Mac, PC, and Linux – $4.99 (or $7.50 with the soundtrack)
– From the Nintendo 3DS eShop
– Coming soon for several other platforms including PSVita, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Ouya

Expect the game to take between 2 to 4 hours to complete depending on your skill level and willingness to persevere against sometimes absurd difficulty.

Pre-show topics

Links for this episode

There is no spoiler break for this episode, as we all concurred that there wasn’t really that much story to spoil.

Correction: Raygan stated that the game was available on the Humble Store but this is not the case. It was previously included in a Humble Bundle but it is only available through Steam and DRM Free through the developer’s website, sold using the Humble Widget. We regret the error.

07: Octodad Dadliest Catch

The Short Game — Tue, 27 May 2014 00:36:06 -0500

This week, we discuss the silly, silly platform adventure game Octodad: Dadliest Catch.

Octodad is a game about controlling a slippery octopus in a suit through levels filed with tons of tiny physics-enabled objects while trying not to attract attention. Nobody can know your secret octopus nature!

The trailer is absolutely fantastic.

This little game is one of our favorites yet. Octodad is available for the PS4, Mac, Windows, and Linux. Expect it to take about 2 hours to complete.

Direct from Developer – $14.99
Steam – $14.99
PS4 – $14.99

Pre-show topics include:

Raygan is finally playing Earthbound
- Also he’s really into this Nvidia Shield thing.
Nate finally got MLB 14: The Show for PS4, but is stymied by day one updates and DLC.
- The strange career of Romango.
Shane can’t decide which game to play next:
- Mercenary Kings
- Metal Slug 3 on Steam (PC port by DotEmu)
- Child of Light

06: Thomas Was Alone

The Short Game — Tue, 20 May 2014 15:21:10 -0500

In our 6th episode, we discuss Thomas Was Alone, Mike Bithell’s game of jumping and friendship.

Thomas Was Alone is available for Mac, PC, and Linux, as well as on the Playstation Network for PS3 and PSVita

Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux – $9.99
PSN for PS3 & Vita – $9.99 or FREE for PS+ subscribers

Since the recording of this episode, Thomas Was Alone was also released for iPad!

App Store for iPad – $8.99

Expect the game to take about 3 and 1/2 hours to complete.

Follow Mike Bithell on Twitter. He’s really interesting.

David Housden’s soundtrack for the game is fantastic.

05: FTL – Faster Than Light

The Short Game — Tue, 13 May 2014 02:00:42 -0500

In our fine fifth episode, we launch into the depths of space with FTL: Faster Than Light.

We discuss the qualities that make the game so quick and yet so infinitely re-playable, with digressions into the definition of the roguelike genre.

We also determine scientifically that spoilers don’t spoil anything. It’s science!

Link to Wired Science article 2011

Nate and Shane also share their secrets to success in FTL, and we all share some tales of embarrassing defeat.

FTL is available for:

All versions are $9.99.

Expect the game to take between 20 minutes and 2 hours per “run” depending on your luck and skill level, with extensive re-playability.

Here is the excellent strategy wiki page we discussed in this episode.

04: Broken Age

The Short Game — Tue, 06 May 2014 00:15:12 -0500

This is our fourth episode! Can you believe it!

This week, we discuss Tim Schaffer’s modern point and click adventure game Broken Age.

Nate is away this week, so Shane & Raygan have the show to themselves.

Topics include:

Tim Schaffer’s early career at LucasArts working on touchstone games like Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle, his founding of Double Fine Productions, and the record-setting Kickstarter campaign that funded Broken Age.
The mechanics and humor of Broken Age, in comparison to the great adventure games of yore.
How do you judge or review an “early access” game?

Our Spoiler Break for this episode is at about 35 minutes, after which we discuss details of the plot, ending, and theme.

You can join us after the spoilers at about 1 hour 7 minutes, for our other topics:

Raygan is crazy about Hearthstone on the iPad
Shane is liking Trine 2, the gorgeous puzzle platformer from FrozenByte, for Mac, PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and PS4!

Broken Age is available direct from the developer and through Steam for $24.99. It is currently in “early access” form, meaning that the first act (of two) is complete and available now, with the second act becoming available “this year.” Expect the first act to take 3-4 hours to complete

Join us next week for our most exciting episode ever, on FTL: Faster Than Light!

03: Cave Story

The Short Game — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 00:30:30 -0500

This week on The Short Game, we discuss indie gaming touchstone Cave Story.

If you’ve played games on a computer in the last decade, odds are you’ve played or at least heard of Cave Story. If not, there’s never been a better time to try it as it’s now available in multiple versions on multiple platforms. Cave Story harkens back to the great “Metroidvania” games of the 16-bit era, drawing its influence from Castlevania, Metroid, Legend of Zelda, and many other classics, but adds a more modern feel and great, colorful characters and story. Originally a freeware game for Windows, the game has been ported and re-made on multiple platforms including the Nintendo Wii and 3DS.

We also discuss:

Shane stayed up late playing FTL: Faster Than Light on the iPad (We really love this game!)
Nate recommends South Park: The Stick of Truth. If you’re a fan of South Park, you’ll love it.
We have mixed opinions on N64 first person shooters
Raygan can’t wait for Cave Story creator Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya’s next game, Kero Blaster, launching May 11th on Windows and (interestingly) the iPhone

Cave Story is available on the following platforms:

02: The Stanley Parable

The Short Game — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:00:15 -0500

In our exciting second episode, we discuss The Stanley Parable, one of the strangest and funniest games of 2013. But it also makes you think, ya know? Here’s the description from developers Galactic Cafe:

The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end. Contradiction follows contradiction, the rules of how games should work are broken, then broken again. This world was not made for you to understand.

But as you explore, slowly, meaning begins to arise, the paradoxes might start to make sense, perhaps you are powerful after all. The game is not here to fight you; it is inviting you to dance.

Based on the award-winning 2011 Source mod of the same name, The Stanley Parable returns with new content, new ideas, a fresh coat of visual paint, and the stunning voicework of Kevan Brighting.

01: Gone Home

The Short Game — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 02:00:35 -0500

In this, our first episode, we were still resolving some microphone and sound issues. Sound quality in future episodes is vastly improved.

Welcome to our first exciting episode!

In this episode, we discuss the unexpected indie hit of 2013 Gone Home, a “story exploration game” from new developer The Fullbright Company.

Pre-show topics from this week’s show include:

The inspiration for the show! Games are too long. I’m tired. Get off my lawn!
Nate is really excited about FTL: Advanced Edition, a free DLC for the awesome indie roguelike-in-space, available now for PC and iPad ($9.99, App Store link)
Shane introduces us to Eliss Infinity – New game for iPhone and iPad ($2.99, App Store link)
…which Raygan compares to Osmos but it’s… you know… different
Titanfall. None of us have played it.
Raygan can’t wait till “some time in 2015” to play Firewatch.

Raygan is way too excited to talk about Gone Home. We discuss:

The structure of the game and games it reminds us of
The game’s personal and un-game-like story (Don’t worry, we’ll warn you before spoiling anything!)
The history of the game and its development team

Links for this episode

00: Welcome to the Short Game

The Short Game — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 18:26:20 -0500

We have a release date!

Tuesday, April 15th

This pre-launch welcome episode is just mainly a way to allow you the listeners to subscribe to the show in advance, and so that we can make sure that our feed is working. Subscribe to us in your favorite podcast app!

We are waiting for our show to be listed in iTunes, but you can already subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app (feed link). I like Instacast. Downcast is pretty good too, and I hear Pocket Casts is good on Android. The (free!) Apple Podcasts app is pretty solid too.

We’re a new show without an established audience, so if you like the show we’d love it if you’d share our show with your friends, wherever you usually share stuff. We’ve got a Facebook page, and we enthusiastically accept and respond to feedback on Twitter.

Shane, Nate, and I are really excited to share this with you. Our inaugural episode is on the break out indie hit of 2013, Gone Home, a game that in two short hours became my favorite game of 2013. I can’t wait to tell you about it.

-Raygan (@raygank)