Aug 28, 2020
In this episode, Joel and Tim discuss multiplayer games. We deep dive into the history of video game multiplayer, and outline some of the main forms in which multiplayer is used across gaming, including co-op games, competitive matches, and environmentally multiplayer or massively multiplayer games.
Aug 20, 2020
In this episode, Joel and Tim discuss recent news. We talk COVID cases in the UK and US, the Trump administration's ongoing attempt to obscure COVID data, our unhappiness with the Biden/Harris ticket and the old guard of the DNC generally, and our strong belief that we should vote for them anyway. We also discuss...
Aug 15, 2020
In this episode, Joel and Tim discuss some of the ways politics interact with games, and some of the ways different games have portrayed morality, through systems and narrative.
Topics Discussed:
- Morality in narrative branching choices (KOTOR, Jedi Academy)
- Gradient / reputation systems (Fallout, RDR)
- Frostpunk's...
Aug 6, 2020
In this episode, Tim and Joel discuss emergent systems storytelling in games like Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld, as well as Sea of Thieves and reasons why that game world sometimes feels so empty. We discuss frame stories in games like Outer Wilds, Gone Home, and Return of the Obra Dinn, and how these stories are uniquely...