Show Notes
We discuss the games we’re playing, including Psychonauts, Demon Souls, Dorfromantik, 12 Minutes, Road 96, and Death Stranding. We then turn to our special topic, deckbuilding games: Are deckbuilding games really just math in disguise? What’s the sweet spot between simplicity and complexity in deckbuilding mechanics? Can deckbuilders tell moving stories? Do players weave their own stories through their strategies and choices? What’s the difference between card-based battlers and JRPGs or turn-based RPGs? Why are so many deckbuilding games also roguelikes? How do digital deckbuilders compare to collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering? Deckbuilding games we discuss include: Slay the Spire, Monster Train, Black Book, Signs of Sojourner, Nowhere Prophet, digital versions of Magic, Banners of Ruin, and more. Our spoilercast for Psychonauts 2 will go up soon! For some suggestions for deckbuilding games (after you’ve burned out on Slay the Spire), check out our article “Life After Slay the Spire.”
More from Gamers with Glasses Podcast
In this episode Nate and Samantha set out to recap and wrap up our summer series on games, childhood, and nostalgia, and end up…somewhere else. We cover all the deep questions, like, “Does nostalgia have to be melancholic?”; “Are console generations a marketing lie, just like other generational divides?”; “Do any of us leave childhood unscathed?”; and, “Isn’t Assassin’s Creed just Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoons?”
In this episode, Nate interviews NikkiJay, developer of the just-released "plotformer" Quantum Witch. Come for the in-depth discussion about cults, conditioning, and choices - stay for the impromptu ukelele concert.
We make learning fun! In this episode, Samantha and Luis interview Dr. Erik Verlage, a research scientist at the Ohio State University who works on interactive media and games in education. Discussion ranges from the use and value of games in education to GeoGuessr and the difference between toys and tools. Where’s the dividing line between a game and a simulation? Why were Skyrim players willing to spend hours on the same thing at the forge, even when it wasn’t fun?
We thought it would be fun to do an “Oops! No Games” episode, in which we try not to talk about games. Inevitably, we totally fail, to the degree that we even end up recommending games at the end. We were all going to bring a book and a movie to talk about, and that somehow inspires us to complain about AI a lot, but probably not enough, because it really is so, so bad.
How do game critics contribute to Western hegemony, and what can we do about it? Nate Schmidt interviews Felipe Pepe, creator of The CRPG Book Project, on his recent essay, “The Gentrification of Video Game History.” Drawing on Mia Consalvo and Christopher Paul’s critique of the concept of “ real games,” their wide-ranging conversation covers mods and mobile games, the relationship between internet cafes and free-to-play RPGs, and the emptiness of the stereotypical “nerd and jock” divide between narrative-driven and sports games.