It's our first episode of 2025 and the beats crew are taking a look back at all the games we played in 2024! It's a packed episode kicked off with our annual award show and picks for best games of the year. We also reflect on our favorite gaming moments and run down the stats for all the games we played. Want more? We also unveil our new rating system that will take affect for 2025 as well as the winner from our Nintendo Switch online giveaway. More??? As if that wasn't enough, we then choose the ultimate game of the year award from all of the past Game Award winners. WOW!

Thanks to everyone for listening in 2024 - we've got a bunch of fun episodes planned for 2025! Just a reminder that if you want us to pick a certain theme or ask us a question to please send us an email at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you!

We might be a day late seeing as this episode is posting April 1st, but this is our annual March Madness bracket, and it's a wild one! Instead of choosing a theme first and then selecting the 64 applicable items to battle it out, we instead choose 64 random gaming items and then decide what the theme is before the deliberations begin. So it's a mix of games, characters, systems, even songs - all going head to head. Wait, what does Samuel L. Jackson have to do with video games? Well, maybe it's best to shut your brain off for this one and enjoy the ride.

One warning that is not an April Fool's Joke - all of our episodes are rated explicit, but this one is a fair bit more crass than usual. You'll want to pull out the headphones for this or make sure grandma is in bed before giving this one a listen. But if you've stuck with us for this many episodes, you have an idea of what you're getting anyway - we hope you enjoy the show.

Spring is here! Last year around this time we did an episode on Nature Games to celebrate the warmer weather, and this time around we are doing an episode on Bug Games! For some games with bugs as the main focus we've taken a look at PS5 launch title Bugsnax and Wii game Deadly Creatures.

We also continue Spiral's journey into Naughty Dog games with his take on The Last of Us 2, and Melbro has the latest hype game in his backlog - Black Myth: Wukong. Things get rounded out as usual with some Bug Game trivia. So grab your bug net and your bug spray and join us for this episode on Bug Games!

We are back from a one week hiatus, and to put your mind at ease we are taking a look at Cozy Games! If you're a long time listener you might recall we did an episode on Relaxing Games back on episode 31 & 32. What's the difference between a Relaxing game and a Cozy game you ask? We decided to explore that topic since some of us weren't sure there was a difference... We also talk about what makes a game 'cozy' to us - and then get into the games!

For this episode's lineup we've got an old favorite of the show being explored for the first time by Spiral - A Short Hike, indie platformer Gris, mobile game Hook 1 & 2, and then Killer Frequency which Muff applies the cozy label to - and more! And as is the case sometimes, we don't always stay on theme. Unfortunately the off theme game is the antithesis of cozy, so we hope you can still get comfy while you listen. As usual we round out with some trivia which...doesn't quite go as planned. So grab your safety blanket, your favorite stuffy, and join us - as we explore Cozy Games!

We've always thought of ourselves as a little Looney here at Beat of the Month, and this episode we decided to lean into that with an episode all about video games based on cartoons! We cover some old favorites such as Aladdin and The Lion King, some new cartoon based games like Bluey, and then a whole bunch of South Park games - 4 of them to be exact!

Throughout the episode we also share a bit of our memories with cartoons and what it was like after a hard day of school and turning on some Tiny Toon Adventures. There's an extra large dose of cartoon game trivia at the end, and we also cover other games that we've been playing lately. Not only that, but we look back all the way to episode #1 for a special clip - lyin' king indeed... So grab your Hi-C ecto cooler, plug in your Walkman, and join us for this episode on Cartoon Games! Oh, and just in case you happen to be new to the show - while the topic might be cartoon games, our show is not for kids!

For this episode The Beats Crew put down their controllers and pick up their remote controls to watch the recently released show Secret Level. This new anthology show on Amazon features bite sized episodes with unique takes on 15 different games. The games range from old classics like Pac-Man and Mega Man, more modern offerings like The Outer Worlds and Sifu, and then some lesser known franchises such as New World and Crossfire.

As to be expected, opinions vary on each episode with some people energized to play games in the franchises that they haven't played before, and others being less impressed and having no desire to find out more. And then to cap things off it's a double dose of Secret Level trivia! With Secret Level Season 2 already being confirmed, what games would you want to see featured? Let us know at [email protected]!

It's early in the year and the Beat of the Month Crew are taking a look at all the games coming out in 2025. But to make things a little more interesting we are not just talking about the games - but drafting them! Just like you would for Fantasy Football, we are picking what we think will be the highest rated games of 2025 and choosing them to fill our roster of games. The rules are a bit different from your typical fantasy draft, but we explain it all during the episode.

Will Grand Theft Auto 6 truly come out this year? Will Elden Ring Nightreign continue the FromSoft streak of highly rated games? Some tough choices lie ahead (and some already proven to be mistakes since we recorded...). If you want to follow along with our progress during the year go to 'fantasycritic.games' and follow our league 'The Beats'!

Here at Beat of the Month we vote on a theme of the month each and every month (hence the title of the show) and then we play games on that theme. For this month the votes were tallied and the winner was...Dickcember. What exactly is Dickcember do you ask? Well that's a great question since even the people who voted for it don't know!

What I do know, is we played games such as Sonic X Shadow Generations, Cyberpunk, The Grinch that stole Christmas, Alan Wake 2 - and more! We also talked a bit about The Game Awards to kick things off since we recorded shortly after the show aired.

Join us next episode for our own award show where we talk about all the games we played in 2024 as well as our most memorable gaming moments, our year in review stats, and a special segment where we rank the past Game Award winners. We look forward to another year of great themes in 2025!

It's back to back bangers here at Beat of the Month with another deep dive for a highly successful game of 2024 - this time taking a look at Balatro! With an average playtime for each of our crew exceeding 50 hours, we take a look at what keeps bringing us back to play more of this poker themed rougelike. From jokers that radically change the way you play every game, leveling up your hands with planet cards, altering your deck with tarot cards, boss blinds that apply restrictions - there's a ton to talk about.

We also recap an in-person poker night we had where the stakes were big and the trash talk was bigger. Who of the Beats crew came out on top? As usual, we round things out with some card based trivia - will you ace the questions or end up a joker? So roll up your sleeves, grab your sunglasses, and join us - for this deep dive on Balatro!

Sony's 30th anniversary celebrations are underway and what better game to have an episode about than Astro Bot - a love letter to all of Sony's franchises! We dive into all the things that make the new Astro Bot game great - the cameos, the levels, the bosses, and more. We also discuss whether or not Astro will cement himself in Sony's legacy as well with a Game of the Year award.

In addition to the latest game in the series, we also talk a bit about the earlier games in the franchise. Most are likely familiar with the PS5 pack-in game Astro's Playroom, but did you know there was a Playstation VR exclusive game before that? And did you know that there was another VR exclusive mini-game compilation before that? And did you know there was something even before that??? The little robot's legacy ran deeper than we realized! So grab your headphones and your jet pack, booster...hover...thing - and join us, on this Astro Bot Deep Space Dive!