In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss Child of Light and go over the game's unique combat system, story, and aesthetic.  We also discuss why coming of age stories are so ubiquitous in games.  Join us as we once again stare into the abyss of Billy's obsession with grinding... and the abyss stares back.

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss the award-winning, indie game Thomas Was Alone.  We cover the game's minimalist art style, strong narration, mechanical storytelling, and a few of its potential themes.  Towards the end we compare and contrast the Talos Principle and Thomas Was Alone's treatment of AIs and person-hood.  There are a few spoilers for the Talos Principle during the second half of the podcast so watch out.  Also at some point we got sidetracked into talking about whether AIs could ever be people.

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss the Kickstarter darling Valdis Story: Abyssal City.  First, appreciate the game's mechanics and aesthetics.  Then we discuss Kickstarter's role in Valdis Story's development and the far-reaching impact of Kickstarter on the video game industry (as well as other industries).  We close up talking about the game's unique story structure.

In this episode the Deep crew are joined by Elise "Hyasiance" Stevenson to talk about DOTA 2 and her awesome play like a girl experiment!  Each of the regular podcast members discuss their experiences playing DOTA 2 while visibly and audibly female.  Hya also explains the larger findings of her experiment and her own positive and negative experiences with the DOTA 2 community.  We also discuss the e-sports community, DOTA 2's steep learning curve, and how DOTA 2 functions like a game of pickup basketball.

You can contribute to and read about Hya's play like a girl experiment here: http://altochicka.wix.com/playlikeagirl#!Read-about-Play-Like-a-Girl-phase-one/cjtn/83808D7A-6CD5-4B97-B549-6D1677127E49 

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss the first Kingdom Hearts game... things get heated.

In this episode we discuss the deep, deep philosophies of The Talos Principle.  We discuss what makes something sentient, religion, cultural heritage, Milton's Paradise Lost, Trans-Humanism, and other fun topics.

We discuss the Halo series's crazy plot, how headshots change the way you play Halo singleplayer, and how humanity has trouble understanding existential threats. We also play a game of action movie quote or Halo 3 dialog! Join us as we realize that Bungie stories always sound better on paper than they do in practice.

In this episode of Deep Listens we talk about To The Moon and its amazing, sobering story.  We talk about the game's use of pop culture, comedy, memory, realationships, and mental illness to tell a story that moved half of us to tears.  

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss how platonic relationships work in Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us, and The Walking Dead Season 1.  We explore how each of the games approach non-romantic relationships from a technical perspective and how each of the relationships in the game unfold.  We also discuss why the relationships in each game seem to play out so similarly.  We also tak a listener email and discuss radio in Fallout 3 and some games that stood out to us from E3.

In this episode of Deep Listens we discuss Fallout 3 and whether the apocalypse will go down the way that every video game seems to think it will.  Will Thomas Hobbes's bleak view of human nature play out when the world ends?  Or is humanity a bit more social than that?  We also discuss the patriarchies of the wasteland and the various goofy societies that have sprung up in the world of Fallout 3.  We end the podcast discussing all of the dumb goofy Fallout glitches that we encountered during our playthroughs.