This week, we play Wide Ocean Big Jacket, the new game by Turnfollow, a.k.a. Carter Lodwick and Ian Endsley, the game-design duo that we interviewed in an earlier episode. Not to spoil too much, but it’s just. so. good. We talk about the game’s many strengths, from visual design to comedic timing, and how it manages to do more with less. We agree that it nails the “vibe” of camping. Blake explains how character design tells stories. Jordan applauds a bilingual innuendo.

Find the game on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1198040/Wide_Ocean_Big_Jacket/

And follow the creators on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_turnfollow

This week, we play Karlson, a zany action-platformer-shooter by Dani Dev on Itch. The slow-motion shooting bits prompt comparisons to My Friend Pedro and John Wick, and we talk a bit about why the platforming sections feel so volatile. A question about optimal crouch key bindings prompts debate. 

Find the game here: https://danidev.itch.io/karlson

And follow the creator on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DaniDev

In this week’s episode, we play Museum of the Saved Image, an explorable museum of desktop clutter by itch.io user “flan.” The game takes us on a tour of all the saved images from the creator’s desktop over one period of time: Facebook conversations, memes, photos with friends, and pictures of lemons. We talk about characterization, senses of humor, and ARGs. Blake reminisces about funnyjunk.com.

Find the game here: https://flan.itch.io/museum-of-the-saved-image

And follow their itch.io account: https://flan.itch.io/

This week, we play the riot simulator “They Came From a Communist Planet,” by David Cribb and Elijah Cauley. The game’s unorthodox theme prompts a discussion about gamer politics, brutalism, revolution, and why the social dynamics of riots make such interesting material for a videogame. Also, we do some alien voices.

You can find the game here: https://colestia.itch.io/they-came-from-a-communist-planet

And follow the creators on Twitter: @colestia3, @small_signs

We play “Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard,” designed by Grace Bruxner and Thomas Bowker and the sequel to a game we played on an earlier episode of the podcast. We talk about the “Grace Bruxner” aesthetic, the game’s sense of humor, how we decorated our notebooks (spoiler: we are super cute), and extortion. 

Find the game here: https://fisho.itch.io/frog-detective-2

And follow the creators on Twitter: @frogdetective, @gracebruxner, @thomasbowker, @dangolding

We play something a little bit different this week: AI Dungeon 2, a text adventure game by Nick Walton that experiments with machine learning in order to create an infinite game-space. We talk about how this “game” is just a joy to play, even when it spits out nonsense. Our discussion turns to text genres, natural language processing, porn (naturally), and biased algorithms. We also read quotes from our favorite playthroughs: impersonating the president, getting stoned in the woods, exploiting the peasants, and encountering a very confused gunman. 

Find the game here: https://www.aidungeon.io/

And follow the creator on Twitter: @nickwalton00

This week we play Dead Sector, a student game that Blake describes as the “Dark Souls of Deadspace.” We talk about how it combines ideas from both games, as well as which ideas complement each other and which ones feel more dissonant. We admire the game’s art and animations. Diegetic interfaces are complemented. Blake says he “loves to hand ass.”

And follow the creators on Twitter: @TheDeadSector

This week, we play Ampere, a puzzle game about connecting wires by game design students Mathieu Hentschel, Johannes Knop, and Laura Brosi. We talk about this game’s beautiful art, rope physics, Unity, the definition of “circuit,” and the strange fascination that puzzle games have with abandoned factories. Blake breaks the game. 

Download the game here: https://laurabdev.itch.io/ampere

And follow the creators on Twitter: @laurabdev

This week, we explore the alien world of proc-gen spray paint in Joy Exhibition, by Strangethink. It’s a game about trying to impress aliens—or, as Jordan calls them, the “galactic one percent”—with your ability to create art with spray guns. The game’s surreal atmosphere (“space MOMA”) and stylish visuals prompt a conversation about procedural generation, serendipity, Jackson Pollock, and game AI. 

Find the game here: https://strangethink.itch.io/joy-exhibition

And follow the creator on Twitter: @strangethink23

This week, we play Hissy Fight, a wild, zany first-person shooter about killing snakes, by MiloSoft. It’s a wicked hard game with a distinct visual aesthetic and narrative charm. We talk about Doom 2016, game music, juice (both game and cranberry), Devil Daggers, and the impressively vibrant indie game dev scene in Australia. Jordan has an unhealthy relationship with game difficulty and Blake takes the easy way out. 

You can find the game here: https://milosoft.itch.io/hissyfight

Follow the creator on Twitter: @milomilosoft