If games offer an ability for players to escape the chaos of normal life and to exercise their autonomy on a more simple world, why are some games so difficult? What role does difficulty play in masterful game experiences? Is Dark Souls a bad game for being so hard? We cover all this and more in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Join Anthony & Skylar as they discuss Dark Souls, Cuphead, Halo, Minecraft, and more!

"The quality of an entertainment experience can be measured by the extent to which its unfolding sequence of events is able to hold a guest's interest." - Jesse Schell, Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

Structuring a gaming experience such that it moves the player through varying levels of emotional and mental intensity in a way that is satisfying to the player, is an art. In this episode we breakdown Jesse's insights surrounding the interest curve in games including what expectations players have coming into the game, the importance of a good hook, a meaningful climax, and more!

Join us as we discuss

What's this crazy Mario Party minigame Battle Royale game that's taking everyone by storm? Why do people like it so much? What are the BEST minigames? What are the WORST minigames? Is it really a Battle Royale? HAVE WE WON??

Join Anthony & Skylar as they discuss Fall Guys in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Join us every Monday at 8:30 PM ET as we record Koalatea Time live on Twitch with our community! You can find us on Twitch @kokoala_ent (https://twitch.tv/kokoala_ent)

Mobility mechanics are one of the primary elements of a game's foundation. They serve as one of (if not the) greatest tools at a player's disposal to exercise their autonomy on the game world.

What do good implementations of mobility mechanics have in common? Do we find 2D or 3D movement to be more fun? What about that Halo Infinite grapple hook? Why is Rocket League's movement so freaking good? Join us as we discuss these and other related topics in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Higher resolution! Better framerates! Faster loading times! MORE TERAFLOPS!?!?!

Big technological advancements are touted at the advent of every new console generation, but in this week's episode of Koalatea Time Anthony and Skylar examine whether these upgrades are the best use of resources for games on new cutting edge hardware.

Join us as we discuss the N64, the teraflop war, what's the best way to use 8.3 milliseconds of processing time, and more!

The first ever reveal of Halo Infinite at the Xbox Games Showcase has come and gone and while many in the Halo community are ecstatic with the new direction the franchise appears to be heading in, many outside of the Halo community were left underwhelmed (to downright disappointed) with the showing.

Analysis of the gameplay footage after the event revealed many graphical shortcomings that have us concerned with how much work might still need to be done to get Halo Infinite to a polished state in time for the Xbox Series X release.

Join Anthony and Skylar as they discuss what they thought of the state of the reveal, whether Halo Infinite should get delayed, whether requiring it to run on older consoles is holding it back, whether 343 should crunch to make the holiday deadline, and more!

Sony and Microsoft have now hosted their first respective major livestream conferences. We now have a much better idea of what the two major console platforms will be offering come this holiday.

While some details, like console price and release date, have yet to be revealed, round 1 is now over. Which platform has done the better job so far of convincing gamers that they are the best console to buy come this holiday? We discuss this and related topics in this week's episode of Koalatea Time!

Join us as we talk Ratchet & Clank, Anapura Interactive's new game, Craig the lovable Halo Infinite Brute, which console we'd prefer to have in our homes, and more!

The rise in technological advancements have allowed video games to begin to deliver narrative experiences of arguably equal caliber to those found in more traditional media formats, including movies and books.

Unlike these other mediums, video games have the unique challenge of communicating narrative intent while accommodating player autonomy. However, many argue that games feel much more immersive for this very reason; players are literally in the story and thus have the ability to experience the story at a much more integrated and personal level.

Join Skylar and Anthony as they discuss these and other related topics! Join us to discuss:

What two games do console gamers often buy the most? Why don't PC players switch back to Console? Why does Nintendo routinely produce the most compelling reason to own a console?

Join Anthony & Skylar as they discuss these and other related topics, as well as fantastic community feedback, on this episode of Koalatea Time!