Overthinking Games

In this special episode, we miss Seth, and Dempsey and Katie are joined by Nicholas Crawford, philosopher and author of the upcoming book, "Where We've Made it Dark," a literary apocalypse novel available at Barnes and Noble on October 21st, 2025.

Nicholas has been making excellent content on Tik-Tok about The Last of Us season 2, and we take the opportunity to go into a deep dive with him about identity, subjectivity, and more with regards Joel, Ellie, and the violent world they inhabit.

Find Nicholas Crawford at: www.nicholascrawfordauthor.com https://www.tiktok.com/@nicholas_crawford

Send us an email with your thoughts on the video game vs. tv show adaptation! [email protected]

Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!)

Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses 

Games and Gender

This week, we circle back round to a topic that continues to be a font of curiosity and conversation: games and gender! Are games gendered? (Dempsey repeatedly says “girl games”, much to Katie’s chagrin) How does a person’s identified gender impact their relationship or interaction with games?

We don’t know, but we had a good time talking about it! We also share a listener email from the fantastic cohost of The Old Switcharoo! If you’d like to send in your thoughts about a recent episode, we’d love to hear from you!

[email protected]

Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!)

Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

We need Katie back :(

Katie usually does this. 

Like games but on the side. 

Nintendo Direct Welcome to Overthinking Games, a…current events podcast??? Nah, not really, but this week, we give it a shot because we needed to discuss the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct! (Including a 2 second shot of Silksong…we feel that maybe Nintendo didn’t understand the impact that was going to have on their audience)

Also discussed: Dempsey has played a lot of games in the past few weeks, and they’ve been real bangers! Katie loves books-level boring games, and Seth has unlocked a new achievement in the game of life!

Are you a fan of Nintendo, cautiously optimistic for new hardware, or coldly cynical of the capitalist tycoon?

We’d like to hear from you! [email protected]

Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!)

Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

This week's topic was suggested by Seth's girlfriend, thanks for your great idea! This week, we discuss character creation- do aesthetics matter? (hint: yep, they sure do...sometimes) Who do we want to be in games - idealized versions, accurate representations, outlandish others?

What kind of representation makes us more engaged in a game?  Also discussed: Cat Needs, Black Ops Zombies, Minecraft, and the Rocky Mountains.

If you have ideas for a topic you'd like us to discuss, or thoughts on this week's topic, send us an email!  [email protected]

Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!) 

Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

A new episode. Kind of a filler episode bth. 

Bigger Number, Better Person

This week, we discuss our tried and true mantra of "bigger number, better person," its role in video games, and how it ties into real life, from support roles in Marvel Rivals, racking up kills on Warzone, merit-based pay, and good grades in school.  Also discussed: Bokura, Magic the Gathering, and "The Case for Mars" 

If you have ideas for a topic you'd like us to discuss, or thoughts on this week's topic, send us an email!  [email protected]

Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok

Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!) 

Theme music is copyright free and from:https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

The One Where We Forgot the Topic Was Procedural Generation

Welcome to this week’s episode, where Katie brings a topic she doesn’t know much about, and everyone argues about definitions! No, really, this week we try to talk about procedural generation vs. curated design, and end up embroiled in roguelikes, as one does.  Also mentioned: Final Fantasy 7, Marvel Rivals, and games that are boring but we love. 

If you have a better understanding of procedural generation and spent 20 minutes yelling at us through your phone, you can send us an email and share your wisdom!

 [email protected]

Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!) 

Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses