Post Games

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This September, following a successful run on the experimental gaming handheld Playdate, Blippo+ will release on Nintendo Switch and Steam. The game, created in collaboration with an iconic indie band, attempts to reproduce the feeling of channel surfing in the early days of cable television.

Its graphics aren’t graphics at all, but full-motion video. Actors bounced around shows that resemble episodes of Pee-wee Herman, the concerts of Klaus Nomi, and the “I can’t believe they made this for kids” programming of early Nickelodeon and MTV.

As I played Blippo+, flipping through the channels, I felt a deep nostalgia for something I'd nearly forgotten. And then I wondered: what inspires artists to try to recreate not just a show or a TV channel’s slate, but the entire TV experience. To find out, I spoke with rockstar, journalist, and Blippo+ writer Claire Evans!

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Video game adaptations threaten to replace superhero movies as Hollywood's favorite fad. How did Mario and friends evolve from box office poison into some of the most valuable IPS in movie history? Today on Post Games: an extended interview with filmmaker and video essayist Patrick H. Willems, in which we make sense of 30 years and five distinct eras of video game adaptations.

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Today's guest is musical composer, orchestrator, lyricist, conductor, and musician Mike Pettry, who climbed the rungs of the theater world and now performs in the orchestras of award-winning Broadway shows. His performances have accompanied artists like Ben Platt and Idina Menzel.

But as his Broadway career blossomed, Pettry began to fantasize about something else entirely: making a musical… video game.

A murder mystery musical video game, to be precise. Murder at the Birch Tree Theater is a deduction game, in the style of Return of the Obra Dinn and The Case of the Golden Idol. Set across many years at a small community theater, it tells a story of intrigue, small-time fame, and, as the title promises, murder.

I talk with Pettry about juggling his two dreams on the world's biggest stage. Or under it. He plays in the orchestra after all.

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Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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This week on Post Games, I'm answering your questions about the future of games. Plus, an extended conversation with video game podcaster, YouTuber, and content creator Brendon Bigley about his long-running series Into the Aether and his new gaming news publication, Wavelengths.

You can now watch Post Games shorts on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Like the show? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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Two options for full show notes, including links to stories, games, and related topics!

Next week: For the mailbag, send voice notes to postgamesmailbag (at) gmail. Please keep them under 90 seconds and include your name and pronouns.

Countless video games depict death, but few ask us to contemplate our mortality. Thank goodness. Mario wouldn’t be nearly as fun if we had to attend every goomba’s funeral.

And yet, as I approach 40 and my death anxieties find new ways to keep me awake, I wonder if video games could be uniquely equipped to help us emotionally grapple with the big question that has no answer: what comes next?

So, I called an expert. Video game writer and narrative director Kaitlin Tremblay has written three games exploring the many sides of death: A Mortician’s Tale, Seasonala Cemetery, and the upcoming Ambrosia Sky.

Don't let the topic fool you. This is an uplifting conversation. And hey, if you're listening to this episode, then I can guarantee one thing: you're alive.

Act 1: A life of making games about death

Act 2: How death in games can help us

Patreon Bonus: Why I keep playing this tiny game about dying

Act 3: News of the Week

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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Gaming historian Jeremy Parish joins me for the entire episode to tell the story of gaming’s most famous primate.

Act 1: How Donkey Kong saved Nintendo

Act 2: Donkey Kong’s long journey back to the top

Patreon Bonus: The Top 5 Donkey Kong games – and the #1 strangest

Act 3: The news of the week

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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This week on Post Game: Late-night comedy writer Mike Drucker and Tactical Breach Wizards director Tom Francis explain how they make video games funny and find the humor in loving video games.

Patreon bonus prologue: What it's like to write jokes for Nintendo

Act 1: Adapting a life of video games into a comedic memoir

Act 2: The cheats to make your video game funny

Act 3: The news of the week

Bonus book excerpt: Good Game, No Rematch - "The StarCraft Conspiracy"

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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This week on Post Games, Atari CEO Wade Rosen joins me to discuss gaming’s ship of Theseus. While everyone remembers Atari at its height, most folks ignored the company's struggles following the games industry crash of 1983. Understandably! For forty years, Atari has been a brand in search of a purpose.

Rosen is determined to change that, making Atari relevant for the first time in forty years. And he wants to do so while having a sense of humor and respect for the brand's long, long journey. Who doesn't love a comeback story?

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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Welcome to Post Game’s first annual physical, in which a special guest joins me to assess the health and stability of gaming, from the creators to the players, the industry to the culture. I’ve invited one of the smartest, analytical, and forward-thinking minds in video – writer, developer, publisher, critic, analyst, and occasional voice actor Xalavier Nelson Jr. – to give video games a thorough workup

Bonus Patreon Prologue: The state of games 10, 20, and 30 years ago

Act 1: The best of times - Why 2025 could be the golden age of video games

Act 2: The worst of times - Why video games feel doomed

Bonus Patreon interview segment: Xalavier on gaming’s past, present, and future

Act 3: The news of the week, including the ghoulish mass layoffs at Xbox

Today's episode's act-interstitials feature music from the games of Strange Scaffold!

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

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Before we get started...

If you have a moment and don't mind, please leave a review of Post Games on Apple Podcasts. I know, it's silly, but it's also a humongous help in these early days.

This week on Post Games

Act 1: Dunkey on his love/hate relationship with Death Stranding, life as YouTube game critic, and the power of changing your mind

A bonus act for Patreon subscribers: Dunkey on video game critics and criticism

Act 2: A "guide" to Death Stranding 2’s big, weird ideas

Act 3: The news of the week

Find episode notes and more at www.post.games. Subscribe to the Patreon for early access to episodes, additional segments, and bonus materials at patreon.com/postgames.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.