Here we are- Game of the Year. The big finale. We've had quite enough preamble- let's get to it.

The Nominees Are:

Aotenjo: Infinite Hands

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

With multiple anime and manga podcasts, it's clear we love this medium a lot. And in 2025 we saw so many cool things. In this penultimate category, we celebrate our favorite anime and manga of the year.

The Nominees Are:

Apocalypse Hotel

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

Time concerns (that proved a bit unnecessary) forced us to compress Minor Character and Major character into one pod, so Minor Character gets a little "one winner no runners up" before the main event!

The Best Minor Character Nominees Are:

Emma Rockford (of the Devil)

The Best Major Character Nominees Are:

Yachiyo (Apocalypse Hotel)

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

In contrast to Emergent Moment, you don't have to do anything special to experience these. These scripted moments are part of the media below that everyone can see, but that doesn't make them any less special. These moments made us laugh, tear up, and reflect in 2025, and we want to share them with you.

The Nominees Are:

Apocalypse Hotel

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

The phrasing on this category was tricky. What is an Emergent Moment? Basically, it's to distinguish from a Narrative Moment- our category tomorrow. Rather than scripted, hand-tailored moments, these are moments that occur, or occurred, naturally as a result of the way things have been set up- either in a game or in the world.

The Nominees Are:

Baby's First Death Trap (Android: Netrunner)

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky. That's last year's art, we'll have new art for this year soon, so please look forward to that!

We used to call this category "That's My Jam" which is a long forgotten in-joke from our personal Discord server, but unfortunately it was just a little out of step of the way we name these categories now. But rest assured, these songs are JAMS. We had lots of music to choose from this year and it was harder for some to narrow it down.

The Nominees Are:

"BIRDBRAIN" w/ OK Glass Feat Kasane Teto by Jaime Paige

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

There are bad surprises in this world. A lot of them. We are not celebrating those! They don't get their own category, at least this year. Let's talk GOOD surprises.

The Nominees Are:

Apocalypse Hotel

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

We may have had to combine Best Action Toolkit and Best Fighting Toolkit this year out of time concerns, but that just means a staggering roster of characters that are fun and interesting to play. Behold!

The Nominees Are:

Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Bananza)

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

Systems are such a special part of games. Sets of rules and features that turn into engines to produce unique outcomes as they crash together. And the mechanics that make up these systems can stand out as truly remarkable. Here are our favorites from the last year.

The Nominees Are:

Weather (Death Stranding 2: On the Beach)

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

In honor of the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, we have a real treat. Originally for the $5 Patrons, we have unlocked one of our longest and most in depth episodes of Novel Not New, and it's available just in time for the spooky season. We hope you enjoy.

Ahhh, Majora's Mask. A real odd duck in the Zelda series. There are weirder ones, sure: that Tingle DS game is pretty strange. In its own mundane way, Link's Crossbow Training is quite bizarre. But those are mere spinoffs. Majora's Mask adopts its own weird persona while managing to be a full Zelda game. The first Zelda led by Eiji Aonuma. The one that was gonna be for the 64DD. And for my money, one of the best. Let's see what lies behind the mask.

Click here when indicated if you want to watch the 100% No Major Glitches World Record speedrun alongside this podcast for some reason!

This Month's Games!

This Month's Guest!

Next Month's Game!

Next Month's Guest!

Opening Segment