Hopes and dreams are important - they sustain us, they keep us going, they give Clayton and Kellen something to talk about on this week's Talking Games, as they run down some of their most anticipated games of 2015!

This Saturday you can catch HIJINKSfest, a cool thing Clayton's doing that involves him and his Hijinks teammates doing 12 different shows in 12 hours at iO. Right now you can catch Clayton, Kellen, and Hijinks teammate Jude Tedmori producing what Clayton assures us is the nadir of Talking Games. You might even call this the Toad of episodes.

The Nerdologues love Chicago (definitely). And Chicago loves the Nerdologues (hopefully?). Today we welcome guest Kevin Treski to Talking Games to chat about a specific and cool Chicago project of his, the Chicago Gaming Union, which puts together sweet events around the city for gamers to get together. You'll hear about some of those events and a lot of other cool stuff JUST BY PUSHING PLAY.

Our buddy Rob Grabowski thought it would be fun to be on Talking Games, but he doesn't play quite as much as Clayton and Kellen do. But that didn't stop us! Here Rob details the mobile games he's been enjoying (games that get him made fun of by kids on trains); then he investigates which next-gen system he should get if he were to purchase on. And, through the magic of the Internet, we get a check-in from Tim!

Tim's on a boat, Clayton's out of town, but Kellen's still here! This week, he and guest Charley Carroll (Annoyance Theater director, one time fourth-ranked NBA 2K5 player in the world) take on a topic with some real weight - video game addiction.

Aaron Amendola is the artistic director of VStheUNIVERSE. He's also a great guy. He also has an opinion that Clayton and Kellen want to investigate: that Dragon Age: Inquisition is an amazing game. On this episode of Talking Games, hear them debates its merits and weaknesses! You know you want to!

Unfortunately, our dear friend Dougie has to sit out of this week's Pathfinder episode - his last encounter just took too much out of him (or he's on a Second City boat right now... either one). Fortunately, Grubz is joined by last week's newcomer, Mistletoe (aka Kellen Terrett) to continue his noble quest. Will Grubz and Mistletoe's worst enemy be a wicked gelatinous cube? Or could it be... themselves?

What kind of eldritch magic has fetched Tim Dunn from his time at sea to return to the podcast? The kind conjured up by dungeonmaster (Pathmaster?) Erin Thorn in this, the third episode to feature our favorite adventuring devotees of Torag, Dougie & Grubz! Plus, a new ally approaches as guest-host Kellen Terrett joins the party!

From Knights of the Old Republic to Dragon Age to Destiny, everyone seems to love the hybrid game genre of action RPGs. This week, Clayton, Kellen, and guest Sean Peezick will talk about some of their favorite examples of that genre!

Red Dead Redemption, "the Grand Theft Auto of the Wild West," made a lot of fans when it came out a few years ago. Let's talk about it! This week, Clayton, Kellen, and guest Ryan Ben also get around to games that give a sci-fi twist to the genre, including Borderlands and Fallout: New Vegas.