Sean Wagoner joins me to get to know the Covenant Man, the In-World tax collector who menaces young Tim Ross. All of this happens in the fairy tale that gives this book its name. Tim's dad dies, his mom falls in with an abusive drunk, and the Covenant Man arrives to send the young boy on a fool's errand.

Discussion of the GameBoy version of T2 turns to time travel and weird chess.

This episode was recorded entirely in one take.

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about a whole bunch of strategy games, the most recent Nintendo Direct, ask we you about rule subversions in games.

• Nintendo Direct announcements, including Smash Bros. for Switch.
• Valve claims they will make games again.
• “Where the Water Tastes Like Wine” releases.

• What’s the best way a game has subverted its rules?

• Jala: Metroid: Samus Returns. The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild. Fire Emblem: Awakening.
• Ben: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Into the Breach.
• Dennis: Into the Breach. Kingdom of Loathing. Hand of Fate.
• Kole: Alan Wake. Yume Nikki.

Here comes a very big boy.

This episode takes us back to the Paul W.S. Anderson well for a movie that's much more fun than Resident Evil. The fate of our world hangs in the balance as extradimensional beings battle it out in the tournament of Mortal Kombat. This movie is cheesy, goofy, brainless, and not high art. But man, is it fun to talk about.

It reinvented the series, breathing fresh new life into a stale formula. Listen in as we talk about the mechanics and generalities of the game, because there are plenty of them. Special thanks to special guest John Hurst for his support on Patreon, and for finally getting us to play this game.

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Links:

• Pet Sematary - Trailer - YouTube
• Functional fixedness - Wikipedia
• Breath of the Wild - Not Enough Zelda - YouTube
• Zelda Breath of the Wild - 5 Advanced Combat Tips - YouTube
• Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions Trailer - YouTube
• Jdhurst (@Jdhurst) | Twitter
• Vain Link (@VainLink) | Twitter