A video game memoir by Ecuadorian indie developers Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena, and published by Panic, Despelote takes you back to a childhood in 2001 Ecuador, and the magical grip soccer held over the entire country during the lead-up to the 2002 World Cup.

This is something we have never seen in video games before.

• (00:00) - 439: Despelote

We’re talking about Many Nights a Whisper, a short, meditative archery (kinda!) game from Red Strings Club developer Deconstructeam and Selkie Harbour. The Dreamer has prepared their entire life for one impossible shot that will define a generation. Hear the wishes of your people, and prepare for your one chance to make them come true in this interactive essay on the flight of wishes and the pressure of expectations.

In “What’s Making Us Happy”, Nate is playing the classic Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Raygan recommends an app. An app!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Door
https://www.suppermariobroth.com
https://reederapp.com/

• (00:00) - Many Nights a Whisper

We spent this week playing a bit more of Inkle’s follow up to Overboard!, and made some shocking discoveries!

• (00:00) - Expelled! Spoilers!

This week, Laura and Nate dive into Trash the Planet, a free, browser-based resource-management game that subverts clicker mechanics to serve its narrative. You play as a group of raccoons who start out collecting trash and, through a rapid evolution of society, end up ruling the planet—manipulating the stock market with absolutely no consequences.

Stick around for the return of What’s Making Us Happy This Week.

• (00:00) - Trash the Planet

Shane and Nate were buzzing about FlyKnight, a $5 indie dungeon crawler that surprised us with its humor and depth. In this episode, we break down what makes this tiny first-person RPG so fun, from its retro aesthetic and first person Souls-like combat to its great co-op potential. Should you bug your buddies to play it? Let’s find out!

• (00:00) - Intro

Expelled! is the latest game from all-star narrative design studio Inkle. It’s a follow up to our 2021 Game of the Year winner Overboard!, and it builds on that game’s strengths in every conceivable area.

A School Prefect has been pushed out of a window, and everyone says YOU did it! Now you have one day to clear your name. Can you uncover the culprit — or find someone else to take the fall?

• (00:00) - Intro

Steam Next Fest just concluded and the Short Game team searched through the mountain of demos to discuss some of the most exciting games with short game energy coming out this year.

00:00 Intro
04:09 WYRMHALL: Brush and Banter
09:12 Wheel World
18:19 Despelote
25:08 Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3
33:33 Haste: Broken Worlds
39:50 Is This Seat Taken?
46:54  Art of Reflection
51:01 Bambas!
52:56 Run TavernQuest
54:45 Nitro Express
58:06 Lightning Round and Outro

• (00:00) - Intro

All four co-hosts are present and accounted for as we talk about ultra-short platformer, Sheepy: A Short Adventure. It’s right there in the name!

Sheepy is a FREE game on Steam and itch.io, and it’ll take you about an hour. It’s surprisingly polished for a free release, with charming animations and very good music, plus some incomprehensible lore! We also go into some tech tips for those playing on Steam Deck, since the game is completely playable but technically “unsupported”.

• (00:00) - Intro

Rats with Knives! It’s time to finally talk about Fight’N Rage!

This has been on the back burner for a while; it was first suggested to us nearly 4 years ago as a modern, mechanically interesting beat ’em up in the vein of Streets of Rage 4. “Easy to play, hard to master” is a bit of a cliche, but it feels very apt here. Fight’N Rage channels the golden age of arcade brawlers with deep, satisfying combos, chunky pixel art cheesecake, and a branching structure that gives you lots of options. It pays homage to classics like Final Fight while advancing the genre in interesting and distinct ways.

• (00:00) - 431: Fight'n Rage

This week we are welcoming long time friend of the show Jason McIntosh (aka Jmac, aka Halstrick) who’s joining us to talk about the Valve Steam Deck. It’s been about three years since the Steam Deck launched, and it’s had a profound effect on the way all of us play games. Also, Laura just got one! We had a long chat about the how we’ve used the Deck and what it’s meant in our gaming lives for these last few years.

Jason has a great short-form podcast/audio-zine all about the Steam Deck called Venthuffer. Check it out! New episodes coming in 2025!

• (00:00) - 430: Steam Deck Chat