We welcome Shane back to the podcast by discussing the Spider series from Tiger Style games. Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor (2009) was one of the iOS App Store’s earliest break-out hits and it still stands out as a great example of environmental storytelling and innovative touch-native design. The sequel, Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon returns to the form of the original while expanding on it with new game mechanics and larger, more detailed levels.

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is available on the iOS app store for $1.99. A separate HD version is available for iPad.

It’s difficult to give an estimated time to complete this game as different people will approach it with different goals. An observant player can probably explore all of Blackbird Estate in around 5 hours.

Links for this episode:

WE HEAR AND OBEY. Update your Spider #ShroudedMoon. We changed it so YOU DON'T HAVE TO SOLVE PUZZLES TO PROGRESS. http://t.co/Z0ZGlD5lMv

— TIGER STYLE (@tigerstylegames) August 13, 2015

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

The Magic Circle is something really unique. In this thoughtful, darkly comic first person puzzle game, you play as the hero of an unfinished video game. The developers have failed you, and it’s your task to break the game and use the powers of the “gods” against them in freeform sandbox puzzles. It’s full of surprises at every turn and packed with commentary on the video game industry, gamers, and what it means to create art.

This game has gotten a criminally small amount of coverage in the press, but it may be our favorite game of 2015 so far. Don’t miss it! The Magic Circle is available on Steam for Mac and PC for $19.99. A free demo is also available. Expect it to take 3 to 4 hours to complete.

We have the Spoiler Break at about 30 minutes in. This game is full of surprises you won’t want to spoil for yourself, so if you haven’t played it do yourself a favor and stop at the spoiler break and give this game a try.

Links for this episode:

Played on Mac OS X using review copies courtesy of the developer.

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

It’s a warm summer day in 1971 and the kaiju are roaming the countryside. We discuss the lovely 3DS eShop game Attack of the Friday Monsters from veteran Japanese game developers Millennium Kitchen, creators of the similarly quaint and nostalgic Boku no Natsuyasumi series. This is one of the most unique and down right pleasant games on the 3DS and entirely worth its short play time. Expect your summer afternoon with Sohta and his friends to take between two and four hours.

Links for this episode:

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were:

This week we discuss Contrast, a flawed but interesting puzzle platformer for PC and consoles. Contrast has an appealing 1920s cabaret aesthetic and a really neat shadow-merging mechanic that had a lot of promise, but the game didn’t resonate with most critics. Is the game worth its three-to-four-hour playtime?

Contrast is available on Steam (Windows), Playstation 4, and Xbox One, as well as previous generation consoles, and costs $14.99. Expect it to take three to four hours to complete.

Links for this episode

You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes!

Your hosts this week were: