In this special double-length episode, guest host Gary Butterfield of Watch Out For Fireballs! joins us to discuss The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

As you may know, Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to Link to the Past for the SNES, taking place in the same overworld and with many of the same mechanics. It manages to be both deeply nostalgic and incredibly innovative, updating the classic formula with many clever new game mechanics. It also respects your time, with a streamlined structure that allows you to complete the adventure in about 15 hours.

We discuss what makes this the most innovative Zelda game in years, compare and contrast it with its predecessors, and learn about Nate’s strange, sad history as a Navi sympathizer.

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Laura intended to join us for this episode, but was sidelined due to illness. We missed you Laura!

Special guest Nate Heagy, founder and developer of Amuses Me Games and die-hard Hearthstone player joins us to discuss the hugely successful digital-native collectible card game from Blizzard.

Hearthstone is a bit different from the games we typically cover but it’s a fascinating re-thinking of an existing genre made clearly with fitting-into-your-life in mind. It’s an open-ended experience played almost exclusively online against real people, and it’s a free-to-play game funded by microtransactions and purchases of digital collectibles. All these are things that, in most instances, we kind of hate, yet Hearthstone is a fascinating and instructive example of smart design and general polish that rises above these labels.

We discuss the smart design of the game and why it works where other digital card games have failed, and Nate offers us some advice for new players on picking a class, crafting cards, and winning matches.

Hearthstone is free-to-play for iOS, Android, PC, and Mac. Expect to spend perhaps an hour learning the rules and completing the tutorial. Each match/game to can be completed in around 10 minutes.

Thanks to Nate Heagy for joining us on this episode!

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This week we talk about the entrants for this year’s Spring Thing interactive fiction festival. Spring Thing is an offshoot of IFComp that focuses on new works (they must debut as a part of the festival) that are freely available, and generally shorter and more experimental than IFComp entries. We collectively played all but one of this year’s entrants and talk about them in detail.

We recorded this on the evening that the voting closed for the Spring Thing Audience Choice ribbon. The winners have since been announced, and Toby’s Nose won both the Audience Choice and the Alumni Choice awards!

We also discuss the results of this year’s XYZZY awards, and some other interactive fiction. This is only the beginning of our coverage of the interactive fiction competition/festival scene, so stay tuned!

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You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame

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