Unconsoleable

At long last and all the way from New Zealand, we welcome the developers of Mini Metro.Yep, we think the game is an instant classic and so should you.

We talk to (twin!) brothers Robert and Peter Curry about how Mini Metro came about, their past exploits in game development, staying indie, the fear and anxiety that comes with success, and, as always, much, much more!

Whether you've been loving designing transit systems like we have, want to hear the thought processes of smart devs, or are keen to join their dinosaur polo club, listen up!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want to design the jackets we’ll wear at our dino polo club :-p

Stuff we mentioned: 

• Mini Metro (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Civilization
• XCOM    
• World of Goo
• Aquaria
• Ludum Dare
• IGF Awards
• Barry Meade’s episode
• The traveling salesman problem
• You Must Build a Boat (iOS & Android)
• Luca Redwood
• Dinosaur Polo Club

We're all very fancy around here

Super Mario Run is about to come out and some worrisome news about it has also come out. Uh-oh.

Here to help us make sense of it all plus issue other tidbits of knowledge and wisdom is our beloved friend and developer Joe Macirowski.

Meanwhile, what are Anna’s first impressions of the game having trekked to the Apple Store to play the demo? What recent gaming triumphs has Jessica enjoyed? Will Apple ever make a controller? And just how many ties DOES one of the Joe’s cats have? All these questions and more will be answered so listen now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you know why Nintendo is opposed to making money :-p

Stuff we mentioned:

• Super Mario Run (iOS only SOON)
• Swap Sword (iOS only)
• Design Home (iOS & Android)
• Jessica’s 5-star design
• Sling Kong (iOS & Android)
• 2016 GOTY contenders list
• Sally’s Law (iOS & Android)
• Super Cat Tales (iOS & Android)
• Mutant Mudds (iOS only)
• Nubs’ Adventure (iOS & Android)
• Big Bang Racing (iOS & Android)
• Slip Away (iOS & Android)
• Perchang (iOS & Android)
• Engadget impressions of Super Mario Run
• Leap Day (iOS & Android)
• Super Mario Run demo video
• Super Mario Run will need constant internet connectivity
• NES Classic
• British dude is annoyed that mobile games require online play
• Game of War (iOS & Android)
• Base Wars
• Paste piece on Nintendo games that should come to mobile
• Backgammon
• Duck Hunt
• Drawn to Kill (iPad only)
• The Nintendo Switch
• Legend of the Skyfish (iOS & Android)
• Our listener Jared
• Too Many Limes (iOS only)
• Burger (iOS & Android)    
• Tiles
• Bodega cats on Twitter

Inside one of the secret women meetings

Apparently this is the show where we reveal our deepest, darkest gaming secrets. Are you ready to learn Jessica’s latest game shame? We don’t want to ruin the fun for you, so you’ll have to listen to find out what it is!

Speaking of deep, dark, secrets, we have some to impart to Zynga, who apparently wants to make a Candy Crush-like game for the Indian market. But they want it to appeal specifically to women. What’s the problem? Well, there are a number of them, and we try to explain it to the hapless devs who no doubt aren’t listening.

We also puzzle over a new mobile game streaming service Rovio plans to launch. Can something meant to be the Spotify of mobile games find success?

And of course we played some new games too, though almost none of the ones Anna tried came from the App Store (GASP!)

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you want to confess a shameful gaming secret of your own ;-p

Stuff we mentioned:

•  2016 GOTY contenders
• Severed (iOS only)
• Burly Men at Sea (iOS, Android & Steam)
• TIME’s list of top 10 games of 2016
• Prune (iOS & Android)
• 2015 GOTY episode
• Our friends Brian & Joe
• Icarus (iOS only)
• Game of War (iOS & Android)
• 4 Ways to Spot a Shameless Cash Grab
• Swap Sword (iOS only)
• Andrew Fray
• Spryfox episode
• Facebook launches Messenger games
• Tentacles: Enter the Mind (iOS only)
• Rovio is launching a mobile game streaming service
• Zynga
• Zynga seeks to target Indian women mobile gamers
• Indian currency crisis
• Candy Crush Moms article

Why do herring make you smarter? Something something school.

What's one weird trick for games to infuriate us? Bad monetization. Jessica even almost really liked a new game this week—almost.

It was much the same with Anna who, along with Jessica, struggled with a home decorating game. Struggled to play it that is, because the monetization is so brutal.

We also wondered about Microsoft Solitaire coming to mobile and who on earth would pay for it, got a sneak peak at Asher Vollmer’s next game, learned who the best navigators are, and chuckled at an unlikely political incursion into a mobile soccer game we’ve never played.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you subscribe to the herring theory :)

Stuff we mentioned:

• Icarus (iOS only)
• Sling Kong (iOS & Android)
• Let's Go Rocket (iOS & Android)
• Shooty Skies (iOS & Android)
• Islands (iOS only)
• Kathy Rain (iOS & Android)
• George W. Bush’s paintings
• Bob Ross
• Design Home (iOS & Android)
• Covet Fashion (iOS & Android)
• Kim Kardashian: Hollywood (iOS & Android)
• PHP
• Oh… Sir! Insult Simulator (iOS & Android)
• Microsoft Solitaire comes to mobile
• Microsoft Solitaire (iOS & Android)
• Solitaire Forever (iOS & Android)
• Fallen London (iOS, Android & browser)
• Windows Phone
• Solitaire subscription in Windows 10
• Asher Vollmer’s episode
• Guildlings
• GIF of first revealed Guildlings character
• Sea Hero Quest (iOS & Android)
• The best navigators are Nordic
• Football Manager (iOS & Android)
• Brexit
• Pro-Brexit player is mad

The story of Tetris is aaaaah tetrominos attack!

Could millions of people be wrong about mobile games being awesome? Clearly not, though they might be wrong about their choice of presidential candidate — but we digress!

Anyway! We try to go back to "normal" this week, whatever that is, and talk about more games, more out of touch articles, more shooty stabby gamers who don’t get mobile, and more Mario of course!

Also, Nintendo, you're pissing us off. Stop it.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have some NES classic minis you want to gift to us ;-)

Stuff we mentioned:

• King Rabbit (iOS only)
• PAC-MAN 256 (iOS, Android & PS4)
• Scurvy Scallywags (iOS & Android)
• You Must Build a Boat (iOS & Android)
• Luca Redwood
• SteamWorld Heist (iOS & Steam)
• Irish Senator says it all
• SteamWorld Dig
• Boon Cotter
• Men of Game Development
• Uncharted: Fortune Hunter (iOS & Android)
• Jake Sawyer
• The Trail (iOS & Android)
• Peter Molyneux
• Godus (iOS & Android)
• Alice in Wonderland Puzzle Golf Adventures (iOS & Android)
• Telepaint (iOS only)
• Portal
• NES classic mini
• Super Mario Run has a release date
• GamesIndustry.biz article
• What if Candy Crush had a story?
• Til Morning’s Light (iOS only)
• Deus Ex GO (iOS & Android)
• The Game Awards

Special bonus trivia! Serendipitously, as it turns out, the Simpsons episode Jessica references (here's an archive.org capture of whatbadgerseat.com) features a chalkboard gag concerning the 2000 election: "I will not plant subliminal messagores."

Us as the results rolled in. Us now.

This is still a show about games, but we had to talk about the election.

Because this isn't like any other election, and this president-elect isn't like any other president-elect. We are afraid and traumatized, not so much for ourselves, but for so many others. This show has always been partly about our lives, and this was a cataclysmic event for us both.

We do get around to games eventually, we promise. Both of us played a few new things, though games haven't been as comforting. We also talked about some good reactions to the election result in the games community, as well as some not-so-good reactions, plus a Blizzard CEO that seems to be a wee bit misguided.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you have a colony on Mars we can join.

Stuff we mentioned:

• The 5 stages of grief
• Ruffled Feathers episode
• Reports of hate crimes
• GaymerX
• Jezebel list of orgs to donate to
• ACLU
• Planned Parenthood
• CAIR
• Trans Lifeline
• #translawhelp
• Scurvy Scallywags (iOS & Android)
• Westworld
• Fancy Cats (iOS & Android)
• Sailor Moon Drops (iOS & Android)
• Neko Atsume (iOS & Android)
• The Trail (iOS & Android)
• The Room games
• The Lost Shield (iOS only)
• Brick breaker
• Nellie’s Ark (iOS only)
• Gamedev people react to Trump
• Patrick Thornton’s article
• California used to be Mexico
• Don't Move to Canada, Move to a Swing State
• Blizzard CEO says no one has figured out mobile
• Facebook announces their Steam competitor
• More Facebook Messenger games are here
• Peach
• Jake Sawyer
• Taco Illuminati t-shirts
• Gone Home

We're not this friendly

Games that we play sign up for judgment, but what about raiders of Halloween candy? Will anyone step forward and admit to taking all of it when no one’s looking?

While we ponder chocolate-induced crime and punishment, we also talk about the games we’ve played this week, to varying degrees of enjoyment and success. Jessica realizes walking around in a game can get tiresome while Anna embraces her spy identity.

We also roll our eyes at a tone-deaf piece on fan demands in games and comics and lament the fact that someday we may not be able to play our favorite iOS games anymore.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you'd like to confess to any candy crimes ;-p

Stuff we mentioned:

• Doomsday Clicker (iOS & Android)
• Scurvy Scallywags (iOS & Android)
• Rusty Lake: Roots (iOS & Android)
• Severed (iOS only)
• Gone Home
• Til Morning’s Light (iOS only)
• Cook, Serve, Delicious (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Appsolute Games
• Ketchapp
• Flip Heroes (iOS only)
• Lumino City (iOS & Steam)
• Canabalt (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Gossip Girl
• Vikings: An Archer’s Journey (iOS only)
• Our friend Joe
• Drawn to Kill (iPad only)
• Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise (iOS only)
• GCAP award winners
• Covert Affairs
• Guessy Stars (iOS & Android)
• Harvest (iOS only)
• Rodeo Stampede (iOS & Android)
• Disco Zoo (iOS & Android)
• The fans are going to win
• Mobile gaming isn't so mobile
• Toilet gamer t-shirts
• Games getting pulled from the App Store
• How to back up your games
• NES Classic is coming soon

The popular perception of gamers

Do gamers stink differently than other people? Some people seem to think so and [cue infomercial voice] have they got the product for YOU!

But before we get to all that, Jessica recounts some woes with a new game’s tutorial and an old game’s inability to cloud save her progress, oh no!

Meanwhile, Anna falls under the spell of a very silly, but very charming time management game and we also talk about a story that made us both do a double take.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’ve spent millions on a mobile game, because we’d like to be your friends ;-)

Stuff we mentioned:

•  Vikings: An Archer’s Journey (iOS only)
• Drawn to Kill (iPad only)
• Road Not Taken (iOS only)
• Mini Metro (iOS, Android & Steam)
• FRAMED (iOS & Android)
• Rusty Lake: Roots (iOS & Android)
• Year Walk (iOS only)
• The Last Door (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Fireproof Games
• Heart’s Medicine (iOS & Android)
• Matt Hall
• Cook, Serve, Delicious (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Hay Day (iOS & Android)
• Tap My Katamari (iOS & Android)
• Anna’s latest Remeshed column
• Phil Schiller in charge of the App Store
• Deodorant for gamers Kickstarter
• Man spends $2 million on a game & leads a boycott
• Skinner boxes
• Fallen London (iOS, Android & browser)
• 4 Ways to Spot a Shameless Cash Grab
• Gamer stats from the ESA
• Our friend Christian

Longtime listeners will recall that there was a time when Jessica built A LOT of boats. Now she's building a lot of transit systems, and Anna is too! That's right, Mini Metro has taken us by storm and we’re having a blast.

We also announce the winner of our Burly Men at Sea giveaway, and Anna talks about some other games and, um, hassling various developers.

And of course… the Nintendo news! We talk all about the Switch and whether we, the target market, are interested in it.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you’re bringing your dog to GDC, because we want to meet them!

Stuff we mentioned:

• Mini Metro (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Our Gaming Yoda
• Train Conductor World (iOS & Android)
• SimCity franchise
• Shooty Skies (iOS & Android)
• MARTA
• Burly Men at Sea (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Neko Atsume (iOS & Android)
• Bengal Jack
• Tubbs
• Doggins (iOS & Android)
• Shadow Bug (iOS only)
• Shadow Bug Rush (iOS & Android)
• Janie Clayton
• Brent from Spryfox
• FRAMED2 teaser
• FRAMED (iOS & Android)
• Josh at Loveshack
• PinOut!
• Smash Hit (iOS & Android)
• INKS. (iOS only)
• Really Bad Chess (iOS only)
• Zach Gage
• Sage Solitaire (iOS & Android)
• Puzzlepops! Trick or Treat (iOS & Android)
• Puzzlepops! (iOS & Android)
• Nintendo Switch teaser
• Disruption
• NYT analysis of the Switch
• Some European devs have Switch dev kits
• Zelda Windwaker

Fancy phone-holders

Everything in the world is terrible, but we are here to bring you stories of our sometimes silly and difficult lives, and we do eventually talk about games, we promise!

We tried some new stuff this week, to varying degrees of success, but we mainly talk about a game that you probably haven’t heard of or played. And that’s maybe for good reason. Intrigued? Mystified? Trepidatious? Then listen now and all will be revealed.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook, buy our merch, and email us if you can volunteer to be Jessica’s rescuer when she falls down the stairs ;-p

Stuff we mentioned:

• Nate Silver
• Jessica has never yelled at children
• The "L"
• Episode 52
• Episode 30
• Episode 79
• Alto's Adventure (iOS & Android)
• Andy Sum
• Overwatch
• Concrete Jungle (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Cognition (iOS only)
• Does Not Commute (iOS & Android)
• Piloteer (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Flappy Golf 2 (iOS & Android)
• Noodlecake
• Super Stickman Golf series
• Crystal Rush (iOS & Android)
• Splashy Cats (iOS & Android)
• Not a Clone (iOS only)
• EULAs
• Jake Sones
• Zombie Match Defense (iOS only)
• Love You to Bits (iOS only)
• Puzzlepops! (iOS & Android)
• Good mobile games for anxiety
• Outfolded (iOS & Android)
• Note to Self episode about games