Unconsoleable

Doesn't this scene from Lost Tracks look cool? But it's actually the most annoying part of the game.

78: A Charity for Game Developers

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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Hellooooooo there, dear listeners! Anna is at GDC this week, but the show goes on as usual, not least because Jessica has Some Strong Feelings about a game she played this week. Spoiler alert: they aren’t good feelings :-p

Meanwhile, Anna talks in more detail about Clash Royale, Amazon has some sort of new type of app store that we can’t figure out, and Jessica wonders if there’s a very specific and political reason that Supercell is so successful*.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you want to put tilt controls in your game (warning: this will result in you getting yelled at :-))

Stuff we mentioned:

• Trump rally cancelled in Chicago
• Jessica's alma mater hosts Anita Sarkeesian
• Pokemon Picross
• Droppy Balls (iOS & Android)
• Faily Brakes (iOS & Android)
• The Inner World (iOS & Android)
• Bertram Fiddle (iOS & Steam)
• Lost Tracks (iOS only)
• Tiltagon (iOS & Android)
• LIMBO (iOS & Android)
• Clash Royale (iOS & Android)
• Here’s a baby gorilla
• Australian baby possum
• Telepaint (iOS only)
• Supercell is making so much money
• Megan Fox’s episode
• Amazon has created a new type of app store
• Lumberyard
• Goat Simulator (iOS & Android)
• Jessica is the purveyor of awesome cat GIFs

*Extremely minor correction: as it turns out, Rovio is also located in Finland, which may or may not weaken Jessica's wild theories

Mobile games are serious business

77: Emapthetic Killbots

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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After two weeks of guests, we had a lot of complaining bottled up, so here we go!

And because we didn’t want to just complain to each other, we asked our friend and sometime developer of games, Joe Macirowski, to join us.

But don’t worry. It’s not only complaining as we also talk about what we are playing (Jessica has built a robot army, what?), some awesome news of course, and, well, yes, ok, there is a lot of shouting at Apple. But then what else is new?

So, sorry we’re not sorry that this episode is over an hour long, but the complaining wasn’t going to record itself!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you think you can kick Jessica's ass at gin rummy :-p

Stuff we mentioned:

• Joe's previous episode
• Cinemoji (iOS only)
• You Must Build a Boat (iOS & Android)
• Grand Gin Rummy (iOS & Android)
• Dirac (will be out on iOS soon)
• Choice of Robots (iOS & Android)
• Attack of the Clockwork Army (iOS & Android)
• Firewatch
• Cibele
• Train Conductor World (iOS only for now)
• The Voxel Agents
• Bag It (iOS & Android)
• Love You to Bits (iOS only)
• Slide the Shakes (iOS only for now)
• Desert Golfing (iOS & Android)
• Clash Royale (iOS & Android)
• Assassin's Creed: Identity (iOS only for now)
• Joe's recommended battery charger
• Ken Wong officially announces a new studio!
• New State of Play game coming
• Lumino City (iOS only)
• Hitman GO developers talk mid-core
• Mortal Kombat X (iOS & Android)
• Apple's Phil Schiller takes over stuff
• Neven Mrgan's episode
• Binding of Isaac gets rejected by Apple
• Our friend Brian
• Does the ESRB rate mobile games?
• iOS update with night shift
• ATP tipster on Twitter
• ATP

76: The Old Reach-Around

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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We are back with another awesome guest this week. Incidentally, it’s someone else we had trouble luring in; is there some sort of conspiracy to see how long game developers can evade our clutches? The answer is, not long! So after persistent badgering, we bring you Rumpus Animation’s Seb Burnett, the brains behind the adorable Victorian comedy adventure game, Bertram Fiddle.

It turns out Bertram is basically Seb. Or is Seb really Bertram? They live inside each other on Twitter so who really knows? What we do know is that Dad jokes are great, meat should be sold door to door, and quirky, funny adventure games should be plentiful.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if want to join our team of Donald Trump assassins.

Stuff we mentioned:

• Bertram Fiddle Kickstarter

• Dopamine from social media

• Bertram Fiddle on Steam

• Amanita Design

• Kate Hindley

• Bristol games hub

• Flappy Bird

• Color Switch (iOS & Android)

• Our episode with "Fireproof Barry"

• Shooty Skies (iOS & Android)

• Kickstarter video with "Tim Schafer"

• Ron Gilbert

• Thimbleweed Park

Try... to forge... a good thing!

75: Get Off Your Ass and Try

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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At long last, we welcome special guest Barry Meade! Barry is the head of Fireproof Games, the studio behind the enormously popular and award-winning Room games of which we are huge fans and whose third installment won our 2015 GOTY.

Barry talked with us about his career in the industry, how Fireproof was born and what he thinks has been the key to his company’s success. But more importantly, he made an impassioned plea for innovation and excellence in mobile game design. And he asserted that developers and the industry at large need to rethink the way they approach the platform and its gamers. We might have gotten goosebumps a little.

Please rate and review us on iTunes if you want everyone to hear awesome episodes like these, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook andemail us if you’ve ever stolen someone’s work so we can yell at you!

Stuff we mentioned:

• Commodore 64
• Amiga
• Bullfrog
• Guildford, UK
• Criterion Studios
• Burnout
• Unity
• Chinese puzzle boxes
• Zen Bound (iOS only)
• Pocket Gamer article from 2013
• Our episode with Asher
• Ryan Cash
• Snowman
• Alto’s Adventure (iOS & Android)
• GTA
• Omega Agent for VR
• Monkey Island
• LucasArts games
• Grim Fandango: Remastered
• The Room on Steam
• Doom
• Quake

If including a photo of an adorable arctic fox is wrong, we don't want to be right

74: Negative OMG You're Going to Die Celsius

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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Yes, yes, we know we promised you special guest Barry Meade on this episode, but everything imaginable went wrong and then we had technical difficulties soooo… no Barry for now.

But next week! Next week there will be Barry and in the meantime there is us reveling in our awesome new listener reviews, talking about what we’re playing (or not), the news of the week, and what’s that? Someone thinks Neko Atsume is a dirty capitalist game?! For our thoughts on that and much more, listen now :-)

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter (and follow Jessica and Anna too), like us on Facebook and email us if you also have a AAA sob story to share :-)

Stuff we mentioned:

• You Must Build a Boat (iOS & Android)
• Libsyn
• The Room 3 (iOS & Android)
• Neko Atsume (iOS & Android)
• A capitalist critique of Neko Atsume
• Young boy spends thousands in Jurassic World game
• Object permanence
• Tamagatchi
• Let's Go Rocket (iOS & Android)
• Spawn on Me
• _PRISM (iOS only)
• Rust Bucket (iOS & Android)
• Amazon launches Lumberyard
• Amazon's game studio
• Interview with head of Lumberyard

73: In a Parallel Universe

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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Even though Jessica is trapped in an alternate universe, luckily that universe has both warm cats and recording equipment. So the show goes on! :-)

We announce our next super exciting guest, talk new and old games we’re playing, try to figure out if Nintendo stole their first mobile game idea from a nascent social app and much, much more.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and email us if you want to brag about your Peachball score ;-p

Stuff we mentioned:

• Fireproof Games
• The Room
• Monument Valley LEGO idea
• Canabalt (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Mr. Jump (iOS only)
• Procedural generation
• Adam Saltsman
• Bex Saltsman
• The Guides (iOS & Android)
• The Westport Independent (iOS & Android)
• Papers, Please
• Shooty Skies (iOS & Android)
• Land Sliders (iOS & Android)
• Caishen
• Matt Ditton
• Andy (Sum)
• Puzzledrome (iOS only for now)
• Weather Underground
• Pull My Tongue (iOS only)
• Nintendo gives more Miitomo details
• Our most recent episode with Shareef
• Peach
• Peachball
• Alto's Adventure will be free on Android
• Noodlecake
• UK government funds games
• Bushido Bear trailer
• Runaway Toad trailer
• Gamasutra op-ed

And when you double-tap a card...

72: Ruining Your Productivity

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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We were all ready to love new puzzler Twofold, but we're... unsure. Also, Anna dives pretty deep into Crashlands while Jessica tries to stay objective about a game designed by Donald Rumsfeld. Yes, that Donald Rumsfeld.

We also fill you in on the latest adorable updates to the games we care about, wonder if we’ll even attempt The Witness, and hey, there’s a contest specifically for indie mobile games. All this and more, so get to listening!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and email us if you have a better Donald Rumsfeld joke to make than that one Medium commenter ;-p

Sponsor: Comic Bento is the original graphic novel subscription box! Each Comic Bento contains at least $50 worth of surprise graphic novels from both the biggest creators in comics and the unsung indie heroes. Plans start as low as $17.50 a month, plus shipping & handling, and brings you a new theme each month with new graphic novels to go along with it. Head on over to their site to check out pricing, unboxing videos and more.

Thanks to Comic Bento for sponsoring this episode of the show, along with all of our fine programs here at ESN this week. Support Unconsoleable by trying it out, and get $5 off your first month with the code UNCONSOLEABLE at checkout.

Stuff we mentioned:

• Churchill Solitaire (iOS only for now)
• Twofold (iOS & Android)
• Threes (iOS & Android)
• rympdkapsel (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Monument Valley (iOS & Android)
• Hocus (iOS only)
• Star Trek: Timelines (iOS & Android)
• Crashlands (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Crashlands devs' podcast
• Butterscotch Shenanigans
• Capoiera
• Capoiera gameplay
• Rust Bucket (iOS & Android)
• Land Sliders (iOS & Android)
• Indie mobile game contest
• Asher Vollmer
• Joel McDonald
• The Witness video review
• Jonathan Blow
• The Stanley Parable
• App slicing
• Take This
• Kitten Zelda meme
• Video games can help with anxiety
• Donald Rumsfeld is an app developer?

Mason jars: hipster drinking glasses and gamedev toilets

71: Peeing in a Jar

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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Because we are suuuuper important gaming podcasters of note (not really), we got some codes for some games this week. So, you know, disclaimer given, we have ethics, blah, blah, blah :-p

Meanwhile, Jessica also plays a game with cats, because of course, and Anna dives into the new Star Trek game, among others. You know you want to hear our opinions on all of the above.

In gaming news this week, some people are pissed that The Witness is going to cost $40? PUH-LEASE. You’ll hear about this and more in our news discussion.

Please rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you’ve ever peed in a jar and can justify why it was necessary to do so ;-p

Stuff we mentioned:

• Jessica’s pile of cats
• Cat Physics (iOS & Android)
• Battle.net
• Crashlands (iOS, Android & Steam)
• Chutzpah
• Furdemption (iOS only)
• Mutant Mudds (iOS only)
• Rust Bucket (iOS & Android)
• Nubs' Adventure (iOS & Android)
• Totes the Goat (iOS only for now)
• Xeodrifter
• The developer: Jools Watsham
• Star Trek: Timelines (iOS & Android)
• John de Lancie (Q)
• Baum (iOS only)
• Botanicula (iOS & Android)
• Joel's interview
• Matt & Andy are in GQ, but the article isn’t online :-(
• The Witness
• Jonathan Blow is peeing in a jar?

Don't be this mobile game developer

70: The Bechdel Test for Games

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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What is the Bechdel Test for Games? No, it doesn't have anything to do with the real Bechdel Test. You'll just have to listen to find out.

Also, it turns out that Jessica isn't cut out for critiquing games unless she thinks no one is listening, while Anna has no problem savaging the games she tries, because hey, they totally deserve it.

Meanwhile, a developer contemplates making the sequel to their game F2P and their struggle to decide strikes us as very problematic, we talk about what we're playing, read a new iTunes review, and much more!

Remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you can do a better fake French accent than Jessica ;-p

Stuff we mentioned:

• Pocket Mortys (iOS & Android)
• Adult Swim Games
• Rick & Morty
• Pokemon
• The #Jessicareviews tweet in question
• New Star Trek game (iOS & Android)
• RPGs
• Halfpipe Hero (iOS only for now)
• Grayout (iOS only)
• Neven's episode
• Sling Kong (iOS & Android)
• Submit a bug report to Apple
• Into the Dim (iOS only for now)
• Choices (iOS only for now)
• Rust Bucket (iOS & Android)
• Nitrome
• Beneath the Lighthouse (iOS & Android)
• Prettygreat
• Mighty Games
• Furdemption (iOS only)
• The developers' blog post
• Our friend Joe
• YMBAB sales
• Big changes at Ustwo
• Ken Wong's episode
• Ustwo games group photo
• Samsung Gear VR game by Ustwo
• #Annareviews and #Jessicareviews tweet

69: We Are the Unlikely Gamers

Anna Tarkov & Jessica Dennis

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Our first guest of 2016 joins us on this episode and we are super excited to welcome him.

Neven Mrgan is a designer at his day job, but he has also made some unforgettable iOS games, most recently Grayout, which is a prequel to the earlier Blackbar.

We talked to Neven about how he decided to start making games, where he gets his inspiration, how the App Store should be revamped, and much, much more.

Please remember to rate and review us on iTunes, follow us on Twitter and email us if you know how we can get Tim Cook to hire Neven ;-)

Stuff we mentioned:

• YMBAB dev tells Jessica to stop
• Panic
• The Incident (iOS only)
• Space Age (iOS only)
• LucasArts Adventures
• Aphasia
• Monkey Island
• Tomb Raider
• Bioshock
• Gone Home
• Steve Gaynor
• Monument Valley (iOS & Android)
• Monument Valley in year two
• Into the Dim (iOS only)
• VVVVVV (iOS & Steam)
• Super Meat Boy
• Indie Game: The Movie
• Super Hexagon (iOS & Android)
• Kero Blaster (iOS only)
• Dungeon Raid (iOS & Android)
• Spaceteam? (iOS & Android)
• Async Corp (iOS only)
• Paradox Factor (iOS & Android)
• To Be or Not to Be (iOS & Android)
• Peach