Summer is technically over, but Video Game Book Club is coming in HOT with our latest episode. This past month, the VGBC community played Rain World, a brutally difficult but extremely rewarding 2D metroidvania game. Join JP and Ben as they recap their experiences with this cult classic. We recap our full playthroughs, we talk about the lore of the game, and our favorite moments!

Join the Club by joining the VGBC Discord with the link below where you can play each month's game alongside us and interact with our community. Also, follow us on our socials to stay up to date with all things VGBC. Stay tuned for next month's episode where we'll be talking about Cassette Beasts!

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#videogamebookclub #gamingbookclub #rainworld #metroidvania #gamingpodcast #gaming #videogames #comedy

00:00 What is Rain World?

06:15 Story Recap

1:22:00 Ending Thoughts

1:27:30 Lore Recap

1:36:43 Listener Questions

2:09:15 Final Thoughts/Letter Grades

2:13:40 Announcing Next Month's Game

2:16:11 Outro

The Checkpoint is back! It's August of 2025 and the boys are struggling as JP is toiling away on the nightshift and Ben is delirious from waking up at 5:30am. Nevertheless, we catch up about our progress (or lack thereof) on the game of the month, Rain World, and talk about other games we've been playing, including some unconventional ones....

Join the Club by joining our Discord server and following us on all of our socials, and be on the lookout for our full Video Game Book Club episode on Hellblade at the end of the month!Discord: https://discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSTwitch: https://twitch.tv/buenalegamesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/buenale.games/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buenale.gamesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gfZQ8jttLntPF6dARadVa?si=7da802979ec749d5

00:00 Intro, 02:20 Rain World Check In, 15:00 Chained Together, 19:24 Merge Maestro, 24:50 The Crossword, 30:12 JP's Mystery Game, 33:24 Fly Knight, 36:12 Legend of Zelda Live Action, 39:28 Visuals in the Age of UE5, 48:53 Payment Processor Censorship, 56:20 Outro#gaming #videogames #gamingpodcast #videogamebookclub #rainworld

We have never been more back with another episode of Video Game Book Club!! This month, JP and Ben are discussing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - a journey full of growth, grotesque monsters, scary enemies, and lots of voices in our heads. JP was absolutely focused on getting every single lorestone statue in the game. He couldn't stop checking every single corner of the world for them. Ben was handling every boss like they were chumps with his insane gaming abilities. This month's game was chosen by our community! The best way to join the VGBC community is to be involved in our discord, where we talked in depth about the game of the month, other video games we've been playing, and more! Join the club!00:00 Intro01:30 What is Hellblade?05:45 Story Recap1:18:45 Listener Questions1:55:45 Final Thoughts/Letter Grade2:01:30 New Game Announcement2:11:45 OutroDiscord: discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSOther socials: beacons.ai/buenalegames

The Checkpoint is back! This month for Video Game Book Club we're playing Hellblade: Sennua's Sacrifice, and we start the show checking in on our progress and how we're enjoying the game so far (spoiler alert: JP has definitely played so much of it). We also talk about our experience with Peak, Elden Ring: Nightreign, and Chrono Trigger.

As always, JP hosts a mini VGBC. This month's game was Before Your Eyes. A beautiful and tragic narrative game played with.... your eyes??

Join the Club by joining our Discord server and following us on all of our socials, and be on the lookout for our full Video Game Book Club episode on Hellblade at the end of the month!

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00:00 Intro

02:00 Hellblade Check In

06:08 Peak

17:05 Mini VGBC - Before Your Eyes

28:30 Elden Ring: Nightreign

36:30 Chrono Trigger

37:55 Gaming Announcements and News

58:43 Outro

#gaming #videogames #gamingpodcast #videogamebookclub

Video Game Book Club is absolutely back with another episode, and this month we're talking about June's game of the month: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This game has swept the gaming sphere and we would be doing a disservice to us and our community if we didn't play it. And it did not disappoint! Ben and JP absolutely fell in love with this masterpiece and could not stop playing it.Join the Club by joining our discord (link below) where you can chat with us about all things gaming, play each month's game alongside us, and submit viewer question to be featured on the show! Be on the lookout for our mid-July episode of The Checkpoint, and keep a lookout for the next episode of VGBC on July's game of the month: Hellblade: Sennua's Sacrifice!Discord: https://discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/buenale.games/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buenale.gamesYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuenaleGames#videogamebookclub #gamingbookclub #clairobscur #clairobscurexpedition33 #indiegames #gaming #gamingpodcast 00:00 Intro01:14 Expedition33 Love06:21 Story Recap01:41:45 Viewer Questions02:16:30 Final Thoughts and Letter Grades02:19:18 July Game of the Month Announcement!02:21:53 Outro

The Checkpoint is back in June of 2025! This month for Video Game Book Club we're playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and we start the show checking in on our progress and how we're enjoying the game so far (spoiler alert: it's a lot). We also talk about our top 5 games of all time after lot's of discussion around that in the discord this month, talk about other games we've been playing lately, and go over some gaming news!Join the Club by joining our Discord server and following us on all of our socials, and be on the lookout for our full Video Game Book Club episode on Expedition 33 at the end of the month!Discord: https://discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/buenale.games/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buenale.gamesYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuenaleGames00:00 Intro02:11 Expedition 33 Check In09:54 Our Top 5 Games29:25 A Short Hike36:30 Elden Ring: Nightreign44:43 Drop Duchy48:00 Gaming Announcements and News53:00 Outro#gaming #videogames #gamingpodcast #videogamebookclub

Video Game Book Club is BACK with another episode, and this month we're talking about May's game of the month: Small Saga. After being recommended to us in the VGBC discord for almost a year, we finally played small saga and boy are we glad we did! Small Saga is an indie game that packs an incredibly dense story into a sub-10 hour experience, and it might just have set the record for Quality Gaming Moments Per Minute.Join the Club by joining our discord (link below) where you can chat with us about all things gaming, play each month's game alongside us, and submit viewer question to be featured on the show! Be on the lookout for our mid-June episode of The Checkpoint, and keep a lookout for the next episode of VGBC on June's game of the month: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33!Discord: https://discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/buenale.games/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buenale.gamesYouTube: #videogamebookclub #gamingbookclub #smallsaga #indiegames #gaming #gamingpodcast #cozygames 00:00 Intro02:57 What is Small Saga?06:06 Story Recap01:50:13 Viewer Questions02:12:30 Questions for each other!02:25:15 Final Thoughts and Letter Grades02:29:30 June Game of the Month Announcement!02:33:22 Outro

Welcome to the first episode of The Checkpoint, it's the show between our show. In this first episode, Ben and I discuss our progress of the Video Game Book Club game of the month - Small Saga. We give our first impressions of the game as well as a tragic story from JP. Next, we discuss two different games we've been playing, Blue Prince and Crypt Custodian. One is a hardcore puzzle game with roguelike mechanics, the other a not so hardcore metroidvania that stars a recently deceased cat named Pluto. We hope you enjoy a bit more of our yapping in this inaugural episode of The Checkpoint. If you have any suggestions on what this show should look like / what other topics we should discuss / what games we should play then let us knowwwwww in the comments what are you doing!?And of course, if you want to be part of Video Game Book Club then be sure to join the club!Discord: https://discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/buenale.games/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buenale.gamesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gfZQ8jttLntPF6dARadVa?si=7da802979ec749d500:00 Intro02:14 Small Saga Teaser07:52 Blue Prince14:48 Crypt Custodian25:45 Metroidvania discussion30:58 Clair Obscur: Expedition 3337:15 Gaming News GTAVI & NS244:02 Video Game Trivia and Outro

Video Game Book Club is BACK with our newest episode on the game we played in April 2025: Spiritfarer. Spiritfarer is a super unique 2D platforming management sim set in a light and cozy world, but it also evokes a lot of emotion as it deals with its central theme of loss and grief. Join us in this month's episode where JP and Ben talk about there experiences with the game including highlights, potential areas of improvement, and lots of goofy moments in the world of Spiritfarer!Join The Club by joining the VGBC Discord with the link below where you can play each month's game alongside us and interact with the VGBC community, and follow us on our socials to stay up to date! Stay tuned for next month's episode where we'll be talking about May's game of the month: Small Saga!Discord: https://discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/buenale.games/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buenale.gamesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gfZQ8jttLntPF6dARadVa?si=7da802979ec749d5#videogamebookclub #gamingbookclub #spiritfarergame #spiritfarer #stardewvalley #cozygaming #cozygames #indiegames #gaming #gamingpodcast 00:00 Intro and Announcement!03:10 What is Spiritfarer?10:10 Story Recap01:27:48 Viewer Questions01:54:27 Final Thoughts and Letter Grades01:56:30 Next Game of the Month Announcement02:00:50 Outro

It's March of 2025 and Video Game Book Club is BACK with our newest episode. This past month, the VGBC community played Avowed, a massive new fantasy RPG from video game legend Obsidian Entertainment set in the universe of Pillars of Eternity. Join JP and Ben as they recap their experiences with this huge Triple A undertaking, recap the game's story, and share hilarious stories from their time in the Living Lands.Join The Club by joining the VGBC Discord with the link below where you can play each month's game alongside us and interact with the community, and follow us on our socials to stay up to date! Stay tuned for next month's episode where we'll be talking about April's game of the month: Spiritfarer!Discord: https://discord.gg/P9aRB5wEBSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/buenale.games/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buenale.gamesYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuenaleGames#videogamebookclub #gamingbookclub #avowed #skyrim #fantasyrpg #gamingpodcast #gaming #videogames #comedy #falloutnewvegas #thewitcher3 00:00 The Triple A Itch02:17 What Is Avowed?19:27 JP's Gripes33:48 Story Recap1:57:37 Listener Questions2:29:20 Final Thoughts/Letter Grades2:35:05 Announcing Next Month's Game2:38:51 Outro