Happy New Year! Returning from an arguably better videogame, Axe and Nathalie are back in the Zero Time Dilemma bomb shelter with our favorite cast of disorganized sickos. They learn about game show probability puzzles, crunch the numbers on sci-fi virus mortality rates (they’re bad), and play an actual escape room game. In another timeline, Nathalie proposes that a dog could be behind the whole thing, Axe pleads for more mid-puzzle cutscene, and the duo collectively sigh at how still nothing is happening before being put out of their misery by a mysterious assassin.
Read MoreIt’s New Year’s Eve, which means 2023 has come and gone, bringing in closing our annual end of the year show. As is tradition, I reached out to past guests of the show to ask what their most impactful gaming memory was from the last 12 months. The responses were as insightful, touching, and playful as ever, running the gamut from industry events, personal milestones, and games that captured people’s imaginations.
Read MoreAxe and Nathalie take a break from Zero Escape for the holidays, having scored an all-expenses-paid trip to a ski lodge from a mysterious and generous listener. The time off gives them a chance to finally play the seminal sound novel, Kamaitachi no Yoru (Chunsoft, 1994) AKA Night of the Sickle Weasel, but unfortunately, the game becomes all too real as bodies start to pile up with the ceaseless snow. As frenzied accusations threaten to lock up our hosts for good, they search for a branch of the flow chart which will get them out of this nightmare…
Read MoreIn an eerily brief set of fragments, Axe and Nathalie must contend with poison capsules, rotating rooms, and a belligerent shotgun wielding Eric as they scramble towards some a still ambiguous resolution. They scan some brains and swing some hammers before confronting a troubling child abuse backstory and its many unfortunate connotations. After the dust settles, Nathalie unveils a new set of 9 10 predictions that just might be her ticket our of this twisted game, and our hosts look forward to a holiday reprieve from Zero as they jump to a different game entirely.
Read MoreDomino Club is a pseudo-anonymous internet collective that makes weird, horny, and genre perverting videogames. In this episode I’m joined by Domino Club card carrying members Emma (she/her), Nat (she/they), and Rose (she/her) to chat about the group’s origins, its unconventional approach to anthology projects, and how all these games are secretly just for them.
Read MoreAfter escaping from a eerily familiar shower game, Axe and Nathalie stand before the exit ready to emerge into the humid Nevada air. Instead, they are treated to incoherent asides about alien mouths, tournament statistics, and the existential weight of many worlds. In another reality, they trudge through the worst rec room puzzle yet, bearing witness to a particularly pathetic and angry Junpei, who is just as confused about this new pacifist Akane. Just as the numbers align and freedom appears in sight, something grabs our podcasters and pulls them back in. The show’s not over yet.
Read MoreAwakening from an explosive nightmare, Axe and Nathalie are thrust into not one, not two, but three deadly decision games. First, they must choose whether to save themselves and doom the others to an acid grave. Then, they play a round of cosmic Russian roulette, potentially killing our favorite boy Sigma to save Phi from a familiar death by fire. In the timeline where they miraculously make it through, they are then suddenly poisoned and must decide if it’s possible to trust the antidote sent by supervillain girlboss Akane. Could she be behind Zero’s mask yet again?
Read MoreSam Machell (he/him) is half of indie game studio Sand Gardeners, known for provocative and unconventional games like Dark Kitchen, Memphis, Bubbleland, and Brownie Cove Cancelled. We chat about the studio’s origins as a webcomic collaboration, designing hostile environments, and the tragedy and possibility of unarchivable games. Later, Sam gives a brief eulogy for the Wii U, sadly taken from us too soon.
Read MoreAfter a brief 90 minute absence, Axe and Nathalie return to Zero Time Dilemma ready to dive into the game’s first set of puzzles. Once again trapped in a pantry, Nathalie gets hung up on a sliding door diagram but eventually the pair unlocks the freezer and its gruesome rewards. Elsewhere, they fumble through yet another lesser library, unlocking a small arsenal in the process. Things quickly go south, however, when the duo comes face to face with an unexpected murderer…
Read MoreI am doubtful of the military mecha genre’s capabilities to tell anything other than cynical stories of social defeat despite military victories, and Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is a proponent of that doubt.
Read MoreOver its decades of development and numerous games, Oddworld’s characters and politics have shifted on an almost game-by-game basis leading to a series that is both tonally discordant and consistent in its inconsistencies. Oddworld wants to be popular, first and foremost, and it is unafraid to throw its ideology in the meat grinder in pursuit of bombast and wider appeal.
Read MoreReturning after volunteering on a Mars colonization experiment, Axe and Nathalie are back in the Nevada desert for the third and final (?) Zero Escape game, Zero Time Dilemma . Immediately thrust into another death game, Axe digs into the tumultuous development process, Nathalie gets trapped in a coin toss timeloop, and they both delight in how outrageous an experience they’re already having. Too bad they won’t remember this…
Read MoreLili Zone (she/they) is the experimental game designer behind works like Crypt World (2013) and Crypt Underworld (2023). She took some time to chat with me about Crypt World’s origins, the nearly decade long development of Underworld, and what she has planned for the future now the crypts are behind her. We also dig into the evolving conception of indie games, the “small games matter” PR amnesia cycle, and gaming’s ongoing embarrassment and adoration for Great Men™.
Read MoreCanvas (he/she), aka bighandinsky, is the creator of crunchy, narrative driven scifi games A Forgetful Loop and A Day of Maintenance. He’s collaborated with fellow writers and indie devs Freya Campbell and Elliot Herriman, and joined me on this episode to chat about integrating dense narration into mechanics heavy games, writing casual and circuitous conversations with robots, and the struggle of managing energy and stress during longterm projects.
Read MoreAfter what feels like an eternity within the barren halls of Virtue’s Last Reward, Axe and Nathalie escape into a world they scarcely recognize. With little time to process what’s occur, they are funneled back into the facility where the facts of this diabolical game are finally disclosed. Is Akane as twisted as she seems? Who is the worst dad among us? Does anyone really care about being tortured for science? No? Sorry? Hey, put that knife awa—
Read MoreReturning to the director’s office, Axe and Nathalie use their months of nonary knowledge to finally hack into the lion computer, finding no puzzles and fewer answers. Unmoved by Phi’s pleas to take our BP and leave, we abandon her in the elevator for another date in the garden with Robo Luna. She clues us in on some mysterious plans within plans, murders she didn’t commit, and teaches us how to build a faraday cage before disintegrating in our arms. Surely, this was all for a good reason…
Read MoreLeah Case (she/her) is a writer and game developer who specializes in absurd Twine hacking. In our chat, she digs into why she loves Twine so much, how she approaches writing branching interactive fiction, and how collaborating as part of snotwurm lets her focus in on system building (in Twine, of course). She closes the show out by teasing a forthcoming visual novel strategy game, and recommending some further listening.
Read MoreAfter a long sleep in the cryogenic pods, Axe and Nathalie are thrust back into Virtue’s Last Reward, the final end just out of reach. They fumble with dice in a neglected archive, spilling milk all over their hands, but manage to make it back to the garden with both arms attached. Alas, Luna crushes their robot dreams, revealing them to just be normal podcasters before everything explodes.
Read MoreJumping all the way back up the termite mound, Axe and Nathalie finally enter the cyan door, a choice they maybe should have made at the start. They learn about Schrodinger’s Cat, Erotic Units, Prime Decomposition, and several other Wikipedia pages while reveling in the impeccably designed garden puzzle. Unfortunately, they are once again betrayed and forced in the last act to contend with deflating 3D models and gender roles no amount of annihilation energy can destroy.
Read MoreAfter the last bewildering lock, Axe and Nathalie take the long way down to warehouse B and finally get some answers. They learn about inflation with Tenmyouji, fend of Clover’s advances, and come face-to-face with the termite architect himself, Zero. Unfortunately, not even root beer can lessen the sting of a friend’s betrayal…
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