Pixelated Playgrounds

Last Epoch has been in Early access since 2018, a snowball of an ARPG, slowly gathering steam as it descends the mountain to eventually rest at the side of some of the all time great hack and slash RPGs. Bryan and Josh have both played a fair few of what they hoped would be the ‘successor to Dialbo II”, and most (all?) have come up short. But Eleventh Hour Games’ Kickstarter game turned long-term...

In this episode Josh and Bryan take to the high seas in 2023’s breakout debut from Black Salt Games : Dredge! The potent combination of fishing simulator and Lovecraftian horror had them instantly hooked and eager to explore the Marrows and its surrounding environs (as well as their capacity to generate fishing related puns). Dredge’s light, yet effective touch with storytelling and its subtly cre...

Join Josh and Bryan as they navigate through a wide sampling of the historical events, political intricacies, military conquests, and fascinating narratives that Europa Universalis IV has to offer. Paradox’s magnum opus grand strategy game has you inhabiting different nations and experiencing their unique circumstances as you navigate the political landscape of Europe (and beyond) from 1444 to 182...

In this episode, Josh and Clint receive their owls and set off to achieve their destiny in the Wizarding World with Hogwarts Legacy. Sadly, Bryan, a lowly muggle (and new father of 2 at the time of recording) could not make it for this one, but listen in as Josh and Clint uncover the secrets, spells, and adventures that await players at Hogwarts. Josh and Clint have a long history with the Harry P...

Gather your party because this episode we are venturing forth into the Forgotten Realms with Bioware’s classic Dungeons and Dragon’s adaptation, Baldur’s Gate. As they gear up for Baldur’s Gate 3, Bryan and Josh are starting with an exploration of the rich mechanics and storytelling that make Baldur’s Gate, and its expansion Tales of the Sword Coast, an iconic entry in the CRPG space to this day....

How do you follow up on one of the most celebrated open world games of all time? In 2018, Rockstar gave us their answer with the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. An instant classic, this juggernaut of AAA production value and storytelling gave us what remains one of the most well realized open worlds ever created. The production of an experience of this depth and breadth is not without its pitfal...

This episode is something a little bit different. If you had told us we would manage to stick with making a podcast through 100 episodes, I do not think any of us would have have believed you. The fact that this occurred in the midst of our trio weathering a global pandemic, having a collective 5 children, and achieving a bunch of other life and career milestones, its safe to say we would have wri...

In keeping with its incredible run of Resident Evil Remasters, Capcom’s latest outing sought to remaster perhaps the most beloved game in the series, Resident Evil 4. Bryan has had his eye on playing Resident Evil 4 in one form or another since the book club first played Resident Evil 7 years ago, so when this remaster finally launched Bryan and Clint jumped in with both feet. Its always risky rev...

Even in the year 2022, which was overflowing with excellent narrative-driven games, Citizen Sleeper stands out as a uniquely strong experience. In Citizen Sleeper, the second game from Jump Over The Age, the player takes on the role of the titular ‘Sleeper’, a human whose mind has been digitized and put into a robot body to work in the service of the Essen-Arp corporation. You are on the run from...

In early 2022 we were almost 26 years into Pokemon’s existence as a francise when Pokemon: Legends Arceus released for Nintendo Switch on January 28th. Pokemon is famous (or notorious?) for its formulaic gameplay design and Legends Arceus is one of several entries over the years that bucks that trend to try out something new. Throwing out the gyms and badges structure for a more free-form, explora...

Pack your bags and join Josh and Bryan for a dip into this recent rouge-lite with a concept so good its hard to believe it hasn’t been done before: Inventory Tetris as RPG mechanic. Organizing your inventory is often a key aspect of certain adventure and survival games, but what if one were to use as the central mechanic for a run-based, rogue-lite, dungeon crawler? The answer is Backpack Hero! Cr...

Drawing inspiration from a Short Hike and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Lil Gator game is a short and sweet exploration platformer about, you guessed it, a lil gator. You are charged with helping lil Gator round him his friends to join in the biggest and best make believe game ever. Bryan and Josh were immediately drawn in by the ‘Short-Hike-ness’ but quickly realized the games smart an...

Welcome to Chess Club! Chess and roguelikes seem like a strange match, but in this episode Bryan and Josh explore two such games that use the tried and true mechanics of chess and mash them up with the roguelike video game genre (and a few other genres as well). The first game discussed, Shotgun King, is a run based game where you play as a single piece (the black king) and instead of taking out t...

Bryan and Josh are on the Case! The Case of the Golden Idol, that is. This deductive logic puzzle game set in the 18th century and spanning a 40 year period, follows the Idol as it changes hands and drastically affects the fortunes of its owners. The game presents as a series of logic puzzles in which players collect clues to connect together concepts, characters, and evidence to provide context t...

Take a trip down a neon-drenched memory lane with Bryan and Josh as they play 2021 action platformer, Narita Boy! Sporting some of the most striking pixel art we have ever seen, Narita Boy’s aesthetic alone warrants the price of admission. As they made their way through the digital kingdom, Bryan and Josh reflected on their time with the game and on the 1980’s era nostalgia it is channeling. Narit...

This podcast is vengeance. It is the Knight. It. Is. Batman! Batman Arkham Knight to be exact. Clint has been a longtime fan of this game and the series, and Bryan had been looking for a reason to complete his journey through the Arkham trilogy, so together they ventured out into the cold, autumnal Gotham air and recorded a podcast about what its like to inhabit Batman in Arkham Knight. Batman is...

Bullet Heavens. Action Roguelikes. Arena Shooters. Crowd Management Games. Survive ‘em ups… the list goes on. Whatever you call them, thanks to Vampire Survivors they were a big story in 2022. In this podcast, Bryan and Josh sample three games from this burgeoning genre, popularized by Ponkle’s breakout hit, and quickly iterated on by a legion of creative developers. Our selection includes: The OG...

The falling leaves tell a story… Earlier this year, across the fog, in the Lands Between, Josh and Bryan embarked on their respective journeys to become the Elden Lord. And their Remaining Free Time was shattered. Along the way they met a variety of colorful characters: cowardly Patches the Untethered, the Unkillable Poisonous Jellyfish, and THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER! Before long they realized the...

Join Bryan and Clint for a discussion of Naughty Dog’s critical darling from 2013… and 2014… and of course, 2022! The Last of Us was, and remains, a landmark video game in the action-adventure sphere and continues to be the standard for character-driven narratives in gaming. Joel and Ellie’s cross-country road trip is just as exciting today as it was the day it launched, but the technical upgrade...

Bryan and Josh have both long been intrigued by the prolific and quirky “Video Game Development Boy Band” hailing from Utrecht, Netherlands and calling themselves Sokpop. Given the recent breakout success of the group’s title, Stacklands, they decided to dive in and survey the vast back catalogue of projects that Sokpop has created. For those unaware: Sokpop is a 4 person video game development co...

Fans of tactics games rejoice! Triangle Strategy is here to deliver you the square grid, isometric, turn-based action you’ve been craving! … Along with an equally large helping of palace intrigue, politicking, and a bafflingly large amount of cutscenes. Oh, and don’t forget the detailed worldbuilding, subtle character development, and narrative ‘convictions’ system. Triangle strategy is a game tha...

In this podcast Bryan, Josh and Clint take their spooky season celebrations to space! Dead Space, that is. The franchise’s first outing by the studio that would later become Visceral Games is as heart-pounding today as it was groundbreaking back in its 2008 debut. Offering a frightening level of immersion with its innovative UI and audio design, Dead Space doesn’t skimp on world-building either, e...

In this very special episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan interviews the developer of Moondrop and founder of Moonroof Studios, our very own Josh Galecki! Some of you may have picked up from listening to our other podcasts that Josh has had a solo indie dev video game project titled Moondrop in the works, and it has recently launched in August of 2022. This gave us a unique opportunity to talk...

NORCO is what you get when you take a long lost LucasArts adventure game and steep it in Louisiana Bayou swamp water, then strain in through a filter of deep cynicism and hyper-local, near-future science fiction. Bryan and Josh showed up for the evocative writing and stunningly designed pixel art , but soon realized that the game’s crowning achievement was likely the way it was able to convey a se...

Acid Nerve’s sophomore outing, Death’s Door, is a huge step up in complexity and scope from their first title, Titan Souls. For a small studio coming off of a successful debut, it was a very ambitious project which not only moved their trademark tight action gameplay style from 2D to 3D, but also involved them building out a large hub and spoke world with many interesting dungeons and levels to na...