Dunce (Dunce) Revolution

Send us Fan Mail We sent Porter to report on Gen Con, the largest tabletop game convention in North America (He went of his own accord). At which, he was able to get the exclusive scoop on gaming celebs, including Matt Mercer and Margaret Weiss (He saw them as part of normal, routine events at the convention). And most importantly, he had a great time doing it (this part is true). Meanwhile, the i...

Send us Fan Mail Hey, what can we say except it's really really good? No, seriously, this is a pretty positive episode overall, a rarity in the Dunce household... just feels nice to play a decent game that's worth your time and money? I was going to do a whole like, parody of the lyrics to the DK Rap here, but that seemed excessive and a little corny. So, just enjoy the episode and stay...

Send us Fan Mail We're thinking of a number from 1 to 100 this episode, and we expect you to use your telepathy to intuit the exact numeral. Of course, since you rolled up a test character using the latest Unearthed Arcana from DnDBeyond.com that was all about Psions (now with plenty of fresh sub-classes so all the other character classes can get in on the psychic fun), that should be a piece...

Send us Fan Mail Listen if Nicki Minaj is the Queen of Rap than Hideo Kojima is the king of cra.... no, even though it's a childish rhyme and fits the low-brow vibes of this show, it's not fair or representative of the efforts captured in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. While we capture our reactions to having now finished Death Stranding 2 in this episode, it is spoiler free. So, cool...

Send us Fan Mail Okay, admittedly I was a little behind schedule this week, partly due to needing to install an updated PSU in the PC I use to edit these episodes, but at least I didn't have to date the PSU. Like in that popular new game Date Everything from Sassy Chap Games and published by Team17. Topical! (We do actually cover it in this episode, I am not just referencing newly released ga...

Send us Fan Mail As the dust finally settles on the vacuous retail Hellscape, some emerge clutching furtively to their Nintendo Switch 2 consoles. They wonder, as they careen around the open world of Mario Kart World Tour, was it worth it? Was any of it worth it? I mean kinda...sorta depends on how much you like Mario Kart and if you plan on playing a lot of the first party exclusives I guess? But...

Send us Fan Mail If you're lucky enough to have gotten a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order, you might share in the fan-base's anxiety as big box stores in the US and abroad continue to send cancellation notices for pre-orders (and accidental cancellation notices) just days in advance of the console's big launch. And so, we take a moment to reflect on the more chaotic moments that have bro...

Send us Fan Mail That's right, we played a bunch of spooky junk this week, but not before we stop and give Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 its flowers. That game was good all the way through, and is a real contender for game of the year at the almost halfway point of 2025. After clapping up what is clearly GotY, Porter shares his exploits with Id's latest foray into the Doom franchise with D...

Send us Fan Mail You guessed it, what with your highly perceptive ability to read and be aware of current releases, that we are talking about the quite excellent Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall Interactive. But not before we come down from the adrenaline rush that was the Nintendo Switch 2 midnight online preorder blitz that occurred stateside just the other week. It was, in fact, a bit...

Send us Fan Mail We've got a very special episode for our dear listeners, because we are answering YOUR questions. You asked, we answered (to the best of our limited abilities). We also discuss seeing some of the leads of Dungeons & Dragons, that being Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, departing from the franchise after years of contributions and fan interaction. And we round out this ep...

Send us Fan Mail Much like the spice, we played a melange of games this past week as we continue to nervously refresh our browsers waiting for the pre-order floodgates to open this week. We kick things off with Schedule 1 (TVGS), a management sim that is taking Steam by storm, even in its early access state, by offering an oddly charming and goofy spin on the Walter White experience (eyebrows, eye...

Send us Fan Mail Dexterity (Stealth) roll: 4 "That's what she said. And you know what I. What was that? Okay, James ." And really that's the energy we are bringing to this episode about everyone's favorite ne'er-do-wells, the Rogue. The class that makes being bad a good thing, especially when the lock picking, pick-pocketing, and peeping on people is done in the conte...

Send us Fan Mail Oh, we're doing some complaining this episode about future toys that we cannot buy yet, but maybe we will be able to, but then again maybe not? Let's just say the uncertainty of, well, everything was already getting to us, but when you take away the shiny bread and circuses, it really gets one to thinking... Naturally we talk a bit about games we are playing, including A...

Send us Fan Mail Back-to-back-to-back episodes this week! We are either spoiling you all or Buzz is really behind on editing, and ultimately you decide. Either way, it's a jam-packed episode as we discuss some surprisingly timely games and some surprisingly untimely novels. We kick things off by laughing along with that Ubisoft Twitter account (I called it what I called it). Then we dive into...

Send us Fan Mail We finally finished grappling hooking our way through Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios, published by EA), and that means we have every right to complain about it. Loudly. Well, that's not entirely the case, as, surprising to literally no one, Porter enjoyed his overall time with it and Buzz has once again taken any excuse to gripe he can get. Be forewarned, we spoil the major...

Send us Fan Mail We're discussing everyone's favorite pillar of the explore-socialize-combat holy trinity of D&D (I was referring to combat in case it's not your favorite, and honestly, that's fair). Of course, combat has been on our players' minds lately, as they are quickly approaching an encounter with a Black Dragon that has the potential to retire a few character...

Send us Fan Mail That's right, we played that obscenely popular Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios), but not without some major roadblocks from the always unnecessary EA account system. My personal hill is that no publisher needs their own launcher, account, service, or whatever. What am I already overpaying Sony for if not to enable a smooth multiplayer experience? And now I gotta stop and try...

Send us Fan Mail That's right, we're playing the latest entry in the ever-popular Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Wilds! (Well, maybe once the game opens up about 15 hours in...). Woah, calm down! That was a joke and totally hyperbolic. Also, it's not my fault that Monster Hunter Wilds has a delicious nougat-y center surrounded by a hard candy shell that must be broken down vi...

Send us Fan Mail There's always room for more Yakuza, ahem, I mean Like a Dragon, and that's the whole focus of this episode as Buzz and Porter talk about their time with the recently released "Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii" (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega/SEGA of America). And yeah, it's just a really good game, so if you were looking for about fifty minutes of people...

Send us Fan Mail It's another one of those episodes were the ghost of Audio Christmas Past, Present, and Future decide to haunt production, but we soldier on anyway. So, yes it was late, but at least it arrived!  Also, you will hear us talk about Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii as if it is still not out when it is in fact already out by the time you hear this, so just be cool about it....

Send us Fan Mail It's another character class centered episodes as we chat about everybody's favorite goody two shoes: the Paladin. Once again, Buzz sits down with a veteran level and current player in his campaign, Will, to chat about the class Will is actively playing.  But first, we talk a little shop and about the nature of reviews, doing justice to creators vs. being consumer advoca...

Send us Fan Mail (It's not just a potentially randy joke in the title, it's also a Nosferatu (2024) reference....in fact let's say it was a Nosferatu reference first in case this isn't allowed or something, and any other interpretation wasn't our intent all along. Smoooooth.) No, but obviously we are discussing Warhorse Studio's "Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2"...

Send us Fan Mail So, to keep it brief, Porter played Mahjong IRL with some middle aged ladies in his neighborhood and he couldn't get enough of it. So then he went home and booted up Yakuza Kiwami to continue to playing the Microsoft Solitaire equivalent of Mahjong. And now he might actually finish Yakuza Kiwami (and it's about time). But first we start off with something slightly newer:...

Send us Fan Mail If you couldn't tell by the episode title, Buzz is somewhat excited to have received the latest Nippon Ichi Software SRPG "Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero" early. In fact, not even some weird cold symptoms could keep him from mouth-breathing his way through some early impressions. Meanwhile, Porter shares his experiences with the surprise drop that was Ninja Gaiden 2:...

Send us Fan Mail Will joins the party again as we swap old stories of our time around the table fighting everyone's favorite vampire, Count Strahd von Zarovich. We deftly work our way from Ravenloft's humble origins in 1983 to the more contemporary Curse of Strahd module from 2016 and its revisions since. Spoilers for both the Curse of Strahd and Vecna: Eve of Ruin modules for D&D 5e...