Infinite Cities

This is a podcast about Stanley. He is a video game character who you play as in The Stanley Parable. If I say anything else, I'll spoil the game, and that wouldn't be very fun, would it? In this episode: 40 hour playtime, the nightmare, Super Go Outside, Stanley Parable 11, interrogation of choice, silly bird device.

Lost in a New England ass procedurally generated city, our hosts are lost taking on random jobs as a slimy(?) private investigator doing their best. It's grimy and frustrating, with too many turrets and not enough wiggle room. And yet, I think we all had a good time? It's Shadows of Doubt! in this episode: nothing names, looking crunchy, investigations, hiding under beds, no autosaves, impossible...

Signalis was always going to be a stretch. We're not horror experts or even enjoyers, mostly. It expects something from you, and we're honestly all kind of doofuses a lot of the time. Still, we all tried to experience it in our own ways, and even if it didn't land for all of us - or possibly even any of us - at least now we can finally understand why that gosh dang woman is so tall in all the art....

Will is away, looking at crabs so we chose a short but oh so satisfying little puzzle game for this week. You might want to play it yourself but don't worry, we don't spoil the entire game. Just some Game Mechanics. Which is the entire game. Hm. In this episode: the trailer spoils the game, ooh, Toki Tori, horseshoe crabs, bomberpillar, non-gridbased movement, Spy Party, persistent bombs. ~~~ Our...

It's been a long week full of gadgets and pagentry, and the three of us have decided to go undercover and showcase our stealthy tricks as Games Bond, the video game secret agent. in this episode: games bond, training montage, the blond bellhop, rock climbing, quicktime events, the tie in watch ~shoutout zone~ The Watch ~~~ Our theme music is Glass Half Full by the incredible Cliff, you can find hi...

Signalis is stylish and unique, with a story that's picking up steam and pulling us deeper into the possible depths of Serpinski. Also pulling us deeper into the depths of Serpinski: literal actual cyborg zombies. Stop it, cyborg zombies, I just want to see my wife. In this episode: feather (who is editing this one) is too sleepy to do editing bits so please imagine them yourself, GRY, Resident Ev...

We're back from our vacation, and ready to explore every twist and turn of this beautiful Italian seaside town! And dang - that's a lot of twists and turns. This one's a long one! We didn't expect the unassuming On Your Tail to inspire this much discussion but here we are, three weeks and three hours later.  In this episode: living the game, prickly pears, loading screens, emptiness, main story qu...

There's something about small Italian coastal towns, y'know? The sunny beaches, the colourful houses, the friendly people, the tasty food... the furries? No? What do you you mean, "I haven't seen them"? They're right there. I bet you didn't even look for them. I'll give you another chance though. I've got this game here, Y'see, it's all about those things I just mentioned. You should give it a try...

Super Mario 64 is one of the most important games of all time. It set the standard for 3D platformers and 3D games in general, and brought Mario and nintendo into the future while many of his platforming contemporaries failed to make the jump and died in a bottomless pit. Yet, despite being so foundational, there still isn't much exactly like it. Maybe it's nostalgia, or maybe it just predates so...

Did you ever wish that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater had guns? Well then this might be the game for you! This frenetic bloodsport is a third person shooter... on rollerskates! in this episode: always be dodging, dont play this with mouse and keyboard, the tricktionary, super reflex, a 90% game, big tricks are fun tho, the story, max payne's pro skater ~shoutouts zone~ Super Mario 64 the Roguelike Deck-Bu...

In what might be our most surreal entry into the entire podcast feed, we're here to talk about ENA, an animation project only familiar to half of the team and perhaps only enjoyed by half the team as well. Stay tuned! in this episode: angry and grindset, a lot of areas, a peruvian avant-garde animated comedy series, bless you for your business, fanstuck, everyday ena, the purge event, feather went...

There's something special about an open-world game developed by a small team with grand ambitions. You shouldn't expect AAA graphics or full voice acting, or even comprehensive menus, but there's innovation to be found.  If you search long enough. Sorry, that's a bit mean. Outward is a good game with some annoying design decisions that makes the game difficult to get into. We'll tell you about it....

If the forces of industry ruin art, and this goes double for the games industry, then by the inverse failures are allowed the greatest artistic license. I'm not sure how Marathon came to exist like it does - someone somewhere made a series of bewildering, bizarre decisions - and then a whole team of people went about fucking cooking. Hopefully they'll be able to get to dessert, but if not, I can't...

In 2002, Ecuador qualified for the world cup for the first time. This moment was so affecting, (future) game designer Julián Cordero became consious. This is a semi-autobiographical telling of those six wild months, and it works near flawlessly, transporting us back in time and across place. It's a wonder - but we've all kicked a ball around, and in this all humans are more alike than different. I...

Karp gets to indulge himself in his favourite type of game: exploring weird-ass spaces. Join us in turning over every rock and checking behind every mushroom in this immersive sim-like retro-throwback. In this episode: don't pick Charmander, neuron stars, setting the setting, money sink, lockpicking minigames, first-world problems, drawing a map. ~~~ Our theme music is Glass Half Full by the incre...

CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER: Feather: loud and flighty. Special move: a take so bad all enemies on screen have to engage. Karp: stable and strong. Special move: has already beaten the game, so he can skip ahead to when he already won the fight. Will: fast and has bonus reach. Special move: crashes a bike into enemies for massive damage, hurting them as well as himself (but not the bike!) Gary: fun and s...

For a game that is credited with popularizing the roguelike deckbuilder genre, Slay the Spire is surprisingly stripped down compared to everything that came after it. You build your deck, you fight monsters, you keep pushing onward. After our time with Inscryption and and Wildfrost, it almost feels strange going backwards to a game most of us have played, and half of us have beaten, before. This e...

Gary's on the move so we take the chance to play something they absolutely loathe (/j): racing games. This is like an oasis in a WipEout-less world. In this episode: why did WipEout die, podracers, racing line, braking game, "one-and-a-half good games", ancient fox girl, "nightcar dubstep". ~Shoutout zone~ Redout OST - Pipe Down ~~~ Our theme music is Glass Half Full by the incredible Cliff, you c...

This is the best worst game we have played so far. What a glorious mess. In this episode: jank jank jank, ska, categorizing rhythm games, legibility issues, mapping left and right to up and down, peak, the sewer level, poco and apoco are here! posters, petty band drama, incoherence, conspiracies, homestuck. ~shoutouts zone~ The best trailer of all time Two Tone Army 2 Mello - Twist Sound ~~~ Our t...

It's a mark of praise that KRZ so frequently ends up compared with our favorite narrative games -it it's in the same space as Disco Elysium, Citizen Sleeper, Night in the Woods. Just because it frequently comes off worse in those comparisons doesn't mean it's not secretly great. It's just tired, and all out of answers - and maybe that's the only way this story could be honest. In this episode: no...

Kentucky Route Zero wants to be art so badly, and it genuinely succeeds - this is a beautiful game, both visually and artistically. But a game that is art is less revolutionary in 2013, and our relationships to rural Appalachia have changed as well. Is this game a ghost of the past? Is that the intended outcome, from the very beginning? There are no answers but the ones in your heart. In this epis...

You think you got a sense of rhythm? You think you can shoot good? You think you know roguelites? What about all of them at once? Now make the game monochrome and don't tell the player anything. I kid, there is a good game here if you look under the jank. In this episode: big pile of enemies, absolute friendslop, hypebeast GOAT, hexapod (look it up), fire on the quarters, reload on the eights, DOO...

Pentiment is a game that is good. I might even argue that it's very good. But it's a game with fussy mechanics. It's a murder mystery that isn't interested in the answers. It's vague about it's truths. Pentiment is a tale about how history is preserved; about how truth is obfuscated. It's a tale about heritage and oral tradition and art. It's absolutely about art. Feather, Will, and Gary are finis...

This episode wound up a bit of a fever dream disaster, but honestly - it couldn't have ended up any other way. The game is a fever dream disaster, about a disaster having a fever dream. While it sounds like we're just making things up as we go along, I promise this isn't Shrekisode II - everything we mention actually happens in Endless Monday: Dreams and Deadlines. I think. Maybe. Ok, I did start...

Feather is away which means we're getting up to shenanigans with a weird little game again! Keeper is a gorgeous, vibes based puzzle game about a creepy lighthouse and his bird pal, uhm, saving the world?? I think?? Don't worry about the plot, just enjoy the experience.  in this episode: immediate complaints, the evil goo, achievement lore, time shit, creepy little lighthouse creature, bad camera...