Free Play Podcast

Podcasts are funny, right?  You get a chance to listen in on a conversation you’re not a part of and for whatever reason… it’s not weird.  We want to make sure that you feel as not weird as possible by telling you a little bit about ourselves and letting you get to know us. The hyped Iron Man sim “Anthem” also had an interesting VIP Demo fall into players’ hands this week that wasn’t received near...

We can't think of a better way to kick off a new convention year than at PAX South 2019! Bubba and Matt are on hand with Chief Content Nerd Drew Dixon to talk about the games they've played and the developers, attendees they've loved on, and look back on how far Love Thy Nerd has come in a short year!

2018 is almost over and that means so is the first year of Love Thy Nerd.  It’s been a crazy 10 or so months and we’ve seen some amazing things happen.  Our community has grown to over 1,300 people, we’ve done 2 recon trips and our website, podcasts and social media presence are all killing it online!  We were also able to use our new show model to continue to develop relationships with our friend...

It’s finally allegedly happening!  We will definitely probably get the Nintendo 64 Classic just in time for Christmas 2018… if the leaks are true, which they are… because I read them on the internet. So, in order to prepare our hearts and minds for what has the potential to be the Turbo Man of this holiday season we are throwing out all of the games we would like to see on this throwback classic....

I scream you scream.  We all scream for games.  We scream with joy because of how great they are and also scream in empathetic agony for what it cost the creators in time, money, relationships, and sanity just for you and I to have a few hours of fun. What is it that drives our need to bash the very thing we find so much joy and rest in?  If we boycott is it honoring to those who sacrificed so muc...

Let’s face it:  There just isn’t enough time or money to do all of the things that we need or want to do.  A real-life example, happening right now, is that I’m trying to play through Spider-Man as I edit this podcast.  We can’t play all the games, watch all the movies and tv shows or read all of the comics. We have to do things like: work, eat sleep bathe, etc. So… how do we do as much as we poss...

You may be wondering if you’re too old to trick or treat. A good rule of thumb is: if you have to ask… you probably are.  But who needs trick or treating? Why not just head on over to the grocery store, grab a bag of candy and play some games at home?!  We’ve compiled a list of tabletop and video games to tie you over this Halloween, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the free play...

If you’re old enough to remember the feelings of both frustration and relief when your Nintendo Entertainment System cart wouldn’t play but blowing on the contacts… letting it hang over the lip of the system and pressing down always seemed to do the trick, then you grew up in a great time. Now, we have digital downloads.  No more dragon breath required, but you do find yourself at the mercy of the...

Hunting Easter eggs is equal parts rewarding and frustrating.  But the pay off always seems to be worth it. We are conditioned to look for things in peculiar places from a young age with books like Highlights and Where’s Waldo?  And who can forget, Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? To this day I have no answer to that question. Easter eggs in video games can be either a long journey or a comp...

In 2012, Telltale’s “The Walking Dead Season 1” received several game of the year awards as well and single-handedly brought back a genre of video game that lay dormant for almost 30 years. So, what went wrong?  How could a company, doing so many things right, end so abruptly?  That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Have you ever done an escape room? Various scenarios designed to stretch your mental capacity and force you to solve inane riddles and puzzles by thinking outside of the box… sometimes literally. Are they all they’re cracked up to be, or is the most challenging puzzle, “why are we still paying for these things?”  That what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Due to the graphic nature of this week’s content, listener discretion is advised. Sometimes gaming just isn’t fun.  People can make you feel like you’re not good enough, or it may just be that you don’t meet your own expectations.  Either way, feelings of anxiety and inadequacy can make you act in a way that is either uncharacteristic of your normal self or in a way that is not socially acceptable...

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Logic would dictate that thousands of moving pictures spread out over upwards of 18 movies are easily more words than anyone will ever be able to follow or remember, and that's what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Did you know that there are games without a single shred of violence in them?  Scout’s honor, I looked it up online just to be sure. Turns out that contrary to popular belief, not every game culminates in a chicken dinner. Passive, peaceful games are a thing, and you can build farms, climb mountains, solve puzzles and farm goop on every major platform.   Though there are a time and place for Call...

GenCon 2018 is in the books!  And oooooo weee, there were so - many - games this year.  If you had a week to walk the expo hall you still wouldn’t have been able to even see all the games, let alone demo them.  This week we sit down with Chief Content Nerd and host of our very own Humans of Gaming podcast to figure out what we thought was the best of the best from GenCon 2018, and that’s what we w...

If you love tabletop games, conventions, and repurposing super jocky sports venues to fulfill nerdy needs, then you’re gonna’ LOVE GenCon.  4 days chocked full of way more board games than you can throw your wallet at. All of the biggest review sites will be there to check out the latest and greatest the industry has to offer this season and I’m happy to report that Love Thy Nerd will be there as...

San Diego Comic-Con is the best of the best.  All of the new things in the nerdy movie, comic book and small-screen are shown at this convention.  We watched a few trailers, so I think that makes us experts, and we want to give you our thoughts on what went down.

This week on the Free Play podcast we're talking graphics.  With all of the advancements that we are making with technology, why is it that the graphics in video games seem to be trending backward?

On this week's episode, Bubba and Kate talk about the state of rich, single-player experiences in video games.  Is it worth it to go buy a game if you've already had it spoiled by watching it online?  Do you think that there should be some sort of compensation paid to the developer if you decide not to buy the game yet watch an entire playthrough online?  Matt would have loved to be a part of this...

We all have that one song from our favorite game that floods our minds during the silent parts of our day.  They make you think and feel certain things during the game and that's what we in the biz call "manipulation by design."  Bubba, Matt, and Kate talk about their favorite video game soundtracks this week on the Free Play Podcast.

With the Switch, Nintendo is winning in every sense of the word.  We know that this isn't always the case, but for the time being... Nintendo is doing pretty well.  We want to celebrate that this week on the Free Play podcast.

On the chopping block in this week's episode are Sony, Nintendo, Square Enix and PC's E3 2018 conferences.  We look at the good the bad and the ugly as well as let you know who we feel did the best and worst this year at E3.

E3 is a media circus... and we want to ride the elephant.  In this, the first of a two-part series, Bubba, Matt and Kate look at the EA, Microsoft, Ubisoft and Bethesda press conferences.

Stepping outside of the normal week-to-week nonsense, Bubba, Matt and Kate take a look at the importance of the gaming community as well as a few of the problems it may cause.  They also leave you with a list of a few games, both video and tabletop, that you can pick up and get a community game night going with little to no lead time.

This week, Bubba rants about how good Starbucks is at handling pressure, Matt rants about how good Starbucks is at listening to reggae, and Kate rants about her grandpa who rants about Starbucks policy on leggings.  They also look at some of the biggest home console flops in history... and boy... are there some doozies.