Gamers with Glasses Podcast

In this episode Nate and Samantha set out to recap and wrap up our summer series on games, childhood, and nostalgia, and end up…somewhere else. We cover all the deep questions, like, “Does nostalgia have to be melancholic?”; “Are console generations a marketing lie, just like other generational divides?”; “Do any of us leave childhood unscathed?”; and, “Isn’t Assassin’s Creed just Sly Cooper and t...

In this episode, Nate interviews NikkiJay, developer of the just-released "plotformer" Quantum Witch. Come for the in-depth discussion about cults, conditioning, and choices - stay for the impromptu ukelele concert.

We make learning fun! In this episode, Samantha and Luis interview Dr. Erik Verlage, a research scientist at the Ohio State University who works on interactive media and games in education. Discussion ranges from the use and value of games in education to GeoGuessr and the difference between toys and tools. Where’s the dividing line between a game and a simulation? Why were Skyrim players willing...

We thought it would be fun to do an “Oops! No Games” episode, in which we try not to talk about games. Inevitably, we totally fail, to the degree that we even end up recommending games at the end. We were all going to bring a book and a movie to talk about, and that somehow inspires us to complain about AI a lot, but probably not enough, because it really is so, so bad.

How do game critics contribute to Western hegemony, and what can we do about it? Nate Schmidt interviews Felipe Pepe, creator of The CRPG Book Project, on his recent essay, “The Gentrification of Video Game History.” Drawing on Mia Consalvo and Christopher Paul’s critique of the concept of “ real games,” their wide-ranging conversation covers mods and mobile games, the relationship between interne...

These are definitely times in which many of us could use...a break. Also, it's fall. So get that comfy sweater on and hear us debate the definition of video game coziness. Enjoy our wishful thinking about Tom Nook's lending practices, throwing apples at Pikachu, and those infamous Stardew Valley rabbit feet.

It's the Paper Mario episode! Man, when you look at him from the right angle, Mario is one bad dude. No wonder Bowser hates this guy. We love these games, but do we love them enough to buy them all over again so that we can play them on the Switch? Or is the GameCube an equally portable console? There's only one way to find out...

Our adventures in the world of Wizardry continue! We were so excited to all be playing the same game that we had to do a whole podcast about it. We uncover the finer points of the game's thoughtfully brutal dungeon design, and we think through the surprisingly deep narrative possibilities of old-school RPGs. Watch out for Temple Healthcare Reaganomics, because there's no such thing as free loot. D...

Nate, Samantha, and Luis do their best not to get lost in the hall of mirrors as they think through various types of self-referential games, covering everything from product tie-ins and Fortnite (it's bigger on the inside) to critical hits like Inscryption, The Stanley Parable, and There Is No Game.

In this episode, we finally lay out a firm and simple spectrum with which to rate all games, and it goes from narcissism to nihilism. Don delights in the pure semiotics of Akka Arrh. Christian plays Season, “non-dystopian, post-apocalyptic bicycle scrapbook game” in which anxiety over the future doesn’t necessarily have to mean panic. We talk about Dredge and reminisce on fishing minigames of time...

Join us for a very special episode of the Gamers with Glasses Show featuring Caroline Delbert and Taylor McCue, organizers of the Queer Games Bundle 2023. Tune in to learn about ways to support the queer games community ( including but not limited to buying the bundle! ) and for game recommendations from the bundle organizers. Conversation topics range from game bundles as wealth redistribution, t...

In this episode, Roger starts a cult, and nobody even tries to stop him. It is totally his own original idea and has nothing to do with  Cult of the Lamb . Don ruminates on the universe inside Kirby’s stomach in his sub-podcast, “Don Plays All the Kirby Games in a Year.” Someone has the gall to talk about a game called  Sin and Punishment  in Nate’s absence. Christian leaves JoyCon...

In this episode, we let loose about Square-Enix business practices, tell tales about bosses in Elden Ring , discuss the brilliance and limitations of the cyborg space noir game Citizen Sleeper , gush over the pleasures of Lego games (especially Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga ), make knock knock jokes (sorry!), get behind the wheel of Gran Turismo 7 , and recommend some weird novels and Sailor...

We recorded an episode on Elden Ring forever ago, and here it is! What’s the difference between Elden Ring and Dark Souls ? Who is George R.R. Martin, and what has he done to Miyazaki? Did FromSoftware invent a new IP for narrative reasons, or is it just a marketing move? How approachable and how accessible is Elden Ring ? Why shouldn’t a horse have a double jump? Is FromSoft the Arcade Fire of vi...

We interview game designer Jason Cordova, creator of the tabletop roleplaying games Brindlewood Bay and The Between , founder of The Gauntlet , and editor of the RPG magazine Codex . Jason’s games combine open-ended mysteries with horror and adventure. On the podcast, we discuss the difficulties of making a mystery-driven RPG, the Kickstarter for the print edition of Brindlewood Bay , fifth editio...

We interview game developer Johnnemann Nordhagen (Dim Bulb Games, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine ) about his Museum of Mechanics, “a browsable, playable collection of lockpicking mechanics from various games.” He talks about the origin of the project in a conversation about fishing mini-games; how lockpicking mini-games compare to conversation and fishing mini-games; how games are like folktales...

In Episode 19 of The Gamers with Glasses Show, we talk about how long we’re willing to grapple with puzzles, when we use walkthroughs/strategy guides, different kinds of open world games, and much more. Games covered include Death’s Gambit and its Afterlife expansion, Cozy Grove , Lost Judgment , Amnesia: Rebirth , Lake , and Inscryption . We also discuss the Snowpiercer franchise, Station Eleven...

We interview Noio (Thomas van den Berg) about his recent game Cloud Gardens, his history in game development, the success of Kingdom, and his next big project! Thomas tells us how Cloud Gardens emerged from his attempt to make an MMO. He describes his personal history in game development, from high school up to the present. He even tells us about his new project, a collaboration with a surprising...

On this episode, we discuss the cute soulslike energy of Death’s Door , the thrill of zombie parkour in Dying Light , how Unsighted reinvigorates the metroidvania with its strange world and countdown mechanics, dungeon crawlers like Dungeon Encounters and Ruined Kingdom , and much more. We also gush about the Foundation series (and Lee Pace - but not just Lee Pace)!

In this interview, we talk with Dang! , the developers of Boomerang X . We discuss the genesis of the game’s genesis from a student project and a game jam); boomer shooters; the difficulty of porting it to the Nintendo Switch; the influence of games like Devil Daggers and shows like Samurai Jack; what it’s like to be a small indie developer in today’s market; and much more! If you haven’t already...

Library of Babble is our new sci-fi and fantasy book club! For the first episode, we discuss Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic Dune , as well as David Lynch and Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptations. We talk about the novel’s world-building, especially how it treats ecology (desert power!) and religion; the novel as both anti-imperialist and orientalist; its deconstruction of the white messiah; its roots...

In this special episode of the Gamers with Glasses Show, we discuss Noah Wardrip-Fruin ’s excellent book, How Pac-Man Eats ! Noah joins us, along with Patrick Jagoda (author of Experimental Games ), to talk about why “models” and “logics” are more useful terms than gameplay or mechanics; how we can make games about more than just beating the bad guys; why Animal Crossing: New Directions is a lot o...

It’s the first episode of our new spin-off show, Retronomicon, where we cover older games, including classics and unfairly neglected games. To kick things off with a bang, we discuss Nintendo’s Metroid series, all the way back to the original 1986 Metroid up to and including Metroid: Dread . We talk about our earliest Metroid memories, the lore of the series (and if it really matters), the sexism...