Overthinking Games

This episode, we discuss the Game Awards, social status, and how good it feels to be in the know. In our Honorable Mention section, Dempsey tells us all about beavers…it’s interesting, and kind of bums us out at the same time. What game do you think should win Game of the Year? Send us an email and let us know! overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok...

Inspiration and Video Games "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working,.." - Picasso This episode, we talk about the intersection between video games and real life, and the ways in which the two can influence or inspire each other.  We also debut our new end-of-show segment which gives Dempsey some space to info dump whatever his current non-video game obsessions are, for Seth t...

We talk about the game Inscryption. Email at overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses  

Spooky Season! overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

Spoiled About Spoilers Can the fervent cry of “no spoilers!” go too far? Is it when our desire for novelty and discovery outweighs our desire for communal experience? Or is the individual experience of discovery a sacred journey that no spoilers should ever infringe upon? Maybe it’s somewhere in the middle… That’s our topic this week, along with an unusually lengthy and animated conversation about...

Special guest Josh, @TheGamersDrink, joins the crew to deep dive into Detroit: Become Human! This episode is full of spoilers! If you haven’t played it yet, listen to insert time stamp , stop, play the game, then come back and join us for our dissection of this awesome game. What DOES it mean to be human? Share your reaction, thoughts, and hot takes of Detroit: Become Human to the email below!  ov...

Hard to believe, but a year ago (at the time of recording…not the date of this episode’s release) Dempsey, Seth and Katie embarked on a podcast adventure… To be real with you, Dempsey wanted to talk about Detroit: Become Human ahead of our special guest spoiler-ful episode, but Katie wouldn’t let him, because fresh takes are the best takes. So, instead, the team reflects on a year of podcasting, a...

Time Well-Wasted? Have you ever sat down to play a game and been hit with a case of the “I shoulds”? I SHOULD spend my free time in a more “productive” way, I SHOULD play a different game and clear my backlog, etc. etc.? What makes it time well-invested vs. time wasted? When is it time well-wasted? Who gets to decide the value? Join Seth, Katie and Dempsey as they try to figure it all out on this...

Side Mechanics & Mini-Games Whether it’s Gwent from “The Witcher,” the hacking game in “Bioshock,” or the myriad of fishing minigames across so many genres, games are seldom only made up of their primary mechanic. What makes for a fun, meaningful side mechanic? When is it just fluff? That’s what we try to figure out in this week’s episode! Leave us a review, and send us an email, we’d love to...

Subversion If a souls-like is not dressed like a souls-like, is it even a souls-like? “Another Crab’s Treasure” begs that question and is the jumping off point for our discussion of subversion in video games and media! Leave us a review, and send us an email, we’d love to hear your thoughts! overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copy...

Tend and Befriend vs. Fight or Flight In this episode, we explore the topic of stress responses, framed in an article by Brie Code, previously a lead programmer for Ubisoft Montreal and now the head of True Luv Media, where she looks at the different responses people have to games, depending on their natural stress response. Find the article here: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/slouching-toward-rel...

What can video games do that board games, tabletop games or other physical games can’t? What makes for a good video game and/or board game crossover? Also, Seth and Katie 100% thought this was going to be an episode about digital games vs. physical disks or cartridges, but Dempsey had more interesting questions, as per usual! What’s a board game you’d love to see adapted for video games, or the ot...

Potions: A Curious Tale Renee Gittins of Stumbling Cat Studio joins Seth and Katie to discuss her new game, Potions: A Curious Tale, global folklore, and the nigh universal experience of imposter syndrome. Send us an email with your thoughts!  overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pix...

The Long and Short of Game Length How do you decide what’s the best bang for your video game buck? Does the length of a game make a difference in your decision-making process? What are some of the things short games can accomplish that longer games can’t, and vice versa? Join the crew this week as we overthink game duration! Would you rather play a shorter or longer game? Send us an email with you...

Building on our recent discussions of both bad games and genre(iteration is everywhere!), we take a look at video game clones, and try to determine the difference between a game building on the shoulders of giants, and moral and creative bankruptcy. Oh, and Dempsey talks about his adventures creating audiobook soundscapes. This is a wild one, folks! Leave us a review, and send us an email, we’d lo...

We are joined by special guest @FierceAxolotl, the fiercely kind and incredibly insightful streamer, as we chat about the ways platformers can deliver experiences that no other genre can. More than an opportunity to “git gud,” we talk about how platformers can be an allegory for internal struggle, and how Seth would much rather have an external antagonist, thank you very much. Find FierceAxolotl o...

This week, the gang’s back together to dig into video game genres. What the heck is the difference between a roguelike and roguelite? Nobody knows, but we’re definitely going to talk about it!  Do you think genres are getting too wishy-washy, or do you prefer a 24-adjective description for your science-fiction-noir-point-and-click-mystery-adventure? Send us an email to let us know what you’re thin...

Go follow Danny on Youtube and Tik Tok. A conversation about indie games. Send us an email at overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

Are games bad? Does what i type here affect SEO? Dempsey is doing the notes for this episode. He is bad at summarizing stuff. overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses  

Data Driven Gaming   Ever had fun gaming even though your k/d was trash? Yeah, neither has Katie…  This week we talk about how stats can make or break gaming experiences (unless you’re Dempsey, who’s living for the vibes), Seth explains how “bigger number, better person” works, and we have a slightly ranty look at data in the classroom.  Do stats make or break YOUR gaming experience, or are you si...

(Un)Healthy Gaming This week, we do the episode we meant to do last week but got distracted from by listener mail. In this episode, we discuss the line between healthy/unhealthy gaming habits, and engagement with media in general. When is it too much of a good thing? How do we discern what is adding “value” to our lives, and what does that even mean anyway? (Hint: we think it’s probably rooted in...

Listener Mail This week, we pivoted from our originally planned topic, as we were way too delighted about responding to listener mail! If you’d like your questions, comments or suggestions to be heard, please send us an email! It’ll literally make our whole day: overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://w...

Escapism and Video Games Fear not! Dempsey is back this week as we tackle some -inescapable- questions: When is escapism an acceptable, or even beneficial, practice vs. a harmful avoidance tactic? What’s the difference between “flow state,” “immersion,” and “escapism?” How does Seth have such highly developed coping strategies, and can he teach the rest of the crew? Join us as we discuss these que...

Happy New Year! After a brief holiday hiatus (sorry, we should have mentioned we were taking a little break!), the gang is back for an on-air gift exchange and to discuss our top 5 games of 2023(released anytime between 2014-2023, of course!). What was your GOTY in 2023? Have a hot take you think people should hear? Send us an email at: overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on: Apple Podcasts...

This week, we’re down a Dempsey. To fill the void, we have a very special guest; Brett from the Lore’d to Death Podcast! We chat about Brett’s (excellent) show and the process of condensing video game lore into bite sized pieces, world-building in video games, multimedia canon, and Seth and Brett wax poetic about Fromsoft games. Share your thoughts at: overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.com Find us on...