Side Story

Gather up your ore nuggets, bind quicksave to an easy to reach button, and prepare to be killed in one hit by a level 1 mole creature because this week, Jack and Austin descend into the Khorinis mines and the magically-sealed penal colony within, delving for the first time into the renowned Gothic series via the newly released Gothic 1 Remake.  Support us on Patreon! Show Notes The Lost Art of Col...

Go check out the Special Edition 10th Anniverary Marielda Vinyl Album!  Begin. Motion. D4. Nav 3 R4; gather all. D4. D3. Nav 1 R3; Motion. D5. Nav 3 R5. Interface. Scan. Defense. D6. Nav 3 R6; Gather All. Fuck. Defense. Nav 1 D6; Tow. Nav all R1. Exit. Chapters 00:00 Marielda Vinyl Announcemnet 01:33 Intro 05:09 Today's Topic: Duskers 18:43 Introversion's Uplink 22:35 Duskers: When Things Go Bad 4...

We've all been there. You sit down and break the seal on a new pack of cards, you smell the new card smell, you deal out a starter hand of Solitaire -- and then it dawns on you: you accidentally bought evil c ards again! This keeps happening!  Today, Jack and Austin sit down to talk about evil card games and discuss Forbidden Solitaire and Black Jacket. Support us on Patreon! Featuring Jack de Qui...

Stop. Take a breath. Make the decision: Which Pokémon would you choose as your roommate. Could Voltorb help you keep the electricity bill down? Would Houndoom make you feel safe at night? Might you let Sinistcha make you its delicious Matcha Gotcha even though it is, somehow, the matcha in question?  Today, Ali and Janine take you on a tour of Pokopia, and at least one of them will reveal their an...

With spring turning into summer, Art, Jack, and Austin have found that it's time to once again drink the Potion of Liking Baseball. Well, no, it's not that broad: It's the Potion of Liking the Weird Ludic Corners of Ambiguity at the Heart of Officiating, Especially With Regard to the Use of Automated and Mechanical Tools, As in the MLB's Newly Arrived Automated Ball-Strike System. But that's unfor...

Have you heard the news? There's a new Postman in town, and a new Fairie Queen in the court. I hear the Postman keeps bringing her big palettes of wood, and she's using it to build some sort of cat tower. I hear she's sending her entourage to business school, and he's got to carry her letters of recommendation. I hear war is coming, but don't worry, we're safe here on our island court in the fog....

Somewhere between Goo and Glue and Goop, is Gloop. And that's the stuff that makes up the middling (and middle-ing) parts of many vast, open world RPGs. Flat but enjoyable-enough random encounters. Rhythmically repetitive dungeons. The Good Old Fetch Quest. The mortar holding the bricks of the castle wall together. Gloop. Support us on Patreon! The Kickstarter campaign for Austin's new TTRPG, Real...

Happy Side Story anniversary! To celebrate our first year of the show, Austin, Janine, and Jack get together to talk about the year they've spent playing Nine Dots' RPG-meets-sim Outward (which you can watch them play by supporting us at https://friendsatthetable.cash/!) Speaking of supporting our work, the Kickstarter campaign for Austin's new TTRPG, Realis, is now live!    Support us on Patreon!...

With too many games coming out recently, Austin, Sylvi, and Dre had to determine a metric to decide which ones to cover on this week's episode. What makes the most sense? Maybe 'games relevant to ongoing Friends at the Table campaigns'? Or perhaps 'games that we've teased wanting to talk about in the past'? No, absolutely not. There is only one metric: Games that look sick as shit. S how Notes Mar...

With Austin separated from his microphone because of a snowstorm, Janine and Ali (who herself had to record on a travel mic) return to chat about the rise of Devices. You know? Gadgets? Geegaws? Retro emulation handhelds? Also, we have a classic Friends at the Table "Now is not the time for this diversionary topic" followed by 30 full minutes on the diversionary topic. It's a good podcast.  Chapte...

On Sunday 15th and Monday 16th of February 2026, we're going to be hosting ICEBREAKER, a two day fundraising marathon on twitch.tv/friendsatthetable  to raise money for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund! As Minnesota faces the brunt of a violent anti-immigrant crackdown, and ICE's cruelty continues to spread nationwide, we are inspired by the solidarity, community...

The winter is here and our love of warmth means that we're stuck inside, dreaming of greener pastures. Greener pastures like: "A train that you can make prettier" and "A frozen over dystopia where you are forced out into the cold to deliver pizzas and televisions." Hey, wait a minute... Show Notes Run Button's My Summer Car Let's Play   Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:33 Spatial Puzzles (Kanoodle,...

Happy 2026! We're kicking the year off (a little belatedly) with what would've been Ali's 2025 Main Story Award winning Silent Hill f. She's joined by Keith and Jack as they talk (with full spoilers) about the first new full length Silent Hill game in over a decade.  Featuring Ali Acampora ,  Keith Carberry ,  Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan   Music by Jack de Qui...

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Jack, Keith, and Austin as they discuss (the) Blue Prince, before Keith tags out for Sylvi, so that we can end the year chatting about Horses (the game and, briefly, the an...

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Dre, Art, and Keith who are bringing us Yes Nostalgia! and No Nostalgia! awards! Featuring Keith Carberry ,  Andrew Lee Swan , and  Art Martinez-Tebbel Produced by Austin W...

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Keith, Janine, and Austin who are bringing us The Best-Yet Version of a Game That Isn't What I Truly Want Award! Show Notes   Featuring  Austin Walker ,  Janine Hawkins , a...

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Sylvi and Jack, who are bringing us the Feel the Love Award. Show Notes moon: Remix RPG Adventure moon Soundtrack: Heads in the Clouds Featuring Jack de Quidt  and  Sylvi B...

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, a week long showcase where we make up awards to give the games and topics that really took center stage for us this year, and which we felt like deserved a little more attention than they already got on the show this year. It's not a traditional game of the year, but we did try to restrain ourselves to a single game or topic each, which means that there...

Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to  friendsatthetable.cash to support us!  Today we explore a bevvy of different worlds: 2.5D fantasy realms, alien FMV planets, and a land of climate apocalypse and raw nerve paranoia. Wait, that last one is... it's kind of sounding familiar. Oh well, get in, buckle up, and make sure to bring your favorite childhood food, becau...

Mysterious internet occurances abound this week on Side Story. Mysteries like "What is the dark secret of the famed Roottree family, Pittsburghian candy magnates" and "Why did Austin's connection totally fall apart before we could reach the second half of the podcast?" Like all good mysteries, the twists and turns are just as exciting as the answer, as a stunning second segment appears, drawing th...

Between the barter system and the coin, there were other currencies. Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid Empire, which would one day stretchout from the Iranian plateau as far west as Egypt and north as the Aral Sea, used silver bullion when this-for-that wasn't an efficient enough means of trade. Could you decide who's paying for lunch on a flipped silver bar? Unsure. Perhaps, slightly later, the 'knife...

This episode contains an extended conversation about the death of a pet. See the chapters below for time stamps. What makes a city good? Is it walkability? A wide variety of dining options? A good chance that while you're on your way to work, you'll bump into between five and seven little creatures, teaming with elemental power? Well if it's that last one, we've got the city for you. Rent may be h...

The ocean is draining. Where is it going? Is there a drain down there? Is someone drinking it? Wouldn't they be getting very thirsty? I guess there are lizardly astrologists and coral-covered automatons, so maybe there is someone who can drink the sea. Hard to say. Hard to say. This show wouldn't be possible without your support. Please consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/friends_tab...

Take a deep breath in. Can you smell it? That's right, the summer is finally behind us, and we can turn to the finer things of the autumn: Genetic splicing, cursed relics, and hobby-kit helicopters. Make a warm drink and settle in. The crisp air of the fall is going to take us many places.   Show Notes The Making of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion   No Man's Sky: Oasis Island   Chapters 00:00 Intr...

This week in a special double-part episode, Ali, Dre, and Janine retun from the windy climes of Zephyr Town to tell us about the highs and lows of running a weekend produce market in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. Then, with the sort of clarity that only comes in the immediate aftermath of COVID recovery, Austin descends into the strange, probabalistic dungeons of Sol Cesto only to find Jack with...