The Crate and Crowbar

Chris and Marsh discuss disappointing children’s entertainment, disappointing sales figures, anti-mnemonic naming choices, the rulebreaking delight of card game Balatro, the dishonourable cheeses of Honor Mode in Baldur’s Gate 3, and return once more to Night Country. AI wrote cheques that Willy Wonker simply could not cash. Immortals of Aveum may not have sold well, [...]

Jamie and Marsh discuss the latest seasons of Fargo and True Detective, two anthology shows about troubling crimes and the yet more troubled cops who investigate them. Fargo was originally a film by the Coen Brothers, and was adapted to TV by Noah Hawley, who is also known for the show Legion. Also mentioned: Happy [...]

Join Jamie and Chris as they join Past Jamie for a solo pod about train-sets and low-key terror in the demo deluge of Steam Next Fest. Then they return to the present, which is also now the past, to discuss smushing bugs in the name of Super Earth in Helldivers 2. All aboard the Jamie [...]

Tom F joins Marsh to make the biggest sticks in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, become the stick in Pacific island adventure Tchia, stick to walls in Jusant and stick it to space pirates in timeloop deckbuilder Cobalt Core. Just forbidden enough: Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is Tom’s game of 2023. Tactical Breach Wizards [...]

Marsh and Chris celebrate the new year by poking the wound in our psychic gestalt. Also: are AI tools ethical? Yeah, we solve that one. 100%. Bosh. Done. Also also: space whale visual novel South Scrimshaw, team shooter The Finals, Robocop: Rogue City, mystery game This Bed We Made, Pentiment and Cocoon. Alex’s COVID-recovery blogpost. [...]

Chris, Jamie and Marsh reminisce on the year that was, the teeth they lost, oceans they regret leaving, algorithms that have failed them and, very eventually, the games they played. Bold takes on Baldur’s Gate, Dave the Diver, Cult of the Lamb [sexy], Witchfire and Chants of Sennaar. Games of the year we give barely [...]

Jamie and Marsh voyage into their deepest nightmare – a metatextual commentary on the subjective nature of storytelling – and shine a light on Alan Wake 2, then decide to incarcerate their dying, plaque-filled brains in the philosophical puzzle islands of The Talos Principle 2. Alan Wake 2 Twin Peaks: The Return The Simpson’s Steamed [...]

Tom S and Jamie don spandex and fling themselves into the uncynical optimism of Spider-Man 2, recall Tom Hardy’s come-hither Mr Tumble, return to both an up-res’d and a remade Resident Evil 4, and finish with a snifter of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. You don’t want to find yourself in that kind of posse. It [...]

Tom S and Marsh switch their feet for tank tracks, and every other part of their body for bazookas, in Armored Core VI, suffer orb separation anxiety in Cocoon, enjoy to the janky return to Night City in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, and stab through Baghdad in Assassin’s Creed: Mirage. It’s the rockets you don’t [...]

Tom F, Jamie and Marsh pause time to queue up their synchronised takes on peerless piratical stealth game, Shadow Gambit, enjoy the sights of Baldur’s Gate biggest Big Town, curtly dismiss Starfield, and triumphantly reinvade Stroggos in a revamped Quake 2. So, Unity absolutely shit the bed. Godot and GameMaker are also available. Shadow Gambit: [...]

Tom S, Jamie and Marsh roll up to Baldur’s Gate 3, a distressingly horny roleplaying masterpiece, discover the cancel culture of The Wonderful 101, and use demons like yo-yos in Astral Chain. Baldur’s Gate 3, a CRPG classic in the making, and one of the sluttiest games ever made D&D roleplay podcasts: The Adventure Zone, [...]

Chris, Tom S and Marsh immolate dogs in the fields and fields and fields of Final Fantasy 16, plunder the pseudo-Yarnhams and battle-Narnias of Remnant 2, and step into the frame of Viewfinder, but remain puzzlingly unpuzzled. Final Fantasy 16’s coverage so far has hidden its kaijus beneath a very large bushel, and a very [...]

Chris, Alex and Marsh creak, rasp and seep from their respective tombs to bewail the passing of the years on this, the 10th anniversary of the podcast. Plus: fulton fun in Mr Sun’s Hatbox, killer crocs in Hunt: Showdown, démodé dipsticks in Max Payne 3 and a terrible quiz. Best games of the last decade? [...]

Jamie and Marsh journey into the distant past in the hopes of forging an alternate timeline where the episode’s prologue makes sense. In doing so, they ponder the dark Drakes of Uncharted 4, the deranged doubts of LA Noire and the dream dogs of Bloodborne. Outlander references clearly do not possess the anticipated levels of [...]

Jamie, Tom S and Marsh emerge from a morass of pod-opposites to deliver belated takes on Not E3, chicken sandwiches, grimdark clicker game Diablo IV and the latest season of Chess. Nick Cage has been turned into Dead by Daylight DLC Assassin’s Creed: Mirage Starfield Citizen Sleeper 2 Star Wars: Outlaws Baby Steps Kunitsu-Gami: Path [...]

Jamie joins Marsh to discuss the imminent game glut, puzzlesome reverse dog-trial Humanity, super-stylish brawler Sifu and clever Counter-Strike-alike Veiled Experts. Diablo, Street Fighter 6 and Amnesia: The Bunker are all poised for release, while Bungie’s Marathon jangles gaudily on the distant horizon. Quirky puzzler Humanity has lots of bodies but perhaps fewer brains. Flee [...]

Chris, Jamie and Marsh commit goblin puzzlecrimes in the high-altitude sandbox of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of a Kingdom, and exchange gems for beards in the thoroughly-explained yurts of Jedi: Survivor. Surefire GOTY for some, intimidating possibility-space for others: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of a Kingdom. Return me to the reassuring monkey-bars and [...]

Marsh and Jamie’s treason finally consigns them to Darkest Dungeon 2, where they lament what Jedi Survivor means for Marsh’s wallet, unpick The Spider of Lanka’s web of intrigue, have a cold shower in Shadows of Doubt and plunge headfirst into Thumper VR. Triumphantly grim roguelike roadtrip sequel, Darkest Dungeon 2. More soon, ish, on [...]

Chris and Marsh gather, along with unwelcome centipedes and a man who knows about doors, to discuss the cosy horror of fishing game Dredge, the most annoying hand of Marvel Snap and why STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order is crunchy like a biscuit but tastes like yoghurt. Dredge: fear the real ocean William Related fishy [...]

Marsh is joined by game dev and writer Jim Rossignol to discuss the grotesque tabletop roleplaying game they have made together. It’s called TEETH, it’s about occult criminality in a cursed corner of 18th century England, and it’s Kickstarting right now! Kickstart TEETH (if you like)! Watch our Kickstarter trailer at the link above or [...]

In which Tom Senior and Jamie Brittain convene in the past to talk about a lot of games to be released in the next year or so, and beyond! Part 2 hopefully to be recorded soon! Here’s a Youtube playlist of trailers for the games mentioned. Super Mario Galaxy Monster Hunter Rise Destiny 2 Elden [...]

It’s a laid-back one this week as Jamie and Tom S convene to admire the gentle art of booting a panda through a wall in Tekken 7. There’s more spectacular booting to be had in DmC: Devil May Cry and the stompy Dead Space remake, but can any of this compare to the thrill of [...]

Separate children, Jamie and Chris, de-schism to become a single mass with opinions on lying down, class-traitor sandwich praxis, the tragic dynamics of a friendship defined by Sonic/Batman, the Steam Deck, Hi-Fi RUSH, Burnhouse Lane and Marvel Snap. Why not pair The Sonic Movie with the lavish mediocrity of Death on the Nile? There are [...]

Tom S and Marsh climb into a big bin of telly trash and wallow in the sugary delights of nutrient-free reality TV from Big Brother through Bake-Off to The Traitors. Shows that we mention: Big Brother The Great British Bake-Off Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares Easy Bake Battle Is It Cake? Masterchef: The Professionals Baking Impossible [...]

Jamie, Tom S and Marsh press the electric brain’s hot-take button to generate plausible opinions on proc-gen classic Dwarf Fortress, Marvel deck-builder-tactics mash-up Midnight Suns, animated medieval manuscript mystery Pentiment, and genealogical rogue-lite Rogue Legacy 2. Press A to advance through perplexingly titled visual novel Umineko When They Cry. The triumphant Steam release of mod...