The Short Game

The classic edutainment title is back in 4K, and now you can pay $10 to give your frog a hat! The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at...

It’s a short game rerun this week while Raygan takes some parental leave, but we’re bringing back a timely episode. Superhot Mind Control Delete is out this week and will be our new episode when we return. Let’s reacquaint ourselves with the 2016 original. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, pl...

For as long as the show has been around, whenever we asked “what’s a great short retro game?” the nearly unanimous answer was always “Super Metroid!” It’s the game that launched one of our favorite genres, but for various reasons none of us had played much of it. We correct that this week, and brought along a friend for that 1994 perspective. We discuss the game’s forward thinking design and impac...

Superliminal is a first person puzzle game based on optical illusions and forced perspective. In development by a small team since 2014, this game has some incredibly polished tech and clever puzzle design, while its story and theme fall little flat. Still, it has lots of clever ideas to show us in its 2-4 hour runtime. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters a...

Young love in the Lonely Valley. JELLY is an interactive fiction game co-written by Short Game favorite Chandler Groover and newcomer (?) Tom Lento. It was recently awarded Best in Show at the Spring Thing interactive fiction competition. Laura, Shane, and Nate discuss the game, including a post-show spoiler break. JELLY is a TWINE work, and is playable via a browser at the Spring Thing website ....

This week guest host Anna Anthropy joins us to discuss an unexpected HD remaster of a beloved but obscure Japan-only GameCube game! The Mr. Driller series burned brightly but briefly from 1999 through the early 2000s, and Drill Land is by far its most elaborate and varied entry. The game includes the classic Mr. Driller arcade-puzzle-action game, along with several variations that keep the same ba...

Set in a colorful post-apocalyptic wasteland, Signs of the Sojourner is a narrative deck-building game about building a character – and deck – through conversations. It has a beautifully illustrated visual-novel style presentation, and a unique card based conversation system with dozens of characters to meet across its large map. Signs of the Sojourner merges narrative and mechanics in a way that...

Jet Lancer is a free-flying 2D shooter that feels like a colorful, expanded version of Luftrausers. Fly a high-tech jet that can flip 360° mid flight and boost to air-brake, and take on swarms of jets and massive robot bosses. It’s a tough but extremely fun and unique shooter. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where...

This week on the show we are talking about the incredible itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality , a pay-what-you-want bundle of over 1000 games supporting the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund . We go over the existing Short Game favorites in the Bundle, some new discoveries, and some recommendations from our listeners. Black Lives Matter. Things we’ve cover...

No episode this week, but please listen to this brief programming note. #BlackLivesMatter Our next episode will be covering highlights from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. We’d like to know what stands out to you in the bundle! Listen for info on how to participate. Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality Ways to Help Donate to These Orga to Support Black Trans People Ways You C...

In this episode Shane and Laura talk about Mini Metro and Mini Motorways by Dinosaur Polo Club, a game and its sequel. One has had staying power and one hasn’t. When SimCity got serious: the story of Maxis Business Simulations and SimRefinery Xumo LG Channels Plus Only Connect The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where...

It’s another almost-annual round up of bird-themed games! Mark Bramhill joins us to share some bird facts as we tap-to-flap. 00:00:00: Intro 00:04:11: Songbird Symphony 00:10:36: Bird Fact #1 00:12:39: Toki Tori 00:16:41: Bird Fact #2 00:18:09: Storm Boy 00:24:22: Bird Fact #3 00:25:35: Glass by Emily Short 00:30:47: Bird Fact #4 00:31:56: Blazing Beaks 00:36:40: Duck Souls+ 00:42:56: Bird Fact #5...

A perfect fantasy about going to an office job, something many of us aren’t able to do right now. Good Job! is a strange comedy puzzle game for Nintendo Switch. As the CEO’s kid, you can do no wrong… or is that everything? Yes, you do everything wrong. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan e...

Was Freya Fellow stabbed by a painting? Detective Grimoire and his assistant Sally Spears have come to Tangle Tower to find out. Laura and Raygan discuss this incredibly well animated and voice acted mystery game, available on Apple Arcade, Switch, and PC. Here’s a link to the Twitter thread covering the animation of the game: As part of our Tangle Tower stream for #LudoNarraCon , I did a short lo...

More than 20 years after the last official game in the series, Streets of Rage is back thanks to a dream team of developers from Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games, and DotEmu. Raygan and Shane, both long time fans of the series, discuss the new entry in depth including an in depth discussion of its new mechanics and encounter design. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Su...

Raygan and Nate dig in to this tough as nails retro-inspired ninja platformer. This game is a little longer than our usual limit, but it hides an interesting structural twist at its midpoint that made it too interesting not to cover. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk a...

We’re finally saying goodbye to Kentucky Route Zero, with an episode covering Act V as well as the interludes Un Pueblo de Nada and Death of the Hired Man . It’s been a long, strange journey. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You...

In a world where all mixers are outlawed, the world’s greatest bartender fights against evil corporations by mixing 50/50 vodka and absinthe. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple...

You demanded it, so this week we’re talking about Animal Crossing. Because Raygan doesn’t know anything about Animal Crossing, Shane brought in two subject matter experts: Returning guest Mark Bramhill is a podcaster and radio producer, and joining us for the first time, Anna Delos Angeles is an artist and designer who does marketing and community management for Coral Sword. We talk a bit about ou...

Death Crown stands out with a 1-bit pixel art meets metal album cover aesthetic, but it’s also something we don’t often see: a real time strategy game with a campaign that you can complete in about two hours. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing...

It’s been a pretty normal couple of weeks with nothing strange or concerning happening at all, so we’re curling into a ball and playing comfort food games. What’s comfortable will be different for each person, so we’re sharing our personal picks and talking about broad categories that say “comfort food” to us. If for some reason you need some human interaction, stop by our Patron only Discord! The...

Kentucky Route Zero’s fourth act is its longest, most complex structurally, and might be its saddest yet. We continue our discussion of the game as well as the interlude Here & There Along The Echo. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in rea...

As you’ll hear in the intro we initially planned to discuss both Act III and Act IV on this episode, but we had such an interesting talk about Act III that we used up all our time. We start with a chat about the two interludes Limits and Demonstrations and The Entertainment , then go deep on themes and references in Act III. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Support...

This week we’re returning to something we used to do semi-frequently: we’re highlighting some of our favorite video game music tracks! We haven’t done one of these in quite a while (years!) so let us know if it’s something you’d like to see more of. For your listening convenience, here’s a link to a Spotify playlist of all of the songs mentioned on this episode! The Short Game is supported directl...

This week we are re-releasing our 2015 episode covering the Spider series from Tiger Style games. Both Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor and Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon are iOS classics that have recently been re-released in improved versions by GameClub. Since our episode, Shrouded Moon has also been released on Steam, and on Playstation 4 and Vita! If you haven’t played these classics, we...