Video Game Book Club

Video Game Book Club is back this month with another episode! Thank you to our community and listeners for playing Mina alongside us and sending us questions and discussion prompts! In this episode Ben and JP discuss the retro-style soulslike Mina the Hollower. This game game hits HARD with its difficulty curve and gothic tragedy themes. We dive in depth into the different mechanics of the game, h...

JP is finally settling in to his new life in Austin and we are so back with another episode of The Checkpoint: where we check in on our Video Game Book Club Progress. We begin the conversation with our belief in aliens? Then we quickly move to this month's game: Mina the Hollower. Regular viewers will be shocked that JP has actually played more of this game than Benny boy. Insane. Next we disc...

Video Game Book Club is back with another month episode! Thank you to our community and listeners for playing Esoteric Ebb alongside us and sending us questions and discussion prompts! In this episode Ben and JP discuss the ins and outs of Esoteric Ebb. This game has so much depth, so many secrets to discover, and so many interesting conversations. Ben gave us a very thoughtful answer on whether s...

We are so back with another episode of The Checkpoint: where we check in on this month's Game of the Month! We begin by checking in on this month's game: Esoteric Ebb, an eclectic and chaotic Disco-Like. Regular viewers will be SHOCKED to learn that JP has hardly started the game yet. From there, we discuss this month's Short Story: Celeste! JP spent WAY more time with this game than m...

Video Game Book Club is back baby! This episode, we're talking about the April Game of the Month: Control, which was chosen by our community. Control is a mind-bending game full of action and subterfuge where our protagonist, Jesse, infiltrates the Federal Bureau of Control, a shadowy government agency who seeks to research all things paranormal. Listen in as we share our experiences with the...

We are so back with another episode of The Checkpoint: where we check in on this month's Game of the Month! We start off by becoming the casting directors of our new movie Neon White: The Movie. From there Ben and I chat about the game of the month for April: Control. This month's Short Story was: There is No Game: Wrong Dimension. JP has a lot of thoughts on this game so be sure to tune i...

It's March of 2026 and Buenale Games is BACK with another episode of Video Game Book Club! This month we played Cairn, a climbing centric video game where the task is simple: summit Mt. Kami. Along the way to accomplish this goal, we meet funny characters, climb some insane walls, and have our fair share introspective moments on the mountain. Listen in as we recap our full experience playing t...

It's the middle of March 2026 and that can only mean one thing: it's time to check in on this month's Game of the Month! We open talking about their time so far playing the March game of the month: Cairn. Ben is having a great, albeit stressful time trying not to fall off of the mountain, and meanwhile JP is still gathering the courage to leave the tutorial area...From there, we talk a...

Video Game Book Club is back with another game of the month episode! Thank you to our community and listeners for playing AC6 alongside us and sending us questions and discussion prompts! In this episode Ben and JP discuss the ins and outs of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. This game exceeded our expectations tenfold and we felt so good gliding around in our mechs and delivering rubiconian hands...

It's the middle of February 2026 and that means it's time to check in on this month's Game of the Month! We open talking about their time so far playing the February game of the month: Armored Core 6. Spoiler alert: it rocks. From there, we talk about an extremely goofy show and this month's short story: Thank Goodness You're Here! We also talk about the other games we've b...

New year new Video Game Book Club season! And we're starting it off with a community pick; Lies of P won! Shout out to our awesome community who picked this absolute gem of a game for VGBC this month. Ben and I had an incredible time playing this souls-inspire Pinocchio story. The boss fights were epic, the NPCs were interesting, the story felt elevated, the design was pretty perfect, and the...

Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed members of Video Game Book Club.... welcome to the Buenale Games Awards! Ben and JP celebrate the 12 games they played for VGBC in 2025 alongside the Buenale Games community. They dish out more than a dozen different awards in different categories from "Best Gameplay" to "Best game to play on the toilet" to "most likely game to recommend.&quo...

Video Game Book Club has played their final game for 2025, Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo! This game is our indie darling of the 2025 season. It has incredibly crisp movement, very responsive and tight combat, lots of exploration, and interesting puzzles. JP could not put this game down and all Ben wanted to do was play more futbol at the Poultry FC stadium. Make sure to let us know what you thin...

It's December of 2025 and it's time to Check In on this month's game of the month, everything we've been playing, and the biggest news and drama in the gaming sphere! While Ben is on his last legs crawling towards the end of the year, JP is hot off a vacation and feeling fresh. On this episode, the boys check in on December's Game of the Month, Pipistrello and the cursed YoYo,...

2 Video Game 2 Book Club is back with Hades 2! With the November 2025 pick our own Ben "Tizzle" Toups has chosen the sequel to JP's favorite game of all time, Hades, as the game of the month! Hades II gave us everything that Hades did and SO MUCH MORE. But was it too much? Is too much of a good thing good if the good thing is the same good thing you've already had? Ben has opinio...

It's the middle of November 2025 which means that its time to Check In on all things Buenale Games! We start out talking about gamer injuries sustained while cooking paella, and our progress in November's Game of the Month, Hades II (spoiler alert: we're both done already, for better or for worse). From there, Ben talks about his video game hiatus, and JP takes us through a Short Story...

Video Game Book Club is BACK with our October spooktacular, and this month we played the winner of our Discord community vote, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. This game is a twisting and winding exploration of art and narcissism that had the boys struggling through puzzles and questioning the very nature of reality. Do NOT mention the word piano to JP. Join the club using the discord link below to sta...

It's the middle of October 2025 and that means it's time to check in on all things Buenale Games! We start out talking about October's game of the month for Video Game Book Club, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. Ben is already done with the game, this dude overachieves left and right! JP has a long way to go as usual... We follow that with a Short Story / MINI VGBC, courtesy of JP, as he de...

You’re not going to believe it but Video Game Book Club is BACK in September of 2025. This month was JP’s turn to choose and he picked Cassette Beast, a monster taming and battling game that takes heavy inspiration from others in the genre and attempts to iterate on the classic. Listen to this month’s episode to hear all about JP and Ben’s favorite beasts and bosses (or lack thereof) and their adv...

It's the middle of September 2025 and that means it's time to check in on all things Buenale Games! We start out talking about September's game of the month, Cassette Beasts, including some of our favorite beasts, how the game has been so far, and what we're looking forward to as the game goes on. We follow that with a MINI VGBC, courtesy of JP, as he walks us through his experienc...

Summer is technically over, but Video Game Book Club is coming in HOT with our latest episode. This past month, the VGBC community played Rain World, a brutally difficult but extremely rewarding 2D metroidvania game. Join JP and Ben as they recap their experiences with this cult classic. We recap our full playthroughs, we talk about the lore of the game, and our favorite moments! Join the Club by...

The Checkpoint is back! It's August of 2025 and the boys are struggling as JP is toiling away on the nightshift and Ben is delirious from waking up at 5:30am. Nevertheless, we catch up about our progress (or lack thereof) on the game of the month, Rain World, and talk about other games we've been playing, including some unconventional ones.... Join the Club by joining our Discord server and follow...

We have never been more back with another episode of Video Game Book Club!! This month, JP and Ben are discussing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - a journey full of growth, grotesque monsters, scary enemies, and lots of voices in our heads. JP was absolutely focused on getting every single lorestone statue in the game. He couldn't stop checking every single corner of the world for them. Ben...

The Checkpoint is back! This month for Video Game Book Club we're playing Hellblade: Sennua's Sacrifice, and we start the show checking in on our progress and how we're enjoying the game so far (spoiler alert: JP has definitely played so much of it). We also talk about our experience with Peak, Elden Ring: Nightreign, and Chrono Trigger. As always, JP hosts a mini VGBC. This month'...

Video Game Book Club is absolutely back with another episode, and this month we're talking about June's game of the month: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This game has swept the gaming sphere and we would be doing a disservice to us and our community if we didn't play it. And it did not disappoint! Ben and JP absolutely fell in love with this masterpiece and could not stop playing it. Jo...