I've been listening to too many of these podcasts and I kept thinking it was an extended opening to a character bit. I was very disappointed that New York giraffe did not show up.
If someone is looking for another cozy game, I just picked up Moonstone Island! It's a great mix of Stardew Valley/Pokémon with some deck building mixed in. Beautiful pixel graphics and a great cycle of farming, mining, capturing/battling, and exploring.
Anyone have any unusual cozy games? I think for like 2 years after it launched, FTL: Faster Than Light was my cozy game of choice. Despite how intense it can be, pulling out my laptop and loading up a game and just seeing how far I could get, paired with the ability to pause and plan actions really made for a strangely chill time for me.
My cozy/meditative game is probably American Truck Simulator. I don't even know where the story is, I just hire myself out and drive routes on the west coast (north of Sacramento, CA so it's a lot of open and forested highways as opposed to freeway driving of SoCal).
Oh, also I have essentially devoured both of Jason Schreier's books on game development ("Blood, Sweat, and Pixels" and "Press Reset") and now I'm working my way through David Kushner's "Masters of Doom", does anyone have any oyher similar book recs?
Recently fell in love with Hundred Days. It’s a wine making sim. It’s on consoles but I think it runs best on steam because of the menus. It was previously on PS Now tho which is where I started playing it.
Hi! Question for y'all (mostly Griffin) -- I am wondering if any of you (Griffin) have tried out any Pokemon Rom Hacks? Specifically the GBA FireRed-based hacks. Pokemon Unbound is maybe my favorite Pokemon game ever. It has a new region, difficulty settings (with EV/IV attention required for higher settings), a mission system, level scaling, new game +, all Pokemon up to gen 8 and gen 8 mechanics, fun weird gym gimmicks. I think this game and other 'hacks' are quite special, and kinda what I hoped mainline games would eventually be like. And as far as I understand, these hacks are perfectly legal with a legal copy of FireRed, which doesn't everyone have??
I've been dipping into these as well, along with my growing collection (and/or problem) of retro gaming handhelds. My favorite so far has been Radical Red due to the difficulty added to it along with the built-in randomizer. I'll have to check out Unbound as well, it sounds sick!
That’s awesome! I still haven’t checked out Radical Red but maybe that’ll be next ... I have an Everdrive in my modded GBA SP and have been looking for more games. And if I recall correctly both Radical Red and Unbound use the same engine (“Complete FireRed Upgrade”) so I’m sure there is some overlap in terms of the mechanics and difficulty!
Oct 18, 2023·edited Oct 18, 2023Liked by The Besties
Hey guys! With the relatively recent leaks about a new DOOM game, what are you guys hoping for from a new DOOM title, and what did you like most about the other 2 recent entries?
Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by The Besties
Hello Besties!
There is an approach to gaming that is unique compared to other art forms, where games are expected to be fun first and everything else second. It is also true that great art can be challenging to experience. Can you think of an example where a game used anti-fun design to great impact?
It is refreshing to hear the four of you approach gaming from such different perspectives. Thank you so much for the countless hours of entertainment and thoughtful discussion over the years.
You could make the case that horror/horrifying games are putting fun second (if present at all) in order to deliver meaning, though admittedly this kind of thing appears more in segments of larger (fun) games than as a style all its own
Unpacking is shockingly replayable - I've probably done it a dozen times, sometimes with a different organizational system, sometimes with a different personality focus (you CAN fit the [spoiler] somewhere besides under the [spoiler] if you plan well!)
Hey Besties! Question for you. With the Five Nights at Freddy's movie coming out soon, I have never heard you all discuss the Five Nights at Freddy's games. Come to think of it, no one in my social circle has ever talked about playing those games either. The games seem popular (popular enough to make a movie!), but are a blindspot for me. Have any of you ever played these games? Are they any good? Follow up - does anyone share this blindspot, or any other gaming blindspots that you want to share?
I used to work at EB Games (Australian branch of GameStop) and I remember when suddenly we had Pop Vinyls of these random bear-looking things from something called FNAF and I have never stopped being confused
How much grace should those of us on consoles give to indie developers when a game is released with issues? The porting and approvals process for Switch is slow, but when a game gets frequent patches and updates on Steam, it can be disheartening. As an example, Mineko's Night Market has had *ten* post-release patches on Steam to fix bugs and *one* from pre-release on Switch. At what point do you just give up, even if we know they're trying?
Your episode about cozy games got me thinking about the fact I'm playing Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for the first time after owning it FOR A DECADE.
Due to life, family, and our living room setup I've been exclusively controller gaming for years, but I just got a laptop setup to game on and went through my Steam library pulling in anything that wasn't Steam Deck friendly that I'd been avoiding.
What are your thoughts on a "crate digging" episode for our endless libraries? Anything that you've let fall to the sands of time for an unconscionable span?
P.S. S:S&S EP is the best "just a quick twenty minutes before bed" game I've ever played. It literally encourages this approach, and is chill as fuck.
My cozy game is a bit unconventional. Whenever I need a chill time, I boot up Elite Dangerous.... I play it like I'm a long haul truck driver or a luxury cruise captain and just explore the chill planets/stations
A beloved cosy game I discovered a while back is Wylde Flowers. It follows a similar premise to a lot of the HarvestMoon-likes—you show up at Grandma's farm and are expected to take over (and also there are plenty of eligible villagers who are happy to flirt with you. But also you're a witch and you and your coven are the ones to control when the seasons change, and together you'll all save the village. Very cute, not a lot of post-endgame content, but well-worth the time in my opinion
I'd like to submit SpiritTea! It's basically Stardew Valley meets Spirited Away. Would love to hear you guys talk about it, even though I know Justin would probably not be the biggest fan of it.
I really enjoyed Russ's little delivery break in this episode and the behind-the-curtains peek at how Russ and Chris get back into the show
I've been listening to too many of these podcasts and I kept thinking it was an extended opening to a character bit. I was very disappointed that New York giraffe did not show up.
Same, same - a prime setup for a very special guest (can we get that Richard Stink crossover?)
This was the coziest part of the episode
If cozy games were a person, who would it be, and why does it sound like Ron Funches?
If someone is looking for another cozy game, I just picked up Moonstone Island! It's a great mix of Stardew Valley/Pokémon with some deck building mixed in. Beautiful pixel graphics and a great cycle of farming, mining, capturing/battling, and exploring.
This looks SICK! Will definitely check it out!
Anyone have any unusual cozy games? I think for like 2 years after it launched, FTL: Faster Than Light was my cozy game of choice. Despite how intense it can be, pulling out my laptop and loading up a game and just seeing how far I could get, paired with the ability to pause and plan actions really made for a strangely chill time for me.
My cozy/meditative game is probably American Truck Simulator. I don't even know where the story is, I just hire myself out and drive routes on the west coast (north of Sacramento, CA so it's a lot of open and forested highways as opposed to freeway driving of SoCal).
Night in the woods for me. Just there for the atmosphere even though the story goes some very uncozy places.
My cozy game is cruising around in Elite Dangerous so I 100% get where you're coming from. FTL is so good also
Oh, also I have essentially devoured both of Jason Schreier's books on game development ("Blood, Sweat, and Pixels" and "Press Reset") and now I'm working my way through David Kushner's "Masters of Doom", does anyone have any oyher similar book recs?
Recently fell in love with Hundred Days. It’s a wine making sim. It’s on consoles but I think it runs best on steam because of the menus. It was previously on PS Now tho which is where I started playing it.
Hi! Question for y'all (mostly Griffin) -- I am wondering if any of you (Griffin) have tried out any Pokemon Rom Hacks? Specifically the GBA FireRed-based hacks. Pokemon Unbound is maybe my favorite Pokemon game ever. It has a new region, difficulty settings (with EV/IV attention required for higher settings), a mission system, level scaling, new game +, all Pokemon up to gen 8 and gen 8 mechanics, fun weird gym gimmicks. I think this game and other 'hacks' are quite special, and kinda what I hoped mainline games would eventually be like. And as far as I understand, these hacks are perfectly legal with a legal copy of FireRed, which doesn't everyone have??
I've been dipping into these as well, along with my growing collection (and/or problem) of retro gaming handhelds. My favorite so far has been Radical Red due to the difficulty added to it along with the built-in randomizer. I'll have to check out Unbound as well, it sounds sick!
That’s awesome! I still haven’t checked out Radical Red but maybe that’ll be next ... I have an Everdrive in my modded GBA SP and have been looking for more games. And if I recall correctly both Radical Red and Unbound use the same engine (“Complete FireRed Upgrade”) so I’m sure there is some overlap in terms of the mechanics and difficulty!
Hey guys! With the relatively recent leaks about a new DOOM game, what are you guys hoping for from a new DOOM title, and what did you like most about the other 2 recent entries?
Hello Besties!
There is an approach to gaming that is unique compared to other art forms, where games are expected to be fun first and everything else second. It is also true that great art can be challenging to experience. Can you think of an example where a game used anti-fun design to great impact?
It is refreshing to hear the four of you approach gaming from such different perspectives. Thank you so much for the countless hours of entertainment and thoughtful discussion over the years.
You could make the case that horror/horrifying games are putting fun second (if present at all) in order to deliver meaning, though admittedly this kind of thing appears more in segments of larger (fun) games than as a style all its own
Unpacking is shockingly replayable - I've probably done it a dozen times, sometimes with a different organizational system, sometimes with a different personality focus (you CAN fit the [spoiler] somewhere besides under the [spoiler] if you plan well!)
I've been meaning to go back to that! I'm glad it has great replayability I felt like I was the worst at it the first time around.
Hey Besties! Question for you. With the Five Nights at Freddy's movie coming out soon, I have never heard you all discuss the Five Nights at Freddy's games. Come to think of it, no one in my social circle has ever talked about playing those games either. The games seem popular (popular enough to make a movie!), but are a blindspot for me. Have any of you ever played these games? Are they any good? Follow up - does anyone share this blindspot, or any other gaming blindspots that you want to share?
I used to work at EB Games (Australian branch of GameStop) and I remember when suddenly we had Pop Vinyls of these random bear-looking things from something called FNAF and I have never stopped being confused
Hi besties!
How much grace should those of us on consoles give to indie developers when a game is released with issues? The porting and approvals process for Switch is slow, but when a game gets frequent patches and updates on Steam, it can be disheartening. As an example, Mineko's Night Market has had *ten* post-release patches on Steam to fix bugs and *one* from pre-release on Switch. At what point do you just give up, even if we know they're trying?
For me a cozy game must be
- low stakes
- have no / little opportunity cost in game (e.g, decisions should be reversible)
- no time pressure
Because of this Stardew Valley is stressful and not cozy for me.
I would love to see more farming sims that don’t have a clock. I liked how Dreamlight Valley handled the day night cycle and energy.
Your episode about cozy games got me thinking about the fact I'm playing Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for the first time after owning it FOR A DECADE.
Due to life, family, and our living room setup I've been exclusively controller gaming for years, but I just got a laptop setup to game on and went through my Steam library pulling in anything that wasn't Steam Deck friendly that I'd been avoiding.
What are your thoughts on a "crate digging" episode for our endless libraries? Anything that you've let fall to the sands of time for an unconscionable span?
P.S. S:S&S EP is the best "just a quick twenty minutes before bed" game I've ever played. It literally encourages this approach, and is chill as fuck.
My cozy game is a bit unconventional. Whenever I need a chill time, I boot up Elite Dangerous.... I play it like I'm a long haul truck driver or a luxury cruise captain and just explore the chill planets/stations
A beloved cosy game I discovered a while back is Wylde Flowers. It follows a similar premise to a lot of the HarvestMoon-likes—you show up at Grandma's farm and are expected to take over (and also there are plenty of eligible villagers who are happy to flirt with you. But also you're a witch and you and your coven are the ones to control when the seasons change, and together you'll all save the village. Very cute, not a lot of post-endgame content, but well-worth the time in my opinion
“But also you’re a witch” is cozy game catnip for me.
I'd like to submit SpiritTea! It's basically Stardew Valley meets Spirited Away. Would love to hear you guys talk about it, even though I know Justin would probably not be the biggest fan of it.