I'm not sure if y'all called it out this time (maybe you gave a heads up a few weeks ago?) but Balatro finally hit on Apple Arcade and my skepticism was completely incorrect. The past six months not playing Balatro will haunt me. I'm not sure what the UI/UX is like on other platforms but it feels perfect on iPad.
Zach Barth of Zachtronics has also made a game in the vein of "fictional console with games developed for it and accompanying dev commentary" in Last Call BBS.
Only 8 games instead of 50, and it's not examining the same thing, since it's about the home PC BBS culture. That said, it's the first analog I though about and I think it's criminally under-appreciated like all Zachtronics things.
Great episode team and excellent call with Jason guesting. I bounced hard off ufo 50 but I think it’s because I tried to play the games in order… can’t remember which site said they did that but it kinda sucked…will try again with some of the top picks you guys suggested…
But only after I pull myself away from a game with the greatest freaking progression/ unlock system since Call of Duty 4! It’s called Codenames - it’s on iOS and android and it’s so damn good. It’s a word game and adaptation of a board game and it gives you so many reasons to keep getting xp for being a good word guessing/ clue giving guy/girl (like COD4 used to be!)… and also the people playing are genuinely nice (unlike COD4 used to be!) Would love to hear your guys take… https://codenamesapp.com/
(Wanna say briefly from the top that I love your pod and always call it “the Dad Gamer Podcast” to my wife. Been a great listen and place to connect about games especially as time shrinks with my own new dad responsibilities. Keep up the great work and keep inspiring dads to game intentionally)
A lot of the choice anxiety yall had about UFO 50 reminded me of stuff like game pass, switch online, etc. and a similar feeling I get with those services. Do you feel the vast quantity and avail ability of games makes playing them harder? And how do you guys manage to dive deep into a game when it does happen?
The talk about some of the games that really just don't hit reminds me a lot of a 2015 board game called "504", which contained 504 possible games (you essentially combined modules and mechanics to create a game). It was famously not that good, but also famously very interesting! It's cool to see that idea explored in another medium, where you know there's gonna be some misses, but the experimentation is worth it.
As much as I think developers should be paid, I'm also a sucker for a sale, so I balked a little at the (admittedly very reasonably priced) full-priced Children of Morta on Steam, but then I saw that GoG has it on sale for a third of the price at the moment, for those looking to add it to their libraries.
I’ve been playing UFO50 mainly in order. Bounced off a few but they have been mostly fun. Currently my favorite is AVIANOS. I just played it and only it for three straight hours. Absolutely wonderful experience.
Thanks for reviewing this game, I would have never picked it up otherwise. Plays pretty great on steam deck after a couple key binding adjustments.
On this episode, I think Russ talked briefly about a podcast that had some devs playing UFO 50 for the next year or something like that and I was hoping I would be able to find it here, did anyone note it down?
I keep waiting to hear Griffin’s take on Astro Bot in the honorable mentions. I wonder if he’s playing it with Henry. My kids have really taken to it and it’s been a great game to bond over taking turns to complete together. Love watching my youngest fight through tough parts determined to figure them out and finally succeeding.
Was so hoping to hear Justin's continued journey through "From" which I binged because of last week's pod. I couldn't stop thinking about how many of his descriptions resonated with me as I watched it. For example: "I don't know why I'm watching 'From'", "So much stuff happens and every episode something else happens," and "I think the algorithm is building the show scene by scene as I watch it," to name a few. Justin was only in the middle of Season 1 last pod, and Season 2 is cranks up the "something else happens" to 11.
I’m so fascinated by these stories of developers and game companies where people on the outside try to simplify the dynamics behind how popular games are made as being as simple as “and then some outside person or company came in and ruined everything.”
Like that has kind of been the concern with Sony buying Bungie but now I feel the script has flipped and even though Destiny 2 did kind of right the ship with Final Shape, they still cut tons of employees post-takeover and it sounds like we’re mismanaged by their own management, not Sony’s, and now Sony is seen kind of as the adult in the room, like Koric and Activision after Titan imploded.
Or framed another way, people will often look at developers like they’re the good guys and publishers like they’re the bad guys, like big mean EA buying up and shutting down studios or forcing them to chase trends or monetization that betrays their artistic vision, and then you find out that Respawn chose to change direction from working on Titanfall 3 to Apex instead and pitching to EA almost against their will.
I think Apex is a great version of the kind of game it is and I don’t resent it, and I’ve tried Destiny and just can’t keep up with it, but the stories behind the companies making and putting out those games is more interesting to me than the games themselves, sometimes. I am super interested to read this book and dig into a version of that with two of the biggest gaming companies in history.
I feel like a main point between the besties opinions on UFO 50 comes down to Do you like a more open ended experience where you kinda have to make your own fun or do you prefer a more structured experience with objectives?
Absolutely love how some hosts would love a game and some would hate it. This seems to be a really common dialog. Though some games I really bounced off of really hooked me later on. I really hope they come back and talk about games they come across playing this game. It seems monumental and hard to cover in one episode. For anyone looking for more discussion, the podcast Eggplant is doing an episode each week focused on one game.
I'm not sure if y'all called it out this time (maybe you gave a heads up a few weeks ago?) but Balatro finally hit on Apple Arcade and my skepticism was completely incorrect. The past six months not playing Balatro will haunt me. I'm not sure what the UI/UX is like on other platforms but it feels perfect on iPad.
Zach Barth of Zachtronics has also made a game in the vein of "fictional console with games developed for it and accompanying dev commentary" in Last Call BBS.
Only 8 games instead of 50, and it's not examining the same thing, since it's about the home PC BBS culture. That said, it's the first analog I though about and I think it's criminally under-appreciated like all Zachtronics things.
Great episode team and excellent call with Jason guesting. I bounced hard off ufo 50 but I think it’s because I tried to play the games in order… can’t remember which site said they did that but it kinda sucked…will try again with some of the top picks you guys suggested…
But only after I pull myself away from a game with the greatest freaking progression/ unlock system since Call of Duty 4! It’s called Codenames - it’s on iOS and android and it’s so damn good. It’s a word game and adaptation of a board game and it gives you so many reasons to keep getting xp for being a good word guessing/ clue giving guy/girl (like COD4 used to be!)… and also the people playing are genuinely nice (unlike COD4 used to be!) Would love to hear your guys take… https://codenamesapp.com/
(Wanna say briefly from the top that I love your pod and always call it “the Dad Gamer Podcast” to my wife. Been a great listen and place to connect about games especially as time shrinks with my own new dad responsibilities. Keep up the great work and keep inspiring dads to game intentionally)
A lot of the choice anxiety yall had about UFO 50 reminded me of stuff like game pass, switch online, etc. and a similar feeling I get with those services. Do you feel the vast quantity and avail ability of games makes playing them harder? And how do you guys manage to dive deep into a game when it does happen?
The talk about some of the games that really just don't hit reminds me a lot of a 2015 board game called "504", which contained 504 possible games (you essentially combined modules and mechanics to create a game). It was famously not that good, but also famously very interesting! It's cool to see that idea explored in another medium, where you know there's gonna be some misses, but the experimentation is worth it.
As much as I think developers should be paid, I'm also a sucker for a sale, so I balked a little at the (admittedly very reasonably priced) full-priced Children of Morta on Steam, but then I saw that GoG has it on sale for a third of the price at the moment, for those looking to add it to their libraries.
As I am sure others have pointed out, the stand clear of the closing doors guy is actually a woman. He recently transitioned.
I’ve been playing UFO50 mainly in order. Bounced off a few but they have been mostly fun. Currently my favorite is AVIANOS. I just played it and only it for three straight hours. Absolutely wonderful experience.
Thanks for reviewing this game, I would have never picked it up otherwise. Plays pretty great on steam deck after a couple key binding adjustments.
On this episode, I think Russ talked briefly about a podcast that had some devs playing UFO 50 for the next year or something like that and I was hoping I would be able to find it here, did anyone note it down?
Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games. 21 SEP is when they started the UFO 50 stuff
I keep waiting to hear Griffin’s take on Astro Bot in the honorable mentions. I wonder if he’s playing it with Henry. My kids have really taken to it and it’s been a great game to bond over taking turns to complete together. Love watching my youngest fight through tough parts determined to figure them out and finally succeeding.
Was so hoping to hear Justin's continued journey through "From" which I binged because of last week's pod. I couldn't stop thinking about how many of his descriptions resonated with me as I watched it. For example: "I don't know why I'm watching 'From'", "So much stuff happens and every episode something else happens," and "I think the algorithm is building the show scene by scene as I watch it," to name a few. Justin was only in the middle of Season 1 last pod, and Season 2 is cranks up the "something else happens" to 11.
I’m so fascinated by these stories of developers and game companies where people on the outside try to simplify the dynamics behind how popular games are made as being as simple as “and then some outside person or company came in and ruined everything.”
Like that has kind of been the concern with Sony buying Bungie but now I feel the script has flipped and even though Destiny 2 did kind of right the ship with Final Shape, they still cut tons of employees post-takeover and it sounds like we’re mismanaged by their own management, not Sony’s, and now Sony is seen kind of as the adult in the room, like Koric and Activision after Titan imploded.
Or framed another way, people will often look at developers like they’re the good guys and publishers like they’re the bad guys, like big mean EA buying up and shutting down studios or forcing them to chase trends or monetization that betrays their artistic vision, and then you find out that Respawn chose to change direction from working on Titanfall 3 to Apex instead and pitching to EA almost against their will.
I think Apex is a great version of the kind of game it is and I don’t resent it, and I’ve tried Destiny and just can’t keep up with it, but the stories behind the companies making and putting out those games is more interesting to me than the games themselves, sometimes. I am super interested to read this book and dig into a version of that with two of the biggest gaming companies in history.
I feel like a main point between the besties opinions on UFO 50 comes down to Do you like a more open ended experience where you kinda have to make your own fun or do you prefer a more structured experience with objectives?
Ray Chase is so much more than just the subway announcer in P5, and this demo reel goes hard: https://youtu.be/ocxjVjU2pgk?si=R7BRV6U87Xesywfc
I need a poll right now, of who has and hasn't heard of Star Tropics
Absolutely love how some hosts would love a game and some would hate it. This seems to be a really common dialog. Though some games I really bounced off of really hooked me later on. I really hope they come back and talk about games they come across playing this game. It seems monumental and hard to cover in one episode. For anyone looking for more discussion, the podcast Eggplant is doing an episode each week focused on one game.