Fire Escape Cast #68

Hello, everyone, Welcome back to the fire Escape cast. Cracking a drink during my intro? Is you already it's spilling? It's overflowing, It's all over my hand in it went on my keyboard. Do you already need a paper towel? I can just wave my hands when wind can do it. Eric, I'm just thinking more about your keyboard than your hands. My keyboard is fucking filthy, you know it. You know that's a nasty I take care of my stuff. It is nice, rubb. Do you see grub?

Do you see grubs? Is this game's morning mess? I see no grub here? Look at that. Probably get a new one from like a company sponsored every like three weeks, and then you throw away your crummy one. Yeah, that's how I get That's how I get it up these days. Raw dog keyboards, disguesting it doesn't make sense. Maybe not the year it would make sense to you makes It's the only thing that makes sense to

me. It's a penis thing, all right. I forgot that you have to have one of those to get those, Yeah, to get my keyboard. Dick jokes. It's episode sixty eight, not sixty nine. Yet we just reference that during a fallse intro to make sure got some very fun announcements, as it were up top, or rather more cementing some announcements. It's that time of year when we're getting toward your favorite Game of the Year show, our fourth annual. If we count the one before we officially okay,

twenty twenty, wait do we do? No, no, no, twenty twenty would have been the first one. One twenty twenty two. Yeah, this is the fourth, but we weren't officially fire Escape with the first one yet. We called it that it might be on YouTube to stety even it might as well be. But this is our fourth annual. But we also did the halfway through the year one. Yeah, this is our fourth annual

Game of the Year live stream attorney. We called it that. We are descending on Minneapolis December mark Get out your calendars right now, get out your planners, your pager, well pager wouldn't tell you a day, but get out whatever electronic devices you need to mark down Saturday, December sixteenth, live from Minneapolis. It's the fire Escape Live Show Game of the Year Extravaganza from Dan's game Dungeon. From Dan's game Dungeon. No, we're gonna in the

bar from Dan's game Bar. There's no games in there, there's no screens in the bar. From going to there Dan's Liquid Bar. It's Mary, Dan, Mike, and Jake. Cool judge Jake with surprise guests. Also what No, I'm certain I know what you're doing. But we're gonna have guests when we don't have who's gonna show up? We don't don't deliver? Okay, well we have. We have someone impersonating a pretty famous person, just such a literal you suck. We will have four of us in a

room. That is who you will see on camera. No other being besides me, Dan, Mary, and Jake is going to be there. Show is going to be so good you'll swear it rose from the dead ghost person. This is all over hyping. We'll have dogs. We can promise dogs. That's uncomfortable. I'm in. I don't like over HIPing. I like promising. Over delivery is all I do. We're going The ghost of a famous celebrity will be in attendance to offer his thoughts. We bought a wig.

He's talking. We bought a wig. That's it. I want to manage expectations here. Doesn't know about this yet. Well, you're the one who's already talking about it. He was not talking on specifics. We bought Jake a wig. Well, his hair is going to be cool. Yeah, his Hairbly said, Jake, cool. Judge, Jake, don't do your hair. It doesn't matter. Yeah, you can just shave your head. We need to put the wig on. We're gonna glue on like Joe dirt. Save money on your your wax for the next month. You won't

need a Minneapolis or your palmade whatever you use. Row it out. Jake's probably a palmade guy. He's a Depper dan Man, Depper dan Man. No, it'll be us four December sixteenth, Minneapolis and Dan's Bar, talking games. And we got a few new categories already this year. We're still working on the actual run a show. I'm sure it'll be really fun if you want to be in uniform, as it were our dorky Christmas sweatshirts crew

necks from last year. If you go back and watch our live stream for Game of the Year twenty twenty two, you could see our sick, dorky Christmas sweatshirts, which, if you don't know what that is a reference to Dan tell them what that reference is to go. I had a dream once when I was in college that I was at a party and a girl offered to give me a hand job, but she referred to it as a dorky Christmas. She said, Hey, do you want to go somewhere just me

and you and I'll give you a dorky Christmas. And for some reason in my brain in my dream, I knew that meant hand job. So you can get that sweatshirt again this year. If you already have one, get a second one. If you already have to get one, get your your your part. That one's got crumbs on it, like Dan's keyboard, your elderly father one, and don't tell him what it really means. And let him wear it to the grocery store and on to cribbage. And also know

one at the grocery store or cribbage will know what it means. I feel that's what's fun. A few thousand people know that what well? I actually have a question, but I'll continue on the promo reel for now. So yes, December sixteenth, Uh, if you go to Patreon, our fourth wall, our dorky Christmas sweatshirts are officially on the market. You can go get one now if you want, I'll put it on Patreon. It's also on fourth Wall or no, just go to fire skate merch dot com.

But I'll also put it on Patreon. If you're a patron and want to get a reminder, I'll put it on there. Yeah, we're looking forward to it. We've talked several times, and I feel like we say this every year. I truly think this year will be quite a bloodbath for number one Game of the year, the entire way up, like for sure, dare oh yeah, definitely, but I think number one like this year. Honestly, all four of us, I could see each of us having a

different number one, Yeah, I could. And honestly, I'm ready for the fight this year because I changed the giant bomb format to the points based Eurovision style thing when I came back, because I like, what does that

mean? Noticely, it's just straight up modeled after Eurovision. You know, it's just like everyone has their own list of like the way we're going to do it is, you know, we we put our top five together and it's you know, we we're go ne this during our live show and we basically it's like grand like Mario Kart Grand Prix scoring, where it's like my number one game gets twelve points, my number two gets eight, my number

three gets six or something. That's what I do every you're a polygon too, I didn't know that vision, but we make a big, like visual thing of it. Like I'll go up to a podium and be like I give my twelve points to blank, and then you see the numbers change live. So we don't even know what our game of the year is until we've all gone up and given our points versus like, so like, it's not

going to be a fight there. I like the presentations to all that friends there, but us, we might we will kill each other in my bar in a couple of years. Last year was what were all of our game of the years? Hades was twenty twenty one, No, it was twenty twenty, was twenty twenty eighties, I thought that was twenty twenty one? Return Returnal was twenty twenty one. Yeah, so Hades twenty twenty, Returnal twenty twenty one, I believe twenty twenty two. Last year was what did

we give it to? Last year? Fucking what was oh hard for? It took a while I just saw it the other day. I took your photoshop when me and Mary were hanging out from the fuck was it? Mary said it to me. Hold on, let me pull up Mary's text because that photo I had of you Dan at that bar was when you were posing in front of it. Uh do it at a bar? No? When I photoshopped you into that photo of me and Mary at the bar? Oh right, right? How are all of our memories of garbage? I don't

know. I drink a lot. I do too. Yeah, yeah, I'm scrolling that. I got the doc here. It's not poople order. We gotta bring that back. Oho. Wow, oh oh, it's fucking elden Ring. Oh that's right, because it was between elden Ring and Dan. I remember we argued with you, but it's about at elder Ring versus what was our number two vampire survivors? Right, and you compared it to like a bardough to like a cheese sandwich. It's not what I did.

I don't know what play back the tape. Wow, those probably weren't the foods, but that's what you did. You compared it a nice wine to like something cheap that you get at fun. Sure. Yeah, Yeah, this is amazing. This is very telling about this year because I'm looking at our top ten from last year. Okay, here Elden Ring and Vampire Survivors throw out some names. See if you can guess the other eight. Oh god, I'm so bad at this lately, especially like now that a Polygon

I helped run the game to year, I forget all the games. The number one Elton Ring, Number two is Vampire Survivors. What do you think name out games anywhere that you think are on that The other eight on our top ten? Did a Resident Nobody come out last year? Resident seven? Because Nobody Saved the World two years ago? Yeah, Nobody Saves the World was number three. Yeah, and that game's really good. It's really good, But like, I don't think that would make top ten this year.

You know, this year are so stacked so last year we're discussing last year any games from number three to number ten. Last year, there's a lot of time Loop stuff that was twenty twenty one. Never mind time Loop was twenty twenty one. Who I was twenty twenty two? Super forgettable outside of no, no, we're just stupid. It's kind of no, it's not on here. Looking at this makes it look pretty forgettable. I got to look to look up polygons. No, well that's oh you are okay,

ex not order. Just try to try to name anything Nintendo nintend Oh my god, a Powerwash simulator nope. Fuck, Why did I think that would be in our top ten? That must have been twenty twenty one, because I would Lamb it was full released last The Lamb is number six. Whatever above, call to the Lamb. This is a family feud here. All right, we got the number six on the board. I'm trying to think like stuff we argued about. I mean, was it a good year?

I mean these are good. It wasn't subjectively games to this year, but it was definitely like a lot of like medium hype games that got like that we got excited about because there wasn't much else. Oh Stray Nope, Stray was last year, but it was not on our top ten. Oh my god, we are so like five months ago or eleven months ago, We argued, Shooters, this is amazing. Oh oh, there was a time one that we were fighting over Dan and I really liked this time like jumpy

game and when you're competing over time. No, it was called like white neon like white white, it's something stupid neon white Umber five God time though it killing it. You called it a time game, and yes, it's about time. It's all about time. It's a speed run game. It's not a time loop. And what do you want in the game? Which number four? Yeah, you don't have number four? We have one, two, three, five and three? Was Nobody Saves the World? I'm

surprised this was No, it was good. This is a good Nintendo games. It's probably some puzzle bullshit. What's that? Uh? Every everybody like like gott the Rap sniffed this game, but it was not the Rapture. It was witness stop interrupting me, chances saying our ship and you're there, Oberd return. That was like six years ago. It wasn't that good. Wasn't that good? Uh? What's the one where you keep turning back time?

Twelve defelve number one? Yeah? Uh okay, so you're no, so you're it's realistic graphics and you have to go back through time and for solving a murder and forgotten city. And everybody looks, well, I wasn't listening to you. You have to speak up. You have to speak up. That's not for god. Maybe last year was more forgettable than I'm I think it's our brain. I don't think. Is it a platform exclusive? Is that what John? It is? It is? So that's a genre

you've mentioned in the last five minutes. A shooter. Mm hmmm, action adventure m hmm. When was Wretchet and Clank rifted apart? That was two years ago. That was like twenty twenty one. It was like early Weller was like the first Guys five exclusive thing like two years longer than that was like twenty twenty one. But it's an exclusive. Uh, it's Nintendo. We haven't brought up a Nintendo. They always get at least one in a year, like every year they get at least one. It was a Metro

primary Mester this year to Mario Wonder Bros. Super Mario Bros. Wonder This year there was a Metro. There was a Metroid last year. Oh Fusion that was two years ago. That was our number two. What Fusion was a game from like Dread Dread, Yeah, two years ago. That was two years ago. Last year, that was two years ago. It was our number two game two years ago, number one maybe no returnal and then metro dread I think I don't know, was a while ago. Yeah,

uh fuck? Is this fun for people listening? We're not live. I think it's possible that people are screaming into the radio of their car. Oh yeah, everyone has better memories than us, Tunic, it's not okay, what get what genre? Give us a hint? It's a mic genre, a strategy game. Oh god, this is your fault. I'm not gonna remember some fucking war machine Garbo? Was it total war war? He having three early last year? That is number ten. Oh you wish you got

that high, little bitch. We would never have let that in the top five. How dare you strategy? Oh, it's like a JRPG or turn based thing. We muted your mic when you argued for it. Now, I'm trying to think if there's one other strategy games came out last year, like turn based Tactics, Real Time Strategy. Only fought so hard for it you cried, and you know what you mean. That's not a yes or no question. Mm hmm, it's all of those. Oh wait, it's

not no fire almblems this year. You probably begged us to put this game this high. It is a tactical game. It's the Mike genre. What's the one x com ship Chimera? Man, you such genuinely no idea. Do you know what it is? No, but I don't need to because I didn't fight tooth and nail for it, because I didn't fucking here about it. Fought tooth and nail because it's strategy. Mike, You're the only one who does this. The game doesn't have a bumble bee? Whose friends

were? They get together? And there's only one person made this game of what twenty five? Ye there? Oh my god, it was brutal streaming in equation? Oh no, she like ten minutes you earned that? Man? Oh no, fuck off? Holy shit, that's the neatest thing you've ever done to her. And you threatened to murder her like fifty times. I have no fucking clue what this. Goddamn gamers, this is not fun for people. Tell that's what it is. I'm over it. It's a

it's an exclusive. Is there a Nintendo Tactics game that I'm forgetting? Firebom was this year? Firemom e Gauge? Was there a fire Blemlesh No? Oh, Mario plus Rabbits far Hope, Yes, Oh it was really fucking good. The only one fighting. I know, That's why I was killing me. The marry was like it's obviously Mike fought tooth and nail for that. Like, now, I'm pretty sure I thought for that. I think I I think I was okay on that game. I don't think I cared

for it. Well, I mean right, the fact that it's number four is crazy because like I liked it, but like number that's that's insane. Like, yeah, it was a slow year for sure, and so I enjoyed. I'll read the whole list here, so Elden Ring, Vampire Survivors, Nobody Saves the World, Mario plus Rabbit, Sparks of Hope, Neon White, Cult of the Lamb, Signalis like Tiny can A, Strange Horticulture, and Total War Strange Horticulture. Okay, that's a really good list,

but no, not the most memorable year. No, I mean, Strange Horticulture was cool. I'm amazed it was top ten, Like that was just a nice game. We had a varied list. Yeah, we also fought tradition a lot last year. Like there are games like it wasn't there like really big heavy hit or triple as that we didn't talk about was rag last year. It was probably we didn't get that in a word that did win the It's Not Poop board, and it's not return this year because I absolutely

have a couple ones that I'm putting on there. Like when you go into anyone who wins the It's Not Poop Award, I hope they like walk into their studio and they just have like a trophy. I don't know where they got it. It's not poop award. It's just it's a it's a poop emoji with like a Ghostbuster's cross through it. I was gonna say, the trophy could literally be anything as long as it's not poop. Yes, yes,

but banana. It's funny. But why having played my first Pickman this year, I've never touched a Pickman game four that I remembered until Pickman four and looking back, having no idea that like tiny Kin was absolutely even sort of in the name aping Pickman, Oh my god, extremely that. But now that I've played a Pickman game, like, oh of course, like that's tiny Kin sort of even sounds like Pickman almost like that, and tiny Kin is is very good, but it ain't it's not Pickman. A few

games are Pickman for Yes, this game this year will be bad. It's gonna be it's a crazy uh just we're not done. But the run of show already, the amount of games that we're like, oh, we have to talk about this game somewhere is lush. So there's just a lot of

options this year to discuss. And I think we might have to invent a couple categories because I think all of our categories are invented, but we'll have to make up some new ones because there has to be a way we can talk about some of these games that won't make our top ten but are so awesome. It's like a disservice that it doesn't it doesn't get some lights somewhere or do like a specific thing really well but might not be the best overall

package. Yeah. Yeah, we hadded a few new categories already. We're still working on flushing it out, but Dan and I are in there right now because because I'm thinking about it, I can't not. I if I forget, I'll regret this. And I love doing this, like coming up with categories and filling stuff out. This is brutal, this is not fun. Rating I'm Sorry, I'm being bad. I've been adding stuff this week. It's pretty rude. Okay anyway, Yeah, there'll be it'll be fun.

That's December sixteenth. My favorite part is, like in document form, I can be a real bitch because nobody knows if it was me or Mike or Dan, and so I get to like really be an ambiguous like that. They would do that the things we forgot came out, it's Mary. Let the record show that. There's no way to confirm or deny. Oh no, did it? Yeah, you're signed in under your personal Dan and I yeah, it just says this was Mary right here. But that'll be

Yeah, December sixteenth, that'll be fine. Dan. We are streaming it live on twitch dot tv slash Dan Reikert. Yes, and we'll on the fire Escape YouTube for the BOD so you can't make it live, which will be at Dan's Twitch channel twitch dot tv slash Dan riiker It'll be up on a sorry fire Escapes YouTube channel on polygtton no okay b It will also be up as during the normal episode slot for episode sixty nine on the whatever then

following Monday is and that's going to be open to everyone. Normally we do seventy. Normally we do video for patrons only, and but this will be it's our Game of the Year goes out to everyone, and it's we do it every year. So this is like no different than what we've done every year since the dawn of the inception of fire Escape, which is that this is our annual Everyone gets to see it and you can also enjoy it live

because we want you to spectacular. The only big difference is if you want to see the bod we have a YouTube channel now, so go to fire Escapes YouTube channel and subscribe there and you can. There's also some really a good episodes of Rezi on there with the there. That's why we started using that channel. Hell yeah, yeah, subscribe there and a few weeks we'll have a big old chunkie. We'll see how many hours long Game of the Year thing we got going on. When you get some shitty jelly beans or

anything, yes, o shot, I forgot about that. That's coming back to me now. Yeah I end up eating like, yeah, it was like a donation and you ate like the rest of them. We crossed like ten thousand dollars or something, and then yeah he did I can't handle it so much that she puked. That's just irresponsible. It was because one of the jelly beans is booger, and I I've said this before, that's like my one. For whatever reason, it makes me yack, like thinking about

it. I thought it was a band aid, so band aid was That is disgusting too, because it has like a blood thing going on. Yeah, but it's that's probably also trick can trigger it, But booger will trigger my gag reflex immediately even thinking about it. I don't know why it's my one week funny because I eat my own all the time. My achilles bogger don't if you talk about it, where does that come from? Because you always hear about the kid that ate his booger is on the playground and stuff.

But like, is it a the kids think it tastes good? Or is it they don't have a place to wipe it? Or are they like putting together a ball of it like a ball of gum and taking bites out of it like an apple? About it? He's marry. He's trying to make you. I know, I'm just having a conversation for intellectual purposes. We've talked about the game spot bathroom, like I when I think about it, I want to vombit, like I can. We found out who that

was, though, didn't we? No, you've only you've only assumed and then deliberated and accused. I know who it was in my heart of heart. It was someone I already don't like. So do I know that it was? Oh yeah, yeah yeah one of the like three people I've ever like actually talked badly about. Drew Scanlon. Yep, you don't, dare you? The proverbial doesn't even have biggers. He's just a pure soul.

He really is one of those people that, like, I've never heard anyone say a single bad thing about Like, no one finds annoying, no one finds rude, bad thing about Drew. They're bad, like they're a bad person. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, like we're bad people. Like we're talk I could see people being very annoyed by us. Yes, I see people about us, and everyone's like, I understand, I can see why you would think that, But when you talk about Drew,

everyone's like, fuck that person. Yeah, you know what you I have accrued my enemies over the years, You've earned them. Yeah, I work for them. I thought about this, and I actually think about this often, not often, occasionally It's funny having cats all the random shit they do that is passed down from their ancestors to cover their tracks in the wild. Domestic cats have held on to a lot of habits that domesticated dogs haven't because

cats aren't as removed behaviorally from lions and panthers and shit. They bury their poop in litter or sand or whatever they have nearby to bury it, which is like an instinct to cover their tracks. So in the wild animals predators couldn't track them like the bigger thing on the food chain. They do the

same thing. If you've seen like people with cats will know sometimes if they drop a piece of food out of their mouth on the ground instead of eating it, they'll like do burying motions on it, like it's just instinct, even if there's nothing there to bury it with it. I've wondered if there's some weird ancestral instinct that does serves a similar function when you eat your own boogers to like cover your tracks. You don't want to leave boggers behind for

people to find you. Man National geographic has really gone downhill, you're run out of stuff to talk about. Yeah, well, I don't know. I don't know why there Like there is enough people in the world that have eaten their own buggers often enough where it's become a thing that like people do. Do you think a lot of adultence it? I know I've seen it entertainment. Do you think we all have those? Is it's the forbidden fruit. It's just a gross little thing on your face, and sometimes drainage comes

out of it. I just think that we're like instinctively probably getting in there. I don't fucking like thinking about it. I don't want to know about it. I don't want to look at it. I don't want to assume it. But do you think, but do you think that anyone's ever like accrued their boggers into like the shape of a steak and cut it up with a fork and knife and like the barbie you saw some change the subject talk

about Cat and I were talking about butt plugs. You go. Really we were talking about how quickly like you learn what butt plugs are all about, like you go from your your your butlug on second conversations that happened when it was not recording. Yeah, no, here's my question. It's kind of like an email question. What other things similar to butt plugs do you go from being a rookie to an expert in by using it? Like for one second, like, oh god, I'm an expert in butt plugs. All

of a sudden, I get you do it. You've understood it. You can't skydiving. No, you're not an experts. You wouldn't be doing it. That's just like understanding the thrill. Well, that's all butt plugs like butt plugs, sky divings like butt plugs. You do it once and you're like, oh, I get it. I like this is what this this is what I've been missing? How did you? How do you get here? You asked me to change the subjects because you want to tell a booger

steaks the idea better. It was like a fountain, like a cheese fountain. But that's disgusting, and they wouldn't fountain it wouldn't. You have to think about it. Do you think it would if it was running, if you had a cold, it might be running the idea like a golden coral chocolate mountain. Slamming the fifteen second forward button on Spotify. Right now,

we're hearing the podcast fifteen seconds forward. That is a good idea. I mean, I feel like I don't want to joke about drugs, but there's probably some drugs when you do it, like similar to butt plugs, you're like, I'm never going back. Huh. For the record, I was showing him you were making beauty blender, which is just code for but tell you told me what it was. I was like, wow, this is a very just open conversation, like check out my new butt plug for the

radio. For the radio listeners. This is a beauty blender that just arrived today and I'm really excited about it. And Mike was like, what's that? And I said, your girlfriend knows what this is. No you didn't. You said it's a cute little butt plug. And I was like and then I was like wow, interesting. And then you're like your girlfriend, I mean, your wife knows what it's like. And then you said, yeah she does. She does. But it's just a beauty blender. But

like they do kind of they probably have that appeal to them. I think that's true. Well, there is is Okay, there is a product that is supposedly for massaging your neck. But my Amanda was telling me that a lot of women. It is a thing you buy at the store like Brookstone and it's a neck massager, but in reality you're buying it to use it as a vibrator. Whether like do you think like people would use like rumble packs people I have. I've got like a top ten controllers that are best

for rumbling my bumbles. What's number one? The p S three controller was great, wouldn't it be the Wii? You can get the Wii in there right, Yeah, you're in there too, So the p S three is like a jackhammer if you put in the right spot. I'm going to c town in like five seconds. My horny teenager just get perked up so quickly. And by that I mean my horny thirty two year old. Why do you think my PS three is always hooked up? I was wondering, Yeah,

it was weird. Destruction is always running. He's got these like you always keep controllers. I just have a save file that's ratchet with one specific weapon that makes the bump the rumble go crazy. You get the tape over the circle button. You imported the uh or you got the prototype boomerang controller from that E three. Yeah, anyway, all personal massagers are the secret weapon of women. You're all being replaced. I'll take all the help I

can get. Good. That's very that's very cool of me. So there's no use fighting the future. It's happening. Oh, I've accepted my My d is gonna get replaced one day by her second place trophy. And she loves you first place now, but someday she'll be she'll be all over some robot vibrator from Brookstone. What do you think Brookstone has knockne on a business yet? That is kind of shocking. Brookstone is completely run on vibrators.

Sales every February just shy rock. Yeah, it's yeah. Imagine going into like the airport sharper Image, which is next to the duty free shop. You get your duty free bottle of Kolua, and then you go next door to sharper Image, and there's a poster there with a woman like smiling, like a very suburban looking woman smiling, and she's holding a like a little sheepish smile. Are you bored? Is your husband not doing stuff? Buy

this vibrator. It's two in the pink one and the stink. It gets you there whatever you need to podcast where if you're flying tonight, I'll get you there. It's great for fold up and your car. That's not what they marketed as. They market it as a massager discretion. Yeah, you don't want to be buying. And then the lady's holding it and she's like this, it's for massaging for something that helps you poop, and they're trying really hard not to say it helps you poop? Is pro is? That?

Is that that? No? I mean like, oh, it's like this yogurt like didn't uh Jamie Lee Curtis do a bunch of that like poop stuff, but they didn't say poop. Yeah, the dan and uh probiotic. Yeah, that's it where it's like they dance around the poop. It's good for your protective system. It'll show like a waste and it'll show like it'll show like material dots like going through and it'll be like, oh, how seamless it is, And it's just like you're just showing me feces.

B roll of a geyser train going in a tunnel out of the tunnel, yeah, out of the train going into the tunnel commercial Yeah yeah, yeah, I was gonna say a train going in tunnel is the butt plug commercial. It's a pretty gnarly butt plug insert in the tunnel. Honey, I got you the train Exclusive butt Club. We just watched North Northwest, not just watched a couple of years ago. We watched north by Northwest for the

first time, the Hitchcock movie. And at the end, it's like the dude and the lady get together and it's just like fade to train just going into tunnel like directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Smart. Smart really makes you think, Yeah, I think I didn't pick up on that, and I think BOMK brought it up and I was like, oh, that was a sex thing. I always enjoy when there are cuts to something happening in nature or whatever, when it's implying the sex scene. It happened recently in another movie.

I forget what it was. I remember a cut. It's the only thing I remember about this movie but me myself and Irene. I remember there was a cut where Jim Carrey is like squatting down and like it yeah, and they cut to like chocolate serve coming out and like, you know, scooping up into a cone and it's very very effective. It's honestly the only thing I remember from that movie. I saw that movie with my parents.

What was the gimmick? Did he have a multiple personality and multiple personalities and one of them was like a real degenerate piece of shit, and so it wasn't another one like a marine drill sergeant, though one of them was like a nice, normal person. It was Renee Zellweger was the love interest. Okay, wow, wonder if this holds up. I doubt it. There's not being great back then. Yeah, wait, we should watch it, scratch. Let's just watch me, myself and Irene in Minnesota now on the

stream. We won't be able to show you it or you can't hear it, but you will be able to listen to our live reaction. Yeah, you'll be able to see. We'll have CCTV of our reaction. Well. I speaking of movies that I would want to watch when we're in Minneapolis, I'm just thinking about Rocky. Have you guys watched Welcome to Wrexham. You

know what it is? Either of you the you know? Ryan Reynolds and Rob mcleenny bought the previously a sports team, the League six Sports Team professional sports team in Wales and in England or in the United Kingdom, you can climb up the ranks basically. I like, theoretically you could start in League six climb all the way up to the Premier League, which is where you know you have your Arsenals and your Chelsea's, your Liverpools, your Man United's,

your Man Cities. They bought a like found not a floundering but a team that's been stuck in League six for fifteen years. They made a documentary following them as they did it, and then following the team and getting to know the town and the people and the players, the coach, et cetera, the manager, I should say. And second season just finished this week that we're recording. I think it was like November fourteenth. It's the finale

of season two. And they start towards the end with the instrumental of victory by P Diddy and the family. Oh yeah, yeah yeah, I start going to distance with I like to think of it as just Biggie and then P Diddy parton that as great yeah yeah yeah, duct taping, Yeah no, it's good. But then midway through, because Rob mclhenny is a big from Philly, diehard Eagles fan. He's from Philly. Did it's always sunny? Obviously he created that. Uh. Halfway through they actually like faded into

the actual Rocky victory. It's really fucking good. But we should do a lot with those. On the first one. Yeah, while we're in Minneapolis are Yeah, did you send me? Send me the infough We'll see how much time we got and I get in it. Yeah. I get in like early afternoon on Friday. Yeah, cool, Okay, we'll have some time. That's lots of time to watch me myself and Irene. That's true three times. It's like three and a half hours long. I remember it

came on two BH. Really that's unnecessary. Fair Brothers Comedy. What are you? What are your guesses on minutes? Uh? Nin I'm eighty five ninety It is an hour fifty six, which is too long for that. That is way too long for that. Something About Mary is two hours and ten minutes long. Absolutely unnecessary. I wonder if that holds up. That was kind of a like Something About Mary was a moment in American comedy, Like people were all about that movie. There's a couple of problems I can

immediately think of when it comes to like the aging of their something. All I remember that is hair like the hair thing. Oh well, no, do not know the joke. No, it's it's come. Oh he was. He was trying to whack off before a date because he wanted to make sure he lasted long in case. No, no, no. The advice was, you won't be cool unless you jerk off before the date, because

you'll be because you'll be antsy and stuff. Yeah. So he's whacking off in a bathroom right before the date and he comes and he's like looking around trying to find it and yeah, yeah he can't find it. And this is like in the aler. Yeah, and oh it's so yeah so uh fun just like you describing these sequences. He opens up the door and she's like, is that caragile? And she grabbed it off of his ear. Scoop said, it's dangling out the ear. Yeah, puts it in her

hair. Yeah, that's that's the whole thing. Yeah. Interesting. The first thing I ever saw Cameron Diaz and was the mask. That's I think when everyone found out about Cameron Diaz, you ever forget No one did. No, It's funny how everyone has that reaction to the max. Very absolutely didn't you claim that I said for me, and you guys manipulated it. I specifically said that I was wildly turned on by the mask because somebody waiting, Wait did you say first smoking? Somebody stopped me? Is the mask

a spo? Was alrighty? Then alrighty? Then he also did like a glove, like a glove her two when the monster truck Yeah, yeah, no he flips the car and then sees the monster truck. Yeah. I didn't hear you a person. I thought you said alas catchphrase, my wife famous mask catchphrase? We should watch the mask? Would that before I watch? I'm curious? Should watched? Help dear? Oh god, I want to watch before you watch before every podcast. You're obviously not right in the

head. Tonight you brought up butt plugs, but dazzled you brought up the butt plug. Sitting on a PlayStation three? Now the controller, the console doesn't vibrate the place three would do anything for which is smooth and like round? Yeah, it depends on how you use it. What would be the most fun console to sit on? A game cube? Handle up? Oh yeah, okay, between the cheeks handle yeah, trying to think Super Nintendo and it's box. The sixty four has that like little curve that might go

right at the cheeks. All right, the Xbox God, the original Xbox No, nothing from Xbox Oh too sharp, the corners will get Yeah, yeah, absolutely no. Next time you see Philip, be like, why are you designing your consoles specifically not to go up my butt? I'll tell Grub to ask him that next time we interview them. Yeah, it's a hardesty question. You can claim it, you can take credit for it. I don't. It's too pointy. Maybe the play D eight you can't just

oh with the small one it's a crank. Oh yeah, I don't know what it would do for you. Something and something other than just a box. I mean, I think like a PSP all. This seems like I would have heard. They're all hurt. You're not playing the game, They're all not about gaming. In that moment, you think, an, what's the what's like the longest vide? No, never mind, I don't know. I just need to move on at this point. Who's hosting this? What anything? Anything? Has been going on in your lives? Mary?

Talk to me, baby girl, what's on your mind? Just go toy stuff. I think we're kind of trying to get as many games under our belts before and I am similar to you last episode. I got sick this week because I've just been jetting all over the United States. I think I finally, like my body finally quit on me, so I like had to stay home all week. I wasn't cool at all this week. Actually,

I mostly hung out and quarantined. I had to get my groceries delivered because I didn't want, you know, I didn't want to gang one sick, so I had to I had to order. I had to do Instacart and got all my groceries delivered. That's probably the most exciting thing that I did. The first time you've used Instacart. I really don't use it often because

it's expensive and really I like to pick my stuff. And I don't like even in real time when they like text me and they're like they didn't have this, but I'm going to get you this one, and it's just like, but I don't want that one, Like I have a system. I also like to pick out my produce, you know, like I have when Okay, I'll give you an example. If you do an Instacart, you don't get to say I want an avocado and I want it to be ripe

in three days. Right, you just say avocado and whatever they pick is what you get. And it's just a bit of a gamble. So when I got my instac cart, I asked for two avocados, and one was like, you're not gonna be able to use this savocado for two weeks, and the other one was you should use this yesterday. And I immediately had to decide that I was going to make tacos that night because I had an avocado that had to be eaten. So like the stress of like the instacart

of what they're going to give me. I mean, even when you get to pick it out, like fruit like stresses me out. And then like I'll buy a thing at Costco of like strawberries and it's like I love strawberries and I'll buy it. I'll have like four of them or something, and there's like thirty left, and like three days later, one of them got super like yeah gray and shit grown on it, and it's like, well, I'm not going to eat any of these now because that's all fucked up.

So yeah, I mean, to be safe, you can, but you can also eat ones that like aren't near it. You're fine. I meant no, doctor, but yeah, I think there's so if you want to go above and beyond Dan, Yeah, here's what you do. When your fruities come from instacart, immediately take them out and put them in a

whatever a container. No, you put them in water with like a scoop of baking soda and like shuffle them around and give them a good shake rou and get all it gets all the bugs, and it gets like dirt and like little bacterias off of them. Because people always tell you to wash your fruit. The secret, though, is that if you wash it the second you get it home, and then you put it into like a nice storage container, you're gonna help preserve it just like a couple of days longer.

And you can also tell in that process when you're doing it, you'll be able to tell if one of the fruits is like kind of soft and like midgy and you're like that's the last long eat it right, then just like get rid of it, you know, yeah, and then you'll have the ones that'll preserve it. When I do that, my fruit lasts like five to six days as opposed to two to three days. Okay, that sounds super helpful. Baking soda seems unnecessary, but what's cool that it is like

the carbonation of it in the water really helps. Like pick off stuff that's on your fruit. And okay, anyone will tell you this, but like if you ain't washing your fruit, like are you are eating gross stuff? Because I at least do that check it. You know, so you gotta wash it. But if you do it when it gets home instead of before you eat it, just do it as soon as you get home and get all the bacteria and gross bits off it. Okay, speaking of grossed up

in bugs, I had a moment. I think it was during I was like podcasting a giant bomb or something, and I felt something on my back and I went to go itch it. This was yesterday, god, and I grabbed it and I was like, what is this? Like a skin tag? What is this? And I pull and it hurts a lot? What the fuck? And I pulled so hard, like really really hard. I felt my skin stretching out. It wouldn't come off and it hurt super

bad. And it was like, that's the fucking skin tag. I'm gonna have to like figure out a doctor thing and find time to get there or whatever. I was like, wait a minute, let me ask, let me ask monk. And I went up there and I was like, hey,

is there like a skin tag here? And she's like ooh, it was a dug in tick like this big time and I had been playing and she said it was all like black and blue around it where I was pulling on it because I was pulling so hard, let go, And so we took a I'd heard that like if you light if you have a lighter and you hold it up to its butt, it'll freak out and like back up. But the only lighter we had was have we seen those electric ones?

There's like usb ones that like yeah, it's like a pull and the little thing it's for like lighting candles. And I was like, here, this is the try this and so Bunk took it to my back and like the little like zap thing just went through the tick and he was like like, like died. So now I've got this like on fire dead tick in my back. It's still there. Yeah, so that's the thing. Like it was still super dug in, so it's like just roasted corpse in my back.

I'm just sitting on a toilet basing the wall right now as you're talking, it's still in your back. No no, no, no, probably like probably I don't know away red or whatever. Yeah, I pulled a tick. I've gone camping a lot throughout my life, and one time I went to McDonald's for breakfast the next day and I like felt it along my waistband and I like saw it like doing this cartoonish like legs flailing as it was trying to get deeper, and me was like, I don't think so.

I actually slept that in the middle of this McDonald's. I was waiting a line to get mcgriddles. I was like, I don't think so, and then pulled it out and flicked it towards the bathrooms, just pulled it right out that far in. Oh wow, there suck. There is another

way. I forget what the the hack is to get them out. Besides fire was put like a like a it's not ver some it's like some sort of like nail poly fromover or some some household thing that you can like put over them and I don't know if it steals it and they die or back out to get air or something. But yeah, did I tell you about the one of my ball sack. No, no, I don't think so let me get a beer and I'll tell you. Hang, Okay, I don't think I've ever had a tick. I I've pulled ticks out of dogs.

That is like a standard of having dogs, as I definitely happened. I have had to get rid of them on my animals, and I have like, uh removers stuff that like they it's like poison and as soon as you spray it on them, they're like and they get out and die. But I've never had any on you know, my balls, my balls. So I was like thirteen, like peak like, oh, it's awkward teenager going through puberty. I don't want people to know about my balls. Don't

want people to think about my balls. Nothing like that. And the Smithsonian Institute was on tour, Mike, that's where this is going. I immediately have no clue where this story is going. I don't know how it plays in either but nowhere it's going. But I don't know how you're going to get there. I mean, I was never a woodsy kid, you know, growing up that much. So it's like I went to the Smithsonian Institute, I saw the hat Abe Lincoln was wearing when he got assassinated all that

stuff. And then I went home and I don't remember what I was doing, uh, but I noticed something on my balls and it was just a tick dug in on my scrot them. And Mike you had a question, Yeah, why why did you mention camping? What does Smithsonian Institute have to do with camping? Well, no, I'm saying I was not. So like, it's not like I was out wandering through the woods or anything. I was literally like a museum in Kansas City museum and you came and found

a tick on your on your balls. Yeah, And I remember like telling my mom that, like I got a tick, and she's liked, were you in the woods or anything. I was like, no, it's at the Smithsonian Institute and uhcond long joke, No it's not. Is just a real story. And I was like, Mom, what do I I was kind of freaking out because again, don't want anything weird going on with my ball sack at any point, much less at thirteen. And She's like,

well, you're supposed to. I'll do it. My mom always did, and so like I had to fucking thirteen years old just drop my pants and the I remember sitting on a stool and yeah, in the kitchen, sitting on a stool, pants around my ankles, and she took a needle and a lighter and lit the needle and made it super hot and then was like on my balls, like fucking put it up against the ticks ass to scare

it. And I don't think it came out. I remember her taking tweezers to my balls and a lighter and a needle, And this was not a play. There's a kick in there. This is a bad, bad situation. You should send her a card, like, I know that was bad for you, but have you ever considered your your mother's perspective? Have you ever considered your mom, who was probably like thinking about what she was going

to make for dinner and her son comes in. She just wanted to watch twenty four or something ball and she got a fucking lighter and looked at her son's nuts and pulled a tick out, Like your mom is a good mom? Yeah, I mean, is this what you sign up for when you have kids, is having to do ship like that? Absolutely not. She had no idea that she was ever gonna pull a tick out of your fucking nutsack and it's a great and thirteen years and nutsack. I never even questioned

it. M Oh, it's like that's like me right now doing that to a kid. Well, to my kid, I like, yeah, God, you're gonna get the authorities that cut that cut that whole thing out. I didn't come out like I meant to. Yeah, but yeah that Sony Institute. Yeah, I gotta tick my balls. But but it's out. Did she get it? Oh it's not there anymore? Will you never finished the story? Oh? Yeah, you actually got it out? And just what it was? Tremendously uncomfortable? What was the u the solution? What

did she like? I think the fiery needle eventually got it. Oh that wasn't her first thing. Yeah, I don't remember the specifics, but she got tried peanut butter, she try gosh y, all sorts of weird archaic methods, just the worst. I think I've turned into kind of a softy with like any kind of animal stuff. I remember, like as as a

kid, you know, they were like bugs in the house. You know, whether it is spider ant or whatever, and you just kill it, me stop it or whatever, you know, like kids, young boys do that shit all the time and don't think twice, and like, I don't know, ever since I met Bank, she's always the type like, oh, there's a lady bug in the house, she is going to like super gingerly put a cyrofoam cup over it and take it outside and let it free. And even like spiders and stuff, and like, ever since I met

Bonk, I've kind of become more like much software about that stuff. It was like, Okay, I don't need that, Like I love but ticks, that's all to say. Ticks, no remorse. They can fucking die. Yeah them in mosquitoes, anything that can like genuinely like of a mosquito. My dog is severely allergic to all sorts of stuff. If a mosquito got into my dog's blood, it could genuinely cause a severe allergic reaction. So anything that can attack my dog I consider a personal a personal attack on

me. And so I will kill anything that takes blood, that can bite things like that. But you know, bugs in the house, I do my best to scoop them up into a little jar and take them out. Now, I think that's I think I've always been like that, though I really don't think killing necessarily if you can avoid it. Yeah, killed the deer with a shovel. Once you killed the deer with a shovel as a joke. Actually likes as well. Shot elephant in my pajamas. What he

was doing in my pajamas, I'll never know. Nice that. I'm proud of that. Proud of you. This is not like a funny story, but it's like there were those memories that like super stick with you. And and there was a moment when I was a kid, and I don't know if I was eight or something, but my grandpa let me like use his BB gun and he had the woods behind his house, and I remember sitting back there and like there was a target and stuff, and I'd shoot the

target with the BB guns and stuff. And you know, I knew up hunting. A lot of people in my family hunted and stuff like that, and obviously in Kansas it was a big thing, but I'd never done it myself. And there was like a crow or something and it landed on a branch near the target, and I was like, oh, I could do I could see what like huntings like. And I shot the crow and it fell and it died. And when I said Grandpa, Grandpa, I hunted a crow or I hunted a bird, and he took me out to like

go clean it up and stuff. But we stood over it and there's just this dead crow in the in the ground or on the ground, and my grandpa just looked at me and he goes, well, do you feel like a man now, Danny? And I said, and I went I was like no, he was, that's right, like it was. He didn't say anything. He wasn't pro or con or anything. He just said, you, does this make you feel like a man? And let me think about it? And I was like no, I don't know, Like I

wasn't even thinking about it before. And I was like, oh wait, no, I don't really feel good about this. And that was like, yeah, sounds like a really cool guy, and that's a really good lesson to teach you. But you had the opportunity to do something really cool as a kid and be like, yeah, I want to kill more now, Grandpa, and like really just shake him, give the small animals right,

get me up there? Yeah, it is it is. And I wasn't like I've heard yeah, And it wasn't out of any I didn't intend like it wasn't like I was excited about the idea of hurting this crow or anything. I was just like, oh, I could do hunting, you know, I've heard of this, and then kid would instinctively if you give a kid a stick, the first thing they're probably going to do is hit something

with it. Right, These are like instinctive children things. If you give a kid a gun, even if it's a BB gun and something's moving, I could see any child tempted with the idea of shooting it and seeing if they could do it. I don't think that's necessarily evil. It's probably just like an instinct that we have when we were given a weapon, which is why we had to teach children what to do when they have weapons. Yeah.

Yeah, And all of it is that one moment of my grandpa just making me think about it per second, and I was like, oh, yeah, I guess that doesn't feel good and like, oh man, it's dead now, because I mean, like, that wasn't like yeah, I got it, you know, it was like, Oh, compare that to me, who never ever was allowed to like touch a BB gun growing up. My parents would never put any weapons in my household, and I had never even outside of movies, knew what guns were. It's really not something

I would ever come in contact with. And then in college, probably my junior year, one of my like friends of a friend was like, I have a I bought a fucking gun, and I'm gonna go to the range and I'm gonna shoot it. And I was like, I want to also

shoot this gun because I've never done it before. And instinctively, when I got my hands on my first gun, I had to hold it sideways and bload it like really fast like it was because I was like, that's what I think is supposed to happen and feel good, and so I like boiled it sideways and like unloaded all six like bullets immediately and was like ah, and then we hit every target, right, I mean I hit nothing.

And then when they were like and then I looked at them like laughing, and they were like, all right, You're done, and I was like, oh right, I'm an idiot. But I I didn't have that gun back. No one taught me how to hold it, and so like, to a degree, while I don't think we should be making sure every child has a gun, I don't think that's the case. That's our platform every

child gun, make sure they all have one. What I guess what I'm saying is is like the knowledge from being able to hold it with a responsible person that explains the danger of it and maybe like dispelling the coolness of it, that it's not cool, that it's powerful, or that it can do so much damage, or that you could kill something with it, Like you learn Dan, that's extremely important to learn young. And I wish I had learned as a child that when you have the opportunity to have a gun,

that you never mess around with it, because I just was never. I don't know, I mean, you should probably just naturally know not to hold a gun sideways, but I couldn't help it. Yeah, people that actually like know their guns and stuff are extremely serious about like oh, trigger discipline and just just general rules like you never do this, like people that take it very very seriously, Like there was a responsible way to do that.

But I did it with a bunch of eighteen year old ding dongs. That ain't the way I had a bunch I like you guys know, I have like generations above me of military parts of my family, and then I had when I was pretty young, my grandpa and is hundred acre woods and like uncles would take us out, like teach us hunter Dinker Woods one hundred acre woods. Oh okay, that's less funny. Okay, man man always go to hunter Dinker Woods like Humperdnker Woods. Yeah, what is this? Yeah,

my grandpa's from Texas and you own humper Dinker Woods. And that's where we unloaded all our glocks. Yeah. We bring rifles and uh and whatnot out and they would teach us like how to use them safely. Yeah, I mean they also show them where they were stored though, so a lot of people to take out six of one. I don't know they were doing, but yeah, I uh yeah, I don't. I don't think it's super safe to uh shoot a gun sideways. In fact, I'm pretty I

know it's not. I've dual wielded pistols before. Handguns. Don't ever say we don't have range. On this podcast. We can talk about gun safety and shoving a we mowede up your ass within like fifteen minutes. Yeah, our listeners are confused. They've been skipping fifteen seconds ahead and there's a lot of whiplash when that happens. Are they still horny? I'm talking about gun safety. Now. I'm not horny anymore. I am. That's the only

way I can get off these days, specifically gun safety. Yeah. Yeah. My man is like, yeah, put the safety finger, finger off the trigger. Yeah. I shouldn't do this, man, I'm sorry. She's a guess. Lock the safe, Lock the safe. It's so personal. Do the background check, yeah, do the background check. You guys will talk about video games. Oh right, yeah, don't put that in there. But after the cough, can you make it like a machine gun? Jake? Can you make it so it does it like ten times in

a row real fast. Have you guys played more Allen Wake two? Yeah? Yeah? Good? Is that good? Yeah? It is. Here's my thought on that is, I was just talking to Bok about this, and I have had not had a lot of time to play games in the last couple weeks because I'm setting up Game of the Year and all that stuff. But I am like sixteen hours in Alan Wake now I'm done with like six chapters with both characters. And it is messy. It is a messy

game. It is. There are parts that are just kind of weirdly balanced. There's bugs. I had the game breaking bug the Espresso Express bug. I don't know if you've heard of that, where like one of the cards won't move out of the way, and it's a thing you have to do to progress, to give a circuit board to make the parade float to a thing and all that. So I just straight up, yeah, I straight

up couldn't progress, and so this stuff is frustrating. But I was thinking that, like, I would take a million of these games that are bold and weird and trying completely new things, and I can honestly say I've never played a game that feels like this over a much more polished game. In the game that always came to mind when I was thinking this was Gotta Wear Ragnarok, where it's like that game the most polished, the most expensive looking,

the highest production value. It is fucking polished. I don't know if I ran into a fucking bug in that game, none of that, but I felt nothing playing that entire game. Whereas Alan Wake two, I've been frustrated. I've been like, why isn't this working? A guy, I can't even progress here? Oh this is acting weird. I need to actit the game and come back, or this isn't clearer or this seems this boss

bites balanced weirdly. Ultimately, there's so many times though that I've thought like, what a fucking cool idea, and they are nailing this, and this has such a bold identity and I will take that over the predictable polish of a lot of Triple A games any day of the week. It's fucking awesome.

Oh yeah for Remedy to be I might have mentioned this last episode, but they've always felt like that underdog studio that's swinging way bigger than they have the budget and scope for the fact that with Control and I've gone back to Control since Ellen Wake two, but especially on Wick two, they've got that maybe not God of War Ragnarock budget, but they've got like a triple A budget now and they're still being weird with it. Is so fucking like hardening

to see. I wish more games for studios were doing that. I get that Remedy has carved out this niche for themselves and they've you know, it sounds like they were pretty selective when they were talking to Epic and now you know, like when they are having these partnerships and whatnot, it sounds like they're very selective because they want to make weird shit that they might just well, I don't want to spoil anything. Ell'm like, two, we got

to do spoiler cast with this game once you finish it. I love the like I mean, Dan, you were texting me, You're like, oh, this is the section you were talking about, isn't it. I'm like yep, and You're like, I'm it was like two am, You're like

this is this is incredible. I'm fucking loving this so much. And I worried that it was overhyped because like when I hear things like oh this one, you know, even like the headline, I'm polygone if like, oh this you know, fifteen minute stretch, it's like one of the best, you know gaming loans of the ear I know you did, And like even even like just hearing that stuff, it's like, Okay, I know the name of the chapter and just so like as soon as I see it pop

up on the screen, I'm like, Okay, this is supposed to be the big chapter. Wait to make fun of mic when it's not that good. Yeah, And I was like, oh my god. There were so many times in that whole stretch where I was like, what a cool, funny fucking thing that is so uniquely video games, you know, in the way it's interactive. God damn it, that game is so fucking good.

Since where I just finished the nursing nursing home stuff. Oh God, yeah, yeah that gets it's creepy going through basements and yeah, it's Oh man, I'm I'm I'm in love of this game and more and more so every time I play it. And I remember a summer Games Best people were talking about it like a demo very well, and I remember like I got an opportunity. Somebody worked on the game was like, hey, do you want to come check this out? And I was like, I gotta go do

a thing or whatever. And I wasn't super interesting in checking it out because I didn't love the first one. But I am so glad I gave this a chance because it is so like it almost makes me want to go back and play the first one, just because I'm actually like into this story, in this world now, in these characters. I don't expect it to be anywhere near what this one is. But God, going from not on my radar at all to like a high up game for me this year, I

did not expect. Yeah, Mary, have you gotten did you get farther into it? Or I'm in but I am, but I'm not as parts, not these cool parts. So are you? Are you sticking with saga mainly? Still? Are you did you get did you get to the point where you can swap between you can? Okay? Cool? Okay, I can experience up there? Weok it picks up there. And that's also where like some of the frustrations come up, like I really I still don't like this stuff with Alan I have I have to be I have to be on

my mental game to play this game. And obviously, uh, there are lots of games where I enjoy the fact that it's going to challenge me. It's just that I'm not always in the mood. Sometimes I want to drink five beers and play a game, and this isn't actually the game I feel like I can do. This is the game where I'm like, do I want to solve mystery? I'm gonna do it. You know, I had to really be on to play this game, but it is enjoy Some of

those stashes are like there's two or that are algebra puzzles. Y, I know I'm not doing this right now. Sam Lake and Kyle, you don't like no puzzles, No puzzles, now puzzles. This is like, don't fucking be full math, you bitch, Like, how could you possibly expect me to do full math? It's it's dangerous what they're asking of regular joes aka dumb dumbs like me to do after a full work day. I'm like, are you asking me to do math right now? Yeah? It's like

the show, Uh it was that game show back in the day. It might I don't think it's still going and I forget a channel it is down, but like, are you smarter than a fifth grader? Oh? Yeah,

yeah. They would have adults come on and compete against fifth actual fifth graders in like math or history, the shit that they were learning that they are learning in fifth grade, And you think back, it's like, well, obviously the kids are gonna remember it, but it's like it's just to show that, like how much for adults forget and how much kids retained in the short term. Like that's not thinking back. It's not a compelling show. But it's like algebra, I don't want to be fucking doing this,

And I the second one, I actually wrote it out. The equation I realized I remembered more than I thought I had. But fuck, like whatever, I'm getting off topic, my point being, it's very funny to me. I love talking to Sam Lake and I love interviewing people from that studio because they just do this weird shit and you can tell so many times in that game they were just having a blast kicking or like they were like there. You could definitely tell where they showed some restraint in this game, but

not many times. And I love the fact that there are these two algebra problems for these puzzles, where like Resumel four would have been like shoot the glowing thing nearby, and allen Wick two has that to the tenth degree as well. But it's like I want to know who in the writer's room or on the design team is like what if we made like But that's funny because they call back to it. It's like the cult themselves are like, who

the fuck did this? Locked? Very yeah, it's not super precious about like, oh, we got to make sure these are like this serious blood cult, Like there's a door, key notes and stuff too. It's it's

it's one of the funniest games I've ever played. Honestly, yeah, Like it's sense of humor is incredible and super unique, and it pulls off something that I usually bristle at, which is whether it's a movie or a game, like when the creator shoves himself in there, Like I always even like it, just like Killers the Flower Moon and there's a part where it's like, oh, why is Martin scorse as you just suddenly hear it's that's weird.

And also game makers like the fucking who's the Joseph Paris, the guy that did Brothers and all that, Like there's this stuff and like it takes two or you look through the telescope and you hear him saying, oh fuck the oscars or whatever. It's like, okay, this seems like Selp and Agent in a dumb way. Sam Lake every time he's in this and he's like a big part of this game, I'm like, yeah, okay,

this is good. He fits in this world earnest. He is funny, it's earnest, and he's going for it in a way that's not just like m I put my face in the game. It's like no, he's actually like he's additive to the game. I would say, yeah, I I love, and I went back to Control him halfway through Control now for the second time or sorry, I'm doing my second play through of Control since twenty

nineteen, and I bounced off Control. I don't have bounced off. I had brute force my way through Control in twenty nineteen, and Mary, I will say, I still don't like Remedy had the same problem in Control. They're not always great about signposting where you need to go next. I don't mind it as much in allen Wick two because I like the world of allen Wick two more so as Saga. I don't mind backtracking through this really creepy, funny cool like pack Northwest Town or a couple of them. Control,

though, I mean it's so much more Metrovna ask. It's like and the and they literally there are notes telling you, hey, maps are hard to read in the oldest house because there are building shifts, and then that doesn't make sense. I'm like, Okay, I get that they're calling attention to it, but that map is not great In Control, and sometimes you have to backtrap to a department that's like six chapters back and across the map.

I'm and I'm I'm loving Control, don't get me wrong, but also Control is missing that sense of humor that Ellen Wake two has, and like the I love, I'm very happy I went back to Control. I'm gonna keep playing it. It's very funny to see how much they were setting up with aut of Alan Wake two with Control, Like there's the DLC, the AWE DLC Altered World event, but oh my god, so many notes. Even in like the first two chapters, you're like, uh, oh shit,

what was the one? Oh god, this is gonna kill me. It'll come to me. But there's one early on. It's one of those documents you're reading where they've blacked out, redacted some lines, and there's clearly one that's referencing something of the part of the Remedy Connected Universe, which again I fucking hate that. I get really tired with MCU stuff, but we had Tucsan Egan at Polygen wrote something. It went up yesterday. It's like,

I actually like the Remedy Connected Universe because it's not exhausting. You don't need to do homework to understand it. It's just fun to like see them doing the Stephen king esk building out this horror supernatural action universe. It's it's like fun to connect the dots and that's literally what you're doing a saga the whole game anyway, So is that like, because I was thinking about how like I've never seen a game studio do something like this where it's this connected universe?

Is that a is that what that's called with like comic shock, like the MCU is a Marvel connected universe? Is that what stands for? That? Is? Okay? Okay? So that is they didn't did they come up with that? I feel like I just don't really know how the Marvel works together. No, I mean Marvel took it to the like they took it as far as like a capitalist movie machine could take it. But no, Stephen King was doing it with the Have you read any Stephen King?

Uh not? No. I got halfway through it in fifth grade and my dad thought I shouldn't reate it, so I'm read I'm rereading it right now. It's so fucking good. But yeah, fifth grade is young that you're right, but you should read it a lot of movies and seems very good. Like the shin so the Dark Tower series, he kind of like started connecting everything in his work and you could see it as being cheesy, but I like it. I mean, Tarantino sort of did that loosely with his

movies, but I like it in Remedy Connect unions. For so, technically the only games in the Remedy Connected universe are Alan Wake one and two and Control. Is Is there any Quantum Break anywhere? Or is that just kind

of forgotten? Oh so Quantum Break and Max Paine one and two are all over Allan Wake two, but they don't actually explicitly say it because there is so much Alan Wig or souch m Max payin, like clearly the whole Alex Casey Alex Casey is and you know, the voice actor playing Al Stacey is Max Payne. There's all the weirdness with you know, rock Star taking over

for Max pain three. Oh yeah, it's incredible. Take two. I don't know how the whole thing works out because also Remedy is remaking I think it's a poorly kept secret that they're remaking Max Payne one and two, So

I don't know how that will come into it. The the kind of loose understanding was that, yes, Alan himself had written Airport novels about this hard boiled detective who is now Alex Casey played by Sam Lake the likeness of Sam Lake and live acted but voice by Still and Quantum Break, and I forget how this works because I think Microsoft owns that it's on game Pass, right.

That was that was an early effort during when Microsoft like the Xbox is going to be the all in one entertainment machine, like Phil getting out of TV series and yeah, that makes sense, like if you're gonna do that like remedied. Oh they do live action stuff, like, yeah, they're very cinematic. It makes sense. Technically not part of it, However,

there are many easter eggs alluding to it. The most obvious that's not even an easter egg is that Sean Ashmore, who played the main character in Quantum Break is the sheriff and Allen Wick two who gets blinked over to Allen's side and his last name is just Breaker. That's the same guy who played Ice

Bobby Drake and the X Men movies. So like, they're not technically part of it, but yeah, Control because Controls set up the idea of these altered world events like Red House of Leaves or read that that website that Control was heavily inspired by the Federal Bureau of Control is like the whole thing. You're at their headquarters in New York City in Control and then they just start going ape shit with the connections. So I can't wait for Control too now.

Especially there's some cool implications laid in Allen Wake two that's set up, not even just plot wise, but again like the implications of the potential scope that Control two could be, which again, the Control two definitely happening. Yep, there yeahs to be seems like such a They announced that they're earlier this year for the first time they earth, they announced publicly that they were a they're now a multi project studio. So they were working on Allen Wake

two. They're finishing it. And again they tried making Allen Wake two back in like twenty twelve or something, And there are a lot of illusions in Alan Wake, this Alan Wake two, Like they talk about how Alan Wake tried writing a new sequel back in twenty twelve, oh and it failed. And then now there's this new thing that he didn't know about. When he goes in the talk show, he's like, wait, what is this? It Like it's just kind of sam like putting himself in a fun way or

like you know, but yeah, they're doing Control two. They're doing that. They just announced two days ago they had this free to play third person co op shooter in the Control universe. The art, the concept art they showed early on was like the people you're fighting in Control, they're kind of like those nineteen sixties Cold War looking soldiers. They had announced like a lot of free to play co op shooter based around those people. They announce the

other day that they're shifting it to a premium priced co op game. Oh okay, which could be fun these days. Just mean sixties seventy dollars. I don't know if it'll be full price, but it's not gonna be a free to play model. But yeah, Control too. And I think there's one other thing they haven't officially announced, and people are pretty fairly sure that's

the Max Pain one and two remakes. I feel like that's like, yeah, it's a I don't mean it might it might even be public, but it's it was a poorly kept secret for a while, but might be public. Yeah, Which is all to say though, Like again, when it comes to Remedy, and this isn't spoiling anything because every game they've made has

been bigger in scope than the previous one. The ending of Allen Wake two, a lot of stuff that happens in l Wack two again sets up these implications that, oh, Control two could be like, if not like big literally, then like big in scale, as opposed to like Control all took place essentially in the same building. It didn't really it shifted and stuff.

That was the cool thing about it. Allen Wack two is in this these confined New York nightmare scape and you know, this small pack Northwest Town when it comes to remedy, I actually get excited about those implications because thus far, every time they get more money and more style, they nail it. Yeah, and it might not be my favorite game ever, but they're trying new shit Allan Wack two Like, yeah, the angel lamp stuff absolutely gets

messy, the botboard stuff on Allen's side gets messy. As much as I like the taxi driver neon New York City vibes Valenside, I absolutely think Sagas is way stronger. And that's the danger of doing basically a game that is two games like that blur together because one people are inevitably going to gravitate toward

one. But even more or more so, they let you choose how long you want to play both basically up to a certain point, which, again a less bold developer would have been like, no, you gotta do Saga, and then you got to do Alan, then you gotta do Saga. That probably would have been a more even experience. But I don't know, the fact that they let you choose what you want to do is nuts. And then then there's the whole mind place thing, which sometimes can feel like

a gimmick, but it never really fun to me. Yeah, even if it's like you know exactly where it's gonna go or you've already like solved the puzzle, I kind of like I can't for that. There, you know, that's fun. They do some cool stuff with it late game, like toy with it. There's a lot of good actors in that game, and I think my favorite one, every time he's on the screen, I think

he's just hamming it up, like chewing up the scenery. So well is a mister Door, Yes he is so every fucking facial exp and he does, or when he's dancing or just doing weird stuff, he is. He so understands what this game and this tone is. Oh and also the Costcala brothers, they're they're fantastic Jaco and Ilmo. Yeah, that's another weird thing about this game. I love is just that it's set in the Pacific Northwest, but there's just finished stuff everywhere, and I they don't explain it.

It's like, yeah, that's the world, deal with it. I love it. Yep. Yeah. And the mister Door. If you have not played the game, you don't want like the big thing that Dan and I've been talking about spoiled And I won't spoil it here, Mary, because don't think you got there. Thank you when you finish the game. Go to Sam Lake's Twitter Dan, you could do it after this today. I think I saw this tweeted something today on November sixteenth. A clip in that clip.

Watch that clip and you'll know exactly what scene is. Watch mister Door's facial expressions compared to Sam Lake and the guy playing Alan, and they're all doing having fun in their own way with the scene. But what just watched mister Dorspace compared to them, I'm like, this is the best man ever made. Like I love this guy so much. He is he is he is like the powers Booth in mcgruber, Like, oh, get this guy to like understand this assignment so well, yeah, I knew how to play

that role perfectly perfect. Yeah yeah, god damn it, that's perfectly cat. Yeah. But I mean, even like even Saga Melanie is great, Rose is great. Oh yeah, is a fun weird character. Yeah yeah right. I so don't give a shit about stories and games usually, but like I'm in love with this universe and these characters, and oh man, it feels good. I just I love this game. Yep, yeah, yeah, I mean I ramble about every time it comes up. I fucking

just absolutely love it. Yeah, Mary, if if you if you bounce off it obviously like to use their own. This game has some hurdles to get through, absolutely, but if you keep going, I'm very curious what you think, because there is some stuff later in this or not even later, like mid game that I'm like merry of all people, especially like your resid evil background. I think you love a lot of the stuff they do with like Saga side especially Yeah, I'm prayed about it. They get very

silent hill later in this game. I think it seems like a kind of game that would be really good to play with another person. That way, when I get stuck, they can be like, have you ever considered this is the solution so that I don't feel so bad when it takes me forty five minutes to get to the next section. Yeah, I think that would help. But I don't disagree with everything you're saying. It's obviously like a just a really well made universe in game, and it has so much depth.

It seems like really fun to explore. I think I'm intimidated by by the game, to be honest with you, Yeah, there's a lot going on, But speaking of just very elaborate, there's so much that I'm not a part of. A lot of the things you guys were talking about are based on previous games I didn't play. So it's like, yeah, I well, club, if you keep going, I'm curious what you think spoiler casts in this, I won't quit. I know Jake has played it.

I think Jake likes it quite a bit. But speaking of games are doing a lot, Mary, you've been getting more into Wonder. I have played Mario Wonder. I haven't played a lot of it. I think I've played three to four hours of it. I think it's really really fun and I love the co op aspects of it. The ability to kind of just play regardless of your skill is very ray Man Legends of it. I feel like they've accepted elements of other co op games in this, where they're like,

hey, it's okay. If you die, you become a little floaty ball and all the other person has to do is touch you for you to come back to life, and it doesn't cost you a life. Now if you don't touch them in time, it costs you a life. But lives are purchase sibol, so yeah, and the and the currencies. There's like ten currencies in this game, but the currency for buying lives is plentiful, so you can easily just get more. So I don't worry about dying, and

I don't worry about dying more than the other person that's playing. It's great if you have a big division in the UH caliber of your gamers. If you want to play this with a cousin, you want to play this with the kid, you can do that and they will be fine. They will function. Are you playing Are you talking mainly local or online? Because I'm playing local Okay, I have not played it Local coop at all, but I've heard complaints about the like crown system and stuff like that. Oh yeah,

locals great, it gets annoying the whole. Yeah, So for those who don't know, Basically, if you're playing local, the player who finishes the course for first or hits the flagpole first gets the crown for the next level, unless the other person becomes a ghost, then the crown transfers to the other person. The camera centers on the person with the crown the entire

time. You can get around it certain ways, like Amanda and I basically take turns at the end of each level doing the flagpole first, so then the crowd the other person I didn't know that, try and destroy each other and be the highest to get the flag, you know, as gamers do, and the winner gets the camera because you play competitive because it's like Micromachines

N sixty four like or Smash Bros. Probably more apt comparison, like if the person with the crown gets too far ahead of the person without it, they'll go to a far off screen and die. There are levels like the Rhinos Stampede early on, where if like say Amanda has the crown and she jumped on the rhinos. She's trying to hold up for me and wait for me, because I was trying to go get a purple coin. But it'll the rhinos carry her too quickly and then I'll be caught and I'll be a

ghost it. I don't know what the work around would be. I know I think it was. Speaking of the Rayman games, Mary, correct me if I'm wrong. I think they just zoomed out really far. The players were far apart. They were more generous than this game. But what I'm saying is, I think it's more generous than I've ever seen a co op

Mario game. B too, for sure. I just yeah, I Raymann Legends is the king of You can play with the total ding Dong child and they'll be fine and they'll have a good time because there's colors and music, but you can actually play the video game. Is this is taking elements of Rayman. In my opinion, it's a You're gonna notice like people who played classic Mario will be like, oh my gosh, this reminds me of the Mario I had growing up, and it's difficult in elements like the Mario I

had growing up. But there's so many leverages that they're giving so that if you're playing with someone who doesn't know how to game, can be there with you. And that is cool and something I've never seen a Mario game do before. I've never seen them be so open to younger players that probably aren't very good at games and allowing them to have that experience with you. It will require at least one good gamer, though, I promise you they flirted with us for a while, like as far as the like, okay,

what if you're playing with someone that's not as good? And in the last like five to ten years, they've done a lot of the like, oh, you died several times in a row? Do you want the super duper leap that gives you the pee wing where you can fly forever and hurt because you're bad? Yeah? And it's like one character could choose to do it and I got the super Tanuki suit or whatever, you know, where I'm

never getting hurt. But I kind of like, how wonder does it where it's just like, okay, hey, do you just want to pick these guys, you know, Yoshi and Nabit where it's like you can't get hurt but you're also not going to get the powers or whatever, like, yeah, it's going to help you out do that. So they just give you the option to Like, if you're playing with the kid, just be a

Yoshi. You're probably game super kid friendly. It's it's literally I feel like it was designed for you to play with young UN's and but I can feel

it. But also if you are like a seasoned Mario player, you know, like me, there is plenty of Like if you're playing solo, there's enough like if you want one hundred percent everything and get every Purple coin, you get every Wonder Seat and get the flag pole, and then you do the super duper you know kind of star Road thing and the Final Challenge stuff like there is a lot of good platforming challenge. Like I don't think I would be as into Mario nowadays as I am if they just dumbed it down

and just made it kid friendly and that was the focus. Like, I think this game should be a template for accessibility. It literally does not mean easy. It's a fucking hard game when it has the five Flames, which I believe it's it's difficulty ratings. Similarly to Oh Hot Sauce, ratings. Five flames means it's spicy. It's actually quite difficult. I've died like twenty times on a five spice and getting through it makes me feel like I'm really

good at platforming. So the challenge is there, but the accessibility for someone who is not at the same level as you to be able to enjoy that experience is beautiful and it never sullies your experience. To get the most difficult, challenging experience that you, as a professional, super cool gamer deserve, It's like it should be in textbooks for accessibility. It doesn't hurt anyone. It's just making it accessible to people who aren't as good. But your challenge

is uniquely yours and they give you credit for it. I've always hated that argument and where it's like I remember the first time that was a big deal was like I think the first Bayonetta and it had a mode where it's like you can just jam the A button and you'll just do cool combos. It'll just make you do cool stuff, and there is such a fervor and blogs and think pieces and stuff about it, and it's like, if you are someone who wants to play that and learn the combos and everything, like I

you know, I do. I love that will make cry and all that. I'll play on those difficulties and it's the same fucking game. It does not affect me in any way. I don't give a shit how anyone else plays it. Why the fuck would I care if I'm just jammed a through it or whatever, Like, I don't care, Like I that's insane to me that people get pissed off by that stuff. I don't know if they still do. But like, ooh, baby mode or whatever, Like, who gives a shit? Baby mode is cool? Like leave it alone and

enjoy your own challenge, with your own achievements and your own satisfaction. You know, nobody really ever climbs out well, actually, I'm sure there's actually a lot of people who climb out Everest to be like I can and you couldn't. But it's your challenge, it's your journey. So like, if you're able to do this game on the hardest difficulties with all the max settings,

that's awesome, Like you should really revel in that. But for anyone else that can't do that but wants to experience the content, it's amazing that this game allows you to experience every level at the same degree without taking anything from anyone. Well, does not diminish anyone else's experience, Like you know, my solo played through one hundred percent of it and did all those challenges and stuff like, oh great, somebody can not get hurt as Yoshi,

like does not affect me in any way. Able to get up there is incredible. I do like the idea that I invented a really evil Mount Everest climber that is, like, only elite climbers can do this, and if you need help, you deserve to die, like really evil guy. You

do die if you don't make it to the top of mount. But the idea that if you have this mentality that only the elite deserved to reach the summit is silly because if you were to like be like, well, we'll just like put you up there with a helicopter and then you can see the view and you can enjoy it. That doesn't stop you from your achievement, doesn't doesn't take anything from you. It's just letting else someone else have the

experience. So I think, to me, like the evil is the idea that like, if you don't do it my way, if you don't suffer and bleed and die for it. You don't deserve it is an unnecessary but also really missing the point because your suffering shouldn't be anyone else. It should be for you and your journey. And if it if it brought you joy, if it brought you growth, that's literally for you. You shouldn't ask that of anyone else. That's just something that you chose to do with your

time. I normally wouldn't evoke a wrestling related story, but it really has nothing to do with wrestling. That Mary talking about the picturing the evil person who climb Man. I I was thinking about vins Uman and there was a real story where he was talking backstage to a wrestler, Matt Hardy, and there was a character that was like in a wheelchair at the time, and Vince was just casually saying like, well, yeah, you know, Matt, It's like, you know, every human being, every strong human being,

has the same inclination, that same natural desire. You see someone weak, you see someone in a wheelchair, and you have the desire to eat them. He said this to to Matt Hardy, and Matt Hardy's like what He's like, wait, you know you see someone in a wheelchair, you just want you want to eat them. They're weak, they're prey. You know where the story where they alpas where you know how all of us want all this way. It's like, what the are you talking about? Monster

of a person that's weird them. It sounds like a real life demon. Yeah, yeah, he's very well adjusted. He probably hates super Mario wonder. No, No, he's fucking awesome at it. And I have plued some co op yeah every time and comments that are like, really, it shouldn't have like this co op bubble mode if that if person gets bubbled, you should just eat them. And it's just like, what is your fucking problem? Years ago, Vince McMahon, when asked why he wanted to eat

people in wheelchairs, responded, because they're there. It's the race to space speech, he said, Like years ago, George Mallory, the Great Betis explorer who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked, why do you want to climate and he said because it is there, and space is there, and where I going a climate? I'm just imagining him talking about Vince McMahon eating people in wheelchairs, like we all want to awful it's an awful distruction of an awful person who five years Yes, do you? I think

about that a lot. Sometimes it keeps me up at night. Someone's going to clip something that I say on this stupid podcast. It happens. Mary believes that this is true, believe the Nixon thing or something. Yet I feel like there's years of stupid context that led up to this stupid moment. My dad will still text me if anything Nixon related and like a thing he's looking at or reading about, he will text him like, oh, I bet Mary is really big out of this. Yes, I might be.

I feel like that discussion is is old and tired and probably doesn't need to be, like you're tired hung in the fire escape arena. Oh no, no, you can bring Nixon at any time. I actually meant the discussion of like whether or not people can who need help to like play games and stuff like that, it's such a reasonable ass that it almost doesn't deserve merit

to discuss. But I love, honestly that we would compare it to someone as evil as as what Dan is talking about, because I think they are one and the same, which is worrying so much about what I want to somebody else's experience and whether or not it's as difficult as yours is really self centered and missing the point, which is that everybody, everybody's, everybody's life and path is their own, and the idea that somebody else is not up

to your standard, uh is actually very weak in my opinion, because you're constantly walking around trying to express that you're very strong, which I think is quite telling. It's the most everybody know that you are strong. It is the guy that calls himself an alpha and drives like a hummer and stuffs are

still around, but it's just tight energy coming off of that. And so I would just say, like, it's great that the game is very accessible and it's fun and you get to be an elephant and throw your trunk around, and so to just bring it back to the video game, I think that it's a good game and I'm enjoying it went far. We're having flastes and co op. I get so fucking excited every time I see a wonder seed, no wonderflower, and I'm like, what is this going to do

to the stage right now? And we're always like every time we touch it or the other person touches, We're like, what's going on? And then it's all inevitably just very fun and like somewhere a musical or others are just like a whole stampede of hippos or thirty minutes of Mario just grind it on a game cube. That happens. Yeah, nice, Yeah, I got to keep playing where we're playing that. Speaking of co op stuff, I've been playing, one of the most fun things I've been doing is not a

video game. It is a board game. Do you guys, are you familiar with the idea of a legacy board game. I bought Risk Legacy because I heard great things about it, but I have not played it. God, you understand it's never played. But yeah, it keeps going and it evolves and changes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For those who don't know, it's pretty like Pandemic. Legacy is probably the most well known one.

You you play, you play a board game or a round as it were at that point, depending on certain criteria if they were met, or just because you played one round, you and that person will open up this new Like in Pandemic it's like a locked box, or in Risk Legacy it's like a nuclear code and it'll tell you in your next game, you now have to do this new rule, and you sticker. You stick the rule into the rule book, and you have to follow that rule for the next twelve

It's us like a dozen games is a whole campaign. The idea being that in Risk Legacy and I Believe Pandemic, you were actually tearing up cards when you retired them they stopped that. I'm talking about it because a man and I've been playing Ticket to Ride, Legacy, Legends of the West. Amanda introduced me to Ticket to Ride. I knew about it. It's a pretty famous board game, an XBLA game in like two thousand and nine or something.

I've never played it. That was my introduction to it. Yeah, we've been playing, or we played a round of Legends of the West tonight before before we recorded, and even in one round, I'm already we're already really hooked. Because her family played a lot of Tickets to Ride when they were all living together over the pandemic. So anytime I play with them, they know like the meta of the game really well. They know which cities

are always useful. They know like the ports that always connect to other ports for a lot of points. I always have fun, but it's like it's like coming in playing Mortal Kombat for the first time ever against someone who has played every single game, Like, sure, all right, I might pull off some beginners luck things, and I did win my first time against a

Manda, but my record against her is like two and twenty one. Here though, and much like Risk Legacy, you're building out the map of America as you play over twelve games starting in eighteen sixty five until eighteen ninety eight, You're picking a railroad company. You're building out the tracks, but you're also getting new rules. There's like bankers coming into it. There's a murder

mystery involved that you don't know half of it. I'm not going to spoil it for anybody who wants to try it out, because it's really fucking fun. You're there are these like props in the game box I didn't even know about, and then at the end of the round they're like, okay, now open the conductor's thing, and we open it and there's like a new prop that introduced this new wrinkle to the game that I was like, oh fuck, that completely changes like how I'm thinking about tickets, which if you

played tickets to Ride. You know, tickets are how you honestly like the meta. You get a lot of points by getting tickets. So yeah, brilliant. Legends of the West is so basically the person who invented the idea of legacy board games with risk legacy, the creator of tickets to Ride, Alan Armoon, and the guy who did Pandemic. They all teamed up to

design this, along with obviously a huge team that worked on it. Really good looking art soup, like really intelligent, compelling rules that add wrinkles every game, or I'd say that having played one round, but like I already it's good enough where I'm already seeing I completed a few basic roots from like

Boston to New York and New York to Philadelphia, really easy roots. They didn't get me many points in that first round, which Amanda one, and we slipped the bank slip into our company's vault basically so we can keep track of how much money we got each round, and that'll contribute now next time, I'm going first. But also I basically because we retired some tickets and you're retiring, they're not asking you to tear up the cards like they did

in risk legacy. I think they realized people did not like doing that to property they owned. I kind of liked the impermanence like perma death of it. But now you just retire them in a section, so you could potentially restart I think, even though you'd have to buy new parts. Anyway. I got these cards that I read out loud. One side, then the other side was secret, just for me that I have this information for the

next game. That because sort of because of but also like in spite of the fact that Amanda one, I now have information that can help me next round that she doesn't really know about and by the time she listens to every

episode of Firescape, so I'm not trying to give her an advantage. But basically, by next round, I know to pay attention to shares that the bankers are going to be offering me that she might not know what they're for, but because I have the information, It's just it's so fun, like how it shakes up the formula from one round to another based on like the idea that if humanity were if like our neighborhood just wiped off the earth,

someone could find our box and see kind of see the story of our campaign just by looking at it is really compelling in its own right. But so far it's very fun. And last thing, this is not a spoiler because when you open the box you'll see it. There are several decks of cards that we have not opened yet that we only open once we've It's like it's set up like a jigsaw puzzle, so we only have like the East coast right now. It goes from like New Orleans in the southwest to Savannah in

the southeast, bangor Maine in the northeast. And then I want to say, I don't evenink we're into the Midwest yet. I think the next thing, we're adding the Great Plains and then you open the deck for that region once you add it to the jigsaw puzzle of the map. And then we looked at later cards and there are some fantasy supernatural elements to this part of it. You're solving a murder mystery the whole campaign. There are decks.

It's not just like Midwest, Great Plains in a Southwest, etc. Pacific Northwest. It's haunted wastes. So I'm like, what the Fuck's this is gonna get weird? And it's like I'm already excited to play more of it. It's liking it a lot so far. If you like Pandemic Legacy, or you played Risk Legacy or couldn't get through more, I think the train aspect and the American expansion might be more accessible to people that aren't into the

war gaming aspect of Risk. It's really fun. It came out very recently, but I encourage people to try it out. I think if you're coming from video games into the tabletop space, I think it makes a lot of sense because Balder's Gate, Threes of the World and Roguelikes of the World, I think instill this idea of a continued campaign out even once you finish the game, this replayability, that kind of you can stamp your identity on a thing. It's very fun. I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Nice.

Yeah, I think a game, a board game that is good for two players is definitely like that. They don't all fit that bill. And whenever I find one like you know, Wingspan Bonk and I have played in a decent amount like it's it's great to find a new one of those. So that sounds pretty good. Yeah, yeah, try this out. I highly recommend it. It's it's great, it's very fun. I can't say enough good things about it. And I'm only in the first of twelve rounds.

Technically, I think we're gonna play and you can add in other players to it, even though they want to been there, Like my brother in law and his wife will be here for Thanksgiving next week or this week if you're listening at the episode now, and technically they won't have been there for the first five rounds of the campaign. But there are ways the game tells you, like if you want to add people or like say you can't make

every round, just record the bank slip in that person's company vault. At the end of the campaign, there will be We're not going to tell you how right now, their absences will calculate toward a final score. I'm like, I have no fucking clue how they're going to balance that, But it's cool to know that they are doing something behind the scenes. So curious. Yeah, nice, but yeah, it's very fun. I think people check

it out. Dan, what have you playing anything besides Allen Wake I kept going with David Diver and I continue thinking it's like, as far as the game that is best to play on a plane or if you just need to wind down at night and put something on in the background that you're not paying attention to, Like it's a I don't mean to downplay it, Like it's an incredible game on its own, right, even if you're given full attention, but it's like unrivaled in terms of like I just want something to do

on this flight. Yeah, it's so and a good cycle, right, like a good Oh my god, the Loop is amazing. Yes, it's fantastic, and it gives you the big things where it's like, oh, this big event is going to happen in four days, make sure you get a bunch of tuna or whatever. Like I love it. I love it. There's like an actual story, like more of a story than you would expect in this game. And it's kind of a hook, right, like the idea of someone sick and they need you to make them a soup.

Now the guy at the sushi store can make the soup, but you want to get the ingredients right now all of them are dried into a child who makes you guns. Yeah, yeah, that guy. That's Something's so much personality in that game too, even just like okay, I'm gonna use my artisanal flame to unlock a new thing, and just saying, you know, Bancho do his thing. Yeah, it's it's great, and uh, I guess that kind of rolls into uh talking about playing games on a plane.

Steam Deck oled I covered it to death on Giant Bomb since I went to Valve. I went to Balve right after we recorded the last episode and checked it out. I sat in an orb of Steam Decks and went home with one, Oh, it's killing me because like it was pre released and they haven't even announced it yet, so I had to. You know, the thing was like, hey, don't play this in public. We don't want a thing where like pictures go out or whatever. So it's like, I'm

on this flight going home. This is a very Game's me be a problem to have. I got to play my old steam Deck on the flight home instead of my new one. Like his parent's getting puked on by their kid. Who yeah, and I'm like, well, this could be a little brighter and lighter, My case could be smaller. Yeah, Like I have a much smaller case, which honestly, that is one of the bigger benefits. Anymore, I would have lived in the ORB. Yeah, wait,

hold on, explain that. Just it's very funny that we talked about the sphere or I guess the sphere. Everybody was talking about the Sphere two weeks ago or whatever, a month ago, whenever it was new. And then Valve, of all companies, which Valve pr wise, is really quiet the last well, it's like inside baseball stuff, yes, but publicly speaking, it's it's just they don't strike me as a company that would do an installation

like that to the the ORB. Yeah. No, Honestly, I talked to the guy who made it while I was there, and it was very much just like a fun passion project thing where it's like, oh, what if we did this tease where it's like we did this video and the entire commercial was lit only by steam decks, and that turned into like I could build this weird fucking rig and just you know, like it just seemed like they had fun making it and talking to him about it, like they knew

how silly and weird and fun it was. So Yeah, it was a great trip. It was awesome. I was in and out in like twenty four hours. But yeah, I've been there a bunch. I've always enjoyed. Like you said, the valve is kind of a black box in a way where you know they will let you know when they're ready to talk about something. And when they offered it, I was like, yeah, I got to go out there. This doesn't happen all the time, and sure

enough it was. It's not the steam deck too. It's very much like looking at it from across the room, it would look like the same thing, but all the little additions. You know, it's lighter, it doesn't run as hot. The battery life is a big thing. I don't think that's a little addition the case for me as much as I travel and stuff like, having the thinner case is important. The battery is huge, but the screen itself is fantastic. I think it's definitely a much bigger upgrade than

like the switch to the Switch show led. So yeah, I love it, and honestly it's such a cool, fun device, like I instantly went to town. Fine, if you already have one, I get it, I get it, I get it. And if you're not a huge like display nerd, I get it. Good an initial you know, how much more is this the base? The base base memory? Is it six forty nine. Well it's one is it? Five? Twelve and one? Terabyted.

I don't have the press skit up, but yeah, if you don't have one, Yeah, I'm not going to buy the new one anytime soon, but if you don't have one, it would tempt me more, for sure. They're they're great. I love it and I yeah, setting up all the emulators and all the ship you can do in Linux on that, like, it's just it's just so much fun. Like even if I like didn't use a ton of emulator stuff on the old one because I tend to use my stuff like mister and all that, it's just fun to set up.

It's a fun device to just kind of tinker with if you're into that kind of thing. And I very much am. So it's a it's been a delight. I love it. So yeah. Is there any game in particular that has stood out for on the OLED screen? Eighties? Oh right, eighties really pops on that screen that is so fucking vibrant and saturated in a great way. Yes, And that is a you do a side by

side on that and it is very very noticeable. Played I replayed like twenty hours been on PS five like two months ago, and even on just PS five, I'm like, God, I forgot how good looking this game is. It's fantastic and also it's pretty elegant. The way you can just like take the SD card out of your previous Steam deck put it in a new one. You do. There's not a single prompt, there's not a single like, hey, do you want to import? Do you want to do

it? Like? It just works. Everything just worked. So it's been a smooth, smooth operation so far. I'm big on it. So yeah, that's been a good one. I speaking hardware, Sony also sent me the new PS five, the Slim one without the disc distray. No,

it's got it. It's got the distray that has a removal. When they were first selling the was it the base PS five you can get the version with or without it, right the base you could choose, and then I think they're doing something with the Slim where it's like you can get a removable one or something like that. The one I got just has it just a

smaller in general, like every PlayStation has done before. It's yeah, but I mean I I shot it. I just I they that is their their mo is to release the slim version of the console like a couple of years

after. Yeah, but it's kind of funny, like I shot, you know, we're doing more like TikTok stuff on John Bom and I shot a shot one comparing it to like the PS three and the PS three slim and the PS two and the PS two Slim, and I didn't realize it was going to look this way, but I set them all up on my table and it looks like that fucking meme of the tiny domino and all the big ones falling. It was like, the PS two slim is the most slim

redesign. It's so fucking good. And then okay, chunk here PS two and then it's like, okay base PS three is a lot bigger than that, and then the slim is like it was just they kept moving up and this one was not that not that much smaller. It's what do they say, like thirty percent or something like that. They have a big number. It doesn't feel that much smaller. Honestly for me. The biggest thing is like I hate the base on the on the core floating like shock that.

It's yeah, that rotates weirdly, and you got to put those little like feet into the thing and you to look at like where the symbols are on the lip and put them in there. Like it's just it's felt very flimsy. This one. There's like two little feet that you just fucking shove into some holes and it just sits there horizontally with no like. I got the vertical stand too, and that's that's actually pretty solid, but I like horizontal. It just feels much more solid out of the box. And to me,

that's the biggest upgrade. It's not that much smaller. It's still like the last thing, the last console I would ever want to pack. You know, it's still got the foldy out flappy guys. You know, it's going to be awkward in a suitcase. It's the biggest, most awkward console I have, And that includes the Series X, which is probably bigger and heavier, but it's a box. It just kind of fits easier, you know. Yeah, So it's it's cool. I'm glad I replaced the you

know, my my base PS five. It's better, but it's not like a head and shoulders like like for instance, the steam Deck Old is a much bigger upgrade than the five. Slim Slim is just better looking, though, yeah, always better looking. No no, no, no, no no, no, this though, well, yes, I agree, but this is like the p S five is ugly as balls. The p S five is ugly historically bad console. Yeah, the PS five slim is like, it's honestly like almost as stark a difference between the series S and X

and the sense that it's like an entirely different design. It's rectangular. Now it looks is rectangular, I mean kind of flares out, you know, PS five flares the what if I which one am I looking at? Hold on, maybe I'm looking at like an early fan art. What do you look? Yeah, this is not a rectangle. I'm gon grab it you no, no, no, no no, I was looking at some fan art. Okay, I was going to say, it's not a rectangle. You ever designed that fan art? Should DESIGNS five's okay? Yeah, this

doesn't look that much different. So it looks like a PS five. It doesn't look honestly, if I just showed me a jpeck of that'd be like, No, the launch PS five it's got this weird like black stripe down the middle, and I keep thinking I have like an HTI cable dangling over the front. But it's just the black stripe. Cool. Yeah, it's fine, it's fine, it's better, it's better. I'll say that I got the PS five really truly might be the ugliest console ever made. I

mean as far as the big ones, like the big consoles. Yeah, I'm trying to think what's uglier. If we're talking to PlayStation Sega, Nintendo, Microsoft, MM, I mean, shit, I love the GameCube design. Some people think it's sup orly shit. PS five might be out out of those. If we're saying Sony, Sega, Nintendo, and Microsoft. I almost have like a weird nostalgia for that giant chunky original Xbox. Oh me too, I don't have. Well, obviously I don't have an instolgia

for the PS five. But the PS five, though, like the Xbox, it's like, oh, we're making a video game console. The PS five, I don't know what they were. Their concept was like space age looking stuff. I think it was just supposed to be like the future. I feel like they were like, let's make it look like a console from twenty to thirty. Yeah, but they just did a terrible job, Like on the execution, you don't really like the PS three. The launch PS

three is so heavy and weird and I don't love it. But the fucking series S I fucking think is really good looking. Oh with that like in the circular like vent thing up top the seventies record player almost Yeah, yeah, yeah, white, I love it anyway. Yeah, we they have the you said you have the Pulse earbuds on the way as well. Yeah, I got the portal and they're sending me the portal in the Pulse earbuds.

Yeah, so I'll check those out. Are the Is the allure of the earbuds just that they can connect wirelessly to the controllers with no idea. I'll find out. I'll test it out when I get it, But I I don't know anything about them yet, gotcha, Because the dual Sense right now doesn't have like, uh air pod air pod air pod, it doesn't have capability for those or like Bluetooth. Oh okay, So I think the appeal would be that you can actually hook up the voice chat without like a

through Bluetooth or USB whatever without Yeah, you can. You can use Discord on your phone. So they're a bit redundant, But I don't know the full specs but I feel like everyone just says discord, like I can't remember the last time I used console level party chat for it. And I also don't just play multiplayer games period, so yeah, yeah, I don't discord.

I use discord like with Jake for Balder's Gate, or like Endless Dungeon with my friend recently after she's discord it's easier, Mary, What else have you been playing? I have been playing. Uh, okay, So I one hundred percented Pickman. Yeah that post game stuff is great, right, Yeah, I hit I rolled credits this week. I told you guys earlier, but I got sick. So when I had to stay home Sunday because

I did not feel good, I was like, I'll play Pickman. And within an hour I rolled credits and I genuinely was like, oh, that's a bummer. I felt like I would have played another world, I would have enjoyed playing it a little bit more. That's a shame. And I one hundred percented it the whole way, if that makes sense. Like I was one hundred percenting it each level as I went. So yeah, when I rolled credits, I was at one hundred percent and I figured I had

finished the game. And then my dog got sick, and you have never seen a girl so happy for her dog to get sick. Ever, I was like, let's go back. I have to fix him, and I

got to play a whole new area. It was great. The post half the game is after that, it's it's way fatter and there's like a really lush world and because you have to change pickman so much towards the end, because the whole concept is like, have you really learned how you're supposed to use all these pickmen, because like in this area you really need to use the fly guys, and in this one you got to use ice boys. And it's really fun picking and choosing the right pickman for a particular thing.

There was a couple of Dandhari levels where I had to do them twenty times to get to get the level that I needed. It was crazy how much it pushed me to one hundred percent, And I'm very proud of you. Get seven minutes and you've got all this shit you got to bring back. Yeah, those were super fun. It was crazy. Those are those the worst ones of those You're like, fuck, I really should have just opened that shortcut right away, so then get back to the pot or yeah,

or why don't I have the flying guys carrying this pool ball back? Why do I have these like six yellow pickmen working on that pile of materials right now? That's right, there's like eight bosses right there. I have a dog, he'll dig that right up. You have all these second guesses, and you really push yourself when you're trying to get the one hundred percent right. It's one thing to get through it. It's another to be like two min max getting all of these items. I have to be perfect. I

can't have any pickman wasting time. Ever. Yes, and you used to be very thoughtful about where you're putting everything. I really felt like it challenged me. And in a moment where on a day where I was actually quite not great. You know, I was sick and the day I was getting my groceries delivered and so like I was, I was like, I can't even leave my house. I'm miserable. Bring me avocados. Bring me an avocado, and I don't know if it'll be ripe or not. Three days

from now it must be ripe. I felt like all of my happiness was poured into pickmen and hoping that I could like finish this game, and when I really did finish finish it, I felt a large amount of accomplishment and appreciation and respect for that game. I've never played a Pickman before. As my first Pickman, this is the first time I really felt like I connected to a game and one hundred percent. You know that I never one hundred

percent games. I never I'm not a completionist. That's really not my thing. I play games until I'm satisfied, I move the fuck on. This was like the first game where I was like, I have the time, I'm not going anywhere. I feel like, shit, let's do it again and get gold bitch. And I really pushed myself and I felt a huge pride of it. It's probably what people feel like when they when they want

a Platinum games. This is probably like high platinum game crazy people get, and I got it with Pickman. So I'm very I'm really into that game. I feel very strongly bad. I don't think it's for everyone. I don't think I could sell it to anyone, but I think I could say what a casual but insane growth trajectory that game has. It's for everyone, like in the sense of that it's casual enough that anyone can probably like pick it up and get through it. But the scale where you have to be

so insanely good to get to that degree. I felt incredible when I was able to get completion on some of those pieces is awesome. It's really really fun. There is something about four, I think, where it's like I've played them all, I've liked them all a lot. Four is definitely my favorite. But hearing you Mike, my sister Kayla, you know, people that have never played Pickman before and gave this a shot, and everyone like seems to universally love it, and it's the fastest selling or most selling in

the entire Pickman series. Like, there is something about four that is striking a court of people. And maybe it's just the most polished, like best version of Pickman, but it just like makes my soul feel good to see so many people will be like, oh wow, I tried it out and I love it, Like it is such a joyable series and the stuff. You know, so basically, Mary, you did this stuff with all of our afterwards, right, we're spoiling this. Pickman came out six months ago.

You know, you did the all of our stuff where you have a set amount of days. Yeah. Yeah, like that. That's like an old style like Pickman thing where it's like Pickman two, you, hey, you have to get all this shit. So there is this timer like running in the background the whole time, and it's a little more stressful. And we were talking earlier about Mario Wonder and like how it is accessible, Like, hey, if you just want to see credits or you just want to

beat it, you can play it in this way and do that. But if you also want to go nuts on it and do the harder stuff and do all those Dandori battles and get the golds, it's masterful at that. And Nintendo has just been killing it on that front lately, and god damn it, Pickman deserves this credit. It deserves the attention. The sales It's always been good, but Pickman four is easily the best one. I'm so glad you guys are liking it. It's a great name. It has just

like they have. It's like alchemy, but instead of gold, it's like such joyful multitasking. And I'm wondering how much of it's resonating with people now. I mean a it's because it's like the first switch specific Pickman. I wonder how like obviously, like you know, how many were on was it? Pickment three was at the WU. One and two were game Cube and they re released them on the Wii with new new play control. Uh. Three came out on the Wiu, and then three Deluxe came out on the

Switch, and then four or switch. Yeah, I'm wondering if it's just because it's the first like big number one on the switch. But regardless, it's like I said this kind of as a joke, but there is something to it. I'm like, this game is just like gamified Xanax, Like it is just it's meditative to the point of being calming as fuck, even when it's getting tough during dandory bows. I'm like, I it's just like

very fun chores. It reminds me like Sundays at my in my park, like here on Sundays, or the day when I go around and I take like an hour to trim and water all my house plants here. M M. That sounds like a chore. It sounds like you would be a pain

after, you know, weekly after several years. But it's like it is a joyful chore where I'm like, mall tasking and I'm like just getting that much more efficient each time I do it, And I know there's such comfort in knowing that there is as much possible energy going into this one thing and then also this other thing, and then like everything is just efficient. It's how it's supposed to be there. It's comforting, it's satisfying. The loop

there. There's something about games this year. We were talking about David Diver, but also Dredge and Pickment four. These games have just figured out how to make like a perfect loop. Yeah, And I don't know, there's that feedback where it's like this is so rewarding and calming and meditative but just challenging enough where I'm not like getting tired or bored. It's just like it's not mindless. No. Pickment four is just flow state. Much of it

is just like flow State incarnate. But then there are the tougher parts where I'm like, oh, like Mary, like you said, I didn't realize how much I was learning throughout all this game, but then like they test you and again in these very cathartic tests where I'm like, oh, it took me eight tries, but it was still just so I'm getting shit done. It is. Uh, there's there's something to it. I don't know. That game is fantastic. Speaking of which, Dredge. Actually, I

just saw their DLC is out, the pal Reach. Dredge got like Arctic themed DLC. I don't know, Mary, have you played it? Uh? Dredge, Yeah, I got the pal Reach. DLC just came out like yesterday or today. Oh god, I haven't. I haven't tried it, and I freaking love Dredge. I think it's really up there for me this year, so I'm gonna need to. I might try to play that over Thanksgiving break because Dredge is up there with Pickman four and David Diver of

like I just wanted to loop, I'm in I'm in gody mode. So right now, November and December are my dates to play games that I know you guys are going to bring up during Gody so that I can least say like played them. I can discuss them if you want when you argue for them. One of the ones that I played is specifically that which is you guys know. The Game Awards release their nominees this week and for Indie Game,

which was quite contentious. That was interesting. Dave the Diver brought up a big controversy which I won't get into because I don't actually think it's it's that interesting. But the point is is how a Viewfinder was in Indie game category and I have never played Viewfinder, and I was like, if it's a nominee for Indie Game of the Year, I have to play it. It was the only one on there that I hadn't played this year, so I downloaded it and played it on Monday. I played like maybe four or

five hours of it. It's really interesting. It's a really great concept where you at first it's very slow and it's essentially a perspective based game where you see a gap and you obviously know you need a bridge, and you see a post it that has a plank on it. If you put the plank where the bridge needs to be, the bridge is there and then you can cross so outside world. Yeah, correct, And it's so it's a perspective based game, but it's done very well where you could play a lot with

it. And then eventually what it becomes is you get a polaroid and you can take a photo of anything you want and then when you hold the photo up, that thing will become a part of this world, and that is quite interesting, and it allows you to solve these puzzles in very unique ways. You will solve a puzzle very differently in the way I solve it, because the way you choose to manipulate manipulate your polaroid and take a photo and

how you use it will probably be different the way I do it. So it becomes a sandbox in the game where I'm at now, But there is some very tutorial heavy beginner pieces where it's trying to explain the rules of the world. It's great. It's a very interesting puzzle mechanic. I don't think it is at the capacity of puzzler that Cocoon is. I just want to say, like Cocoons puzzle building is bar non the best that I've seen all year. If you want a puzzle game that explains the rules and then challenges

you, Cocoon is where it's at. This game is just it's an interesting concept of a perspective based puzzling, and it is an interesting world. I don't care for the vo or the story at all. I don't want to hear anyone's sad sob story about why I'm in this garbage pale world. I don't give a shit about you or your story. And just because you made the character that I'm interacting with a cat doesn't mean I can't be annoyed with them. And I like cats, and I still found them annoying. I

found every character in that whole fucking game annoying. I don't want to hear a goddamn thing from anyone. There should have been no vo in that game. I stand by that thought. But it's a neat puzzle game. The gameplay gimmick work so well, and I feel like it they must have just thought that, like, oh well, portally, you know, like the puzzles were great, but also everyone loves Glad I have. She's earned well if you find her. Does the stuff with that like second layer of the

story, with the futuristic dystopia stuff, did you get there yet? Uh? Yes, I've started. That stuff felt so fucking unnecessary bad. The game had me. When you're doing like photo tricks with batteries on the ground, that's when I was like, oh, ship, Like they built this exploit into the game in a really cool way. I was like, you had you had this like Prey you had and you lost me. Yeah,

I don't know. I just feel like they put a hat on, an ugly hat and a really good looking hat, and that was like, I don't know why you're doing I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if like that game was cooking for too long because it was a concept and if maybe it had like two really insane o game devs were on it, it would have

been perfect. But then there was like a producer and like six other idea guys in there that were like, what if you could break the world and you're from the future and there's a cat and it's just like, shut up, you don't need all that stuff. That game was really solid the way it was, and I think all the bells and whistles that they had had kind of annoyed me. But the puzzles are great, and I really do

think it'll give you some good think of moments. It's really fun when a puzzle game makes you go, oh my god, I see and I had one of those. I streamed this game, and it's really fun when it finally clicks for me and I see my chat just go and everyone's just like she did, She's she sees it like you, we all kind of click at the same moment. When something like that happens, it feels great.

So I think it's a cool game. I really do recommend it. But I had a couple a couple of Rockie pieces for me back and forth there. Yeah, for sure, did you play? I think you played? Chance of saying ah, right, yes, I told us about that. Yeah, game, I think I like that play that I played it. Have we not talked about it? I like that game a lot, but

a similar thing to Viewfinder. They also try to do a lot outside of the actual logic and language puzzles that I'm like, like a lot of the storytelling and the stealth stuff like what do you You're not a stealth I felt like Uncharted for was the tipping point where like, you don't need stealth sequences and every That's when I stopped Spider Man two. I was like, I'm

not doing another marriageane thing. I'm not like that ship. Yeah, and I like Spider Man two, but God's things were I think doing this it's a good disc It's a good comparison. I think sometimes you focus on what you're good at, and yeah, it's interesting when a game might not recognize when it's killing it. Yeah, maybe one as you do some busy work. But we're at a point where like, I don't want busy work, just let me. I don't stuff that I don't. I don't begrudge games

for trying stuff. I just want you to do it well. Like fucking Dredge did not need to become this supernatural horror thing later on, it did it well. In my opinion, I like how it did that. Like, I'm fucking addicted to Dredge. One hundred percent of Dredge too. I think I'm a free I got every fish. I was like, they didn't need to do that, but I thought they did it well. And then how many other games, Like again, you're not gonna be able to do

Portal Too better than VELL did. Like I agree. I say that all the time. If you're trying to emulate a classic, a beloved classic, if you ain't doing it better than that game, leave it alone, do

your own thing. You don't have dual protagonists that you can switch between whenever you want, and one's in a nightmare world and one is in some weird little twin Peaks town which came in different pages which Mary hold on, Let's let's convene on the side I was talking to I was talking about about warrioror moving. Yeah, we're talking about Sambadaire, talking about Sonic the Hedgehog was murdered or whatever it's called. Yeah, I'm I'm the last game I'll talk

about tonight. That I also played just to catch up with more for Game of the Year. I have several friends who swear to me that Remnant two is good. I went back to give it more of a chance. I did because I liked the first game, and I like what they're doing with this second game, but it just frustrates me too often. I think there's a lot of cool things going on. I like that. I like how much they obfuscate in this game. They're not holding your hand through a lot

of it. I think it feels snappy from moment to moment. I think that the world parts of the world are compelling. I like Low Song like most people. I like the Bloodborne esque area. I like that you it's randomized to the point where you might not even see the same a boss that I saw in my play through, because you went through different parts of these worlds that are randomly rolled. I like all that, and I like some

of the classes. I think the class design is really compelling. I really dislike how often I am fighting bosses that are more frustrating than they are challenging. The dodge is one of the least satisfying things, and I might just be timing it terribly. But like the dodge in Allen Wake two is not overpowered, but you need to like you can tie, you could start timing that really well. In Rounded two, the dodge just feels so and I'm not over encumbered. Like I told my friend, He's like, maybe you're

where you have too much armor. I was like, nope, I checked that. I understand how these kind of games work. I looked into that. I don't know. It's just frustrating me way too often to enjoy. I wish I enjoyed it more, but I don't. But and then outside of that, I know, I just said that was the last game I talked about, But I played a fuck ton of Endless Dungeon over the last like two weeks. Mary, I think you played Endless Dungeon. Uh,

yeah, I did play Endless Dungeon. I haven't played a lot of it. I should preface I think I've only played a couple hours of it, but it's a fun co op game Tower Defense, which is like such a classic easy sell for me. If you want me to drink some beers and play a co op tower defense, I'm in, uh, Power Defense, Roguelike, twin stick Shooter mashup. Yeah, that's a good Yes, that's correct. And it has a bar, yeah, like a put a bar in there, and it's kind of what's the I mean every game now many

games have like a home base hub. Yeah, your hub is a bar. The fucking dwarf miners and space game that I love, I put like two Deep Deep Rock Deep. They have the bar too anyway, and you you have to defend the crystal shock. And uh, what's interesting is like every time you open a door, it gives you currency. So the idea is like exploration rewards you with currency that you spend on turrets or maybe science

or maybe health health packs for you and your and your buddies. I Mike, actually, maybe educate me because I don't think I figured out what causes waves to Is it time based or I sometimes I felt like every time I opened up like a door, I risked a wave like, yeah, no, it's the way statistically, it ups the danger of you getting a wave when the more doors you open, Okay, but then you also have to then you also have to plan, Like if you open up every door willy

nilly, you're increasing the risk that enemies could come from another direction. So like, the more you play, the more you're like, you're also creating the path through which enemies are traveling. So that's when you're like, fuck, do I want to open this door yet? Do you want to risk going this other other side of the crystal bot before I move it? Yeah? The more the more you play that game, the more you start to internalize a lot of the rules and the meta of it, which is why

I really like it. I I I got like a very good twenty hours out of it. I think it's a really well designed game. I got a bit frustrated with it. I think some of the character design is is pretty imaginative. I it's very satisfying to get these permanent upgrades and take a new character down, and once you can get three people in your squad, it's much more fun. But I do still wish there was more depth to

it. I felt like by my eighth ninth run, I had kind of seen the entire loop, whereas something maybe not eighth or ninth, maybe like twelve, but which is again like twelve runs a roguelike. I don't know, but like twelve runs into Haites, I hadn't even unlocked all the weapons, and I'm still seeing new wrinkles unfold. So I really like m Mus Dungeon. Honestly, it might be in my top ten. I had a

lot of fun with it. I just I think I did. At a certain point, those first few minutes of new runs started to feel more repetitive than they would have been hades, where I'm like, oh, this is all still really snappy and satisfying. I think I lost that a bit sooner, and then LUs Dungeon than I would in a truly great roguelike. Yeah, I think I. I also actually fell off and I didn't play it

for very long. I really enjoyed learning the mechanics, and then once I learned them, I was like, okay, so it's just like electrical enemies, you know, acid enemies, And once I kind of had solved what it was teaching me, I felt like there was nothing else. I wish it kind of a lot of games like that. They will dule them out over time, so they'll be like, this entire area is just robots, this next entire area is aliens. But it kind of did it all at

once, so there wasn't really anything to uncover. Yeah, they start complicating that later on, but it does take a bit. But again, by the time they start complicating in that way where you're like balancing the different enemy types and elemental weaknesses, I felt like it had gotten easier, much easier because I had upgraded two characters. I had a three person squad, so it was like like getting that six person squad in x Com two is like

paramount, but it's still difficult once you do very different games. But I'm just thinking like games where you increase the squads this one by the time you got to three, and like it got to be a bit too easy, right, But yeah, I think if you're into tower defense, all very satisfying tower defense game, but you're also moving twin six shooter like hell Divers kind of thing, it's I think it's got a lot of creativity. I

like a lot of the character design. I like there's some fun synergies between different characters I think, for like, for a solid fifteen to twenty hours, which these days is kind of honestly a little past the sweet spot. I think that's that's really like a good time. Like I think fifteen hours for me, regardless of the genre, is pretty good time to finish a game. I think Ellen Wake two is the first game in a while that I have finished and been like, oh wow, I I wish there was

more. I was shocked when you told me your hour account and I was like, oh my god, Yeah, idea could be that long. I mean one hundred percent keep that in mind. But still it's it's fairly lengthy. I'd say it's similar to Resume of four length, if not more. No, it's longer than Resume four. I think Resume four or now I think remake you could probably get through fifteen hours. Maybe sounds about right. Yeah, yeah, but yeah, outside of that might, I've got to

clean up some games for Game of the Year consideration. I've got a whole list. I like Star Wars, Jedi Survivor I want to try more of. So I've got some people I trust that tell me. They're like, they asked me how far I got. I told them, like ninety minutes in and they're like, Okay, play a little more. There's going to be a part where the game really gets rolling. If you don't like it, then put it down. I'm going to try to get there. They

told me. I'll know when I get there in terms of like what you start doing as the overall explorative loop. But I forget. I have a list somewhere of games I got to catch up on. It's definitely that time of year though, where crunching out a bunch. Yeah, I would like to with I just realistically, it's just the thing, I don't know if I have time, you know, Oh yeah it sounds but you do have the time. You're just choosing not to make the time. Like he ain't

that bad. I don't know. Look, I've been working on the only game I've been playing for like a month has been Allen Wake two, and I'll get maybe thirty minutes in, like in a week, I'll maybe get hour and a half, you know, Like I just it's been it's been a lot for a while now. So I guess I don't say that none of us are not busy. We're definitely busy people, But I think busyness is a really good excuse to be like I I'm just too busy to play

it. But what that really says to me is is like I'm not prioritizing it because I don't want to. No, I'm literally saying, like I wake up at like seven o'clock in the morning and go to bed closer to midnight, and like every fucking second is filled with stuff, and like today I would have loved to play a video game, but like, but if

you did have time, which deo game that you play? I need to finish out in Wake like that I definitely need well seriously, like, like that is is way high on my list right now, Like that is the priority before these Games of the Year things. But like I have to finish that. But that's the only game I'm working on right now. I just

need to beat it, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I just texted Jake because I texted the other day I don't think I'm gonna get either of you to play Shadow Gambit, and I told Jake it's very much his ship. So I'm like, did you play it yet? And he didn't answer me, So I just texted him answer me in all caps. Two days after he said no, not yet, Shadow Game at the Curse Crew, the the O Yeah yeah, Squad Asymmetric Off yep. God, that's gonna be annoying to argue for it because I don't think any of you guys are

gonna play it. It's gonna be one of those games I get up there just by virtue of I don't know where I'll get it, but it's you gotta you gotta pick where you're putting your points in your argument points. Yeah, I gotta parse them out. M M. I've got a few games in mind that I know I'm going to have to like really prop up. I think there's one that I'm I don't think any of you like that I'm

gonna be. It's gonna I don't know, it'll be interesting. It'll, like I said, it'll be a fucking shit show, bloodbath, I'm gonna slit throats. Any other games where you guys want to do emails? Email Email all right, as usual, you can write into fire Escape Past at gmail dot com. Questions, comments, concerns, corrections. We actually have

a couple of responses today. They're not really corrections, but some fun responses we got based on some past conversations that's fire Escape Past at gmail dot com. Write in you want us to potentially read your question your email on next episode or the one after that, Mary, do you want to do this? First one from Adam? This is a response. I was it last episode maybe two ago we talked about I think it was the email section less

episode. We talked about how I get these periods of like intense deja vu over and over, and Dan was saying, you've never really experienced it. Yeah, our listener wrote in a response to this, Okay, hey, flaming escapers, it's a nice got a nice ring to it. It's your old friend Adam, the neuro in interventional surgeon here again. Did I say that right? Yes, we call ourselves brain doctors. But yeah, yeah,

noodle doc. Yeah. But hone in on your talk about deja vu, because it's one of those things that can occasionally be the sign of a neurological disorder or derangement. This isn't some warning to get your head scanned or anything, just more to get you thinking good. Okay. Aside from disorders and diseases, deja vu seems to appear in people who have sleep loss take sleeping anxiety pills or consume a lot of alcohol that act on the same GABA

receptors. Two of those three explains deja vu. I was like, that's not me. That's not me. Uh, and I alcohol is a bit less lately, but like, I'm definitely more than average. I'd say I would be very curious to know if you find that you get your runs of deja vous are close to times when you have either had sleep loss or take anxiety sleeping medication, or whether it occurs in the aftermath of alcohol intake stretches.

I haven't had this sensation myself since I wasn't residency, which is notoriously grueling period of training. Cheers Adam. I think there's probably a time I'm assuming he meant since I was in residency. Yeah he wasn't. No, Yeah he wasn't. He said he hasn't experienced that day movie because he wasn't. It's super sleep deprived. Yeah, yeah, it would not surprise me. The sleep loss. My most of my life, insomnia has been a There's been periods of my life where it's been actual, like you know in

Fight Club when he's describing insomnia. For as much as that movie is very much like dude, bros. I don't really. I don't watch that movie anymore. That part is true. It's like there's been twice in my life where I've had such bad streaks of insomnia where life just stop feeling real. It was all this is weird haze, So I could see that. And I also just sometimes don't sleep well over the summer, especially I don't sleep well, so I could see it being that. But yeah, it comes

in waves. It makes sense of what he's saying, because I was saying it comes for me. It's like, oh, I had it like four days in a row, but then I won't have it for like a year. It's fun. I didn't know they might come along with periods where it's like the holidays, or like I'm just seeing friends all the time and drinking more than normal. Interesting. Let me throw a question back at the Adam here. I'll email the emailer Gabba receptors and stuff like that. That's something

I've been reading about. But I've been reading dumbass layman google searches and stuff like that because I've always been wondering, like why I have such issues with it. If I get really drunk one night, the next day is this panic attack city. It's just full on, just like just a steady hum of anxiety the entire day. And I've heard like Gabba rebound and you're overloading

Gabba or starving your Gabba stuff like that. And then I started hearing a lot of people talk about d HM d hydro my d hydro My right, Tyson, it's a It's just like a supplement you're supposed to take after you drink. And I got some because the rave reviews I saw everywhere, and it does seem to be kind of working. And I don't know if it's

Placibo, it does seem better. Like I'll wake up the next day if I've had like a you know, long Friday night, like me and Kayla like stayed up til five am drinking the other night and I took one of those and then woke up and I'm like waiting for the like wait, I don't feel like I want to crawl out of my own brain, you know, like this feels okay? So Adam, if you know anything about that, I would love to hear you, even if it's not for reading on

the podcast. I would love to hear your thoughts on that. Yeah, he's got an email. I don't know anything about Gabba. I haven't done any research on Gabba. Who is she? I've read about it a bunch, But I'm also a dumbass who doesn't know anything about science or brains or anything medical from your medical perspective, Dan, And it's probably tied till I got to open mean thing. And it seems like you can overload things and then if the next day might be rough if you do too much with your

gabbas. I don't have many gabbas, and if you overdo your gabbas, then you have a gabba recession, and then you crave gabba. I hate talking about this stuff because it's like I love reading this stuff because I'm always trying to diagnose myself, but also people googling and self diagnosing themselves online or doing their own research on stuff when they're not a doctor leads to issues.

And it has led two issues on a wide scale. And it's like, so I don't want to be the like I do some research to know I'm an expert. I'm still very much a dumbass, but I am trying to, like, you know, figure out what I can about these things. But like I'll read things and then I will go to like my doctor and be like, hey, is this bullshit? Like and so like that's why I like asking actual experts like I heard this is this bullshit? You know? Well, I mean, you took a pill and it's having an effect.

So it's what's interesting. Is is it lac ebo or yes, is it actually having an impact? Which I'd be interested in hearing about. I also get like anxiety after drinking a lot. I always thought it was associated with the fact that drinking a lot, drinking excessively obviously makes you feel like shit because you're poisoning yourself. Sure, and so I always felt like the anxiety I felt the morning after was my body being like, why are you

poisoning yourself? You ding dong, Like, don't hurt yourself so that you can have fun. Now you're sick and you don't feel good and you've ruined your own your other day off because you're so stupid, and that makes me feel guilty, and then I get anxiety. So I always concern I always assumed it's because like I'm I'm doing something that's unnecessary to hurt myself. I don't get into a nature versus nurture thing. But I think we all grew

up pretty similarly. Similarly. I think I know what lacrosse was until I was like thirty, Okay, I mean, like the environments we were raised in. I think, at least the suburban mindsets we were raised in. We were all suburban, yes, like catholic Ish, right, like at least like Christian. Was Christian childhood? Well not like, Well, I went to Catholic school, but my parents never gave a ship. It was just my Yeah, yeah, I digress. It wasn't a big part of

my childhood go on outside of school and going to Mass every week. But yeah, yeah, I think we probably the guilt aspect I can relate to. Not anymore nowadays, I'm like, I don't. I am. I am able to push guilt away more easily, But guilt has been an overriding emotion in my life, and I think it has a bit to do with my upbringing. Not to blame my family. I love them, you've met them all now. They're wonderful people. But uh yeah, I used to

when I was younger, and I would like be hung over occasionally. The guilt would be the worst part, and that would definitely multiply. The anxiety mine feels like it's something like in my brain is like like in the books and stuff I read about it, I hear it's like a dope mean thing where it's like, imagine like a seesaw or whatever, and you you overload stuff or so much dope mean and the seesaw goes one way and then it's like, Okay, your brain has kind of right itself and it kind of

overcracks for the day after and stuff like that. So yeah, the worst for that for me. As fun as Molly is, I've had of the Who's that chase? Chase that chase. She's a scats artist, she lives, she lives under the playground of A handful of times have done Molly and it's always fun and I like Molly particularly, have done it a while. But because you're still very aware of your surroundings, it's not like you're not

tripping, it's very just enhancing certain things around you. The come down on that can be brutal because it's just I cannot I can't do weed, you know, I can't do weed. Yeah, I'm not. I don't want to do the weed. I'm not. I can't do the weed, You're not thing, but like the molly come down can be pretty rough because you're literally just overloading like serotonin with molly and dopamine and everything, and it's like the best. Everything is vivid. The next day was rough, Dan,

I had I had a bad one this weekend. I went and got edibles. My sister was visiting and weed in her state isn't legal, so I was able to take her to her first legal weed store, which is so exciting, right because everybody, yeah, you can just buy it. Yeah. Well, they're also super professional and they'll be like what, uh, you know, what can how can I serve you? What's your preference? Like what do you like? You know, what are you gonna do?

Are you gonna clean your house? Or do you want to have a little happy nappy? And she was explaining it. So he's giving her all these options and they're just so kind. It's so exciting. And while she was having such a good time, I was like, well, I'm a seasoned veteran, so I'm going to grab my usual and I grabbed an edible.

I always get the same ones. I have a system and I really like dosing, Like what's cool about getting them from a store is they'll tell you the dosage, and I know exactly what my dosage is, so I know how much I should be taking. And I have a very low dosage. I usually take like five milgram, which is like the lowest you can get. Yeah, but you'll feel it. You'll feel five. Oh. I like bite a piece off of five milligrams. Same, So like, I keep it really low, all right. So I buy the one that I

think I usually buy it. I take it home and when my sister leaves, I go get a coffee and I see them in my purse and I kind of just pop one because I know I can have one gummy. I know the dosage, and I have my coffee and I go home. And as soon as I get home, I'm like, why am I so hi? And I look at that little box and it's fifty Oh no. I ten times dosed myself on Saturday. Yes, because I thought the five fifty

that is like crawling out of my sack skin. I know I would be just standing on a roof firing a pistol in the air with searchlights on me. I had a little bit of a panic, and I essentially I did this thing where I was like, I understand that now I cannot leave my house because I'll have a panic attack. And I sat and played pick Them. Oh, that's the best thing you could have done there. Yeah, And I got like really into pick Them. I do think it's actually why

I was able one hundred percent over games. I had a fifty mile so that helped. It's true I did actually connect those dots because I was like, I I fucked over my brain and I realized to me, everybody's different. I'm not a doctor, e there, I'm a ding dong as well. But the thing that was able to cure my extreme anxiety and possibly the ability of me to spiral that day and freak out was to focus on a

game that required my concentration and it it really does. It really does, like you like we talked about earlier, like that seems like the perfect game to do that with. Yes. When I finally stopped being high, I recognized that my throat was really dry, and I thought, this is probably a result of my edible And it turns out I was fucking sick. And that's what happened. Like my body came down and I became ill. The next day, but I survived that edible experience through pickment. Hell yeah,

anyway, maybe if you're feeling anxiety, play it. Even though I've already one hundred percent of it. I could totally see that being like I'm just starting. You know, one and two were on switch Now fuck that. Maybe I'll get those downloaded and have them at the ready, like in case of panic while high break least just in case. It was also a two to one edible, so it was fifty milligrams of THHC and it had CBD as well, which had like a really I had a nice body high,

which I think, Okay, that does help. Yeah, what is Simo doing? He's just staring into the darkness behind me. A weird ass. Dog's actually really creepy. Yeah, doctor weird doing just waiting for you to call him. Oh hi, I didn't see you. I went into the bed or bedroom a couple of days ago. Bank was asleep. The dogs ran there. They're usually in the bed with her. I walk in, I'm taking out of my watch, I'm taking putting my phone on the thing. All of a sudden, I heard the closet door open, and I'm

like, what the fuck is going on here. It's like right next to me. He's like, who is coming out of the closet. Razor had apparently gone into the closet in the middle of the night and must have like shut the door behind I came in there and what's up? And came out of the closet. Damn. Dogs are great. Yeah, what is she? She's grabbing him. It's uh, he's wander up there. It looks like he might have been getting prepped for a walk. He's wearing his reflective

coat. I love it. Dogs wearing clothes is very funny. Loaf, look at that loaf. It's up God. Patreon video watchers see a dog. I think he's just, you know, dog depressed. No, was he getting ready for a walk? It looks like just come back from one. Okay that this is from noon and I I didn't take it off. Okay, look at hey man, Hey she mom? Buddy, Hey buddy, hey, you can't hear you put headphones on that dog? Okay, hey, hey, won't you? Yeah buddy, buddy, Oh yeah,

buddy, you know what you want? A ready way buddy? Oh oh yeah, yeah, buddy, Yeah buddy, buddy, hight buddy, buddy, boo, you wish I was a dog. It seems like a good leg uncomfortable. Don't worry about weed and anxiety. They're so fucking stupid And like, man, Gizmo just just given ice cube. He's the happiest he'll be in his entire life. My dog gets weird. My God gets mad

depressed sometimes if I if I'm too busy. Simung goes on a w every day, usually around noon, and if I'm too busy and my meetings go along, he will go into the basement and stare at a wall in the dark. That's awesome from the end of the Blair Witch Project in the corner, the guy just shaking the corner. Gizmo saws take a toy out of a cabinet in the laundry room once and if we can't find Gizmo, we're like looking all over the house for him. It's like, oh fuck,

is he in the linder of room? And he'll be sitting in the londery room just staring at a cabinet. He's not a toy in once It's like, okay, of course, yeah, Scarlett saw like a mark on this big armor mirror we have in the bedroom, like two days ago, and she's been like sitting loafing on the floor staring up at it ever since. I wish I had that focus and concentration. They're better than us. Yep, we don't deserve them. All right, Well, thanks again, Adam.

You've got our email to respond in. All right, I got a game question here, Dan. I'll read this one so you can do this last one, which is specifically addressed to you. All right, Hey, fire Escapers, what's one game you will never uninstall from your PC or console? For me, it's Halo Master Chief Collection. So much content and installagi and fun. I go back to it every few months. Thanks Jesse from Saint Louis. It's a great choice, my Chief Collection. Yeah, I

have PT. I can't uninstall it or I'll lose it. Is one that I will keep forever. I usually keep Rocket League installed because I genuinely will play it every Well, I haven't played it in a couple months, but I usually play it at least a couple times a year with my friends, which is just just a lovely, memorable game that I can pick up at

any time. We've talked about this many times for a long time. Mine was Warframe I finally just got rid of it because I was playing it a lot PC though I cannot foresee ever for the first see of a future on installing Warhammer three with how much game there is there and how often I go

back to it, and they are billions. They are billions. Is like my anxious I need to play our real time strategy game about turtling and have control over something that is my Like things are overwhelming, I'm going to go play this game. I'd say like Xbox uh, probably the first Soul Caliber I bet HG or the XBLA Soul Calber, Like that's just like my favorite fighting game ever. And I'm not even a big fighting game guy. It's

just anytime I'm playing Soul Caliber, I love it. On Switch, I would say Mario Kart eight Deluxe, because that is just such a like if you just seen a mindless thing to play, it's always gonna be fun. If you've got friends over, everyone fucking loves Mario Kart. There they still put out new DLC stuff like in the last week. It just seems like a no brain You're like, I be able to have a one game on your switch, it would probably be that. So my switch is Smash Bros.

Ultimate. I haven't done solid since I got it. I don't think mine's hollow night. Yeah, shut the fuck up, stupid face. I nodded. I was like, oh cool, I'm glad you like that. It's going to happen one day. They're going to just randomly announce Silk Song and a release date while we're recording. And you're not going to believe me when I'm like mary go on Twitter they announced, I'll explode every time.

It's really funny because every time Nintendo has any kind of like update, which they did this week, anytime they have like a we're gonna do a little couple announcements, world, Twitter will explode with just little Silk Song clowns because everybody is like, they're not gonna fucking we're all we all want it and they won't announce it and they just make us look like total dorks. Yeah you are, I know. Yeah, It's like I'm trying to think there's

probably one I'm missing, like on Xbox. Yeah, for a while, it is war Frame. Most mind that I will never uninstall our PC just because like their strategy games like Command and Conquer or something. Yeah, but like PlayStation five. You know what PlayStation five. I since I got my PS five, I had not uninstalled Red Dead Redemption two. Every once in a while I still go back into it and just kind of get my multiplayer character. Also, it's just a big game to download, so I think

that probably plays a part. I don't want to wait for it to redownload, but I'll just like, you know, get my character wander around. That's just a very calming wilderness to go explore. It's up there. But thank you, Jesse Damn. This last one is specifically for you. It's also kind of Giant Bomb related, and also for people who don't know what they're referencing, please explain, because what a weird fever dream of a show that was? Okay, I was watching best of Giant Bomb on Shuffle?

Was Dan actually mad? Parentheses? Sad? At the end of burgle My Bananas. That's a Joe from Finland. Okay, so burgle My Bananas. I remember when you announced that show. I'm very proud of that show. First of all, great title for a show. It's great follow up to Steal My Sunshine, which is Marius Sunshine one. The concept of what the

fuck was it? Was the four of us playing, and we traded off, and we had the most convoluted way of earning banana tokens or something that we could buy stuff from the Funky I love how you're asking me you designed it all. Yeah, I know, but I also have no memory.

I just remember being very funny to me. Here's what I remember. I remember announcing it in a glittery jacket every time, and then let's go to the Funky Shop and then taking two minutes to try to get my chair out of the way in that tiny fucking room to get the punky shop and frame. I don't remember how any of the currency worked. I don't remember. The Wednesday was we actually he shipped the sixty four to Antarctica, which is

very com funny to me. Yeah, yeah it was. It was Vinnie, you, Me, and Abby. And the idea was that because Navara wanted no part of it, yeah, he had the foresight to opt out, and the idea was, yeah, that we would just we had these random every time we got a banana in the game, which is if you've not played Donkey Kong sixty four, that's the equivalent of like the Star from n sixty four or the wonderful, the shine and Shine. Yeah, yeah,

yeah. Anytime we got one of those, there were several criteria for any time we reached them, we would go spin the wheel, which then like gave us a new prop to wear, wheel to eat or did we just play? Wasn't a virtual wheel? It was a real wheel behind you. You made the wheel, didn't you. I thought we did a virtual thing. No, I'm pretty sure it was a real thing you made and brought in, because yes, you had the You said, let's go to the funky shop. You set up like a tiki bar behind you. No,

I set up the funky shop. I think I was virtual. I think i'sing a lot of this too. Then I what a weird period of my life. I don't know anymore. The Funky Shop is definitely real. Well, so yo, yeah, yeah I made that. Yeah I wish I wish I still had that. Uh so, wait, Mike, maybe you remember like asking if I was mad or sad at the end? What happened at the other All I remember is sending a Nintendo sixty four day Antarctica,

which I was thrilled about. Like I remember taking that to the FedEx store in Midtown and being like, can you send this jungle green sixty four day Antarctica? I remember being like I had a lot of fun with this. This was this was like one of the weirder things we've done. I'm gonna miss this. You did. You did like a farewell speech for sure. What happened that would make me mad or sad? I don't think you

being mad. I remember you maybe because we kind of ended it. The intent was to keep going, I think, and then the intent I think was to get the point was the game sucked and we were trying to like earn enough points to send it to Antarctica so we never had to think about it again. Like that was the whole point, right, yeah. Yeah, So like that thing, and you can be honest with me here,

is this a me thing? Is this a problem? Because like I've seen this pop up plenty of times where it's like I feel like maybe I'm just wrestle brained too much, or it's like I'm constantly like, oh, you got you gotta play things up and you got to like, oh, heal it up, and then you gotta sell it when you lose and stuff. So like I've seen people like at the end of a live Mario party we

did. Drew Scanalon beat me and I did a thing where I took my earpiece out and I've got off stage, and you know, I'm like, after being like the biggest shit he'll ever for like four hours and then the uld baby face Drew Scalon wins and I'm selling like, ah, I'm throwing

a tantrum. And I've seen people be like, oh, it's hard for me to watch Mario Party five because you know, like I could tell Dan was really struggling at the end, and I'm thinking, like, do people just do I Am I just assuming people are getting like wrestling things or is it like somebody just not reading that. I'm obviously like putting on like I'm playing the bad guy and then selling the You're a good seller. I think you really do sell people on your anger or your sadness or you're being a

dickhead. I've bought it before. I don't know if I've ever been actually angry well on a podcast or a stream. There might be I think part of that might be a misunderstanding of on the viewer's part of like not understanding your job or what's really going on. Like I think it might be a

parasocial thing. They think that everything they're seeing is authentic. You sure, So maybe that's it because I've definitely done things on like GameSpot or fire Escape and then I see people reacting to something I said or how I was talking about it, and they're like completely went over their head that I was, you know, playing it up, and they just can't like read that like I think, like so often, especially on fire Escape. That's where I'm

We've talked about this before. I'm pretty authentic on Fireescape. I'm not. I'm never straight up like lying about shit, but there are certain times. There are definitely times, certainly where I'm amping up the mic so to speak, for a bit exactly. Yeah, we're all being authentic, but I think sometimes I will ramp stuff up and then people will be like, oh, like, I guess Mike is actually like I didn't realize this was a side of him. I'm like, well, it's not. But I'm doing

it at the microphones and cameras in front of our faces. We're doing a show. But yeah, Dan, you said that you've never actually been mad in a podcast ever, and then you said, well, yeah, then I thought even recently, yes, there is one context in which I definitely am mad, and it's happened several times on stream in the last few weeks, and that is if I am dealing with production issues now that I am, you know, as I'm trying. That's the thing, Like I'm still

fairly new to this. I kind of started doing this in the pandemic. And there's shit where it's like if you saw men streaming with KLA last weekend, and it's like, why the fuck doesn't the volume on my TV work anymore? Or why isn't this game capture card showing up as a source in OBS anymore? Like, and I've got a fucking extra life stream that I am have to host and play and literally host people in my house and stream

this out and raise it like there's a lot on my shoulders. And when like something is happening where it's like why the fuck isn't this capture card showing up or whatever? Like that is legitimate, Like that's not an entertainment thing. If it was, that'd be shitty entertainment because like me just getting frustrated

at tech is not like a funny bit or anything like that. So like that that is earnest me being upset, me being pissed off, being disappointed because it's like, goddamn it, this should be working, and I don't understand why that's you verse tech, that's not interpersonal stuff, which I think people don't know how to read sometimes. Well, yeah, there was a moment at Giant Bone with Vinnie, and like me and Vinnie always got along great, and we still do. You know, there's never any problems there.

And we were playing Fusion Frenzy once and like whenever I've said this before and how I don't know, I'm not actually competitive, but I don't actually get mad or anything like that. Well, there's the time you threw a pennant Benny. You got madiffusion printing through a penn at Benny. It's like, again, yes, we're playing a dumb ass party game and some bullshit happened, like oh you better me and I threw a pen against the wall behind his head and be like no, no, you must have forgotten about

that time you were furious and threw a pin at his face. What are you talking about? Like, I just it's it's crazy to me when people can't tell that. It's just like, this is we're doing a show, I think people get get so it's it's one of those things. It's like a double sided coin because on the one hand, it's flattering that people decide

to spend this much time watching something or listening to something. On the other hand, I think it can be difficult for people not to get pilled into thinking that everything they're seeing is authentic you, and they think that is you, and if they were to hang out with you at a bar, that's exactly how you would be. Yeah, and again, we're all authentic here, but we definitely amp up certain aspects of our personality for energyment or just

honestly, for me, it's to make YouTube laugh. Anyone on a show where even like not even like a podcasting thing, in a social situation with your friends, he plays stuff up you Like if I was playing Mario Party with my sisters with no cameras on Growing Up, You're gonna act mad when

someone steals your star. You're gonna like, you know, that's you're just getting into it, you know, Like I just that's it's so foreign to me, and I just wonder if it's like I'm just so fucking yeah wrestling brain, you know, like I'm fucked up to a point where it's goes but such a good actor, that is not the case. I think my my sense of humor, and then my friends, many of whom you've met recently, half of our sense of humor was very much based on like putting

on an act to fuck with other people. Yeah, but they gotten so used to it that they know that most of anytime I'm showing any intense emotion, odds are, it's a bit yeah. Yeah, people who know me know when I'm truly mad. You two can tell when I'm truly mad. I don't think it's happened, but there were definitely times when I've been like pissed at a specific person when you guys could tell it's mad. But like, it's almost never on air. Odds are on air, I'm just playing

something up. Well. That's the thing too that I think people don't get is like if we actually did get mad during a podcast recording or during a stream, it wouldn't play out in a way where you would hear it. It would be a thing where you'd kind of bite your lip and be like, all right, we got to talk about this afterwards or something. But even that's rare. But it wouldn't be a thing where a podcast like that's not fucking you would do that. Yeah, there's producers who would cut the

feed at some point if something bad enough. Yeah yeah, yeah, but it was an actual problem you're talking for the show or something like that, but like that doesn't really happen, So yeah, I yeah, maybe I I worry that I make too many assumptions about like, oh, well, this is obvious when maybe it's not obvious to people. You know. I think as long as you are feeling good about the relationships that you have,

that's like ultimately the most important thing. And I've never genuinely been furious with you. I've frustrated, but I don't think I've ever been mad once in the last couple of years where Dan has sincerely pissed me off. Oh this is fun. No, it's pretty simple and it happened quickly. It was no no, no, no, no uh one of the I think honestly it was the meetup last no, not the it was game of the year. Yeah, last year. We were here in New York before we went

up to Connecticut. When you ate the cat nep no, no, no, no. That was funny because it's at your apartment. Yes, I live on a fourth floor walk up. By this, I'm in the clear here. This is great for a fourth floor walk up. Video of them going up four flights and we're climbing up the stairs to get to my apartment and I'm in front and Dan's behind me. And what were you doing? Were you grabbing? It was every time you stepped, I was grabbing your

ankle. That was about to step three time. Impossible for you to walk up. I think there, let's say there's sixteen stairs per flight, let's step for there are sixty four steps. I got pissed by the end of floor too. I was like Dan, that's actually annoying me. And then you kept doing it for the next two flights, and I'm like Dan, I can't explain. I cannot overstate how pissed I am right now and how much is annoying you or me. That's the only time I can recall where

I was like Dan. Like later that night, I was like Dan, that actually like it was. I was heated and you I would do it again. I would do it again million years, get like physical again. But I truly cannot imagine this situation where I would actually like, haul off and punch you in the face. Oh, but that was the closest you've got, Even though the gulf between that and me actually punching you was still very wide. You got close. I do that to Kayla. I do

that to Kayla. I only do it with the people I'm closest with. And I do it to Kayla and she this fucking donkey kicked me in the chest on a staircase. So I don't want to do that though, because these are steep, like the curve. I was like, you would get hurt. I think you know that I'm never going to do that on those stairs, So you keep doing it or you've done it that once. I was like, I got upstairs and like Amanda was like, you're actually mad

at you. I was like, yes, but you weren't mad when he drug you by your feet and then turns on the ice dispenser of the fridge with your feet. Wait when what? Yeah, I took I took you. We were all very drunk. I took your foot. You were laying on the ground or something, and I grabbed your foot and I shoved it into the ice thing. That's funny. That's really funny, Mary, didn't you get the video of that? I have video of everything. Where can

you send me that video? That was funny because that was the night Dan was eating the skittles off the counter with his mouth that too, and Bunk is in the background talking about why it's weird to wipe a certain way the fall hike. Yeah, and no, most Dan does like the worst stuff in the videos. We're going, what are you talking about? You're doing it wrong? Yeah, No, most of the stuff you've done to me, Dan, I've like, see I when I'm the like butt of the

joke, I will be laughing harder than anybody. You handle it well. I think I'm very good now at identifying who would be funny and fun to fuck with like to an insane degree, and who would be friends with you if you can't be fucked with a little bit. The flatiring thing, it wasn't flat tired, but that was like something I don't know what, maybe like anything involving my it's not my ankles, though. You dragged me by

my ankles to the ice dispenser, and that was funny. It must have been just like the thought that you were about to trip me, like sixty four times going upstairs. It seems like an annoying way to walk upstairs. But like and then that like my, my, my communication like hiccups get come into play. Because I remember stopping on like the third floor and turning to you. I was like, Dan, I know we fuck with each other. We have one more flight to go to my apartment. Please,

this is pissing me off. And then lo and behold you start doing it again, and I had to, like, I forget. I definitely wasn't like clan clandestine, like telling Amanda I'm really kissed. It was more like she's like, you're actually mad. Art was like yes, And I think I had to go back and like pet one of my cats for like five minutes to calm down. I gotta go pet my cat. Oh, I'll stand by that one. That's do it again, Like you've shoved the cat

treats in my mouth. That was funny. I wasn't expecting that. Yeah, you've done a lot. But uh but yeah, Mary, if you have that ice suspenser thing, send it to me because that I have it, I have it somewhere. I'll find it. I also Instagram, but like it's literally an Instagram story. Oh, yeah. Uh put that back on the firescape Instagram. Okay, oh well, thank you Joam, Yeah, thank you. Land of Alan Wake. Oh is that what he was saying Finland? Oh it said it said something else here? Oh oh that

Landed thing. Oh I don't know. Just Alan has been there. Yeap Remedy's there, which is funny because Poets of the Fall are Finish the band in the games Old Gods of Asgar are technically Swedish, but they're played by a Finnish band. But there's also the young version and the old versions. Yeah, yep, good music. Watch watch those music videos. Watch that

clip that Sam Lake posted today, and pay attention to Warrendor's face. While like Sam and the guy playing Allen are like being a bit more serious and like deadpan, He's just like, uh, I try to pull this up? What is like his He's retweeting a lot of Alan Wake love right now. I posted slack for probably let me find it. I'll put in our discord. Yeah. Yeah. In the meantime, everybody, thank you so much for joining again. Before we sign off, got a few fun things

coming up December sixteenth. If you're not already subscribed to Dan's Twitch channel, Twitch, dot tv slash Dan Riikert, that's where we will be doing it live. We will get back to you with specific times. We'll put that on our social channels and or Dan, do you do we you have a the evening. We haven't talked about it like I would say central time,

you know, seven eight around that general time frame. We'll get some dinner or something and then we'll go live, so roughly around seven or eight on that Saturday, the eighteenth, and that will be live on Dan's Twitch channel, and then we will put the VOD on the fire Escape Past YouTube channel. If you're not already subscribed there, go do that. That's also where

Mary and I put up Resident Evil we Fingers. We'll have a new episode very soon, or rather we will have one up, a new one up by the time this episode is up on our channels, but go there so if you can't make the live show or you can only see bits and pieces of it, that'll be up on our YouTube channel, and then we'll also have the audio up on the following Monday, the eighteenth. Monday the eighteenth

will be episode seventy. That'll be our Game of the Year twenty twenty three extravaganza, Mary Jake and I will be descending on Dan's house in Minneapolis to hang out in his bar and argue for what I'm sure will be a very cordial and civil chat about the best game of twenty twenty three look to it. Yeah, and then Fireskate merch dot com. You can go and get your dorky Christmas sweatshirts your crew next if you didn't get one last year,

they are available. Do you want to catch up on our festive ugly dorky Christmas sweaters? Very wholesome, You don't need to tell everybody what it really means. And then we also just have merch for still one's business that it means hand job. No, no, it's a hand job. Sure. There's also just some nice like winter garb on fire Escape merch dot Com going into the winter. And then outside of that, we will be back in a couple of weeks. Before that, we have one more episode before our

Game of the Year, while we're planning for that. We will be back on December fourth, Dan, what do you have going on in the meantime? You got a lot going on? Yes, I do. I don't know if I'll be streaming much to my personal channel in the next few weeks, but Giant Bomb definitely check out our Game of the Year stuff going on there from Los Angeles. We will be on the ground for the Game Awards, but more importantly, the real Game of the Year Awards will be happening

on December ninth, live in Los Angeles. Tickets sold out very quickly. We have a live venue, we've got guests, we've got friends sold out, but we will be streaming out live on at twitch dot tv slash Giant Bomb, and it's gonna be fun. We also we are doing like a normal like week leading up to Game of the Year. We're gonna do categories, We're gonna do the usual stuff like that. Is gonna be the finale

of Game of the Year. Is gonna be live on stage. We will be doing the silly categories and stuff like that on that previous upf day, on the BombCast day, things like that. So just stay tuned to Giant Bomb. A lot of plans going on there for Game of the Year and then week after that fire Escape Game of the Year, So a whole lot going on. Judge Jake is going to make his return, and apparently several famous guests are famous, a very famous ghost, a very famous gizmo.

If you're talking about gizmo, we can deliver on gizmo. We can promise, and we will deliver on the ghost of a very famous celebrity will be there in spirit. I don't make promises. I can't heap, don't I don't write checks. My butt can't cash. I don't know this is appealing to you too, But you know, the Twin Cities are a test market for Taco Bell and we have had the Taco Bell chicken nuggets for the last month and I've had them three times and they are fucking amazing, really tallapenia

breaded chicken nuggets. I'm not kidding at all. Are they in a taco No, They're just they're nuggets. And I look as much as we can get a taco and you can put them in there. Yeah, yeah, Like I am a Taco Bell mark. But when they put out a new thing that isn't great, I'll say it. The chicken rollers that came out with recently were not great. I ordered them once, won't order them again.

These nuggets, real deal, they are like this. Somehow Taco Bell has become my favorite nugget in fry place and we can get those the nacho fries. The nacho fries are fantastic. Taco Bell is doing great work lately, and these nuggets need to come out. Taco Sciences come a long way. They got a new belt sauce. They got a Jalibenio honey mustard. I don't even like mustard, and I order the Halibenio honey mustard. It's fucking amazing with the nuggets. I'm telling you, it's fucking good. They

perfected Taco Bell with the crunch wrap. I don't know that I want to go past that. All right, we don't. We don't have to get it. We don't have to get them. I'm not I'm not kidding it. It's fucking great. If you get Taco Bell, I'll just get a crunch wrap. Did they still have the crunch wrap? They do like breakfast ones, and I have disappointing to you that I want to get a crunch wraps at this point. Will be adventurous, you know, adventures by eating

Taco Bell. I come on now, Dan, I eat many many fancy foods. I just drank a coat Darne. Throughout this episode, christ On that note, Mary, what do you have going on? I'm going to the Game Awards. Uh, that's probably the next big thing. So I'll be at the Game Awards with Dan. Mike's coming to. Will definitely take a photo of the three of us. All of us will be there,

really looking forward to in person photo. Yeah, Mary, we should u specifically, I did not bring up that Wednesday, which would be Wednesday the sixth, we will be doing the Giant Bomb at night couch show. We won't. Yeah, and I'll be there. Yes, you will be there. It's not gonna be a whole thing like a summer games spot where it's like several different nights and Mike will be there and we're going to do a nice in person count. Don't look at the photo for too long. No,

just a Brett glimpse. Yeah, yeah, just just real quick. But yeah, Mary, you'll be on the couch. We'll have you a Wednesday night, the night before the Game Awards. I will see you there. I'll be there, Yeah, and we'll take a picture. I like Mike's on the show and he goes, I like, wan, that was funny. I remember that now? Well cool? That was episode sixty eight. Getting closer to sixty woo. And then we then we pe numerous celebrity guests planned for sixty nine. Yep, I haven't figured out who yet,

but there will be celebrity guests. All the stars will be there. The stars will all be there. It'll just be like one really bad JFK fresh, my fellow Americans, the next step in entertainment, the all in one entertainment console, the Xbox One. JFK is done. Matter is a weird bit JFK figuring out the console that goes best off his butt what I want to see? He's a Wemo guy. Yeah, the Series X is two

rectangular. I'm here to tell you the Series X can fit better. It's still a square pag in a round hole, but it will do the job. And what you must ask is not what your console can do for you, but what you can do for your console. Imagine what is Phil Spencer mixed with JFK sound like? Let's hear it. I'm so excited to bring you the next evolution of entertainment consoles. It's going to be such an exciting year for Xbox. We have such exciting indie studios and newly acquiet Studios here

to bring you the best games on any platform. This is a weird bit. I don't you asked? Did you ask for it? He did ask for it, but then you didn't put in like how those fit into your butt? Yeah, back to the left. I believe it's all connected. Well, I'm not going to smirch the good name of Phil Spencer and Abraham Lincoln or JF. It's one thirty here, I'm tired. Seven years ago, here's Phil doing a four score. And seven years ago we set out

what are you doing with your hands? At that point? They're my pants? Right now you're wet toad shirt? We score? And seven years ago we set out, thanks for a good episode, to remake Battle Toads. And I'm so excited because today we're here for two hours. This is my most anticipated game. It's called Redfall. We bought. That's a game I gotta go check check out before h Yeah, it's gonna come up a lot of them here. There's gotta be a category to fit that in. All

right, thank you for joining. A lot going on the next few months. I cannot fucking wait till we have one more episode before Game of the Year. But I can't wait. Uh in exactly a month from a couple hours ago when it was still November sixteenth. I'll be out in Minneapolis to record. That'll be fun. Looking forward to seeing cool Judge Jake. We'll be back to Razor Gizmo, see your new digs. Can't wait, good time. Well, thanks everybody for joining. We'll see you on episode sixty

nine. Do you on episode sixty nine? No, come on now, it's your joke. It's your joke. Dan was the originator nine recording