Overthinking Games is a podcast about what video games can teach us. We look at video games through an educational and critical lens.
Potions: A Curious Tale Renee Gittins of Stumbling Cat Studio joins Seth and Katie to discuss her new game, Potions: A Curious Tale, global folklore, and the nigh universal experience of imposter syndrome. Send us an email with your thoughts! [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses...
The Long and Short of Game Length How do you decide what’s the best bang for your video game buck? Does the length of a game make a difference in your decision-making process? What are some of the things short games can accomplish that longer games can’t, and vice versa? Join the crew this week as we overthink game duration! Would you rather play a shorter or longer game? Send us an email with your thoughts! [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok ...
Building on our recent discussions of both bad games and genre(iteration is everywhere!), we take a look at video game clones, and try to determine the difference between a game building on the shoulders of giants, and moral and creative bankruptcy. Oh, and Dempsey talks about his adventures creating audiobook soundscapes. This is a wild one, folks! Leave us a review, and send us an email, we’d love to hear your thoughts! [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Inst...
We are joined by special guest @FierceAxolotl, the fiercely kind and incredibly insightful streamer, as we chat about the ways platformers can deliver experiences that no other genre can. More than an opportunity to “git gud,” we talk about how platformers can be an allegory for internal struggle, and how Seth would much rather have an external antagonist, thank you very much. Find FierceAxolotl on Twitch and TikTok @FierceAxolotl. https://twitch.tv/fierceaxolotl If you have thoughts about the i...
This week, the gang’s back together to dig into video game genres. What the heck is the difference between a roguelike and roguelite? Nobody knows, but we’re definitely going to talk about it! Do you think genres are getting too wishy-washy, or do you prefer a 24-adjective description for your science-fiction-noir-point-and-click-mystery-adventure? Send us an email to let us know what you’re thinking! [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme m...
Go follow Danny on Youtube and Tik Tok. A conversation about indie games. Send us an email at [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses
Are games bad? Does what i type here affect SEO? Dempsey is doing the notes for this episode. He is bad at summarizing stuff. [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses
Data Driven Gaming Ever had fun gaming even though your k/d was trash? Yeah, neither has Katie… This week we talk about how stats can make or break gaming experiences (unless you’re Dempsey, who’s living for the vibes), Seth explains how “bigger number, better person” works, and we have a slightly ranty look at data in the classroom. Do stats make or break YOUR gaming experience, or are you simply vibin’? Send us an email to let us know what you’re thinking! [email protected] Fi...
(Un)Healthy Gaming This week, we do the episode we meant to do last week but got distracted from by listener mail. In this episode, we discuss the line between healthy/unhealthy gaming habits, and engagement with media in general. When is it too much of a good thing? How do we discern what is adding “value” to our lives, and what does that even mean anyway? (Hint: we think it’s probably rooted in capitalism…) Shout out to @TheGamersDrink for his insightful Tik-Tok video addressing this very topi...
Listener Mail This week, we pivoted from our originally planned topic, as we were way too delighted about responding to listener mail! If you’d like your questions, comments or suggestions to be heard, please send us an email! It’ll literally make our whole day: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses...
Escapism and Video Games Fear not! Dempsey is back this week as we tackle some -inescapable- questions: When is escapism an acceptable, or even beneficial, practice vs. a harmful avoidance tactic? What’s the difference between “flow state,” “immersion,” and “escapism?” How does Seth have such highly developed coping strategies, and can he teach the rest of the crew? Join us as we discuss these questions, and more, on this week’s episode! What’s your favorite genre or game to escape to? Share you...
Happy New Year! After a brief holiday hiatus (sorry, we should have mentioned we were taking a little break!), the gang is back for an on-air gift exchange and to discuss our top 5 games of 2023(released anytime between 2014-2023, of course!). What was your GOTY in 2023? Have a hot take you think people should hear? Send us an email at: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverse...
This week, we’re down a Dempsey. To fill the void, we have a very special guest; Brett from the Lore’d to Death Podcast! We chat about Brett’s (excellent) show and the process of condensing video game lore into bite sized pieces, world-building in video games, multimedia canon, and Seth and Brett wax poetic about Fromsoft games. Share your thoughts at: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtu...
Video Game Preservation The copyright duration for a video game is up to 120 years long…what does that mean for the preservation of video games? Are video games an art form worthy of preservation, in the same vein as literature and film? Join us as we discuss video game preservation in this week’s episode! Are video games art? How would you decide what to keep and what to allow to be lost to time? Share your thoughts at: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Insta...
This week the trio discusses the relationship between gamers and the gaming news cycle. How does hype impact how we respond to games? Does it matter if our news sources are biased if we know that they’re biased? We get into these questions and more! Share your thoughts at: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses...
This week, we explore God of War, masculinity, and fatherhood. We are joined by very special guest, Joshua, from The Gamers Drink, a Tik-Tok channel where he pairs drinks, cocktails and mocktails with videogames for a grown up cozy vibe. Did you feel seen when you played God of War? Do you think we’re reading too much into it? Are you completely convinced to play this 2018 gem? Follow Joshua here: https://www.tiktok.com/@gamersdrink Share your thoughts at: [email protected] Find...
Continuing our spooky theme, Seth brings us into the fascinating realm of existential and cosmic horror, Katie learns what both of those things are, and Dempsey thinks out of the box when it comes to titles that give us that special, awful feeling of being infinitesimal in an infinite universe. Share the games that remind you of being a drop in the ocean, your favorite eldritch horror, or whatever else is on your mind at: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Inst...
TW: body horror, infant death (talking about fears) Spooky season is upon us! This week, Seth is out sick, and we’re joined by Nick from Smashing Game Time for a conversation about horror games and what they can teach us about ourselves, and society as a whole. Listen to Nick and his brothers, Josh and Jake, every week on Smashing Game Time wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find Nick’s gaming reviews on Game Chronicles. Have a horror theme that resonates with you? Scared of nothing and...
This week, we got listener mail asking us to keep making fun of Dempsey, which is, fortunately, one of our favorite segments on the show. Then join us as we dive into multiplayer gaming in its myriad forms: play-and-watch, co-op, competitive multiplayer, and the gaming community as a whole. Why IS Call of Duty so toxic, and Deep Rock Galactic so wholesome? We might not have all the answers, but we have plenty of thoughts on the matter! Got something to share? Have an idea for who we should inter...
Normally Katies writes these but this week I have to... soo... um... We talk about skill checks. It's a good episode. Got something to share? Have an idea for who we should interview next or a topic we should cover? Let us know at: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Katie’s Twitch: https://twitch.tv/overthinkinggames_k8 Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses...
Designing Achievements With Smart Goals This week, Seth, our resident achievement hunter, leads the discussion on achievements! What’s the difference between a game you would 100% and one you turn off when the credits roll? What can we learn from video games about SMART goals? Listen to the episode, and you may just find out! Also discussed: Dempsey recommends Vampire Survivors documentary from No Clip and says GTA Online is “fine.” Seth’s got some thoughts on the myriad ways to play Elden Ring,...
Violence in Video Games On this week’s episode, we wade into some philosophical quandaries- Is violence portrayed in video games ever a question of morality? Why is combat so closely tied to video games? What makes something “too violent,” or are you like Seth and nothing bothers you? Join us as we jump in to separate “combat” from “violence,” and discuss violence in video games. Also discussed: Seth’s replaying Elden Ring(because he loves it, but also his computer died), Katie loved Citizen Sle...
This week, Dempsey talks with classical guitarist and video game enthusiast, Josh Garofolo, about music in video games, and his personal passion for creating incredible arrangements of video game music for the classical guitar on his YouTube channel, Josh Garofolo Guitar. Got something to share? Have an idea for who we should interview next or a topic we should cover? Let us know at: [email protected] Find us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Theme music is copyright ...
Interview with Pat Naoum This week, Dempsey has the chance to interview Pat Naoum, the solo developer of The Master’s Pupil. A puzzle platformer, The Master’s Pupil combines smooth platforming, clever puzzle mechanics and incredible environments, painstakingly painted by hand over the course of years, to create a beautiful and unique experience. Also discussed: How excited we are about The Master’s Pupil, Dempsey checks out some indie souls-like gems, Katie’s back in high school with Persona 5, ...
This week, we take a break from our more scholarly content to talk about what games we like to play on the go. To determine the best portable games, it helps to know why you want them portable: Seth likes strategy games he can pick up, put down, ruminate upon, and then make his move. Dempsey wants something he can play for 5-10 minutes in between Uber jobs. Katie just wants to be able to play in different rooms of the house and to achieve maximum cozy vibes. Other things discussed: We think our ...
This week, the crew tackle what games can teach us about thinking. We deep dive into different kinds of thinking, and how they’re built into games. From linear puzzle solving in Resident Evil 4, to the lateral thinking needed for speed running, there’s a lot to think about when it comes to thinking! Also discussed: Seth’s power supply bit the dust, Katie is still playing Planet Zoo, and Dempsey stopped playing Family Feud in favor of a game he actually enjoys: Disco Elysium! Email us your though...
The Beginner’s Guide In this week’s episode, we seriously overthink The Beginner’s Guide, a masterpiece of video game narrative. Spoiler Warning: YOU NEED TO PLAY THIS GAME FIRST, we fully spoil the game! Order of operations: Listen until 19:40, then go play The Beginner’s Guide, then finish the episode, then email us your thoughts on The Beginner’s Guide! Also discussed: Dempsey is oddly fascinated with the Family Feud mobile game, Seth has been playing Tears of the Kingdom, Katie is hooked on ...
In this episode, we dive into 5th grade literacy standards, and examples of games we think are great at meeting those standards. Dempsey talks about Florence and inferencing, Katie talks about Dangonronpa and summarizing with details from the text, and Seth talks about Game Jams as a way to compare and contrast similar topics and themes. Also discussed: Seth and Dempsey are obsessed with Tears of the Kingdom, Katie finally got a Steam Deck, and everyone needs to play The Beginner’s Guide. Find u...
In this episode, we talk about video game music and what it means to us. Dempsey loves some good space banjo in Outer Wilds, Katie hates nostalgia but loves The Last of Us, Seth has curated a playlist that equates to the timeline of his childhood, and we all really love the Hollow Knight OST. Also discussed: Tears of the Kingdom and how much Dempsey just wants to keep playing it, Seth is running out of steam playing Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2, and Katie really wants to get a steam deck so ...
In today’s episode, we talk about personal strengths, Persona 5, and valuing differing abilities in the classroom. Dempsey loves project based learning, Seth gives perspective on different kinds of intelligence, and Katie talks about different methods of expressing understanding. Also discussed: Dicordian Gods, made by elkniodaphs, a Switch exclusive 2D RPG found on the Switch’s RPG Maker MV player app, Dad-games, including Command&Conquer: Red Alert and Thief(2000 and 2014), and, of course,...
