In this Accidental Annapurna Special, Alex and Chris discuss the joy of driving big boats in FAR: Changing Tides, and the wanton nature of animal games, as reflected by the latest big animal game, Stray. You know, the cat game! Also! News on Pip’s new game she’s doing called Flock, and Alex tells the unhappy tale of how his dog came to steal his pitta bread. Alex might be going gently mad without his family, but at least he has his dog-friend Roddy . Pip’s done a new game! It’s called Flock and ...
Jul 29, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Join Jamie Brittain and Alex Wiltshire on the muggy spectrum, where we discuss the shrinking spaces of Elden Ring, the very Xbox 360 thrills of Geometry Wars and Halo 3, and briefly touch on the ludicrous joys of Dmc. Also! We find out what the guy over Jamie’s back gate is up to, discover how many times Alex’s daughter has completed Breath Of The Wild, and learn why 2007 was a terrible year for Jamie’s mental health, but an excellent year for Grolsch, Lambert & Butler and overlooked sports ...
Jul 15, 2022•1 hr 14 min
Storied dungeon master Jim Rossignol joins Marsh to talk about the joy of pretending to be scoundrels, goblins and doomed spacemen, and why you should venture beyond the vast borders of Dungeons & Dragons to do so. Discussed: Blades in the Dark, Agon, Mothership, Symbaroum, Numenera, DIE & more! Mohican Dwarf : an early role-model. Dungeons and Dragons : the big kahuna! Now in its 5th Edition, sometimes referred to simply as 5E. Palladium Books’ Rifts RPG Traveller Vampire: The Masquerad...
Jul 08, 2022•2 hr 20 min
Pip, Tom F, Chris and Marsh gather to discuss the oldest recipe, what windows are and whether objects are real. Also! Videogames: The Wild at Heart, Citizen Sleeper, Norco and Hellsinger. Also also: the return of Questions from Questions and, thrice-also, a quiz. Zachtronics is shutting down with one more game: Last Call BBS The Wild at Heart is a cute Pikminvania game Nine minutes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge leads to more minutes of nonsense than I, or probably you, anti...
Jul 01, 2022•3 hr 5 min
Jamie and Marsh climb into their effluent splattered diving-bell and plunge into the bowels, literal and metaphorical, of Mad God, the wildly deranged, deeply harrowing stop-motion masterpiece from animation legend Phil Tippett. Bon appetit! Mad God has been released on Shudder , a horror streaming service. Fellow Hell-depicters of yore: Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Breughel This is definitely not the Dark Crystal . A few of the stop-motion references we carry with us: Harry Hausen films, e.g. C...
Jun 24, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Jamie and Marsh discuss the highlights, or rather the extensive mid-range tones, of the E3 week that wasn’t, delight in Next Fest’s demos for Old Skies and Agent 64: Spies Never Die, and usher in the doom of humankind in Shadows of Forbidden Gods. Geoff Keighley’s twitching automaton presents Summer GameFest aka Keigh-3. Enjoy it to the exact degree that Keighley permits, and no more. Warhammer 40,000: Dark Tide is a promising firstperson cultist-squisher from the Vermintide devs. Jamie’s also b...
Jun 17, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Jamie, Chris and Marsh dive into the kaleidoscopic weirdness of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Join us as we discuss it in the context of such cultural touchstones as Christopher Nolan’s Fart Clock, musical instruments designed to make children faint, and Crysis 2. Lots of spoilers, almost from the outset, and even in the cast list below! You should see the film first. Directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert The cast! Michelle Yeoh – Evelyn Ke Huy Quan – Waymond Stephanie Hsu – Joy / Jobu ...
Jun 10, 2022
Chris and Marsh mull over videogame fictions on TV, reject the inhumanity of space capitalism in Citizen Sleeper, embrace the inhumanity of space capitalism in Dune: Spice Wars, bounce off Dracula’s digs in V Rising, and get their Sokob-on in Jelly Is Sticky. Sony says its creating TV series based on Horizon, God of War and Gran Turismo. Sorry that I come across as a bit of a Sammy in this section. I don’t think these will definitely be bad, I just feel we need more telly that is made primarily ...
Jun 03, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Graham, Jamie and Alex delight in being terrible at traditional roguelikes. Recklessly quaff an unidentified potion, dodge the snapping maw of an ASCII eel, and join us as we plunge into the unknown, die horribly, and rise again. This is a pod about the more closely related descendents of Rogue ! E.g… Brogue! The Community Edition is found here and is necessary for playing the same seed that Jamie and Alex have been dying in: 27052022 . Enjoy! Shiren the Wanderer Jupiter Hell Angband and its off...
May 27, 2022•1 hr 41 min
Tom S is joined by Jamie and, I believe, a blackbird to chat formative gaming experiences, co-op caving in Deep Rock Galactic, oddly named leggings in Injustice 2 and the many delights of the Steam Deck. Jamie cut his teeth on games like SpaceQuest and Monkey Island. Defunct game mag of yesteryear: PC Zone. It rubs the lotion Spelunky on its skin or else it gets the hose again. The Binding of Isaac – melding compulsive roguelike session game with dark psychological themes. Chris likes the scream...
May 20, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Graham, Tom S and Marsh have somehow found the time to watch, then rewatch and even discuss The Batman, the recent bladder-bursting film directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson. Obviously, we spoil the film. Don’t listen or read below if you have yet to see the film and wish any of its surprises preserved. Who’s in this film then, eh? Robert Pattinson as The Battinson Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman Paul Dano as Riddler Colin Farrel as Penguin, amazingly Peter Saarsgard as the DA Glen Gonn...
May 13, 2022
Tom S, Chris and Marsh gather to discuss wedding whoopsies, monkey winkies, Weird West’s wonkiness, Nobody Saves the World’s classy class combos and Bloodhunt’s world of darkness warzoné. Congrats to Tom S and Emma! May your union be unmarked by further calamity. Embracer Group acquire Eidos, associated studios and their IP from Square Enix for a mere $300m . Raiders of the Lost Ark still stands up. You know what else stands up ? Don’t huff the Pope-smoke in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt ....
May 06, 2022•1 hr 36 min
In which Jamie Brittain, Tom Francis and Alex Wiltshire convene to discuss the excellent Apple Plus existential workplace comedy drama Severance. All spoilers are off from the start with this one! But it’s great, so you should def watch it! Severance is on Apple Plus Meta employees are called ‘Metamates’, ewwww. Escape at Dannemora is another excellent Ben Stiller helmed show. The Outlaws is the disappointing show with Walken in Bristol. Devs. Black Mirror: White Christmas is incredible. Interst...
Apr 24, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Jamie and Marsh enthuse about Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, Licorice Pizza – an energetic and uplifting tale of an eccentric romance set against the backdrop of 70s LA. Watch it, it’s fab. The 94th Academy Awards! Licorice Pizza woz robbed! Maybe? Billy Crystal getting covered in gob Who’s in this film then, eh? Alana Haim as Alana Cooper Hoffman as Gary Alana Haim’s entire actual family as Alana’s family John Michael Higgins as Jerry Skyler Gisondo as Lance (also seen in the excellent Rig...
Apr 01, 2022
Tom S, Alex and Marsh graft themselves into a singular mass of thrashing limbs and return to Elden Ring’s shattered land, get lost in the knot of Tunic’s shortcuts and enjoy the drizzle of Gran Turismo 7. Be wary of lore, in short, hole ahead: Elden Ring . Homage to Zelda games of yore, Tunic . The wonderfully, wilfully unglamorous, and yet somehow pompous, car game, Gran Turismo 7 . You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel . If you have a question for a future episode, ...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 17 min
Jamie and Marsh compile a list of 50 movies, released across the last 22 years, which are dead good. Are they the deadest good? Decide for yourself! They certainly contain all manner of blood-drinking, cow-kissing, custard-selling, marmalade-making, bestiality, incest and murder. Phantom Thread There Will Be Blood The Piano Teacher The White Ribbon Cache The spoof Michael Haneke twitter account . Under the Skin A Separation The Great Beauty Holy Motors Captain Philips Memories of Murder Once Upo...
Mar 18, 2022•2 hr 16 min
Chris, Tom S and Marsh deliver the world’s very first takes that anyone has ever had about Elden Ring. Salute the skill of Bumbo, fear the knife-eagle’s fire-bollock, regret the crafting system and wonder, “Why is it always behind?” Are show notes even necessary for this episode? Elden Ring is the new game from From Software, at least partially attributable to Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin. From Software also made Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Dark Souls III, Bloodborne a...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Jamie offers Marsh a cinematic serving suggestion: a pairing of Hitchcock’s classic 1940 adaptation of Rebecca with the 1948 version of Brighton Rock starring Richard Attenborough. Discussed: hauntings, Hell and the occult origins of beef tea. You can watch both of these films for free on The Inter-Net! Rebecca is on Youtube and Brighton Rock is on archive.org . Rebecca (1940) Joan Fontaine as the second Mrs. de Winter Laurence Olivier as George Fortescue Maximilian “Maxim” de Winter, owner of M...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 58 min
Chris and Marsh define irrelevance by recording a podcast hours before the release of the biggest game of the year so far, and instead discuss Destiny 2’s Witch Queen expansion, brutalist physics puzzler ABRISS, Total War: Warhammer 3, how much whomp you can put in a bog, and more. Destiny 2 ‘s shaggy dog story about a ball and the horse that loved him (or does he?) finds its apogee in the latest expansion: The Witch Queen. ABRISS , a physics-based puzzler about disassembling buildings entirely ...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 27 min
Jamie and Alex take a trip up the castellated spires and lethal staircases of the Castlevania series. We cover both the bonkers camp of the Symphony Of The Night-likes, and also the lethal twitching of the 8 & 16 bit games on Old Nintendos. Yes in that order, as this is a very personal and deeply non-definitive take on the series as experienced by British lads who came very, very late to the party. Learn the difference between house music and techno. Find out where Jamie had his GBA stolen a...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 50 min
Tom S and Marsh discuss the underwhelming goon-kicking reward loop of Dying Light 2, the high-calibre clobbering but confusing structure of Sifu, and the many ways of being stuck in Expeditions: Rome. Dying Light 2: Staaaaaay Human is an expansive parkour game with comically wonko interpersonal drama and surprisingly crap combat. Hybrid tactics/strategy RPG Expeditions: Rome is many games in one, and some are good! Not actually going to link the studio’s new endeavour, because blockchain is for ...
Feb 11, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Jamie, Graham and Chris get lost in the desert of the real for three and half hours . Join them as they discuss the several Matrices, velcro, dads, bad squids, comedy French Dracula bastards, whether Geoff Keighley is real, whether films themselves exist, the “vocabulary of power”, the emotional logistics of sofas, 5D aeroplanes – and more! For three and half hours ! I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it. Spoiler warning: the gang talk about the plot points of ...
Feb 04, 2022•3 hr 22 min
Graham, Alex and Marsh revel in the dopamine hit of spook-’em-shmup, Vampire Survivors, grumble about Halo Infinite, cultivate occult vegetables in Strange Horticulture and use children as ammunition in Fuga: Melodies of Steel. Starting out strong, it’s Robotron with Ghosts and Upgrades, aka, Vampire Survivors . And why not? Also playable in your browser . There may actually too much Halo: Infinite . If only they could have warned us somehow – say, in the title. Confoundingly unmysterious plant ...
Jan 28, 2022•58 min
Chris, Alex and Marsh are inconvenienced, entertainingly, by Monster Hunter Rise, marvel at Spider-Man’s well-considered nodes, sniff in trepidation at Book of Travels, and bop skeletons in VR weapon-waggler Legendary Tales. Hear us shiver and quack our opinions about the Microsoft buyout of Activision Blizzard in this seamlessly integrated addendum to the main pod. Nathan Brown’s newsletter does good industry analysis. Packed full of bullshit: it’s Monster Hunter Rise , a game where things go u...
Jan 21, 2022•1 hr 46 min
Tom S and Marsh don a tux, down a martini and inexplicably detonate a telescope array as they look back at Daniel Craig’s 15 years in the role of James Bond. Does the blue-eyed man-slab manage to escape the deadly traps laid by the series’ own outdated idiom? Which of the films would they happily consign to a shark tank? And what would they do if they were in charge of 007? Expect spoilers throughout! We synopsise the films before discussing them, so if you haven’t seen them in a while, this may...
Jan 14, 2022
Marsh and Graham come together to drop children into lava in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, destroy buildings in Teardown Part Two, infect entire populations in WorldBox, and for a change of pace, construct some lovely spaceships in Sunshine Heavy Industries. Also discussed: the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Community, and why you should never go back to anything. Voting begins today for the Crate & Crowbar community’s Game Of The Year awards. If you’d like to join in, you can visit the happy ...
Jan 07, 2022
Alex, Tom F and Chris present Our Caveats About The Games of the Year. Among the games at least partially endorsed are: The Ascent, Chicory, Valheim, Hitman III, Deathloop, Metroid Dread, Halo Infinite, Life is Strange: True Colors and Chivalry 2. Happy holidays, and see you in 2022! This is a pod about the games that came out in 2021 – so let’s start with the games that didn’t come out in 2021 that we played anyway! Tom’s been anaesthetising himself with Slay the Spire, and socialising Graham w...
Dec 17, 2021•2 hr 18 min
Welcome to the Alex And Tom Experience, in which Tom slides across the visually gorgeous but mechanically sparse Solar Ash and Alex descends into the visually sparse but mechanically delightful Dungeon Encounters. Also discussed: Returnal, Demon’s Souls, Radiohead and The Matrix. Radiohead’s Kid A Mnesia virtual museum/experience is neat, but also covered in QR codes that link to the band’s merch store. The Matrix is also getting an “experience” which is going to change all of gaming. Whatever i...
Dec 10, 2021
Jamie and Chris catch the last ferry to The Crock Pot for an extended, episode by episode recap of Mike Flanagan’s big themed, warm hearted Netflix horror show, Midnight Mass. Meet Steve and find out what His Deal is, learn about the redemptive power of hats, and listen as we lengthily monologue on the efficacy of digging a hole in the face of certain death. This is a show we both really loved, which is deeply spoilable, so we talk in spoiler free generalities first and then at 23:35 go buck wil...
Dec 03, 2021•2 hr 13 min
Tom S, Chris and Marsh discuss roly-poly science-mysticism in Exo One, unpick the odd decisions of Halo Infinite’s meta, get trapped in the batshit progression trench of Battlefield 2042 and become a good-time wombat in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Sorry again for the occasional pops on Chris’s audio. We thought we’d fixed it in the soundcheck, but it returned! Become a ball and enjoy the thought of humanity’s legacy being ground to nothing by glaciers in Exo One . Halo Infinite rekindles th...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 27 min
