The MinnMax Show - podcast cover

The MinnMax Show

MinnMaxminnmax.com
Released every Thursday, The MinnMax Show features former Game Informer employees and beyond talking about the week's most exciting games or game industry news before reading feedback from the Patreon community found at patreon.com/minnmax.

Episodes

2025's Best Game And Biggest Game (So Far)

The MinnMax crew unpacks a variety of games, including spoiler-free thoughts on Blue Prince, a review of Xbox's South of Midnight, and the Sims-inspired Inzoi. They explore the GTA-esque Schedule 1, debate the appeal of pixel art, and answer community questions, offering insights and recommendations.

Apr 10, 20253 hr 35 min

Switch 2 Direct, Donkey Kong Bananza, From Software's Duskbloods

We'll DM you a Steam code for Lorelei and the Laser Eyes if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier before 4/7/25! We'll post on social if we run out of codes. https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller, and Leo Vader unpack all of their thoughts and emotions on the big Nintendo Direct all about the Nintendo Switch 2. We talk about From Software's reveal of The Duskbloods and how closely it resembles Bloodborne, break down gameplay for Mario Kart ...

Apr 03, 20252 hr 7 min

Game Informer Revived, PlayStation's New FPS, Wildgate Revealed

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Haley MacLean, and Kyle Hilliard talk about the miraculous revival of Game Informer magazine and Kyle's return as its executive editor, the PlayStation-published new first-person party shooter called Midnight Murder Club, more thoughts on Assassin's Creed Shadows, and former Blizzard developers getting together to create the sci-fi Sea of Thieves-esque Wildgate. Then Game Informer's editor-in-chief Matt Miller joins the podcast to answer community questions about...

Mar 27, 20253 hr 36 min

Assassin's Creed Shadows, Atomfall, GDC's Best Games

The MinnMax crew dives into Assassin's Creed Shadows, exploring its gameplay, open-world design, and historical context, then discusses Atomfall's unique survival elements and GDC 2025 highlights, sharing impressions and experiences from the conference, and also highlights some of their community questions.

Mar 21, 20253 hr 30 min

Death Stranding 2, Wanderstop, Suriel Made A Game!

MinnMax discusses Death Stranding 2, Wanderstop, and Merchants of Rosewall with Suriel Vazquez. The crew also dive into Monster Hunter Wilds with Charles Harte and Kelsey Lewin, Star of Providence, and Aotenjo. Plus, the crew answers community questions and more!

Mar 13, 20252 hr 27 min

Split Fiction Review, Kingdom Come II, Tony Hawk 3 + 4

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, and Jeff Marchiafava share their full thoughts on Hazelight's co-op follow-up to It Takes Two called Split Fiction, which has two authors platforming through the sci-fi and fantasy world from their books. Then we finally weigh in on the early hours of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, gush about Two Point Museum, and share some optimism for Lost Records: Bloom & Rage's second half. Then we answer questions submitted on P...

Mar 06, 20253 hr 36 min

Monster Hunter Wilds, Yakuza Pirate, WB's Studio Slaughter

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski talk about the huge release of Capcom's Monster Hunter Wild, follow-up on the fun to be had in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and finally rave about The Roottrees Are Dead. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting a question! https://www.patreo...

Feb 27, 20252 hr 23 min

73 Big Predictions For 2025

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit and directly support independent games media. MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard to look back at our predictions from last year and make bold, new predictions about games in 2025. From GTA 6 to the Nintendo Switch 2, we predict it all. Game Over. Then Leo Vader joins the show to talk Keep Driving, Aloft, A Game About Digging A Hole, Rift of the NecroDancer, and then we return to Obsidian's Avowed ...

Feb 20, 20252 hr 27 min

Avowed Review, State Of Play Highlights, Saros Revealed

https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax Subscribe to MinnMax's channel or unlock the podcast version and we'll DM you a Steam code for Cryptmaster if you support MinnMax on Patreon before 2/17/25, we're out of codes when we hit 5,700 paid supporters. MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, and Haley MacLean rave about Obsidian's new RPG Avowed and Leo checks back in on the overlooked RPG Eternal Strands with JeffM. Then Janet Garcia joins the fun as we break down the best rev...

Feb 13, 20252 hr 20 min

Our Most Anticipated Games Of 2025

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Directly support independent games media AND we'll DM you a Steam code for Tetris Forever if you support before 2/10/25, we run out of codes when we hit 5,600 paid supporters and we'll message that we're out on all social media. MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, and Haley MacLean run down their most-anticipated games of 2025 and share everybody else's picks as well from the full MinnMax crew. We talk about GTA6, whether Hollow Knight: Silksong is...

Feb 06, 20252 hr 10 min

Assassin's Creed Shadows, 2025's First Reviews, Goodbye Alanah

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit and directly support independent games media On this big episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson and guest cohort Alanah Pearce rotate through a full crew of Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Janet Garcia to talk about some of the great new games released so far in 2025 like Dynasty Warriors Origins, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, and Eternal Strands. We also talk about playing 3 hours of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Sh...

Jan 30, 20253 hr 45 min

Ninja Gaiden 4, Xbox's 2025 Reveals, Citizen Sleeper 2

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Sarah Podzorski, and special guest cohort for the month Alanah Pearce break down the highlights from Microsoft's big Xbox Developer Direct with the big reveal of Ninja Gaiden 4 and a ton of information on Doom: The Dark Ages from id, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and South of Midnight. Then Jacob shares his thoughts on the excellent sci-narrative/tabletop-inspired Citizen Sleeper 2 before we dive into questions submitted by the community! Unlock a benefit and d...

Jan 23, 20252 hr 25 min

Switch 2 Reveal, Ubisoft In Peril, Welcome Alanah Pearce

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and Haley MacLean are joined by the new Guest Cohort (surprise!) for a month Alanah Pearce! Her journey through IGN, Funhaus, Sony Santa Monica, and the narrative on her new game Layers Deep has made her incredibly insightful on the game industry and we're honored to have her join us on content for the next month. On this big episode, we break down the reveal for the Nintendo Switch 2 and unpack the current state of Ubisoft and how Tencent might...

Jan 17, 20252 hr 7 min

Top 20 Games Of 2024, Indiana Jones’ Revenge, Our Holiday Break Games

See of all our personal top 10 favorite games of 2024 here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/everybodys-top-118319548 MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, and Leo Vader get together to talk about what they played over the holiday break, give Indiana Jones and the Great Circle the follow-up conversation it deserves, and run down the MinnMax community's hive-mind picks for the greatest games of 2024. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit q...

Jan 09, 20252 hr 12 min

Game Of The Year 2024 (The Final Debate)

This is the final debate from MinnMax about Game of the Year for 2024. On this episode, Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski debate the correct order for the top 20 games of 2024... or The Two tens, as we call it. What will win MinnMax's Game of the Year? We hope you enjoy the grand debate and thanks so much for supporting MinnMax and making all of this possible! Unlock the 5.75 hour extended version ...

Jan 02, 20254 hr 58 min

Game Of The Year Debate 2024 (Building The List)

MinnMax's full crew of Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski kick off our Game of the Year debate that we call The Two Tens... in honor of the two Ns in MinnMax and Minnesota. We build up a list of our favorite games this year and then boil it down to the Top 20 entries. Sorry, that was a typo. We mean to call it The Two Tens. What will make the cut? Dragon's Dogma 2? Pacific Drive? Balatro? Kunitsi-Ga...

Dec 26, 20244 hr 37 min

The MinnMax Awards 2024

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Directly support MinnMax and unlock our Game of the Year debates weeks ahead of the public. MinnMax's full crew of Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski celebrate gaming in 2024 by nominating and debating winners in prestigious categories. The categories of course are: Best Thing, Dumbest Thing, Biggest News, Best Game We Didn't Play, Best Moment, and the Greatest Work...

Dec 19, 20244 hr 13 min

Indiana Jones, Infinity Nikki, Final Reviews Of 2024

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava unpack their full thoughts on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from Machine Games and Bethesda and JeffM makes the bold claim that Diceomancer is better than Slay the Spire. Then Kelsey Lewin and Sarah Podzorski freshen up the place by raving about Infinity Nikki and Starstruck: Hands of Time. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and ...

Dec 12, 20242 hr 20 min

Best Game Music Of 2024, Monster Hunter Preview, Antonblast

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit, listen to The Two Tens early, and directly support independent games media MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and video editor Charles Harte unpack their favorite game music from 2024 (with tracks from Metaphor, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Stellar Blade) before Kelsey Lewin joins to talk about Monster Hunter Wilds and more. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! ...

Dec 05, 20243 hr 47 min

2024's Best Under The Radar Games

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for Lynked: Banner of the Spark (Hades meets Animal Crossing, 92% positive reviews, directed by Steven Spielberg's son Max) if you support MinnMax on Patreon at any tier before the end of 11/29/24 MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Jacob Geller share their picks for the most underrated games of 2024 before we talk about Grunn, Crypt Custodian, and Metro Awakening in VR. Then for community questions we're joined by Jo...

Nov 28, 20243 hr 38 min

Game Of The Year Debate: The Prologue

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Sarah Podzorski, and Jeff Marchiafava prepare for the big Game of the Year debates by sharing their final picks for games that other people should check out and will be relevant during The Two Tens. The full list of games we mention during this segment is below. We also talk about The Rise of the Golden Idol, Dragon Quest 3's remake, and the roguelike Shogun Showdown. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question...

Nov 21, 20242 hr 10 min

Tetris Forever, LEGO Horizon, Slitterhead, Brothership

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit and directly support independent games media MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Leo Vader rally for a huge episode covering all of the latest games. They talk about the new interactive documentary from Digital Eclipse called Tetris Forever, Kyle and Janet weigh in on Mario & Luigi: Brothership, we debate why LEGO Horizon Adventures (code provided by Sony) isn't a great game but we can't sto...

Nov 14, 20243 hr 47 min

Dragon Age, Monster Hunter Wilds, Sonic X Shadow Generations

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, and video editor Charles Harte are joined by returning fan favorite Haley De Boom to unpack the big release of Bioware's Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We also touch on the Castlevania DLC for Vampire Survivors before Kelsey Lewin and Sarah Podzorski join the show to share their full thoughts on the Monster Hunter Wilds Beta... and Shadow the Hedgehog. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You c...

Nov 07, 20242 hr 8 min

Black Ops 6, Alan Wake 2's Lake House, Mouthwashing

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, and Haley MacLean get into the Halloween spirit and kick off a fun conversation about Alan Wake II's The Lake House DLC and the fun to be had with Call of Duty Black Ops 6. Then Sarah Podzorski joins the crew to rave even more about Metaphor: ReFantazio, Infinity Nikki, and more before we get to wonderful questions submitted by the community! Directly support MinnMax and unlock a benefit here - https://www.patreon.com/minnmax Watch and share the ...

Oct 31, 20242 hr 26 min

MinnMax's 5th Anniversary, Batman: Arkham Shadow, Fear The Spotlight

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava celebrate MinnMax's fifth anniversary by gathering together for a podcast in the NEW studio space! If you're at the Backstage Pass tier, you can watch a full tour of the new space. We thank the community for supporting us on Patreon and allowing this whole outlet to exist in the first place. Oh, and we talk about games like Batman: Arkham Shadow on Meta Quest 3, Max Spielberg's Lynked: Banner of the Spark, Fear the Spotlight, a...

Oct 24, 20243 hr 40 min

Most Beautiful Games Ever, New Life Is Strange, Mario Party Jamboree

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for Arco if you support us at any tier, we run out of codes when we hit 5,035 supporters on Patreon. MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller, and Leo Vader for a fun conversation celebrating the surprising, open-world FPS Echo Point Nova before we unpack our thoughts on Neva and the most beautiful games ever made. Janet weighs in after the first two chapters of Square-Enix's Life is Strange: Double Ex...

Oct 17, 20242 hr 14 min

Metaphor: ReFantazio, Silent Hill 2, Nintendo Alarmo

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, and Haley MacLean rave about the new JRPG from the creators of Persona called Metaphor: ReFantazio and dig in on everything fascinating and surreal about Nintendo's new alarm clock called the Alarmo. Then Jeff Marchiafava and Leo Vader join the show to weigh in on Silent Hill 2 and their continuing adventures in UFO 50. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You ca...

Oct 10, 20242 hr 18 min

Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom, Pirate Yakuza, Epic Mickey Rebrushed

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Join the $5 tier and we'll DM you a Steam code for 1000xResist, you have until the end of Friday, October 4th. MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and Janet Garcia are joined by special guest Suriel Vazquez to break down their thoughts on The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom on the Nintendo Switch. Then we talk about the overlooked indie RPG Arco and Janet regales us with her adventures playing the upcoming SEGA release of Like A Dragon: Pirate Y...

Oct 03, 20242 hr 51 min

MinnMax's Asheville Meetup Is Canceled, Donate To Save The Town

Donate Here - https://bit.ly/minnmaxasheville Breaking in for an emergency update here: MinnMax's "Big Community Meetup" in Asheville, North Carolina was scheduled for this Saturday, October 5th, but nature had other plans. Due to the devasting impact of Hurricane Helene on the area, we're forced to cancel the meetup. Please contact your airline/housing to get a refund and help spread the word to any friends who were going to attend. We're using this unfortunate situation as an opportu...

Sep 30, 20243 min

Ghost Of Yotei, State Of Play Highlights, UFO 50 Review

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Haley MacLean unpack all of their favorite reveals and trailers from Sony's State of Play, especially Sucker Punch's fantastic reveal of the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima called Ghost of Yotei. We debate whether the world could use a PlayStation 5 remaster of Horizon Zero Dawn before we rave about our time playing UFO 50 from the creator of Spelunky. Then video game IP lawyer unloads her full thoughts on Nintendo and The Pokémon ...

Sep 26, 20242 hr 13 min