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You're on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a Podcast… I mean Princess. In this episode Bryan, Josh, and Clint steel their nerves and descend the staircase to discuss Slay the Princess. Developed by Black Tabby Games and released for PC in 2024, Slay the Princess was developed as a side project to support the ongoing development of their other game Scarlet Hollow. And what a side project it is! Boasting a dizzying variety of possible outcomes, Slay the Princess is a fascinatingly broad and cerebral visual novel that explores a lot of interesting themes in a very economical approach to storytelling and a stylish black and white hand-drawn aesthetic. However, what starts as merely a provocative 4th wall breaking narrative eventually gives way to something even more surreal and captivating. So grab your dagger… I mean headphones… and listen in as the guys explore the multitude of ways to Slay the Princess! But remember: Its a love story…
Show Notes:
The Egg by Andy Weir
Three Word Reviews:Bryan - Personality Uncertainty Principle
Josh - Power of Story
Clint - What Just Happened
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Have you ever wanted to play a turn-based city builder that’s inspired by Luck be a Landlord and Islanders? That’s drenched in a stylish cyberpunk aesthetic and boasts intricate tactical depth? One with a dark sense of humor and killer hip-hop inspired soundtrack? Well you’re in luck! Josh’s latest game, Neongarten, is releasing on April 22nd, 2025 on Steam!
As is tradition, Bryan and Josh sat down to record a podcast about the game, its inspirations, and the process of creating it. Neongarten was a novel experience for Josh to develop for a variety of reasons, not least of which was working in 3d and a new engine, Godot. This time around Josh also partnered with Goblinz Publishing to take the game to the next level. With the initial prototype finishing up just ahead of the birth of his second child, Neongarten has been a game that’s grown alongside his own family and alongside his own craft as a game developer.
So listen in as Bryan interviews Josh about how he riffed, fixed, and remixed his way to creating the game he envisioned those many months ago, and check it out when it releases on April 22nd, 2025!
Show Notes:
Neongarten Steam Page
Goblinz Publishing
TinyMass Games
Neongarten’s Composer, Joel Kent, is part of Audimus
Dex is the album that helped inspire the game
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In this episode Bryan and Josh welcome host of Tales from the Backlog, Dave Jackson, to discuss Persona 4 Golden! Bryan’s played Persona 5, Josh has played Persona 3, so now they’re meeting in the middle and asked Dave to join for a wide ranging discussion that starts with an analysis of the studio’s evolving approach to game design then pivots to a deep dive of Persona 4 Golden’s characters, combat mechanics, and broader themes.
The Persona series is an interesting game for multiple reasons, not least of which are its design priorities which focus on atypical areas such as UI design and Music, and writing. By the same token analyzing a social / life sim game from 2008 in 2025 is not without its pitfalls including the sometimes clumsy handling of representation and other social issues. Even so, the artistry of the game’s stylish design and writing, combined with a unique take on themes of personal growth rooted in Jungian psychology, are certainly with the price of admission.Show Notes:
Dave’s Podcast - Tales from the Backlog
Persona 4 Reincarnation
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Experience Myriad Truths
Josh - Solid Detective Story
Dave - Jungian Scooby Doo
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In this atypical episode of Pixelated Playgrounds Josh and Bryan talk through a couple of “Game Poems”. A “Game Poem” (as defined by Josh) is “An experimental/artsy/short game or some combination therein. A game that the player can play once, for five or thirty minutes, and experience a distinct sort of message." Two such games are Every Day the Same Dream, released in 2009 by Molleindustria and Every Day the Same Dream released in 2020 by Cecile Richard. Every Day the Same Dream bills itself as a game about alienation and refusal of labour, while Under A Star Called Sun is described as a sci-fi bitsy game about grieving, holding on to fading memories, and carrying the world on your shoulders. Both are able to be played in 5-10 minutes or less and are readily available online, so if you’ve ever been wary to listen because of our spoiler policy, now is the time to subvert it!
Bryan and Josh also take a tangent into the history of browser games and reminisce a bit on some of their favorites, so boot up your ancient laptop that still has a running version of Flash and listen in to this episode on Game Poems!
Show Notes:
Every Day the Same Dream
Under A Star Called Sun
Molleindustria
The Actor and the Audience by Josh Galecki
I Am Sitting in a Room by Alvin Lucier
Three Word Reviews:Under A Star Called Sun
Bryan - Smelling Digital Roses
Josh - Actor and Audience
Every Day The Same Dream
Bryan - Potent Fading Memory
Josh - Treachery of Memory
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Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel Horizon Forbidden West have had an uphill battle to become some of the most successful AAA open world games. The first entry released alongside The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the follow-up came out just ahead of Elden Ring, two games that are not just direct competitors for the Horizon series, but also genre re-defining titles. Yet, much like the series’ protagonist, Aloy, the Horizon games have persisted. They have eventually found their audience and have delivered some of the best Open World gaming the current generation has seen as of 2025.
While the Horizon games on their face are a visual feast focused on hunting down robotic dinosaurs in a stunning post apocalypse, what lies beneath the surface is what kept Bryan and Clint coming back for more. A sweeping sci-fi story with ambitious and surprising writing drives Horizon’s cybernetic heart forward. That and a surprisingly deep combat system that forces you to use all parts of the robotic buffalo.
In this podcast Clint and Bryan discuss the sweeping story told across both Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West before focusing in on the finer points of the more recent entry. So grab your bow and spear and tune your focus in to Pixelated Playgrounds as we discuss the Horizon Series!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Defying Human Nature
Clint - Giant Robot Dinosaurs!
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The indie game space is full of creative and inspiring projects. Projects that spark joy. Projects that make you feel a sense of awe, or joy, or wonder…. and then there are some that are just plain unhinged. In this episode Bryan and Josh discuss two games that are very different, but equally unhinged: Arctic Eggs and CLICKOLDING.
Arctic Eggs by the Water Museum puts you in the shoes of a nameless, faceless, drone in a post apocalyptic antarctica with but one remit: cook eggs for the people. From there it… goes places….
CLICKOLDING by Strange Scaffold was originally on Josh and Bryan’s list to cover in the Halloween timeframe but instead of being scary it was more just unsettling, so they held off to find an equally oddball game to discuss in tandem. The purpose of the game is simple: The man in the corner of your hotel room wants you to click a tally counter and he wants to watch you click it. Its a surreal and sometimes upsetting experience that takes only 40 minutes or so to complete.
So sit down, have an egg, and start clicking as we talk through the deeply strange experiences of Arctic Eggs and CLICKOLDING!
Three Word Reviews:
Arctic Eggs
Bryan - End Times Vibing
Josh - A Compelling Gravity
CLICKOLDING
Bryan - Clicking Through It
Josh - A Harsh Light
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There was probably no greater end of the year gaming surprise in 2024 than the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Clint’s skepticism about swapping out Harrison Ford for Troy Baker was only matched by Bryan’s confusion about what this game was supposed to be drawing comparisons to Dishonored and Hitman, while being developed by the studio behind Wolfenstein, Machine Games, and the producer of the last several Elder Scrolls games, Todd Howard. It turns out Baker delivered the performance of the year as Indiana Jones and the game itself turned out to be a sprawling and pitch perfect first person 3d adventure game with stealth, puzzling, and a not-insignificant amount of using improvised weaponry against fascists: Truly the most appropriate thing for Indiana Jones to be doing.
So Bryan, Josh, and Clint set off on their respective journeys to uncover the mysteries of the Great Circle. Clint’s took a long a circuitous route through all manner of optional side content, Bryan’s was a bit more on the straight and narrow, and Josh’s ended a bit prematurely. Regardless of where they ended all three of our hosts enjoyed the sites, sounds, and hi-jinks they got up to along the way. So pull up your old timey phonograph and listen in the guys discuss Indiana Jones and the Great Circle!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Museum Worthy Adventure
Josh - Scenes and Signposts
Clint - An Instant Classic
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Happy New Year! This year Bryan, Josh, and Clint tried something a bit different… which every other video game podcast on earth is already doing: We recorded our Games of the Year for 2024! So listen in as the guys discuss the top 5 games they enjoyed in 2024 among others and take a look forward to 2025 and just generally chill out and reminisce on a year of gaming!
Here’s what we talked about:
Look back at 2024 / Plans for 2025
Games we have our eyes on to cover
Games you missed in 2024 and still want to play
The Top 5’s
5’s
4’s
3’s
2’s
1’s
Honrable Mentions
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The 5’s
Clint Game #5 - Stellar Blade
Josh Game #5 - DotAGE
Bryan Game #5 - Metaphor: ReFantazio
The 4’s
Clint Game #4 - Black Myth: Wukong
Josh Game #4 - Tiny Glade
Bryan Game #4 - Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
The 3’s
Clint Game #3 - Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2
Josh Game #3 - Arco
Bryan Game #3 - Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
The 2’s
Clint Game #2 - Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Josh Game #2 - Animal Well
Bryan Game #2 - 1000xResist
The 1’s
Clint Game #1 - Helldivers 2
Josh Game #1 - 1000xResist
Bryan Game #1 - Unicorn Overlord
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Black Myth Wukong is perhaps the least ‘under the radar’ game to have ever caught Clint and Bryan by surprise. As the breakout single player offering from GameScience, a team of former Tencent employees hailing from China, Wukong is certainly a game that is entering the 3rd person action genre during a moment of particularly stringent demands for both novelty and quality. Luckily for us, Black Myth: Wukong succeeded on both counts to provide an extremely polished action game experience borrowing some mechanical flourishes from the Soul-like genre and infusing a high level of care for its source material: the 500 year old Chinese classic, Journey to the West. While neither Clint nor Bryan have much exposure to that source material aside from what has been adapted previously to suit western audiences (see Dragon Ball, etc.) both were quite impressed with the cinematic quality on display with this particular adaption. So join Clint and Bryan for a quick drink from the gourd as they chat about the experience and spectacle that is Black Myth: Wukong!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Senational Simian Storytelling
Clint - Top-notch Monkey Business
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In this episode, Josh and Bryan don their pixelated sombreros and head into the Mesoamerican wilderness to check out the latest in indie tactical greatness with Arco! Boasting some snappy writing, inventive tactical gameplay, and truly gorgeous pixel artistry, Arco has a lot on offer. Arco is the product of Polish pixel artist Franek Nowotniak (one of Josh’s pixel artist idols), Australian game developer Max Cahill, Spanish composer and sound designer José Ramón "Bibiki" García, and Mexican developer Antonio "Fayer" Uribe, and published by Panic Inc. While it initially did not have the commercial success the team hoped for, it has begun to quickly rack up awards and nominations as we near the end of 2024. It can be tough to break through in today’s indie landscape, with so many high quality games coming out every week, but Arco is beyond a shadow of a doubt a game that is worth your time. From the compelling “inverse Western” story which conveys a unique perspective on the history of the colonization of the Americas, to the novel tactical mechanics which integrate player choice in a profound and intriguing way, you will not find many games that feel as tight and well integrated as Arco. So saddle up and join Bryan and Josh on their quest for revenge, er I mean, discussion as they journey through Arco!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Personal Pixelated Parables
Josh - Fresh Tactical Take
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This episode Clint, Josh, and Bryan pledged their eternal service to the Emperor and suited up in some fancy new blue power armor to defend humanity in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2! While only one of us has played the series’ first entry, the Warhammer atmosphere and Saber Interactive’s tight and polished co-op gameplay pulled all three of the guys through to victory. Its rare in today’s video game release landscape to get a well-scoped and extremely high fidelity co-op campaign like Space Marine 2’s, so if you are a fan of co-op PVE, enjoy the Warhammer Universe, or just like stomping around as a giant space marine then be sure to check this one out! So suit up with Bryan, Josh, and Clint as they face down the Tyranid scourge in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Epic Cooperative Crusade
Josh - Big Boots, Filled
Clint - Gears of Warhammer
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Have you ever asked yourself what quirky humor forward take on a breach and clear tactics game featuring wizards might look like? Well about 8 years ago Tom Francis of Suspicious Developments did just that, and what started as a throw away in-joke amongst colleagues is now one of the most impressive and enjoyable indie games of 2024. Bringing his signature wit in the writing and character development along with a tactics sandbox that is polished to a mirror shine Tactical Breach Wizards is a step in the right direction for everything Francis and his studio have been building towards with their previous outings. So hop on your tactical broomstick and set your assault wand to stun as Bryan and Josh flex their magical mastery with Tactical Breach Wizards!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Tom’s Tactics Triumph
Josh - Terrific, Brief, Witty
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Join Josh and Bryan as they flex their design skills, mostly unsuccessfully, and still manage to create incredibly charming scenes with Townscaper and Tiny Glade. Both of these games offer a different take on the ‘city painting’ or ‘diorama design’ genre of creative game. With little to no direction, and a not insignificant helping hand extended to the player, both of these games interpret the player’s design decisions and render them into utterly gorgeous structures, landscapes, and villages. Townscaper, released in 2021, is the passion project of the developer Oskar Stålberg, who also created Bad North among other projects. It allows the player to create a tiny seaside town with just a few clicks. Tiny Glade was released in 2024 and offers the player the opportunity to create a cozy castle or village diorama set in the variety of seasons with a truly impressive camera mode with which the player can then share and experience their creation. So join Bryan and Josh, and lets get creative!
Three Word Reviews:
Townscaper
Bryan - Needs a Checklist
Josh - Building with Oomph
Tiny Glade
Bryan - Daily Creative Meditation
Josh - Cup of Tea
Show Notes:
Web version of Townscaper
Flurdeh’s Youtube Channel
Josh's Latest Game: Neongarten
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Its been a while since Bryan and Josh sat down and recorded a podcast about a good old fashioned Narrative Game… enter 1000xResist, the narrative game that Bryan brought to Josh after being completely blown away by the game’s incredible economy of storytelling and deep, varied themes. Needless to say, both were enthralled with Sunset Visitor’s foray into game development and the lengthy conversation they had is testament to the deep read the game received, and deserves. At its heart 1000xResist is a walking sim about a society of clones existing in a post apocalypse an unknown number of years after an alien invasion. The clones are all descended from a young woman who was immune to the disease that the alien Occupants brought. What makes it unique (among many things) is its attention to cinematography, captivating theming, and frequent narrative swerves. Its an incredible work of storytelling, featuring unique exploration of multiple key topics including: family, immigration, resistance, illness, oppression and more. So join Bryan and Josh in praising the ALLMOTHER that this game graced our PC’s and listen in for an in depth, spoiler-filled discussion of the experience. Hekki Almo, Hekki Grace!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Break the Cycle
Josh - Watch and Remember
Show Notes:
Devised Narratives
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In this podcast Bryan and Josh dive into two minimalistic, manic roguelikes: Tiny Rogues and SNKRX! Tiny Rogues by RubyDev a fantasy rogue-lite dungeon crawler that plays in the bullet hell genre, complete with twin-stick controls. It also boasts some lite RPG elements and a cornucopia of classes to choose from. The ability to end up with a completely wild and enjoyably broken build in Tiny Rogues is extremely entertaining, and kept both Bryan and Josh coming back to see how far they could advance in the game’s meta-progression layer. Next up, with SNKRX the guys build a snake out of RPG party classes and sent them to battle against colorful pellet enemies. SNKRX is the more minimalist of the two, sporting only colorful, pill-shaped enemies on a black background for your multi-colored ‘snake’ to defeat, but the depth of build variety and enjoyable synergies to discover were enough to make this a game that was easy to return to over and over. So get ready to give it ‘one more run’ with Josh and Bryan as they talk through Tiny Rogues and SNKRX!
Three Word Reviews:
Tiny Rogues
Bryan - Bountiful Build Variety
Josh - Bite-sized Bullet Ballet
SNKRX
Bryan - Snakes Sneaking Synergies
Josh - Sneaky Snakey Snack
Show Notes:
SNKRX's post-release log - a327ex
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Things are heating up over at Pixelated Playgrounds HQ, but that just because Bryan and Josh have been playing firefighting / cat saving platformer, Nuclear Blaze! Created by Sébastien Bénard, one of the developers behind the excellent Dead Cells, Nuclear Blaze was originally designed for Bénard’s child as he noticed a striking lack of firefighter focused video games. Bénard and his studio Deepnight games, took on the mission of creating a game that his child could play, creating Nuclear Blaze with a built in ‘Kids Mode’ as well as a more difficult ‘Hold my Beer’ mode for players seeking a greater challenge. Sporting some eye-popping pixel art and a novel fire spreading mechanic, Nuclear blaze is a short and sweet platformer with a lot to admire. So grab your hose and helmet and skydive into the depths of Nuclear Blaze with Josh and Bryan.
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - He’s on Fiiiiirreee
Josh - Fun Fiery Explosion
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After a development cycle spanning almost a decade, Unicorn Overlord released in March of 2024 to the joy of Ogre Battle fans everywhere! Two of those fans, namely Bryan and Josh, picked up the game and dug right in. With Vanillaware’s signature art and polish on full display Unicorn Overlord makes a stunning first impression and backs it up with an incredibly deep and complex battle system which is fitting for the titles which inspired it. It has been over 25 years since Ogre Battle 64 released for the Nintendo 64, and while Unicorn Overlord does not reach the narrative heights of Ogre Battle or Tactics Ogre, it certainly has enough going for it that folks craving a real time tactical RPG will have plenty to sink their teeth into. So pour yourself a mug of ale and sit down beside the fire with Bryan and Josh as they discuss their experience leading a revolution in Unicorn Overlord!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Tinkering Against Tyranny
Josh - Somehow Too Much
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In this episode Josh and Bryan go down a rabbit hole with 2024 indie hit, Animal Well. What starts off as a non-violent, platforming based metroidvania game, quickly gives way to a truly mysterious and intricately puzzle-driven experience. As the first solo endeavor from developer, Billy Basso, as well as the first title for game game’s publisher, Big Mode, Animal Well is a triumph critically, commercially, and perhaps most importantly, in terms of sheer novelty and design polish. So grab your bubble wand and hop on over to listen to Bryan and Josh puzzle over the incomparable Animal Well!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Magnificent Mystifying Menagerie
Josh - Play and Discovery
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Before 2020, Square Enix had been dancing around the question of how to do justice to a Final Fantasy 7 remaster for over a decade, and with the release of Final Fantasy Remake they finally answered that question. Using a state of the art combat system, a faithful re-interpretation of the source material (with some twists!), and a stunning meta-commentary on what it means to re-make a game, Final Fantasy 7: Remake was a stunning experience that both Clint and Bryan loved. Four years later, with the release of its sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, they sat down to record a podcast on their experience with the two recent Final Fantasy 7 games, with a focus on Rebirth and its impeccable road trip vibes.
The amount of additional context and pathos Square were able to bring to the first disc of the original Final Fantasy 7 alone was enough to excite Bryan and Clint for Rebirth, but they could not have imagined the sheer scale that would be on display with Rebirth’s portion of the story. Overall these two games have Bryan and Clint eagerly anticipating the continuation of this endeavor. So get on your chocobo and ride along with Bryan and Clint as they talk through FInal Fantasy 7 Rebirth!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Dream Road Trip
Clint - Not Just Nostalgia
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Bryan and Josh recently spent some time managing a series of settlements in rogue-like city builder and prophecy-defier, DotAGE. Long time project of solo game developer, Michele Pirovano, DotAGE is wonderful little management sim with bright cheerful pixel art, sharp entertaining writing, and a level of ease and polish that you do not often see in the worker placement genre of games. What really sets the game apart though is the game’s prophecy and apocalypse mechanics, which sets up a series of compelling problems for your fledgling settlement to grapple with. So grab yourself a roast chicken and settle in for a conversation about the hope and despair that Josh and Bryan experienced as they tested their fate playing DotAGE!
Three Word Reviews:
Bryan - Pixels, Prophecy, Personality
Josh - No Golden Path
Links:
Josh’s interview with Michele Pirovano
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