

The Level
Duckfeed.tv
The Level is a podcast for people who love video games. It's a weekly roundtable hosted by friends and industry outsiders Kole Ross, Ben Merkel, Dennis Furia, David Moneysmith, and Jala Prendes. Every Friday, we discuss video game news, the games we've been playing, and listener mail.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 12, 2019 • 1h 21min
291: Vaguely Victorian
Kole, Ben, and Dennis talk about Grim Dawn, City of Heroes fan servers, and we ask you which games you most associate with summertime.
The Grind:
Dennis: Puzzle Quest 2. City of Heroes.
Ben: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Grim Dawn. Risk of Rain 2.
Kole: Final Fantasy Adventure. Graveyard Keeper.
Multiplayer:
What games do you most associate with summer?
The End Boss:
Warframe will send you to space, whether you want to go or not.
Dennis is playtesting games.
Black Mesa’s Xen levels about to hit beta testing.

Jul 5, 2019 • 1h 38min
290: Meat Warlord
Kole, Ben, and David talk about Super Mario Maker 2, Fallout 76, and we do a Free-Play Multiplayer.
The Grind:
David: Fallout 76.
Ben: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
Kole: Super Mario Maker 2. Final Fantasy Adventure.
The Multiplayer:
Free Play.
The Grind:
Remedy re-acquires Alan Wake publishing rights.
1 Screen Platformer dev documents what it’s like to have speed runners break your game open.
Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie 2 announced.
Gloomhaven is getting a PC game version.
Links:I thought I made a hard game and then speedrunners totally destroyed it. Here is what that feels like. - Album on Imgur

Jun 28, 2019 • 1h 58min
289: Schrödinger's Cathy
Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Cadence of Hyrule, Ace Combat 7 VR, and we ask you what games you’ve always meant to play, but never did.
The Grind:
Kole: Cadence of Hyrule. Collection of Mana. World of Horror.
Ben: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Slay the Spire.
David: Vermintide 2. Fallout 76.
Dennis: Ace Combat 7. Overcooked. City of Heroes.
The Multiplayer:
What game or series have you always wanted to get around to, but haven’t yet?
End Boss:
Fallout 76 does special event for West Virginia Day.
Steam Summer Sale is on.
A killer release week for games.
Deathgarden: Bloodharvest pushes all of Dennis’ buttons.

Jun 14, 2019 • 1h 31min
288: 100% FC NK Run
Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Dauntless, Gladiabots, and we ask you about your favorite announcements from E3.
The Grind:
Dennis: Dauntless. Gladiabots. Borderlands 2 VR.
Ben: Slay the Spire.
David: Dauntless.
Kole: Haunting Ground.
The Multiplayer and the End Boss
E3 2019 takeaways.

Jun 11, 2019 • 1h 46min
287: No, Not My Soul!
Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Vermintide 2, ApeOut, and we ask you which threequel is your favorite.
The Brief:
Jala: Bird Story Plus. My Big Sister. Vermintide 2.
David: Vermintide 2. Dauntless.
Ben: Risk of Rain 2.
The Multiplayer:
What’s your favorite third entry in a series?
The End Boss:
Don’t play Cuphead on your Tesla.
Doom gets a new chapter, 26 years later.
India gets a moral panic about games.
Death Stranding gets a new trailer and a release date.

May 24, 2019 • 1h 30min
286: A Charmed Life of Bird Conspiracies
Kole, Dennis, and David talk about Snakeybus, new Super Mario Maker 2 details, and we do a Free Play Multiplayer.
The Grind:
Dennis: Snakeybus. Devil May Cry V.
David: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Warhammer: Vermintide 2.
Kole: Killer7. Pony Island. Lorelai
The Multiplayer:
Free Play!
The End Boss:
Devil May Cry V features capoeira.
Super Mario Maker 2 looks legitimate.
Good news for The Division 2?

May 17, 2019 • 1h 29min
285: Big Sticky Ball
Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Xing: The Land Beyond, Tactical Breach Wizard, and we hypothesize about video game sports.
The Grind:
Ben: A Hat in Time. Xing: The Land Beyond. Risk of Rain 2.
Jala: Zero Time Dilemma. The Company. Sniper Elite: Zombie Army Trilogy.
David: Sniper Elite: Zombie Army Trilogy. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
Kole: Killer7.
The Multiplayer:
What game should become a hypothetical Olympic sport?
The End Boss:
Video games will not be part of the Paris Olympic games.
Tactical Breach Wizards looks like a fun game.
Tetris 99 gets a Big Block update.
Epic buys Rocket League developer.

May 10, 2019 • 1h 38min
284: Herodotus Seems Pretty Cool
Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Sniper Elite Zombie Army Trilogy, Valve's Index, and we ask you about games and pets.
The Grind:
Jala: The Company. Zero Time Dilemma.
Ben: Oxenfree.
David: Sniper Elite Zombie Army Trilogy. Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
Kole: Satisfactory. Killer7.
The Multiplayer:
What video game character would your pet be?
The End Boss:
There's a Pokemon region in your brain.
Assassin's Creed: Unity's Notre Dame will be partially used to rebuild the real cathedral.
The Division 2's starting equipment descriptions are based on
The Index is Valve's new VR system.

May 3, 2019 • 1h 34min
283: It's Hard to Update Your Hands
Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Observer, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, and we do more Free-Play Multiplayer cleanup.
The Grind:
Kole: Observer. Satisfactory.
Ben: Call of Cthulhu. Oxenfree.
David: The Division 2. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.
Dennis: Devil May Cry 5.
The Multiplayer:
Free Play Cleanup.
The End Boss:
Firmament reached its funding goal.
New console generations are coming.
Secret City of Heroes servers exist.

Apr 26, 2019 • 2h 19min
282: Reverse Hearthstoning
Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about the Assassin's Creed Unity giveaway. Risk of Rain II, and we ask you about fourth-wall-breaking games.
The Brief:
Assassin's Creed: Unity gets positive review bombs after Notre Dame
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order won't have multiplayer or microtransactions.
Full lineup of Castlevania Anniversary Collection revealed.
The Multiplayer:
What's your favorite time when a game broke the fourth wall?
The Grind:
Dennis: The Cycle. Risk of Rain II. The Strange Brigade.
David: The Strange Brigade. The Division 2.
Ben: Baba is You. Call of Cthulhu.
Kole: Baba is You. Satisfactory.


