

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

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.

Apr 12, 2019 • 1h 54min
281: Oubliette Duet
Kole, Ben, Jala, and David talk about Baba is You, the difficulty as accessibility issue, and we do a Free Play Multiplayer.
The Grind
SNL makes fun of the Division 2 NPC dialogue, while Ubisoft makes NPCs less talkative.
Someone made Mario Maker in LittleBigPlanet.
Is difficulty an accessibility issue?
The Multiplayer:
FREE PLAY.
The Grind:
Ben: Gorogoa. Baba is You. Celeste.
Jala: Cthluhu Chronicles.
David: The Division 2.
Kole: Satisfactory.

Apr 5, 2019 • 1h 33min
280: I Big Data'd Myself
Kole, Dennis, and David talk about Satisfactory, the 20th anniversary of EverQuest, and we ask you what game-related April Fools joke you would run.
The Brief:
Yager announces “The Cycle”, a PVE battle royale game.
Skyrim Grandma will be in Elder Scrolls VI.
EverQuest turns 20.
The Multiplayer:
What game-related April Fools joke would you run?
The Grind:
Dennis: Apex Legends. Slime Rancher.
Kole: Satisfactory.
David: The Division 2.

Mar 29, 2019 • 1h 34min
279: My Fun Appliance
Kole, Jala, and David talk about the Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 announcement, The Division 2, and we ask you how you prefer to play games.
The Brief:
Apple Arcade announced.
Valve scientists want to get into your brain, electronically.
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 announced.
The Multiplayer:
How do you prefer to play games? Portable? Console? PC?
The Grind:
David: The Division 2.
Jala: Vampyr. Lost in Harmony.
Kole: Resident Evil 6. Commodore 64 Mini.

Mar 22, 2019 • 2h 22min
278: Loading Scream
Kole, Dennis, Jala, and David talk about Devil May Cry 5, Surviving Mars, and we ask you about your favorite small details in games.
The Brief:
Google announces game streaming service at GDC.
No Man’s Sky is getting a major multiplayer update this summer.
German government allows Nazi imagery into games.
House Flipper is getting Garden Flipper DLC.
The Multiplayer:
What’s your favorite small detail in games?
The Grind:
Dennis: Apex Legends. Devil May Cry 5.
Kole: Plague, Inc. Surviving Mars. Resident Evil 6.
Jala: Resident Evil 6. Vampyr.
David: Immortal: Unchained.