

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

Nov 17, 2023 • 1h 32min
Episode 480: Journeyquest: Rise of the Ascent
Kole, Ben, David, and Dennis talk about Sea of Stars, RoboQuest, PowerWash Simulator VR, and much more!
The Grind:
David: Nothing!
Dennis: RoboQuest. Sea of Stars.
Ben: Alan Wake 2.
Kole: Alan Wake 2. PowerWash Simulator VR.
The Multiplayer:
What quality of life features ended up making a game worse for you?
The End Boss:
Starfield gets snubbed at meaningless award show.
Grand Theft Auto 6 announcement teased for early December.
Overwatch League dissolves.
Steam will soon let you mark individual games as private.

Nov 10, 2023 • 1h 22min
Episode 479: Steam Beck
Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about Little Goodie Two Shoes, Power Wash Simulator VR, Sea of Stars, and much more!
The Grind:
Kole: Power Wash Simulator VR. Baldur’s Gate III.
Dennis: Sea of Stars. Fortnite.
Jala: Little Goodie Two Shoes. Dishonored DLC.
Ben: Alan Wake II.
The Multiplayer:
Revive a multiplayer game!
The End Boss:
They’re making a live action Zelda movie.
Game hardware accessibility is more complicated than a single controller.
Sony dropping Twitter support from PlayStation.

Nov 3, 2023 • 1h 57min
Episode 478: Kirghee & the Grink
Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about Alan Wake II, Decarnation, The Finals, and much more!
The Grind:
Jala: Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum. Decarnation. Sorry We're Closed.
Ben: Spider-Man 2. Alan Wake II.
Kole: Alan Wake II. World of Horror.
Dennis: The Finals. Forza Motorsport. Fortnite. Diablo 4: Season of Blood.
The Multiplayer:
Pitch a horror entry in a non-horror series.
The End Boss:
Barbarian is getting a video game adaptation.
Konami releases promotional video with David Hayter, causing speculation.
Cliff Blezinski is a weirdo.
Ubisoft blatantly uses AI art after massive layoffs.
AI Seinfeld has completely fallen apart.

Oct 27, 2023 • 2h 21min
Episode 477: That's the Trouble Closet
Kole, Ben, David, and Dennis talk about Super Mario Wonder, Spider-Man 2, Laika: Aged Through Blood, and much more!
The Grind:
Kole: Super Mario Wonder.
Ben: Spider-Man 2. Baldur’s Gate III.
Dennis: Forza Motorsport. Fortnite.
David: World of Horror. Laika: Aged Through Blood.
The Multiplayer:
What game absolutely SHOULDN’T get a sequel, prequel, or remake?
The End Boss:
Squadron 42 apparently still exists, gets a new trailer.
Lords of the Fallen fix addresses enemy difficulty complaints.
Amnesia: The Bunker Halloween update looks awesome.

Oct 13, 2023 • 2h 16min
Episode 476: Silently Supporting You
Kole, Ben, David, and Dennis talk about Payday 3, Forza Motorsport, Cocoon, and much more!
The Grind:
Dennis: F1 2022. Forza Motorsport.
Kole: Meta Quest 3. Drop Dead: The Cabin. Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways.
David: Rabi-Ribi. Lies of P. Payday 3.
Ben: Cocoon. Baldur’s Gate III.
The Multiplayer:
What game made you think “The Future is Now”?
The End Boss:
Sony reveals newer, slimmer PS5.
Activision-Blizzard inflicts James Corden on their employees.
Nintendo knows exactly what it’s doing with this elephant transformation stuff.
Lord of the Rings: Gollum team used ChatGPT to generate their apology jpeg.
John Riccitello steps down as Unity CEO, the rot remains.

Oct 6, 2023 • 1h 30min
Episode 475: Lemon's Souls
Kole, Ben, Dennis, and Jala talk about The Lamplighters League, Cocoon, Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways, and much more!
The Grind:
Jala: SIMULACRA 3. Dishonored 2.
Kole: Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways. Cocoon.
Ben: Cocoon. Baldur’s Gate III.
Dennis: Trackmania. The Lamplighters League.
The Multiplayer:
Change one letter in a game title!
The End Boss:
Power Wash Simulator VR is coming and Kole will never be seen again.
Shining Force artist Yoshitaka Tamaki passes away.
Epic, the money-printing company, lays off a bunch of staff.
Should you take your gaming laptop to court?
Devil May Cry anime announced.

Sep 29, 2023 • 1h 45min
Episode 474: Bounce House of Leaves
Kole, Ben, and Dennis talk about Lies of P, Baldur’s Gate III, Baldur’s Gate III, and much more!
The Grind:
Ben: Baldur’s Gate III.
Dennis: Baldur’s Gate III.
Kole: Lies of P.
The Multiplayer:
What game would you show aliens to explain humanity to them?
The End Boss:
Unity walks back some of their unpopular changes.
Xbox Leaks show bleak future for AAA games.
Apollo Justice collection gets release date.

Sep 22, 2023 • 1h 48min
Episode 473: The Tippy Top of a Death Spiral
Kole, David, and Dennis talk about Baldur’s Gate III, Pathologic 2, Swarm, and much more!
The Grind:
Dennis: Baldur’s Gate III. Disco Elysium.
Kole: Baldur’s Gate III. Pathologic 2. Swarm.
David: Starfield.
The Multiplayer:
Let’s talk game rental memories.
The End Boss:
All about the Xbox Leak.
Mortal Kombat’s Switch port is a disaster.
A discussion of “Press Any Key” splash screens.

Sep 15, 2023 • 2h 4min
Episode 472: Hatchet Habits
Kole, Ben, David, and Dennis talk about Starfield, Baldur’s Gate III, DragonCon, and much more!
The Grind:
David: Starfield.
Dennis: Starfield. Baldur’s Gate III.
Ben: Baldur’s Gate III.
Kole: Pistol Whip.
The Multiplayer:
Give another game character the Baldur’s Gate III underwear treatment.
The End Boss:
Unity destroys the trust of an entire industry with one dumb pricing announcement.
Death Stranding is coming to iPhone.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 developer suffers office fire.
New iOS update lets people use their GameBoy Cameras for FaceTime, with some effort.

Sep 1, 2023 • 2h 2min
Episode 471: I Tried to Turn Them Off But They Were Into It
The Grind:
Jala: Dishonored. Mega Man Adventures Board Game. Baldur’s Gate III.
Kole: Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Unsorted Horror.
Dennis: Firewatch. Frozen Synapse 2.
Ben: Friday the 13th. Dave the Diver.
The Multiplayer:
What’s your favorite game that takes place in a school?
The End Boss:
Starfield leaker criminally charged.
Sony announces $199.99 price for PlayStation Portal.
Don’t take Astarion on his loyalty quest.