The Short Game

This overlooked open-world kitchen sink game might be Apple Arcade’s best exclusive. Sneaky Sasquatch looks on its surface like a light stealth game aimed at children, but get past its first minutes and you’ll. discover a game that is eager at every moment to show you one more fun thing. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankShane Kelly – @8bitShaneNate Heininger – @natestlLaura Nash – @laurajnash (00:00) - Sneaky Sasquatch (38:37) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week? (38:45) - Shane - Norse Mythology (41:58) - Laura - I, Claudius (47:39) - Nate - Going To A Movie! (56:44) - Raygan - Nier Replicant (01:02:06) - Outro

In IFComp 2017, we were excited by the possibilities Filip Hráček showed in his comp game Insignificant Little Vermin, built with his bespoke choice-based system Egamebook. Now Hráček has released the first commercial Egamebook game for iOS and Android. Knights of San Francisco is a 90 minute mobile RPG with simulated combat and a text based presentation. It’s a story about a young necromancer climbing the Transamerica Pyramid in the ruins of far-future San Francisco, with a really impressive UI and set to a dope playlist. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankShane Kelly – @8bitShaneNate Heininger – @natestlLaura Nash – @laurajnash (00:00) - Knights of San Francisco (56:17) - What's making us happy this week (56:31) - Raygan - New Car! (58:42) - Shane - Monster Hunter Rise (01:04:02) - Nate - Making Group Spotify Playlists for Hang Outs (01:08:17) - Laura - Walking Broadway (01:11:42) - Outro

This week we are re-releasing our episode on Severed, a game from Guacamelee developer Drinkbox Studios that originally released on Vita and has since been ported to just about everything including iOS and Switch. It’s long been one of our favorite games, and Drinkbox has a new game coming out later this year so we thought it might be worth revisiting. If you haven’t ever played this fantastic touch-and-gamepad based action dungeon crawler, give it a try! The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankShane Kelly – @8bitShaneNate Heininger – @natestlLaura Nash – @laurajnash

This week we are renewing our Apple Arcade subscriptions and talking about some of the games we’ve checked out since the debut of the service. 00:01:57: Wonderbox00:07:42: Hitchhiker00:14:40: A Monster’s Expedition00:21:40: Sneaky Sasquatch00:31:11: Clap Hanz Golf00:41:05: Assorted App Store Greats, Music Games, Etc.00:51:59: Sp!ng & lumen.00:55:52: Listener Recommendations and Other Games We Are Looking Forward To Trying The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankShane Kelly – @8bitShaneNate Heininger – @natestlLaura Nash – @laurajnash (01:57) - Wonderbox (07:42) - Hitchhiker (14:40) - A Monster’s Expedition (21:40) - Sneaky Sasquatch (31:11) - Clap Hanz Golf (41:05) - Assorted App Store Greats, Music Games, Etc. (51:59) - Sp!ng & lumen. (55:52) - Listener Recommendations and Games We Are Looking Forward To Trying (01:03:39) - Outro

Before Your Eyes is a short narrative game that uses your real life blinks (monitored via your PC’s webcam) as your primary interaction. It’s also an extremely moving story, well written and performed, about what makes a life valuable. You play as Benjamin Brynn, a deceased soul reviewing the moments of his life, but each time you blink, each moment is lost. Shane and Raygan both found this 1.5 hour experience extremely effecting and emotional, and we strongly recommend it. It’s available on Steam and the Epic Game Store for Windows. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankShane Kelly – @8bitShane (00:00) - Before Your Eyes (27:28) - Spoiler Break

Better late than never! This week we are looping back to our promised IFComp 2020 wrap-up, and discussing the four games in the top 10 that we didn’t cover during our colossal four-part coverage last fall. This was a truly colossal comp, and all of the top games are worth your time. This year’s top 10 included two mathematically unlikely ties (!) and included games in a variety of genres and styles from both new and returning authors! 00:04:48: 1st Place (tie): The Impossible Bottle by Linus Åkesson00:39:10: Places 3 -700:44:49: 8th Place (tie): A Murder In Fairyland by Abigail Corfman00:56:47: 8th Place (tie): Stuff of Legend by Lance Campbell01:08:05: 10th Place: Sense of Harmony by Scenario World01:17:44: What’s Making Us Happy This Week The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankLaura Nash – @laurajnash (04:48) - 1st Place (tie): The Impossible Bottle by Linus Åkesson (39:10) - Places 3 -7 (44:49) - 8th Place (tie): A Murder In Fairyland by Abigail Corfman (56:47) - 8th Place (tie): Stuff of Legend by Lance Campbell (01:08:05) - 10th Place: Sense of Harmony by Scenario World (01:17:44) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week (01:17:52) - Laura - Finally Watching Silence of the Lambs (01:21:13) - Raygan - RIP Vita (01:27:53) - Outro

This week we’re reminiscing about the ultimate short game machine, the Game Boy, with special guest Jordan Starkweather. Jordan is a host of the Pocketoid podcast, the internet’s longest-running handheld gaming podcast, and also runs @CRTPixels, a popular Twitter account documenting retro games the way they were designed to look. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about the Game Boy with Jordan, and sharing some of our favorite games for the system. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankLaura Nash – @laurajnashJordan Starkweather – @jackal27 (02:13) - Game Boy Memories (34:21) - Donkey Kong 94 (43:19) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (51:17) - Trax (56:30) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week (56:41) - Jordan - Delicious in Dungeon (59:54) - Raygan - City Connection Remixies (01:07:38) - Laura - The Queen's Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner (01:11:35) - Outro

Laura and Raygan dive into this character focused kingdom management simulator about a royal family having a really, really bad year. Yes, Your Grace is available on PC/Xbox (and included in Game Pass for both platforms) as well as Nintendo Switch. Expect it to take about 6 hours to complete. (04:54) - Mechanics (18:47) - Story, Act 1 (44:17) - Outro (45:24) - Spoiler Break (Acts 2 and 3)

This week Raygan and Shane have been spending time with Hardspace: Shipbreaker, an early access spaceship salvage simulator that is just on the verge of releasing its first real story content. We’ve been following this game since its initial release into early access last year and it seemed like a good time to revisit it to see how it’s coming along. This episode’s “what’s making us happy this week” segment also might be the most digression-heavy we’ve ever had. Hope you like pizza and the film career of Nicolas Cage. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankShane Kelly – @8bitShane (41:44) - What’s Making Us Happy This Week (41:56) - Shane: Misc. (plus Pizza) (46:38) - Raygan: Capcom Beat ‘em Ups (plus Nicholas Cage) (53:41) - Outro

This week we are talking abut some of the long game experiences we’ve had going in between short games lately. Nate talks about deck-building RPG SteamWorld Quest, Raygan has been playing (ugh) Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption II, and Laura talks about playing the Mario 3D All Stars collection. The Short Game is supported directly by our listeners on Patreon! Supporters at any level get access to our Discord, where we discuss games, plan episodes, and talk about what we are playing in real time. You can also support us by writing a review on Apple Podcasts! You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygankNate Heininger – @natestlLaura Nash – @laurajnash (02:02) - SteamWorld Quest (17:16) - Cyberpunk 2077 (is unsurprisingly disappointing) (30:58) - Red Dead Redemption II (39:56) - Super Mario 3D All-Stars Etc. (55:41) - Outro