The Short Game

This week we’re exploring the ocean of Abzu, the first game from Journey art director Matt Nava’s Giant Squid Studios. We loved Journey so naturally we were eager to play the game some have called its spiritual, aquatic successor. But does it the experience hold up? Abzu is available on Playstation 4 and Steam for $19.99. Expect it to take 2 to 4 hours to complete. Links for this episode: ABZÛ 73: Journey – The Short Game Reigns | Games | Devolver Digital You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Shane Kelly – @8bitShane Nate Heininger – @natestl Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Quadrilateral Cowboy is the long awaited new game from Brendan Chung and Blendo Games. Its precursor Thirty Flights of Loving was a brief, carefully edited story of crime and romance, but felt like more of a narrative experiment than a full game. Quadrilateral Cowboy expands that concept into a full fledged narrative driven heist game. The setting, a retro-futuristic alternate 1980s that Brendan Chung calls “20th Century Cyberpunk”, blends perfectly with the angular low-poly art style. Missions are based around using a number of low/high tech tools, like a futuristic command line hacking “deck”, to infiltrate a series of secure locations. As you plan and execute your heists, an involving story unfolds through wordless environmental storytelling. Quadrilateral Cowboy is available on Steam and through the developer’s website for $19.99, or $29.99 for the deluxe edition. Expect it to take around 6 hours to complete. Links for this episode: BLENDO Games Quadrilateral Cowboy official site Thirty Flights of Loving official site 80: Jazzpunk – The Short Game 89: Human Resource Machine – The Short Game 32: Gunpoint – The Short Game You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Nate Heininger – @natestl Laura Nash – @laurajnash

We’re looking back to the 90s this week as we discuss Sega Genesis brawler Streets of Rage 2. Links for this episode: Streets of Rage 2 on Steam 3D Streets of Rage 2 for Nintendo 3DS Yuzo Koshiro – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia DATA005: Streets of Rage 2 – DATA DISCS You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Shane Kelly – @8bitShane Nate Heininger – @natestl

The latest (second) game from Limbo developers Playdead games is finally here. Inside initially seems like more Limbo; a puzzle platformer. A mysterious, unsettling story told wordlessly, featuring a young boy exploring a spooky environment. If you’re looking for more Limbo you’ll find it here, but Inside quickly begins surprising you with new ideas and beautiful animation. Over its 4-5 hour run time it moves swiftly from pleasant re-exploration of good ideas to an astonishing achievement and perhaps the best game of 2016. Inside is available on Steam for Windows and on Xbox One for $19.99. (Expect ports to other platforms eventually.) Inside – official site The Short Game episode 57 – Limbo You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Nate Heininger – @natestl Laura Nash – @laurajnash

This week we discussed Wheels of Aurelia by developers Santa Ragione. Though technically still in beta, Wheels of Aurelia is a complete experience that expertly blends a driving game with a focus on characters through the use of a interactive fiction. As their website says, “Based on your choices – and the places you’ll decide to visit – you may end up in car chases, illegal street races, or in tense debates that will make you wonder who your travel companions really are.” Each play session takes 10-20 minutes and can be played on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is available for $4.99 on itch.io. We highly recommend this game for someone looking for a truly unique and extraordinary experience centered around something ordinary we have all done before: having a great conversation while driving. Links for this episode: Gamasutra – Interactive fiction meets arcade racer: Designing Wheels of Aurelia Pic of the Wheels of Aurelia cabinet at Fantarcade Desert Bus (The Game) Full Throttle – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Laura Nash – @laurajnash Shane Kelly – @8bitShane Nate Heininger – @natestl

Can it really be two years since our last board game special?! This week we’re rounding up the board and card games we’ve been enjoying when not playing short video games. Join us as we talk about that other gaming hobby! Games and links mentioned on this episode: The 2015 Good Gift Games – The Morning News Marrying Mr. Darcy – the Card Game – Home Actualol – YouTube Shut Up & Sit Down – YouTube Patchwork Board Game Sushi Go! – The Pick and Pass Card Game Lost Cities – The Card Game Morels Mr. Jack Pocket Twilight Struggle Deluxe Edition Cheapass Games Kill Doctor Lucky: Deluxe 19.5th Anniversary Edition Fish Cook | Cheapass Games Hanabi Card Game Galaxy Trucker Galaxy Trucker Digital King of Tokyo | IELLO Roborally Evolution – North Star Games Search form | УКРПОШТА Betrayal At House On The Hill – 2nd Edition Slash: Romance Without Boundaries Concept Board Game Cash N Guns Second Edition Spree! | Board Game | BoardGameGeek Villa Paletti You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Laura Nash – @laurajnash Nate Heininger – @natestl Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

As we did in 2014 and 2015, we’ve checked out this year’s Apple Design Award winning games, and we’re back to talk about what they say about iOS as a gaming platform today and in the years to come. This year’s winners: Chameleon Run Lara Croft GO INKS Student Winners: Linum Dividr Also mentioned on this episode: Shadowmatic Crossy Road – Endless Arcade Hopper Does not Commute Downwell The Executive | TouchArcade 55: Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon – The Short Game Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector Clash Royale The Beggar’s Ride | TouchArcade Flappy Golf 42: Pinball! – Physical and Simulated Pinball Games – The Short Game Tomb of the Mask Love You to Bits: a point-and-click cosmic quest. You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Nate Heininger – @natestl Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Expand is an innovative, difficult to classify game about navigating a circular maze that shifts and expands in response to your movement. It’s a really special experience and we highly recommend it. Expand is available for Mac, PC, and Linux on Itch.io and on Steam for $6, or $10 with the soundtrack. You’ll want that soundtrack, it’s great. Expect it to take about 4 hours to complete. Links for this episode: Expand – Official Site Assault Android Cactus Christan’s blog – Indie Game Enthusiast Thomas Was Alone VVVVVV Super Hexagon Expand – Soundtrack | Christopher Larkin Apple Design Awards – Apple Developer Triennale Game Collection on the App Store 78: Superhot – The Short Game Leap Day on the App Store You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Nate Heininger – @natestl Laura Nash – @laurajnash

This week we’re talking about Human Resource Machine from The Tomorrow Corporation. The makers of Short Game favorites Little Inferno and World of Goo have returned last year with a game that is completely different from either of those. It’s a puzzle game in which you use basic programming to solve simple math problems, but we swear it’s more fun that that might make it sound! If you missed Human Resource Machine, now is a great time to give it a second look since it just received a terrific iOS port. Human Resource Machine is available for Mac, PC, and Linux for $9.99 and on iOS for $4.99. It’s also available on the Wii U, and it has been a part of a couple of Humble Bundles, so check your Steam library! Expect the game to take between 5 and 8 hours. You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Raygan Kelly – @raygank Nate Heininger – @natestl Laura Nash – @laurajnash Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

This week we are exploring the insanely varied world of indie game marketplace itch.io. Each of our hosts spent $5 on itch and played two or three games from a variety of vibrant micro-indie creators. If you’re not familiar with Itch.io, it’s most easily summed up as “bandcamp for video games.” Anyone can post their work on Itch and create a custom store page to tell their story. Creators set prices, from zero to whatever they like, and everything works as a “suggested donation” so you can pay whatever you like above the creator-set minimum. It’s a great place for developers to share and sell their work, especially for games that might be too niche to get through a system like Steam Greenlight. Itch also does a wonderful job of fostering a community by featuring a parade of interesting stuff on their homepage and twitter account. We discuss a bunch of games this week. We have gathered them together into a collection that you can view on itch. Mentioned on The Short Game: An Itch.io Collection Played for this episode Animal Inspector by Tom Astle Ultra Hat Dimension by Eniko Robot Heist by anna anthropy Cuckoo Curling by chromacool Masques and Murder! by James Patton windowframe by Daniel Linssen Grimsfield by escooler Minirl by endigo9740 Subterrarium by slimefriend Lieve Oma by Florian Veltman Also mentioned: Overland by Finji Jenny LeClue by MOGRAFI ANATOMY by Kitty Horrorshow Crowtel by Sink Hot Date by George Batchelor Risky Bison by Captain Games Tick Tock Isle by Squiddershins (ASMR) Vin Diesel DMing a Game of D&D Just For You by merritt kopas Eczema Angel Orifice by Porpentine Bellular Hexatosis by neotenomie You can follow our show on Twitter at @_shortgame Like the show? Support us by writing a review on iTunes! Your hosts this week were: Laura Nash – @laurajnash Raygan Kelly – @raygank Nate Heininger – @natestl Shane Kelly – @8bitShane