Abzu developer Giant Squid and publisher Annapurna Interactive released The Pathless last month, in a strange launch that positioned the game as one of the first “next-gen” indies while quietly also making it available on current gen consoles, PC, and even across all the devices that are part of Apple Arcade. It’s a departure from the Journey-derived style of Abzu but still brings some of that DNA, and blends it with an open world, Breath of the Wild inspired design.

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:

• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
• Nate Heininger – @natestl
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Hades isn’t short! But we’re covering it anyway because we’re Supergiant Games superfans. We’re joined by friend of the show and Hades speedrunner Robert Hawks aka Rubella aka The Patron Saint of Bird Week, who helps us talk about the late game stuff we haven’t seen yet. Did we mention this game is long!?

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 – @raygank
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
• Nate Heininger – @natestl
• Robert Hawks – @JesterRubella

We needed a low-prep episode for this holiday week, so we’re taking your questions! Thanks to our patrons and listeners who sent in their questions.

We’d like to make this a recurring feature of the show, so if you have questions for the hosts, send them to us via Discord, Twitter, or the contact form on our website!

We’re continuing our coverage of IFComp 2020 with nine more games. We plan to return after the close of the comp to discuss the winners. Thanks for joining us for this year’s comp, and thanks to all the authors and to the IFTF for keeping the comp running!

• 00:02:01: Academic Pursuits (As Opposed To Regular Pursuits) by ruqiyah
• 00:09:03: Lore Distance Relationship by Naomi “Bez” Norbez
• 00:18:44: Captain Graybeard’s Plunder by Captain Graybeard’s Plunder
• 00:25:42: The Cave by Neil Aitken
• 00:34:24: Under They Thunder by Andrew Schultz
• 00:42:37: Tavern Crawler by Josh Labelle
• 00:52:26: A Calling of Dogs by Arabella Collins, Grey Havens
• 00:58:16: You Couldn’t Have Done That by Ann Hugo
• 01:02:20: Stand Up / Stay Silent by Y Ceffyl Gwyn
• 01:05:50: Outro

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 – @raygank
• Nate Heininger – @natestl
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

The Reigns franchise from developer Nerial and publisher Devolver Digital leaves medieval-ish times and blasts off into rock-and-roll outer space in this Apple Arcade exclusive that shakes up more than just the setting.

Links for this episode:

• Reigns: Beyond
• Taskmaster on YouTube
• Enthusiast! a podcast by Mark Bramhill
• Laura’s profile on Fallen London

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:

• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

We’re continuing our coverage of IFComp 2020 with a new crop of games, and J.J. Guest, winner of IFComp 2018 for his game Alias: The Magpie, is joining us to discuss several of this year’s games!

00:00:00: Intro – Thank you to our guest, JJ Guest!
00:03:52: J. J. Guest on The Magpie Takes The Train
00:06:46: Mother Tongue by Nell Raban
00:12:44: Vampire Ltd by Alex Harby
00:21:53: Jay Schilling’s Edge of Chaos by Robb Sherwin & Mike Sousa
00:30:05: Electric word, “life” by Lance Nathan
00:37:19: Entangled by Dark Star
00:49:14: The Turnip by Joseph Pentangelo
00:56:18: Vain Empires by Thomas Mack and Xavid
01:03:37: Other Suggestions
01:04:59: Outro

For more on J.J. Guest’s games, check his page on IFDB, or his blog!

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 – @raygank
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash
• J.J. Guest – @JJGUEST_IF

With Reigns: Beyond coming to Apple Arcade on November 6th it seemed an appropriate time to re-release our episode from 2016 covering the original Reigns. This unlikely series has spawned a sequel, a Game of Thrones spin off, and numerous imitators, and is now heading to space. Neat!

We’ll be back next week with more coverage of IFComp.

World of Horror draws inspiration from point and click adventure games, retro computers, horror manga, H.P. Lovecraft, and even recent rogue-lite games, and it’s a unique synthesis. It’s also notably a game “made by one dude in MS Paint”. Anything that gives us an opportunity to talk about Junji Ito for nearly a quarter of the episode is OK by me. Happy Halloween!

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 – @raygank
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

Morris Lupton is the recently deceased museum curator of the tiny British island of Shelmerston. He’s also the only one who can stop the volcano at the center of the island from erupting. Morris and his ghost-dog Sparky use their ghostly x-ray vision to uncover the mysteries of Shelmerston and save the town they loved in life.

This was an odd one. I Am Dead is a beautifully crafted game, badly served by its central mechanic. We discuss where this newest game from Wilmot’s Warehouse developer Hollow Ponds and publisher Annapurna Interactive succeeds, and where it just… doesn’t. Flawed but interesting games sometimes make for the most interesting conversations!

I Am Dead is available on PC and Switch for $20. Expect it to take about five hours to complete.

Welcome back, Nate!

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 – @raygank
• Nate Heininger – @natestl
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Our IFComp coverage continues, this time with a guest! Long time interactive fiction author and first place 2016 IFComp winner Robin Johnson joins us to talk about a fresh crop of games!

00:00:00: Intro – Thank you to our guest Robin Johnson!
00:05:08: A Rope of Chalk by Ryan Veeder
00:14:48: #VanLife by Victoria
00:20:56: Quest for the Sword of Justice by Damon L. Wakes
00:28:39: The Eleusinian Miseries by Mike Russo
00:33:39: Babyface by Mark Sample
00:39:34: Stoned Ape Hypothesis by James Heaton
00:46:23: The Moon wed Saturn by Pseudavid
00:52:02: How The Elephant’s Child Who Walked By Himself Got His Wings by Peter Eastman
00:57:46: Limerick Quest by Pace Smith
01:07:40: Wrap up

Next week we’ll be returning with a regular episode, but expect more IFComp coverage, and more guests, throughout the duration of the comp!

You can find Robin’s work at his itch.io page.

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 – @raygank
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane