Mike Bithell’s follow-up to Subsurface Circular is another single sitting dialogue driven text adventure game, but this time it’s on a boat! Also there’s an alien.

We discuss the second “Bithell Short”, a spiritual sequel to the previously covered Subsurface Circular. If you liked Subsurface Circular or interactive fiction this is definitely worth a look.

Quarantine Circular is available on Steam for Windows and macOS for $5.99. Expect it to take around three hours to complete.

[00:00:00] Quarantine Circular
[00:46:58] What’s making you happy this week?
[00:54:20] Spoiler Break

What’s making us happy this week:

• Laura: Zero Sum for iOS
• Nate: Boats
• Raygan: Lizzo
• Shane: The Giff – Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

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

In Far: Lone Sails you’ll pilot a massive rattletrap machine across a beautiful, desolate world. This “atmospheric vehicle adventure game” feels a bit like it was grown in a lab to appeal to The Short Game. It has a presentation that begs comparisons to past favorites like Inside, but the vehicle system feels fresh and keep the game engaging and mechanically interesting throughout.

Far: Lone Sails is available on Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store for Windows and MacOS, with PS4 and Xbox One versions in development. Expect it to take about three hours to complete.

[00:00:00] Far: Lone Sails
[00:45:02] What’s making you happy this week?

• Laura: Superstore
• Raygan: Yakuza Kiwami
• Nate: Pocket Operator: Rhythm

[00:53:16] Spoiler Break

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

In a world where absolutely everyone cares about golf…

Golf Story is an indie developed golf RPG in the Mario Golf tradition, developed by Sidebar Games. It was an early indie exclusive on the Nintendo Switch. In this episode we discuss our history with golf and golf games, the bizarre and hilarious world of Golf Story, and get into the weeds with golf game history and mechanics.

Expect Golf Story to take about 15 hours to complete. (A bit on the long side for our show, but this is still a game that respects your time.) It’s available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $14.99.

[00:03:15] The Short Game on Golf
[00:11:40] Golf Video Games
[00:19:36] Golf Story
[01:04:07] What’s Making Us Happy This Week

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

It’s been 18 months since the release of the PSVR and against all odds there are still great short games coming out! Shane brings us his impressions of the second wave of PSVR games, starting with Moss, a VR game about guiding a sword-wielding mouse through a dangerous storybook world.

Games mentioned in this episode:

• Moss
• SUPERHOT VR
• Farpoint
• Rec Room
• CoolPaintr VR
• Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
• Accounting+
• Battlezone Gold Edition
• RESIDENT EVIL 7

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:

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

We’re joined by special guest Patrick Kelpek of Waypoint to discuss his recent article Most Video Games Are Too Long, in which he compares the experience of playing God of War with Minit. We discuss about value of editing and restraint in video game design, and the economic and business factors that drive game length. We also get his suggestions for great short games to play. Thanks to Patrick for coming on the show.

• You can find Patrick on Twitter at @patrickklepek
• Visit Waypoint on the web at waypoint.vice.com
• Check out the excellent Waypoint Radio podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Gorogoa Designer’s GDC Talk

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

In Minit, you are cursed to die (and be reborn) every 60 seconds. This makes solving puzzles and Zelda-like action challenges a bit more interesting. The game was developed by a four person team consisting of Jan Willem Nijman (co-founder of Vlambeer), Kitty Calis (who most recently worked on Horizon Zero Dawn), Jukio Kallio (composer), and Dominik Johann (art director of Crows Crows Crows) and published by Devolver Digital.

We loved this breezy action-adventure-puzzle game for its clever minimalism, exciting pace, and manageable length. Expect the game to take about 3 hours to complete, with room for re-plays and a new game plus mode. Minit is available for $9.99 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC/Mac/Linux. See the official site for links to purchase.

• Soundtrack available on Bandcamp
• Minit is an amazing game for speedrunning – Polygon
• Devolver Digital Store – Minit Plush with Steam Game Key
• @MinitMary, the hint ghost, on Twitter

[00:42:50] The all new “What’s making you happy this week?” segment (name pending!):

• Raygan: Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology for 3DS
• Shane: Converting Call of Cthulhu – Tatters of the King to the Fate RPG system
• Nate: Sushi Burritos from BLK Mkt in St. Louis

[00:52:52] Spoiler Break

After the spoiler break we discuss specific puzzles, places we got stuck, and the ending of the 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
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
• Nate Heininger – @natestl

Into the Breach is the second game by FTL developer Subset Games. FTL was the focus of the fifth episode of this podcast, way back in May of 2014,and has been a major obsession for all of us (but especially Nate) ever since. This time, Subset has taken on the tactical strategy genre, but their take is one of the most streamlined and cleverly designed games in the history of the genre.

We are joined this week by guest host Sandy Bledsoe, managing partner of Houston gaming tavern Coral Sword, who has spent the time since the game’s release streaming Into the Breach on Coral Sword’s Twitch channel. We discuss the game’s unique mechanics, and try to avoid constant comparisons to FTL. Stick around after the spoiler break at [01:03:17] for in depth strategy talk.

Into the Breach is available for Windows via Steam, Humble, and GOG for $14.99. As a (somewhat) roguelike-inspired game, each battle is short and each run takes around 30-45 minutes, but the game is meant to be re-played for advancement and progression. For Mac users, the DRM free versions of the game (via Humble or GOG) run just fine via WINE. Use tools like WineBottler to install.

Links for this episode:

• 05: FTL – Faster Than Light – The Short Game
• CoralSword (@CoralSword) | Twitter
• Coral Sword – Home | Facebook
• CoralSword – Twitch
• CoralSword – Sandy’s Sandbox – “Into the Breach” – Twitch
• ‘Into the Breach’ Didn’t Click Until I Played it Like an EMT – Waypoint
• Sanford // Sandy (@sanfordandpun) • Instagram photos and videos

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:

• Sandy Bledsoe – @sanfordandpun on Instagram
• Nate Heininger – @natestl
• Raygan Kelly – @raygank
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane

This episode we’re checking in on the sequels to three landmark iOS games we’ve covered the past: Alto’s Odyssey (followup to Alto’s Adventure), Framed 2, and Monument Valley 2. Laura and Raygan discuss the games and what makes a compelling sequel. Also, Laura is leaving leaving on a five week honeymoon to Europe. Congratulations, Laura, and have a great trip!

Check out all three games on the iOS App Store:

• Alto’s Odyssey
• FRAMED 2
• Monument Valley 2

Here are our episodes on the original games discussed:

• 38: Alto’s Adventure and Endless Runners – The Short Game
• 50: Framed – The Short Game
• 11: Apple Design Award Winners 2014 – The Short Game

Other games mentioned:

• 141: Gorogoa – The Short Game
• 113: The Room – The Short Game
• 98: Reigns – The Short Game
• 139: Reigns – Her Majesty – The Short Game
• Tiny Wings 2 – Polygon

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

The first game from Mountains, a new “craft games” studio headed by Ken Wong (lead designer of Monument Valley), Florence is best described as an interactive graphic novel set to music. It’s a beautifully illustrated and scored story about a young woman’s first first love. The soundtrack by Kevin Penkin (soundtrack composer of Made in Abyss) is especially good, and the entire package is extrordinarily polished.

This is a story driven experience, so our spoiler break is a bit early at [00:20:29].

Florence is available on iOS and (soon) Android, and costs $2.99. Expect it to take about an hour to play.

Links for this episode:

• Florence
• Giant Days Vol. 1 | Amazon.com
• Blankets: Craig Thompson | Amazon.com
• To Be Or Not To Be – Ryan North on the App Store
• Miley and Lilly Designer Dreams | Laura’s first professional game work. No longer online officially but available here on an unofficial site. Play at your own risk.
• Infinite canvas – Wikipedia
• Florence (Original Soundtrack) by Kevin Penkin on Apple Music
• Florence (Original Soundtrack) by Kevin Penkin on Spotify

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

Celeste is the second game from Towerfall developer MattMakesGames, which this time is Matt Thorson (Towerfall), collaborator Noel Berry (Skytorn), and friends.

Nominally a game about climbing a mountain, Celeste is a difficult story-driven platformer that surprised us by becoming one of the best games of 2018 so far.

Celeste is a fairly short game but play times will vary, with main story completion taking between 8-12 hours. A significant amount of optional, post-game, and bonus content is included. The game is available on Steam and Itch.io (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It costs $19.99 on all platforms. See the game’s homepage for links to purchase.

Spoiler break at [01:02:49].

• TowerFall
• 12: Towerfall Ascension – The Short Game
• PICO-8 Fantasy Console
• Celeste – Pico-8 Version
• Celeste Original Soundtrack | Lena Raine
• Celeste B-Sides | Lena Raine
• Episode 87 – Caveman-Adjacent – The Casual Hour

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
• Nate Heininger – @natestl
• Raygan Kelly – @raygank
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane