Apologies in advance for the sound quality of this episode and for its late release. Your intrepid podcast host was moving cross country this week and our equipment and schedule did not cooperate as planned.

2013-14 has been great for iOS gaming, and Apple has picked five great games to honor with Apple Design Awards at this year’s World Wide Developers Conference. We’ve played (nearly) all of them and share our impressions with you!

Threes

A tiny puzzle game that grows on you

• Threes on the iOS App Store – $2.99
• Threes on the Google Play Store – $2.99
• Threes on the Amazon App Store – $2.99

*(Currently on sale for $1.99.) *

Monument Valley

An illusory adventure of impossible architecture and forgiveness

• Monument Valley on the iOS App Store – $3.99
• Monument Valley on the Google Play Store – $3.99
• Monument Valley on the Amazon App Store – $3.99

Blek

Watching it move is like watching magic

• Blek on the iOS App Store – $2.99
• Blek on the Google Play Store Out Now! – $2.99
• Blek on the Amazon App Store – $2.99

Device 6

A surreal thriller in which the written word is your map

• Device 6 on the iOS App Store – $3.99

Leo’s Fortune

A beautiful platform adventure game.

• Leo’s Fortune on the iOS App Store

Links for this episode:

• The Apple Design Awards
• Toribash
• Wario Land 4 – Jeremy Parish reviews the game for 1Up in 2011
• Nancy Morse’s review of Wario Land 4
• Mario Maker
• Threes by Asher Volmer, for iPhone, iPad, Android, and soon Xbox One
• PuzzleJuice, also by Asher Volmer, for iOS
• Why 2048 sucks and Threes is a Masterpiece
• The “Threemails” – a publication of the complete process of the game including design documents and emails between the creators, with a note on rip-offs
• Video – Asher Volmer (developer of Threes) meets Alexy Pajitnov (developer of Tetris) and Henk Rogers (founder of The Tetris Company)
• Threes OST by Big Giant Circles
• Whale Trail
• Canabalt
• Blek trailer
• The Room and The Room Two
• Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors – an escape-the-room visual novel for the DS
• Simogo’s Complete Guide to References & Inspirations in DEVICE 6
• The Prisoner – TV show
• Beat Sneak Bandit
• Year Walk for iOS
• Year Walk for PC & Mac
• Transistor

In this episode, we discuss a game that probably all of you have played: Valve’s incredibly popular distraction from Half-Life 3 development, Portal.

Portal is a game so influential it likely requires no introduction. In this episode, Raygan and Shane break down the qualities that made the game was so successful, and its widespread impact on gaming in general.

We command you:

GO PLAY PORTAL AGAIN!

Portal is available on nearly every platform you could want, including:

• Through Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux – $9.99
• As part of the Orange Box for Xbox 360
• or individually as a download from Xbox Live Arcade – $14.99
• As part of the Orange Box for Playstation 3
• On Android, currently only on the Nvidia Shield – $9.99

Links for this episode

• The Last Guardian
• Our Broken Age Episode
• The Banner Saga
• Casual Shenanigans Podcast on YouTube
• Star Citizen
• The Veronica Mars Movie
• Transistor
• Transistor Trailer
• Bastion for iOS
• Portal available on the Nvidia Shield
• The original Portal trailer
• Portal: The Flash Version
• ASCIIPortal
• Narbacular Drop
• Download Narbacular Drop
• The Orange Box
• Johnathan Coulton
• Still Alive – YouTube link
• Portal’s patched ending
• Teslagrad – $9.99 on Steam
• Our Thomas Was Alone episode
• Thinking with Time Machine

This episode was recorded in two parts. In the introduction, recorded just a few days ago, Host and Bro-host discuss the recent announcements at E3, Tom Cruise movies, and a great quick video game about pseudo-nazi-airplane-submarines! In the second half, we wrap up our recent board game special with a lively discussion of Dominion.

Links for this episode:

The Introduction

• No Man’s Sky – YouTube Trailer
• Nintendo announces Splatoon – YouTube Trailer
• Nintendo announces Zelda for the Wii U – YouTube link

• The Witcher 3 gets a release date – YouTube link

• Edge of Tomorrow – staring Tom Cruise

• NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour – Edge of Tomorrow

• Luftrausers – Official Site

• Luftrausers on Steam – $9.99

• Ridiculous Fishing – Official Site

• Ridiculous Fishing on the iTunes Store – $2.99
• Cloned At Birth: The Story of Ridiculous Fishing – Polygon

The Conclusion to the Board Game Special

• New to Dominion – DominionStrategy.com
• Tanto Cuore for iPhone/iPad
• Dominion on Amazon – $30
• Memoir ’44

In this, our first very special episode, we take a bit of a detour and talk about a gaming passion that has less to do with keyboards and gamepads, and more to do with cardboard and dice. This is our first Board Game Special, and we discuss some of the games that brought us into board gaming as a hobby, with a special focus on games that are both quick to play and quick to teach.

We got so carried away talking about great board games that the episode ran long, so we’ve broken it into two parts. Join us next week for episode 9b!

Links for this episode

• Avalon Hill
• Axis & Allies
• Settlers of Catan
• Carcassonne
• Carcassonne on Amazon – around $25
• Carcassonne for iOS – $9.99
• Small World
• Small World 2 for iPad
• Small World on Amazon – $39
• Reiner Knizia’s Samurai for iOS
• Space Hulk on iOS or PC/Mac
• BoardGameGeek Geeklist of Online Boardgames
• Days Of Wonder online games
• Game Table Online
• Ticket to Ride
• Ticket to Ride on Amazon – $38
• Ticket to Ride on iPad
• Ticket to Ride Marklin Edition
• Ticket to Ride Alvin & Dexter (Monsters)
• Age of Steam on BoardGameGeek
• Find a board game group on MeetUp.com
• New York Board & Card Games Group
• Saint Louis Board Game Group
• BoardGameGeek.com

This week we discuss Terry Cavanagh’s indie gaming masterpiece VVVVVV. Inspired by the Commodore 64 generation of games, this game presents a tough challenge to even the most experienced gamer, while still clocking in at a descent length. Clever level design and a great focused game mechanic make this game shine.

The game is available:
– Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux – $4.99
– Direct from Develper DRM free for Mac, PC, and Linux – $4.99 (or $7.50 with the soundtrack)
– From the Nintendo 3DS eShop
– Coming soon for several other platforms including PSVita, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Ouya

Expect the game to take between 2 to 4 hours to complete depending on your skill level and willingness to persevere against sometimes absurd difficulty.

Pre-show topics

• American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett (Novel)
• Paranoia RPG
• Kero Blaster for PC
• Kero Blaster for iPhone
• Mario Golf

Links for this episode

• The name’s meaning and other curiosities
• QWOP
• Shahid Ahmad of Playstation on the Directional Podcast
• Interview with developer Terry Cavanagh from Rock Paper Shotgun
• Playing VVVVVV on the iPad (YouTube link)
• Terry Cavanagh’s website featuring many of his flash games
• Super Meat Boy
• The Gravitron (…oh god the graviton…)
• The Elephant Secret… Revealed!

There is no spoiler break for this episode, as we all concurred that there wasn’t really that much story to spoil.

Correction: Raygan stated that the game was available on the Humble Store but this is not the case. It was previously included in a Humble Bundle but it is only available through Steam and DRM Free through the developer’s website, sold using the Humble Widget. We regret the error.

This week, we discuss the silly, silly platform adventure game Octodad: Dadliest Catch.

Octodad is a game about controlling a slippery octopus in a suit through levels filed with tons of tiny physics-enabled objects while trying not to attract attention. Nobody can know your secret octopus nature!

The trailer is absolutely fantastic.

This little game is one of our favorites yet. Octodad is available for the PS4, Mac, Windows, and Linux. Expect it to take about 2 hours to complete.

• Direct from Developer – $14.99
• Steam – $14.99
• PS4 – $14.99

Pre-show topics include:

• Raygan is finally playing Earthbound
  • Also he’s really into this Nvidia Shield thing.
• Nate finally got MLB 14: The Show for PS4, but is stymied by day one updates and DLC.
  • The strange career of Romango.
• Shane can’t decide which game to play next:
  • Mercenary Kings
  • Metal Slug 3 on Steam (PC port by DotEmu)
  • Child of Light

In our 6th episode, we discuss Thomas Was Alone, Mike Bithell’s game of jumping and friendship.

Thomas Was Alone is available for Mac, PC, and Linux, as well as on the Playstation Network for PS3 and PSVita

• Steam for Mac, PC, and Linux – $9.99
• PSN for PS3 & Vita – $9.99 or FREE for PS+ subscribers

Since the recording of this episode, Thomas Was Alone was also released for iPad!

• App Store for iPad – $8.99

Expect the game to take about 3 and 1/2 hours to complete.

Follow Mike Bithell on Twitter. He’s really interesting.

David Housden’s soundtrack for the game is fantastic.

Other topics include:

• Raygan is really bad at Titanfall
• We muse on the non-gaming uses of Occulous Rift
• Nate is looking forward to MLB 14 The Show for PS4 (Polygon link)
• Lost Vikings, Blizzard’s 90s character switching puzzle platformer. Now available for FREE on Battle.net.

Edit: The original version of this episode that went out was missing the Spoiler Break™ sound effect in the middle of the episode. Oops. Thanks to all who reported the issue.

In our fine fifth episode, we launch into the depths of space with FTL: Faster Than Light.

We discuss the qualities that make the game so quick and yet so infinitely re-playable, with digressions into the definition of the roguelike genre.

We also determine scientifically that spoilers don’t spoil anything. It’s science!

• Link to Wired Science article 2011

Nate and Shane also share their secrets to success in FTL, and we all share some tales of embarrassing defeat.

FTL is available for:

• Mac, Windows, and Linux through Steam
• Mac, Windows, and Linux Direct from the developers
• iPad through the Apple App Store

All versions are $9.99.

Expect the game to take between 20 minutes and 2 hours per “run” depending on your luck and skill level, with extensive re-playability.

Here is the excellent strategy wiki page we discussed in this episode.

Other topics this week include:

• Hearthstone for iPad, Mac, and Windows
• Mercenary Kings for PS4 (Free with PS+!), Mac, and Windows (Steam)
• Severed announcement trailer from Drinkbox Studios

Some images from Severed

This is our fourth episode! Can you believe it!

This week, we discuss Tim Schaffer’s modern point and click adventure game Broken Age.

Nate is away this week, so Shane & Raygan have the show to themselves.

Topics include:

• Tim Schaffer’s early career at LucasArts working on touchstone games like Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle, his founding of Double Fine Productions, and the record-setting Kickstarter campaign that funded Broken Age.
• The mechanics and humor of Broken Age, in comparison to the great adventure games of yore.
• How do you judge or review an “early access” game?

Our Spoiler Break™ for this episode is at about 35 minutes, after which we discuss details of the plot, ending, and theme.

You can join us after the spoilers at about 1 hour 7 minutes, for our other topics:

• Raygan is crazy about Hearthstone on the iPad
• Shane is liking Trine 2, the gorgeous puzzle platformer from FrozenByte, for Mac, PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and PS4!

Broken Age is available direct from the developer and through Steam for $24.99. It is currently in “early access” form, meaning that the first act (of two) is complete and available now, with the second act becoming available “this year.” Expect the first act to take 3-4 hours to complete

Join us next week for our most exciting episode ever, on FTL: Faster Than Light!

This week on The Short Game, we discuss indie gaming touchstone Cave Story.

If you’ve played games on a computer in the last decade, odds are you’ve played or at least heard of Cave Story. If not, there’s never been a better time to try it as it’s now available in multiple versions on multiple platforms. Cave Story harkens back to the great “Metroidvania” games of the 16-bit era, drawing its influence from Castlevania, Metroid, Legend of Zelda, and many other classics, but adds a more modern feel and great, colorful characters and story. Originally a freeware game for Windows, the game has been ported and re-made on multiple platforms including the Nintendo Wii and 3DS.

We also discuss:

• Shane stayed up late playing FTL: Faster Than Light  on the iPad (We really love this game!)
• Nate recommends South Park: The Stick of Truth. If you’re a fan of South Park, you’ll love it.
• We have mixed opinions on N64 first person shooters
• Raygan can’t wait for Cave Story creator Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya’s next game, Kero Blaster, launching May 11th on Windows and (interestingly) the iPhone

Cave Story is available on the following platforms:

• Original Mac/PC/Linux Freeware version
• Mac/PC Cave Story+ edition on Steam
• WiiWare Downloadable version
• Cave Story+ for Nintendo 3DS
• Cave Story for Nintendo DSi