Shownotes

This week we are talking about Ghostrunner, a first person platforming cyberpunk action slice-em-up tough-as-nails wallrunning robot ninja game from Polish developer One More Level. This game grabbed us and would not let us go.

Ghostrunner is available and looks and plays great on practically every platform under the sun from high end gaming PCs to the humble Nintendo Switch. How long it takes you to complete is likely to vary widely by skill level, with How Long To Beat rating it at around 6 hours but all of us finding it taking between 10 and 15.

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

A Hand With Many Fingers by Colestia is a first person conspiracy research game. Using advanced tools such as a card catalog and a cork board, uncover the real life spy thriller mystery of Nugen Hand Bank, an Australian merchant bank with ties to drug smuggling, organized crime, and the CIA.

A Hand With Many Fingers is available on Steam and itch.io, where it is Pay What You Can. A demo is also available on itch.io. Expect it to take about two hours to complete.

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
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

This week we were disrupted by the massive winter storms in Texas, so we are rereleasing this classic episode from 2015. Her Story is one of the best games we’ve covered on the show, and this episode, which includes an interview with developer Sam Barlow, still ranks as one of my favorites. I’ve updated it with chapters so you can skip straight to the interview or spoilers if you like! See you next week!

Why do these squirrels behave so strangely? Use cameras and other monitoring equipment to track their movement, and uncover the secret hiding in Melmoth forest in this… animal surveillance adventure game? Nuts has a beautiful and impactful art style and a fun central mechanic, and hey, the squirrels are cute. You can play Nuts on Apple Arcade, as well as on PC and Nintendo Switch.

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
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Oh-oo-oh, we’re Talkin’ ’bout Bugsnax.

We covered Young Horses previous game, Octodad: Dadliest Catch way back in 2014, and here in 2021 they’re back with a new and even weirder game. Bugsnax sends you on a mission to Snacktooth Island, a mysterious place populated by Bugsnax, which are half bug half snack creatures that cause weird, body horror effects in those lucky enough to eat them. This game was a ton of fun.

Bugsnax is available for PS4 and PS5, and on PC/Mac via the Epic Game Store. Expect it to take between 6 and 12 hours to complete depending on your commitment to catching every Bugsnak.

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
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Eliza is a near-future sci-fi story about the culture of tech, mental health, and the moral and ethical questions around the creation, use, and misuse of the eponymous AI counseling program, Eliza. It’s one of the most thought provoking stories we’ve ever seen in a video game.

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

We loved Carto, a friendly little puzzle adventure from developer Sunhead Games. It’s a breezy adventure that combines Carcassonne-style map tile laying puzzles with a cute adventure story full of sweet characters in a very strange world. It’s available on pretty much every platform under the sun.

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
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

In this “Narrative Exploration Game” by Gareth Damian Martin you play as an AI that inhabits an advanced dive suit worn by scientist Ellery Vas as she explores a distant planet and encounters alien life for humanity’s first time. As an AI, you experience the world through a beautiful but cryptic user interface, and through Ellery’s description of the world around her.

In Other Waters is available for Windows, Mac, and the Nintendo Switch. Expect it to take between, 4 and 10 hours to complete.

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
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash

Transistor was The Short Game’s first Game of the Year, all the way back in 2014. This week we are re-releasing that episode, with some fresh Making us Happy in the intro. We’ll be back to our regular schedule next week!

Thanks for sticking with us in 2020. We can’t wait to see what next year brings.

00:03:20: Game of the Year 2020: Kentucky Route Zero
00:12:44: Shane’s Pick: Streets of Rage 4
00:20:37: Shane’s Bonus Pick: Grindstone
00:28:04: Nate’s Pick: Wide Ocean Big Jacket
00:31:20: Dirtbag of the Year: Mord
00:34:12: Raygan’s Pick: Blaseball
00:43:53: Laura’s Pick: Signs of the Sojourner
00:49:18: Non-2020 Games We Loved In 2020
00:58:00: Other Memorable 2020 Gaming Experiences
01:05:47: 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
• Shane Kelly – @8bitShane
• Nate Heininger – @natestl
• Laura Nash – @laurajnash