EXP Podcast #565: Kentucky Route Zero Debrief

"This ditty's called 'Which Side Are You On?'"

This week on the EXP Podcast, we load up the truck and take a little ride on the Kentucky Route Zero. This is a game nearly a decade in the making. It's a surreal, folkloric exploration of a great many ideas and it transcends space and time. All that is to say, this little review of ours isn't easy - and hell, sometimes, neither is playing the game. We hope you at least enjoy the ride.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




 Show Notes
- Runtime: 46 min 08 sec
- Music from the Kentucky Route Zero OST

EXP Podcast #564: Bridging the Social Distance

If only it was this simple.

The world seems pretty wild right now, right?  The COVID-19 situation has escalated quite a bit in the recent weeks and we hope everyone is doing as well as can be expected.  We decided there's no way to do a normal show under the circumstances, so consider this podcast a virtual check in from us to you.  We're physically incapable of avoiding all video game talk, so you'll still get plenty of that; there's just some more real life stuff mixed in.  Pull up a virtual chair and hang out.  Stay safe out there!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




 Show Notes
- Runtime: 35 min 24 sec
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #563: Save Scumbags

The face of a "Save Scumbag"

This week on the EXP Podcast we get a fresh start! Inspired by an article from Polygon by Nicole Carpenter, we are talking about the age-old practice of save-scumming  - the practice of loading up an old save file to redo your actions and get the optimal (or at least different) outcome. Nicole uses it to save a horse - but we can think of many more malicious - and positive - ways to use such godly powers!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.





 Show Notes
- Runtime: 33 min 24 sec
- "I'm Reckoning With My Save Scumming Ways by Nicole Carpenter via Polygon
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #562: Gradeschool Pokémaster

Can't wait to sign my child up.

I often worry about the next generation and the world they're inheriting, but then I realize that they don't need my concern: they have Pokémon to protect them!  This week, we talk about a few recent news stories: Riot is getting into the tactical shooter business, Twitch is weird, and the children are Pokémon savants.  We live in strange times.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



- Runtime: 36 min 08 sec
- "Riot's Next Game Is Valorant, A First-Person Shooter," by Luke Plunkett, via Kotaku
- "Twitch's Most-Watched Clips Have Almost Nothing To Do With Games," by Jay Castello, via Kotaku
- "7-Year-Old Simone Lim Wins At The Pokemon's Oceania Championships," by Jenny Zheng, via GameSpot
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #561: Panopticar

Truck Nuts (-10 Morality)

This week on the EXP Podcast, we discover that the vast majority of Mass Effect players never went full renegade asshole-captain. If no one really enjoys playing bad cop, are morality systems a waste of time? Or have we lost something by making all our choices morality-meter free? Perhaps most importantly, what would a great morality system look like and why should it be a mod for Eurotruck Simulator?

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



- Runtime: 34 min 57 sec
- "Almost Nobody Played A Bad Guy In Mass Effect" by Luke Plunkett, viaKotaku
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #560: A Game About Nothing

"So anyway, let me tell you about my walking simulator."

In these hectic times, sometimes you just need to play a game where you just chill and do nothing.  But is tending to virtual crops or role playing as a pixelated barista as relaxing as it sounds?  This week, we talk about games that try to lower the stakes, ask less, and draw us in with tranquility instead of action.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



- Runtime: 32 min 50 sec
- "And relax … the joy of video games where you do almost nothing," by Keith Stuart, via The Guardian
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #559: Webs and Reworks

"Next stop Tokyo!"

This week on the EXP Podcast we cover some recent news! Spider-Man swings into Sony's corporate office (and swings out to with a boatload of cash), Bioware is rebuilding the very core of Anthem, and we say goodbye to our old frenemy Flash (gone, but not forgotten or every really uninstalled).

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



 - Runtime: 36 min 14 sec

- Music by Brad Sucks