The Secret Lives of Games

151: Games of the Year 2025

The gang's all here to count down our favorite "games" of "2025", alongside a bevvy of great picks from previous guests and listeners. Happy new year! Audio edited by Dylan Shumway  Our GOTY Picks (SPOILERS!):   ~~~~~~~~~   Rob 5. Many Nights a Whisper - Deconstructeam, Selkie Harbour 4. Blue Prince - Dogubomb 3. Skat - German Trick Taking Game 2. UFO 50 - Mossmouth 1. Caves of Qud - Freehold Games   Zach Hollow Knight: Silksong - Team Cherry Pokemon Legends: Z-A - Game Freak Dragon Warrior IV - Chunsoft (Bonus: CorgiSpace - Adam Saltsman) Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (N64) - Lucasarts 1. Kirby and the Forgotten Land - HAL Laboratory   Doug 5. Don't Rank Cuomo - Robert Yang 4. Harold Holt Video Series (first episode) (YouTube uploads)  - James Ward 3. Baby Steps - Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy 2. Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers - Kart Krew 1. Slice & Dice - Tann   Nick Tall Trails - Brady Soglin Magical Athlete - Takashi Ishida - updated design by Richard Garfield The Attraction - Palace Games San Francisco Hot Streak - Jon Perry 1. Öoo - NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuyomi   Sarah 5. Consume Me - Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, et al. 4. Blue Prince - Dogubomb 3. Slice & Dice - Tann 2. Tiny Bookshop - neoludic games 1. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes - Simogo   Laura The Roottrees are Dead - Evil Trout Inc. Type Help - William Rous Monkey Around: the Wiggle and Giggle Game - Peaceable Kingdom despelote - Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena Death Wears White - Guillaume Montiage/Asmodee   Andy The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Nintendo Hollow Knight: Silksong - Team Cherry Hot Streak - Jon Perry Death Stranding 2: On The Beach - Kojima Productions The Old King's Crown - Pablo Clark   Other picks from guests and listeners: UFO 50 - Mossmouth Consume Me - Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, et al. Öoo - NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuyomi Hollow Knight: Silksong - Team Cherry Blue Prince - Dogubomb Clues By Sam - Ad Artis Oy Magical Athlete - Takashi Ishida - updated design by Richard Garfield Complex 629 - Lillex Studios Donkey Kong Bananza - Nintendo Final Fantasy V - Square Enix Baby Steps - Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy Puzzmo Crosswords - Puzzmo Team & Collaborators Numberblocks RPG (developed in Izzy Kestrels mind) Lost Cities - Reiner Knizia Deadlock - Valve Hexadecipad NES Tetris Tournament - Patrick LeMieux and Stephanie Boluk Star Waspir (from UFO 50) - Mossmouth Lumines Arise - Enhance, Monstars Outer Wilds - Mobius Digital Zexion - Gallant Leaf PEAK - Landfall  Writing essays  Elden Ring Nightreign - FromSoftware Unfair Flips - HEATHER FLOWERS DISCOPUP - Parry Mechanics OVER/UNDER - Sam Sorenson Type Help - William Rous Rain World - Videocult Snekburd - Werxzy 2025 Pico-8 Advent Calendar - organized by Kevin Thompson and bikibird Mol Hunt for 2025 Season of De Mol - TSLOG Discord Q-UP - Everybody House Games Many Nights a Whisper - Deconstructeam, Selkie Harbour Vantage - Stonemaier Games The Old King's Crown - Pablo Clark Hot Streak - Jon Perry Cave Noire - Konami Judo (martial art) Retro handheld hobby Clair Obscur | Expedition 33 - Sandfall Interactive Skin Deep - Blendo Games Peekaboo The Séance of Blake Manor - Spooky Doorway Minni & Max (from UFO 50) - Mossmouth Patapon - Pyramid, Japan Studio Promise Mascot Agency - Kaizen Game Works 10S Forever - owch   Miscellaneous Honorable Mentions: Perfect Dark (N64) - Rare ACTION BUTTON REVIEWS Cyberpunk 2077 Party House of the Day (mod of UFO 50) - Mossmouth Cairn - The Game Bakers   Other topics discussed this episode: Why We're Boycotting Xbox (and Maybe You Should Too) - People Make Games Cosmic Encounter - Fantasy Flight Games Upcoming games packed with hidden secrets! – FuryForged Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective - Space Cowboys Klaverjas - Dutch Trick-taking Game 129: Reinforcing Worldbuilding through Gameplay with Spoils despelote - Official Nintendo Switch Trailer Immersipedia https://eggplant.show/  https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

All Systems Brough - 868-HACK

We're joined by Shawn Alexander Allen (Beatdown City Survivors), Cole Wehrle (Root), and Drew Wehrle (Pax Pamir) to discuss the first title in our year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough: 868-HACK. Next Month: Vertex Dispenser   Audio edited by Dylan Shumway   Discussed in this episode:   868-HACK https://868-hack.neocities.org/  Michael Brough's Website https://www.smestorp.com/  XPerience Studios https://xperiencestudios.org/ "King Me": A Defense of King-Making in Board Game Design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UraJElx1ebg Leder Games https://ledergames.com/ Wehrlegig Games https://wehrlegig.com/  7-Day Roguelike Jam blog post https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2013/03/7drl-day-2.html  868-HACK Release Trailer (2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMH-yDR35lI  PRACTICE 2013: Michael Brough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4iswqa8r-Q  Michael Brough on balancing prog costs: https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2014/06/868-hack-prog-costs.html  Michael Brough on streak scoring https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2013/05/score-conditions.html  https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2017/09/streak-scoring-redux.html  James Lantz on 868-HACK https://web.archive.org/web/20160531060339/https://www.decisionproblem.com/inmachinam/?p=175  Dewan https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/439742/dewan  Zaynation Complete UFO50 Alternate History Voicemails https://discord.com/channels/690388280767807518/1298414011368607796/1440018452050870385  Michael OBlivion tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R92zN2899s&t=586s  Rock Paper Shotgun 868-HACK Review (2015) https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/868-hack-review-pc  Michael Brough on passive vs active abilities https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2013/05/uniform-activations.html  Vivafringe blog post on 868-HACK Secret Level and Good vs. Bad Secrets https://vivafringe.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/lets-spoil-868-hacks-secret-level-and-talk-about-good-secrets-vs-bad-secrets/  Beatdown City Survivors https://store.steampowered.com/app/3383040/Beatdown_City_Survivors/ Molly House & John Company Reprinting https://john-company-molly-house-reprint.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders  Michael Brough on Plan B design notes https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2017/07/planb-notes.html  Brick101 - new Steam guide for Powerups https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3577171247  Spawn count chart: https://discord.com/channels/690388280767807518/1418970536137981962/1425545294032146494  https://secretlives.games/  https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

150: Making It Great with Kimmo Lahtinen (Sektori)

Nick is joined by guest co-host Chris Plante (Post Games) for a chat with Kimmo Lahtinen (aka gimbll) about his dynamite new twin-stick shooter, Sektori. They discuss the joy of the genre, pursuing excellence in an oversaturated genre, and how personal limitations shape solo development. Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Sektori https://www.gimblll.com/sektori/ Day Repeat Day https://www.gimblll.com/dayrepeatday/  Barbearian  https://www.gimblll.com/barbearian/  Drift and Drive https://www.gimblll.com/driftndrive/  Resogun https://housemarque.com/games/resogun  Outland https://housemarque.com/games/outland  Dead Nation https://housemarque.com/games/dead-nation   Super Stardust Portable https://housemarque.com/games/ssp   Geometry Wars https://store.steampowered.com/app/8400/Geometry_Wars_Retro_Evolved/   Rez Infinite https://www.rezinfinite.com/  Post Games podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/post-games/id1815131711  Besties podcast https://www.themcelroy.family/podcasts/besties/   Limetown podcast https://twoupproductions.com/limetown/podcast  Quest Tabletop Game https://www.adventure.game/   https://secretlives.games  https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog

Into the Depths: Caves of Qud Finale

We're proud to present the final installment of our over-a-year-long Into the Depths series on Caves of Qud, as well as our last episode with our recently retired Eggplant branding. Caves of Qud is a massive open-world roguelike RPG that has been in development since 2007 and Early Access since 2015, and we give it an appropriately epic sendoff with nearly four hours of deep discussion. Doug and Rob, joined by special guest host Star St. Germain, dive into the game's finale and overarching themes with narrative designer Caelyn Sandel and co-creators Jason Grinblat and Brian Bucklew. Be warned, major spoilers await: We discuss the aftermath of the Tomb of the Eaters, the Moon Stair, the [Redacted], Reclamation, We Are [Redacted], plus other juicy details about how this legendary game finally came to an end… and what's in store for it next. Audio edited by Dylan Shumway. Discussed in this episode: Brian's must-follow bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/unormal.bsky.social Warm static – Official Caves of Qud wiki https://wiki.cavesofqud.com/wiki/Warm_static Independent Games Summit: What Even is 1.0?: Indefinite Early Access and Live Development https://gdcvault.com/play/1035081/Independent-Games-Summit-What-Even End-to-End Procedural Generation in Caves of Qud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV-DZqdKlnE Tile-Based Map Generation using Wave Function Collapse in 'Caves of Qud' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdCgi9E90jw  Caves of Qud Discord https://discord.com/invite/cavesofqud Eris – Girsh Illustration https://www.reddit.com/r/cavesofqud/comments/1n449aw/girsh_qas_and_qon/ A Mythopoetic Interface Reading of Caves of Qud (Roguelike Celebration 2025) https://www.youtube.com/live/UQNfH9pKWd4?si=jFy9VTRZzLPJHn4W&t=1091  Sproggiwood https://store.steampowered.com/app/311720/Sproggiwood/ Slav Epic Paintings by Alphonse Mucha https://www.muchafoundation.org/en/gallery/themes/theme/slav-epic https://secretlives.games/  https://bsky.app/profile/secretlivesofgames.bsky.social https://www.youtube.com/eggplantshow  http://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog (full rebrand still in progress, lol)    

All Systems Brough - Introduction

We're joined by Frank Lantz (Q-UP) and Mare Sheppard + Raigan Burns of Metanet (N++) for the first episode of All Systems Brough, a year-long exploration of the work of Michael Brough. We share our thoughts on why Michael's oeuvre demands a deep dive, add some historical context, and share the plan for the year ahead. We also introduce a (final?) rebrand to the podcast! Next episode: 868-HACK (it's also recommended that you start playing Vesper.5 now to prepare for later)  (Tentative) Episode/play order: 868-HACK Vertex Dispenser Zaga-33 Vesper.5 Corrypt Kompendium (plus digital archiving of O) BECOME A GREAT ARTIST IN JUST 10 SECONDS Helix (plus SMESPORT) Imbroglio Cinco Paus P1 Select (plus Quinzena maybe?) & Broughlike Game Jam Games 868-BACK (caveat: still in development) Audio edited by Dylan Shumway  Discussed in this episode:   Michael Brough's Website https://www.smestorp.com/  Michael O'Blivion's Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@michael_oblivion  Flock https://annapurnainteractive.com/en/games/flock  Wilmot's Warehouse Boardgame https://www.cmyk.games/products/wilmot Q-UP https://store.steampowered.com/app/3730790/QUP/ Donkeyspace (Frank's Substack) https://franklantz.substack.com/  The Beauty of Games https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262552950/the-beauty-of-games/   Metanet Software https://www.metanetsoftware.com/about-us  N++ https://nplusplus.org/  PRACTICE 2015: Mare Sheppard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBCDeMl4VwY   FTL https://subsetgames.com/ftl.html  Sylvie's Games https://sylvie.website/  A wild start, 41 points with no artifacts! (Cinco Paus LP ep 1) by vivafringe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-8xXBwAdG4  Droqen's website https://www.droqen.com/   Raigan's bluesky (will give away free copies of Cinco Paus on Christmas!) https://bsky.app/profile/raiganburns.bsky.social   Q-UP OST https://kariomart.bandcamp.com/album/q-up-ost  868-HACK (Steam) https://store.steampowered.com/app/274700/868HACK/ Vesper.5  https://mightyvision.blogspot.com/2012/08/vesper5.html  https://www.youtube.com/@thesecretlivesofgames http://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog