Overthinking Games

Ep 62: Mental Health

What do Celeste, The Binding of Isaac and Hellblade have in common? Interesting approaches to talking about mental health, of course!This week we get into the weeds about mental health in games, the relationship between player mental health and games, and society’s portrayal of and broader conversation about mental health.Games also discussed: Elden Ring: Nightreign, Balatro, Crush House, Arcade Paradise, and, at some length, Death Stranding.Send us an email with your thoughts on this week’s topic, a suggestion for an episode, or whether you think themes are real or not!We’d love to hear from you! overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.comFind us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Tik Tok/Instagram BlueskyTheme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

Ep 61: Waiting

Waiting sucks! Except for when it…doesn’t.Why can waiting for an upcoming, scheduled release feel like Advent (thank Seth for that one), but waiting for Silksong incites insanity among its fanbase? Is there a difference between delayed gratification, and gratification delayed(that one was Katie’s fault…)? How does player agency tie into all this?Join us as we discuss waiting and video games, as well as the decline of the human attention span, and Elden Ring: Nightreign.If you’d like to send in your thoughts about a recent episode, we’d love to hear from you! overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.comFind us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!)Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

Ep 60: The Last of Us (and Philosophy) with Nicholas Crawford

In this special episode, we miss Seth, and Dempsey and Katie are joined by Nicholas Crawford, philosopher and author of the upcoming book, "Where We've Made it Dark," a literary apocalypse novel available at Barnes and Noble on October 21st, 2025.Nicholas has been making excellent content on Tik-Tok about The Last of Us season 2, and we take the opportunity to go into a deep dive with him about identity, subjectivity, and more with regards Joel, Ellie, and the violent world they inhabit.Find Nicholas Crawford at: www.nicholascrawfordauthor.com https://www.tiktok.com/@nicholas_crawfordSend us an email with your thoughts on the video game vs. tv show adaptation! overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.comFind us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!)Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses 

Ep 59: Gender

Games and GenderThis week, we circle back round to a topic that continues to be a font of curiosity and conversation: games and gender! Are games gendered? (Dempsey repeatedly says “girl games”, much to Katie’s chagrin) How does a person’s identified gender impact their relationship or interaction with games?We don’t know, but we had a good time talking about it! We also share a listener email from the fantastic cohost of The Old Switcharoo! If you’d like to send in your thoughts about a recent episode, we’d love to hear from you!overthinkinggamespodcast@gmail.comFind us on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Instagram/Tik Tok Bluesky (Follow us on Bluesky, Dempsey would feel extremely gratified!)Theme music is copyright free and from: https://www.youtube.com/@Pixverses

Ep 58: (We still miss Katie) and Blue Prince

We need Katie back :(