March 24, 2025 • 29 mins
Anney and Samantha give an update on their gaming, ask for suggestions and give a few of their own.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
We never told your production by Heart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome back for another Monday mini. Well, we're kind
of gonna go for our distractions. We're gonna go into
an update about some of our pastime, some of the
ways that we decompress from the world at large, and
we're coming back for a gaming roundup. Yeah, we did
a full episode at the end of last year at
the beginning of this year. What was this, say, ten
(00:39):
thousand years ago.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
We recorded the episode at the end of last year
and it came out at the end of last year
on tech Stuff, but in our feed it came out
the beginning of the year.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay, so it's not just me being in a time
lapse and time loop of all eternity. Great anyway, But
we did one with Jonathan from tech Stuff about cozy gaming,
and I got some really great suggestions from that episode
to try out. So we also have some lists of
new games that you and I are looking into as well,
So I thought we would just come back around have
(01:13):
a leisurely conversation about video games and gaming in general.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Also, just to be clear, none of these are sponsors
we're just we're just talking about them yet. Yeah, for
real contact us.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I will say some of the games that I tried
on tech stuff, I did not get very far gone home.
I got to the front door. That's how it begins, y'all.
I couldn't figure out how to open the door, so
I quit. I feel like that's gonna be a game
that I'm gonna have to watch someone else play and
enjoy it that way.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
It's just a short game. The only thing is, like
you have to read a lot of text, like you're
kind of discovering what happened via journals. So I don't know, Like,
I'm sure there are some video that have done it,
but I'm not sure how clear it is.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, go, I'll try it again. Maybe someone gonna tell
me how to open the door.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Gets in the door, I can help you open the door.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Okay, help me open the door, because y'all, I don't
have skills anyway when it comes to gaming. But let's
get into an update. Annie, give us an update. I
know some excitement is happening. Some feeds are coming through
with the Last of Us and Last of Us two
(02:33):
updates coming up. Have you done a playthrough in preparation.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
For the second season, which, by the way, they broke
the second game up into what I believe three seasons.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Oh really, yes, uh, I mean there are a lot
of storylines, so that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, But it is going to be because we are
bringing back our last of Us specials. I'm very excited
about it. Today I woke up and was like, that
is less than a month away, and I cannot believe it.
But it's going to be very difficult. We are going
to manage it. We are going to do it. It's
going to be very difficult with the spoilers, just because
they're splitting it up that way. I am going to
(03:16):
replay the game before it comes out. I haven't started
it yet because, as I've said multiple times, people be
yelling at me about this fan fiction. I haven't so
I had to do that, which I did do. So
maybe this weekend. Maybe this weekend I'll start. But I
(03:36):
did do. I'm excited about that and I finished. I've
mentioned I've been playing The Silent Hill to remake. I
finished my most recent playthrough that I was doing with
a friend of mine that I grew up with, Katie,
where she used to she was my person in the
chair and she'd be on the walk through telling me
(03:56):
what to do, which is such a different time now,
but it was a fun, nostalgic memory for us. And
I was just telling Samith, I've started watching gaming videos
just about the history of games, and I've really enjoyed that.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
There's a lot that we could be talking about. There's
so many niche things that we have talked about, but
we need to come and revisit. That's what I think
we probably can take some of the older episodes and
we have, but go back to because I was thinking
about into matriosis not too long ago and PCOS and
just kind of like, is there new discoveries? Is there
new conversations between what ten years ago twol years ago
(04:39):
when Kristen and Caroline we talk about it too today
and games are one of those, like we've talked about
it several times, but we haven't gone through the niche details.
And I think we could really do that if we
wanted to, if the world would stop being awful, yeah,
and if it would just become boring again where everything
was seemingly progressing and we could just celebrate all the
(04:59):
time beautiful. But anyway, gaming videos, I probably should be
watching some of those two so it can help me
go through doors.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I just kind of like, like I was telling you,
one of my favorite recent ones I watched was about
the old technology fears we used to have when your
Xbox would have their red ring or your PlayStation would
give you the blue screen.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
The minute you said that, my partner and then old
old producer of the show Andrew just lit up with
all the conversations they had, and I just sat there
and I was like, I just watched my brother yellow
because he wouldn't let me play. To be very fair,
I sucked them too, So there's both of us. So
my world. I am still doing a lot of mobile gaming.
(05:45):
There's a lot out there that are like rebrands of
rebrands of rebrands, trying to step away from some of
the more popular ones. But I still love. My favorite
one right now still is Love and Pies, and I've
talked about them before, and I have caught up so
much that I have to wait for updates weekly for
new scenarios or scenes to be played out. They do
a good job in bringing like other competitive elements that
(06:08):
they do while you're waiting, so you collect all your
coins so you can build your little shop. But I've
bypassed all those. That's how far I am. They are
still keeping up with some beautiful storylines. I did do
a whole like they did a whole like survey, what
do you enjoy? What do you not enjoy? So I
got to give them all of my opinions. The storylines
(06:29):
are great, the love matches are cute. I actually this
is the first time that I've seen, Like there have
been many of video games where obviously they're in relationships
and it's implied they're in relationships. There are straight relationships,
and then there are like queer relationships and it's really beautiful.
But there's one queer relationship. I was like, oh, and
they actually have them kiss and it like zooms in
(06:49):
as if it's like a portrait moment of the lesbian
couple kissing. It was like, wow, I've never actually seen
that on a mobile game. It's just implied and then
moves on, you know, And so to see them actually
highlight the kiss, I was like, Oh, and it's all animations.
The graphics are really cute. I've talked about them before,
so I'm like, you know what, Yes, I like that
(07:11):
they're stepping up to it instead of like falling back
into this ridiculous conservative craze of being too woke or whatever.
I was like, oh, anyway, it didn't fit. Everything fit,
It didn't feel like it was fishing for anything. It
just it was very sweet line. But anyway, I just
was like, Hey, that's nice to see that they're still
continuing down this route, not trying to backtrack like so
(07:31):
many cowardice companies that we've seen. Anyway, but so love
and pies still love it. I will still pay a
little money for it for extras because they deserve it
and I want them to keep updating. I would be
very sad if they didn't, you know. But uh, also
on my switch, I've been playing my cozy Grove. They
had a little festival that Christmas festivals and all of
(07:52):
that you collect. I'm not good at stuff like this
where you collect and build on things. Yeah, so care enough. Yeah,
I don't think I like the I like the daily
like hunts. So you're supposed to find a specific items
per bear, and the more memories that they collect, the
(08:13):
like they become real and I don't know if they
ever descend. They get like full images instead of just
being ghostly figures. I guess I'm gonna have to try
to finish it. Oh, I don't know if there is
a finish.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I was thinking about this other day. I used to
pause a game right before the end because I just
couldn't bear to finish it. But shows, I'm like, end it.
But for some reason with games, I'm like, I put
so much time and now you're gonna tell me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
You take it away from me.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So for I just watched the credit and cry, it's.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Never really Annie, Never you're ready, You're right, Okay. So
those are some of our updates. I haven't done much
with Animal Crossing because again, trying to design and create
things I'm not really good at. So I gotta figure
that maybe I could bring someone in, tag someone in
to do that part. You want to come do that
for me?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
But I know that just makes me laugh. I wonder
if that's a business someone started up or.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Something Elijah Woods has done this. Hey, Elijah Woods, just
in case you ever catch this episode and you want
to fit you need to finish someone else's island on
me U email us. Someone's gonna be like, what in
the world but new games? Annie? Have you discovered some
(09:56):
new games recently.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I have running joke with gamers is that you always
have a huge backlog. I have a huge backlog, so
currently I'm trying to work through shorter games that I
can finish pretty quickly. So I just played Dopy Doky
Literature Club, which I had heard about for a long time.
(10:18):
This is a game that if anyone doesn't want to
be spoiled on this game, it is amazing and don't
get spoiled on it, so if you need to skip
ahead a little bit. But it's a game where you're
playing as a dude, and it's very like picturesque anime
(10:41):
and you're basically trying to find a love match. But
guess what, things go wrong really quickly. Your best friend
kills herself and then, through like poetry games, you start
choosing who you're going to be with of the people
who are and also they all pretend she never existed
(11:02):
after this. But anyway, so you're playing this poetry game
and you sort of choose someone to be with, but
it goes horribly wrong and things start going wrong with
your screen whatever you're playing it on. There's glitches and
(11:22):
strange things start happening and then at one point, like
I literally thought the game was frozen, and it wasn't.
It just makes you wait for a very long time,
and then you learn that basically the main character, Monica,
(11:44):
realizes she's in a game and she doesn't like that
she's not the one you chose, and she has a
really creepy scene where she's just like talking to you
and it will keep going and going and going until
you delete the game and her from you, and then
you restart it and she's she's like, you know what,
(12:06):
I'm really angry at you, but I still love you,
so I'm gonna let you live this life. But then
the other characters are like they're in a game.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Then it's just really creepy and it was really creative
and I really liked it. I was scared to go
in and delete that stuff, though, and you have to
delete your like saved game, and.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
See, I don't think I could. I couldn't. I couldn't
probably get past certain things, but I probably I don't
know I deleting things.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
She she kind of tells you how to do it,
but I was like scared I was gonna mess something up,
so I looked it up.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I was like, to be clear, I wouldn't looking it
up is what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yes, okay, but I really really recommend it. But it
is disturbing. It is very disturbing. The imagery is disturbing,
and I was left unsettled. And there are multiple endings.
I've only gotten a few of them, and I think
the last one is I don't want to put in
the work for that, but I know what it is,
so oh okay, that's enough for me. Wow, it's creepy.
(13:08):
And then I told you they'd use your name because
they use it from your profile. It's like, hey, Annie,
oh no.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I throw things like in my mind, it's a curse,
so that means I have to throw it.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
It was scary like it. It unsettled me deeply mm hmmmm.
And just the things as they start going wrong, oh no,
and then it just resets and they make you feel
like you're you're losing your mind because they're all like,
oh no, we don't know what you're talking about. Like, no,
I'm pretty sure I just.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Saw someone die, saw gaslighting you.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yes, anyway, that's what my most recent new game.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Okay, okay, that sounds like an interesting take well, I've
gotten three new games, and one of them was Unpacking,
which is what we've already talked about. We talked about
about with Jonathan and he actually really really recommended I've
seen it. It just seemed like such an absurd thing
that I didn't want to do it, and I know
I've talked about it before, but I was like, all right,
(14:17):
I'm gonna try it. Y'all love it. I love it
that there's something that really personal about it too, though,
because you through the items that they carry and they
cross over to whomver you're unpacking for, you see their
childhood to adulthood. It's really interesting that you can see
when she has her first boyfriend, that she's living with them,
(14:39):
and you can see when they're like had their first house.
I guess, and I say, she, I guess. My perspective
is because that's how I see it. It's really interesting.
I really like it. And then there is I just
did the demo first because I was like, I don't
know how I feel about this Dredge, and I believe
this was one of the recommendations as well. But I
love the one thing I do love, but Animal Crossing
(15:00):
is catching fish. That's Cozy Grove does the same thing,
and I'm like, all right, I can do this. This
is fine, I can I can do this. So it's
a fishing game with quests and mystery, and there's also
the eye. It looks like the Eye of sour On.
But then like there are moments when you're on the
boat that you just see eye flashing at you. Have
you played this game?
Speaker 1 (15:18):
No, but I it's in my library. After we get
that episode, I'm excited to try it.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
So they're like, and I didn't know what that means.
I don't know what that means. So I don't think
I know that yet. But I think it's just like
because the illusion when you see the red so there's
just like it is it always like the Eye of
sore On because it comes like flares up this giant
red beam. I'm not trying to share, not really sure
where's from. And then like if you cross into certain areas,
you realize there's rocks and you don't know until it
(15:47):
opens itself up like it kind of does like a
laser reval, you know what I mean. And I'm like, oh,
I've hit I've hit two, I've hit two of them.
Oh no, yeah, I've also realized I don't know how
to use a compass. Well, no, I need to work
on my skills on that, because it tells you one
point go south, and I was like, what does that mean?
(16:07):
I am one of those people, y'all. But it is
really interesting. This is a description it gives on the site.
Dredge is a single player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent.
Sell your catch upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths
for long buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago, and discover
why some things are best left forgotten. The graphics are cool,
(16:28):
but it's like old timey look of you know, early
century fishing harbor towns. So it's interesting. I have to
navigate how to figure out what to use because this
is the part of my problem is I don't read
all of the instructions. Yeah that yes, yeah, And so
(16:49):
it's like you need to do this, press this button
to do this button to this button. I'm like, why
is there so many buttons? Just give me the three buttons.
But I have done two quests. I have to figure
out how to go south. I'm very to this game
because I wasn't like very invested. I feel like I'm
buying a lot of games and I'm like, I can't
play this. This is not my thing. So I was
(17:09):
trying to do the demo first, but I like it
thus far. That's far. I found a lot of bottles
with hidden messages m m hm, so I'm on that one.
And then also I looked up and this is not
I don't think it was. I don't think he recommended it,
but I saw it on a lot of lists. MEL
time you play a male Scout, so this is a
(17:29):
description they give. You're afresh on the job, male Scout,
on track to complete your very first mal delivery. Keep
by the way, glide, jump and talk your way through
the grumblewood grove on your way to deliver the letter
and become a full fledged male Scout. So, first of all,
the options in how you create your player or your
(17:49):
avatar great. It has sliding skills for like tone, skin tone,
and hair. I was like, oh, wow, that's a great option,
Like you don't have to be in my case burnt yellow,
which is in some games, you know, like it's really nice,
and like oh, and then super cute graphics, all the
little animals, all of the areas is nice. I will say,
(18:11):
much like other games, I can't quite grasp the jumping
to places. I'm figuring that part out and glitchy. It
feels glitchy, but I think it's me playing it and
pressing the wrong button, So that's on me. That's on me. Also,
at the very beginning one of the quests, I think
it's a badger. He accuses of a rabbit kid of
(18:32):
stealing his money because he's a second late on something,
and I was like, well, damn all are mean. They
are very feisty characters like they They're very sarcastic with
each other. I have discovered if you ask too many
questions or talking to someone too long, they're like, why
are you here? But it's still very cute, thank you.
So I'm excited as I'm trying to figure this out
(18:54):
and navigate this game. You know, if it has cute
graphics and really cute animals with the easy quests, I'm in.
I'm in and all that. By the way, I don't
think I said this most of these games. All of
these games were unless it's like Last of Us. Some
of the bigger games were created by women. So we
are trying to focus a little more on all of that,
of course. But yeah, so those are the similar games
(19:18):
that I am currently I have currently purchased, and I'm
now trying to play. We'll see how that goes. I'm
nervous about this fishing one. I wonder how sad this
is gonna be. It's giving sadness, and there's like a
whole bundle. They have different packages too, So I got
the original listeners. If you've played this, tell me what
(19:42):
I'm in for, give me a warning. I should have
probably asked that before I started playing those games. Which's nice,
gonna be bad? And then yeah, I thought we would
(20:02):
take a section to say of games that we do
want to play or that we will be looking at,
and whether or not you have played listeners and what
your thoughts are on it. I will tell you I
specifically looked into games created by black women because I
was kind of like, hey, we let's diverse, diversify this conversation.
We want to see what other opportunities we know when
(20:23):
it comes to the gaming industry, they are not kind
to women, and they're especially not kind to women of color,
specifically black women in this industry. So I was looking
and you'll hop the list is so short. It's so small,
and oddly enough, none of them I could find. They're
not on Nintendo Switch, which is my preferred console, because
(20:44):
I'm now very familiar with it, and you know how
that goes when you're comfortable with the one that's what
you want to do. None of them are on there Nintendo.
What gives bro I say condescendingly. But they are available
on Steam and one of the games I'm very interested
(21:04):
in is a Tiny Bird Garden is the name, and
this is how they describe it on the tinybirdgarden dot com.
A game about tiny bird friends I'm in. First of all,
it says, welcome to Tiny Bird Garden, a game all
about meeting, treating, and befriending a quirky cast of little birds.
(21:25):
Customize your own garden space with a variety of toys
for playtime over one hundred birds, each with their own favorites,
friendship levels, and other surprises, and it says you can
go and check them out on Steam and itch dot io.
I'm not really sure what that is, and I feel
really old saying thing like that, So you kids tell
(21:46):
me what that is. It's also on PC and Mac
but I will be downloading this. My Steam deck is
right now charging up so I can go and purchase
these things because, first of all, that's adorable and que
I wants it. Developers are super retro duck and created
by black women, and I think I've seen several games
(22:06):
from their shop, or at least they're working on from
what I gather, so I am interested in seeing what
other stuff they have. But this is one that's super cute.
I think they do have mobile, so I'm not gonna
do that too because I love good mobile games, but
I do want to also, you know, purchase it if
I can force the Steam But it looks really cute.
The birds are super cute, you know, I love a
(22:27):
good animation. It's cute. And then we also have another
one that I will not be playing. I think this
is the one that I want to look at, and
then last my partner if he wants to play it
because it looks hard. But ron ghosts, uh huh have
you heard of this game?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
No, but I used to play a bunch of games
called Crono Cross and Corono Trigger, and so I was like,
is this.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, so I saw Chrono Trigger, but this Chrono Ghost
it says. So this is what they say on their site,
which is Nighttime Studios dot com, which I believe is
a black owned game studio. Here's what they say. You
are the Chrono Ghost. You most progress through challenging levels
using your newly acquired abilities. As you progress, your adventure
becomes considerably more demanding. Go forth and test your dexterity. Hurry,
(23:19):
time is running out. All that tells me that I
would not be good at this game.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
That kind of sounds like a game I really like
called Braid, And yeah, you would not like that game,
but I don't know. It could be very difficult.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So I'm gonna tell you put this on your list. Ay, Okay,
this is the story. As the Chrono Ghost, you have
the responsibility of proving yourself to the Spirit of Time.
You also seek the truth to some unanswered questions. How
did you end up here? Why are you the Chrono Ghost?
Who or what is the Spirit of Time? Why are
(23:52):
you chosen to complete the Spirit of Times tests? B
So you're any I have to you, Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
I'll take on this assignment because I don't think I
can do it.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I think I'd be very sad in trying to do so,
and then another one that I'm very very excited to try.
I really wanted to do this Sweetheart by Cat Small,
but he says from their site, can you get through
a week in the life of a modern Black woman? Sweetheart?
And it's written as sweet ex heart, but you say, Sweetheart,
I just discovered this and reading This is a slice
(24:30):
of life visual novel about microaggression, race, and gender. The
game shares creative technologists Cat Small's perspective on being a
black woman seeking success in life's school and her career.
Players act as Kara, a nineteen year old girl from
the Bronx who attends an art college and interns at
a tech company. Over five fictional days, players experience the
(24:51):
highs and lows of life, including small interactions such as
swiping a phone in the morning to wake up, getting
dressed in the morning, and commuting to work. My new
choice says such as the chosen type of outfit affect
Kara's life. Her stress level changes based on interactions with
other characters. So it gives credit to Katsmall for the
(25:11):
game design, programming, and art and writing. But then she
has a lot of people on here, like like Foon
when who does sound effects in music Ian does music
for morning Commute and arihil Martinez for music for the
evening Commute. And I'm really interested because that's such a
very specific type of game and I want to know
(25:32):
what this is like. So I will be doing that
one too. Y'all should do it as well. Again, this
only on Steam. It also says itch dot io, I
need to figure out what this is. But anyway, and
also it looks like you can support her work individually
if you want to look that up. By the way, yes,
for if you're listening to this in chronological order, we'll
(25:56):
see tomorrow we will be featuring a black women in
gaming as part of our activists around the world. What
about you? Which on your list?
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Okay, well, I have a long list. Here are some.
I want to preface this by saying, both, this is
kind of a throwback to the pandemic because back when
I was still tweeting in the pandemic, I would ask people.
I would give people four games and have them be like, Okay,
(26:26):
which is the one I should play? And so this
is sort of a hey, if you have any preferences
on what I should play next on my very long
list please write in. Also, I feel like I recently
found my new post pandemic haircutting person because the person
I had left during the pandemic, and I told her
(26:47):
I love Last of Us and she was like, here
are the games you must play, So she gave me
a lot of suggestions. So I really want to play Undertail,
mostly because I know that it so I love a
different take on a game, and it has a take
where you can get through and not kill any enemies,
(27:09):
and it has one where you can go through and
destroy them all. So I'm really interested to play that
for some of the horror games, which is what I
go to for comfort, right Soma Alan Wake, Alan Wake two,
The Cat Lady Catherine Pentiment, which Jonathan recommended to us,
(27:31):
The Quarry Still Wakes the Deep, and Slay the Princess,
which Slay the Princess looks very beautiful in the artwork
and it reminds me of a game that I have
talked about before on here called The Path, where you're
playing Little Red Riding Hood but the only way to
win is to not succeed in your task. I don't know.
(27:54):
Also control because it keeps coming up in my video
game videos. But yeah, I got a lot of game games.
So if you have any suggestions, right, which one I
should start with? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Well I told you which one other you should start with.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Well, you've given me an assignment.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yes, fa, we'll check it on six months.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Yeah. We do have these gaming updates fairly often.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Right, this is a release for us, as many other things.
But mm hmm, guest listeners, if you have other suggestions,
tell me how to get through the door. You know
all the things I can help Let us know.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Okay, Yes, if you have any suggestions, any creators we
should be looking out for, please let us know. You
can email us at Hello at stuff whenever told You,
dot com. You can find us on Blue Sky at
mom Stuff podcast, or in Instagram and TikTok at stuff
when Never told You. We're also on YouTube. We have
a tea public store, and we have a book you
(28:54):
can get where you get your books. Thanks is always
to our super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and
our juror Jail. Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
Stefan never told you his protection of iHeart Radio. For
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Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
We never told your production by Heart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome back for another Monday mini. Well, we're kind
of gonna go for our distractions. We're gonna go into
an update about some of our pastime, some of the
ways that we decompress from the world at large, and
we're coming back for a gaming roundup. Yeah, we did
a full episode at the end of last year at
the beginning of this year. What was this, say, ten
(00:39):
thousand years ago.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
We recorded the episode at the end of last year
and it came out at the end of last year
on tech Stuff, but in our feed it came out
the beginning of the year.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay, so it's not just me being in a time
lapse and time loop of all eternity. Great anyway, But
we did one with Jonathan from tech Stuff about cozy gaming,
and I got some really great suggestions from that episode
to try out. So we also have some lists of
new games that you and I are looking into as well,
So I thought we would just come back around have
(01:13):
a leisurely conversation about video games and gaming in general.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Also, just to be clear, none of these are sponsors
we're just we're just talking about them yet. Yeah, for
real contact us.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I will say some of the games that I tried
on tech stuff, I did not get very far gone home.
I got to the front door. That's how it begins, y'all.
I couldn't figure out how to open the door, so
I quit. I feel like that's gonna be a game
that I'm gonna have to watch someone else play and
enjoy it that way.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
It's just a short game. The only thing is, like
you have to read a lot of text, like you're
kind of discovering what happened via journals. So I don't know, Like,
I'm sure there are some video that have done it,
but I'm not sure how clear it is.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, go, I'll try it again. Maybe someone gonna tell
me how to open the door.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Gets in the door, I can help you open the door.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Okay, help me open the door, because y'all, I don't
have skills anyway when it comes to gaming. But let's
get into an update. Annie, give us an update. I
know some excitement is happening. Some feeds are coming through
with the Last of Us and Last of Us two
(02:33):
updates coming up. Have you done a playthrough in preparation.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
For the second season, which, by the way, they broke
the second game up into what I believe three seasons.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Oh really, yes, uh, I mean there are a lot
of storylines, so that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yes, But it is going to be because we are
bringing back our last of Us specials. I'm very excited
about it. Today I woke up and was like, that
is less than a month away, and I cannot believe it.
But it's going to be very difficult. We are going
to manage it. We are going to do it. It's
going to be very difficult with the spoilers, just because
they're splitting it up that way. I am going to
(03:16):
replay the game before it comes out. I haven't started
it yet because, as I've said multiple times, people be
yelling at me about this fan fiction. I haven't so
I had to do that, which I did do. So
maybe this weekend. Maybe this weekend I'll start. But I
(03:36):
did do. I'm excited about that and I finished. I've
mentioned I've been playing The Silent Hill to remake. I
finished my most recent playthrough that I was doing with
a friend of mine that I grew up with, Katie,
where she used to she was my person in the
chair and she'd be on the walk through telling me
(03:56):
what to do, which is such a different time now,
but it was a fun, nostalgic memory for us. And
I was just telling Samith, I've started watching gaming videos
just about the history of games, and I've really enjoyed that.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
There's a lot that we could be talking about. There's
so many niche things that we have talked about, but
we need to come and revisit. That's what I think
we probably can take some of the older episodes and
we have, but go back to because I was thinking
about into matriosis not too long ago and PCOS and
just kind of like, is there new discoveries? Is there
new conversations between what ten years ago twol years ago
(04:39):
when Kristen and Caroline we talk about it too today
and games are one of those, like we've talked about
it several times, but we haven't gone through the niche details.
And I think we could really do that if we
wanted to, if the world would stop being awful, yeah,
and if it would just become boring again where everything
was seemingly progressing and we could just celebrate all the
(04:59):
time beautiful. But anyway, gaming videos, I probably should be
watching some of those two so it can help me
go through doors.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I just kind of like, like I was telling you,
one of my favorite recent ones I watched was about
the old technology fears we used to have when your
Xbox would have their red ring or your PlayStation would
give you the blue screen.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
The minute you said that, my partner and then old
old producer of the show Andrew just lit up with
all the conversations they had, and I just sat there
and I was like, I just watched my brother yellow
because he wouldn't let me play. To be very fair,
I sucked them too, So there's both of us. So
my world. I am still doing a lot of mobile gaming.
(05:45):
There's a lot out there that are like rebrands of
rebrands of rebrands, trying to step away from some of
the more popular ones. But I still love. My favorite
one right now still is Love and Pies, and I've
talked about them before, and I have caught up so
much that I have to wait for updates weekly for
new scenarios or scenes to be played out. They do
a good job in bringing like other competitive elements that
(06:08):
they do while you're waiting, so you collect all your
coins so you can build your little shop. But I've
bypassed all those. That's how far I am. They are
still keeping up with some beautiful storylines. I did do
a whole like they did a whole like survey, what
do you enjoy? What do you not enjoy? So I
got to give them all of my opinions. The storylines
(06:29):
are great, the love matches are cute. I actually this
is the first time that I've seen, Like there have
been many of video games where obviously they're in relationships
and it's implied they're in relationships. There are straight relationships,
and then there are like queer relationships and it's really beautiful.
But there's one queer relationship. I was like, oh, and
they actually have them kiss and it like zooms in
(06:49):
as if it's like a portrait moment of the lesbian
couple kissing. It was like, wow, I've never actually seen
that on a mobile game. It's just implied and then
moves on, you know, And so to see them actually
highlight the kiss, I was like, Oh, and it's all animations.
The graphics are really cute. I've talked about them before,
so I'm like, you know what, Yes, I like that
(07:11):
they're stepping up to it instead of like falling back
into this ridiculous conservative craze of being too woke or whatever.
I was like, oh, anyway, it didn't fit. Everything fit,
It didn't feel like it was fishing for anything. It
just it was very sweet line. But anyway, I just
was like, Hey, that's nice to see that they're still
continuing down this route, not trying to backtrack like so
(07:31):
many cowardice companies that we've seen. Anyway, but so love
and pies still love it. I will still pay a
little money for it for extras because they deserve it
and I want them to keep updating. I would be
very sad if they didn't, you know. But uh, also
on my switch, I've been playing my cozy Grove. They
had a little festival that Christmas festivals and all of
(07:52):
that you collect. I'm not good at stuff like this
where you collect and build on things. Yeah, so care enough. Yeah,
I don't think I like the I like the daily
like hunts. So you're supposed to find a specific items
per bear, and the more memories that they collect, the
(08:13):
like they become real and I don't know if they
ever descend. They get like full images instead of just
being ghostly figures. I guess I'm gonna have to try
to finish it. Oh, I don't know if there is
a finish.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I was thinking about this other day. I used to
pause a game right before the end because I just
couldn't bear to finish it. But shows, I'm like, end it.
But for some reason with games, I'm like, I put
so much time and now you're gonna tell me.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
You take it away from me.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So for I just watched the credit and cry, it's.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Never really Annie, Never you're ready, You're right, Okay. So
those are some of our updates. I haven't done much
with Animal Crossing because again, trying to design and create
things I'm not really good at. So I gotta figure
that maybe I could bring someone in, tag someone in
to do that part. You want to come do that
for me?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
But I know that just makes me laugh. I wonder
if that's a business someone started up or.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Something Elijah Woods has done this. Hey, Elijah Woods, just
in case you ever catch this episode and you want
to fit you need to finish someone else's island on
me U email us. Someone's gonna be like, what in
the world but new games? Annie? Have you discovered some
(09:56):
new games recently.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I have running joke with gamers is that you always
have a huge backlog. I have a huge backlog, so
currently I'm trying to work through shorter games that I
can finish pretty quickly. So I just played Dopy Doky
Literature Club, which I had heard about for a long time.
(10:18):
This is a game that if anyone doesn't want to
be spoiled on this game, it is amazing and don't
get spoiled on it, so if you need to skip
ahead a little bit. But it's a game where you're
playing as a dude, and it's very like picturesque anime
(10:41):
and you're basically trying to find a love match. But
guess what, things go wrong really quickly. Your best friend
kills herself and then, through like poetry games, you start
choosing who you're going to be with of the people
who are and also they all pretend she never existed
(11:02):
after this. But anyway, so you're playing this poetry game
and you sort of choose someone to be with, but
it goes horribly wrong and things start going wrong with
your screen whatever you're playing it on. There's glitches and
(11:22):
strange things start happening and then at one point, like
I literally thought the game was frozen, and it wasn't.
It just makes you wait for a very long time,
and then you learn that basically the main character, Monica,
(11:44):
realizes she's in a game and she doesn't like that
she's not the one you chose, and she has a
really creepy scene where she's just like talking to you
and it will keep going and going and going until
you delete the game and her from you, and then
you restart it and she's she's like, you know what,
(12:06):
I'm really angry at you, but I still love you,
so I'm gonna let you live this life. But then
the other characters are like they're in a game.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Then it's just really creepy and it was really creative
and I really liked it. I was scared to go
in and delete that stuff, though, and you have to
delete your like saved game, and.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
See, I don't think I could. I couldn't. I couldn't
probably get past certain things, but I probably I don't
know I deleting things.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
She she kind of tells you how to do it,
but I was like scared I was gonna mess something up,
so I looked it up.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I was like, to be clear, I wouldn't looking it
up is what I'm trying to do.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Yes, okay, but I really really recommend it. But it
is disturbing. It is very disturbing. The imagery is disturbing,
and I was left unsettled. And there are multiple endings.
I've only gotten a few of them, and I think
the last one is I don't want to put in
the work for that, but I know what it is,
so oh okay, that's enough for me. Wow, it's creepy.
(13:08):
And then I told you they'd use your name because
they use it from your profile. It's like, hey, Annie,
oh no.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I throw things like in my mind, it's a curse,
so that means I have to throw it.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
It was scary like it. It unsettled me deeply mm hmmmm.
And just the things as they start going wrong, oh no,
and then it just resets and they make you feel
like you're you're losing your mind because they're all like,
oh no, we don't know what you're talking about. Like, no,
I'm pretty sure I just.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Saw someone die, saw gaslighting you.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yes, anyway, that's what my most recent new game.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Okay, okay, that sounds like an interesting take well, I've
gotten three new games, and one of them was Unpacking,
which is what we've already talked about. We talked about
about with Jonathan and he actually really really recommended I've
seen it. It just seemed like such an absurd thing
that I didn't want to do it, and I know
I've talked about it before, but I was like, all right,
(14:17):
I'm gonna try it. Y'all love it. I love it
that there's something that really personal about it too, though,
because you through the items that they carry and they
cross over to whomver you're unpacking for, you see their
childhood to adulthood. It's really interesting that you can see
when she has her first boyfriend, that she's living with them,
(14:39):
and you can see when they're like had their first house.
I guess, and I say, she, I guess. My perspective
is because that's how I see it. It's really interesting.
I really like it. And then there is I just
did the demo first because I was like, I don't
know how I feel about this Dredge, and I believe
this was one of the recommendations as well. But I
love the one thing I do love, but Animal Crossing
(15:00):
is catching fish. That's Cozy Grove does the same thing,
and I'm like, all right, I can do this. This
is fine, I can I can do this. So it's
a fishing game with quests and mystery, and there's also
the eye. It looks like the Eye of sour On.
But then like there are moments when you're on the
boat that you just see eye flashing at you. Have
you played this game?
Speaker 1 (15:18):
No, but I it's in my library. After we get
that episode, I'm excited to try it.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
So they're like, and I didn't know what that means.
I don't know what that means. So I don't think
I know that yet. But I think it's just like
because the illusion when you see the red so there's
just like it is it always like the Eye of
sore On because it comes like flares up this giant
red beam. I'm not trying to share, not really sure
where's from. And then like if you cross into certain areas,
you realize there's rocks and you don't know until it
(15:47):
opens itself up like it kind of does like a
laser reval, you know what I mean. And I'm like, oh,
I've hit I've hit two, I've hit two of them.
Oh no, yeah, I've also realized I don't know how
to use a compass. Well, no, I need to work
on my skills on that, because it tells you one
point go south, and I was like, what does that mean?
(16:07):
I am one of those people, y'all. But it is
really interesting. This is a description it gives on the site.
Dredge is a single player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent.
Sell your catch upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths
for long buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago, and discover
why some things are best left forgotten. The graphics are cool,
(16:28):
but it's like old timey look of you know, early
century fishing harbor towns. So it's interesting. I have to
navigate how to figure out what to use because this
is the part of my problem is I don't read
all of the instructions. Yeah that yes, yeah, And so
(16:49):
it's like you need to do this, press this button
to do this button to this button. I'm like, why
is there so many buttons? Just give me the three buttons.
But I have done two quests. I have to figure
out how to go south. I'm very to this game
because I wasn't like very invested. I feel like I'm
buying a lot of games and I'm like, I can't
play this. This is not my thing. So I was
(17:09):
trying to do the demo first, but I like it
thus far. That's far. I found a lot of bottles
with hidden messages m m hm, so I'm on that one.
And then also I looked up and this is not
I don't think it was. I don't think he recommended it,
but I saw it on a lot of lists. MEL
time you play a male Scout, so this is a
(17:29):
description they give. You're afresh on the job, male Scout,
on track to complete your very first mal delivery. Keep
by the way, glide, jump and talk your way through
the grumblewood grove on your way to deliver the letter
and become a full fledged male Scout. So, first of all,
the options in how you create your player or your
(17:49):
avatar great. It has sliding skills for like tone, skin tone,
and hair. I was like, oh, wow, that's a great option,
Like you don't have to be in my case burnt yellow,
which is in some games, you know, like it's really nice,
and like oh, and then super cute graphics, all the
little animals, all of the areas is nice. I will say,
(18:11):
much like other games, I can't quite grasp the jumping
to places. I'm figuring that part out and glitchy. It
feels glitchy, but I think it's me playing it and
pressing the wrong button, So that's on me. That's on me. Also,
at the very beginning one of the quests, I think
it's a badger. He accuses of a rabbit kid of
(18:32):
stealing his money because he's a second late on something,
and I was like, well, damn all are mean. They
are very feisty characters like they They're very sarcastic with
each other. I have discovered if you ask too many
questions or talking to someone too long, they're like, why
are you here? But it's still very cute, thank you.
So I'm excited as I'm trying to figure this out
(18:54):
and navigate this game. You know, if it has cute
graphics and really cute animals with the easy quests, I'm in.
I'm in and all that. By the way, I don't
think I said this most of these games. All of
these games were unless it's like Last of Us. Some
of the bigger games were created by women. So we
are trying to focus a little more on all of that,
of course. But yeah, so those are the similar games
(19:18):
that I am currently I have currently purchased, and I'm
now trying to play. We'll see how that goes. I'm
nervous about this fishing one. I wonder how sad this
is gonna be. It's giving sadness, and there's like a
whole bundle. They have different packages too, So I got
the original listeners. If you've played this, tell me what
(19:42):
I'm in for, give me a warning. I should have
probably asked that before I started playing those games. Which's nice,
gonna be bad? And then yeah, I thought we would
(20:02):
take a section to say of games that we do
want to play or that we will be looking at,
and whether or not you have played listeners and what
your thoughts are on it. I will tell you I
specifically looked into games created by black women because I
was kind of like, hey, we let's diverse, diversify this conversation.
We want to see what other opportunities we know when
(20:23):
it comes to the gaming industry, they are not kind
to women, and they're especially not kind to women of color,
specifically black women in this industry. So I was looking
and you'll hop the list is so short. It's so small,
and oddly enough, none of them I could find. They're
not on Nintendo Switch, which is my preferred console, because
(20:44):
I'm now very familiar with it, and you know how
that goes when you're comfortable with the one that's what
you want to do. None of them are on there Nintendo.
What gives bro I say condescendingly. But they are available
on Steam and one of the games I'm very interested
(21:04):
in is a Tiny Bird Garden is the name, and
this is how they describe it on the tinybirdgarden dot com.
A game about tiny bird friends I'm in. First of all,
it says, welcome to Tiny Bird Garden, a game all
about meeting, treating, and befriending a quirky cast of little birds.
(21:25):
Customize your own garden space with a variety of toys
for playtime over one hundred birds, each with their own favorites,
friendship levels, and other surprises, and it says you can
go and check them out on Steam and itch dot io.
I'm not really sure what that is, and I feel
really old saying thing like that, So you kids tell
(21:46):
me what that is. It's also on PC and Mac
but I will be downloading this. My Steam deck is
right now charging up so I can go and purchase
these things because, first of all, that's adorable and que
I wants it. Developers are super retro duck and created
by black women, and I think I've seen several games
(22:06):
from their shop, or at least they're working on from
what I gather, so I am interested in seeing what
other stuff they have. But this is one that's super cute.
I think they do have mobile, so I'm not gonna
do that too because I love good mobile games, but
I do want to also, you know, purchase it if
I can force the Steam But it looks really cute.
The birds are super cute, you know, I love a
(22:27):
good animation. It's cute. And then we also have another
one that I will not be playing. I think this
is the one that I want to look at, and
then last my partner if he wants to play it
because it looks hard. But ron ghosts, uh huh have
you heard of this game?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
No, but I used to play a bunch of games
called Crono Cross and Corono Trigger, and so I was like,
is this.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, so I saw Chrono Trigger, but this Chrono Ghost
it says. So this is what they say on their site,
which is Nighttime Studios dot com, which I believe is
a black owned game studio. Here's what they say. You
are the Chrono Ghost. You most progress through challenging levels
using your newly acquired abilities. As you progress, your adventure
becomes considerably more demanding. Go forth and test your dexterity. Hurry,
(23:19):
time is running out. All that tells me that I
would not be good at this game.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
That kind of sounds like a game I really like
called Braid, And yeah, you would not like that game,
but I don't know. It could be very difficult.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So I'm gonna tell you put this on your list. Ay, Okay,
this is the story. As the Chrono Ghost, you have
the responsibility of proving yourself to the Spirit of Time.
You also seek the truth to some unanswered questions. How
did you end up here? Why are you the Chrono Ghost?
Who or what is the Spirit of Time? Why are
(23:52):
you chosen to complete the Spirit of Times tests? B
So you're any I have to you, Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
I'll take on this assignment because I don't think I
can do it.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I think I'd be very sad in trying to do so,
and then another one that I'm very very excited to try.
I really wanted to do this Sweetheart by Cat Small,
but he says from their site, can you get through
a week in the life of a modern Black woman? Sweetheart?
And it's written as sweet ex heart, but you say, Sweetheart,
I just discovered this and reading This is a slice
(24:30):
of life visual novel about microaggression, race, and gender. The
game shares creative technologists Cat Small's perspective on being a
black woman seeking success in life's school and her career.
Players act as Kara, a nineteen year old girl from
the Bronx who attends an art college and interns at
a tech company. Over five fictional days, players experience the
(24:51):
highs and lows of life, including small interactions such as
swiping a phone in the morning to wake up, getting
dressed in the morning, and commuting to work. My new
choice says such as the chosen type of outfit affect
Kara's life. Her stress level changes based on interactions with
other characters. So it gives credit to Katsmall for the
(25:11):
game design, programming, and art and writing. But then she
has a lot of people on here, like like Foon
when who does sound effects in music Ian does music
for morning Commute and arihil Martinez for music for the
evening Commute. And I'm really interested because that's such a
very specific type of game and I want to know
(25:32):
what this is like. So I will be doing that
one too. Y'all should do it as well. Again, this
only on Steam. It also says itch dot io, I
need to figure out what this is. But anyway, and
also it looks like you can support her work individually
if you want to look that up. By the way, yes,
for if you're listening to this in chronological order, we'll
(25:56):
see tomorrow we will be featuring a black women in
gaming as part of our activists around the world. What
about you? Which on your list?
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Okay, well, I have a long list. Here are some.
I want to preface this by saying, both, this is
kind of a throwback to the pandemic because back when
I was still tweeting in the pandemic, I would ask people.
I would give people four games and have them be like, Okay,
(26:26):
which is the one I should play? And so this
is sort of a hey, if you have any preferences
on what I should play next on my very long
list please write in. Also, I feel like I recently
found my new post pandemic haircutting person because the person
I had left during the pandemic, and I told her
(26:47):
I love Last of Us and she was like, here
are the games you must play, So she gave me
a lot of suggestions. So I really want to play Undertail,
mostly because I know that it so I love a
different take on a game, and it has a take
where you can get through and not kill any enemies,
(27:09):
and it has one where you can go through and
destroy them all. So I'm really interested to play that
for some of the horror games, which is what I
go to for comfort, right Soma Alan Wake, Alan Wake two,
The Cat Lady Catherine Pentiment, which Jonathan recommended to us,
(27:31):
The Quarry Still Wakes the Deep, and Slay the Princess,
which Slay the Princess looks very beautiful in the artwork
and it reminds me of a game that I have
talked about before on here called The Path, where you're
playing Little Red Riding Hood but the only way to
win is to not succeed in your task. I don't know.
(27:54):
Also control because it keeps coming up in my video
game videos. But yeah, I got a lot of game games.
So if you have any suggestions, right, which one I
should start with? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Well I told you which one other you should start with.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Well, you've given me an assignment.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yes, fa, we'll check it on six months.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Yeah. We do have these gaming updates fairly often.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Right, this is a release for us, as many other things.
But mm hmm, guest listeners, if you have other suggestions,
tell me how to get through the door. You know
all the things I can help Let us know.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Okay, Yes, if you have any suggestions, any creators we
should be looking out for, please let us know. You
can email us at Hello at stuff whenever told You,
dot com. You can find us on Blue Sky at
mom Stuff podcast, or in Instagram and TikTok at stuff
when Never told You. We're also on YouTube. We have
a tea public store, and we have a book you
(28:54):
can get where you get your books. Thanks is always
to our super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and
our juror Jail. Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
Stefan never told you his protection of iHeart Radio. For
more podcasts from heart Radio, you can check out the
heart Radio app Apple podcasts, or where you listen to
your favorite shows.
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Anney Reese
Samantha McVey
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