The Secret Lives of Games

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/ 
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https://www.patreon.com/tslog

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 



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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

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)

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 



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