Games can be fun and accessible even if you haven't been playing them for 20 years. Consoles scare us and we bet they scare you, too.
After 137 wonderful episodes, we bid you, our faithful listeners, the very fondest of farewells. We've arrived at the metaphorical fork in the road, and we don't even care what a dreadful cliché that is. We hope you've had as much fun, learned as much, and generally had as good a time as we have with Unconsoleable.
Remember, aloha means goodbye, but it also means hello love: so to you, our listeners, aloha!
Read MoreThe Real Doggins viewing one of his many awards
They make charming games, have an adorable dog, work side by side while staying happily married, and did we mention the cute dog?
Who are these fabulous guests? Why, it's Brooke and David Condolora of indie game studio Brain & Brain, of course.
We chatted with the dynamic duo about how they got started in games, struck out on their own, and possibly invented the quiet adventure genre in the process.
We also dug into a recent op-ed about narrative in games that has been making the rounds lately, and Brooke and David weighed in.
Read MoreIt counts as exercise if you're sitting on one of those balls
Practice makes perfect, and massive congratulations are in order for Jessica. Why? You'll find out right at the top of the episode.
As is often the case, the App Store is experiencing a bit of a drought right now, but good stuff is coming. In the meantime, we experience the crap and the mediocre stuff and tell you all about it :-)
Meanwhile, Facebook continues to believe it'll be a force in games, but we're not so sure, and neither are the devs we spoke to. And in something of a reversal, we have developers being crappy instead of gamers. It might all be ok, though, with a little in-game retail therapy headed our way soon, but could we try not being crappy too? Nintendo, that also means you :-/
Read MoreA pod of hint whales
His games drive us nuts, but we can't help loving them anyway. So after much trash talk, we welcome puzzle master extraordinaire (and Unconsoleable listener!) Alan Hazelden to the show.
Alan tells us a bit about what he did before making devilishly challenging puzzle games, how he goes about designing and testing his games, which developers he looks up to, and even his favorite pizza toppings :-)
Read MoreListen up
Jessica is a big puddle of feels after playing the long-awaited conclusion to our 2016 Game of the Year and is charmed by an as-yet-unreleased charming game from the charming folks at Mighty Games. We conclude that quick-play games might not be as special as the games that truly win our hearts, but are still pretty awesome.
Anna is left wanting more after playing a horror-themed puzzle game that has just arrived on iOS from Steam, but the real rage is directed at a mobile-first game that has an awful control scheme, rendering it virtually unplayable. Luckily, a silly but fun game with impeccable controls comes to the rescue!
We roll our eyes pretty hard at the best mobile game BAFTA winner, as we do for most winners in the mobile category of various games awards. We wish awards would go more often to games that are truly the best rather than those that are the best known.
Meanwhile, should games display the battery indicator? What’s a fun new way to get hints in a new adventure game? How long can we neglect our laundry? And what non-curse words will we lob at our guest next week? Listen now to find out!
Read MoreAdmit it: this is how you eat Nutella
We just love when people discover mobile games all of a sudden and pretend that they all sucked up until that moment! Did we say love? We meant the opposite.
But first, Thimbleweed Park is out and we hope you’re as excited as we are! Toilet paper options! Helpful to-do lists! And more! Neither of us has finished the game, and we’ll eventually have members of the team on the show, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, Jessica and Anna both play the sequel to a pretty puzzle game. The results vary, but we definitely agree it's gorgeous. Jessica spends some time in the beautiful world of another game, while Anna definitely hasn’t got the hang of a new card-based strategy game just yet.
And is it good, annoying, or both when games get so popular that they spawn merchandise, movies, and yes, apparently even game shows? Is anyone more excited about the new Room game than Jessica? Are your favorite iOS games going to stop working? Listen now to find out.
Read MoreThe most dangerous game
Why has Jessica been eating her ship’s crewmates? Could a card-based strategy game have struck her fancy, even though she usually shuns the genre? What new heights has her horsey game obsession reached? And what awesome new toy does she have to add to her collection? All these questions and more will be answered!
Meanwhile, Anna is all in on puzzle games lately, but wonders whether she should be allowed to play them at all. An old nemesis of a game is tackled again and somewhat defeated, but is there any pleasure in the victory? Maybe we’d both rather be shifting letters instead in the latest offering from a favorite dev.
Of course there’s always sighing at Nintendo to be done, and we continue that long and sad tradition here. But hey, Kickstarter has done something interesting! Finally, we ponder a story about Jewish game developers in these troubled times.
Read MoreIt's actually pretty unsafe for a child to be alone with a horse. And she's holding that carrot wrong.
Jessica and Anna are back with a vengeance from PAX East and GDC respectively, and we have a lot to talk about. We played some new games on our journeys of course, but the best part about any conference is the people!
Jessica’s love affair with horsey games has taken a bizarre turn, thanks to a new friend from PAX East. It’s weird, it’s unsettling, and it might have some problematic elements! What is this mystery game? You’ll need to listen to find out.
Anna might have a new favorite developer after GDC (and he certainly knows how to entice Jessica to play his game) but is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship or the dawn of a frustrating, rage-inducing future? (Spoiler alert: it’s both :-))
A big change has also come to the games area of the App Store and we think it rocks. And is Jessica more powerful and influential than she realizes? All signs point to yes!
Read MoreWith Anna recovering from GDC and Jessica away at PAX East, we decided to take you on another trip down memory lane, to our first real episode. We'll be back with new content next week, but meanwhile we hope you enjoy another blast from the past!
Read MoreFailure in a Box
With Anna away at GDC and Jessica ramping up the travel anxiety prior to PAX East, we decided to take a little break and re-release our very first episode, Failure in a Box.
Hey look, it's the inaugural episode of Unconsoleable!
Learn more about your co-hosts, Anna and Jessica, our decidedly unimpressive gaming histories, why the heck we are doing this podcast, and why we game the way we do.
Stuff we talked about:
