Seria Ludo

After multiple delays - most notably due to the Colorado fires which burned down half of Tim's town - we return to talk video games again. 

This season's format will be less focussed on specific aspects of gaming and be more general. We found that playing several iterations of the same kind of game takes something vital away from the ludic experience.

In this episode we talk about some of the games (past and future) that have captured our attention, and touch on the tension between graphical fidelity and ludic diversity as methods for immersing the player.

Games mentioned:

• Highfleet
• Hitman
• Halo
• Dishonored
• Deathloop
• Red Dead 2
• Death Stranding
• Weird West
• Wasteland 3
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Project Zomboid
• FTL
• Hunt Showdown

Following our look at the Civilization games in the previous episode, Tim and Joel look at the Paradox strategy games and The Sims. In contrast to the Civilization games, Paradox has shown signs of greater engagement with some of the more troubling historical issues that games about colony-building have generally failed to adequately address. And despite its superficially bourgeoise aesthetic, the Sims has provided its audience with a genuine diversity of ludic expressions.

Games mentioned:

• The Paradox strategy games: Stellaris, Euopa Universalis, Victoria
• Scavengers
• The Sims

Tim and Joel look at the Civilization games. We examine the way that, in every iteration, their systems have failed go beyond a view of the world rooted in capitalist realism.

Games mentioned:

• Civilization series
• Red Dead Redemption

Tim and Joel look at different ways of experiencing games, how input and interface can shape an aesthetic experience. We look at simple tweaks like removing the mini-map in Red Dead Redemption 2, and examine a team of developers using old-style telephones as voice-activated input devices.

Games mentioned:

• The Last of Us 2
• Crusader Kings 3
• Dwarf Fortress
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Valheim
• Disco Elysium
• Dead Space
• Metro Series
• Far Cry 2
• Hunt: Showdown
• The Walking Dead
• The Witcher
• Radio commander
• Suzerain

Tim and Joel catch up on some of the games they've sampled over the last few weeks. We go over some preliminary thoughts on UI and UX, and talk about the stunning graphical improvements of PCVR.

Games played:

• The Ascent
• ShadowRun
• CyberPunk 2077
• Deus Ex
• Elite Dangerous
• Half Life 1
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
• Doom 3
• Lunar Lander
• Lunar Flight
• Kerbal Space Program
• Crusader Kings 3
• Lone Echo
• Truck Simulator
• Battle Brothers
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Suzerain
• Banished

Tim and Joel continue last week's conversation about systemic games. We look at the medieval sandbox game Crusader Kings 3, and Tim goes into his playthrough of Nantucket. We also look at games that come close to being systemic, employing complex systems, but end up relying on authored narratives.

Games mentioned:

• Crusader Kings 3
• Civilization 6
• Nantucket
• Disco Elysium
• Total War
• Sim City
• Hardspace Shipbreaker
• Battle Brothers
• Per Aspera
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• The Witcher 3
• Zelda

Tim and Joel return from a hiatus with a look at the emergent narrative dynamics of narrative strategy games, beginning with a look at Overhype Studios' Battle Brothers.

Games mentioned:

• Rimworld
• Crusader Kings 3
• Dwarf Fortress
• Battle Brothers

Tim and Joel finalize their thoughts - for now - about the survival genre.

We are shifting to a new format! In future we will take hiatuses to prepare for genre/thematic groupings. The first hiatus begins now - we will return in a few weeks to talk about colony builder and narrative strategy games.

Games mentioned:

• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China
• Hollow Knight
• Mark of the Ninja
• Prince of Persia
• Nidhogg
• Hunt Showdown
• Hood: Outlaws and Legends
• Truck Simulator
• Population One
• Halo
• Space Engineers
• Valheim
• Deep Rock Galactic
• The Long Dark
• Dayz
• Scum
• Ark
• The Last of Us
• Spec Ops: The Line
• Red Dead Redemption 2

Last week, Tim and Joel asked: What are we Surviving for? This week we look at a different kind of survival game, Space Engineers. The focus here is less on the immediate human elements of survival and more on resource gathering, building and eventually interplanetary travel. We then look at gameplay dynamics that are fundamental to enjoying a survival game: desperation, tension and release.

Games Mentioned:

• Space Engineers
• Valheim
• The Long Dark
• MineCraft
• DayZ
• Scum

Run, fight, craft, build, eat, survive. Cooperate or kill. But why? Joel and Tim begin to look at games that answer this question satisfactorily, and ones that don't.

Games mentioned:

• Dwarf fortress
• Valheim
• DayZ
• Rust
• Fallout
• Deus Ex
• The Forest
• Ark: Survival Evolved
• Subnautica
• Eco
• Neo Scavenger
• The Long Dark

Tim and Joel introduce some of the fundamentals of the survival genre: environmental pressure, crafting, building, multiplayer. We explore some of the different survival experiences these games are attempting to convey, and the way various games succeed or fail in delivering those experiences.

Games mentioned:

• Roblox
• The Source
• Tropico 6
• Valheim
• Minecraft
• Hunt: Showdown
• Escape from Tarkov
• DayZ
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• The Long Dark
• Far Cry
• Ark
• Red Dead redemption 2
• Green Hell
• Scum
• Space Engineers

Tim and Joel cover a selection of news items. We begin by looking at some of the corporate moves being made, from streaming and subscription models to acquisitions of smaller companies. This turns into a wider discussion about art and capitalism. Finally we look at the changing demographics of gaming, in light of the news that adult women are now the industry's largest demographic.

Games mentioned:

• Paratopic
• Adios
• Outriders
• Firewatch
• Animal Crossing
• Breath of the Wild
• Pikuniku
• Tonight We Riot

After the recent narrative deep dive, Tim and Joel catch up on what we've been playing. Large doses of Valheim, the dumb fun of Outriders, and some other survival games in preparation for our upcoming look at the genre. Tim goes into the community-based civilizational survival game Eco, and the Mars planet builder Per Aspera.

Games mentioned:

• Valheim
• Outriders
• The Surge 2
• Gears of War
• The Technomancer
• Greedfall
• Hunt: Showdown
• Call of Duty: Warzone
• Genesis Noir
• Per Aspera
• Offworld Trading Company
• Scum
• Dayz
• Deep Rock Galactic
• Eco
• Frostpunk
• Unravel 2
• Pikuniku

In Part One, Tim and Joel looked at how procedural generation can aid or detract from video game narrative. This week, we look at artificial intelligence - a nascent field with immense possibilities. We look at the fundamental difference between AI and traditional systems, and explore the fascinating, dreamlike storytelling experience of AI Dungeon.

Games mentioned:

• Microsoft Flight Simulator.
• No Man's Sky
• Minecraft
• AI Dungeon
• The Sims
• ELIZA

The systems a game employs to create a narrative or experience are an expression of the way the developers see the world. After looking in depth at Dwarf Fortress last week, Tim and Joel note the different systems in Stardew Valley and Farming Simulator, both ostensibly games about farming. We then move on to discuss The Sims and Crusader Kings 3, and how they use their systems to illustrate different aspects of human experience.

• Sim City/The Sims
• Banished
• Frostpunk
• Stardew Valley
• Farming Simulator
• Train Simulator
• Europa Universalis
• Victoria
• Hearts of Iron
• Crusader Kings 2
• Crusader Kings 3.
• Civilization
• This War of Mine
• Hardspace Shipbreaker

Tim and Joel look at the way systemic games allow players to create stories. After a brief digression into the mechanics of character creation, we look once again at Dwarf Fortress, and its unique ability to generate story through its systems.

Games mentioned:

• The Witcher 3
• Mass Effect
• ADOM: Ancient Domains of Mystery
• Disco Elysium
• Dwarf Fortress
• Rimworld

Following from last week's episode, Tim and Joel begin by looking at Kentucky Route Zero, which does interesting things with narrative interactivity - positioning the player as stage director rather than performer. We talk about the ways games suggest ways of playing through creative constraint, with reference to the stress system in Crusader Kings 3. Finally we talk about narrative reconstruction, wherein the focus of the player's experience is to put the game's story together, in Outer Wilds and The Flower Collectors.

Games mentioned:

• Kentucky Route Zero
• Disco Elysium
• Crusader Kings 3
• Civilization
• Outer Wilds
• The Flower Collectors

Tim and Joel examine the difference between passively experiencing and actively performing or participating in narrative, and the different degrees to which games make that participation meaningful. We begin by looking at branching narrative, with reference to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, a game that takes narrative divergence in bold directions. We briefly examine the dynamics of what makes us choose various character actions in games, take a brief look at romance in games, and look once again at Disco Elysium -- one of the best expressions of these principles so far.

Games mentioned:

• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• Dishonored
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Mass Effect Trilogy
• Fallout 1
• Firewatch
• Baldur's Gate 2
• Disco Elysium
• Fallout 2

Tim and Joel begin by discussing Kentucky Route Zero, a "postmodern capitalist horror story", before looking deeper at the relationship between game mechanics and narrative. We examine cinematic storytelling, environmental storytelling, and environment as art. Finally we look at dialogue and dialectic in games.

Games mentioned:

• Middle Earth Shadow of War
• Kentucky Route Zero
• Disco Elysium
• Inside
• Hardspace Shipbreaker
• 2020 Game
• Super Meat Boy
• Dragon's Lair
• Bioshock
• Firewatch
• Hitman
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Mario
• Donkey Kong
• Ultrawings VR
• Half Life
• Deus Ex
• Hunt: Showdown
• Vampyr
• Witcher 3
• Monkey Island
• Morrowind
• Fallout
• The Outer Worlds
• Arkham Asylum