You are in a chilly blue space. You feel relaxed. There is a bus stop here; a bus pulls up and some eggs get out. This is perfectly normal.
This month we’re playing Panoramical and Islands: Non-Places, two interactive pieces that are relaxing, abstract and totally unlike anything we’ve looked at before.
You can buy Panoramical on itch.io here or on Steam. Check out the itch page for Islands here or the Steam page here.
Day 25. We grow weary. I was delighted by Sister Mary’s sermon this evening – a pity she accidentally-on-purpose set fire to the forest and died screaming horribly. Only remaining companion is Robert, deranged cannibal. Friendly chap.
Day 26. Supplies getting low. We possess only a solid gold llama, a mystical crystal ball (useless for another week) and a strange object we acquired from a trader. He calls it a “podcast”, and claims it will bestow great wisdom upon us. I am curious…
This month we played The Curious Expedition! Explore strange, untrodden lands in search of fame! Annoy natives who only want their sacred artefacts back! Collect golden statues, hunting trophies and… shudder… BUTTERFLIES.
Here are just some of things we delve into this episode:
0:32 – Overview of game mechanics and setting
4:30 – A look at the combat system
9:04 – Thoughts on unlockables and roguelikes
15:00 – The influence of Lovecraft
17:30 – In-depth discussion of colonialism in the game
32:56 – How the game handles native populations
39:00 – The long-lasting appeal of the game
41:20 – Closing thoughts
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Have you ever thought, “I’d like to loot an African shrine!” Or “I sure would like to ride a dinosaur!” Or how about “I want to be an archaeologist, so I’ll travel the world bribing, trading, hunting and looting, burning down forests and opening reality-chasms into the endless void, driving my companions insane or killing them in the process, and maybe one day I’ll die stranded in the desert with nothing to my name but five coils of rope and a solid gold llama.”
We sure have! So this month we’re in luck: we’re playing The Curious Expedition, a quirky 19th century roguelikelike, featuring all that and more. You can play it on Steam here!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The short version: we’re gonna be a bit late this month! Don’t worry, we are still alive!
The long version: ok so first of all Jamie didn’t have enough time to play the game because last month was craaaazy for totally unrelated personal/job-related reasons then his mic broke so that was like super helpful [/sarcasm] then the week after Andy moved to a new city and now he’s fighting tooth and nail as we speak editing the podcast because his mouse is possessed by what we presume to be the spirit of a long-dead demon rodent yyyyeeeeah.
This month has gone completely to plan. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We’re going to quietly pretend August didn’t happen and put out the QuadCow podcast at the end of September. Cool? Cool. Please don’t hate us.
Please.
But we tried.
So.
HARD!
Ahem. So, end of September! 😀