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Surprise! It's that time of year again! The MindGames crew is together discussing our Festive Favourites. So join us as we gush over the games which we loved playing most this year. Today's Games (in order of appearance): Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Conan Exiles (Funcom) It Takes Two (EA) Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games) Death Stranding (Kojima Productions) My City (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS)    

Preamble Hello, and welcome to MindGames! In this month's episode we're activating beast mode: we're talking animals and pets! What sort of animals are represented in games, and how do games explore human-animal relationships? Why do people feel such a strong affinity for animal companions over human ones? Join us for a walk on the wild side as we address all these questions and more!   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Pokemon (GameFreak) Zoo Tycoon (Blue Fang Games) Planet Zoo (Frontier Developments) Fallout (Bethesda) The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt Red) Fable 2 (Lionhead Studios) Bioshock: Infinite (2K) The Last of Us (Naughty Dog) Mass Effect (Bioware) Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions) Megaquarium (Twice Circled) Parkosaurus (Washbear Studio) Planet Coaster (Frontier Developments) Temtem (Crema) Monster Sanctuary (Moi Rai Games) Monster Hunter (Capcom)   The dustbowl hellscape nightmare of rutting warthogs: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/planet-zoo-is-temporarily-a-game-about-mass-producing-knackered-warthogs   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Find us on twitter @mindgamespod Website: https://mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/ Pop a comment below, or let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

Preamble Hello, and welcome to MindGames! In this month's episode we discuss a topic everyone has some idea of, “Home”. How do peoples ideas of home bleed into their work? How do games tug on our heartstrings and make us feel at home? And just why is Steve reading about preserved mutton and smoked tongue? Join us as we address all these questions and more in this months episode Today's Games (in order of appearance): Star Dew Valley (ConcernedApe) Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth, BlitWorks) Animal Crossing (Nintendo, MORE) The Sims (Maxis, Electronic Arts) Spirit Fairer (Thunder Lotus Games) Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) Mass Effect (BioWare ) Dragon Age (BioWare, Edge of Reality) Hades (Supergiant Games) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Domestic Economy (Faulkner & Co) The House Wife (Colossal Wreck) Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy ) Ticket to Ride Stay at Home (Days of Wonder, Alan R. Moon) Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)   The lovely Domestic Economy art: https://www.wopc.co.uk/uk/faulkner/domestic-economy   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Find us on twitter @mindgamespod Website: https://mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/ Pop a comment below, or let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

Preamble Hello, and welcome to MindGames! In this month's episode, we discuss accessibility in games. How have games responded to the different needs and abilities of their players, and how have they represented these types of people in their worlds? Join us as we explore issues such as colour blindness, dyslexia and physical interfaces. Encouraging progress has been made across the games industry in recent years, but there is still so much more to be done...   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Among Us (Innersloth) Warhammer (Games Workshop) Loop Hero (Four Quarters) Carcassonne (Klaus-Jürgen Wrede) Hades (Supergiant Games) Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix) Shandalar (Wizards of the Coast) Hearthstone (Blizzard Entertainment) Legends of Runeterra (Riot Games) Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) Dungeons and Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Magic: the Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games)   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Pop a comment below, or let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com   **The MindGames Game: 20 Questions* You have 20 guesses with yes/no answers to guess the game. Game 1: Spelunky Game 2: Skyrim Game 3: Pokémon Blue Game 4: inFamous Game 5 (Tie Breaker): Chrono Trigger   Check out Meeple Like Us here: https://www.meeplelikeus.co.uk/ Even more reading on this topic: http://gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/full-list/ https://remptongames.com/2018/06/09/games-for-everyone-accessibility-in-board-games/ https://www.meeplelikeus.co.uk/on-board-game-accessibility/ https://brandonthegamedev.com/how-to-develop-visually-and-physically-accessible-board-games/#:~:text=Accessible%20games%20are%20ones%20where,presents%20a%20barrier%20to%20enjoyment   Don't forget to follow us at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, and subscribe on your favourite podcast app.

Preamble Welcome to this month's MindGames! In this episode, we immerse ourselves in the audio world of games. We ask why soundtracks are such a big part of games, and what role music plays in the games we love. We are lucky to be joined this month by Rachel, a very special guest who last appeared in Season 1's 'Faith in Games'. This month, she brings her expert insight into songs, singing and acoustics. Ever wondered why your singing sounds so much better in the shower? Rachel has the answer! Pop your headphones on, sit back, and listen as we explore the ways in which music is in our games, and our DNA.   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly) Bloodborne (FromSoftware) F-Zero GX (Amusement Vision) Escape: The Curse of the Temple (Kristian Amundsen Østby) Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Guitar Hero (Harmonix) Flower (Nicholas Clark) Audiosurf  (Dylan Fitterer) Beat Saber (Beat Games) Silent Hill 2 (Konami) Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games) Lisa: The Painful (Dingaling) Ni No Kuni 1 & 2 (Level-5) Street Fighter IV (Capcom) Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar) Avernum (Spiderweb Software) Left for Dead (Turtle Rock Studios) Dead Space (Visceral Games) Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)   Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com   **The MindGames Game: MindGames 'Humbug'* Tune 1: Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Saria's Song (Lost Woods) https://youtu.be/jKrhPHSuy4Q Tune 2: Stardew Valley, Overture https://youtu.be/sfATf-aMvbA Tune 3: Terraria, Day Music https://youtu.be/x23I8f9PwlI Tune 4: Europa Universalis IV, The Voyage https://youtu.be/hGrtN02XTI0   Check out Milodice: Music for Board Games here https://melodice.org/ Reading on rhythmic universals https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26124105/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0007#ref-CR1 Don't forget to follow us at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, and subscribe on your favourite podcast app.

Preamble Welcome, young listener, to the wise and venerable MindGames podcast! In this month's episode, we discuss ageing, both in terms of growth ('coming of age') and decline ('senescence'). This month, we tackle big questions around how games have 'come of age' over the past 40 years; do they age gracefully, or are we perpetually enraptured by the cult of the new? In what ways have games presented the process of getting older and experiencing more about the world and ourselves, and how does this reflect the life journeys of their players and designers? Sit back and rest those weary bones as we ramble about all these questions - and stick around to the end for a real nail-biter of a MindGames Game!   Today's Games (in order of appearance): GoldenEye 007 (Rare) King's Quest (Sierra Entertainment) Passage (Jason Rohrer) Pokémon (GameFreak) Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix) The Last of Us (Naughty Dog) Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Intelligent Systems, Koei Tecmo) The Longing (Studio Seufz) Massive Chalice (Double Fine, Brad Muir) Crusader Kings 3 (Paradox Interactive) Wildermyth (Worldwalker Games) Chronos: Before the Ashes (Gunfire Games) Did we miss any games that you think we should have discussed? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com   **This Month's Weird Games** One Hour One Life (Jason Rohrer) Paul Matijevic, 'Ah, dang! Mothman won't move out (he said it was just for the weekend)' (Check it out here, and support the creator as much as you can: https://ettin.itch.io/mothman?download) Agarest: Generations of War (Idea Factory, Red Entertainment and Compile Heart)   **The MindGames Game** MINDGAMES BLACKJACK Rules: You’ll be asked to provide games that meet a certain criteria. You must give answers that, collectively, are as close to 21 years old as possible. At any point you can ‘stick’, banking your collective years. You will each take turns to give responses until each person has decided to stick. If you exceed 21, you strike out and get no points. If a game has been used, it cannot be used for the remainder of the game. 1 point if you win, 0 points if you lose or 'strike out'. Oldest player goes first (age before beauty)! Questions: Give me games that feature a male main character. Give me games that have a female main character. Give me board games. Give me games that start with a vowel.   Special thanks to the following Reddit users, who helped with the research for this episode: u/DrunkenMonkeyNU u/ZakAmetyst u/savaghost u/fishwithfish u/King_Allant u/OneManFreakShow u/catinterpreter Don't forget to follow us at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, and subscribe on your favourite podcast app.

Welcome to Season 3 of the MindGames podcast! War, huh? What is it good for? Turns out it's podcasting! In this month's episode we reflect on how games have tackled the politics, drama and desperation of war. Why does war excite so many works of art, and can an interactive medium truly capture the horror and the atrocity of conflict? Join us as we delve into how we wage miniature warfare, and what that says about our real world. Content warning: A (brief) discussion of historic genocide.   Today's Games (in order of appearance): Diplomacy (Allan B. Calhamer) Game of Thrones (Christian T. Petersen) Western Empires (Flo de Haan, Gerart de Haan, John Rodriguez and Francis Tresham) Call of Duty (Activision/Treyarch) Total War (Creative Assembly) Memories Retold (Digixart) Through the Darkest of Times (Paintbucket Games) This War of Mine (11 Bit Studios) Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) Twilight Struggle (Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews) Warhammer: Age of Sigmar & Warhammer 40k (Games Workshop) God of War (Santa Monica Studio) The Division (Ubisoft)   **This Month's Weird Game** Metal Waltz: Anime Tank Girls (Shanghai JingCai Computer Software Development Co., Ltd)   **The MindGames Game** Pass the warhead - Starts with a fuse of 3. Who gets it 1st is decided at random. Correct answer does not decrease the timer and passes it to the other person. If the weapon is real and featured in a game, the correct answer will be a real weapon because that came first. Wrong answer decreases it by 1. Real life Weapon of War or video game weapon? The Tachanka - REAL LIFE The Blutsauger - GAME THE DMR - GAME The Puckle gun - REAL LIFE The EX grenade - GAME Zanbatō - REAL LIFE Who Me? - REAL LIFE Belle-Magrave 4.46 mm rifle - GAME M7 Lancer - GAME The Chicken Powered Nuclear Bomb - REAL LIFE The Staff of Jordan - GAME   Did you enjoy the first episode of season three? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at @mindgamespod for updates whenever new episodes go live, plus all the behind-the-scenes MindGames madness.

Christmas may be cancelled for millions in the UK, but the MindGames team are here for you! In this final bonus episode, we'll be topping off an awful year with some lovely chat about some lovely games. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. ~~~ Our 2020 Festive Favourites: Steve: Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch) & Final Fantasy XIV Online (Square Enix) Pix: Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) & Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus Games) Milos: Pathologic 2 (Ice-Pick Lodge) & Ultrakill (Arsi 'Hikita' Patala) Other mentions: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware) The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment) The Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital) Planescape Torment (Black Isle Studios) Baldur's Gate (Bioware) Doom: Eternal (Bethesda) ~~~ MINDGAMES CHRISTMAS GAME ANSWERS Red and orange, yellow and green, the finest veggies Cyseal’s ever seen! (Divinity: Original Sin) A man chooses, a slave obeys. (BioShock) In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is only war. (Warhammer 40,000) Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. (Darkest Dungeon) I’m a doctor, not a combined creature scientist! (Impossible Creatures) War, war never changes. (Fallout) Strip the flesh, salt the wound. (Borderlands) Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle! (Super Mario Bros) ~~~ Some interesting articles on Pathologic 2:   https://uppercutcrit.com/scars-of-the-risen-god-healing-in-pathologic-2/   https://bulletpointsmonthly.com/2020/06/25/the-world-unsettled-pathologic-2 ~~~ Wishing you all a safe and merry Christmas and New Year. Look out for Season 3 launching in January! Got comments or suggestions for next season? There's still time! Email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Don't forget to follow the MindGames gang on Twitter at @mindgamespod

Keep yourself warm this November with the soft glow of Nostalgia. Milos and Sophie talk about  Neopets. Its crazy economy, its links to Scientology and the lost plush of a paintbrush for Sophie's pet.   For some of Sophie's work: https://www.instagram.com/dragonet_girl/ Email us about your neglected neopets at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com or send us neocash on twitter @mindgamespod   Alex Irpan: Stories From the Neopets Economy https://www.alexirpan.com/2018/11/10/neopets-economy.html Sarah Bellman: Neopets was run by Scientologists https://theoutline.com/post/4190/neopets-was-run-by-scientologists?zd=1&zi=lhfreh4m

The UK isn't the only place to see fireworks this bonfire night, as the Trump v Biden election continues to sizzle and spark with tension. Trump has already tried to falsely claim victory, armed protesters are on the streets, and meanwhile millions of people across the USA are still awaiting the results of Tuesday's poll to determine their next president. Today, we take another look at last episode's election wargame to see how accurate those takes turned out to be. Though the outlook is cautiously optimistic, the vote still hangs in the balance - and we're right in the thick of it. The visions of the future within this game have never seemed so relevant and important. email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com or tweet deranged statements in angry capitals at us @mindgamespod

With the US election around the corner, we take a look at an innovative research project that has used games to predict the outcome of Trump v Biden. Ever wondered how on earth Trump will get out of this? It's a real rollercoaster, this one. Protests, sabotage and even a secession crisis. Oh, and as a special treat for this bonus episode, Milos reveals his ISIS-inspired stripper name... 'Where the System May Break' A war-game exercise simulating the 2020 election unmasked some key vulnerabilities https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/how-2020-election-could-go-wrong/614842/ Check out a PDF of the game here: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7013152/Preventing-a-Disrupted-Presidential-Election-and.pdf  Game Results Game One: Ambiguous Result Game Two: Clear Biden Victory Game Three: Clear Trump Win Game Four: Narrow Biden Win   Here's the grossly disingenuous and misleading Republican attack ad on Joe Biden and Black Lives Matter, 'Meet Joe Biden's Supporters' https://youtu.be/JmXj613HPN8 For a sense of these kind of games in action, take a look at the Shut Up & Sit Down 'Alien Invasion' megagame: https://youtu.be/hN71v9H_gg8   Got comments or suggestions for next season? Email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Don't forget to follow the MindGames crew on Twitter at @mindgamespod

Hi everyone. Two quick updates for you regarding the MindGames podcast. 1) We’re now entering our long overdue summer break period. We’re really happy with our progress in Season 2: we introduced a new format, tackled some massive topics, and even interviewed some real-life game designers and artists. To make Season 3 even better, we’re going to be taking this time to plan our topics a little more in advance, so if you have anything you’d really like to see please get in touch. Our normal episodes should resume after our Christmas special in December. We’ll be using this time to try out a few things that don’t normally fit the format of the usual monthly episodes, so we'd love your feedback on these episodes. 2) We will eventually be moving the podcast entirely over to our own libsyn website. This gives us more control over how we present our content and will cut down on the costs of running the podcast. If you currently only listen through SoundCloud, make sure you are also subscribed to us over at our libsyn page. Libsyn link: www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com Libsyn direct RSS feed link: mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/rss Got feedback? Comment or email us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

In this bonus episode of the MindGames podcast, we take a long look into the mirror of our souls with a deep dive discussion of Disco Elysium. We talk about the world, its history and its technicolour characters. Massive spoilers for anyone who hasn't played this unique game. We hope you enjoy. Haven't played, still listening in, and want to get a sense of what the game's all about? Check out the first 26 minutes of Disco Elysium here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAiaY1YC3F4 Don't forget to meet Mega Rich Light-Bending Guy if you haven't. He's a delight. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoLrn-aIzCE&t=140s Like/dislike this episode structure? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Either way, check out our website at www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com And follow the MindGames crew on Twitter at @mindgamespod

This month we talk about THE GRIND, the bizarrely commonplace aspect of games that is a repetitive chore. Why are games uniquely susceptible to grind? Can grind be... good? And finally, what can the existence of grind in games tell us about the world that creates them? We'll be discussing all these topics and more over the next hour, and we promise it won't be a grind. Also, keep listening to the end to discover Milos' Ultra Grindy Mindgames Game - so grindy, in fact, that we simply refused to play. That's the only way to win, after all. Today's games (in order of appearance): Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Final Fantasy (Square) Hades (Supergiant) Destiny 1 & 2 (Bungie) World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet) The Elder Scrolls Online (ZeniMax Online Studios) Disgaea series (Nippon Ichi) Rainbow Skies (SideQuest Studios) Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Shandalar (Microprose) Dark Souls (FromSoftware) Stardew Valley(Eric Barone) Monster Hunter: World (Capcom) Albion Online (Sandbox Interactive) Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (EasyGameStation) Earthbound (Shigesato Itoi) Football Manager 2020 (Sports Interactive) Cursed Images but with Earthbound Music www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD77CYdmepM Bored? Why not send us emails over and over again in the hope of a response at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Make sure you listen to us on our lovely new website www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com And follow your favourite pod on Twitter at @mindgamespod

Join us for the second part of our discussion of power in games. We talk power fantasies, the philosophy of game balance, and we even get a little bit political with a discussion of the UK's Clap for Carers/Boo for Boris. Stick around for our first ever Super Special Guest MindGames Game - it's a real cracker. You can check out Part 1 here: https://mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com/season-2-ep-8-power-gaming-ft-bez-tiz-part-1 Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Bez Shahriari (@stuffByBez) Tiz Creel (@tizcreel) Today's games (in order of appearance): Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) Diplomacy (Allan B. Calhamer) Monopoly (Charles Darrow, Elizabeth J. Magie) Trump: The Game (Jeffrey Breslow, Howard J. Morrison and Rouben Terzian) **Our First Ever Super Special Guest MindGames Game** "Red, Bread, Chicken, Grass or Hammer?" 1. What is the most powerful thing? 2. Which is the fastest? 3. Which is the most fun? 4. Which is the tastiest? 5. Which is most intelligent? 6. Which is the weakest? 7. Which is the slowest? 8. Which is the most boring? 9. Which is the most disgusting? 10. Which is the dumbest? 11. Which is the most Trump? 12. Which is the most 'tramp'? 13. Which is the most Putin? 14. Which is the most Boris? 15. Which is the most Kim Jong-un? Check out all of our guests' stuff! BEZ: Twitter! @stuffByBez Streams! twitch.tv/stuffbybez Stuff! www.stuffbybez.com/ TIZ: Twitter! @tizcreel Instagram! @tizcreel Art! www.tizcreel.com/ More lovely people and places: Lucky Sparrow Games Cafe luckysparrow.co.uk/ West End Games ('The WEG') www.westendgames.co.uk/ You can also listen to us on our lovely website, www.mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com Not only that, but you can also follow us on Twitter at @mindgamespod Or hey, why not send us some electronic mail at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

You're in for a real treat in this month's jumbo, jam-packed double bill episode of MindGames, where we take on power dynamics in games. Together, we discuss limitations and possibilities around play. How do games tackle power? What do the power dynamics we create in games tell us about power in the 'real world'? And ultimately, what does the ways in which we play teach us about power in our society? We are absolutely honoured to be joined by two proper professional game designers, Bez and Tiz, who join us for an interview around their design process, their journey so far, and how their latest project deals with power. Stay tuned for part two, where we continue our discussion around power in games. In this episode, we briefly acknowledge current protests in response to the murder of George Floyd and systemic racism. We didn't have the time to discuss this in detail, and it's not something I personally felt we could do justice in this discussion. As Milos said, 'learning history is one thing, feeling it is different'. If you'd like to learn more on this topic, we highly recommend the Brown Girls Do It podcast. Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Bez Shahriari (@stuffByBez) Tiz Creel (@tizcreel) Today's games (in order of appearance): In A Bind/Yogi (Bez Shahriari) Kitty Cataclysm(Bez Shahriari) Twister (Chuck Foley, Reyn Guyer and Neil W. Rabens) Fluxx (Adam Looney) Shuffle: Twister (Hasbro) The Landlord's Game (Elizabeth Magie) Seize the Power (Bez Shahriari and Tiz Creel) Dog Eat Dog (Liam Liwanag Burke) Diplomacy (Allan B. Calhamer) Fog of love (Jacob Jaskov) Further reading/viewing: The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game (Mary Pilon) Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Scott McCloud) Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms (Geoffrey Engelstein and Isaac Shalev) Fountain (Marcel Duchamp) Mazes & Monsters (Steven Hilliard Stern) Check out all of our guests' stuff! BEZ: Twitter! @stuffByBez Streams! twitch.tv/stuffbybez Stuff! www.stuffbybez.com/ TIZ: Twitter! @tizcreel Instagram! @tizcreel Art! www.tizcreel.com/ Seize the Power will be coming to Kickstarter in 2021: itbboardgames.com/2020/05/14/comin…seize-the-power/ We now have a lovely website, mindgamespodcast.libsyn.com Cool kids can also follow us on Twitter at @mindgamespod Or get in touch the old way, at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com

In this month's bumper episode of MindGames, we bring you our Coronavirus lockdown favourites. Join us for a look at how these extraordinary times have changed the way we play, the games we play, and how we look at the world around us. As a special treat, this episode brings you not one but two (!) MindGames Games. You lucky ducks. Today's games (in order of appearance): Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix) Mass Effect 3 (BioWare) FIFA (EA Sports) Rocket League (Psyonix) Spelunky (Derek Yu) Hand of Fate 1 & 2 (Defiant Development) Dishonored (Bethesda Softworks) Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) Skyrim (Bethesda) Pathologic 2 (Ice-Pick Lodge) Tabletop Simulator (Berserk Games) Dominion (Donald X Vaccarino) Twilight Imperium (Christian T Petersen) Camel Cup (Steffen Bogen) Codenames (Vlaada Chvatil) Mansions of Madness (Nikki Valens) Mysterium (Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko) Carcassone (Klaus-Jürgen Wrede) Drawful 2 (Jackbox Games) Golf with your friends (Blacklight Interactive) **MindGames Game I: "Who played it more?"** You wake up locked in a dungeon. Your jailor, a weaselish creature whose devilish wit is only matched by his devilish handsomeness, offers you your freedom. You must simply answer 2 questions correctly to escape. However – there is a catch. Either you all escape, or none of you do. Together, you must choose which person answers each question. You must guess who played each game more. Sean: Europa Universalis III Steve: Europa Universalis IV Milos: Lisa, the Painful Steve: Godus Sean: Call of Duty Modern Warfare II Milos: Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Sean: Twilight Struggle Milos: Terraria Sean: Tabletop Simulator Steve: For The King Milos: Team Fortress 2 Steve: Total War: Shogun 2 **MindGames Game II: Milos' 40-hour grand space strategy epic** Check out the Google Doc at https://preview.tinyurl.com/yd82gt2q We hope you're enjoying/tolerating/surviving your lockdown. Have you been particularly enjoying a specific game? Let us know at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com Stay safe everyone, and stay at home if you can.

This month, the MindGames team get down with the sickness. It's disease in games! Please enjoy our group therapy session produced under nationwide self-isolation. Make sure you keep your ears peeled for Milos' epic monologue about Pathologic 2 in our Weird Games segment. None of us realised at the time that he prepared the review himself, so we did not give him anywhere near the recognition he deserved. Stay safe everyone, and wash your damn hands! Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Sean Steve Today's games (in order of appearance): The Last of Us (NaughtyDog) Bioshock (2K) Fallout (Bethesda, Obsidian) Two Point Hospital (Two Point Studios) Pandemic (Matt Leacock) Pandemic Legacy (Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau) World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) Plague Inc. (Ndemic Creations) **Weird Games** Pathologic 2 (Ice-Pick Lodge) Sneeze (Wellcome Trust) **Viral Quiz** In The Last of Us, what are the zombie-like creatures known as? Walkers Runners Clickers Moaners Who published the Pandemic board game? Zman CGE Fantasy Flight AEG What was the zombie infection in The Last of Us? A leaked American bio-weapon A disease that originated in dogs A mutated fungus Divine judgement What was the World of Warcraft pandemic known as? The Great Pet Plague The Corrupted Blood Incident Debuff Disease Wowvid-05 Which of these is not a disease in Two Point Hospital? Turtle Head Pudding Blood Headcrabbedness Monkey Nuts Which of these was not a World of Warcraft pandemic? Great Zombie Plague of ‘08 Green Fire Ironforge Item Glitch The Corrupted Blood Incident Which of these is not a Pandemic spinoff board game? P andemic: Fall of Rome Pandemic: Hot Zone North America Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu Pandemic: Europe Which of these is a disease-themed Magic card? Diseased vermin Viral invasion Filthy swine Pox of mortals   More Pathologic content: Pathologic 1: Video by Hbombergy https://youtu.be/JsNm2YLrk30 Pathologic 2: deep dive with major spoilers by SulMatul https://youtu.be/FKhSbZPBEKc After we recorded this, George Monbiot published an excellent piece in The Guardian with a similar message regarding community response to the outbreak. It's well worth a look https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/31/virus-neighbours-covid-19 Special mention to A Plague Tale: Innocence, which didn't come up in conversation but which has some interesting things to say about disease https://youtu.be/wORYxwz1Zlk Reach out to us without exposing yourself to potential viral transmission through literal physical contact by emailing us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

This month, the MindGames team are dying to tackle the biggest topic of our lives. It's death in games! Join us as we journey into gaming's underworld. We investigate deaths of all flavours to find out how our relationship with life's greatest mystery has changed through the history of the medium. From early steps in cash-grabbing arcades to deep and thoughtful recreations of purgatory-like worlds, we look ahead with excitement to gaming's deathless (or death-filled!) future. So gather round, children, and discover how Pix died of hypothermia in Aberdeen in 2012. Wait, that's not quite right... Today's cast: Grant (Pix) Milos Steve Today's games (in order of appearance): XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis) Nuzlocke Challenge, Pokemon (GameFreak) Spyro (Insomniac) New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) Yoshi's Woolly World (Nintendo) Journey (Thatgamecompany) Pyre (Supergiant Games) Celeste (Matt Thorson and Noel Berry) The Witcher 2 (CD Projekt Red) Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games) The Binding of Isaac (Edmund McMillen, Florian Himsl) Children of Morta (Dead Mage) Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (Ubisoft) Bioshock (2K) Borderlands (Gearbox Software) Dark Souls and Bloodborne (From Software) The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker (Nintendo) Noita (Nolla Games) Lisa: the Painful (Dingaling Productions) Hades (Supergiant Games) Transistor (Supergiant Games) Betrayal Legacy (Rob Daviau, Noah Cohen, JR Honeycutt, Ryan Miller, Brian Neff and Andrew Veen) Dune (Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge and Peter Olotka) Planescape: Torment (Bioware) **Weird Games** Upsilon Circuit (Studio Robot Loves Kitty) One Life (One Life) Spelunky (Derek Yu, Mossmouth) Slay the Spire (Megacrit) Leisure Suit Larry (N-Fusion Interactive) **MindGames Game** 1. In the smash hit Mario Bros., how many hits does it take to kill Bowser? 2. If Mario has the flower powerup, how many hits can he take before he dies? 3. In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, how many heart containers can Link obtain throughout the game? a. 5 b. 10 c. 15 d. 20 4) In the Ocarina of Time, how many heart containers do you need to accumulate to get a new heart piece? 5) In the bloodbath of B-R5RB in Eve Online, how many NPC deaths were there? a. 5 million b. 10 million c. 15 million d. 20 million 6) What was the real world cash value that was lost as a result of this battle? a. $50,000-100,000 b. $100,000-200,000 c. $200,000-300,000 d. $300,000+ 7) In the World of Warcraft, what raid led to the great plague? a. Onyxia's Lair b. Molten Core c. Zul'gurub d. Temple of Ahn'Qiraj 8) In Guild Wars 2, how many players witnessed the execution of a player for cheating? a. 10,000 b. 100,000 c. 325,000 d. 500,000 More reading: "You Are Dead. Continue?": Conflicts and Complements in Game Rules and Fiction, Jason Tocci https://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/view/43/81 6 games that do death differently, Ashley Reed https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/games-deal-death-creative-way/ 15 Most Bizarre And Disturbing Video Game Deaths Of All Time, Steve Wright https://www.thegamer.com/bizarre-disturbing-video-game-deaths/ Let us know you're still alive by emailing us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com  

In this month's episode, we tackle god games. We come to the genre with a whole range of questions; - How do we define a god game? - What is the relationship between a god-player and their world, and how does this reflect our real-world understanding of the roles of gods? - And finally, why do people gravitate towards this style of control? One thing's for sure: gods may not play dice, but they certainly seem to enjoy a good RTS! Today's Cast Grant (Pix) Milos Steve Today's Games (in order of appearance): Populous (Bullfrog Productions) Black & White 1 & 2 (Lionhead Studios) Lego Island (Mindscape) Golden Sun (Camelot Software) Universim (Crytivo Games) Universe Sandbox 2 (Giant Army) Spore (Maxis) SimEarth (Will Wright) Godus (22Cans) Fable (Lionhead Studios) Utopia (Don Daglow) Dungeon Keeper (Bullfrog Productions) From Dust (Eric Chahi, Ubisoft) Crest (Eat Create Sleep) Star Wars Episode 1: The Gungan Frontier (Lucas Learning) Tilt Brush (Google) Spirit Island (R. Eric Reuss) Magic: the Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) **Weird Games** Species: Artificial Life Real Evolution (Quasar) ActRaiser (Yuzo Koshiro) This month's MindGames Game: 'Is God Real?' 1 point for guessing whether this god is real or fictional, 1 point from the other player for guessing the culture or IP. 1. Eru Ilúvatar 2. Orlanth, God of the Storm 3. Ishtar, Goddess of Sex and War 4. Baron Samedi 5. The Crimson King 6. Cardea 7. Sheela Na Gigs 8. Anoia See also: 30 Years of God Game History (Indigo Gaming) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt4-tBFIcsI Contact us at themindgamespodcast@gmail.com