Claim OwnershipGamers with Glasses Podcast
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Gamers with Glasses is a podcast by scholars, developers, artists, and fans of video games and tabletop games. It’s for people who like to think about play. We’re interested in the past, present, and future of gaming as art, entertainment, technology, and community. We’re interested in all kinds of players and experiences, from the most popular AAA action titles to the most meditative indie experiments. We like to bring the smart to the fun.
53 Episodes
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Nate, Samantha, and Luis do their best not to get lost in the hall of
mirrors as they think through various types of self-referential games,
covering everything from product tie-ins and Fortnite (it's bigger on the
inside) to critical hits like Inscryption, The Stanley Parable, and There
Is No Game.
In this episode, we finally lay out a firm and simple spectrum with which to rate all games, and it goes from narcissism to nihilism. Don delights in the pure semiotics of Akka Arrh. Christian plays Season, “non-dystopian, post-apocalyptic bicycle scrapbook game” in which anxiety over the future doesn’t necessarily have to mean panic. We talk about Dredge and reminisce on fishing minigames of times gone by, because fishing is golf.Also, this episode is kind of an old one! We shifted the release schedule because we really wanted to make sure our episode with Caroline and Taylor got up on the website while the Queer Games Bundle was still on sale. Therefore, in this episode, we’ll offer some predictions about what Tears of the Kingdom will be like, because it wasn’t out yet. All our predictions were 100% correct, of course.Roger talks Dead Cells and Castlevania, Nate complains about the Unbearable Lightness of Mario, and we all get to share our favorite long falls in video games. Don wins the podcast: “If Cuphead and Flamehead got together, they could make Crème-brûlée-head.” It’s a super blast.
Join us for a very special episode of the Gamers with Glasses Show featuring Caroline Delbert and Taylor McCue, organizers of the Queer Games Bundle 2023. Tune in to learn about ways to support the queer games community (including but not limited to buying the bundle!) and for game recommendations from the bundle organizers. Conversation topics range from game bundles as wealth redistribution, to teddy bears who really want you to like strapons, to butthole physics. Speaking of, if you would like a reference to this episode’s title, stay tuned at the 40 minute mark. This is one of our favorite episodes we've done so far, but be aware that it is recorded with adult ears in mind.
In this episode, Roger starts a cult, and nobody even tries to stop him. It is totally his own original idea and has nothing to do with Cult of the Lamb. Don ruminates on the universe inside Kirby’s stomach in his sub-podcast, “Don Plays All the Kirby Games in a Year.” Someone has the gall to talk about a game called Sin and Punishment in Nate’s absence. Christian leaves JoyCon drift behind to get on the Steam Deck’s memory bus, and savors a few moments of Immortality. Google launches Stadia into the sun. Roger closes the episode with some words of wisdom which, trust us, you are (not) going (to want) to miss.
In this episode, we let loose about Square-Enix business practices, tell tales about bosses in Elden Ring, discuss the brilliance and limitations of the cyborg space noir game Citizen Sleeper, gush over the pleasures of Lego games (especially Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga), make knock knock jokes (sorry!), get behind the wheel of Gran Turismo 7, and recommend some weird novels and Sailor Moon. And so much more!If you enjoy our show, please take a minute to write us a review!
We recorded an episode on Elden Ring forever ago, and here it is! What’s the difference between Elden Ring and Dark Souls? Who is George R.R. Martin, and what has he done to Miyazaki? Did FromSoftware invent a new IP for narrative reasons, or is it just a marketing move? How approachable and how accessible is Elden Ring? Why shouldn’t a horse have a double jump? Is FromSoft the Arcade Fire of videogames? Is Arcade Fire the T.S. Eliot of music? Also, you get to hear Don’s best NPR voice - it’s very soothing! - and Nate rants about Sony’s multiplayer paywall (also known as PlayStation Plus).(And Christian is wrong - the world didn’t collectively bounce off Elden Ring - Nate is right, and someone has to drink a bottle of ketchup.)
We interview game designer Jason Cordova, creator of the tabletop roleplaying games Brindlewood Bay and The Between, founder of The Gauntlet, and editor of the RPG magazine Codex. Jason’s games combine open-ended mysteries with horror and adventure. On the podcast, we discuss the difficulties of making a mystery-driven RPG, the Kickstarter for the print edition of Brindlewood Bay, fifth edition D & D and the indie RPG scene, The Gauntlet as a creative community, Codex as a great place to get started designing your own games, the publication of Trophy, and much more. Jason also drops some words of wisdom from Ru Paul! Brindlewood Bay is currently on Kickstarter, funding its print edition. You can also find the zine edition at DriveThruRPG, which is currently pay what you want. The Between is also available on DriveThruRPG.
We interview game developer Johnnemann Nordhagen (Dim Bulb Games, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine) about his Museum of Mechanics, “a browsable, playable collection of lockpicking mechanics from various games.” He talks about the origin of the project in a conversation about fishing mini-games; how lockpicking mini-games compare to conversation and fishing mini-games; how games are like folktales; why games like to make us do things we don't normally do everyday (Johnnemann Nordhagen has picked a lock in real life); the function of these kinds of mini-games from a developer's standpoint; how this project differs from game preservation; and much more!
In Episode 19 of The Gamers with Glasses Show, we talk about how long we’re willing to grapple with puzzles, when we use walkthroughs/strategy guides, different kinds of open world games, and much more. Games covered include Death’s Gambit and its Afterlife expansion, Cozy Grove, Lost Judgment, Amnesia: Rebirth, Lake, and Inscryption. We also discuss the Snowpiercer franchise, Station Eleven, and The Wheel of Time.
We interview Noio (Thomas van den Berg) about his recent game Cloud Gardens, his history in game development, the success of Kingdom, and his next big project! Thomas tells us how Cloud Gardens emerged from his attempt to make an MMO. He describes his personal history in game development, from high school up to the present. He even tells us about his new project, a collaboration with a surprising indie developer! This is a great conversation that ranges from general philosophical questions like what it means to be an indie game developer to business matters like dealing with Steam and handling IP sales. For more on Cloud Gardens, read Christian Haines’ “Growth Through Letting Go.”
On this episode, we discuss the cute soulslike energy of Death’s Door, the thrill of zombie parkour in Dying Light, how Unsighted reinvigorates the metroidvania with its strange world and countdown mechanics, dungeon crawlers like Dungeon Encounters and Ruined Kingdom, and much more. We also gush about the Foundation series (and Lee Pace - but not just Lee Pace)!
In this interview, we talk with Dang!, the developers of Boomerang X. We discuss the genesis of the game’s genesis from a student project and a game jam); boomer shooters; the difficulty of porting it to the Nintendo Switch; the influence of games like Devil Daggers and shows like Samurai Jack; what it’s like to be a small indie developer in today’s market; and much more! If you haven’t already played it, Boomerang X is a brilliant shooter in which you not only hurl a boomerang at enemies but also launch yourself after the boomerang. It features fast-paced action, suggestive environmental storytelling, Lovecraftian enemies, and a challenging yet rewarding difficulty curve. Boomerang X is available on PC/Steam and Switch.
Library of Babble is our new sci-fi and fantasy book club! For the first episode, we discuss Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic Dune, as well as David Lynch and Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptations. We talk about the novel’s world-building, especially how it treats ecology (desert power!) and religion; the novel as both anti-imperialist and orientalist; its deconstruction of the white messiah; its roots in Herbert’s conservatism; and much more! As far as the films go, we debate the merits of Timothée Chalamee’s acting, marvel over Villeneuve’s landscapes (while wondering if he wouldn’t prefer to get rid of the characters altogether), and the impossible expectations set by the book for film adaptations. Our next book for Library of Babble is Larissa Lai’s The Tiger Flu, which we will be discussing in late January!
In this special episode of the Gamers with Glasses Show, we discuss Noah Wardrip-Fruin’s excellent book, How Pac-Man Eats! Noah joins us, along with Patrick Jagoda (author of Experimental Games), to talk about why “models” and “logics” are more useful terms than gameplay or mechanics; how we can make games about more than just beating the bad guys; why Animal Crossing: New Directions is a lot of fun, but not as interesting as Stardew Valley in terms of its design; the work Noah and Patrick are doing at their game development studios/labs; the value of cooperative play; what kinds of game design principles we would like to see become more common in the games industry; and much more. It’s a great conversation for anyone interested in game development, game studies, or game design in general!
It’s the first episode of our new spin-off show, Retronomicon, where we cover older games, including classics and unfairly neglected games. To kick things off with a bang, we discuss Nintendo’s Metroid series, all the way back to the original 1986 Metroid up to and including Metroid: Dread. We talk about our earliest Metroid memories, the lore of the series (and if it really matters), the sexism surrounding Samus, environmental storytelling, how it compares to the Alien series, our feelings about Dread, and much more! Come for the super missiles and stay for Mother Brain!For more Metroid goodness, read Christian Haines’ “Ode to the Morph Ball”!
In Episode 17 of The Gamers with Glasses Show, we talk about flow, immersion, horror, power, dating sims, and more! What do we mean when we say we’re “immersed” in games? Who gets to be immersed, or what makes it possible for some people to get into the flow, while others can’t? What are the politics of flow and immersion? Why do we like horror games? Can we really get immersed in them? Do tabletop games really play well online? What does Diablo 2 teach us about masculinity and fantasies of power and control? We also talk about other games, including Mundaun, Dream Daddy, Amnesia: The Dark Descent!
We’re joined by Professor Se (Seth) Young Kim, an expert on Korean and Japanese cinema and games, to discuss the Netflix television hit Squid Game (from director Hwang Dong-hyuk). We discuss how the show reinvents the genre of the battle royale, how it responds to capitalism and the financial crises of the 1990s and 2000s, translation issues, what the show has to say about education, why children’s games are so important, and much more!
In Episode 16 of The Gamers with Glasses Show, we debate the virtues and vices of Arkane’s Deathloop (love the banter and the powers, not so much the thin storyline), discuss how Wario World does what Kena doesn’t, wish that the beautiful pixel art of Eastward were matched by some innovative gameplay, sing the praises of Sable’s beautiful desert world (though not without acknowledging its glitchiness), and dive into Bloodborne builds. Games discussed: Deathloop, Wario World, Eastward, Bloodborne, Kena, and more!
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