Side Story

With spring turning into summer, Art, Jack, and Austin have found that it's time to once again drink the Potion of Liking Baseball. Well, no, it's not that broad: It's the Potion of Liking the Weird Ludic Corners of Ambiguity at the Heart of Officiating, Especially With Regard to the Use of Automated and Mechanical Tools, As in the MLB's Newly Arrived Automated Ball-Strike System. But that's unfortunately a little too long for an episode title.  Show Notes The First Instant Replay Jerar Encarnacion challenge mentioned at 38:00 Minutes Cam Smith Challenge mentioned at 38:30 Watch Jack, Austin, and Sylvi Play Thomas Colthurst's 2025 Game Pt.1   Media Club Plus Soprano's Screenshot Stream  Late Pledges Still Available for Realis  Chapters 00:00 Introduction 05:07 How Is the Baseball Going 12:59 Wait, What Is Baseball? 22:57 The Instant Replay World 31:41 ABS: The Automated Ball-Strike System 42:10 The Referee Is Part of the Pitch 54:58 Why Is Baseball Like This? 59:53 The Spectator Experience of ABS 01:04:20 Instant Replay and Referee Bias in Video Games Featuring Austin Walker, Art Martinez-Tebbel, and Jack de Quidt, Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Have you heard the news? There's a new Postman in town, and a new Fairie Queen in the court. I hear the Postman keeps bringing her big palettes of wood, and she's using it to build some sort of cat tower. I hear she's sending her entourage to business school, and he's got to carry her letters of recommendation. I hear war is coming, but don't worry, we're safe here on our island court in the fog. I hear we'll always be safe here. Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to friendsatthetable.cash to support us!  Show Notes Realis Kickstarter Blood Machine's Bluesky Post which first clued us into Island Off Outer Darkness Austin's Realis Interview Roundup | Clockwork Worlds Chapters 00:00 Introduction 10:23 Island Off Outer Darkness 01:19:34 Titanium Court   Featuring Austin Walker, Keith Carberry, and Jack de Quidt, Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Somewhere between Goo and Glue and Goop, is Gloop. And that's the stuff that makes up the middling (and middle-ing) parts of many vast, open world RPGs. Flat but enjoyable-enough random encounters. Rhythmically repetitive dungeons. The Good Old Fetch Quest. The mortar holding the bricks of the castle wall together. Gloop. Support us on Patreon! The Kickstarter campaign for Austin's new TTRPG, Realis, is now live!   Show Notes Crunch returns to Naughty Dog for Xmas as Intergalactic devs work overtime on a demo for Sony, claims report No Games for Genocide The Indiana Pacers Fan Couple Clip Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:55 ToeJam & Earl Aside 07:30 Ardenfall 52:12 Road to Vostok Featuring Austin Walker and Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt  

Happy Side Story anniversary! To celebrate our first year of the show, Austin, Janine, and Jack get together to talk about the year they've spent playing Nine Dots' RPG-meets-sim Outward (which you can watch them play by supporting us at https://friendsatthetable.cash/!) Speaking of supporting our work, the Kickstarter campaign for Austin's new TTRPG, Realis, is now live!   Support us on Patreon! Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt  

With too many games coming out recently, Austin, Sylvi, and Dre had to determine a metric to decide which ones to cover on this week's episode. What makes the most sense? Maybe 'games relevant to ongoing Friends at the Table campaigns'? Or perhaps 'games that we've teased wanting to talk about in the past'? No, absolutely not. There is only one metric: Games that look sick as shit. Show Notes Marathon Thief Grapple "If you're hoping to make friends in Marathon like you can in Arc Raiders, expect a knife in the back" | PC Gamer Marathon, Reprise | Aurahack Chapters 00:00 Introduction & Icebreaker Marathon Upate 07:34 The Cool Games We Don't Have Time to Talk About Yet 10:32 Romeo Is A Dead Man 47:43 Marathon (2026) Featuring Austin Walker, Andrew Lee Swan, and Sylvi Bullet Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt  

With Austin separated from his microphone because of a snowstorm, Janine and Ali (who herself had to record on a travel mic) return to chat about the rise of Devices. You know? Gadgets? Geegaws? Retro emulation handhelds? Also, we have a classic Friends at the Table "Now is not the time for this diversionary topic" followed by 30 full minutes on the diversionary topic. It's a good podcast.  Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:03 Device Talk Begins 26:34 Palia Diversion Begins 55:11 Back to the Gadgets and the Games We're Playing On Them Support us on Patreon! Featuring Janine Hawkins and Ali Acampora Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt  

On Sunday 15th and Monday 16th of February 2026, we're going to be hosting ICEBREAKER, a two day fundraising marathon on twitch.tv/friendsatthetable to raise money for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund! As Minnesota faces the brunt of a violent anti-immigrant crackdown, and ICE's cruelty continues to spread nationwide, we are inspired by the solidarity, community, and mutual aid demonstrated by those on the front lines of immigration justice. The WFM's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund distributes funding to organizations working to provide food, housing, rent relief, transportation and healthcare as well as legal support for immigrants, detainees, and their families. The fight for immigration justice is immensely important to us all. Please join us to help raise some money! In addition to streaming, new limited edition t-shirts will be available on the Friends at the Table store on Sunday 15th, featuring the incredible ICEBREAKER art by Conner Fawcett. For the months of February and March, all proceeds from any purchases made at friendsatthetable.shop will go to the Immigration Law Center of Minnesota, which provides free legal representation to immigrants and their families. After March, this t-shirt will no longer be available! Please stay tuned to our social media and here on Patreon for upcoming information about the schedule, as well as our fundraising goals. We'll be kicking off around 11am ET and going all day with a carefully selected blend of games, running the gamut from emergent multiplayer disasters to 90s educational software to — let me just check my notes here — it looks like someone's written down "Flegg Hell"? We'll see you on Sunday!  

The winter is here and our love of warmth means that we're stuck inside, dreaming of greener pastures. Greener pastures like: "A train that you can make prettier" and "A frozen over dystopia where you are forced out into the cold to deliver pizzas and televisions." Hey, wait a minute... Show Notes Run Button's My Summer Car Let's Play  Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:33 Spatial Puzzles (Kanoodle, IQ Gears, IQ Circuit) 08:10 Locomoto 27:19 Locomoto Full Game Spoilers 56:07 Easy Delivery Co. Support us on Patreon! Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt  

Happy 2026! We're kicking the year off (a little belatedly) with what would've been Ali's 2025 Main Story Award winning Silent Hill f. She's joined by Keith and Jack as they talk (with full spoilers) about the first new full length Silent Hill game in over a decade.  Featuring Ali Acampora, Keith Carberry, Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Jack, Keith, and Austin as they discuss (the) Blue Prince, before Keith tags out for Sylvi, so that we can end the year chatting about Horses (the game and, briefly, the animal). Show Notes I Hope You Get To Live Your Entire LIfe As A Human Being by Harper Jay What Can Men Want? by Nathan Rochelle Duford Featuring Austin Walker, Keith Carberry, Jack de Quidt, and Sylvi Bullet Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Dre, Art, and Keith who are bringing us Yes Nostalgia! and No Nostalgia! awards! Featuring Keith Carberry, Andrew Lee Swan, and Art Martinez-Tebbel Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Keith, Janine, and Austin who are bringing us The Best-Yet Version of a Game That Isn't What I Truly Want Award! Show Notes   Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Keith Carberry Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Sylvi and Jack, who are bringing us the Feel the Love Award. Show Notes moon: Remix RPG Adventure moon Soundtrack: Heads in the Clouds Featuring Jack de Quidt and Sylvi Bullet Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, a week long showcase where we make up awards to give the games and topics that really took center stage for us this year, and which we felt like deserved a little more attention than they already got on the show this year. It's not a traditional game of the year, but we did try to restrain ourselves to a single game or topic each, which means that there are definitely some things that were big that didn't get included.   We'll have a short episode every day, normally, but not always, covering one game or topic suggested by a member of the cast. Not everyone had topics or was able to record during this window, so I will say that Ali's game will be covered in a spoiler cast, hopefully in January! Today's award, presented by Austin (me), is the Clockwork World Award!  Enjoy! Show Notes Earthborne Rangers Many Nights a Whisper Featuring Austin Walker and Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to friendsatthetable.cash to support us!  Today we explore a bevvy of different worlds: 2.5D fantasy realms, alien FMV planets, and a land of climate apocalypse and raw nerve paranoia. Wait, that last one is... it's kind of sounding familiar. Oh well, get in, buckle up, and make sure to bring your favorite childhood food, because we've got places to go. Games discussed this episode: The Octopath Traveler series,  Blippo+, No, I'm Not a Human, Horses (and the other games of Santa Ragione) Show Notes "I Hope You Get To Live Your Entire Life As A Human Being," Harper Jay's essay on Horses Studio Oleomingus Announcement Chapters 00:00 Introduction 03:01 Octopath Traveler 0 01:06:22 Blippo+ 01:26:45 No, I'm Not Human 01:54:31 HORSES Featuring Austin Walker and Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Mysterious internet occurances abound this week on Side Story. Mysteries like "What is the dark secret of the famed Roottree family, Pittsburghian candy magnates" and "Why did Austin's connection totally fall apart before we could reach the second half of the podcast?" Like all good mysteries, the twists and turns are just as exciting as the answer, as a stunning second segment appears, drawing the listener (you) in closer... closer... ever closer, until it is too late. Support us on Patreon! Show Notes Granny Cream's Hot Butter Ice Cream - Hypnospace Outlaw Ad Jingle by Hot Dad Eurogamer Arc Raiders Review Level-5 Inazuma Eleven AI Presentation Run Button Arctic Alive Let's Play AMCA KOTOR II Let's Play Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:27 The Roottrees Are Dead 21:45 "AI" in Game Development 47:14 Back to The Roottrees Are Dead General Impressions 01:09:18 The Clock Tower Series Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, Keith Carberry, and Jack de Quidt, Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Between the barter system and the coin, there were other currencies. Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid Empire, which would one day stretchout from the Iranian plateau as far west as Egypt and north as the Aral Sea, used silver bullion when this-for-that wasn't an efficient enough means of trade. Could you decide who's paying for lunch on a flipped silver bar? Unsure. Perhaps, slightly later, the 'knife money' of the Zhou Dynasty or Old Chosŏn would be better suited for such chance game. Perhaps they tossed them straight up, wagering on them as they fell, to see if they'd stick in the ground. Yes, binary action is better for bets, but is the blade balanced for even odds? And so, let's give thanks to the Anatolian kingdom of Lydia, their electrum mines, and their little coins, discs with lions and stags punched in, begging to be flipped. Show Notes Tom Walker Coin Stream 1 Tom Walker Coin Stream 2 Autopsy Pile for Anthology of the Killer Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:01 Unfair Flips 21:47 Q-Up 01:01:18 Anthology of the Killer 01:24:22 Digmon Story: Time Stranger 01:29:06 Poco 01:31:58 Vein Featuring Austin Walker, Jack de Quidt, and Sylvi Bullet Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

This episode contains an extended conversation about the death of a pet. See the chapters below for time stamps. What makes a city good? Is it walkability? A wide variety of dining options? A good chance that while you're on your way to work, you'll bump into between five and seven little creatures, teaming with elemental power? Well if it's that last one, we've got the city for you. Rent may be high, but so are the Pidgeys.    Show Notes Skyehoppers' Pokemon video essays: Pokémon Black & White Asks the Impossible and Pokémon's Riskiest Game   Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:50 Pokemon Legends: Z-A 01:16:58 Absolum 01:46:32 Dealing with Pet Death / Dissociating via Video Games 02:12:44 More Absolum Talk Featuring Austin Walker, Andrew Lee Swan, and Keith Carberry Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

The ocean is draining. Where is it going? Is there a drain down there? Is someone drinking it? Wouldn't they be getting very thirsty? I guess there are lizardly astrologists and coral-covered automatons, so maybe there is someone who can drink the sea. Hard to say. Hard to say. This show wouldn't be possible without your support. Please consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/friends_table. Show Notes Endless Legend 2 UI/UX Next Steps Endless Legend 1 Screenshots Endless Legend 2 Screenshots   Janine's Comparisons Keith's Edit Skill Trees Additional Notes Media Club Plus Run Button Metal Gear Solid Let's Play Chapters 00:00 Introduction 03:28 Endless Legend 2 01:04:10 Break (On the Nature of Time) 01:09:16 Civilization Revolution 01:11:08 Longest Played Demos 01:15:44 Lorelei and the Laser Eyes 01:20:27 The JRPG Zone: Star Ocean: The Second Story R, the Octopath Series, and Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter 01:28:17 The Coin Zone: Unfair Flips and Q-Up 01:30:39 Phantasy Star Online 01:40:18 The Outro Begins Featuring Austin Walker, Andrew Lee Swan, and Keith Carberry Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Take a deep breath in. Can you smell it? That's right, the summer is finally behind us, and we can turn to the finer things of the autumn: Genetic splicing, cursed relics, and hobby-kit helicopters. Make a warm drink and settle in. The crisp air of the fall is going to take us many places.   Show Notes The Making of Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion   No Man's Sky: Oasis Island   Chapters 00:00 Introduction 08:30 The Saboteur 11:31 Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 01:03:23 Strange Antiquities 01:29:44 No Man's Sky: Voyagers 01:39:30 Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter 01:49:03 Hollow Knight: Silksong Featuring Austin Walker, Jack de Quidt, and Sylvi Bullet Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt