Three Moves Ahead

SPOILER ADVISORY: This episode contains character spoilers throughout (if you don't want to be spoiled on which classic Star Wars archetypes can be recruited, or which movie characters make cameos). PLOT SPOILERS for the big mid-game time skip begin at 48:05 and conclude at 1:14:09. Jon and Luke are joined by PC Gamer's Ted Litchfield to discuss Star Wars Zero Company, a tactics game in a galaxy far, far away from several of the developers of NuXCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns. We discuss our favorite characters, why you should never give firearms to an astromech droid, and all of the other things that make this one of the best Star Wars games in a parsec.

Len and Nerium are joined once again by special guest Diana to discuss a lot of the smaller games we played this summer that didn't make it into a full episode, our varying levels of EU5 addiction, and mechsploitation. Games Discussed: Sovereign Tower Dispatch Suzerain EU5 Civ 7 Test of Time Mortal Shell II Elden Ring: The Convergence Big Walk The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily Twisted Tower Endacopia Openfront.io

Len, Jon, and Fraser set sail with Corsair Cove, a pirate city-builder with a reckless disregard for building codes. We discuss our different buccaneer building styles, the card- and dice-based ship combat, and try to answer the eternal question: what DO you do with a drunken sailor?

Len sits down with Game Director Marv Gouw and Consulting Art Director (and Relic co-founder) J. Aaron Kambeitz to talk about ZeroSpace, a new RTS inspired by the greats of the genre with BioWare-style cutscenes and story decisions. We dig into the odd place RTSes find themselves in the industry right now, how the "Homeworld look" relates to typefaces, and how the changes in the games industry today echo those the film industry went through decades ago.

Len and DM are joined by the current Age of Empires II world champion, Hera, to discuss the state of the game in 2026. We try to explain its longevity, examine what it takes to be a top-level esports player, and discuss Hera's streamer invitational tournament, The King's Gauntlet.