Back Seat Designers

Obviously, the first thing you’ll notice about this week’s episode is that it’s a day late. And you have every right to be angry. Furious, even. I know I speak on behalf of all of the Back Seat Designers in sharing your frustration. But, please, put the gun down. I know we can talk aboutContinue reading S3E10 – Based on a True Story

The back seat designers are about to start throwing stones up in this bitch. We love adventure games, and the beautiful people that make them. But sometimes they have some really annoying habits. Yeah, we know. There are all sorts of constraints that designers and engineers have to labour under. Limited funds. Limited time. TheContinue reading S3E9 – What Adventure Games Need to Stop Doing

It’s Sunday, and while most major religions has that day down as a “sit around and twiddle your thumbs”-sort of affair, that means that we are hocking another golden loogie of bullshit wisdom into the ether for you to gag on. This week’s subject is unlikeable protagonists in adventure games. Many of us are familiar with the antics ofContinue reading S3E8 – Unlikeable Protagonists

Imagine if half way through The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo shot a storm trooper, turned to the camera and said: Right. Wanna see if we get off this cloud base? Here. Complete this sudoku. It would sort of break the flow, right? Even if the sudoku were Star Wars themed… Christ, those things actuallyContinue reading S3E7 – Bad puzzles in otherwise good games

Well, we all know what they say: But, actually, you can do good things with an adaptation. Or “adaption,” which Fred insists on calling it, because he speaks much better English than the rest of us. So we take the rounds and talk about some of our favorite movie/tv show/novel/comic book-to-game adaptations, and vice versa.Continue reading S3E6 – Adaptations

Yes, one week late, we have all recovered sufficiently from binge drinking and/or embarrassment to give you the episode we promised. This week, we’re talking about breaking the fourth wall. Which is a bit of a love/hate-mechanic among adventure gamers, if the input we received from our listeners is anything to go by. Breaking theContinue reading S3E5 – Breaking the Fourth Wall

So, here’s the thing. Some weeks we have good planning. We pick a time. We make doubly sure that Troels knows the difference between Denmark time and British time. And then we sit down, fire up Skype and have a chat. Everything runs smoothly. Occasionally, the episodes are actually good. This week was more complicatedContinue reading S3E4β – “Bonus” episode

A new generation of adventure gamers are being brought up with one ubiquitous phrase: “So-and-so will remember that.” Thanks, Obama– er, Telltale! Of course, the concept of adventure games shaping their narrative depending on the player’s choice is nothing new. It’s been around for quite some time, all the way back to the grand oldContinue reading S3E4 – Choices Matter

Technology can be a two-headed beast. On one hand, it allows us to embark on magical adventures, the likes of which could never exist in ye olde borefest that we call “real life”. On the other hand, technology can also make an otherwise dapper skeleton wear a wheelbarrow as a skirt: I stand by my year-old reaction. Therefore,Continue reading S3E3 – When technology gets in the way

The subject may be mature, but we aren’t. The subject of violent video games has been a recurring issue in the general press. “Won’t somebody think of the children?” We’re not saying that’s illegitimate. But, as ever, it’s a little more complicated than that. So – what place does violence have in adventure games? IContinue reading S3E2 – Gore and Violence