Unconsoleable

At long last and all the way from New Zealand, we welcome the developers of Mini Metro.Yep, we think the game is an instant classic and so should you. We talk to (twin!) brothers Robert and Peter Curry about how Mini Metro came about, their past exploits in game development, staying indie, the fear and anxiety that comes with success, and, as always, much, much more! Whether you've been loving designing transit systems like we have, want to hear the thought processes of smart devs, or are keen to join their dinosaur polo club, listen up!

Super Mario Run is about to come out and some worrisome news about it has also come out. Uh-oh. Here to help us make sense of it all plus issue other tidbits of knowledge and wisdom is our beloved friend and developer Joe Macirowski. Meanwhile, what are Anna’s first impressions of the game having trekked to the Apple Store to play the demo? What recent gaming triumphs has Jessica enjoyed? Will Apple ever make a controller? And just how many ties DOES one of the Joe’s cats have? All these questions and more will be answered so listen now!

Apparently this is the show where we reveal our deepest, darkest gaming secrets. Are you ready to learn Jessica’s latest game shame? We don’t want to ruin the fun for you, so you’ll have to listen to find out what it is! Speaking of deep, dark, secrets, we have some to impart to Zynga, who apparently wants to make a Candy Crush-like game for the Indian market. But they want it to appeal specifically to women. What’s the problem? Well, there are a number of them, and we try to explain it to the hapless devs who no doubt aren’t listening. We also puzzle over a new mobile game streaming service Rovio plans to launch. Can something meant to be the Spotify of mobile games find success? And of course we played some new games too, though almost none of the ones Anna tried came from the App Store (GASP!)

What's one weird trick for games to infuriate us? Bad monetization. Jessica even almost really liked a new game this week—almost. It was much the same with Anna who, along with Jessica, struggled with a home decorating game. Struggled to play it that is, because the monetization is so brutal. We also wondered about Microsoft Solitaire coming to mobile and who on earth would pay for it, got a sneak peak at Asher Vollmer’s next game, learned who the best navigators are, and chuckled at an unlikely political incursion into a mobile soccer game we’ve never played.

Could millions of people be wrong about mobile games being awesome? Clearly not, though they might be wrong about their choice of presidential candidate — but we digress! Anyway! We try to go back to "normal" this week, whatever that is, and talk about more games, more out of touch articles, more shooty stabby gamers who don’t get mobile, and more Mario of course! Also, Nintendo, you're pissing us off. Stop it.

This is still a show about games, but we had to talk about the election. Because this isn't like any other election, and this president-elect isn't like any other president-elect. We are afraid and traumatized. Not so much for ourselves, but for so many others. This show has always been partly about our lives, and this was a cataclysmic event for us both. We do get around to games eventually, we promise. Both of us played a few new things, though games haven't been as comforting. We also talked about some good reactions to the election result in the games community, as well as some not-so-good reactions, plus a Blizzard CEO that seems to be a wee bit misguided.

Games that we play sign up for judgment, but what about raiders of Halloween candy? Will anyone step forward and admit to taking all of it when no one’s looking? While we ponder chocolate-induced crime and punishment, we also talk about the games we’ve played this week, to varying degrees of enjoyment and success. Jessica realizes walking around in a game can get tiresome while Anna embraces her spy identity. We also roll our eyes at a tone-deaf piece on fan demands in games and comics and lament the fact that someday we may not be able to play our favorite iOS games anymore.

Do gamers stink differently than other people? Some people seem to think so and [cue infomercial voice] have they got the product for YOU! But before we get to all that, Jessica recounts some woes with a new game’s tutorial and an old game’s inability to cloud save her progress, oh no! Meanwhile, Anna falls under the spell of a very silly, but very charming time management game and we also talk about a story that made us both do a double take.

Longtime listeners will recall that there was a time when Jessica built A LOT of boats. Now she's building a lot of transit systems, and Anna is too! That's right, Mini Metro has taken us by storm and we’re having a blast. We also announce the winner of our Burly Men at Sea giveaway, and Anna talks about some other games and, um, hassling various developers. And of course… the Nintendo news! We talk all about the Switch and whether we, the target market, are interested in it.

Everything in the world is terrible, but we are here to bring you stories of our sometimes silly and difficult lives, and we do eventually talk about games, we promise! We tried some new stuff this week, to varying degrees of success, but we mainly talk about a game that you probably haven’t heard of or played. And that’s maybe for good reason. Intrigued? Mystified? Trepidatious? Then listen now and all will be revealed.

Welcome to Anna being partially drunk during this recording and Jessica well on her way there! Cut us a break though; have you seen the US election? It's amazing we're sober EVER. Shockingly, Jessica played more than one game this week! Anna did as well, including attempting That Dragon, Cancer now that it's on mobile. Search ads have also come to the App Store and we look at one developer’s experiences so far, including the possible problems and pitfalls. Also, Square Enix is taking a stand on premium games and there are some Nintendo LULZ too.

Jessica is still in the thrall of Shadow Bug Rush, but both of us did play a bunch of other games this week. And some were even good! Anna gushes about a game she never thought she would enjoy while both she and Jessica are not 100% sold on a dog sledding game that has too much management for our liking. And what game did Jessica reject after 5 minutes while Anna fell in love with it? You’ll have to listen to find out!

This week, we finally had the space and time to talk about what we’re playing! Except Jessica seems to have played just one game. But no matter, one game is all you need if it’s the right one. Meanwhile Anna isn’t sure if any of the games she played are the right one for her. She did enjoy eating people, however, while difficult controls in other game gave her the sads. And both your hosts played a game that in some ways had a rocky start on the App Store, but is that the fault of the developer or the players?

A real, actual Mario game is finally coming to mobile and we are EXCITED. But not everyone shares our glee. We talk about the hand-wringing over how a quasi-premium game will be received on the platform, and answer concerns about whether mobile gamers care about games period. We have a few choice words to offer on this topic.

This episode rules! That’s because we have with us Francois Alliot, creator of one of our latest obsessions and yours, Reigns. Sometimes we rule for many years and sometimes we die quickly, but we’re always having a great time playing this immensely innovative game. Francois tells us about what he’s learned in his remarkably short time making games, answers all our burning questions about the game, and tell us some EXCLUSIVE NEWS!

All our dungeons are getting looted (or is it lootied?) on this episode as we welcome Jake Sawyer and Saam Pahlavan of Taco Illuminati, makers of the adorable and fun Looty Dungeon. The fellas tell us about how they got into making a mobile game, what they learned releasing their first title on the platform, and much, much more including, yes, some very interesting poop data ;-p

In yet another episode in between guests, we have so many games to talk about. So we spend almost the entire episode doing just that! From a hilarious and charming game by a former guest that you might not know exists, to the new GO game from Square Enix, to a new mobile Zelda-esque game that gave us some trouble with the controls, but that we still sort of loved, we run the gamut. Jessica also has some adventures with an archery game that might be a bit problematic, Anna makes a foray into social engineering (in a game only, we promise!) and much more!

We’re kicking off a new century of Unconsoleable with guests who make games that are definitely not our enemies. Quite the opposite in fact. If you know anything, you know that Spryfox means quality, polish, unique mechanics, and a boatload of charm.   Andrew Fray and Pat Kemp are two Spryfoxes and they’re here this week to talk with us about evil (some might say) puzzle games, non-evil free to play, how their development process works, and much more!

IT’S OUR 100TH EPISODE, AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Now that that’s out of the way, what can you expect on this super, hugely exciting milestone episode? We reminisce about the journey we’ve been on, answer some listener questions, and divulge some behind-the-scenes secrets! But there’s TONS MORE and we don’t want to spoil any of the surprises in store. So just sit back and strap in for a wild ride you won’t soon forget!

We haven’t had an Aussie on the show for far too long, so we fix that in this episode by welcoming the awesome and talented Jenn Sandercock. Jenn loves innovative gameplay mechanics, games that give you hugs, and yes, cookies. If she ever acquires a Notch house, we have secured an invite to the cookie room :-D We found out all about how Jenn came to be in games and what keeps her here, what she would change about the industry if she could, and of course what mobile games she likes (we may have some recommendations for her :-)) All this and so much more, so listen up!