Category: Game-of-the-Month

Every month, one of our staff will pick a game*. Then we’ll invite everyone who wants to be in The Club to download and play that game on Steam. We’ll all spend the month playing the chosen game, learning it’s ins-and-outs, and having a shared experience of play. At the end of each month, we’ll gather some of our best thoughts, experiences, and maybe even critiques of the game and post them here to this website. We’ll also invite everyone who played along with us to join the conversation and send in their impressions of the game of the month.

A Study in Games Podcast – Spiritfarer – S9, E5

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Spiritfarer by Thunder Lotus Games

Hello, spirit-faring friends, and welcome to this episode of the podcast. This season, we’ve played games with a death theme, and this month, we played Spiritfarer from Thunder Lotus Games. In Spiritfarer, you play as Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, taking the recently living to their final destination. Build a boat to explore the world, then befriend and care for spirits before finally releasing them into the afterlife. This game has fishing, farming, mining, crafting, cooking along with a great story about life, friends, and what comes after.

Give us a listen here or on your favorite podcast service. And, as always, if you played along with us this month, chime in in the comments below or on the Little Rock Games Facebook page. You can also join us on Discord to chat about the podcast, our games, and other news for the community.

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons – S9, E4

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons wordmark

Hello, Brothers and Sisters! Welcome to another episode of A Study in Games podcast. This season, we continue on our theme of games about death. And for this episode, Robbie chose Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, developed by Starbreeze Studios AB and published by 505 Games.

Give us a listen as we dig into this clever story puzzler. And, as always, if you played along with us this month, chime in in the comments below or on the Little Rock Games Facebook page. You can also join us on Discord to chat about the podcast, our games, and other news for the community.

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – Paradise Killer – S9, E3

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Paradise Killer title graphic
Paradise Killer by Kaizen Game Works, Fellow Traveller, & Leoful

Hello podcast world, and welcome to another episode of A Study in Games! For season nine, we’re playing games about DEATH, and this month Olivia picked that fantastic, open-world, investigation game, Paradise Killer from Kaizen Game Works, Fellow Traveller, and Leoful.

In addition to being the first time we’ve been back in the same studio space for this recording, we also had the wonderful fortune of being joined on this episode by our dear friend Loren. Go check out her brilliant work over at pixelloren.itch.io. We’re so glad to be back face-to-face after two years (!!!) and to have Loren there with us to hear her thoughts on this wonderfully weird game experience.

We had so much to say about this game that we even ran out of time before we could get it all in. Give us a listen and let us know what you think. And, as always, if you played along with us this month, chime in in the comments below or on the Little Rock Games Facebook page. You can also join us on Discord to chat about the podcast, our games, and other news for the community. BONUS: You might even meet the REAL LIFE Loren hanging out there!

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – What Comes After – S9, E2

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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What Comes After from Pikselnesia & Rolling Glory Jam

Hello friends, and welcome to another episode of A Study in Games podcast. This season, we’re tackling the subject of DEATH in games … no, no, not the scary, sad, creepy, kill-everything-on-the-screen kind of death. More the fish scene in the Meaning of Life kind of death. Like … what’s it all about?

This month, we played What Comes After from Pikselnesia & Rolling Glory Jam. It’s a neat little visual novel in a side-scrolling wrapper. You follow Vivi as she makes her way through a subway train filled with spirits on their way to the afterlife. Listen in as we talk about ways to tell stories, how to respectfully talk about death and existence, and creating powerful emotional moments in games.

And as always, if you played along with us this month, let us know what you thought in the comments below or on the Little Rock Games Facebook page. You can also join us on Discord to chat about the podcast, our games, and other news for the community.

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – Death and Taxes – S9, E1

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Death and Taxes title screen. A blue skull on an open book with a red background.
Death and Taxes from Placeholder Gameworks

Hello grim friends, and welcome to Season NINE of our little podcast! This season, we’re talking about DEATH … or, more specifically, games about death. For this episode, we played Death and Taxes, developed and published by Placeholder Gameworks.

Join us in the podcast as we talk about the “snappy hipster tone,” making dark themes fun, and how much text is too much? Give us a listen, and as always, let us know what you think of these games in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – Outer Wilds & Subsurface Circular – S8, E5

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Outer Wilds and Subsurface Circular

Happy New Year friends and welcome to another episode of A Study in Games Podcast. We wrapped up our season of “short games” this month with Outer Wilds from Anapurna Interactive and Subsurface Circular from Bithell Games. Join us as we talk about short games as a way to focus narrative, timeloops in games, the finer points of “rogue-like” VS “rogue-lite,” and lots more.

Don’t let the short, casual nature of these games fool you: they both gave us a lot to talk about. Give us a listen, and as always, let us know what you think of these games in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – The First Tree & A Short Hike – S8, E4

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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A Short Hike and The First Tree titles graphic
A Short Hike and The First Tree

Hello friends! Welcome to Season 8, Episode 3 of A Study in Games podcast. This season, we’re playing SHORT games, and we’re playing not one but TWO games per episode to make it worth your time. We thought it would be neat to compare two games that take less than two hours to play through. In this episode, Robbie took us on journeys through the wilderness in The First Tree and A Short Hike.

Don’t let the short, casual nature of these games fool you: they both gave us a lot to talk about. Give us a listen, and as always, let us know what you think of these games in the comments below or on our Facebook page! And be sure to listen to VERY end for an extra surprise. 😀

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – The Longest Road on Earth & Tooth and Tail – S8, E3

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Tooth and Tail and The Longest Road on Earth

Hello friends! Welcome to Season 8, Episode 3 of A Study in Games podcast. This season, we’re playing SHORT games, and we’re playing not one but TWO games per episode to make it worth your time. We thought it would be neat to compare two games that take less than two hours to play through. In this episode, Olivia picked two games with gritty-cute anthropomorphic animal characters Tooth and Tail and The Longest Road on Earth.

Don’t let the short, casual nature of these games fool you: they both gave us a lot to talk about. Give us a listen, and as always, let us know what you think of these games in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – Model City & Aery: Calm Mind – S8, E2

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Model City & Aery: Calm Mind

Hello friends! Welcome to Season 8, Episode 2 of A Study in Games podcast. This season, we’re playing SHORT games, and we’re playing not one but TWO games per episode to make it worth your time. We thought it would be neat to compare two games that take less than two hours to play through. In this episode, Brad picked the light and easy city builder, Model City, and the relaxing casual flyer, Aery: Calm Mind.

Don’t let the short, casual nature of these games fool you: they both gave us a lot to talk about. Give us a listen, and as always, let us know what you think of these games in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Study in Games Podcast – Dorfromantik & Slipways – S8, E1

Posted on Posted by Brad Sims Categories A Study in Games, Game-of-the-Month, Podcasts

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Slipways and Dorf Romantik title graphics
Slipways and Dorfromantik

Hello SHORTIES, and welcome to this month’s episode of A Study in Games Podcast! This season, we’re playing SHORT games, and we’re playing not one but TWO games per episode to make it worth your time. We thought it would be neat to compare two games that take less than two hours to play through. For our first pair, Joe picked Dorfromantik (by
Toukana Interactive) and Slipways (by Beetlewing).

Don’t let the short, casual nature of these games fool you: they both gave us a lot to talk about. Give us a listen, and as always, let us know what you think of these games in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

Music credits: Plain Loafer, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/