The Besties

What a peculiar May. Typically, I think of spring as a dumping ground, the soft, warm land where publishers unceremoniously bury games that failed to meet internal creative expectations or sales projections. The past few years have changed that, partly because publishers have learned to tie a AAA game's release to the incoming hype of E3, and partly because many games are released each year that every month is all but guaranteed to have one stand out. There were a lot of games this month that deserve to be on a best of list. And we do our darndest to talk about most of them. Let's continue the conversation in the comments, because I'm sure we missed something. 5:00 - Watch Dogs 41:00 - Transistor 56:00 - News of the month 1:18:00 - Wolfenstein 1:32:00 - Mario Kart 8 1:39:00 - The Resties! Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

What a peculiar May. Typically, I think of spring as a dumping ground, the soft, warm land where publishers unceremoniously bury games that failed to meet internal creative expectations or sales projections. The past few years have changed that, partly because publishers have learned to tie a AAA game's release to the incoming hype of E3, and partly because many games are released each year that every month is all but guaranteed to have one stand out. There were a lot of games this month that deserve to be on a best of list. And we do our darndest to talk about most of them. Let's continue the conversation in the comments, because I'm sure we missed something. 5:00 - Watch Dogs 41:00 - Transistor 56:00 - News of the month 1:18:00 - Wolfenstein 1:32:00 - Mario Kart 8 1:39:00 - The Resties! Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

The ides of March were nothing compared to this! Yes, April is upon us and it seems many game companies are just holding their collective breath in order to make it all the way to May, which happens to be so packed with video games that we can't even deal. April is another story. Knowing that it was going to be a dry month, we held off on Dark Souls 2 until its far-superior PC version came out. Kinda cheating, but hey, who's counting? And besides, there are still a few legitimately April releases to discuss. Some of which we sorta liked! 4:30 - Dark Souls 2 53:00 - Wayward Souls 1:00:30 - News of the month 1:21:00 - Half-time! 1:25:00 - Elder Scrolls Online 1:40:00 - Broforce 1:51:30 - The Resties! Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

The ides of March were nothing compared to this! Yes, April is upon us and it seems many game companies are just holding their collective breath in order to make it all the way to May, which happens to be so packed with video games that we can't even deal. April is another story. Knowing that it was going to be a dry month, we held off on Dark Souls 2 until its far-superior PC version came out. Kinda cheating, but hey, who's counting? And besides, there are still a few legitimately April releases to discuss. Some of which we sorta liked! 4:30 - Dark Souls 2 53:00 - Wayward Souls 1:00:30 - News of the month 1:21:00 - Half-time! 1:25:00 - Elder Scrolls Online 1:40:00 - Broforce 1:51:30 - The Resties! Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

I hope you enjoyed March. The month full of big game releases may be the last of its kind for the foreseeable future. Looking at the calendar, we won't see four weeks so full of hyped AAA and indie games until fall. That's why we chose to withhold Dark Souls 2 from this month's Besties. We can discuss its release on PC next month. April, after all, looks slim by comparison. Anyway, let's live in the now! This month we have four good games, a bag full of reader favorites and some big news involving a certain Lawnmower Man knockoff. 8:30 - Titanfall 25:00 - Mercenary Kings 37:00 - Halftime! 48:00 - Infamous: Second Son 1:14:00 - News of the month 1:24:00 - Luftrausers 1:34:40 - Reader emails Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

I hope you enjoyed March. The month full of big game releases may be the last of its kind for the foreseeable future. Looking at the calendar, we won't see four weeks so full of hyped AAA and indie games until fall. That's why we chose to withhold Dark Souls 2 from this month's Besties. We can discuss its release on PC next month. April, after all, looks slim by comparison. Anyway, let's live in the now! This month we have four good games, a bag full of reader favorites and some big news involving a certain Lawnmower Man knockoff. 8:30 - Titanfall 25:00 - Mercenary Kings 37:00 - Halftime! 48:00 - Infamous: Second Son 1:14:00 - News of the month 1:24:00 - Luftrausers 1:34:40 - Reader emails Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

February came and went. The shortest month of the year was practically a wasteland in terms of major game releases. The standout AAA game, Thief, left many of us feeling robbed. And Fable's anniversary wasn't quite worth celebrating. Then again, maybe we were just looking for fun in all the wrong places. Bravely Default, The Last of Us' DLC and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze all got lavished with praise by our reviews team. And hey, I'm always happy to shout my love for Earth Defense Force 2025. You know, maybe it wasn't a bad slate of games, so much as it was a strange one. Just look at the four we chose to discuss: a remake in the mode of Metroidvania, an anthropomorphic number puzzler, an asburdist espionage comedy and a third-person shooter spin-off of a family-friendly real-time strategy game. 5:30 - Thief 14:30 - Jazzpunk 26:00 - Threes! 36:15 - Halftime! 56:00 - Strider 1:08:00 - News of the month 1:25:45 - Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 1:41:30 - Reader emails Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

February came and went. The shortest month of the year was practically a wasteland in terms of major game releases. The standout AAA game, Thief, left many of us feeling robbed. And Fable's anniversary wasn't quite worth celebrating. Then again, maybe we were just looking for fun in all the wrong places. Bravely Default, The Last of Us' DLC and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze all got lavished with praise by our reviews team. And hey, I'm always happy to shout my love for Earth Defense Force 2025. You know, maybe it wasn't a bad slate of games, so much as it was a strange one. Just look at the four we chose to discuss: a remake in the mode of Metroidvania, an anthropomorphic number puzzler, an asburdist espionage comedy and a third-person shooter spin-off of a family-friendly real-time strategy game. 5:30 - Thief 14:30 - Jazzpunk 26:00 - Threes! 36:15 - Halftime! 56:00 - Strider 1:08:00 - News of the month 1:25:45 - Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 1:41:30 - Reader emails Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

The Besties are back! At the end of 2013, the fate of the show was unclear. We were unsure what the podcast would look like in 2014. But after hearing positive feedback from many of our listeners, we buckled down and came up with a new format. We really like it; we hope you do, too. This year, we will record one extended episode at the end of each month, discussing the best games of the previous 30 or so days. With the new format, we can ensure all four hosts have had time to play the selected games. We think that change alone will produce better conversations. If all goes well, the show will feel more like our end-of-the-year specials. Also, we'll be reading listener mail. So send your thoughts, feelings, questions and deepest, darkest secrets to besties at polygon dot com! We also want to know your favorite games of February and why they're so special. Thanks again to everyone who asked for more Besties. You are why we do the show. 9:20 - Rust 29:00 - Hearthstone 49:00 - Halftime! 55:00 - Loadout 1:05:00 - News of the month 1:23:00 - The Banner Saga Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

The Besties are back! At the end of 2013, the fate of the show was unclear. We were unsure what the podcast would look like in 2014. But after hearing positive feedback from many of our listeners, we buckled down and came up with a new format. We really like it; we hope you do, too. This year, we will record one extended episode at the end of each month, discussing the best games of the previous 30 or so days. With the new format, we can ensure all four hosts have had time to play the selected games. We think that change alone will produce better conversations. If all goes well, the show will feel more like our end-of-the-year specials. Also, we'll be reading listener mail. So send your thoughts, feelings, questions and deepest, darkest secrets to besties at polygon dot com! We also want to know your favorite games of February and why they're so special. Thanks again to everyone who asked for more Besties. You are why we do the show. 9:20 - Rust 29:00 - Hearthstone 49:00 - Halftime! 55:00 - Loadout 1:05:00 - News of the month 1:23:00 - The Banner Saga Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

In the words of 2 Unlimited, "Y'all ready for this?" The Besties return to finish the fight. Eight games emerged from last week's battle royal, but only one has the grit to claim the title of Besty. Will it be Gone Home? Or Towerfall? Or maybe Zelda? What about The Last of Us, people seemed to like that game, right? The tension is killing me and I already know who takes the title! Stay tuned. We'll notify the winner of the bracket contest shortly! Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

In the words of 2 Unlimited, "Y'all ready for this?" The Besties return to finish the fight. Eight games emerged from last week's battle royal, but only one has the grit to claim the title of Besty. Will it be Gone Home? Or Towerfall? Or maybe Zelda? What about The Last of Us, people seemed to like that game, right? The tension is killing me and I already know who takes the title! Stay tuned. We'll notify the winner of the bracket contest shortly! Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

The time has come! Just like last year, The Besties have come together to celebrate the holidays and decide, once and for all, which game will be crowned the very best of 2013. We narrowed it down to 16 games (four of which came direct from the audience) and pit them against one another in ultimate combat. Who will win? Who will lose? Only one way to find out! (By the way, Part 2 will go live next Monday, December 30. Soon after that, we'll notify the winner of the bracket contest.) Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3" Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

The time has come! Just like last year, The Besties have come together to celebrate the holidays and decide, once and for all, which game will be crowned the very best of 2013. We narrowed it down to 16 games (four of which came direct from the audience) and pit them against one another in ultimate combat. Who will win? Who will lose? Only one way to find out! (By the way, Part 2 will go live next Monday, December 30. Soon after that, we'll notify the winner of the bracket contest.) Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes

In the words of 2 Unlimited, "Y'all ready for this?" [Oh, hello. If this is your first time on Polygon, Besties is a weekly podcast in which four friends discuss the best games of the week. This is our year-end special. It is not, however, the official Polygon year-end awards, which are voted on by the entire staff. The 2013 awards will be posted on Polygon soon, so stay tuned. And thanks for visiting. We hope to see you again!] The Besties return to finish the fight. Eight games emerged from last week's battle royal, but only one has the grit to claim the title of Besty. Will it be Gone Home? Or Towerfall? Or maybe Zelda? What about The Last of Us, people seemed to like that game, right? The tension is killing me and I already know who takes the title! Stay tuned. We'll notify the winner of the bracket contest shortly! Theme song by Ian Dorsch Get the show: Download MP3 Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Subscribe on iTunes