Idle Thumbs

We all live in the shadow of something. We all have our daemons. When Chris set foot in the world of Alien: Isolation, all he could think about was the time he killed a billion Orcs who never forgot him. When Danielle played Alien: Isolation, all she could think of was how the love affair would inevitably end, no matter how nicely designed the posters on the wall looked. Jake downloaded Alien: Isolation, but spent the weekend playing Smash Bros on his 3DS.

Join us as we all embark on our own personal trips through the dusty dunes. After 15 years clean, Sean gets a taste of Counter-Strike and is feared lost, Chris embarks on a journey of the mind on Desert Golfing's back 1500 and comes out changed, Jake falls through a time hole into his past, and Danielle is trapped on a deserted island with Carl Sagan and Terry Gross after facing off against one of gaming history's most controversial figures. Nick Breckon hasn't been seen for weeks.

Humans of your own choosing have meticulously picked the contents of this episode from over three thousand podcast segments. Following the curation process, they will be algorithmically suited to your tastes by a robot. When the system does its job, you're happy. You get exactly what you want. You get the good ones.

We sit in a dark room, split into factions by our actions or perhaps fate, conspiring to destroy each other for reasons unknown. We steal food from each other's mouths. We eye our friends' chosen partners jealously, vying to make them our own. Yes, we have been playing board games, so get ready for that. We're joined by special guest Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency for a trip through the board and video games of this year's XOXO festival in Portland. Photo by David Gallagher

You wonder what your destiny may be but stop; that's not important now. With focus you will master this. With precise, uninterrupted attention you will ascend higher than you ever have before. You will see the two thousandth course. You will diffuse the bomb. And you will master the lore of the blade. But then things shift - the color changes, difficulty recedes - and you're left wondering what would have happened if you hadn't knocked over that blue vase.

We went to PAX and recorded an episode live in front of a bunch of wonderful people who could all hear us, though we could not hear one another. That didn't stop us from trying to communicate, and we think the results speak for themselves. This episode was rated 3 out of 5 hosts by all in attendance; we hope it finds an audience in you.

I heard that social justice war has changed / But I'd always heard social justice war never changes / In the end it doesn't matter anyway / Because this is the dawning of a brand new day / Where it doesn't matter what you've heard / Cause I'm the social justice wizard. Elevator music credit: Adam Monroe

Pleased to present this podcast to placate the people that prefer Thumbs... Pleased. Thanks. Past the part that permeates the pod (the Playable Teaser) presenters take polite turns pontificating, talking, pushing their played titles. Parse this peculiar transmission, permitting the playful talkers' preposterous tiresome palaver.

In life, and in the games we played this week, time continues to advance whether you want it to or not. Move forward, look back, or stand still, the inexorable march to the end continues unabated. So when you click on that dead body in the trunk, for God's sake seize the opportunity and do something interesting.

A weekend of non-stop sci-fi movies accidentally begets an episode filled with the first person corridors of today and yesterday, and the gross things they're made of. Plus: Chris encounters the Necrodancer and Jake plays PC games from his couch for the first time.

Things have really gone to hell. It's all a big cacophonous mess. Sean and Danielle gave up the podcasting for a life of dealing drugs aboard a cruise ship to a man who worships John Madden. Jake just plays the same old games every night, a worthless old man. Chris... well who can even tell anymore? Yeah I know. Very, very off blade.

A podcast teaches, But never ceases To deliver speeches, Sweet as peaches, And soft as cheeses. A podcast reaches, While on the beaches Or on the creases, When eating pizzas, With your nieces, Like pyschokinesis, In bits and pieces, A podcast thesis For your earses. *Fart sound*

After a weekend of unparalleled successes and unmitigated failures, we talk through the difference between conceiving of something, and making it actually happen. There's also a long look at what it means when the knowledge and advances of modern technology are applied to game design philosophies from twenty years ago. But you're probably here for the farting skeleton.

Look, I'm not sayin' Tawmmy shouldn'ta been sent up for doing what he done to all them cahps, but they got stunnas, what else is he gonna do? Also I heard from Stacy—ya know Stacy. Whose fathah died? Ya know, that old guy that choked on that grinda up in P'tuckit. Ya know. Her sistah went to RISD and thinks she's some sahta rawalty. Anyway, Stacy sayin her brothah did thah same but he just got regulah time in the cybah-mines. That's some gahbage.

The question posed: Was Nick really in love with his Wii U, or was it all a bizarrely detailed dream? To find the answer, we ventured deep into Nick's mind, probing the darkest wells of his psyche, the inkiest depths of his soul. The journey cost lives, ended friendships, conjured up some very unfortunate images of Sonic the Hedgehog, and ultimately revealed nothing.