Joe makes it back for his third recording just in time to talk about the impending MLB season, the enduring success of MLB The Show, devs reusing assets and animations in games. We also talk about the magic of Dune and its sequel, some upcoming indie projects, and Joe forces Caleb to talk about getting published with Lost in Cult.

Episode three of the "On Playing With" miniseries is focused on playing video games with kids, and for Caleb it is specifically about playing games with his oldest kid, Charlee. The two of them have played games before, but in the last few months Charlee took ownership of her first game, taking the time to learn how to play it and beat it herself, and it caught dad off guard a bit. Come listen as he describes what it is like to watch your kid become passionate about something you hold a great deal of passion for yourself.

This episode is focused, as the title suggests, on the ever-evolving social structure of playing games with my group of friends, how that group changes (for good and bad), how the games constantly change, and how balance is a dish best served carefully. There are good times and bad times bundled up in this experience. And it's an experience I wouldn't trade, though I do sometimes wish I could switch it off for a few days.

It has been a minute! Lots of life changes and a move and a new baby on the way and all sorts of stuff just kept rolling in. But I’m back! And hopefully without a ton more interruption! Join me this week as I connect and reset the clock with Zara Varin, a wonderful human I met with my grandmother in 2019 at Halo: Outpost Discovery. We haven’t spoken to each other in real time since that weekend years ago, so we take some time to reacquaint before we dive into a handful of really great topics.

Happy Tuesday folks! Gareth and Caleb talk about all sorts of things. From street food vendors working out of the back of their scooters, to living above the remains of civil war embattlements and plague mass graves, to creating art that you hope connects with people on a personal level. There is so much in here to enjoy, so come hang out.

Last week I got the chance to sit and talk with Tomas Sala, creator of the Falcon dogfighting game Falconeer. Tomas has been making games for more than two decades, in some fashion, and is now working on a follow up to Falconeer called Falconeer: Bulwark. Together we dive into what it is like becoming familiar with a universe you created.

It's been a long 10 years since Caleb started this website and started writing about videogames seriously. There have been victories and failures, lulls and peaks, but nevertheless, he persists. Back in college, when proposing a senior thesis, Caleb was batted down by a few professors who couldn't manage to see a way that videogames could be important.

Happy Friday folks! I had the absolute honor to sit and chat with Osama Dorias, Senior Game Designer at Warner Bros. Interactive on Gotham Knights, co-host of The Habibis podcast, and overall just delightful human being. Osama had mentioned on Twitter a few weeks ago that he wasn't sure how he was going to pick his favorite game of 2021, so I offered to have him on so we could work through it. And so we did!