Free Play Podcast

Playing games is a big part of the hobby.  Some would say that the other part of it is collecting games.  Looking at you, Backlog… but there is a side of the hobby that we may not think about nearly as often.  A side that makes playing these wonderful games possible. I’m talking about game creation. Whether it’s board games or video games, these things take time, creativity and passion to see the light of day.  There are ways that you, the average joe, can go from idea to table or console, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the free play podcast.

This past week, Stonemaier games’ retail release of Wingspan wasn’t met with the response they might have hoped. Only 5,000 English copies of the game went out to game stores worldwide with far more than that pre ordered by nerds who didn’t get their copy. Though part of the story, supply and demand isn’t the main character. Jamie Stagemaier’s response to the public outcry is a master’s class on public relations… and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play podcast.

You know what they say… “They just don’t make them like the used to.” For us… that thing is “games.”  They used to be harder, you know?  It used to take you WEEKS to beat a game. Now, you can get a game from RedBox and have it beat and back in the machine faster than you can say, “Cattails.  Woo ooo.” Why is that?  What’s changed in the gaming industry and sub culture?  Well, that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Games have all kinds of inherit value that they rarely get credit for. They can help us understand the best way to act in any number of situations… one of which would be when not to throw a flash bang… the answer is into a door frame… at your team mates. There is really no end to the things we have and could learn from both video and tabletop games and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the free play podcast.

Sometimes, our bros over at Nintendo know what they are doing when they drop things on us during their YouTube directs.  Other times they completely miss the mark by not giving us the Metroid and Animal Crossing we so rightfully deserve. Nintendo had one of those directs this past week with all of the ups and downs we’ve come to expect and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast

Matt is still in mourning over the loss of his Red Dead horse, Horepens and is also frustrated with the lack of common sense of his replacement mount, Dude. Despite the emotional vulnerability, Matt continues on along with Kate and Bubba to talk about the games they have played this week. Kate also leads the community discussion about what games can be considered "groundbreaking" and why.

As members of the nerd community we are sadly not strangers to the negative press that our favorite past tends to get. "You are wasting your life!", "You will become violent!" are just some of the criticisms we hear on a regular basis. However, what if we could help people understand that video and board games are not wastes of time, but can actually make you a better person to be around at work and a more productive employee? There is compelling research that lends validity to this and that is what Bubba, Matt, and Kate talk about on today's episode. 

Podcasts are funny, right?  You get a chance to listen in on a conversation you’re not a part of and for whatever reason… it’s not weird.  We want to make sure that you feel as not weird as possible by telling you a little bit about ourselves and letting you get to know us.The hyped Iron Man sim “Anthem” also had an interesting VIP Demo fall into players’ hands this week that wasn’t received nearly as well as Bioware would have hoped, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

We can't think of a better way to kick off a new convention year than at PAX South 2019! Bubba and Matt are on hand with Chief Content Nerd Drew Dixon to talk about the games they've played and the developers, attendees they've loved on, and look back on how far Love Thy Nerd has come in a short year!

2018 is almost over and that means so is the first year of Love Thy Nerd.  It’s been a crazy 10 or so months and we’ve seen some amazing things happen.  Our community has grown to over 1,300 people, we’ve done 2 recon trips and our website, podcasts and social media presence are all killing it online!  We were also able to use our new show model to continue to develop relationships with our friends, new and old, in the gaming industry. God is truly blessing what we are doing and we are glad that if even only by listening to this podcast, you are a part of how we are changing gaming culture. Love Thy Nerd: Year One was great, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the season one finale of the Free Play Podcast.

It’s finally allegedly happening!  We will definitely probably get the Nintendo 64 Classic just in time for Christmas 2018… if the leaks are true, which they are… because I read them on the internet.So, in order to prepare our hearts and minds for what has the potential to be the Turbo Man of this holiday season we are throwing out all of the games we would like to see on this throwback classic.  No game or franchise is off limits as we speculate wildly. Did we affirm or throw shade on your favorite game from your youth? More than Likely, both… and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

I scream you scream.  We all scream for games.  We scream with joy because of how great they are and also scream in empathetic agony for what it cost the creators in time, money, relationships, and sanity just for you and I to have a few hours of fun. What is it that drives our need to bash the very thing we find so much joy and rest in?  If we boycott is it honoring to those who sacrificed so much to create it? I believe it was the famous philosophers, the Wu-Tang Clan, who said it best by drawing our attention to the simple fact that Cash Rules Everything Around Me.  Turns out, even when we say we are on the other side of things, the numbers don’t lie, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Let’s face it:  There just isn’t enough time or money to do all of the things that we need or want to do.  A real-life example, happening right now, is that I’m trying to play through Spider-Man as I edit this podcast.  We can’t play all the games, watch all the movies and tv shows or read all of the comics. We have to do things like: work, eat sleep bathe, etc. So… how do we do as much as we possibly can to stay current in our favorite areas of nerdom while still acting as a responsible, well-functioning adult that contributes to society?  That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

You may be wondering if you’re too old to trick or treat. A good rule of thumb is: if you have to ask… you probably are.  But who needs trick or treating? Why not just head on over to the grocery store, grab a bag of candy and play some games at home?!  We’ve compiled a list of tabletop and video games to tie you over this Halloween, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the free play podcast.

If you’re old enough to remember the feelings of both frustration and relief when your Nintendo Entertainment System cart wouldn’t play but blowing on the contacts… letting it hang over the lip of the system and pressing down always seemed to do the trick, then you grew up in a great time. Now, we have digital downloads.  No more dragon breath required, but you do find yourself at the mercy of the game’s servers when you want to play. Which is better, physical carts or digital downloads?  Which has the stamina to go the distance and come out victorious in the game wars?  That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Hunting Easter eggs is equal parts rewarding and frustrating.  But the pay off always seems to be worth it. We are conditioned to look for things in peculiar places from a young age with books like Highlights and Where’s Waldo?  And who can forget, Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? To this day I have no answer to that question. Easter eggs in video games can be either a long journey or a complete accident.  We think that each has its own merit, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

In 2012, Telltale’s “The Walking Dead Season 1” received several game of the year awards as well and single-handedly brought back a genre of video game that lay dormant for almost 30 years. So, what went wrong?  How could a company, doing so many things right, end so abruptly?  That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Have you ever done an escape room? Various scenarios designed to stretch your mental capacity and force you to solve inane riddles and puzzles by thinking outside of the box… sometimes literally. Are they all they’re cracked up to be, or is the most challenging puzzle, “why are we still paying for these things?”  That what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Due to the graphic nature of this week’s content, listener discretion is advised. Sometimes gaming just isn’t fun.  People can make you feel like you’re not good enough, or it may just be that you don’t meet your own expectations.  Either way, feelings of anxiety and inadequacy can make you act in a way that is either uncharacteristic of your normal self or in a way that is not socially acceptable. Dealing with the emotions caused by the games we play is a very real problem, but we at Love Thy Nerd exist, in part, to offer hope, peace and a positive way to manage the pressure of life that we all feel, and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Logic would dictate that thousands of moving pictures spread out over upwards of 18 movies are easily more words than anyone will ever be able to follow or remember, and that's what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.