208: Phoenix Springs

We police and do drugs Disco Elysium - The Final Cut. Developer: ZA/UM | Publisher: ZA/UM | Initial Release: October 15th, 2019 PLAYERS: Jacob McCourt (Bluesky) Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) Katie Lesperance (Bluesky) Alex Martin SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 1:40 - Housekeeping 2:25 - Fast Pitch 4:10 - How Do You Play It 2026 - Buyer Beware! 9:20 - Explaining Disco Elysium 18:55 - Voices 22:00 - What Kind of Cop Are You? 23:15 - The Telltale Binary 28:00 - Accidental Racism 30:35 - Good Cop/Bad Cop 33:30 - Auto-Save 37:00 - The Tie & Other Clothing 45:10 - ZA/UM Mentioned 49:45 - Map & Clock 55:20 - The Hanged Man 1:00:20 - Drugs and Alcohol BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We are trapped on an oil drilling platform in Still Wakes the Deep. Developer: The Chinese Room | Publisher: Secret Mode | Initial Release: June 18, 2024 PLAYERS: Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) SPECIAL GUEST: Dan (Bluesky) from The Greatest Story Ever Played SHOW NOTES: 00:00 – Intro 01:16 – Intro to Dan from Greatest Story Ever Played 02:59 – Game intro and Fast Pitch 06:17 – How did we play and where we first heard about it 09:12 – Story set up 11:39 – Gameplay set up and discussion 18:24 – Nailing the setting and immersion 24:32 – Voice acting 29:20 – Story mode option 34:58 – Spoiler Warning! 38:00 – Describing the supernatural horrors 46:32 – Getting lost in the environment (in a good way!) 51:11 – Story spoilers 1:02:34 – Story ending discussion 1:07:14 – Closing thoughts 1:15:51 – Plugs and outro RESOURCES: Greatest Story Ever Played – SOMA Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soma-cutscenes-a-video-game-movie-podcast/id1359441046?i=1000537558467 Greatest Story Ever Played – Everybody's Gone To The Rapture Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everybodys-gone-to-the-rapture-cutscenes-a-video/id1359441046?i=1000527190919 BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We find our way home in Love Eternal. Developer: brlka | Publisher: Ysbryd Games, PLAYISM | Initial Release: February 19, 2026 PLAYERS: Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) Katie Lesperance (Bluesky) Alex Martin SPECIAL GUEST: Kate Hunter (Bluesky) from No Small Games SHOW NOTES: 00:00 – Intro 01:09 – Intro to Kate from No Small Games 02:53 – Gauntlet Run with Kate 09:20 – Love Eternal intro and Fast Pitch 11:50 – Story/Gameplay setup and how we played 15:43 – How long it took us to finish (Katie is iconic!) 18:25 – Kate’s relationship to the game and teaching persistence 22:21 – Who's played Celeste and Pax 2025’s demo 24:50 – How challenging did we find it 29:19 – Sound design and art direction (shoutout to the artist for the game @paellagenius.bsky.social) 33:48 – Spoilers from here on out! 37:38 – Alex guides us through the story 45:00 – A Vtuber?! 52:45 – Final thoughts 1:00:27 – Follow Kate and her work on No Small Games 1:02:17 - Outro BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We eat mushrooms and have cringe conversations in Hermit and Pig. Developer: Heavy Lunch Studio LLC | Publisher: Heavy Lunch Studio LLC | Initial Release: February 5, 2026 PLAYERS: Jacob McCourt (Bluesky) SPECIAL GUEST: Joseph Hooper (Bluesky) from Crossplay Conversations, Player Player Podcast and Can't Pause SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 2:20 - Fast Pitch 3:45 - Setup for Hermit and Pig 7:15 - Hermit and Pokémon 9:30 - Battle System & Progression 17:00 - Trinkets 19:15 - The Story 22:00 - More Battles and Trinkets! 27:50 - Hermit and Pig... GOTY Lists? 29:25 - Outro BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We witness a weird murder in a time loop in Impostor Factory. Developer: Freebird Games | Publisher: Freebird Games | Initial Release: September 30, 2021 PLAYERS: Jacob McCourt (Bluesky) SPECIAL GUEST: Dan (Bluesky) from The Greatest Story Ever Played SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 0:45 - Welcome Back, Dan! 2:45 - Fast Pitch 3:30 - A Series Primer & How We Played 6:00 - Setup 10:15 - Story at a High-Level 15:10 - It's a Love Story! 17:50 - An Impossible Choice 21:30 - Spoiler Warning 21:50 - Simulations 24:05 - Neil Watts 28:10 - Epilogue & What's Next 35:35 - Music & Final Thoughts 38:00 - Outro RESOURCES: TGSEP - Impostor Factory TGSEP - Dispatch TGSEP - Into the Breach 089 - Firewatch with Dan 191 - Finding Paradise with Dan BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We take a trip (in more ways than one!) to Phoenix Springs Developer: Calligram Studio | Publisher: Calligram Studio | Initial Release: October 7, 2024 PLAYERS: Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) Katie Lesperance (Bluesky) SHOW NOTES: 0:00 – Intro 02:20 – Fast Pitch 03:03 – Where we discovered Phoenix Springs 04:18 – Origin of Katie’s love of point and click adventure games 05:55 – Our playtime/Travis’ experience with point and click adventure games 10:02 – Story and gameplay setup 17:01 – Red herrings 18:04 – Difficulty 19:43 – Spoiler Wall / Continued discussion of some of the hardest puzzles 24:01 – Things are just weird 27:00 – Lynchian storytelling is not for Katie 34:09 – Visual style 39:38 – Story deep dive 48:36 – But what does it mean? 52:12 – Kudos to Calligram Studio 57:32 – Outro BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We go back in time in Quantum Break! Developer: Remedy Entertainment | Publisher: Microsoft Studios | Initial Release: 5 April 2016 PLAYERS: Jacob McCourt (Bluesky) Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) Alex Martin SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 1:10 - Housekeeping 1:45 - Fast Pitch 3:10 - How Do You Play It 2026 - Buyer Beware! 11:40 - How Quantum Break Came To Be 14:00 - Exposure to Remedy's Games 19:10 - Setting Up The Game 28:00 - Television Show? 31:20 - Emails and Narrative Design 34:30 - Gameplay Breakdown 43:10 - Spoiler Wall Warning 43:40 - Junction Points 44:30 - Hardline vs. PR 55:30 - Sofia Amaral vs Martin Hatch 57:00 - Control vs Surrender 1:07:15 - Schrodinger's Beth Wilder 1:10:00 - Bruce Livingstone 1:12:25 - Beth Wilder's Journal 1:19:45 - Remedyverse Implications 1:26:00 - Fighting Paul 1:30:45 - The CW Vibes 1:33:50 - Reviews 1:35:15 - Final Thoughts BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We took our annual trip down Boston for PAX East 2026. PLAYERS: Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) Katie Lesperance (Bluesky) Flora Merigold (Bluesky) Alex Martin SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 1:50 - Alex’s First PAX and Where To Find Jacob 04:00 - Grave Seasons 10:10 - Crystalmancers and Interview with Jack Perkins (Creative Lead) - 19:00 - Canvas City 24:00 - Replaced 30:20 - Inkblood 36:00 - Memoria Wake 41:00 - Ghost Eater 49:15 - Well Dweller 54:30 - Honorable Mentions Escape From Duckhov Kiln Alpine Trainer The Secret of Crystal Mountain Super Blowfish Castle Avatar The Last Airbender Heartlinks: A Puzzle Called Love Desolus Gnaw Unholy Roller Fading Echo The Lone Sword 1:08:45 - PAX 2026 Final Thoughts 1:16:30 - Outro BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We learn new languages in Chants of Sennaar. Developer: Rundisc | Publisher: Focus Entertainment | Initial Release:  September 5, 2023 PLAYERS: Jacob McCourt (Bluesky) Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) Alex Martin SPECIAL GUEST: Jessica Fantauzzo SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 1:50 - Fast Pitch 3:20 - How Did We Play? 5:20 - Describing Chants of Sennaar 7:25 - Levels and Languages 16:20 - The Second Level 19:25 - The Book 25:10 - The Gardens 30:20 - Monster 32:45 - Spoiler Wall 33:00 - Exile 37:30 - The Key to Exile 44:40 - Rosetta Stone 47:45 - Feelin' Smart 51:30 - Playtime 53:30 - Overall Impressions 1:01:50 - More Games Like This 1:05:10 - Outro BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!

We go back to the well and play The Old Hunters with a new friend in Bloodborne. Developer: FromSoftware | Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment | Initial Release: March 24, 2015 PLAYERS: Travis Colenutt (Bluesky) Katie Lesperance (Bluesky) Alex Martin SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 2:30 - Gauntlet Run With Alex 11:00 - Bloodborne Again and Fast Pitch 14:20 - Our Experience With FromSoft 20:00 - Bloodborne Is A Toxic Boyfriend Who Won't Tutorialize 29:00 - Combat 40:00 - Iconic Bloodborne Alley 44:00 - Yharnam and RE4 Parallels 50:00 - Lore Layout and How Much Did We Get 1:00:00 - Insight and The World 1:10:00 - Blood Vials VS Estus Flasks 1:16:00 - Boss Review: Ludwig Broke Travis 1:28:00 - Katie Love/Hates Cos 1:38:00 - Boss Design 1:41:00 - Bloodborne Teaches Travis The Appeal of Sports 1:49:00 - Alex Gets Everyone Murdered 1:54:00 - Final Impressions 1:57:00 - One Last Chalice Dungeon Rant 2:03:00 - Outro BLUESKY: leftbehindgameclub.bsky.social DISCORD: The Left Behind Game Club is a monthly game club podcast that focuses on positivity and community. To talk to members of the community, join our Discord server!