Beat of the Month: Video Game Podcast

Spooky season is over and we've got 1 episode until our Thanksgiving spectacular, so we're sneaking in an episode we actually recorded a couple months ago. We lead off with some discussion about Grand Theft Auto 6 and Ocarina of Time hype (some of which is outdated since OoT is out now, but oh well). After that, we get into what was initially planned for discussion a couple years ago when we did our video game magazine episode - vintage top 100 lists.Not to be confused with a current day platform list of top 100 games, we are looking at top 100 (or 200 or 300) lists that were published in magazines 10, 20, even 30 years ago. What games were important back then? What games are still important now? How have trends and tastes shifted? It's a very interesting time capsule to look into and we explore a bunch of these lists from Game Informer, Game Pro, Nintendo Power, and more! So grab your subscription renewal card, your reading glasses, and your headphones and join us - for this look at Vintage Top 100 Lists!

Spooky Season is almost over but we're sneaking in one final episode before it's turkey time - Psychological Horror games! We have a brief discussion about the difference between psychological horror games and other horror games before getting into the games we played. And we've got quite a bit to talk about with Fire Emblems Warriors, 007 First Light, and Switch Sports. Wait...what was the theme again? Oh yeah, we actually did talk about some psychological horror games. We get into some discussion about Alan Wake 2, Soma, and the newest Castlevania entry in over a decade. To top things off we have a long tale about a psychologically devastating trip to Little Caesar's. So while we're sad to see spooky season end already, we are glad to cap it off with one more episode. So grab your...umm, bandages? Crowbar? Not sure...well, grab your headphones for sure and join us - at this look at Psychological Horror games!

We are already half way into spooky season and we've got our first Halloween focused episode here with a special Horror Gaming Tournament! Typically reserved for our March Madness bracket episode, we were feeling extra spooky this year and have put together a full roster of 64 horror gaming things to go head to head. And by 'things' that means it's not just game vs. game - we've got characters, locations, items, songs - a whole bunch of horror related stuff!If you'd like to follow along head over to Instagram where you can view the bracket (beatofthemonth). And if you'd like to leave us a note about all the stuff we left off the list, send us a note at [email protected]. Otherwise if you're all ready to dive in, then grab your Chainsaw Controller, your medicinal green herbs, and your headphones - and join us for this Horror Gaming Tournament!

For this episode of Beat of the Month we've got a deep dive of the latest indie darling, Big Walk! While we usually play single player games for our deep dives, Big Walk required us to play together and test the limits of our friendship. And boy were those limits tested! We played with two separate groups (which has its own backstory...) so we discuss our different experiences with the game, which were quite varied. We then get into discussions about the characters, the world, the items, and of course - the puzzles! There are a lot of puzzles and everyone had their favorites to mention. If you haven't gone on your big walk yet I recommend taking a break once we get into puzzle descriptions as we do get into spoilers for solutions. Otherwise, grab your walkie-talkie, whatever someone stuck on your backpack, and your headphones, and join us on this deep dive of Big Walk!

As we state at the start of most episodes, Beat of the Month got its name because we choose a theme for each month and play games on that theme. We also do deep dives on specific games where we all play the same game and talk about it in detail. For these deep dives, we each get to pick whatever game we want and everyone else is forced to play them. That's how we end up with some...let's say interesting games such as Rumble Roses. However for our monthly themes we all vote on them. That would have one expect higher quality choices as a result. Well, most of the time.For this episode of Beat of the Month we have Sleepy Games. It's September, so an idea of 'Wake me up when September ends' was all I could think of for a September theme. With a whopping two votes, this ended up being our choice for September. So what even is a sleepy game? Could be a game focusing on a main character who sleeps, could be a game that has a day/night cycle, could be a game that's boring and literally puts you to sleep. Riveting stuff.However, defying all odds we still put together a solid episode! We discuss Super Mario Bros 2, Citizen Sleeper, Hotel Dusk, and Melbro rounds out his year of playing a game for each of the crew members with Catherine. And appropriately we also fit in some Grand Theft Auto 6 discussion as well which is sure to have people zoning out soon. We've also got some dreamy trivia to round things out.So go ahead and grab your sleeping cap, your sleeping pills, your sleeping mask, and whatever sleeping accessories you can find (along with your headphones of course) and join us, for this episode all about Sleepy Games!

For this episode of Beat of the Month we take a look at the rest of the year and what games are coming out that deserve the hype game treatment! Of course, it's all bullshit because Brian wasn't on the episode. These fools talk about GTA 6 like it's a gift sent from heaven and yet as they discuss, none of them have even played any of the games since GTA 3, and they didn't even play that game much. Then they somehow leave out the biggest game of the year, Ocarina of Time Remake, and don't even mention it. Unbelievable. They do happen to get some things right with discussion about Silent Hill Townfall that they give about 30 seconds to and then the new Castlevania game which should be pretty good. Wolverine getting a bit too much hype train treatment but as you all know hype train gonna do what it does best. No one reads this bullshit anyway so I can say whatever I want here. Spiral thinks he's hot shit in Fantasy Draft with Onimusha and some other bullshit getting good scores, but Ocarina of Time and Order of the Sinking Star (another game they omitted from talking about) are going to turn things around really quick.Anyway, grab your headphones and join this damn shit show for the next hour and some odd minutes. Ding dang, Like and Subscribe

For this episode we focus not on the heroes, but on the others that help them along the way - their companions. And not just any companions, animal companions. And not just animal companions, dog companions. And not games where you play as a dog, but where you play as something else and have a dog sidekick. Wait, what exactly is the theme again? Anyway, we sort that all out during the episode.In our gaming dog discussion we take a look at some old school games like Secret of Evermore and Mortal Kombat 2, newer games like Final Fantasy XVI and Star Fox - and more! We also reminisce about our favorite four legged friends we had in real life and round things out with some dog related trivia. So if you're feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, grab your water dish and your headphones and join us - for this look at companion games!

Way back for episode 33 we did a game of 20 questions as a group. Tonight we decided to get a little wild and let Muff pick all the games for us to guess! We run through 5 rounds of 20 questions with Muff as we try to predict what his mind would choose. Little spoiler: it wasn't easy!Before we even get into the main event though we had quite a bit of other topics to cover. We start with an update on our video game fantasy draft which will likely be our last update until the end of the year. We then discuss the death of physical media in gaming and the game to end all games spearheading it all - Grand Theft Auto 6. Then at the end we cap things off with some discussion on the Super Nintendo World theme park. For what was meant to be a fluff episode - it's packed with content! So grab your headphones and your orthopedic back pillow and join us, for this episode of 20 questions with Muff - and more!

Coming hot off the heels of our Dispatch episode, we've got another super hero based episode, this time focused on a specific character - Batman! We talk a bit about our experience with the caped crusader and then get into the games. And there have been a ton of Batman games released over the years! For this episode we played:The old: Batman on NESThe new: Lego Batman on PS5And a couple in between: The Adventures of Batman & Robin on Genesis and Batman Arkham VR on PS4After that we've got some Batman gaming trivia as well to round things out. If you're craving more super hero content, we did a deep dive of Spiderman and Miles Morales all the way back on episode 17 as well as a general super hero episode on 113. So grab your batarang and your... bataphones...? Anyway just join us for this episode on Batman Games!

This episode we add on to our growing deep dive series with a game that grew on those that played it - Dispatch! Coming out in late 2025, this game gathered quite a bit of attention with high review scores from a new developer, so we had to check it out. Did we like it as much as the reviewers? You'll have to listen to find out! Nah just kidding, safe to share that we all liked it quite a bit. BUT - you'll still want to listen since we cover everything Dispatch had to offer from the gameplay strategies, the characters, and the multiple paths/plotlines (Spoilers ahead!). Some of us played multiple times and some of us played just once, so we were getting a dose of new information as well despite all having played to the end. If you've played the game we hope you enjoy our discussion, and if you haven't then be warned it is a plot heavy game and we spoil it all. We start with lighter spoilers so if the game sounds good to you then maybe check it out and come back once you've given it a playthrough. But if you're ready to blast ahead then grab your mech suit, your leotard, and your headphones and join us - for this deep dive into the game Dispatch!