Policenauts – Cane and Rinse No.625

This week, Ryan, Leah and Tony take a road trip to the town of Haven Springs, Colorado for a look at 2021's Life Is Strange: True Colors. From foosball matches to mineshaft crashes, the crew digs into the emotional depths of this supernatural adventure.

Sam Barlow's interactive cinematic puzzle IMMORTALITY gets dissected in this issue of the Cane and Rinse podcast. Leon, Ryan, Tom and community contributors scrub through the celluloid of three unreleased movies to trace Marissa Marcel's fate and the mysteries beneath.

The descendant of Erdrick has arrived. Brian, Chris Worthington, Jon and Leah examine the first entry in the legendary Dragon Quest series. Join them as they discuss the history and impact of the JRPG that birthed an entire genre.

Leon chats with Andrew Elmore about his video deep dive into Namco's long-running Museum series of retro re-releases, from mid-90s PlayStation origins through the generations to more recent standalone plug 'n' play devices and beyond. From Gee Bee to Tank Force via every Pac-Man and Galaxian inbetween, it's a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Vanillaware's mission to make a game in each genre continues with tactical RPG Unicorn Overlord. Leon, Chris O'Regan, Leah and Michiel (whose pick this was for the podcast), embroil themselves in the quest to liberate another Europesque land from the tyranny of a possessed expansionist despot. As usual - along with input from the listeners - we get into the audio-visual presentation, the nitty gritty of interface and the myriad strategic options afforded by this systems-rich epic fantasy.

It's rare for us to review a 10 year-old game that's still in active development, but here we are. Much has already been said about the majestic comeback story that is No Man's Sky - and we do touch upon that here - but we mainly wanted to discuss what we did and didn't enjoy about playing the game in its 2026 form. Leon, James, Rich and Patreon posters do just that, telling tales of adventure in this practically infinite possibility space.

As the industry (and us) gets older, the anniversaries get larger. Konami's famous Frogger celebrates its 45th birthday, so we celebrate with the hydrophobic hopper. Leon, Brian, Jesse and Sean - along with some arcade memories from the community - discuss the apocryphal legend of this simple single-screen action game, try to understand why it endures, and even the mating habits of amphibians - in this especially silly podcast.

They see me rollin'. Ryan, Leah, and more Chrises than you may expect venture back to the PSP oddity LocoRoco and the pastel paradises it inspired. The crew discusses the music, soft-body physics, and tilt controls as the LocoRoco series is taken for a spin.

Though Ron Gilbert had moved on, LucasArts' Grossman, Schaefer and co were in full point and click flow by 1993. In this podcast we return to the Maniac Mansion for beloved follow-up, Day of the Tentacle. Leon, Brian, Jesse, Ryan and Patreon posters get lost in lavatorial time-loops, untangling the puzzles that worked for them and those that didn't, as well as appraising the Looney Tunes-inspired art, humour and audio.

When Developing Alien: Fireteam Elite, Coldiron Studios were tasked with rehabilitating Aliens after the poorly received Aliens: Colonial Marines in 2013. Could a studio known for MMOs replicate the success of 2014’s Alien Isolation by creating a Destiny inspired horde shooter? Join host Rich and panel Brian, Jon and Leah as they work through the scattered reception of Alien and Aliens games, and decide whether Aliens: Fireteam Elite effectively captures the intensity of James Cameron’s 1986 movie.