193: Slay the Spire

Sam.

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Backlog Breakdown. I'm one of your hosts, Nate, and this is a video game podcast where we seek to encourage and equip the church to engage the medium wisely and well. With me today is my friend and brother in Christ, Joshua. Hi, Josh.

Hey, Nate. How you doing?

I'm good, man. I mixed it up, like, that's okay, you know, And I. I went, remix, remix, remix.

Take the back and put it in the front. Hey, it's remixed. Yeah.

Flip it around. Remix. Yeah, that was. That was a bad bit. We should feel.

I like it.

Yeah, no, we. We should feel bad. That was pretty. Pretty trash. Pretty. Pretty trash. But.

Well, it's only up from here.

Is it? Is it? Listen, I. I feel like. And maybe I'm just, like, a bit of a negative Nancy, right? I had a friend who actually called me that. Her. Her nickname for me was just Nancy because I was a negative Nancy.

Oh, that's why. Okay.

Yeah. Not because I was a Nancy. Boy, you think you're so funny. Shut up. Wow. Wow, wow.

But I'm here to talk. That's what a podcast is for.

Oh, boy. Well, technically, you are correct. You are correct. I don't know, though, man. I do feel like we need to. Before we sort of move on with some of the forms, we do need to address. There's address. I just. Address, Address. A, D, D, R, E, S, S. Yes, right. We. That kind of, like, if it's used in. As a noun, that's where you live. If it's used as a verb, it means to speak to. And so addressing an issue.

Gotcha.

I want you to know that millions of people every year suffer from identity theft, and this is a serious thing. Josh. Like, you know, stop it right now. And I'm just saying, like, the fact that you were a party to somebody trying to steal my identity, I'm disappointed.

I did it for the lulz, you know?

You did it for the lulz?

You know, that primarily came from me, you know?

Yeah, you. You just. You were the one that was doing all the laughing. Everybody else was like, I think rightfully so. Everybody else was a little afraid. They were like, what if. What happens when Nate actually sees this or hears this? I'm here to tell you nothing good. Fake Nate, you will be dealt with swiftly, you know, or maybe not so swiftly, you'll never know. Like, just one day, you'll be, you know, sort of minding your business, and maybe it'll be tomorrow, Maybe it'll be five minutes from now, maybe it'll be 10 years, but I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you. Gonna be dealt with.

Okay?

There's gonna be some. Some bearing of my fists, some beating down of fools, and.

Oh, wow.

And afterwards, I'm gonna watch some Battlestar Galactica. You like that? Bears beats in Battlestar Galactic.

I like that. I do like that. Yeah, that was. That was. I didn't know what you were doing there, but that was really good.

Yeah, I like that. No, that was terrible. That was garbage. There's like. I actually. At one point in time, I thought about just like, kind of going into it super cold and actually getting the transcript of that episode where Jim impersonates Dwight and doing, like, the monologue that Rain.

Yeah.

Did about identity theft. But I was like, no, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not that committed to the bit.

But I mean. Yeah, no, I liked it. It was good. It's. It is a real issue that some people face.

Yeah. Not me, because my imposter will be dealt with imminently. Or not. So anyways. But, you know, interesting last episode. Bit of a mixed crowd. I was really bummed to. To sort of sit down on it, like. Or have to sit that one out. But, like, it's like, I told you, I was like. And what's. What's really funny is that I slept very poorly that night. I was, like, exhausted. And I think there's part of me that knew that I should have been on that episode myself. There was a part of me that was like, what? What have you done? You. You're. You're letting the. You're letting the clowns sort of run the circus, Nate.

And everything I've built will be torn down in one single episode.

These idiots will burn my personal Rome to the ground. But unfortunately, well, fortunately, that was not the case. But I was bummed to sort of miss out on Akasta's first episode. Yeah, that was kind of like a bummer. Especially since, like, you know, like. Yeah, I was really impressed by what he brought to the table. The rest of the assembly, not so much. You know, whatever. The Canadian, the Australian, the imposter. Like, they can go kick rocks like worthless trash. No stars. No, that's not true. But it was fun to sort of hear a new voice sort of, you know, jump on the cast. And I was kind of bummed that I missed out on that one, but, you know, and obviously I was bummed to. To not see. To not be able to hang out with our buddy for the. The wonder from down under and. And stuff.

And.

And the. The reasonable Canadian again, like, imposter Nate, you're just gonna get nothing but shade this entire episode. Like, even though I love you, I would say that I'm not mad. I'm just. Just disappointed. But I am mad and I am disappointed. And, you know, all I'm gonna say is if there's boxes from. From PA that aren't, you know, there's not a return address, just like, postmarked from. From. From Pennsylvania. I would not open those if I were you. Or do. Actually, I. I love if you open those boxes, you know, was it. Is it smallpox or is it baby powder? Is it poop or an animal corpse? Or is it something nice to make you feel really bad for. For slighting me the way that you did? I don't know. I don't know. You don't know? Maybe it's going to be really nice. Maybe it's going to be awful. Yeah. I don't know.

You've really thought this through. Man, oh, man.

Oh, I've spent nothing. I've. I have given very little thought to anything else since I heard the episode. It's like, how. How can I make Nate pay?

How can I eat this?

How can I. How can I. Snake Nate. That's not because he's any. Not because he's cool, like snake, but because he's a snake. He tried to steal my identity. No. Okay, that bit's gone on entirely too long. Yeah, it was like. It was. It was mildly funny. But I. I did have to give him some notes because, like, he actually sort of enjoyed your awful sense of humor. And I tell him, I said, dude, like, I said, that was the dead giveaway. I said, you.

You.

I said. I said. I said that's. That's. I said that. You just absolutely dropped it right there. I said, anybody who might have even been slightly like one, if they were even moderately fooled by that, their. I question their intelligence, their general aptitude. I said, because, one, I sound like a man, and you sound like a whimpering little child. But the other side of that.

Yikes.

The other side of that is that I don't laugh at Josh's bad jokes. I just kind of throw up inside my mouth when he says them, and I just make faces at him. So.

Yeah, yeah, that's true. That's true.

He. I. I just look at him, like, just. Just the worst. Anyway, anyways, no, that was. It was. I was, you know, a little disturbed, you know, that, that someone you Know, tried to, but no, it was funny. It was funny. And I was just like, I. I knew something like that was going to happen too. Like, I knew. It's like, oh, Nate's not here. And so now he's going to be like, I'm. I'm. I'm the real Nate. I'm the. I'm the. The only Nate. The. The prime Nate. And I'm like, oh, sir. Oh, sir. But, yeah, no, there was. I did not listen to the back half of the episode because I have not played metal gear solid 3 yet. I kind of want to, and I don't want that.

Okay, for me, that's fair.

But everything I did listen to prior to that was, was. Was fun. You know, some good, good rapport. You know, nobody said anything that I would chastise them for, so that's good. Aside from, you know, trying to steal my identity.

Gotcha.

But yeah, yeah, good job, boys. Good job. But, yeah, but you know, Josh, it. Well, it's been. It's been an undisclosed amount of time since you and I last spoke because. That's right, I was super lame. Last. Last step. Yeah, actually, I was just super tired because I've been working a ton lately, which is not. It's kind of a good problem to have. Like, it also, you know, it does. It does take its toll. But I would like to know how it's been since we last spoke.

Yeah, yeah, it's been good. It's. It's been a few weeks where it's hard for me to identify exactly what we've been into. It's just. It's just kind of been life. So I don't know how else to say it. I didn't give too much thought into this segment except to say that, hey, we're doing good weather. Schooling down because of course we have to talk about the weather. Right. So that's been nice. But no, we're doing well. Yesterday I helped. Helped a friend move. And if you've ever helped a friend move before, you're like, oh, yeah, should.

You know, I love my friends, but like, helping people move, I. I hate it.

You get a few guys together, you know, after church, it'll only take a couple hours. Right, right, right. And yeah, so it was one of those. But I mean, I was. I was happy to help. The. The only downside was that the. This friend has a few. Few pets, a couple dogs and a cat. And unfortunately, I'm allergic to cats. And when you move, I don't know if you know this. You're you're picking up stuff that has not been picked up in years, you know.

So all that repressed cat dander, just get it all up in your system.

Exactly. So fighting allergies pretty much. Well, no, up until I went to bed last night. So thankfully it was all gone by this morning pretty much. So I'm good. And it's just, you know, it's just. It's just one of the things. It just happens like, what. What are you going to do? So anyways, that's what I've been up to. But we're doing well. Is good. I'm glad. We're. We're approaching the fall, hitting more of a little bit of a heading towards normalcy of routines and stuff like that, but we're doing well. How are you doing, Dude?

We're doing pretty good. I mean, like I said, I've been working a lot lately, just like, picking up overtime pretty much most of the days that I'm working. And it's like, it's kind of a good problem to have. It's like. And what I will say is I actually enjoy kind of working the overtime.

Okay.

Weird. Because now it's like, now that I know it's kind of like my choice to work it, you know? You know, and the other thing is, like, the. The route that I'm on now is. It's a. It's a pretty nice route and it's like, sweet. So it's like, I'm like, I actually don't mind being here a little later most days.

Okay.

I'm probably going to. Into next quarter. I'm probably. Because, like, right now, the overtime list I'm on, it means, like, I can take, like, if they offer me to work my day off, like, I can work it. Like. And I do have, like, you know, it's like, so. But going into, like, November or October. November, December. I'm going to just say, like, I can take extra work on the days I come in, but I can't work my days off, which, because we keep Byron home from daycare. And I like to. I like to, if it's possible, you know, have that time with him. So.

For sure, yeah.

But, yeah, we're doing pretty good. Asher the puppy.

That's right.

He's. He is like, he's. He's earned a new nickname. And it's a little, like, spicy, but it's the ash hole. Ah. It's like I said, it's. It's like mildly spicy. Spicy. He's great. He's really smart. But he's in that puppy thing where it's like everything is in his mouth all the time.

Yeah.

Sometimes that's like your hand or whatever, and it's like. Or something that, like, you really don't want him to chew. Like, like somebody's shoes or.

Yep.

One of Byron's toys or, you know, and it's just like, oh, my gosh, dog. And it's like. And the worst part is, like, we tend to be. We tend to sort of, like, pamper our pets a little bit. Not sure. Terribly. It's like we get them, like, good food and good snacks, and we get them, like, toys. And so he's got, like, all this stuff to chew, and he's like, let me chew on your ankle instead. And I'm like, yep, dog. Like, I'm going to kill you. He's also just like, he's really smart, and it's like one of those things in, like, in, like, probably like, two years, he's going to be, like, the biggest, best dog ever. But up until that point, it's going to be a lot of like. Like, this stage of puppy is just going to be like, puppies are fine, and he's already housebroken.

So it's like, he's very smart, sweet, like, nice.

He does occasionally mark in the house.

Okay.

But not terribly so. Like, you know, it's. It's more of like he's. He's pretty much housebroken.

Yeah. That's awesome.

So, yeah. But, yeah, it's just like. It's. It's pretty cool. Like, we're just kind of, like, chilling. I'm gonna say, like, originally, what I. I wanted to talk about is, like. Because I'm gonna save it for our. The XP share, so. But, yeah, because, like, I had, like, a little bit of a highlight, but I kind of want. I want to save that and want to explore that for a minute. But, yeah, so I like that. But, yeah, so, yeah, that's. We're. We're doing. We're doing pretty good. Just kind of, like, just kind of vibing. You know, it's. It's. Megan's back in school, Byron's back in daycare.

Right.

We're kind of just like, cruising along today. Today was Memorial Day, so did some, like, Memorial Day stuff. You know, it's like.

Yeah, it's actually Labor Day.

Labor Day. Well, it is late.

Yes, that's true.

Yeah, it's Labor Day. But, yeah, we didn't do. We didn't do, like, much cooking out, but, like, you know, we yeah, yeah, we just kind of chilled. Enjoyed the day, took the day off from labor, but yeah.

Sweet. Nice. Dude. Well, you mentioned sharing some experiences. Yeah. So let's get into it.

You know, I'm starting to think we're never going to change this jingle. Maybe not.

You know, maybe it'll just stay here indefinitely.

Has that been your plan from the get go?

No, it honestly has not. I am just that lazy that I have not gotten around to creating something else. Maybe it really was just supposed to be like a one off joke with Wes of this very Pokemon themed version of it. But it's.

You know what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna jump on Suno and I'm going to get some, some like slop and I'm gonna get. Yeah, I'm gonna get some like punk sca and I'm gonna send it to you and be like, okay, like we need to just switch it up for a little bit. You know, there was that. That at one point in time we, we had like joked around with like how insane it would be to just like write a new AI Slop song for like different guests and like different episodes and stuff. But yeah, so yeah, I like it.

That's a good experience that you're sharing with us right now.

No, that's, that's. But we didn't actually do that thing. So that's, that's not really an experience. It's more of like a sort of a. And theoretical of an idea.

Yeah, yeah, I like it.

But so what, what do you bring to the table tonight as far as experiences that you would like to share with the audience?

So I don't, I don't have that.

You're listening.

Yeah. Right.

Interrupted you on purpose because I'm a jerk.

Well, the, the first thing is it's actually, it's based on a book. It was, it was, it was a documentary. So I need to, I need to actually go back and listen or excuse me, listen slash read the book. But it's called Notes from the Tilt a whirl by N.D. wilson. And it's basically it just talks about how this, the world that we live on, how magnificent it is, the way that God has created it and how we so often take it for granted. And you know, something is as simple as like a bird comes from an egg, like hatches inside of an egg that's created in its mother's body and turns into this winged beast that can fly through the air instinctually. Like all those things sound like it comes from a Fairy tale, if you're not already. If you don't. If you don't take it for granted, basically, if you. If you don't already know that those things exist. Like, that sounds like something that someone would make up. And so it reminded me a lot of. Of there's. There's a chapter in. In the book we covered earlier this year in the Haunted Cosmos that talked about these similar. But he does it in a way. He intersperses some poetry throughout the book, just a couple times. That was really beautiful, I thought. It's beautiful in its very mundane. It takes very mundane things and shows the beauty within them that I thought was really cool. So I was really struck by at least the video version of it. So I'm sure the book is even better, which I do plan on getting around to. Um, but at least the documentary was really good, so that one comes highly recommended. The only other experiences that I'm trying to think of that I. I want to share are not necessarily ones that I would. Would wholeheartedly recommend, but it's just some things that I've been getting into. On the last couple episodes, I talked about how I've been listening to some older prog rock stuff like Genesis. And so I've been looking. I've been delving a little deeper into that and checking out. And I've. I've heard a few albums by the band, yes. But they have an extensive catalog. Been listening to some of that. Been listening to this other band that is. I'm not sure. Part I'm split because part of me loves what they do. And then part of me is like, okay, you guys have taken this too far. And it's almost no longer music. And that is a band called Gentle Giant. And they were only around for like 10 years, I think in the 70s and 80s. But they are a crazy prog rock band that is on the one hand, insanely talented and on the other hand maybe too talented for their own good because sometimes I just get lost in everything, but when it hits, it hits. So they're really good. Anyways, so I've been into that. The other thing that I've been into, and it's hard to. I'll try. I'll try to encapsulate this and try and do it quickly. But as I'm thinking about the things that I want my children to be learning over the next year since we homeschool, I've. I've been considering classic works of literature and what I can introduce to my soon to be 10 year old over the course of the next year. And so it's had me think, I mean, honestly, I've been kind of kicking this around for the past few months, but especially here over the past couple of weeks is what, what in specific, you know, specific classic literature I want him to be reading or at least be familiar with. And then so then there's other. The deeper question of what is education? How do I want to educate my, my child, you know, and what I want him to learn? And you know, what. What about the Western tradition do I want him to know? And things like that. So anyways, that. That's kind of come to a head at least so far with, with this idea of classic literature that I would like for him to be reading. So that's been kind of my headspace. And part of that's like, oh yeah, I should probably read some more. But it certainly has me questioning, like, okay, what. What are some things that I can at least introduce and when we can start reading over the next year, we've been reading some, some Greek myths. Dolores Book of Greek Myths. We've been reading that together at different times. And he's enjoyed that, so at least kind of gotten his feet wet a little bit. But there's, there's a lot, there's a lot to read. So that's where my head's been at. Those are the experiences I wanted to share. What experiences do you have?

Well, I, I'm just, I'm not trying to derail too much, but like, what I am kind of curious about. Like, what, what do you have in mind? Like, is there anything in. In mind that you have for Ollie that like, you're kind of like, thinking, I. I don't know that I would have any, like, really constructive feedback. I'm just kind of curious as to like, what you would, what you're kind of looking at.

Yeah, one. That. One that pops up a lot for, for kind of his age or at least kind of entering in is, is Charlotte's Web. And he's familiar with that overall story. But that's one we, we also have Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That one, we started that one. And it's actually, it's quite a bit easier than I kind of expected. So I'm sure he'll kind of blaze through that pretty easily. Things like that. I've, you know, I've also been looking into stuff like, you know, Shakespeare plays that I need to be more familiar with before I can start to teach it to him. You know, even, even teaching him about, you Know Roman. Roman government and things like that with Julius Caesar. You know something. Because I do plan on at introducing him to Latin, hopefully this year is the idea. That's the plan. So there's some cultural stuff to teach him with that as well, but not sure that we're ready to kind of jump in with both feet with all of that.

Do you think? And this is just like, something that it's like. Did you ever read where the Red Fern Grows?

Yes, I did. Yeah.

I know Ollie's pretty sensitive, but, like.

Sure.

I remember loving that book as a boy. Like, it broke my heart.

Yeah.

But I actually love that book as a boy now. I would. I think I was a little bit younger than Ollie when I read that.

Okay. Okay.

But I still have, like. That's, like, one of those books that just sticks with me. Yeah.

Oh, for sure.

White Fang by Jack London, I think is like. Okay, that's kind of. That's kind of a really cool book, I think, for that might be, like. That one's a little, like, harsh in the sense. I don't think that. I don't remember there being anything. Language or anything, but it's like. It was pretty. Like, it's a pretty kind of, like, brutal tale in some ways. But it's like. It's kind of like. I remember loving that book, too, as a kid. I'm just trying to think, like, those are like. I know that sometimes, like, those are part of, like, the American classic L. Right. Canon.

Yeah.

And those ones, like, Treasure Island.

Right.

Is pretty good. I remember really liking that as a kid. I'm just trying to. I'm trying to think about, like, what I. I read. I was a prodigious reader when I was young. And it's like, you're like, I should probably read more. I'm like, I think that all the time. I'm like, I should probably read way more than I actually do.

Yeah.

But. Yeah, that's. That's cool, though, man. That's. That's, like, a fun question. That's actually, like, something that I just think about, like, even. Just, like, with Byron, and he's like. He's sort of at an age, like, where it's like, he's not quite ready. But I think probably here in the next year or so, like, I'm gonna really start, like, cultivating, like, the things that I want him to see.

Yeah.

And experience and like, even, like, the stuff that he plays, if he plays anything, like, you know, so. Yeah. But. Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. That's, that's fun. I. I'd be, you know, interested to just sort of hear, like, what you come up with. Like. And, dude, like, I'm way into, like, exposing kids to, like, my love of mythology.

Yeah.

Because I do love mythology. Like, and it's like. And I'm not even gonna get, like, weird tinfoil hat on it, like, where it's like. But it's like. Because I have. I have positions on the myths that I think might put me outside of some people.

Okay, okay.

They were real and they were Nephilim.

Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, There you go. There you go.

It's not that. That biggest surprise to anybody who's been painted. Paying attention for any.

Sure.

Any amount of time. But. Or maybe. Or maybe fallen angels.

Yeah, right, right. In that same camp. Yes, same.

Yes, same thing. In, you know, in that regard, they.

Were closer to King Arthur than, Than, I don't know, Narnia or whatever. Yeah, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But.

Which is another one that I want to, you know, dude. Of King Arthur somehow. But even I was listening to an overview of Ser Gawain and the Green Knight and I'm like, oh, yeah, I can't really. I don't want to go into this just yet. Some of the plot lines, even Lancelot.

There are probably age appropriate translations for some of that stuff. Yeah, yeah, that's. Yeah. The Arthurian legend, all that stuff. That's fun. That's fun stuff. But yeah, it's just interesting because I'm thinking about, like, okay, like. Yeah, I actually want to start because, like, right now we just kind of like we watch, like, Thomas.

Yeah.

And we watch the new one. So. Yeah, I know some. I know some of our audience is like, the new Thomas sucks. And I'm like, listen, my two year old likes it, so.

Right. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, it's kind of like. Yeah, it's. It's one of those things. Sure, sure. You'll have those people who are like, oh, he should only be listening to classical music and never staring at a screen ever. But I think in the real world it's like, it's harder because I tried to introduce my kids to the Hobbit. I tried. I read them, like the first chapter when they were pretty young and it was like pulling teeth. Like, they sat for like two pages and then just wanted to get up and play. And I was like, oh, but this story is so good and you don't want to listen. And it's just the age. There's. There's One part where like. Yeah, if you have it on in the back, you know, an audiobook on in the background, they could pick up on some stuff. Sure. But don't put it on yourself to like. Oh, they have to understand these things at super young ages.

Like, and when he's, when he's a little older, I definitely do want to start like reading books with him. Like the Chronicles of Narnia is right, like one of those ones. Yeah. But yeah, it's like he's two, he's gonna be three in November. It's like, dude, he's.

Yeah, you got plenty of time.

Yeah, we got time. Like, and it's like for now it's just like, just kind of keep him away from like the, the absolute tripe. Like Coco Melon. Yeah, but. But yeah. Well, I mean we've dodged it so far, so for the most part. But as far as non video game experiences, slash media. So I know like last episode where I was on, we talked about Sanders or when Paul was on, we ended up talking about Sanderson. And that might have been like a bro hang. It might have been. Might have been main episode energy, but it might have been a bro hang. But like, sure. And I, I kind of bagged on Brandon Sanderson. I. And I said like, basically like, he's good, but I just think he's kind of like, he's like in comparison to like the fantasy that like I cut like the, the high fantasy that I cut my teeth on. Like, he's like, he's like mid shelf at best.

Yeah.

And what I would do is like, I'm coming back and I'm self correcting. Not because I think like, like listen, I think his Mistborn books are pretty good. And I've read both the original trilogy and the second quadrology. I like that. I like that world. I like his the Way of Kings books too. I like, I think he's good. I just also like we were talking about it. It's like I was coming off of like Till we have Faces and I was coming off of like, like Infinite Jest. And I'm like, those are like literary masterpieces. And it's like. And then I'm kind of like bagging on Brandon Sanderson for being like basically a blue collar, like, like kind of workhorse author. And I'm like, that's not really fair. But. And it doesn't change the fact that I do feel like that the high fantasy stuff of his is not my favorite. I listened to a book. So a while ago, he had done, like, these secret projects, and they were, like, Kickstarter funded and everything else. But the first one was a book that he wrote specifically for his wife and ended up sharing with people. And it's called Tress of the Emerald Sea. Or. Hold on, I'm gonna. The Emerald Ocean. I believe I might just check my nose here. Tress of the Emerald Sea, a cosmere novel by Brandon Sanderson. And now. Now, granted, I listened to it, and it was sort of like one of those things where it was. There was some, like, voice acting. It wasn't dramatized, but it was. It was kind of like they had a full cast, and it was, like, narrated, and then the dialogue was read, and it was sort of like. So it was a. It was, like, dramatized, right? And it was really. It was said it had, like, background music. But in listening to that, I was like, oh, no. Like, this is actually really excellent. And so part of my theory, like, part of, like, the theory and I shared this with you, is that I think his high fantasy is kind of like, it's good. It's better. It's not just merely functional. It's good, right? But I feel like Tress is almost like a bit of a fairy tale, and that was excellent. Like, I really like that. Like, I thought, like, I was like, oh, I just like, to me, and it's like, I just don't like the style that he employs with this other stuff. There's something about that particular, like, mode of storytelling that I think he just really excels at. Like. Like, his voice in that. That book. Like, his authorial voice in that book, I thought was like. I was like, dude, this kills. Like, this is killer. I love this just because, like, you know, I thought the story was fun and. But it was like. It was just like, the way he wrote it. I was like, oh, this slaps my guy. Like. And I've listened to some other stuff from that. The. Because he. I think he did five Secret Project books. So I've ended up listening to all of them. And I liked all. It was four or five, and I liked all of them. But Tress, I was like, oh, this is. This is by far. In my opinion, it is far and above, like, his best work. And I think that's like. I'm just like, this is just what you need to write stuff like this all the time. Like, this is like, that's your voice, man. That's the voice that really resonates. But again, that's a personal preference kind of thing, you know? So it's like. But to me, that was like. So it comes very highly recommended. It's a little bit of a subversion of like the, you know, the, the like typical fairy tale, knight in shining armor kind of stuff. But it's fun. It's kind of, and he, he kind of does it. Like. I think Sanderson's world building is always like the most interesting thing. And he does a really good job of kind of blending some really interesting world building alongside a really fun story. So I like Trust of the Emerald Isle. I think it's, or the Emerald Ocean. I think it's Emerald Sea. Whatever it is, it's a sea. Emerald sea.

Okay.

But yeah, it's, it's good. I recommend it.

Nice.

I don't really recant my previous statement about Sanderson, I think. And like I said, it wasn't like, I was like, oh, he sucks. He's a hack. I was like, I think he's good. I just think he's overrated. And then I read Trust and I was like, oh, no, it's just like, this is, this is the voice that I prefer from him. I think this. Okay, I, you know, I, I, I think it's, I, in my opinion, I think it's his best work, but that's just me.

Cool. Nice.

You know, people are allowed to differ. They're allowed to be wrong. In addition to that. Yeah. And that's what I said. What I said in addition to that. I'm listening to a book called the Feeding by, yes, the Feeding by Anthony Ryan and Anthony Ryan. I can't remember what the title of the other stuff was, but he had done some like, grim, dark, kind of like brutalist fantasy that I had listened to a while back. And I like this stuff. And this is just like something that Otto will kind of like spit at me and said, hey, if you like this, you're probably going to like this. And so I was like, okay, let's, let's check that thing out. And it's like, it seems like it's going to be sort of like vampire, like, horror kind of like vampires came and like they attacked on people, fed on people, and it sort of changed the world into a, you know, post apocalyptic wasteland kind of thing. Okay, so we'll see. We'll see. But I, you know, I'm not, I'm enjoying it so far, but there is like a lot of language.

Okay. Okay.

Yeah. So, yeah, I don't hate, I like it. I, I kind of like his style. Like, but he's, he's, I mean, I like grim, dark, so, man, it's like, listen, you're like, there. There's a whole vibe that I just, like. I kind of, like, eat that up. So. Yeah, but the. The last, like, sort of experience I want to share is, like, tonight I talked about, like, the. The Labor Day stuff and how we just kind of chilled. We. We had a bunch of cardboard board in the. The. The basement. In our basement. And we had talked about. We. We usually just go. We have a fire ring in our backyard, and we usually burn cardboard and that. But it's like, we have a bunch of, like, firewood sort of. That we've just, like. We've. We've had a couple trees cut down, and it's like. We have wood from that. We have a fireplace, and sometimes we burn firewood in that. But we just have, like, we have a few stacks of firewood sort of laying around the property. And I just said to Megan, I said, hey, you know, like, let's. Let's just have a fire. And actually, we're. We're planning to just have them, I think, a little more frequently. Like, we already have plans with some friends for next weekend to have a fire.

Sweet.

So. But, yeah, we're just kind of like. We sat out. We. I made a fire. We burnt. Well, we burnt cardboard. And then I use that to sort of actually make like, a real fire with chunks of wood. And then we sort of. We toasted some marshmallows, did s' mores with the boy. And I would posit. And listen, you know, part of the fun, you can get, like, the marshmallow pokers or the hot dog sticks at the store, Right?

Sure.

But, like, when I was growing up, what you did is you just got a branch. Like, you went to the woods and you just got a branch, and, like, you cleaned off part. Like, you sharpened part of the end, and that's what you cooked your stuff with. And I had this stick that. It's. Frankly, it's a little drier than I'd like it to be.

Okay.

I pretty much have, like, a perfect marshmallow cooking stick. I mean, I have, like, a point on it that's, like this long, and it kind of. It's, like, really thin so that you could get, like, a marshmallow on there pretty good. I was just like. There's something deeply satisfying about like, getting, like, a good cooking stick.

Yeah.

Yeah. I was like. And. Yeah. And just, like, having a fire and just, like, kind of like, it's. It's that it's that time of year where it's like. We were talking a little bit about weather. It's gotten cold. Ish. And it's just been nice. You know, it's like. It's like I. This is. This is my favorite time of year where it's like, hey, flannels and shorts are like, you know, hoodie and shorts perfectly acceptable. Like, you know, casual wear.

Yeah. Nice.

So.

So, yeah, nice. Nice. I get it. That does sound very satisfying, for sure.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

But. But yeah, that's. I mean, that's pretty much it as far as, like, normal experiences. But what are you, like. What about some. You know, we are a video game podcast.

Oh, yeah.

Playing anything interesting lately?

Video games, those things. I've only been playing a little bit, mostly with my kids. Funny enough. So what we. Oh, I had mentioned it actually on the last episode. We had just started it, but we actually ended up finishing it the other day, which is Battletoads. Played through that on Game Pass. And this is the newer one. One came out a few years ago and. And we had a really fun time with it. It takes the ideas from the original NES game, both in its difficulty. Ha ha ha. And how the levels, like, it's not just a beat em up. It starts off. It's mainly a beat em up. And then the levels do different things.

Yeah.

Yeah. And I better and for worse go with Parker. That's right. That's right. I remember you mentioning it. And so. So we had a fun time with it. It's. It's dumb. I actually, I. I liked the humor for the most part. It was stupid humor, but I was. I was just a little nervous. There were definitely some parts where I was like, wish my kids hadn't heard that. You know, for. For just some of the crude humor and things. And frankly, I mean, okay, early on there's. There's a scene, it's straight up blasphemy where one of the. One of the Battletoads is like, I am God. I am God. But it's. It's. It's mocked like. And then he realizes everything that had just happened was all just like a. Was not real. Okay. So even though he felt like he was on top of the world, like, it is intentionally mocked in the story. It's just the fact that that came out of a character's mouth multiple times was just like, I don't like that. And especially because he's one of the protagonists. Right, Right. So it's played for laughs. It is a joke. And it's like in context, it. It is like. It is not. It is not as though that were true in any sense. So I get it. But yeah, there were just some things like that. Although I will say there was no. At least none that I remember. And, you know, I'm kind of on high alert because I got my kids around. There was no sexual humor, which I was very surprised just because it's kind of. It's crude and it's stupid humor, but there wasn't any sexual humor. So that was good. So, yeah, I had a fun time with it. It's nothing that's gonna like blow your socks off. But it was a fun time. And yeah, it was dumb. And my kids liked the humor too, and just how stupid the toads were. So.

Hey, dumbfounded is. It's still fun.

Yeah.

Like.

Yeah. Yeah. And they. Yeah. So. And it does get difficult at times. Thankfully, it is not like the original NES game and throws you back to the very beginning of the game after you lose three lives. Because the game would be impossible if that were the case. It starts you. You know, there are tons of checkpoints throughout the game and you play parts multiple times because it's so difficult. So. But it was a good time. I enjoyed it. Battletoads. I do get a flex point for that since it's on game pass. So that's two down for the year of my possible three flex points. So I'm taking a negative one for beating that and rolling credits. I have currently been playing by myself. Claire Obscure Expedition 33. Because it's on game pass. I've been taking advantage of that and playing through some of this game. I. I enjoy the game. I think my. My expectations were a little too high to start off with because. Although. Although it does a ton of things right. It does a ton of things really well. It's. It's very. Like even just the opening of the game is very gripping. There are a number of things that. Because I'll say. Because it's kind of. Kind of science fiction fantasy. There are so many terms that are thrown out at the beginning of the game.

Proper noun. Fatigue.

Yes. That I don't know what the game is talking about half the time. Or at least not half the time. That's an over exaggeration. I feel lost. That's what it is. Okay. I'm. I'm like five hours.

Because it's like, here's Chroma and this.

Yeah. And Pictos that give you Lumina. But you need Lumina points in order to do that and. But don't worry. If you have the picto equipped for four battles, then you can equip it without having it equipped. And yeah, like, it just. It goes. Oh, and here are, you know, magical stains that you get if you use these certain things. Oh, and this character changes stance. So there's just so much that it throws out at you. And I say. I was going to say it expects you to learn. Well, yes and no. You don't have to. It's not super difficult. I'm just saying I feel like I'm playing blind a little bit because I feel like some of the stuff is going over my head and I'm not trying to understand. I'm not. I don't need to understand it right now. So I'm just kind of forging ahead, if that makes sense. I feel like I'm not playing optimally, but that's okay.

And you probably. And like, honestly, I think for most of the first chapter you probably won't like. Maybe towards the end of the. Maybe towards the end of the first chapter, like, oh, like, like things will start to really click because like, like the, the Pictos and all the. Like the Lumina and the points and all that stuff. Like it's pretty. I imagine you're fairly early on still. It's like that's pretty restricted. Like, it's like you don't have access to some like the. Really. But it's all like. It's all build crafting stuff. It's so it's right. You can.

Right?

Yeah. Yeah. I. I do think, like, it's one of those things where like, I'm kind of like, I. I understand the fatigue there. Like I said the, the proper noun fatigue because it's like here like this is a picto and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like they could have just said like, hey, these are ability points. This is like the. These are skills. These are right. Like whatever. The. The. What I will tell you is that like, like the Chroma Picto, it's like it's all part of a theme. That's why those things are called. What they are.

Yeah.

Is it's like as you get further into the game, like, it's really like, oh, that's like as. As this sort of the story spools out a little bit like, like, oh, like these things aren't insignificant. It is like a little kind of like. Yeah, that's like.

Yeah, but so it goes for the battles. It also goes for the story. There's a Number of things, the gamage and, you know, all this. All this other stuff that it kind of. It. Interest introduces you to, but it also kind of expects you to. Okay, now that we've introduced it, now you know what it is and we're going to continue to refer to it. And then there's also a lot of things that it just doesn't catch you. Get you up to speed on, which I understand in terms of storytelling. It's. It's to. To. To hook you, you know, so that you'll continue on. So I don't know what's going. It kind of. What's going on. It kind of drops you in and gives you hints as to who people are and what they're doing and. And why they're doing what they're doing and things like that. And that combined with. Mechanically, it's not open world, but it is not extremely clear where you can and can't go in different areas. And so you will hit an invisible wall that. Oh, I didn't think that was an invisible wall. Okay. And so for someone who likes to explore the areas and find the hidden things, um, I've kind of had to abandon that and just be like, okay, no, I'm just gonna go. And if I don't. If I miss something, I miss something. Like, I'm just gonna go. Which is not how I typically play these types of games. And so it's. I'm just saying, like, these parts of it have me feeling like there's a lot of the game I'm missing. But. Okay, I'm gonna continue on with it. But we continue.

I don't think that you're missing as much as you think you are.

Okay, cool. Cool. That's good to know.

Like, part of like, what I will say is I do think some of, like, the level design stuff is a little confusing. And it is one of those things where, honestly, I'm not even asking for like, a mini map, which I know that some people are like, I need a mini map. But I think what. What would have been kind of cool is not to just like. Is to kind of, as you're exploring, like, to not give you a mini map per se, but, like, have it so that the. The mini map builds out as you're exploring.

Yeah.

That way you could kind of see like, hey, like, this is where I've been. So that it's not just that is. It is a little like that. That's one thing. Where it's like, yeah, that's. Yeah, that's a Little frustrating too. But yeah, I don't know. I'm. I'm curious to see where you end up landing on that game because like I said, I, I did sort of back off a little bit, but it's like still my favorite thing that I've played this year and it's, it's one of my favorite RPGs that I've played in a long time. Like, I think it's. You and I were sort of talking off, you know, when we were, you know, even before we recorded like the, the bro hang, we were sort of talking. I said I just really wish that they would have leaned into the interactivity of like the menu prompts and combat because I think like the, the parry system and the dodge system is really great. Yes, it's, it's awesome. It's. It's like one of my favorite things. I also just wish that like, hey, if you would have maybe leaned into maybe sort of like the, the Mario RPG or even sort of like a Shadow Hearts kind of thing where it's. If you would have made combat and special attacks a little more interactive and then given like buffs for performance of like a mini game thing. Like Shadow Hearts is like the ring thing. Mario RPG does like the, if you time the button press with the attack, you do like a little bit more damage, like 5, 10 more damage. It's like something like that I think would have been really like just really lean into like the interactive. Like yes, this is turn based combat, but it's also more than that as well. And I think like that's, that's an area where I do. I do wish that they had like pressed into that a little bit more. But yeah, I'm looking forward to. I'm. I really am looking forward to seeing where, where you end up landing with because I think it's, I think it's pretty. Something really special.

Yeah. Yeah. And, and I know I've sounded, I've sounded pretty negative and that's just. And it's because I had very high hopes going in. I've heard nothing but good things about the game and so these things just stick out a little bit more to me. But again, I'm in a mode where I'm like, I'm pressing forward. Like I'm not, it's not deterring me. It's just, I'm just, it's just a little jarring at this point point. The.

Yeah, because I think though that that's. I don't, I don't know if that's by Design.

Right.

But it is like. But it is just like. I do think, like, the more you play it, like, narratively and systemically, so mechanically. Mechanically and narratively. I do feel like the more you play it and the more you sort of lean into it, the more, like, all those pieces start to fill in. So I do think, like, some of that confusion up front. Sometimes I wonder if that wasn't by. By design to a certain.

Right.

You know what I'm saying? Where they're like, no, we're just gonna throw a bunch of stuff at you, and some of it's gonna stick a little bit easier. But it's like, it's. It's gonna be a lot. Because, like, maybe even sort of in a way, like, hey, like, these characters actually just sort of, like, you as the player are sort of experiencing, like, to a certain extent, some of what, like. Because there's just a ton of stuff being thrown at you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because. Yeah. Like, the Gamage and everything, like, they're like. Doesn't do a great job of explaining that. But then as you play again, sort of some of that stuff unfolds, and you're like, right. You're like, oh.

Oh. Like, yeah.

And.

And you get a very clear picture of. Of what happens because of the opening, the prologue of the game. So it's not that it doesn't explain it. It's that it doesn't explain it further. It explains what it is now, but why, you know, all this. All the. You know, you don't get any of that. So the only other thing that I wanted to say is. Is, again, because I'm. I'm kind of bringing up these negative things is one of the things where I said that the. You know, even traversal, it feels like there's invisible walls around you. The flip side of that is part of the reason it does that is because some of the areas you're going through are so imaginative that it's hard to see. So I actually love the enemy design so far. I love how otherworldly things feel, which is. Yeah, it just feels very. It feels like something that would be in, like, a Persona or even metaphor. I haven't even played the game, but something like that. Some of the crazy designs of, like, a Shin Megami Tensei, but not in 2D, you know, reimagined in this 3D, you know, more realistic style. So I really like it. It's just disorienting also at the same time. So, again, like you said, it might be. It might just be. Yeah. That's kind of how they want you to feel. Which I'm cool. Let's go. Because it does continue and keep playing and we'll do this. The last thing I'll say is, is that I'm also not impressed with the main character so far. Oh no.

Oh. There was like a. You kind of like skipped out a little bit, so you probably okay. But I was. I was just gonna like. It was. You froze there for a second and I thought like, oh, maybe he's done talking. And so anyways. But then I realized you were just like this again. Hey, Zencast. Not like we're giving you money or anything.

Super awesome.

Sick, bro. But the.

The last.

I was just gonna say it kind of. The one thought I was is like it does kind of like mirror again. This sort of like almost like the overload.

Yeah.

Like these characters, they're just kind of. They're just kind of thrown into this thing and you're just kind of thrown into this thing and it's like, it's right. Like. Yeah, I don't know. I like that. I kind of hope that was on purpose.

Yeah.

I don't know. But maybe. But maybe.

Yeah. And I get that you don't want to. Not every game. Can I just reference Persona. Not every game wants to have a four hour opening. You know, that's. That's mostly text. I get. I get it.

I really. I think that's one of the things I really liked about Expedition is that you do that sort of like that tutorial, like that entry level thing. There's like. And that's pretty quick. That's like maybe an hour, 45 minutes or whatever.

Yeah.

And then it just throws you into the game and you're like, what the. What's going on here?

Like, yeah, yeah. Here are the stakes. Yeah.

I kind of love the fact that they just kind of like they actually like just sort of. And not even just. But even gameplay wise they're like, here's the game. Like actually play it. Like, you know, it's like we kind of held your hand for a little bit. Now go do the things and yeah, I love that.

And run into a boss that is way too. Too strong for you to. To fight. But anyway, at least that's what I did almost immediately. So anyways, been playing that. I don't know how far I will continue with game pass at this point because I do still have. You know, we've got Spooktober coming up. We've got other games to play. So I. I doubt that I'm going to finish it. I don't know. I don't know when I'm going to finish it. We'll see. But it'll either be after game passes up, I'll get another month, or maybe I'll just go and buy the game outright at that point. Who knows? We'll see. But that's where I'm at so far. My current beat down score is at a negative 10 after that point that I got for Battletoads, so looking pretty healthy so far.

Cool. Cool. So as far as games that I've been playing, I did end up wrapping up Ratchet and Clank, PS4 sort of reboot from. I want to say, like, I want to say 2016, but that doesn't feel right. Maybe 2013, but it's.

Yeah, that was the one that came out with the movie, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's good. It's really, it's really pretty good. And it's, it's kind of like one of those things where it's very much like, sort of harkens back to that PS3 era. And it's, it's kind of that thing where it's like we've talked about 3D platformers and kind of like my disdain for them. And it's like it has 3D platforming elements, but there's lots of gadgets. There's like the, the gun. It's like kind of a third person shooter thing. And it's just like, it's fun. I had a lot of fun playing that game. There was like a couple sequences that I, I didn't really enjoy.

Okay.

I mostly, I hate, I hate a certain design inclination where it's like, hey, we're gonna have your character run towards you. Like it. The character is going to be running away from something that's approaching you from the background and then you're like, so the character is going to be. I don't like that as a design choice. I didn't like it in Crash Bandicoot back on the original PlayStation. I don't like it. It's. It's not my favorite. It's. I, I actually think that's really pretty bad. And even when it's well done, I find it to be barely tolerable.

Yeah. Yeah.

So I, I played that game. I liked it. Overall, I'd recommend it. I had a lot of fun with it. I don't think it's like anything like didn't blow my mind, but sure. As far as like, just like what I'M playing as a general right now. It's just really two games. It's Astral Chain, and that's a podcast pick. And then I'm playing Dragon Quest Builders. I went back to that, and that's. That's more of like. That's just like Nate. That's very cozy. And it's like, I. I got through the second act. I'm in Act 3 now. And there's four acts to that game. And from what I understand, the first two acts are pretty beefy, and then the second, the. The. The third and fourth tend to go along a little quicker. Gotcha. I just really love that. Like, I really like that game. Like, it's like, yeah, I really like that game. I think it's. It's kind of like one of those things where it's like, it's just cozy and charming and it's just fun and it's like, I want to beat it. And then I, like, I'm gonna just kind of keep my eyes open for sale on the second one. And yeah, I'm just like, yeah, I.

Don'T know about you, but I get the nostalgia too, for the redone tunes, for the music. That's all like, original Dragon Quest just kind of redone in a very cozy style. Yeah, yeah.

And it's like, it's just like. It's a fun gameplay loop. Like, I don't really like those survival crafting games. Like, they're just like, they're fine. I don't hate them. I. But they're just like, you know, it's like, don't starve and Minecraft and like all that stuff where it's like, hey, like, find this stuff and do this. And it's like, they didn't really appeal to me, but like, this game just sort of like. Like the setting and the vibes and everything. And it's really kind of a shame because I just don't know that they're going to make any more of them. And it's like, I mean, they might make. Make a third one, but it's just like. I just really like the first one and I. I've heard the second one's even better. And I'm just like, dad gone. It. I really like this. I need. I need more of this. So. But yeah, so I'm playing that. I haven't been there yet. I. I'm, you know, probably about halfway through Astral Chain and I did. I was playing it on, like, casual, I think, before, which is like, it doesn't grade your Fights or it doesn't grade the chapters. You know what I'm saying? It just sort of like. It's like. But I was. I felt like that was, like, a little too easy. Okay. So I. I stepped it up and I started doing. I turned it up to the next difficulty setting, and actually, that feels really good. It feels like a little bit more much sometimes. But it's like, I think on the other side of that, like, combat felt too easy. And I do have. I do have thoughts, and I'm going to save those for. Mostly for the episode. I think that. But there's, like, one thing in particular. I think the twin stick stuff is just not done. Like, I like the idea. I don't think I like the implementation in this game.

Okay.

Like, I. I just. I. I have ideas on how you could fix that, like, to where I think it would feel, like, really good. But we'll save that for when we do the episode. On it.

Sure.

So.

Sure. Yeah.

But, yeah, I haven't beaten either one of those yet. I did, like I said, I did beat Ratchet and Clank, so that gives me a negative one. And I was at negative five, and so that would put me at negative six, but I did a thing. So. And we talked about this. It's like, I haven't played it yet, but I'm just going to take the point for playing it, because I will inevitably. But Megan really likes Mario Kart. And we went. The other week, we had a date night. We actually went out for our anniversary. It was, like, a little later and a little later than the actual anniversary, but we went and we. We went to a fancy dinner, and then we ended up going to Walmart and we played the Mario Kart World demo. And she really liked that demo. And so today I was at Walmart. I was running some errands, and it was so funny because there's a bunch of, like, college kids standing around. They're all sort of eyeballing the stuff, like the. The. The Switch two and all that stuff. Like, kind of a little enviously kind of just like, you know, just like, you know, you can tell that they're all just like, oh, man, I wish I had this. Like.

Right, right.

And when I kind of rolled, I had. Yeah. Because you have to get the associate, and it's like. And I actually got that in a pro controller.

Oh, nice.

Yeah, I just. I was like, I don't know. I'm just. Anyways, so time comes in handy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyways. Anyways. But you could Tell, like, the one kid just was like, he, like he was looking at me and I said, do you have, do you have a Switch 2 yet? And he said, no. He said, I want one. I said, I'm not gonna talk you out of it. I said, like, I would. I wholeheartedly recommend it. I said, if you like your switch. But it was kind of cool. It was like this moment where they were kind of like gobsmacked that somebody was actually buying something. They were kind of like standing around like looking at it and playing the demo and talking. And then I roll up and I'm just like, yo, I'm about to spend my grown up money. And they're, they're just like, he's buying Mario Kart World. And it was like. I was like, yeah, yeah, it was, but it was like, because, you know, but it was like you could tell. Like it was like one of those things where it's like the kid was like, well, I'm. I'm in college right now. My switch is at home. I was like, that's probably a good thing, right? Yeah, I said, but I said, I like my switch too. I like it a lot. So there was just kind of like a funny little moment where I was just like, yeah, like, I remember those days, right? Stupid kids. I'm so much better than you. No, but. So I went and got Mario. Mario Kart World.

Yeah.

And so that's a positive one for the acquisition, and I will play it at some point in time before the end of the year. So I'm just gonna take the positive two just right off the rip. So that puts me at negative 4, which means I just really need to sort of like crack down and actually start beating some games. We still have that's, you know, pretty much all of September, October, November and December. I've got four months.

Right goal.

My, my, my big goal is negative 10 by the end of the year. So it's just like, I can do that. I have, I have some things like there's a game that I'm going to try to beat, I'm gonna sort of jump back into it and try to beat it. But I'm pretty much at a point where it's like, if I can't sort of get past the stage that I'm on, I'm kind of at a point where I'm just like ready to like, cut down the road. I like the game. I just think. And I've, I've done some reading and like the part where I'm at They're like, yeah, this is actually a pretty big bottleneck, but.

Oh, gotcha.

And they're like, yeah, there's. There's basically a difficulty spike and this part really sucks. And a lot of people are just like, yeah, I almost quit. And I'm just like, I was kind of like, I might. I might just quit.

Yeah.

Like, because I'm not. I'm not gonna. But anyways. But yeah, that's. That's it, man. That's. I'm at a negative 4. And for listeners, watchers of, you know, if you're new, if this is your first episode, well, we're glad to have you. But if you're saying that what's all these numbers and stuff, it's the backlog beat down. It's a meta. We run all year long. The point is simply this. We want to encourage you to play the games that you already own and sort of act as like. It's a system that's basically there to encourage you to do that and to create a little bit of friction in regards to acquisition. So you buy games, you take positive points, you beat games, you take negative points, and the goal is to get as low a score as possible. Going into the negative, that's what it's like. You got a big stack of games, you know, you're taken away from that pile. So, anyways, that's it, guys. Other things to sort of think about, you know, if you. Well, if you want to check out the backlog beat down rules, we have those over in our discord, or you can just email me or Josh or with the show or whatever, and we can get you a copy of them. Like, we, we like it. We think it's fun. Other things that we like and think is fun and you might like and think is fun and you might think is worth throwing some money at. It's us. It's this podcast, like so many other podcasts out there, a Patreon, you know, if you like what we're doing here and you want to go a little bit above and beyond, like, you've done the sharing and the caring, you've done the rating and reviewing, and if you haven't done those things, please do, like, subscribe, tell your friends, leave a review. All those fun things, those, Those are helpful. But if you've done that and you want to go a little bit above and beyond, we'd recommend, like, we have a Patreon. And it's. In some ways, you can think of it as a glorified tip jar. You can Think of it as a way to partner with us as we endeavor to sort of create a resource for the church to talk about and think through video games wisely and well. For as little as a buck a month, you get early and uncut access to each and every episode. There's an exclusive podcast called the Bro Hang that is only for our patrons. You have a little bit more access to to Josh and I through the Discord and through the Patreon and for now. But moving into next year, patrons will have the opportunity to pick or vote on games or topics for us to cover and have the opportunity to jump on those episodes with us. We talked a little bit about that, but we've done a few Dishonored. The Talos Principle. Oh, dag on it. What was the one we did missed? There's been a pile.

Long gone.

Days, Long on days. What was the Viking?

Oh, the Banner Saga.

Banner Saga, that. So we have those guys on there are like, we love those guys, you know, and if you like us, you like this community and you want to sort of go a little bit above you, above and beyond, that's the place to be. That being said, yeah, the link for that is in the show notes, I'm sure. But hey, in addition to that, we have some friends. They make cool content about other things. Sometimes it's video game related, sometimes it's not. We are proud members of the Playwell network and so here's a word from one of them. Go check out their stuff and we'll see you on the other side.

Hey there. I'm Wes and I run the Henshin Dab podcast. If you don't know what that is, well, it's a one man show where I talk about all the things that you need to know about the tokusatsu genre from Japan. If you've seen shows like Power Rangers and Ultraman, then you've seen Tokusatsu. And I just happen to think those types of shows are pretty cool. So come on over and take a listen as I discuss all the current and retro happenings in the genre. You can find it over at Anchor FM./ Henshin Dad, I'll see you there. And don't forget Henchin a go go baby.

And we're back. All right, guys. Hey, so tonight Josh and I, when we started recording, we're like, ah, this one shouldn't be that long, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Then as we want to do, we talked for an hour at the front half because we're idiots.

Probably just have lots of lots of experiences to share. Man.

It's probably mostly my video game, but we did it. Really. That's. That's the worst part. Like. Like, in theory, I mean, we. It's always a good conversation, and hopefully, like, everybody likes it. But it's like, man, we only. We. We each only had, like, a couple games and we. Yeah, anyways, we're just. We're just the worst. The worst at being good at brevity. We are good at being really bad at it. That's how the thing goes. We're good at being bad at brevity.

It's almost like if this episode were like, ascending a tower, then it's almost like you don't know how much farther you have to go until you actually start down a path. You just decide where you're gonna go through all the different twists and turns.

And just like the game that we're going to be talking about now, I. I'm. I'm hoping that I. Oh, yeah. A grizzly. I meet a grizzly. End after that. Terrible segue. Horrendous. Yeah.

So just off.

Just the worst. You're so, like. We podcast all the time. And you. You are so bad at this. I'm starting to think it's on purpose, actually. I don't. I'm not starting to think. I've thought that for a while you do this. That you just. You're just like, awful wordplay and really clumsy and awkward segues and. But we're going to talk about Slay the Spire, and that is not awful. That's actually pretty stinking awesome. There's not a lot to say about the narrative. I'm sure there's, like, a story there, but you and I both agree. We were sort of talking about it. It's like, it's just like. I think the story there doesn't really matter. Nearly, like, it helps to, like, sort of, like, set up the vibe. It's like. It's like sort of like almost like mood. Mood narrative, where it's just like. It's sort of like. It helps just, like, cultivate the atmosphere, but it doesn't really matter in the sense that, like, I don't think the story has anything. I. Now, full disclosure, I have not gotten the true ending, which. We'll talk about that a little bit. But. But, yeah, this is a game that I really love. We were talking about it. It's actually on our top 100 list. It's at 98. And it was kind of a game that I played after I quit Snap the first Time.

Okay.

And then I played that to sort of like shift gears and sort of like I was like, I really want to play a card based deck building game. And I played this and I was like, oh, this is fantastic. And it's. So Snap had a brief tenure on the list and then I think Slay the Spire kind of bumped that because I was like, I can't play Snap anymore because it's toxic and it's ruined my life. And then I came back to it like a year later because I'm an idiot and I make poor decisions often. But yeah, no, so that was like, that's, that's pretty much it. It was like it was a game just sort of offering a little bit of context or baggage. It was a game that years ago a friend of mine had said like, have you checked out Slay the Spire? He's like, I think you'd really like it. And it sort of. That stuck in my head and I was like, okay, cool. And then like either was like a PS plus game or, or something.

Or.

Maybe I just bought it on a sale or something. I can't remember how I got it, but I ended up picking it up and it sort of sat on my backlog for years. And then yeah, the like, I, I was like, I want a card based deck building game, etc. Etc. And I was coming off of dude, even the way I'm talking about Marvel, Snap makes it sound like a. It's an illicit substance. It's not, not ideal. But I was, I was sort of walking, I was walking away from Snap and I started playing this and it, I just, I fell in love with it. I went down the rabbit hole like super hardcore and it's like, okay, I sort of no life this game for a while. If, if I remember correctly. I love this game. I think it's pretty excellent and I'm glad that you played it so that we can have a little bit of a conversation about it.

Yeah, yeah, I'm very glad that I played it as well. I will say in terms of my baggage, you know, what I brought to the game is that I had only ever heard positive things. And so especially with you talking about it like you did, it's something that I wanted to play. But yeah, like you, I had heard about it years ago, but so it was kind of, you know, file that away in the back of my mind kind of a thing. So when it made it to the, to our top 100 list, I believe that is when I was like, okay, I do need to get around to playing this one. And so lo and behold, after putting it on my Locked and Loaded list at the beginning of the year, here we are now, you know, nine months in and have it beaten. So. So I will say, you know, you started off talking about the narrative of the game and I think because of the. I was going to say lack of narratives that that's not necessarily true, but I'd say I think I can speak for both of us when I say we didn't really pay attention to the little bit of narrative that's there is that.

I don't know that. I don't know that the narrative is. It's. It. I. I just don't know that it matters. Like, yeah, it's. I don't think there's much. I don't think that there's much there, to be honest. I think that if there's a story, it's not, It's. It's. It's just kind of like really like the loosest of frameworks to kind of. It's like you're some sort of wanderer and you've got to ascend the spire. And that's just like. It doesn't say like at the. This like when you get to. There's no like backstory given or anything like that. You just sort of like just throws you into the game and you start playing it.

And yeah, because of that, I will say that this episode is going to be mostly spoiler free. I mean, I guess we maybe we should have talked about this before we recorded because the only spoilers I can think of are what you are shown right before the credit roll. Because I didn't get the ultimate ending or whatever. Same as you. Because there are some, you know, mysteries and things like that that I think we're just not going to address on this episode. We don't. We're not seeking to be comprehensive with this episode. I think we just want to talk about this game because it's on our top 100 list. And largely that's due to the mechanics. Like we said earlier, this is a rogue like. Yeah. Roguelike deck building game. So card game.

It's roguelite, roguelike, whatever. Like.

Right. I don't, I don't remember this specific. Yeah, you don't carry much over at all from runs. You do. It gives you points that you can unlock a few new cards after a certain amount of runs, but that's about it. Other than that. It is. Yeah, you're you. It is rng with.

There's no like leveling up or carrying really much forward. It's. It's kind of like. Yeah, it's so. I don't know. I don't know which one that makes this, but it's a roguelike Roguelite. It's a. It's a roguish thing.

Yes, yes, exactly. It is similar to the game Rogue in. In that sense. So I think now that we've kind of explained what Slay the Spire is and our impressions of the game, kind of what we came to it with, again, just to reiterate, I don't really think there's going to be much to spoil. So from there. Why is this game on our top 100 list, Nate? Because you put it there before I had even played it.

It's. It's here because it's. Simply put, I'm closing a window here. It's the. It is one of the best deck building games I've ever played. And I think that it's kind of like one of those things where it's. It's a sort of a. A blending because, like, it's. So any deck builder, like any deck builder is. It's sort of like I. I think there's a. There are a particular subset of people who are especially drawn to those. And it's because, like, a good deck building game is kind of like building a Rube Goldberg machine where it's like. It's about putting these pieces together and sort of hoping that you get sort of all this stuff to sort of line up a certain way so that you can sort of do the thing right and this game sort of each. So there's eventually there's four characters. There's three characters. The first one, you start out is the Ironclad. Um, what's the second one? I just closed that window, like all the way down.

Is it like the messenger or something like that? I don't remember. Poison.

It's. Yeah, the Poison person. And then there's the Defect, and then there's. I want to say the Monk. I don't know, but like, I think the Monk is like a DLC character and I think if you buy the game now, there's a version. So it's the Ironclad, the Silent, the Defect and the Watcher. Those are the four characters and each one of them have sort of a different, like, skill set and their cards work a little bit differently. See, the Ironclad is sort of your sort of more like standard fare warrior and he has like, a different resource than the. I'm just I'm looking at the wiki here. Holy crap. Can you throw any more ads and junk on this dude? Slay the Spire fandom wiki? Figure it out, man. That's trash. He's okay. So like the, the. The wiki here says the Ironclad is one of four playable characters in Slay the Spire. He wields an arsenal of powerful strikes, most formidable defensive options, draws fiendish strength from his demonic benefactors to empower himself various ways. He starts off with 80hp highest of the playable characters and can manipulate exhaust. His starting relic is burning blood, which heals 6 HP after combat. So like, and he. They're. They're kind of like one of these things where it's like each one of them has a sort of a gimmick to each deck and each deck feels very different. Like the, the Ironclad tends to be a little more straightforward and there's sort of like a, like almost like a give and take. Like sometimes I, I feel like you, you sacrifice life to sort of do more damage or stuff like that. And like it does, it does play with like he does have a few skills that manipulate exhaust, which is a state that you can enter into with whatever. The silence is more about like kind of. So. And, and it's. It's hard to explain like, unless I'm like playing this and sort of talking about it, it's kind of hard to explain this all in theory. But like the Ironclad, there's like you, you have a certain amount of like cards that you can play every turn and you can. And the game will telegraph and said like, it'll let you know how much like what the enemy is going to do and how much damage they're going to do. And you can prepare appropriately. So like you can. Depending on the hand that you draw, you might be able to play some defensive cards and mitigate that damage or you might have some skills to what, to sort of attack. Maybe, maybe you'll be able to attack them before they get their turn off or whatever. So there's kind of like there's the give and take there and it's like. I think it's like you can only play three or four cards per turn and then sort of it's. Man, it's been a while since I played it. I should have just. I should have played it today before we recorded just to sort of freshen up. But you've played a little more recently, so you run me through the Ironclad, right?

So I mean in a nutshell the Ironclad is the one that hits strong, you know, and is able to heal at the end of every battle. So that plays into what cards you want to be pulling into your deck, knowing that you can actually, you have a reliable way to heal yourself which other characters don't have.

That's if you keep his base relic, because the relics do. You can get different relics and they affect things. They can change gameplay as well.

And that's the RNG part of this game, is that each run is going to be different because after a battle you have a choice of adding an extra card to your deck. And you generally are able to pick from three randomly generated cards and you pick one of those to add to your deck. And so your deck gets bigger as you continue on to slay the spire and fight different enemies. You get different relics which have, which do different things that change the way that you play the game. And so I'd say by and large, this game actually reminds me the most out of any other game that I've played. It reminds me the most of Hades because of the RNG for the different skills that you have throughout that game and the way that they play off each other in one. When you fully, when you start to understand, okay, if I start going down this route, then I should specialize in these different kinds of cards. If I'm, if these are some of the cards that I'm pulling, then I'll build out this way. And that really helps as you, as you continue on in the game.

But one of the things to sort of keep in mind though too is like, okay, so you have a deck and you're sort of like, this is the theme of, of my deck. Like maybe it's just sort of like, I don't know, it's. Yeah, I kind of put the cart before the horse because I started talking about the Ironclad and each one of them. And I, I do want to talk a little bit about like the differences between each character.

Okay.

But it is like it's sort of a turn based RPG and you get a certain amount of actions. I think you can actually change that with a relic. Like, I think like you have like a, a limited resource, amount of resources per character that determines how many cards you can play. And so like once you do that, that ends the turn and your hand goes away and all that stuff. But there is that, that roguelite thing. But there's also sort of like there's consumable items. So like you can, there's like a vendor or Sometimes during combat, like after combat, you'll get like a potion or something.

Yeah.

And that might, you might be able to use that to heal. You might be able to use that to inflict the status effect. So there's stuff like that. It's, it's a, it's an, it is a turn based RPG that has heavy deck building elements. Right. Part of the problem though is like you were talking. So it's like you get cards and so maybe you have a theme that your deck is. But like what actually is sort of really interesting is when you can start getting rid of cards and so you can really tighten your deck up. And sometimes like you'll get to, and like get to a place. It's like I remember the first couple times I played it, right. And it was like anytime I got a chance to add a card to the deck, you just did that. And sometimes that works, like if you just get a whole bunch of like the same, like two or three things. But after a while you, your deck starts getting kind of big and unwieldy and it's like. And so maybe part of the strategy is actually saying like, hey, I don't need any of these cards. I'm not going to take any of them. And so I'm actually just going to like skip that altogether because all that's going to do is that's actually going to dilute my, the, the pool of cards that I need to actually do the thing. And so there, there is also that weighing it at, at times, like, do you know what I'm saying? So it's like, yeah, yeah. And then, and then there's like these. What, what's the type of, is it artifact cards that you can do that sort of give like crazy. Like there's like, sometimes you can use them like once per game and they give you like some like sort of like crazy effect.

Are you, are you thinking of the colorless cards?

Oh yeah, the colorless cards. Yeah. And they have like these like pretty wild effects. Like sometimes they're like, sometimes it'll give you extra resources per turn, right. Or it'll be like every time you use this type of card it doubles the damage or something. Something crazy, you know, or it upgrades.

All the cards in your deck, you know, so that they either do more damage or take less resources to play or things like that. Yeah, yeah. And I don't believe right off the bat that any of the characters have a limit to the amount of cards that you can play each turn. It's simply the amount of resources that you have.

That's. That's the resource. It's. That's. It's. Yeah. It's not the cards. It's the resource. Yeah.

Though I have gotten relics, which usually have some really huge effects. I've gotten some relics that do limit the amount of cards that you can play, but they give you other benefit. You know, they'll give you more resources, but now you can only play five cards per return, something like that, which, depending on your character, so. So Ironclad, if that's your standard warrior, you know, hits big kind of character, then the next character. What did you say it was? The Listener.

The silent.

Silent. Okay.

It's like kind of an assassin Poisoner.

Yes.

Character.

And when I finished the game with her run, I mean, I was constantly. Because you get five cards at the start of your turn, constantly getting up to like 10, 12 cards at a time and. And bonus resources and then using them and then using a card to discard all those cards and redraw new cards. And then because of all these cards constantly coming in and out of my hands, it was giving me bonuses and weakening the enemy and. And things like that. Like you. Like you were talking about these rube gold Goldberg machines that you're setting up so that maybe it's not even the specific effect of the card that you're using, but the fact that you're shuffling it in and out of your hand and back into your deck into your discard pile can actually benefit you overall. So it's. It's a little bit more meta than the card itself. So there's all kinds of crazy effects that you can have with the interplay of the relics that stay equipped to your character versus the cards that you're adding and in taking away from the deck that you have. And then, like you mentioned these potions as well that you can have throughout the game. But yeah, I'll say that's what really hooked me is when I. When it started clicking that again in my mind. This is more similar to Hades than something, because that's. That's how Hades feels to me is like when you. When you get that first pool of. And it's been a while since I played Hades, so I don't remember exactly how, but the blessings that you get from the different mythological gods and you.

Get that first, like, really, like, kind of cracked combo.

Yes.

Where you're like, oh, oh, yeah.

And if I keep going down this route. Yeah. And then if. If my attacks can bounce around after I throw them, and then I can do this move then. Oh, that works really well. And. Yeah, and that's. And that's how it felt with this game. Because again, you don't carry over things from run to run in this game. And so you just have to learn how to use what's. What you have available to you. And I think especially that's with the relics, the things that you. You get.

Character has like a starting deck, right. And so it's like you have like a.

Usually pretty simple.

Yeah. Pretty basic. Pretty whatever. And it might have like a few like special moves or something in it, but for the most part it's just like pretty basic attacks.

Yeah.

Yeah. So for.

For the Ironclad, I'll give you just an example really quickly. For the Ironclad, there was a card that, once I got it in my deck at first, at first though, I was kind of like, okay, is this really going to be that powerful? But once you start using, just like every time I saw it, I would grab it and it's called Demon Form. And what this card does is it uses up all your resources. You typically have 3 energy at the start of your turn. It costs 3 energy in order to use it, but what it does is it increases your strength by two at the start of every turn, which means that every attack that you make will do two extra damage, but that is cumulative. So you will have two strength at the start of your first turn, and then four strength at the start of your next turn, and then six strength at the start of your next turn. So if you are fighting a boss and you have in turns are just racking up on both sides, then your character is constantly getting stronger. However, it does limit you, because in order to play this card, that means you're not playing any other card from your hand, you know, because it essentially uses up all your resources to play the card initially, which means you're opening yourself up for attack. But again, if you're thinking, okay, a boss is going to get stronger as I continue to fight, then okay, maybe it makes sense to use it now or, you know, instead of waiting until the next time it comes around in my deck, things like that. But. But Demon form was one that was really powerful, at least for me when I first got it. And that's when it's like, okay, I could build a strategy around getting stronger with something like this, and then especially after you upgrade it. And I don't remember if it made you even stronger or if it just took less resources to play, but yeah, I'm.

I'M looking at some of the cards now, and so it's like. It's as I'm looking at the cards and seeing them, like, it's like there's the. The block resource, which sort of. It does, like, if you have 10 block, you can block up to 10 damage.

Right.

You know, there's like. And there's like, different card types. I'm just kind of like. Yeah, he also does, like, the wounds. He, like, shuffles wounds into his card and. Or into his deck for certain abilities. And I think there's something in there that you can use those wounds to do something. There's. There's a. A part of that, but. But yeah, it's kind of like. But there's. Yeah, there's just a whole lot in there where it's like. And the. The Ironclad does tend to be a little more straightforward, where it's just like he hits hard. And so a lot of the. The synergies and the strategies of his deck, it's either you sort of maybe lean a little bit more into like, the defensive thing so that you can sort of like, basically face tank bosses. Or it could be like. Or, you know, his. The Strat. The strategies for the Ironclad seem to be the most straightforward, whereas, like, the Silent doesn't use. It's still. It's functionally the same thing, but they use, like, dodges and stuff like that. So it's like the. Like. So it's like you might play a card called dodge that adds a certain amount of.

Block.

Yeah. So it's just kind of looking through here. It's. But. And then the silent. The thing, the difference like that. I really liked the Silent. I played, I think, a lot of. Probably the most of the Silent. I don't know. I played a lot of the defect too. I like the defect too, because. Did you get a chance to play any of the defect?

I played, I think, two runs with the defect, and I was just like, well, whoa, this is so different. This is because it's odd.

It's about juggling, like, the orbs and sort of like, if you. Depending on what your orb layout is, it generates different passives. Yeah, I do. I did. I did. Like that. Okay, one. Okay, that one gets, like, really kind of like into the weeds. Because it's almost more about sort of generating like. Yeah, it's. It's about sort of like, okay, you play these cards not because their effects are really strong, but because when you're holding on to those, those, like the passives. That those things generate. Because like I think you can generate extra resources. You can generate health back.

Okay.

You can. You can do all sorts of like kind of crazy stuff with that. So I remember. But it's like it's all about like basically like each one of these decks has comp. Like it's almost like the mechanics are completely reinvented while it's the same framework every single time. It's the same basic. It's like you attack, you. You provide block. And then. But it's like. But there's also like all these combos and kind of weird stuff. Like it's like you were saying with a silent. There's a lot of like you discard stuff. But that's actually gives you an advantage, you know, on the next turn or maybe even that turn. And kind of like. And it might empower an attack. And it's. It's kind of like. But it helps you cycle through that deck to get the pieces that you need to sort of like combo up. And like the poison is like you apply poison. And it might not be. It might not be like with the Ironclad where it's just like you're hitting them, but it provide procs basically a damage over time.

Right.

Like every. Every turn or every attack like the. The enemy takes. And you can like stack that multiple times. Yeah, yeah.

So yeah, yeah. Instead of hitting for straight up nine, like the Ironclad, would you do poison damage that does four damage every turn, you know. So.

Yeah. And you can stack that so that lasts like more turns or like it does. It might hit several times. Like you can stat. You can stack status effects to a certain point. Like there's. There's all sorts of like it's. It's kind of hard to talk about in the sense like, you know, without like actually like it'd be like one of those things where it's like. I almost wish we were like playing the game and sort of talking about like. Like, you know, this.

Yeah.

This would be an episode where if like we streamed games, this would be a great one to stream because it's like we could talk about like all the.

That.

But it. It's all in this and. And it's like it's one of those things that again there's this sort of like very sort of simple and elegant system and because it's so sort of concrete. But then it. There are enough different pieces where it's like. And again the. The rng element too is like you were talking about like you're Going to get different cards every time. And so it's like, you're not going to be able to just be like, oh, this is what my ironclad deck is going to look like every single time. Because, like, what if you don't get demon form? Do you start out with demon form?

No, no, it's one you have to pick up.

So, like, let's just say, like, you go through several encounters, demon form doesn't show up. So. Okay, okay. Like, this strategy is no longer viable for me. I need to maybe, like, look at, like, maybe being a little more defensive in my orientation and maybe just like, will sort of, like, build. Will sort of go after, like, ghost armors or whatever, you know, ghost armors, like, or ghostly armor or ethereal armor or whatever it was called. And it's just like, there's this kind of. It's just a really clever game, and I don't know what to. I just. The thing about it is that unless you're. You're playing it, like, I can talk about, like, the mechanical excellence of this game. And it's. It's one of those things where the combat scenarios are really pretty snappy. Like, yeah, occasionally. Occasionally, like, the bosses go a little long. Where it's like, sure, maybe a boss fight takes 10, 15 minutes maybe. But that's. That feels at the long end. And that one's like that. That one, you're kind of like white knuckling it. Yeah, but.

Yeah, and. And you say that I felt as though. And I certainly did not put as much time into this as you did. I felt like I was on the razor's edge throughout most of my playthroughs.

Yeah.

I mean, when I was very surprised when I actually ended up beating it with the second character, because at the end of the first act, I don't remember what they're called, how they differentiate it, but basically there's three large rooms that you are ascending. At the end of the first room, I'm like, oh, I'm probably not going to make it much farther. But I just kept going and kept going and kept going and felt like I was gonna die multiple times. Because you don't, you know, you don't restore HP like you do with the first character, but I ended up actually beating the game with that second character on that run. So you're kind of always skating on the edge.

Well, and it's that roguelike roguelite energy where it is really tough. Like. Yeah, it is not uncommon to just like, if. If you've got Kind of like you can die to just like normal enemies and there's this. But it. And what. What's also kind of interesting about this game is like there is a map where it reminds me a lot of what is that weird game that I played. We've talked about it a little bit.

What type of game is.

Starts out. It's. It's. It's. It's another deck builder, but it's like one that gets like third. It breaks the fourth wall a little bit.

Oh, with the totem heads and whatnot.

Yeah, I'm. I'm googling things or I'm binging things actually.

There you go.

I'm trying to think. Slay the Spire. Dominion, Hearthstone.

Inscription.

Inscription. So there's. There's kind of like an inscription. There's like kind of a map that your character like progresses up and you choose between different encounters. That actually that. That part of Inscription and Slay the Spire are really similar.

Okay.

Actually, there's a lot of parallels there between Slay the Spire and Inscription as. Just as far as like gameplay, both of them are. I. But I think the, The. The actual. The. The gameplay construction is a lot more an inscription kind of does some other stuff altogether because there's like another kind of. Oh, excuse me. Yeah, it is getting late. There's like another sort of like thing with the words. Nate. They're not that hard. They're a little hard, but they're not that hard. It does like a whole thing with the.

Obviously the fourth wall breaking, but I don't know your characters or just from.

The little inscription does this. Okay. So there's like the, the map thing and the card playing thing, but there's also like. You can get up from the table and walk around this little cabin.

Okay, gotcha.

Sort of like there's some stuff there that you can kind of. That you can do. So. Cool. Yeah, that's. That's. There's a whole nother like wrinkle to inscription that's like.

There's.

There's kind of multiple layers of that game where Slay the Spire is just like simply this. It's just. You start. You kind of navigate the map and it's. You sort of like pick like different nodes to sort of like go through. And some of them might be like harder boss. Like. Like almost like mini bosses.

Right.

Some of them might be like running across the merchant or whatever. And there's even sort of like there's like little rest spots where sometimes. And it's like it does force this Choice too. Like when you get to like the little campfires, right? It's like, hey, you can rest. But if you do that, like, there's, there's like two or three other things that you can do.

Yeah, you can upgrade a card. Yeah, yeah.

And it's like you can pick one of these things and so if you rest, you'll restore some health, but you can't upgrade any cards and you can't do that. And that actually becomes pretty. Because that's the other thing is like, you can in your deck. It's like you've got like the base card, but you can upgrade them. Like, I think it's two or three times. And it, it's like you said, it does the. Like, it reduces the resource cost or it. And. And it probably ups the damage or the. Right, like. So if it gives block, maybe it blocks more or whatever. But like, and there's different levels and so that's, that's a way that you get like, kind of more powerful. So it's like there is this, like, hey, do I need the rest or do I need to upgrade this card so that I can like, sort of press on a little bit more? Sometimes there's, there's a perk that you can take, I think somewhere where it's like every time you, you rested a fire, you can. It gives you like. I think there's like baseline, three choices and then there's something you can get. Do something. Excuse me, I'm starting to dry out a little bit. But where it's like you get a fourth one where it's like you can sort of like get some sort of. I don't know, there's all sorts of like weird stuff that you can do. There's like little encounters that aren't even combat based, right? It's like you walk up to like a disheveled temple and you notice like a little golden idol. It's like you can put it back or you can take it and there's consequences based on what you decide there. You might take damage, you might take a curse, you might take whatever. There's all these like weird little things that. It's like the core loop is this, this. This card game, right? But then it's. There's all sorts of other sort of like narrative beats. And again, it's like the actual story doesn't really matter. It's just more about the vibes.

Yeah. Yeah. And the vibes, I would say, are similar. I mean, it's dark, I would say, because you're at the bottom of this tower and, you know, you're fighting to get to the top. It's dark in that sense, but it's almost like a. Have you ever played the game Munchkin? Munchkin is very comedic.

I know what it is.

Okay. But it's a similar idea of like, okay, just go into the next room and fight a monster. Okay, now go into the next room and fight a monster. Okay, now go to the, you know, the fire and rest or something like that. Upgrade a card. Yeah. There's not a story stringing together the different pieces, the different steps that you're taking, but there's, you know, a little bit at the very end of the game, you're being revived, you know, at the start of every run. So there's something there in terms of story. But frankly, I did not know what was going on during my playthrough. Apparently you have to beat the game with the first three characters and then you unlock what can lead to the true ending. I did not get that far. I only beat the game with the first two characters and again, really enjoyed it. But yeah, I think it's a solid game and it definitely got its hooks in me in the sense that, okay, I can play around in the sandbox. It gives you enough of a base that you understand who your character is or what type of character it is. But it gives you enough freedom and enough kind of randomly generated elements so that each run feels different, but you know, kind of what you're leaning towards in the cards that you pick, in the relics that you're trying to get in the routes that you're going. So it gives you just enough. Enough agency that you feel like you're making a difference. While also it's randomly generated what might actually happen and come up.

I think too, like, the thing is, like, it's like you were saying, like, when you beat it with the silence, right? It's like the whole time you kind of felt like you were just riding the razor's edge. I think the game actually. The game's hard. It is like, it is hard, but it's not like that twitchy hard. It's more just like it kind of like it's always pressing you and it kind of like always feels like. And it's. But it sort of rides that just enough. Do you know what I'm saying? Where it's like, it's tough, but it's like, it does. It is doable and there's kind of like, it's like it. It's Very similar to like. Like the kind of like the. The feeling like when you get a really good run. It's akin to the. The feeling that you get like when you beat like or like when you sort of like do sort of like squeeze out the victory over a boss and just like. It's kind of like. It's almost like that Dark Souls moment where it's like, yes, I'm a master of all I survey.

Like, yeah.

And it kind of like does this really great job of sort of like the highs and lows in that game are really pretty fantastic. Like pretty phenomenal. I just think it's like. It's one of those things where the. The beauty is like, it has these sort of like fixed rule sets, but there's a variety of expressions within each character in each deck. Right. And it's like. And it's all made up of like the same 25, 30 cards, right? Or what? However many it is per. Per character total. And I just think that it's just. It's such a well balanced and well crafted game. And I know like that the. Just the. The level of thoughtfulness and I know that it's like a game that I think it was in early Access and it's been tweaked and all this other stuff, but it's like, okay, it's just. It's so sort of like put. It's put together so well. It feels balanced like so many times.

Yeah.

Like, we were talking a little bit about Marvel Snap and I don't want to go into it too much, but it's like that game changes on a dime, right? And it's like, it can be a little hard to keep up with. With Slay the Spire, it's like you're gonna get the same cards. Like, if you get this card, it's gonna be this card all the time. Those stat. The stat lines are fixed, the effect is fixed. Now you can improve that and everything else. So there is sort of like, you can know that game on a much more. More granular level where with something like the. The meta in Marvel Snap changes so quickly and the power creep is just like. It just keeps escalating and escalating and escalating. And it's like, whereas Slay the Spire, there's. There's sort of a simplicity in there and just says like, no, the stuff that we have, this is like what you have. And it's about making it work within that. That. And there isn't this need to sort of like keep sort of like Upping the stakes every single time as far as like, there's, there's no new cards being added. So it's just encourages a robust sort of like exploration of the game and its mechanics.

Yeah. And how the different pieces fit together each time you go on a run. Because I, I mean I like, like you were describing the first time I finished a run, which I was really surprised at how quickly I was able to beat the game. It was maybe my fourth run, I think is, is when I beat the game the first time and, and it felt great. But then I go into, then I go to, to YouTube and there are people who've played this game for thousands of hours. Now I'm not one to play any video games for thousands of hours, even hundreds of hours is very like, you know, hardly anything. But the reason that that is the case is because, I mean, you can, you can ramp up the difficulty, you know, and make things, you know, do different things. Again, similar to Hades. But they know this game so well. They know the possible cards that, that you can get for each character. They know all the relics. And so they're going for, you know, it's almost like speedrunners, you know, the way that they play certain video games.

They'Re sort of going for that. That perfect run.

Exactly. And that just blew me away because like one. That's just not how I play video games, like I said. But you know, I got this little taste by actually, you know, beating the game with the first character. And it's like, oh, this thing goes really deep. If you want to, if you really want to get that good.

Well, it's. That's kind of like. That's the thing that I love about deck building games because it's like if you want to go hard, there's a lot of stuff to like play around with, like whatever you're doing, like, you know, whether it's magic, the gathering Marvel, Snap, like Slay the Spire Balatro Inscription. Like there is something immensely satisfying about like putting together this perfect little machine and just having it sort of like. But then there's also, and this is kind of like one of the. It's like, it's also. It can be absolutely infuriating. And I think like Slay the Spire kind of leans into this, but it's like there's the chance that you might not draw any of the cards that you need to.

Right.

And then you're like, you're shaking your fist at it and like.

Yep.

F. You just.

Yeah. You know. Yeah. Sometimes you just straight up get a bad draw. I mean, I've, I had, well, I was going to say so many times that's not true, but especially during those times where it feels like you're on the razor's edge and then you draw and, and maybe the enemy for this turn has built up their defense, you know, to something like 20 and you draw and four out of your five cards are cards that add to your own block. And it's like, he's not even attacking me this turn and all that I got were cards to block. Like, what a stinking waste. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it's just like, it's so, it's, it's a ton of fun. It's also just infuriating at times. But yeah, it's, it's kind of like, it's like I just love deck building games and I think Slay the Spire is probably just one of the better ones that I've ever played. Just like. Yeah, you, you told me there's like a physical version of this. And it's like I'm almost like, I'm almost tempted to get that because I think that would just be like a ton of fun. It's also, but it's also kind of like, why, why would I do that when I have what I, I already.

Yeah, exactly. It sounds like it might be a bit of a nightmare to kind of set up and, and tear down and stuff like that. Whereas, like, it's like, I kind of like that the computer does all the back end stuff for me.

Yeah, dude, like, that's, that's the really sick part is like, yeah, you could feasibly do this with like, dice and cardboard and all that other stuff. But then like, or you just like the computer, like the, the console does it for you and it's like, yeah.

It'Ll keep track of what my relics do. I don't have to constantly be looking at them all the time.

Factor that in. Yeah, I just, I, I, it's like, I think the, the thing is, like, this is just one of those games where, like, yeah, narratively there isn't. I don't think. I think it's like an inch deep kind of thing where, like, there might be something profound that they're trying to say, but I don't buy it. I think it's just a game where it's like the, the con, the excellence is in the construction. And that's kind of like the part that I'm like, dude, like, sometimes, sometimes the thing that makes it worthwhile isn't like what it has to say but actually what it does where it's just like hey, like look at this. Like look at this really like masterful execution.

Yeah.

And that's why I love Slay the Spire like that. Like I'm a mechanics guy. Like, like a good mechanic is going to. A good game mechanic is going to draw me in, is going to like, like obviously like I want some story but like you can have a great story and if it's bad mechanics I might push through. Right. But if you've got great mechanics and a sort of a mid story, I'm probably going to play that. You know what I'm saying? Because like that's, and that's just kind of me. That's how I'm wired. It's like if you've got a good system, like I'm going to, I'm going to be in like I'm in, you know.

Yeah. So for sure.

I don't know. Yeah, it's.

Well and I'd say that I think that's also why it's on our top 100 list and why it's also on the lower end. Because I think it does this one thing when it comes to one thing, the deck building thing that it does. And really I feel like I'm doing a disservice when I say one thing because there are so many different pieces that play together and that's what's so fun about it to me is getting all the different relics and having them all pop at different times and becoming more powerful than you even expected that you would be.

Dude. Like when you get like that perfect line where it's like all the pieces, like you just kind of like set up the dominoes and then you go and it's just like you watch all the things sort of like it's like I'm gonna do this and this and this and this and this. There's like, like. And we didn't even talk about, we, we mentioned them but like the colorless cards which are sort of, they're cards that's. Some of them do like really crazy things. Like, like you said, it's like you get it and it upgrades every card in your, your deck. Or like it'll upgrade like cards in your hand or something like that. Or there's one, I think that it's like I can't remember. It's like sort of like a basic skill. But it's like every time you do something you can basically pull that out of your discard P or Your exhaust pile and put it back into your hand, like. And it was like. It was like stuff like that where you just like, hey, if you use like the. The. The. The cool synergies where it's like, it costs nothing or whatever, and it's sort of like the bouncing cards in and out, and it's like, yeah, that's like. That's so much fun. It's. Yeah, just like. And how, like, it's like. Oh, like the. The like. I just. I don't know.

Yeah, yeah, it's just.

It's awesome. It's so much fun. So you mentioned that it's on our list and currently, like, I think I said at the. It's. It's number 98 on the. The list right now.

Yeah.

So this, I think, begs the question, though, that now that you've played it. Okay, I think. And we don't have to, like, hammer this out tonight, but I'm just kind of curious, and it's like, I don't. I don't know that I have much of an opinion or a horse in this fight right now, but, like, this is 90.

Really fought.

A horse in this race?

Race?

Yeah, dog. In this fight. Oh, geez.

There you go. Yeah.

Shut up, Nate.

But I get what you're trying to say. It's a. And in terms of, like, do I think it deserves a spot on the top 100? I. I think this is a really good, like, I. I expected to like this game. I liked it more then I. Yes. Yeah. And almost immediately, too. You know, the first run, it's a little tenuous because you're not sure what's going on. The second run, it's like, okay, I get it. But then as you progress far further, that's when you're like, oh, these pieces fit together. Like, okay, this is. This is kind of crazy. Again, similar. I know I've said it multiple times here, but Hades where like, yeah, the basic fighting mechanics, you're getting down, your basic attacks, you're getting down. But after a while, it's all about those upgrades and what upgrade path you're gonna choose, and that makes a huge difference to it. And so I feel like this game is like that with its relics of. Of in. In addition to how it plays with the different cards in your deck. So anyways, I think. I think it does. I really like what. What it does. So, yeah, I think for the most part, I'm. I'm happy to have it on the list. I'd say maybe 98. Maybe a little low but within that, within that bottom quarter, I would be fine with it there. Yeah. Like you said, because it doesn't. It doesn't really have any story, which is okay. But the mechanics I think are just so solid that I would recommend this game to just about anyone. Unless you don't like the dungeony esthetics of the game. Because it does feel a little, like I said, kind of dark. Yeah. Grim.

Dark. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, it's a little playful with that, but even then it's kind of grimy with it.

It's very like sort of like Cthulhu esque, like that sort of Lovecraftian adjacent kind of like there's like some sort of weird cosmic horror kind of thing going on. I don't know. Like there's something.

Well, case in point, like demon form. Like. Okay, the Ironclad is not a good. Your typical good character. You know what I mean? None of your anti hero.

None of your protagonists are. Yeah. With maybe the exception of the Watcher.

Okay.

Are really seem all that benevolent.

Right.

Like the iron is. Yeah. Is. Well, it's even the description. It's like. It's like a demon, you know, kind of. It's like a. Basically it has a pact with a demon that it draws strength from the. The Silence is a Poisoner assassin kind of character. The Defect is actually that you will fight enemies that look like the Defect.

Okay.

But he's not one of them. He's defective.

Yeah.

And the Watcher is, you know, sort of. The Watcher is like kind of a monk. She does.

Okay.

She does like different stances and has like different abilities. That. That one's. That one's pretty. That one. I. I probably played. I mean, I played a good bit of Ironclad, but I think like, I. Man, I'm trying to think which one I played the most of. It's. It's either. It's either Silence or Defect.

Okay.

But I did play a good bit with the water and it's. In order to get the true ending, I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure you have to do a run with the watch or you have to get the three pieces and you have to be. Because like there's technically, like to beat the game, there's only three acts, but right. There is a fourth act that. Or a fourth level to the right tower or the spider that you can sort of get into. But there's these, these three like keys. These three pieces or what. And it's like you can. I think you can get one in like at a. At a rest site or whatever. It's like. And basically there's only option, like, the only time you can, like, you'll be given the opportunity to acquire a piece once per chapter. And if you pass it. Yeah, if you pass on it, that's it. They're done. Like, and so you have to get those three pieces and then you get to. You beat the final boss. But it turns out there's a door and you play that and you get further. I've never gotten the true ending. I actually made a run at it and got really far and then got like. It was like, I got to. I think I got to the final boss and then I got clobbered.

Gotcha. Gotcha.

Yeah, but it's. It's one of those things where it's like, yeah, sometimes you just get the right cards.

Yeah.

And then it just like. Then the deck just like, kind of like takes off. But yeah, I guess it's. It's one of those things, like. Yeah, I. It's at 98, and I was kind of looking at the list and I don't want to beat it up too much, but it's like, I'm looking at our list of, like, at 94, you have faith in Holy Trinity. And I'm looking at that and saying, I would go higher than that. I mean, frankly, at 86, I've got Katamari Damacy. And I love Katamari Damacy. I'm like, I would go higher than that. I would probably go higher than. I mean, I don't want to get too much into it, but it's like, 80. Is Astral Chain a game that we're going to be talking about and doing an episode on here shortly? And I'm like, I would probably. Astral Chain actually feels kind of similar in that. Like, the story in Astral Chain. Like, there's a story, but it's like more about the action for me now that that could change. So. But it's like, I don't know. I'm just saying it's like, I'm kind of looking at that and I think there's room for Slay the spire to move up.

Sure.

But we can save that for the end of the year. Okay. So.

Yeah.

But I do think there's room for it.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think so. That kind of goes without saying. I think I can speak for both of us when we say that we do recommend this game. Oh, that's right. And I had mentioned that earlier is the only thing that I Can think of that. You know, someone wouldn't want to at least even just try this game because it is a different genre, you know, not everyone's gonna resonate with the genre of deck builders, but I think it eases you in really well actually to at least try it. So I would recommend this game. Unless you just don't like dungeon aesthetics, you know? Well, if you don't like the dark.

Like, if you don't like awesome stuff.

That's true. If you really don't like fun, then I would not recommend most video games to you.

If you don't like awesome things, like, don't play this. No. Yeah, it is like that. That sort of like that aesthetic, that vibe is like, not for everybody. Everybody.

Yeah.

And like, deck builders aren't for everybody, right? They. They tend to be like a little. If you can read, you're illiterate. You're gonna struggle there. If, like, you know, if I put you in a wet paper sack and you would have problems thinking your way out of it. Probably shouldn't play that. It's. It's. It's one of those things where I.

Would not recommend video games.

I was just like, dude, like, if you can't think your way out of a wet. Out of a wet paper sack, I don't know where I heard that. That feels like an army thing.

Okay.

But, yeah, anyways. Yeah, yeah.

But yeah, we do recommend Slay the Spire. I'm trying to think if there's. If there's really anything else to say. I know the second one is coming out imminently. Yeah, I'm excited. Or is it just early access that it's coming to?

I think it's. I think it's just coming out early access.

Okay. Okay.

So.

So, you know, there's. There's more of it coming up, so maybe that one will be even better than this one. And this whole conversation was for not. But as of right now.

Yeah, yeah. It's not yet available on Steam. Planned release date is. I'll tell you what, I'm looking at Slay the Spire too. So the one thing is that Slay the Spire we talked about a little bit, like, the visuals feels like a little. Kind of like they're not bad, but they're not really. Like, they're kind of like, weird. There's like some weird animation stuff. I'm just looking at slay the Spire 2 and some of the anime. It looks like it's going to add some new characters, but it also looks like it's going to like, it just looks like a lot like the. The animation and visual quality looks like it's a bit of a step up and Slay the Spire.

Okay, great.

So. Because like, I. I don't think Slay the Spire is really what I would call a pretty game. No, like, it's like. And it's not from a design point where it's like, oh, like the, the models are kind of like grody looking or whatever. It's like even just like the actual like way that the game is kind of put together and animated feels like a little like. Yeah, like. Yeah, it's. It's good. It's fine.

Yeah.

You know, but it's like, it's not awesome. It's not going to blow your socks. And it looks like Slave Aspire is like, the animation's a lot cleaner and the character designs sort of are a little. A little more polished and I like that. Okay, that.

Cool. So nice.

Yeah, I like this game. It's like one of my, like, it's. It's a game that very much. You get kind of be kind of got to be careful. I like, I think for people who get into deck builders, like, if you've played Balatro, Bellotro is another one where it's like, I could just like sometimes I'll turn that on. I'll be like, I'm gonna play a couple hands or I'm gonna do a run. And this next thing you know, it's like like three hours later and you're like, crap.

Yeah.

Like, so. Yeah, I think Slay the Spire is. Is great. I love it. I'm glad that you had a chance to like, run through it a few times too. Like.

Yeah, it's.

I would, I would say like, play around with it. Like, I don't want to pull you away from Expedition 33. Play around with the defect. Because the defect, like, you can do this thing where it's like there's like the passives and the evocation and everything else and it's the. It. There's a lot more of sort of balancing like short term game versus long term gain.

Right?

Where it's like you're kind of like doing this thing where it's like you're juggling things and it's like. Yeah, I just. Oh, it's. I love that. I love that game. I. I love the game. No, it's just like, I need to go to bed, but I'm even thinking like, maybe I should just play another run.

Oh, dude. Yeah. Three hours later, I've Got to watch.

Tomorrow too, because I'm staying home for a. From. From daycare. So it's like. But yeah, I, I think it's. I think it's a great game and I'm glad you played it. I think, like, yeah, we should probably talk about its placement at the end of the year, but I'll just, I'll make a notation of that on our document too. Just like, awesome.

Sounds good. But yeah, so we both like the game, we both recommend the game. So go and play it if you so desire. But we have been talking about the game for the good hour now, which is more than we kind of expected because it is, again, fairly simple in terms of all that it sets out to do, but it does it in just such a great way and it does layer a number of different things on top of each other. But that said, I think our conversation at least about slay the spire is ending. But we do have a few more forms before we head out for the evening or morning or whatever time it is that you're listening to. This doesn't matter what time it is. But before we say adieu, we've got a couple forms, the first of which is our shout outs. We like to shout out some people in our community and when we see something cool, we just want to let you know. And so I'm going to give my shout out to a new member of the Discord Medium tax who joined our Discord, a friend of Icastya who was on our previous episode. So I just thought that was a cool little connection since Akastia was on the episode and his friend joined in the Discord. So welcome, Medium Text. I also just like that name because coming from Texas, I get it. Big Text. I'm also not a big name.

Texas is.

So. Yeah, yeah, I can be proud of where I'm from. Nate.

No, no, no, none of that. Now you have to. If you don't hold like a low grade disdain for like the, the place that you're from.

Yeah, I don't expect.

I don't trust it. I don't trust it. No, that's cool. Yeah, I was glad to see him, you know, kind of like a bit of a smaller shout out. It's not the actual shout out, but it's like to everybody sort of like jumping in there and sort of like, you know, sort of introducing themselves and all that stuff. So welcome, Medium Text it is. You know, I guarantee nothing, but I will endeavor to not slander the. Okay. State of Texas.

Okay, okay. State is Oklahoma.

No Texas is a teacher. It's all the states except for Pennsylvania. You all live in okay states. No, no, I get it. It's Oklahoma.

It's okay.

You're okay. You're not okay. The kids are not okay. No, but, yeah, anyways, listen, I've. I've besmirched. I've. I've attacked several different states at this point in time. I probably attacked Texas at different points. I've slandered several of them. Most mostly, like, I think Texas is actually mostly pretty safe because you guys aren't near me, so I can't disparage. You know, it's like, it's not like Jersey or Ohio that I can just be like, that place sucks and I hate it. Like, and then. Then friends of the show are like, hey, I live here. And I'm like, sucks for you.

Oh, oh, oh.

But, yeah, no, welcome. Welcome. Medium Text. I think my shout out is going to be. You know what my shout out is going to be? It's. It's going to be for Costa. And I know I was kind of saying his praises at the beginning, but, like, it was really cool to have him. Him To. To hear him hop on and sort of, like, jam out. And I. I really was. I was pretty impressed with how, like, he just sort of, like, just jived with everybody on that episode. That was really kind of cool.

It was a very smooth recording. Yeah.

Yeah, so that was. That was really pretty impressive. But also, like, the fact that, like, you know, he's out there, he's like, hey, you know, he says to his homie, Medium Text, he's like, come hang out with us. These. These dudes are kind of cool. And it's like, that's kind of cool, man. Good on you. That's pretty sweet. I like that. Yeah. Yeah, that's. I like that energy. So, yeah, the rest of you, you want me to shout you out? You need to get your friends to join the Discord and listen to our show. Do it. Do it. Not, not, not. I mean, like, no, but I just thought that was kind of. That. That was kind of like a neat thing, and I just. Yeah, and it is. It's like you said, he was just on the. The Middle Gear Solid three episode, and I was like, yeah, so, yeah, shout out to you, Akasha. Like, well done, young man. Maybe not so young. I don't know how old you are. You're probably not as old as me, but I'm an old fart. I'm like, at least the second or third oldest person in the discord.

Second or third oldest. Interesting. I don't know. Yeah, I guess I don't keep track of those things, but I guess you're right.

I'm an elder statesman of gaming self pointed. Anyways, like, listen, I'm starting to like, I really am. I really am starting to fade. You hear that? Fake Nate.

Oh, man.

Jerk.

Fake Nate isn't here, but. Oh, wait, who is that? Here comes a new challenger. That's right. There's a new challenger here. This is our final form, actually, before we end the show is talking about challenges, our personal challenge.

It's. You know, it's funny you say final form because that's a video game reference for me. Like every time I hear that and I'm like, I kind of, in my head I just had this like visual where it's like the listener or the viewer is sort of doing battle with us and sort of seeing if they can actually make through it. And like, so it's like if you've made it this far and you've, you've come to confront the final form, like, well done. Victory is at hand, friend.

Yep, we're getting close.

But yeah, it's time to talk about our challenges. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna make this easy. Is like I was supposed to start exercising more.

Okay.

Because I suck. Well, dude, it's like I started working the overtime and I think that just.

That's more steps.

Yeah, that's. Well, but it's, it's just like, it's also more time. Like I have to, I start work a half hour earlier.

Right.

I'm usually working pretty late. And then by the time it's like. But excuses are like buttholes. Everybody has them and they all stink at some point. So it's like I need to just stop doing that. Yeah, I said it. I said it. I gave an A stinky excuse. Because excuses are stinky and they, they're, Everybody's got them.

Yep.

Anyways. But yeah, so I need, I do need to just sort of, I do need to knuckle down and just get a bit of a. Like I, I bought that strong mom book. I read through it and I was like, I started developing like an actual curriculum or routine and then I just, I haven't finished. Finished. Like, yeah, yeah. Good intentions and all that.

Sure.

So, yeah. But yeah, so I, I, I've, I'm a miserable failure. But we're gonna, we're gonna get back on the horse. We're gonna try again.

Sweet. Nice. Awesome. Dude, let's See. So my challenge from this last month was to catch up on my Locked and Loaded list. And actually I am quite comfortable where I am with the list so far. I have four more months, right? Well, yeah, including September.

September, October, November, and December. We're just in into September.

Yeah. So I've got four months to finish three games, one of which is a short game, Ninja Gaiden 2. And then I've got Dredge and Bioshock Infinite. I think I can finish those games before the year's out, especially if I, if I push them to the top of my list to play through. So I'm feeling pretty good. So at least with that challenge, I'm doing well. So as I look forward over the month of September mentioned earlier, you know, taking a look at some, some classical literature to introduce my son to. So for myself, I want to read at least two books over the next month. And when I say read, I mean I can listen to it as well. Listen to and read physically, but at least one of which I would like to be more of a classical book. So maybe I'll do like a modern book in a classic one, but, but at least just something to again, familiarize myself with more of the, the Western canon, if that makes sense. So that is my challenge over the next month. Did well with this past month, but hopefully I can do well with the next month as well. But cool. I think, I think that's, that's just about it for me. But if you guys want to let us know if you're challenging yourself over the next month, over the next year, however you want to challenge yourself, we'd love to hear what challenges you have set for yourself. You can reach out to us and let us know how you're challenging. Or maybe you want to talk about Slate Aspire, whatever. If you want to reach us, there's tons of ways you can do that. Go to our link tree. It's linktree.com thebacklog breakdown but it's getting late. Reach out to us. We'll have a good time. We've done the things that we've come to do. You guys, till next time, keep eating down your backlogs and we'll keep breaking down the benefits. Sa.