PODCAST · leisure
Professors Play
by Phil Chauveau
Do you like playing video games? Of course you do. But do you also like deeply analyzing them sometimes? Then you're one of us! If that's not your vibe, then you should also listen--our giddy nerdy excitement will make you a believer as well. Every couple of weeks, in this quite-literally named podcast, media professors Phil Chauveau, Jon Adams, and Brandon West will play different games of different types and discuss their experiences, with a tinge of academic-y interjections here and there. Take a listen for some mostly-casual-but-still-deep video game convos!*Also available on YouTube
Episodes
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The Professors Review the Emblematic Plot of FE: Engage
FE: Engage takes the more is more approach the storytelling. In this episode, the Professors provide a reductio ad absurdum-style review of the plot and all of its (many, many) twists, and discuss how that impacts our experience with the game.
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The Professors are Engrossed by FE: Engage
The Professors are getting pulled into all of the nitty-gritty of Fire Emblem--the unit and weapon customization, battle strategies, and of course, the social sim mechanics (for one of the Professors, at least). Tune in for a discussion on battle tactics, missing mechanics in games, and ring...
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The Professors are Fired Up about Fire Emblem: Engage
In their next series, the Professors will discuss the latest entry in the storied Fire Emblem series, FE: Engage. Coming off the success of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Engage has mechanics meant to cater to the new fans (such as social sim aspects) but also functions as an homage to older FE games...
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The Professors Learn that Hoppos are Non-Newtonian Fluids
Episode 22: Tune in to hear the Professors discuss their full review of Super Mario Wonder, including: the best and worst in-game badges and power-ups; our interpretation of why/how Elephant Mario exists; and of course, an examination of the physics behind Hoppos.
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(Some of) The Professors Want to Stop and Smell the Wonder Flowers in SMW
In this week, the Professors discuss their first impressions with Super Mario Wonder (spoiler for the first 4 worlds here!). They talk about different mechanics SMW tries, why they work or don't work, whether wonder flowers are gimmicky, and the influence of the Super Mario Bros. Movie on the…
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The Professors Wonder into Super Mario Wonder
The Professors are joined this week by a guest Professor: Math wiz and Nintendo super fan, Dr. Cameron Williams. Along with Cam, this episode centers around the Professors' experience with Mario, Mario's importance to video gaming in general, and the lack of accessibility in first-party Nintendo...
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The Professors Mined, Fished, and Harvested (in that order) in HM: WoA
In continuing their quest to navigate the open-world of Harvest Moon, the Professors found themselves mining much more often than harvesting crops--and they discuss why this is problematic in an ostensibly farming simulator, from a design standpoint.
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The Professors Experience Growing Pains in Harvest Moon: Winds of Anthos
Harvest Moon is a beloved series of farming simulator games that goes back to 1996...or is it? The Professors discuss Harvest Moon the series (its connections to Story of Seasons and Stardew Valley), the ins and outs of the video game business world, and Winds of Anthos' changes to the…
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The Professors Have a Go at Pokémon GO
In this special, one-off episode, the Professors and guest, fellow professor Caroline Koons, discuss the many merits and demerits of Pokémon GO. They discuss their motivations for playing (or not playing!), issues with the current format, and how Pokémon GO perhaps fundamentally misunderstands…
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The Professors Hit the Level Cap in BG3
This week, the Professors engage in a full spoilercast of their experiences playing Baldur’s Gate 3, which include: story arcs, character arcs, and the lack of a main character arc; a discussion of the differences between narrative and morality choices in video games and the illusion of agency in...
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The Professors Fail Their Saving Throw in BG3
As part of their first impressions of BG3, the Professors discuss the difficulties of playing BG3 without prior Dungeons and Dragons knowledge--one of the Professors is having a hard time--how that relates do cognitive dissonance, and may affect enjoyment with the game. Further, the Professors…
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The Professors Roll for Initiative in Baldur's Gate 3
Welcome back and to Season 2 of Professor's Play! We are back from our summer hiatus, and in all our hubris, we decided kick off Season 2 with Baldur's Gate 3--the recently-released CRPG by Larian Studios, heavily inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. In this episode, we discuss D&D, how it is a...
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The Professors Connect on a Personal Level with Persona 4 Golden
In the last (and longest, sorry about that we got excited) episode of Season 1 of Professors Play, the Professors discuss the narrative of P4G, how it made them feel (spoiler: one of them cried), how the characters feel like real people, whether the villain is a worthy one, and all the incredible...
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The Professors Add a Personal Touch to Persona 4 Golden
In the second episode of the Persona 4 Golden series, the professors discuss playing P4G in their own unique ways. Since the game affords much freedom regarding day-to-day activities, the professors have personalized their playthroughs to fit their own preferences. They then discuss playing a…
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The Professors Get Close and Personal with Persona 4 Golden
In the newest series of Professors Play, the Professors will play Persona 4 Golden, the 2012 cult hit RPG by Atlus. One of the professors has played other Persona games and loves the series, but the others will be experiencing it for the first time. The discussion in this episode focuses on the...
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The Professors Close the Portal on the Portal Series
In the final episode of their foray into the Portal series, the Professors discuss both Portal and Portal 2 with full spoilers, focusing the incredible lore and storytelling of the series, the clever writing, and what they would like to see if there was to be a Portal series Director's Cut. Stay...
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The Professors are (Mostly) GLaD(OS) They Played Portal
In this episode of Professors Play, the Professors discuss what we worked and what didn't work for them while playing Portal--spoiler alert, for most of the panel, there was a lot more that didn't work than did. However, the Professors still enjoyed the experience, and one of them even came out…
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The Professors (and Guest!) are Transported into Portal
This week, we begin our new series here at Professors Play! Over the next few weeks, we'll be playing our way through the Portal series (both Portal and Portal 2). For this series, we also have a special guest, fellow gamer (as she admits herself, after some coaxing) and professor, Dr. Amelia...
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The Professors Hades Each Other (but they really don't)
In a feisty and spoiler-filled episode of Professors Play, the professors discuss their favorite and not-so-favorite moments and mechanics in Hades, as well as discuss and digest the tragic nature of Zagreus' story arc in the game. Also, as is tradition, the professors end this episode with a...
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The Professors Go to Hell and Back (Over and Over Again)
In this week's episode, the Professors provide their first impressions on Hades. Spoiler alert: We did not make it out of Hades yet—but we tried, and we tried a lot. Join us for a discussion on what worked and didn’t work for us, passive storytelling (a feature only possible in video games), our...
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The Professors Delve into Hades (the video game)
This week, in the first non-Pokémon episode (finally) of Professors Play, the professors delve into the depths of Hades (the video game) lore. Hades is a roguelite asymetrical beat-em-up, based on Greek mythology. Sounds cool, but what does that even mean? Tune in to find out, via a discussion on...
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The Professors Detect the Truth about the Pokémon World
Welcome back to Professors Play after our winter break hiatus! In the last episode of our Scarlet & Violet series, the professors explore the lore of the Pokémon universe, and try to explain what are Pokémon, how the Pokémon world is set up economically, and why Pokémon and humans cohabitate. We...
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The Professors are (Thunder)shocked at the Ending of Scarlet & Violet
We did it—we finished our nuzlocke run and the game! Well, some of us did… In this episode of PP, Phil, Brandon, and Jon provide their thoughts on the entirety of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. This episode has FULL SPOILERS (even Phil and Brandon were spoiled in here, ugh), so again, beware if you…
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The Professors Take Down the Gym Challenge... But not really.
For our second episode (overall and in this series--symmetry!), Phil, Jon, and Brandon discuss their first impressions with Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. This episode has some spoilers for the early game (but nothing "major"), so beware if you want to go dive into these as complete unknowns. Take a...
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The Professors Tackle a Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Nuzlocke
Welcome to the first episode of Professors Play! This episode features Professors Jon, Brandon, and Phil discussing the upcoming Pokémon games, Scarlet & Violet (you may have heard of them), and prepare for their (mostly) masked Nuzlocke Challenge attempt. Turns out, setting up a Nuzlocke…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Do you like playing video games? Of course you do. But do you also like deeply analyzing them sometimes? Then you're one of us! If that's not your vibe, then you should also listen--our giddy nerdy excitement will make you a believer as well. Every couple of weeks, in this quite-literally named podcast, media professors Phil Chauveau, Jon Adams, and Brandon West will play different games of different types and discuss their experiences, with a tinge of academic-y interjections here and there. Take a listen for some mostly-casual-but-still-deep video game convos!*Also available on YouTube
HOSTED BY
Phil Chauveau
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Professors Play have?
Professors Play currently has 25 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Professors Play about?
Do you like playing video games? Of course you do. But do you also like deeply analyzing them sometimes? Then you're one of us! If that's not your vibe, then you should also listen--our giddy nerdy excitement will make you a believer as well. Every couple of weeks, in this quite-literally named...
How often does Professors Play release new episodes?
Professors Play has 25 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Professors Play?
You can listen to Professors Play on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Professors Play?
Professors Play is created and hosted by Phil Chauveau.
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