PODCAST · leisure
The Free Cheese
by The Free Cheese
The Free Cheese is a weekly video game podcast about video games, brought to you once a week by The Free Cheese dot com. Hosted by Joe Dix and Matt Soellner. Opening theme The Origin by Legna Zeg.
Episodes
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The Free Cheese Episode 683: Crow Country
This week on The Free Cheese, is it cool? A portion of our focus this year has been the exploration of variety within the PlayStation library, but this episode inspects a title inspired by them and designed with modern sensibilities. We arrive at Crow Country, eager to see how it compares to the...
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The Free Cheese Episode 682: Clock Tower
This week on The Free Cheese, snip snip. Our exploration through the PlayStation library takes a turn to horror with the first North American release in the Clock Tower series. We each explore our own version of the story's events, learn the secrets within the game, and do what we can to avoid…
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The Free Cheese Episode 681: Third Quarter, 2026
This week on The Free Cheese, there goes summer. We reflect on another fourth of the year passing by by diving into the biggest news stories from the quarter. We look back at PlayStation canceling...everything? And Xbox collapsing...everything? Meanwhile, Nintendo tries to revitalize the industry...
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The Free Cheese Episode 680: Tecmo's Deception
This week on The Free Cheese, you are now in the Forest of Confusion. We have accepted the invitation to darkness and embark on our adventure into Tecmo's Deception. Exploring and designing the game's castle, we set traps and chase down intruders to defy the irony of self-sought freedom.
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The Free Cheese Episode 679: Blue Stinger
This week on The Free Cheese, Dogs loves to wear this T-shirt. We're trapped on Dinosaur Island and are forced to uncover its secrets when Christmas vacation is significantly interrupted. As Blue Stinger joins The List, we reflect on the Dreamcast and discuss our time with one of its launch titles.
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The Free Cheese Episode 678: Which Game Will You Never Put on The List?
This week on The Free Cheese, how the soup is made. Ahead of selecting another season's worth of video games to play and rank, we talk about what goes into building out a schedule. Then, we share the games that we (probably) won't add to The List (probably).
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The Free Cheese Episode 677: Mario Tennis
This week on The Free Cheese, that is good tennis. The Nintendo 64 brought us many new adventures for Mario, but only one introduced Waluigi to the world. In this episode, we explore Mario Tennis, discuss its technical approach to simulating the sport, and celebrate our tournament wins.
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The Free Cheese Episode 676: Death By Degrees
This week on The Free Cheese, The Free Cheese's Matt Soellner in... With a series of successful mainline entries, all great media must spin-off into a new direction and Namco brought all of its unused ideas to life with Death By Degrees. Departing from the signature gameplay in Tekken, this game...
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The Free Cheese Episode 675: Omega Boost
This week on The Free Cheese, new family Christmas picture. We're playing the one game from the makers of Gran Turismo that isn't about racing, instead seeing what a 1999 rail shooter with FMV cutscenes does that the likes of Star Fox doesn't.
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The Free Cheese Episode 674: Panzer Dragoon Orta
This week on The Free Cheese, you spin me right round. After years trapped on the Sega Saturn, Panzer Dragoon returns on Xbox with Orta, only to stay there ever since. We discuss the gameplay options to switch between and upgrade each dragon from, how boss fights play out, and how dynamic the…
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The Free Cheese Episode 673: No More Heroes
This week on The Free Cheese, shake to kill. We explore the inaugural world of Grasshopper Manufacture's No More Heroes and climb to the top of the assassin's rank. We discuss how the game compliments the Wii controls and what it brings to the greater library on the system.
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The Free Cheese Episode 672: Dead or Alive Xtreme 3
This week on The Free Cheese, we're playing vol lee ball. We've been invited to Zack's island to figure out why people want to go here in the first place.
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The Free Cheese Episode 671: RollerCoaster Tycoon
This week on The Free Cheese, I want to go on something more thrilling than Super Mario Galaxy 2. We revisit a true classic, build some theme parks, and talk about what makes up creating a timeless experience. In RollerCoaster Tycoon, we describe our respective approaches in shaping pathways,...
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The Free Cheese Episode 670: Batman Begins
This week on The Free Cheese, there's a rare, blue flower. After Batman and Robin put Batman's film adventures on hold, the franchise took a journey through many potential futures before finding its path forward in Batman Begins and its eventual trilogy of movies. We see how its movie tie-in…
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The Free Cheese Episode 669: Trauma Center: Under the Knife
This week on The Free Cheese, no more GUILT. We grab what every great surgeon and medical student calls their most important tool: the Nintendo DS stylus. With it in tow, we gel, slice, burn, cut, inject, extract, and stitch our way through Trauma Center: Under the Knife one patient at a time.
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The Free Cheese Episode 668: Second Quarter, 2026
This week on The Free Cheese, the year is half full. We look back over the past ninety days at the video games we've played on and off air, then discuss some video game headlines from the past quarter. We also check in with each of the major platforms and see how Nintendo Switch 2 holds up one…
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The Free Cheese Episode 667: Catherine: Full Body
This week on The Free Cheese, increase the population. You are in a committed relationship and wake up in bed beside another woman. Great job! Now it's time to climb blocks and navigate your social life one conversation at a time. Atlus takes a break from its established franchises to introduce...
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The Free Cheese Episode 666: The House of the Dead
This week on The Free Cheese, reload reload reload. We went to an arcade to return to The House of the Dead for a special episode highlighting Sega and some of its arcade history. We discuss our time with the game, what it's like visiting an arcade in 2026, and where we wish the series would go...
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The Free Cheese Episode 665: Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
This week on The Free Cheese, Mobius 1 has crashed! We take to the skies in the first PlayStation 2 entry in the Ace Combat series. We discuss the story and its presentation, how easy it is to learn to fly, and what lasted with us by the end of our time with Ace Combat 04.
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The Free Cheese Episode 664: Maken X
This week on The Free Cheese, it's a blade master's fate. Atlus, your friends behind the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series, once made a first-person action game for the Sega Dreamcast. We play and discuss Maken X, appreciate its sound design (and question a few of the choices), and reminisce…
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The Free Cheese Episode 663: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
This week on The Free Cheese, Sly, raccoon on feet. We return to the second PlayStation to explore one of its core third-person platforming franchises, Sly Cooper. After exploring the world created by Sucker Punch Productions, we share our thoughts on what this first entry does right from the...
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The Free Cheese Episode 662: Final Fantasy XIII
This week on The Free Cheese, welcome to Cocoon. We add our first Final Fantasy game to The List with the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, Final Fantasy XIII. After years of hearing the global criticism of the game, we explore how much of that was echoes and what was reality.…
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The Free Cheese Episode 661: Intelligent Qube
This week on The Free Cheese, beginning of universe. Our exploration of the PlayStation continues this week with the grid-based puzzle game, Intelligent Qube. We appreciate its simplicity and how intense the stages can become, discuss the replayability, and then rank it on The List.
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The Free Cheese Episode 660: Video Game Franchises and How We Connect to Them
This week on The Free Cheese, when was the last time they made one of those? We explore the recent notion that the release gaps of new entries in franchises are failing to build deeper connections with younger players. From there, we discuss the franchises we connected with and why we stay…
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The Free Cheese Episode 659: Tomba!
This week on The Free Cheese, in the bag, pig! We take control of the pink-haired, chomping Tomba to discover a PlayStation adventure that has long invited us into its world. Through our time with it, we explore the twisting, turning map and try to stop the inevitably evil pigs.
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The Free Cheese Episode 658: WWE: SmackDown vs. Raw 2007
This week on The Free Cheese, now we're running the show. As the WWE series makes its debut on the next generation (in 2006), we see what's different and what this era in simulation wrestling has to offer. We each take on the role of GM and work through a season of broadcast to find a new champion.
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The Free Cheese Episode 657: Resident Evil Requiem
This week on The Free Cheese, sorry, but we're not on the menu. We set a new record for release time to ranking with Resident Evil Requiem, adding it to The List just over a month since its release. We discuss what makes Requiem different while still maintaining the series, how it drives the…
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The Free Cheese Episode 656: Ecco the Dolphin
This week on The Free Cheese, let's push blocks against the current. We finally explore the depths of the ocean, taking control of Ecco the Dolphin in his titular adventure. We struggle with the game's difficulty but find ourselves continually enamored with its narrative and ambition. Matt finds...
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The Free Cheese Episode 655: First Quarter, 2026
This week on The Free Cheese, pretend it's season 9. We take a break from the weekly ranking of video games to reflect on the first quarter of the year. We discuss the games we've played for fun that we haven't talked about on the show, some of the news stories that have made an impact in 2026 so...
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The Free Cheese Episode 654: James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire
This week on The Free Cheese, there's no movie? Just in time for the delayed release of the latest 007 video game, we wander back to the early 2000s to explore Agent Under Fire. We discuss the various mission types, how gadgets play into gameplay, and what makes a good James Bond video game.…
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The Free Cheese Episode 653: Vanquish
This week on The Free Cheese, I'm gonna make these cigarettes disappear. We take control of Sam and find out what happens when Shinji Mikami directs PlatinumGames' Bayonetta reimagined with some Gears of War. If that sounds like a lot of things happening at once, you haven't played Vanquish.
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The Free Cheese Episode 652: F1 Race Stars
This week on The Free Cheese, it's kind of like F-Zero but not in zero gravity. We're traveling back to a peculiar video game entry in the F1 series of video games, where its main developer Codemasters merged the world of F1 with kart racing. Just in time for the start of the season, we take a…
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The Free Cheese Episode 651: Marathon
This week on The Free Cheese, I'm only here for the bumper sticker. Just ahead of the launch of a long-awaited successor, we check out Bungie's Marathon from 1994 for an introduction to the series and what would inspire not only the upcoming extraction shooter, but what led to the world of Halo.…
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The Free Cheese Episode 650: Jumping Flash
This week on The Free Cheese, how high can you get? A true PlayStation classic joins The List this week as we discover Jumping Flash for our 650th episode. We discuss its release contextually against its contemporaries, share our time spent with the game, and talk about how it embodies the spirit...
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The Free Cheese Episode 649: Yoot Tower
This week on The Free Cheese, if you build it, will they come? How does the simulation genre stack up when things go vertical? Can we succeed in building and managing a resort in Hawaii or a business complex in Tokyo? Find out as Yoot Tower joins The List in this episode.
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The Free Cheese Episode 648: The Warriors
This week on The Free Cheese, we came out and played. What happens when a developer with newfound fame and respect gets to make a prequel to one of its favorite movies from 25 years earlier? We find out when we add another Rockstar game to The List and see what The Warriors was bringing to...
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The Free Cheese Episode 647: Cooking Mama
This week on The Free Cheese, just like mama taught you. We wield the stylus to guide us through every recipe we can as we explore a Nintendo DS staple, Cooking Mama. Is this the perfect DS companion or just another bargain bin select? Grab your apron and find out!
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The Free Cheese Episode 646: Katamari Damacy
This week on The Free Cheese, na na na na na na na. We're rolling everything up this week as Katamari Damacy joins The List. We discuss our favorite stages, how a video game can maintain engagement with a simple mechanic, and the importance of a great control scheme.
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The Free Cheese Episode 645: Incredible Crisis
This week on The Free Cheese, Matt wants a game to be more like Mario Party. We work dilligently through a series of mini games to help the Tanamatsuri family get home for grandmother's birthday. As part of our deeper exploration of the PlayStation library this year, Incredible Crisis brings a...
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The Free Cheese Episode 644: Bloodrayne
This week on The Free Cheese, the year of the vampire. For the first game in Season 14, we explore the early 2000s by way of its vampire assassin, female lead character action hack-and-slash genre. Or as you might call it, Bloodrayne. We take Rayne on a journey around the world, one button at a...
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The Free Cheese Episode 643: Season 14 Premiere
This week on The Free Cheese, 2026 begins! It is time for our favorite episode of the year, a look ahead at the year to come. We reflect on predictions made one year ago, then set our sights on the months ahead as hope is not yet dead. 2026 invites us to celebrate a number of anniversaries in…
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The Free Cheese Episode 642: Season 13 Finale | Part II
This week on The Free Cheese, 2025 is over. We talk about everything we didn't talk about during the podcast this year. We each share the games we played that weren't covered on the show, the obsessions we found ourselves sliding into, and how certain themes layered our year. Then, we look at…
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The Free Cheese Episode 641: Season 13 Finale | Part I
This week on The Free Cheese, this is the end of right now but there is more to come! In the first half of our two-part Season 13 finale, we're looking back at the episodes from this year and the games we played. We take a look at The List in different formats, ranking it individually and by…
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The Free Cheese Episode 640: Retro Magazine Read | Game Informer December 2000
This week on The Free Cheese, can't someone else do it? We celebrate the end of the quarter century and the return of Game Informer by reading its 92nd issue from December 2000. We explore its cover story, read through its letters, previews, and reviews. Then, we have a scavenger hunt through the...
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The Free Cheese Episode 639: Fighting Force
This week on The Free Cheese, did you know that cars blow up after just six punches? When Eidos set out to create a new Streets of Rage, Sega passed and instead we got Fighting Force. We play through its campaign, discuss how cool it is to pick up anything in the environment, and see how well…
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The Free Cheese Episode 638: Resident Evil 6
This week on The Free Cheese, we're going to China. We join up and play through the campaign of Resident Evil 6 cooperatively to see why this entry was so divisive at the time of its release. We discuss each of the campaigns in the game, what Capcom got right, and where we think the series…
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The Free Cheese Episode 637: Animal Crossing | Part IV: Autumn
This week on The Free Cheese, we escape the demands of a raccoon tyrant. As our year of Animal Crossing comes to a close, we start by looking back at the game's changes and updates for the fall season. We share thoughts around the staying power of a living game like this and reflect on a full…
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The Free Cheese Episode 636: Suikoden
This week on The Free Cheese, don't drink the tea on Mt. Tigerwolf. We wander the world of Suikoden to collect the 108 Stars of Destiny and save the world. After years of hearing the fan adoration of the series, we finally see what Konami's exploration into the role-playing game has to offer. We...
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The Free Cheese Episode 635: System Shock
This week on The Free Cheese, there's always a... wait. We explore Citadel Station in Nightdive Studios' remake of the seminal System Shock. We discuss the game's presentation and its reliance on your active participation as a player, as well as what that means in the long run.
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The Free Cheese Episode 634: Monster Hunter Wilds
This week on The Free Cheese, the Guild authorizes you to engage with this podcast. Monster Hunter Wilds launched near the beginning of this year and we jumped in together right away. In this episode, we cover our time with the campaign, what it's like to finally have crossplay and an open world…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Free Cheese is a weekly video game podcast about video games, brought to you once a week by The Free Cheese dot com. Hosted by Joe Dix and Matt Soellner. Opening theme The Origin by Legna Zeg.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Free Cheese have?
The Free Cheese currently has 680 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Free Cheese about?
The Free Cheese is a weekly video game podcast about video games, brought to you once a week by The Free Cheese dot com. Hosted by Joe Dix and Matt Soellner. Opening theme The Origin by Legna Zeg.
How often does The Free Cheese release new episodes?
The Free Cheese releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 680 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to The Free Cheese?
You can listen to The Free Cheese 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 The Free Cheese?
The Free Cheese is created and hosted by The Free Cheese.
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