PODCAST · leisure
The Short Game
by The Short Game
A podcast about video games that respect your time
Episodes
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IFComp 2026 2: Community Recommendations!
We're back with our 2nd IFComp Episode, this time focusing on community picks from our discord! The Short Game is listener supported on Patreon. Check out the Patreon and links to join our discord at www.shortgame.fm.
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IFComp 2026
The Short Game kicks off its 2026 IFComp coverage with a new three-episode format, along with a brief chat about custom IF engines and the comp's new AI rules. 0:00 - Intro and IFComp Basics 5:00 - How We Are Covering IFComp This Year 10:54 - 9 Days in a Van with Your 3 Best Friends by Nathan…
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The Incident at Galley House
Shane and Laura played The Incident at Galley House, Evil Trout's remake of William Rous's TypeHelp. Before the spoiler break they discuss the game's deduction interface and some gameplay highlights, then they had so much to talk about they needed TWO spoiler breaks: one for "what's going on"…
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Pizza Possum
This week, Nate, Laura, and Shane play Pizza Possum — a chaotic arcade game that's stealthy and snackable. We talk about the gorgeous Italian countryside, dog cops, difficulty spikes, and the little bits of polish and shine that make this one sing. Plus possum stories, pizza tales, and a literary...
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Deltarune Chapter 5
We return to you with our extended coverage of indie phenomenon Deltarune, now in it's 5th episode.
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Grab Bag: Short (and Not-So-Short) Games
This week, Shane and Laura talk about some Short, and Not So Short Games. (00:00) - Grab Bag: Short Games and Not-So-Short Games (00:06) - Intro (00:58) - Hermit and Pig (07:59) - Little Guardsman (10:02) - Split Fiction (12:51) - Dispatch and Hugo Video Game Nominees (18:11) - Map Map (22:45) -...
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King of the Bridge
Think you're good at chess? That might not be helpful in this troll bridge troll chess game made by a solo dev. Nate & Laura break down why this game is fun, frustrating, and worth your time (~2 hours), even if it doesn't always feel like it. The Short Game is listener supported on Patreon. Visit...
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Forbidden Solitaire
Turns out if someone hands us a haunted CD-ROM, we are playing it. This week, Laura once again tricks the whole podcast into playing solitaire, only this time it's *Forbidden*. OooooOOooooOOO. Forbidden Solitaire was made by Grey Alien Games and Night Signal Entertainment, and should take about…
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Titanium Court
Titanium Court. An absurd game that refuses to explain itself. Winner of the 2025 Whoever McSomeone Grand Prize.
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Skate Story
This week we're talking Skate Story, a skateboarding game where you're a demon made of glass and pain on a mission to eat the moon. We open with skaterboi stories before kicking into the game's large arsenal of tricks, vaporwave soundtrack, and surprisingly difficult boss fights. Curse you, The...
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Wheel World
This week on The Short Game, we're toodling around bicycle Valhalla in Wheel World, the open-world cycling game from the developers of Nidhogg. Laura and Shane explore beautiful Italian landscapes, customize bikes, and discuss why this might be the most relaxing racing game we've played. This...
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BALL x PIT
In this episode of The Short Game, Nate, Laura, and Shane dive into BALL x PIT, a roguelite block breaker published by Devolver Digital. Recorded a couple of months ago, the episode comes out in time for the release of a free DLC adding new content to the game. The discussion covers the game's...
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TR-49
A voice is saying your name. A WWII-era machine, long hidden in a church basement, whirs to life. Through a crackling speaker, a man asks you to find a stolen book. He only knows the title. Time is running out. Inkle has made a Database Thriller. An Interface Game. Or are we just calling these...
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Absolum
This week we are talking about Absolum, a roguelike beat 'em up from Streets of Rage 4 developers Guard Crush Games and publisher Dotemu. This was one of those games that would probably have been near the top of our 2025 GOTY list if we'd managed to all play and discuss it before the end of the...
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IFComp 2025
We're continuing to shake the cobwebs out of the podcast, and this week we're bringing you our coverage of IFComp 2025. Normally we cover the whole competition with multiple episodes as its running, but this year we didn't quite manage that. We couldn't escape 2025 without talking about the comp...
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Short Game Game of the Year 2025
It's been a weird year, but we're ready to round up the best Short Games of 2025! We're also awarding our other highly prized honors like Dirtbag of the Year and Most "Little Guy who Goes Around." This might be the last episode of 2025, but it's also the first episode of The Short Game Season 2.…
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444: Deltarune Chapter 4
After a somewhat unplanned summer break, the Short Game crew is returning to talk about the fourth chapter of Deltarune! (00:00) - 444: Deltarune Chapter 4 (03:17) - Surprise! Structure is Different! (10:32) - Picking up right after Chapter 3 (11:19) - Going to Church! (19:29) - Noelle's House...
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443: Fan Games on Steam Deck
The Steam Deck is the number one console(ish) platform for playing ILLEGAL GAMES that Nintendo doesn’t want you to play! This week we’re talking about games that STEAL intellectual property from the RICH FAT CATS at Nintendo and their cronies and remix it into FREE GAMES for the PEOPLE. (00:00) -...
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442: Deltarune Chapter 3
Toby Fox is back, and it’s TV TIME! Previously: Episode 320 – Chapter 1 Episode 324 – Chapter 2 Episode 65 – Undertale Episode 66 – Undertale Spoilers (00:00) - 422: Deltarune Chapter 3 (14:37) - Remembering Chapters 1 and 2 (26:50) - Spoiler Break - Chapter 3 Story Spoilers! (54:40) - Wrap Up
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441: ENA: Dream BBQ
From the depths of Steam and YouTube comes ENA, a strange polygonal girl in a surreal hypercapitalist dreamscape. Your hosts were left wondering what the hell this was all about, and why is it so incredibly beautifully animated? (00:00) - ENA: Dream BBQ (33:21) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?...
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440: Skin Deep
Indie game royalty Blendo aka Brendan Chung, creator of Thirty Flights of Loving and Quadrilateral Cowboy among others has come out of his cicada-like 7 year dev cycle with another instant classic. Skin Deep is an immersive sim about popping the detachable heads off of space pirates and flushing...
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439: Despelote
A video game memoir by Ecuadorian indie developers Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena, and published by Panic, Despelote takes you back to a childhood in 2001 Ecuador, and the magical grip soccer held over the entire country during the lead-up to the 2002 World Cup. This is something we have...
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438: Many Nights a Whisper
We’re talking about Many Nights a Whisper, a short, meditative archery (kinda!) game from Red Strings Club developer Deconstructeam and Selkie Harbour. The Dreamer has prepared their entire life for one impossible shot that will define a generation. Hear the wishes of your people, and prepare for...
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437: Expelled! Spoilers!
We spent this week playing a bit more of Inkle’s follow up to Overboard!, and made some shocking discoveries! (00:00) - Expelled! Spoilers! (05:42) - Big Surprises (30:51) - The Content Warnings! (32:38) - Getting Away With It (47:35) - Loose Threads (56:19) - Resetting your Evil Meter (59:24) -...
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436: Trash the Planet
This week, Laura and Nate dive into Trash the Planet, a free, browser-based resource-management game that subverts clicker mechanics to serve its narrative. You play as a group of raccoons who start out collecting trash and, through a rapid evolution of society, end up ruling the...
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435: FlyKnight
Shane and Nate were buzzing about FlyKnight, a $5 indie dungeon crawler that surprised us with its humor and depth. In this episode, we break down what makes this tiny first-person RPG so fun, from its retro aesthetic and first person Souls-like combat to its great co-op potential. Should you bug...
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434: Expelled! An Overboard! Game
Expelled! is the latest game from all-star narrative design studio Inkle. It’s a follow up to our 2021 Game of the Year winner Overboard!, and it builds on that game’s strengths in every conceivable area. A School Prefect has been pushed out of a window, and everyone says YOU did it! Now you have...
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433: A Huge Year for Small Games
Steam Next Fest just concluded and the Short Game team searched through the mountain of demos to discuss some of the most exciting games with short game energy coming out this year. 00:00 Intro 04:09 WYRMHALL: Brush and Banter 09:12 Wheel World 18:19 Despelote 25:08 Creepy Redneck Dinosaur…
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432: Sheepy: A Short Adventure
All four co-hosts are present and accounted for as we talk about ultra-short platformer, Sheepy: A Short Adventure. It’s right there in the name! Sheepy is a FREE game on Steam and itch.io, and it’ll take you about an hour. It’s surprisingly polished for a free release, with charming animations…
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431: Fight’N Rage
Rats with Knives! It’s time to finally talk about Fight’N Rage! This has been on the back burner for a while; it was first suggested to us nearly 4 years ago as a modern, mechanically interesting beat ’em up in the vein of Streets of Rage 4. “Easy to play, hard to master” is a bit of a cliche…
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430: Steam Deck Chat
This week we are welcoming long time friend of the show Jason McIntosh (aka Jmac, aka Halstrick) who’s joining us to talk about the Valve Steam Deck. It’s been about three years since the Steam Deck launched, and it’s had a profound effect on the way all of us play games. Also, Laura just got…
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429: Grunn
How has it taken us ten years to get around to covering a Sokpop game? The venerable but very weird indie collective has put out a fascinating perfectly normal gardening game. Ahem. OK fine, Grunn is a short take in the non-linear, first-person, time-loopy, exploration, Outer Wild-like genre…
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428: Parking Garage Rally Circuit
I’M ON ANOTHER… ON ANOTHER LEVEL This week we are talking about the retro-inspired, Ska-infused rally car racer Parking Garage Rally Circuit. Race through the most iconic parking structures of the US! It’s a really great little game to welcome the show back to 2025. Stick around after for our…
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427: Game of the Year 2024
It’s Game of the Year time again! This week we’re looking back at 2024 to pick the best short video game of the year, and recognize some other great games as well. 00:00 Intro 04:52 Game of the Year 12:00 Short Short Game of the Year – For Rules Lawyers! 15:51 1000 Hour Short Game 23:47 Most...
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426: Game Mixology
This Thanksgiving week the hosts gathered to play a bit of a game, trying to match short games to randomly chosen genres and adjectives. What’s a David Lynchian Platformer, or an “I Want To Go To There” Card Game? What on Earth is Snacks ‘n Jaxson? All will be revealed. Happy Holidays!
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425: Neva
Press Y to Neva There’s a certain sector of our listenership that loves it when we talk about games that don’t work for us. If that’s you, then please enjoy our discussion of Neva, the latest game from the developers of Gris. Raise your teleporting wolf-deer-puppy, nurturing her through many...
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424: 1000xRESIST
What a story. 1000xRESIST is one of the best works of science fiction we’ve seen in a game, and it opens new territory at the intersection of visual novels, adventure games, and interactive fiction while drawing on other media like film and theater. 1000 years in the future, humanity is all but...
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423: Miscellaneous
This is a show nominally about video games. (00:00) - Miscellaneous (02:24) - Crazy Story, Shane! (07:06) - Raygan's VR Corner (22:37) - Arcade Expo (37:20) - What to play with family at Christmas? (46:00) - Books? (56:31) - Some other recommendations (01:02:33) - Outro
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422: Mouthwashing
An unsettling game for the tail end of spooky season. Mouthwashing is a non-linear narrative horror game about a doomed space freighter and her crew. Please enjoy Dragonsbreath X mouthwash. (00:00) - Mouthwashing (22:31) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (22:53) - Nate: Cuphead and Piano…
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421: IFComp 2024 Part 3
We cover a few more games before the close of the comp. Get those votes in! 00:00 IFComp 2024 Part III 01:50 An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House & What You Found There by Mandy Benanav 08:29 The Apothecary’s Assistant by Allyson Gray 15:37 Imprimatura by Elizabeth Ballou 22:45 Welcome...
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420: A Little to the Left
This has been recommended to us a lot, so we finally decided to clean out those drawers and organize those bookshelves. A surprisingly fun series of tiny organization puzzles which added up to an interesting discussion! (00:00) - A Little to the Left (35:14) - What's Making Us Happy This Week?...
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419: IFComp 2024 Part 2
Laura and Raygan talk about another handful of games from this year’s interactive fiction competition. [00:00:52] LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST by THE BODY & THE BLOOD [00:21:46] A Very Strong Gland by Arthur DiBianca [00:27:22] Bad Beer by Vivian Dunstan [00:30:32] Birding in Pope Lick…
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418: I Am Your Beast
A quick episode about a very fast game. I Am Your Beast is the latest game from Strange Scaffold and Xalavier Nelson Jr. Even more “boomer shooter”-y than previous Short Game favorite El Paso, Elsewhere, I Am Your Beast tells a John Wick-meets-Rambo story across a series of compact score-attack...
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417: IFComp 2024 Part 1
Surprise! The comp started early! Well we were surprised anyway. We’re kicking off our coverage of this year’s IFComp with impressions of the following games: The Bat by Chandler Groover ROD MCSCHLONG GETS PUNCHED IN THE DONG by Hubert Janus You Can’t Save Her by Sarah Mak Forsaken Denizen by...
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416: Valley Peaks
Frog Fatigue and Frog Enthusiasm abound in this discussion of open world first person mountain climbing game Valley Peaks. (00:00) - Intro (04:44) - Valley Peaks (34:11) - Frog Fatigue (35:26) - Frog Enthusiasm (39:07) - What's Making Us Happy This Week? (39:10) - Laura - The Talented Mr. Ripley...
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415: Video Game Books
In this topic episode, Laura and Raygan go through their bookshelves to talk about the video game books they have enjoyed. Art books, game design books, history, and even novels. (00:00) - 415: Video Game Books (00:10) - Intro (01:02) - Video Game Books (02:24) - Art Books (03:10) - Bitmap Books...
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414: Thank Goodness You’re Here!
A surreal comedy “slapformer” about a little guy who goes around. (00:00) - 414: Thank Goodness You're Here! (26:54) - Outro
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413: Clickolding
You click it real good. (00:00) - Clickolding (26:39) - What's Making Me Happy This Week? (26:52) - Shane - No Man’s Sky Updates (32:27) - Nate - Laughing at Star Trek Discovery (38:40) - Raygan - The Hands of the Emperor (47:09) - Outro
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412: Felvidek
Doth these nitwits hast what it takes to properly divine the qualities of this absolutely bizarre JRPG?
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Favorite Gaming Moments
Let’s dig into the memory hole and try to remember why we love games. What are some of your favorite gaming moments?
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A podcast about video games that respect your time
HOSTED BY
The Short Game
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How many episodes does The Short Game have?
The Short Game currently has 485 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Short Game about?
A podcast about video games that respect your time
How often does The Short Game release new episodes?
The Short Game publishes regularly with 485 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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