Pixel Therapy Pod

This week we're joined by AstralShift's Kira (António Lopes / @kirariinn) to talk everything Little Goody Two Shoes -- a lush, gorgeously detailed horror-adventure-visual novel following Elise, a rebellious young woman daring to build a better life for herself in a deceptively peaceful small town. The game expertly explores the queer subtext beneath the horrors of witch hunts and religious ostracization, and we had an absolutely lovely time unpacking it with the game's lead artist and co-director!

PS - there's still time to enter our giveaway of a Steam key for Little Goody Two Shoes! Just visit patreon.com/pixeltherapypod and sign up as a free or paid subscriber! The winner will be notified on Patreon by this Sunday, May 5th. Thanks, AstralShift!

0:52 - Patreon shoutouts

3:04 - Introduction of Kira

7:19 - Discussion of Little Goody Two Shoes begins

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/wp8zS3TyjX8

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, originally released in 2013 to critical and fan acclaim, transformed the way many people thought about what games could be and laid the groundwork for director Josef Fares' later explorations in cooperative mechanics (y'all may remember his title It Takes Two won Game of the Year in 2021!). Lovingly remade by Italian developer Avantgarden, critics have been torn on Brothers 2024 -- but we sure aren't! Join us as we re-traumatize ourselves on this heartbreaking adventure while Spencer recaps their experience at GDC 2024.

For real though: Content warning for discussions of gameplay involving depictions of attempted suicide and death.

0:58 - Patreon shoutouts

3:09 - Spencer went to GDC

34:58 - Brothers conversation begins

1:07:27 - Content Warning: Mention of Suicide

1:10:35 - End of Content Warning section

1:17:09 - SPOILERS for Brothers

1:35:10 - End of Spoilers

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/Etg-ZgICP-g

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Join us as we break down DON'T NOD's spiritual Vampyr successor, the doomed love story of ghost hunters Red and Antea in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.

0:45 - Patreon shoutouts

3:05 - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

9:10 - Showtime's The Curse

16:51 - discussion of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden begins

Side Quest

tinyurl.com/opolivebranch

Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.

Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/Cppl6h4hWh8

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

This week, we're so excited to welcome cartoonist, animator, and game developer Adrienne Bazir (she/they) into the studio to talk about their 2023 timeloop RPG, In Stars and Time!

In Stars and Time is a turn-based RPG that follows a group of adventurers at the end of their journey to defeat a king slowly freezing the land in time. It's also a game about found family, snacks, cosmic indifference, and the power in knowing where you come from and embracing who you are. Safe to say it has us in a chokehold.

0:57 - patreon shoutouts

2:07 - introduction of adrienne

6:53 - discussion of In Stars and Time begins

Learn more about Adrienne and In Stars and Time:

https://www.insertdisc5.com/

https://www.instarsandtime.com/ - available now on Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch!

Side Quest

https://www.instagram.com/anat.international/ 

Salma Shawa (@anat.international) is a content creator pushing followers to think critically about Palestine. Give her a follow on Instagram!

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Welcome to our third annual totally unserious end of year review! Let's dive into some of the games that we were especially delighted, transported, and inspired by in 2023.

3:27 - thank you!

7:14 - 2023 in games - great games vs. terrible layoffs

17:04 - recapping our year in games

31:49 - our 2023 Top 5 games

1:41:58 - honorable mentions

1:48:32 - favorite character of the year

Articles Referenced

https://www.theverge.com/24009039/video-game-layoffs-2023

Side Quest

https://www.instagram.com/connectinghumanity_/

Connecting Humanity is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting vulnerable people in conflict zones by distributing e-sims, digital sim cards allowing for connection to a cellular network, bringing vital communication to family, between medical providers and patients, and more in Gaza and beyond. Check them out on Instagram!

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

As we close out a difficult year, two great games with interesting parallels remind us to keep it pushing -- with profound meditations on what happens when we look away from the world and from each other. In Rundisc's Chants of Sennaar, a hooded protagonist strives to reach the top of a mysterious tower while decoding language barriers that have kept its inhabitants isolated for generations. In Don't Nod's Jusant, a young climber scales an abandoned mountain in a treacherous journey to restore balance to a planet trapped in limbo. And they both slap!!!!

1:51 - Patreon shoutouts! Thank you all!

4:09 - Casual home disaster chat (thanks for your patience as we've rescheduled lately!)

6:27 - We both finished Sea of Stars!

17:23 - Jusant and Chants of Sennaar conversation

Article referenced:

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23864920/chants-of-sennaar-review-puzzles-stealth

Side Quest

https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/

The Anti Police-Terror Project is a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color. We support families surviving police terror in their fight for justice, documenting police abuses and connecting impacted families and community members with resources, legal referrals, and opportunities for healing.

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Jala Jayaratne is a bisexual mess! In Outerloop Games' Thirsty Suitors (published by Annapurna Interactive), she skates, cooks, and battles her way through emotionally intense psychodrama encounters with her exes on the path towards accountability and redemption. You know, your classic visit home. Join us as we gush over this absolutely gorgeous game and dive into its endearing emotional depth and celebration of queer truth!

Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our upcoming streams!

• Tue, Nov 28 @ 8PM ET
• Thu, Nov 30 @ 8PM ET

Article referenced:

https://www.wired.com/review/thirsty-suitors-review/

Side Quest

https://ceasefiretoday.com/

This is an international collection of resources designed to help you demand a ceasefire in Gaza from your local representatives, spread awareness in your social networks, and donate to humanitarian causes on the ground who are working tirelessly to provide lifesaving medical aid to children and other vulnerable civilians.

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

Nautical nonsense is absolutely something we wish -- and we never want it to end. Especially when it comes to Die Gute Fabrik's latest narrative adventure masterpiece, Saltsea Chronicles! Join us as we dive into a game full of riches to share, lessons to teach, and mechanics that continue to reimagine and expand what a "visual novel" can be.

4:09 - Our Flag Means Death S2 reactions (no spoilers!)

7:50 - Fingersmith and The Handmaiden

15:24 - Saltsea Chronicles discussion begins

Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our upcoming Let's Play streams as we scream our way through Alan Wake Remastered!

• Tue, Oct 31 @ 8PM ET
• Thu, Nov 02 @ 8PM ET

Articles and posts referenced:

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/deep-dive-designing-the-narrative-for-multiple-middles-and-multiple-heroes-in-saltsea-chronicles

https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/saltsea-chronicles/saltsea-chronicles-beautifully-finds-a-way-forward

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/die-gute-fabrik-and-the-necessity-to-tackle-climate-inaction

Side Quest

https://gazachildrensfund.org/

The Gaza Strip has been under siege for over a decade, with a dangerous decline in the standard of living, unrelenting poverty and inadequate healthcare. Gaza is a continuing disaster zone.

Gaza Children’s Fund Inc. is a not for profit organisation founded in 2010, by a group of volunteers and social activists, to help address the issues concerning disadvantaged Palestinians.

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

It's a beefy one this week, bois and gworls! Join us as we dive into the year's biggest RPGs -- Larian Studios' long-awaited Dungeons and Dragons adventure Baldur's Gate 3, and Bethesda's much-hyped interstellar action installment Starfield, its first new universe in 25 years!

PLUS: We're livestreaming now! Check us out on YouTube, and thanks for all of your support!

4:55 - Patreon shoutouts

7:20 - Spencer's big surprise

11:02 - The triumphant return of Mr. Peepers 💀

13:29 - Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3 discussion begins

Articles and posts referenced:

https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/60561/1/baldurs-gate-iii-larian-studios-the-queerest-video-game-of-all-time-bear

https://roleplayersguild.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/ed-greenwood-on-dragonspears-controversy/

https://twitter.com/WritNelson/status/1677632079792668673

Side Quest

Did you know that the five day workweek in the US was established in October? So this week we wanted to let you know about Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, a coalition of community, faith, and labor groups in Massachusetts organizing working people and allies to fight for the rights of all workers: locally, nationally, and internationally. 

Their mission is to defend working people’s standard of living, fight for job security, protect our right to organize and support contract campaigns and strikes. 

Donate and get involved at massjwj.net!

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod

An end-of-summer extravaganza of queer coming-of-age narrative adventure musicals was not on my bingo card for 2023, but here we are and we're not complaining about it! Join us as we explore two games that could not be more different in their tone and execution, but are linked by coincidental parallels in the form of two player characters striving to understand themselves and their respective worlds through song (and maybe kiss someone along the way). Check out KO_OP's Goodbye Volcano High and Summerfall Studios' Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, out now on Steam and PlayStation 4/5 (as well as Xbox and Nintendo Switch for Stray Gods!).

0:56 - Patreon shoutouts

5:01 - Check-in on Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3

7:20 - Stray Gods and Goodbye Volcano High discussion

Heads up that our next episode will be out in 4 weeks, as we wrap our heads around two beefy bois: Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3!!!

Side Quest

Grimalkin Records provides queer, trans, BIPOC, disabled, and neurodiverse artists support and access towards living authentic, healthy and fulfilling lives through partnerships and connections with other individuals, collectives, organizations, and nonprofits.

As a non-profit, volunteer-run, mutual aid organization, they rely on community support to do the work that they do. Learn more about financial and non-financial ways to support at grimalkinrecords.com!

About Pixel Therapy

We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod