Fire Escape Cast #108

Summary

Fire Escape Cast - Episode #108 Summary
Release Date: June 2, 2025
Hosts: Mike Mahardy, Dan Reichert, Mary Kish

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1. Cocktails and Home Bar Setup

The episode kicks off with Dan Reichert showcasing his enhanced home bar setup, discussing various liqueurs and mixers he's acquired through Amazon Prime deliveries. The hosts delve into the intricacies of crafting cocktails, particularly focusing on rum-based drinks like the "Trade Winds."

Dan Reichert [01:03]: "It's supposed to have an upside down umbrella in it. Like it got blown up from the trade winds."
Mary Kish [02:10]: "I always forget the names, but yeah. I don't know. It's all good stuff."

2. Imaginary "Margaritaville" Military Force

A humorous segment unfolds where the hosts imagine a fictitious military force styled after the carefree atmosphere of Margaritaville. They create vivid imagery of soldiers in Hawaiian shirts wielding umbrella spears and engaging in unconventional combat tactics.

Mary Kish [04:03]: "Everybody's a friend in Margaritaville."
Dan Reichert [05:08]: "Led by four-star Margaritaville General Mike Minati."

3. Health Concerns and Wellbeing

Dan shares personal health challenges, including experiencing dark blood mucus from his nose and throat, coupled with stomach issues. The conversation transitions into a discussion about the broader implications of decriminalizing drugs in Oregon, highlighting the challenges in providing adequate rehabilitation resources.

Dan Reichert [15:11]: "It's like, I felt good on the outside, but I have crippling headaches behind my eyes and stuff."
Mary Kish [11:28]: "If you're refusing treatment to jail, that's how I feel."

4. Bowling Adventures

Mary Kish recounts her recent involvement in a bowling league, detailing her experience with custom-drilled bowling balls from Larry's Pro Shop in Portland. The hosts express enthusiasm about the sport, discussing techniques and the social aspects of bowling.

Mary Kish [32:11]: "I don't think I have the hardest job of us three."
Dan Reichert [34:49]: "It's a dog. Yeah."

5. Video Game Discussions

A substantial portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing recent video game releases and industry trends. The hosts delve into titles like Doom Dark Ages, Doom Eternal, and the remastered versions of Doom 1 & 2. They analyze game mechanics, storytelling approaches, and the evolution of franchises like Mortal Kombat and Mario Kart.

Mike Mahardy [44:40]: "I like Dark Ages a lot. It's good."
Dan Reichert [52:04]: "We have heard from Mike Minati that he gets some salacious emails."

6. Listener Emails and Food Pairings

Listeners' questions are addressed, focusing on foods that taste better at room temperature and wine pairings for various casual dishes. The hosts provide insightful and humorous recommendations, enhancing the interactive element of the podcast.

Pete from Central Coast Australia [95:18]: "What are other foods that are better at room temp after they've been left out than when they are fresh?"
Mike Mahardy [121:12]: "Cheese and sweet chili sauce on toast... I would go with a Pinot Noir."

7. Animal Anecdotes

The hosts share amusing stories about their pets, highlighting the distinct behaviors of cats versus dogs. Dan talks about his cat, Boss, and his experiences watching the movie Bourne Supremacy, while Mike and Mary discuss the quirky antics of their own animals.

Dan Reichert [137:07]: "Boss was just like sitting on the table in front of the couch every time there's a bullet or a helicopter going by."
Mary Kish [139:38]: "Every time I hear the anthem, my... you had me in the Hamptons at your bachelor party."

8. Upcoming Projects and Community Support

Towards the end, the hosts discuss their ongoing projects and encourage listeners to support their ventures through platforms like Patreon and their official websites. They mention collaborations, future game reviews, and community engagement initiatives.

Dan Reichert [136:34]: "GiantBomb.com join support us and just check out our stuff."
Mike Mahardy [134:05]: "Through there, through Instagram. Okay."

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Notable Moments:

• Humorous Imaginations: The playful creation of a Margaritaville army added a light-hearted touch to the episode.

• Personal Health Discussions: Dan's openness about his health struggles fostered a sincere and relatable conversation.

• In-Depth Game Analysis: The detailed discussions on Doom and other games provided valuable insights for gaming enthusiasts.

• Engaging Listener Interaction: Addressing listener emails about food and wine pairings enriched the interactive experience.

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Conclusion:

Episode #108 of Fire Escape Cast offers a blend of humor, personal anecdotes, and in-depth discussions on video games and lifestyle topics. The hosts maintain their signature casual and engaging style, ensuring that both regular listeners and newcomers find the episode informative and entertaining.

Support Fire Escape Cast: Visit fireescapecast.com to learn more and contribute to their projects.

Transcript

[Mary]

You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Fire Escape Cast. It is episode 108. I'm Mike Mahardy, your host, as always, here with Dan Reichert, who's currently sucking on a straw.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Cocktail. I made one. It's good. Why did I say that? Like Yoda. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't know. What is it?

[Dan Reichert]

Trade winds.

[Mike Mahardy]

Ooh, I know. Trade winds. How is it?

[Dan Reichert]

It's good.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's good.

[Dan Reichert]

You got. It's supposed to have an upside down umbrella in it. Like it got blown up from the trade winds. You see? Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

What? That's rum based.

[Dan Reichert]

It's rum based. Introduce Mary.

[Mike Mahardy]

We'll. We'll get to it. That's Mary.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, I. I just got a bunch of more.

[Mike Mahardy]

Get the Mary.

[Mary]

What do you want with the intros? I never get the same enthusiasm.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, let's start over.

[Dan Reichert]

Turn it up, Mike.

[Mike Mahardy]

Let's start.

[Dan Reichert]

Just blow past me.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Fire Escape cast. It's episode 108. I'm Mike Mahardi here, as always, with. That's Dan Riker and Mary. Mary Kay.

[Mary]

Finally.

[Mike Mahardy]

What the fuck is Dan drinking with his fucking stupid little umbrella? Oh, my goodness.

[Dan Reichert]

You'd be proud of me. My bar is more stock now. I got Amaro cosino. I got Apera teeth Liny or something. I got some Nonino. I got some Creme Day Banana. I got all sorts of, like, good stuff. I found out, like, with Amazon Prime, I could deliver from a local Big Li store. And so I just clicked a whole bunch of different mixers and liqueurs and stuff like that, and it's delicious.

[Mike Mahardy]

What's your favorite thing you've made?

[Dan Reichert]

I always forget the names, but yeah. I don't know. It's all good stuff.

[Mary]

Okay, can we go back to Creme Day Banana?

[Dan Reichert]

Yes, it's good.

[Mike Mahardy]

You're just saying it like the. The Donkey Kong 64. Oh, but.

[Dan Reichert]

But that. Probably heard it more in that context. Yeah, yeah. I like. I like nutty liqueurs. It turns out that's good stuff. Okay, let's see here, here. Let me. Let me tell you exactly. Mike, can you tell me what I.

[Mike Mahardy]

A lot of tiki drinks have that nutty, like Base. Before you get a fruity.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. I got Amaro Co. I got some Old Forester. I got some Lazaroni Amoretto. What's that?

[Mike Mahardy]

The caro.

[Dan Reichert]

I got that. Yeah. Okay, that's good. I got some Liny, a Quavit. I got some Johnny Walker Green, some aa. Amaro.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Tempest fugit. Creme Day Banana.

[Mike Mahardy]

Tempest. Time flies.

[Dan Reichert]

That's what I said. And I've got more. Oh, yeah? Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

He says that's the school's motto. It's Tempest fugit means time flies in Latin. You got Dan coming here with his Latin velvet.

[Dan Reichert]

Falernum. I got that too, Mel.

[Mike Mahardy]

Falernum is good. You can. I could send you a recipe to make your own. That's generally.

[Dan Reichert]

I'll just buy it. It's fine.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, the DIY is better. Really? Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Because they, like, kind of do some clarification in the bottle that I don't love. I don't know. We don't need to get into this. Mary, what are you doing?

[Mary]

I'm drinking, too. I'm drinking a Moscow Mule.

[Dan Reichert]

Ooh, Molokai Mule. I made that recently and that was very.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't know if I agree with the problem drink right now, but that's fine.

[Mary]

I've been.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm technically on Ukraine's side, but that's just me. I know you have different leanings these days.

[Mary]

We do love these political podcasts.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm from Margaritaville, brother.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

They're neutral, like Sweden.

[Dan Reichert]

What's the tariff on Margaritaville? Margaritaville. Right.

[Mary]

Everybody's a friend in Margaritaville.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. But Russia is welcomed with open arms in Margaritaville just like everybody else. Level playing field.

[Mary]

It's all equal.

[Mike Mahardy]

The blessing and the curse of Margaritaville. Yeah.

[Mary]

Unless you don't like salt on the rim, then you can rot in hell.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, salt on the rim. I like all sorts of dusty, fun flavors on the rim, I think. Then you gotta, like, lick the side of the glass like a weirdo. But I still like the taste. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

You could also just, like, put that part in your mouth when you drink it.

[Dan Reichert]

But sometimes it goes, like, real deep, like, I got something.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't care for that. I'm not a fan of that.

[Dan Reichert]

I had to, like, tongue the whole deal. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. That's like. I don't care for that. I would appreciate if people stopped. This is a coat rotique from Northern Rhone. Really?

[Mary]

What do you think that the army of Margaritaville would be like?

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, the fatigues are definitely Hawaiian. The camo is Hawaiian. Shirts. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Tropical shirts, flip flops.

[Mary]

It's all Hawaiian violet of straw hats. They're crawling on the ground.

[Dan Reichert]

Led by four star Margaritaville general Mike Minati. Yes. He's their patent. The patent speech in front of a big Jimmy Buffett flag.

[Mike Mahardy]

The most violent weapon they'd have is like. I guess they're umbrella. Yeah. Umbrella spears. They can do harpoon guns, I guess.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah. Brutal.

[Mary]

Way to die is through the heart with an umbrella and then they go.

[Mike Mahardy]

Through you and then they open it. Yeah. We're on the same boat.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Smart.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, that's more, that's more of just to like ward off other people that are coming at you. You get. You see your friend take an umbrella through the heart. You're not going anywhere close to the guy who did it.

[Mary]

Yeah, they're like the. The men from Margaritaville fight with the strength of 10 reg drunk men.

[Mike Mahardy]

Imagine 30 years later, like in movies when they're showing the like translucent overlay of what happened over the guy who's clearly lost in PTSD thought. Imagine the guy just kind of having an episode and then you just see like men in Hawaiian shirts spearing people with umbrellas.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Eating cheeseburgers in paradise.

[Mike Mahardy]

Set to the song where Willem Dafoe is getting machine gun from the helicopter.

[Dan Reichert]

The horror.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

No.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Where were you? A place far away in a time long ago. Hopefully you never have to see it.

[Mary]

I said no umbrellas. Timmy, take it away.

[Mike Mahardy]

I said no open toed shoes. Cassandra reminds me of when my friend took one to the foot.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. We should start an improv troupe.

[Mike Mahardy]

Be great. That's what everybody wants.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. They've been clamoring.

[Mike Mahardy]

More improv troops is what the world needs.

[Dan Reichert]

We'll do. We'll do a new tier. We're gonna do an improv trip. Yeah, a new tier.

[Mike Mahardy]

I thought you said nude tier.

[Dan Reichert]

No, it's nude improv is the gimmick. So it's like. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Nude computer, load up. Nude tier, please.

[Mary]

No, it's vetoed. The computer refuses to support us.

[Dan Reichert]

Sparks fly out. It kills itself.

[Mike Mahardy]

We talk all the time about the. The firehouse nude calendar, but we never did it.

[Mary]

Fire escape nude calendar.

[Mike Mahardy]

I wouldn't do that constantly since I.

[Mary]

I think to have the. The sexiest men of games journalism. And it's just like Minati with his like little, little shorts looking behind him surprised, you know, like one of those people just like nipping at the copper tone bottle.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, it's a dog. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah, I would buy it. I probably wouldn't Hang it. But I would buy it. I would support the hottest men in game.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, many would buy that. Because we have heard from Mike Minati that he gets some salacious emails from people looking for a certain type. Oh, there's a term for it.

[Mary]

And he's that type. A certain type.

[Dan Reichert]

He is that type. Yes. He's had to say on streams like, please stop sending me emails about wanting things from me because I happen to fit a certain type.

[Mike Mahardy]

Interesting.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay.

[Dan Reichert]

Bear is what I hear.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, gotcha. Yeah. I thought. I thought you were talking more specific.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, no, just Bear. He's just a hairy guy. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. One of the bowling teams that I roll against are the Spare are the Spare Bears.

[Dan Reichert]

That's good.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's good.

[Dan Reichert]

There's no Pinsy Lohands.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary, do you like how anytime you post a bowling image or image story, I respond full penetration? Because I think that name is better.

[Mary]

Thank you. I'm glad somebody liked it because it wasn't very popular when I said it, but Amanda actually had the best response when we posted the picture and she said, you can't split with us.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, nice.

[Mary]

She's smarter than all of us. Yeah. Because it's a reference to a Lindsay Lohan movie, Bean Girls.

[Mike Mahardy]

And also bowling.

[Dan Reichert]

I know the bowling. I know the bowling Split Girls.

[Mary]

No, some of the. Well, you should see. It's one of the greatest movies.

[Dan Reichert]

I've heard it's great. Yeah, I heard it's good.

[Mary]

It's very good. But it has the. The bowling names are very important. And one of the names on a. That we were competing against, they were just Team four. And we were like, that's weird. Why don't you guys come up with a good name? And they were like, we did. And it got rejected. And so we, in protest, refused to come up with another name. And we said, what was your cancelled name? And they said it was 710 spliff.

[Dan Reichert]

Weed reference in Portland.

[Mike Mahardy]

They were. They took Umbridge with that.

[Mary]

And weed is legal here.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's, like, long before anybody else.

[Mary]

Yeah. It's no different than having a beer reference, which people do all the time.

[Dan Reichert]

I think even with, like, weed being legalized, I think there are still, like, people that have not come around to it where it's like, my dad still doesn't understand that, like, if it's legal, you can just smoke in a park. You can smoke and wherever you can smoke a cigarette. No, there's just no way that's true. And it's like, yeah, you can, like, some People just cannot fathom the idea that it's legal now.

[Mike Mahardy]

But in Portland, Oregon, I think of all places, they'd be, oh, cool, all.

[Mary]

Drugs are legal here. Like, it's crazy.

[Dan Reichert]

Not even that big of a name. All drugs legal or decriminalized?

[Mike Mahardy]

Decriminalized.

[Mary]

Decriminalized.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, wheat is legal. Yes. Heroin's decriminalized. I'm saying this as if. I know. I read one Times article, like, six months ago, and it sounds like it was not going well, but they still.

[Mary]

They're still. They're still doing crime.

[Dan Reichert]

Wait, so what's the. What's not going well about it is, like, crime up?

[Mary]

I think the idea behind it was stop putting them in jail and start putting them in rehab centers where people who are, like, addicts actually genuinely need it. I'm not really good at this stuff and do my best to describe it, which is just like, essentially we. We decriminalized it, but there's just not enough centers open for people who, like, need them. And there's the other subset of people who are like, I don't want to be rehabilitated. I love drugs to have my drugs. And so it doesn't satisfy for that need either. So, like, some people just need to go to jail.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

You know what I mean? Like, some, like, they don't want. They don't want to get better. They don't want housing. They would like to do crime and do drugs and. And we can't help them. So.

[Dan Reichert]

All right, Mary, not to put you on the spot, we will need you to propose a clear solution right now. Right now.

[Mary]

I think what other states did was they put them on a bus and shipped them to another state and made it someone else's fucking problem, which I think is evil as shit. And then I feel like some other state solution is just. They're really cold, and then all the people freeze off in the winter, and then they start again each spring.

[Mike Mahardy]

So, yes, this is like frost punk in New York City.

[Mary]

I'm not a mayor. Like, I don't know what you're supposed to fucking do. But my thought is genuinely, if you're refusing treatment to jail, that's how I feel. Like, if you really genuinely don't want to get better and you're just sitting there shooting up to jail. That's how I feel.

[Mike Mahardy]

Here's my thought. Here's my.

[Mary]

I think you should go to rehab. And if you don't want to, then, you know, like, sitting. Sit in this square.

[Mike Mahardy]

So first, all of a Sudden, Trump accepts this flying fortress, and then all of a sudden, Biden's got cancer, and then next thing you know, I don't know.

[Dan Reichert]

Trump does what to a flying fortress?

[Mike Mahardy]

He accepted a flying fortress?

[Dan Reichert]

Accepted it like he's Dr. Robotnik.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, basically. Wait, are you. Is this news to you? He's becoming.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm sorry, he has a flying fortress. Yes, this is news to me.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, before we get off politics, because I think this threatens to go off the rails. Yes, he's.

[Dan Reichert]

Save it for the politics section here of the podcast.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's the biggest bribe in presidential history. He's accepting from Qatar. Qatar, however you want to pronounce a. Like their luxury flying fucking mansion. And he's making it Air Force One.

[Mary]

That.

[Mike Mahardy]

I can't make stuff up.

[Dan Reichert]

Seriously.

[Mike Mahardy]

I guess you've been busy with giant bombs.

[Dan Reichert]

I've been busy, yeah.

[Mary]

Because he used to always read the New York Times every morning.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Wow. So he is. Yeah, formally here's.

[Mike Mahardy]

He's a Robotnik by. By the day. Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, if we got to deal with him, I guess it would be funnier if he was Dr. Robotnik, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Because then it makes the villainy, like, kind of like it smooths the edges.

[Mary]

I really want to know how funny it is. I really want to know that the person that's gonna kill me and take away my citizenship has some kind of comedic mustache.

[Mike Mahardy]

Anyway. Doom. The Stargate rules.

[Dan Reichert]

This is a big plane.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. No, he's. Yeah, he's. Yeah, you can just do that.

[Mary]

No, you're not.

[Mike Mahardy]

I guess so. Well, no.

[Dan Reichert]

What about if they offered it to. Not Saudi Arabia. What if, just like the plane company offered it to me as a Internet beloved video gamesman. CEO. Take that.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I guess you could. Yeah. It's not. You're not.

[Dan Reichert]

It would be less of an issue if I took an air fortress than the President.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think so.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, it's an option. Airplane people.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Hit up Saudi Arabia.

[Dan Reichert]

No, just Boeing. I'll just deal directly with her, whoever it was.

[Mary]

Yeah, you're close contact with Boeing, I'm sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

People, we're. We already did politics. What about health? Let's give people health advice. Oh, I've been informed.

[Dan Reichert]

So I've been. A bunch of dark blood mucus has been coming out of my nose for.

[Mike Mahardy]

A week and then it stopped and.

[Dan Reichert]

Now it's coming out of my throat. Today I was in the shower and a bunch of like, like, just dark, gross, thick blood came out of my throat.

[Mary]

Dan, you have to see A doctor when blood comes out of you.

[Dan Reichert]

But it's like, I had a cold. And so I did do, like, a video call and be like, hey, check out this gross picture. And she was like, look, it's probably, like, irritated nasal passages. She was this doctor on the video.

[Mike Mahardy]

Call, a doctor who said, it's fine that you're.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like. It's not actively, like, gushing. It's not like. It just seems like it's old dried blood. But it's, like, very dark. It's like. It's weird. I got a couple of things going on. Look, you open this door, I got gross dark blood coming out of my nose and throat. And also, my shits are looking like poppy seed muffins. There's like a million fucking little black seeds in my turds today. And my farts are real bad.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you have any theories as to what the poppy seed.

[Dan Reichert]

The poppy seeds. I ate two bananas yesterday. I normally have a maximum of one Banana. Banana.

[Mary]

And maybe it's all your banana liquor.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, that creme de banana.

[Dan Reichert]

I had. The banana runs, I had. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

In your trade wins.

[Dan Reichert]

So I'm hoping it is just banana. Banana seeds in my. And that's just been today. The fart's been bad for a couple days.

[Mary]

What's a banana seed?

[Dan Reichert]

There's seeds. There's little black seeds in there. And I had a bunch of quinoa yesterday. I had a bunch of quinoa tonight. But normally I can digest it fine, so I'm hoping.

[Mike Mahardy]

Why did you say that?

[Dan Reichert]

Blood.

[Mike Mahardy]

Have it in Costello. I had a bunch of quinoa tonight. Quinoa who.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

So.

[Dan Reichert]

But I'm not, like, actively in a bunch of pain. I'm just. My stomach's being weird and rumbly and I'm just bleeding out of holes in my head.

[Mary]

I just don't think that you're ever supposed to bleed out of any hole.

[Dan Reichert]

But I'm like. I'm feeling. I started running. Like, I'm full on training now for the marathon. So it's like I did four miles today, three yesterday, six on Sunday. Like, I'm. I'm running. I'm good. I'm feeling.

[Mary]

Running doesn't mean that you are allowed to bleed. It's.

[Dan Reichert]

It gets the blood out.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, just.

[Dan Reichert]

It's squeezing the blood out.

[Mike Mahardy]

Doesn't cancel anything else out.

[Dan Reichert]

It's making me less fat. And so it's just squeezing all the excess goop out of my body through my holes.

[Mary]

You know that blood's the first thing to Go where? They say pain is just weakness leaving the body. The body. Blood is just.

[Dan Reichert]

Blood is fat leaving the body.

[Mary]

It's your blood leaving the body, and you need it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Marines don't die. They go to hell to regroup.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I really think it's okay. I do think it's okay. It's gross. Look, I got you want to see pictures?

[Mike Mahardy]

No.

[Mary]

Do your poop actually look like a muffin? Like, is it muffin shaped?

[Dan Reichert]

I don't know. It's just like if a poppy seed muffin was turd shaped.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hey, all you hundreds of new patrons will check this out on our video.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes. Oh, here's. Here's a.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Prep me. Is this the blood stuff or is this the puppy? Oh, my God. That's.

[Mary]

I don't like it.

[Dan Reichert]

It's.

[Mike Mahardy]

Doctor said that's probably fine.

[Dan Reichert]

A video call doctor. Oh, here's another one from. Yeah, look like this is, like, it's thick.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Are you now. That was from my nose. Now it's coming out of my throat, which I think is better because it's moving down. Yeah, that's farther from my brain.

[Mary]

Keep it away from your heart.

[Dan Reichert]

If I keep it just out coming out of the mouth hole, then that's the middle point of the brain and the heart.

[Mary]

I don't know. I think you should get a second opinion.

[Dan Reichert]

I don't. I'm in between who was situations right.

[Mike Mahardy]

Now serious enough to consider Fine, though.

[Dan Reichert]

I feel fine. Well, the outside I do have. I have been having crippling headaches behind my eyes and stuff, but.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God, dude.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, look, I was descending into Montreal, and then I had incredibly. Oh, let me show you this picture.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God.

[Dan Reichert]

Into Montreal.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, fandom was holding you together, dude.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mary]

So at least their insurance was.

[Dan Reichert]

I love sending in Montreal and, like, I had, like, a nose stuffy situation, so I started getting serious pain in my ears and then, like, the sharpest pain ever behind my right eyebrow. So for, like, 30 minutes.

[Mike Mahardy]

For your sinuses? Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

While it was all blocked up and everything. That's the north arrow sinusitis or whatever. But then I land, and it's a different country, so they make you take a picture for your passport thing and all that. And I was not trying to make a face when they took my photo at the thing, but this is what they have on file for me landing in Montreal.

[Mike Mahardy]

Damn, you look like Rasputin. What is this?

[Dan Reichert]

That's the worst photo of me that's ever.

[Mary]

Exactly.

[Mike Mahardy]

You look like the NBA 2K scan.

[Mary]

Of you that looks like an AI generated murderer who's gotten out of prison.

[Dan Reichert]

My eyes change shape. I've never looked like that ever.

[Mike Mahardy]

That. That looks like a character from Watch Dogs Legion who you scan and you're trying to possess, and it's like he's homeless. His only skill is blending in.

[Dan Reichert]

Look, I'm not trying to cause concern. I actually feel fine again. I just ran four miles, like, a couple hours ago.

[Mary]

That looks like one of those NBA 2K scanning features, but it fucked up the scan of your face and just gave you half eyes.

[Mike Mahardy]

I just said that.

[Dan Reichert]

Mike, we've established we don't listen to you on this podcast.

[Mike Mahardy]

Let it be known. I just made that bit. Mary did.

[Mary]

Yeah, I made it better. I think mine was funnier.

[Mike Mahardy]

I said the same thing.

[Dan Reichert]

It's even I who doesn't remember anything is like. I'm pretty sure Mike just said this.

[Mary]

No.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God. Wait, Dan, do you. Do you remember when Mary. Mary. Her thoughts on 2020 as a whole? You know, we're all stuck at home. Oh, God. Nevermind.

[Dan Reichert]

I.

[Mike Mahardy]

Never mind. We'll save it. We'll save it.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I don't. My. The thing isn't working, so. But yes, I do remember.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, like, hold on. Like, Mary, I think we were talking about 2020, and, you know, you were just like, it. You did. You're saying it wasn't great in general, but what else? Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you hear that?

[Mary]

Love that pandemic. Love that. Love that pandemic.

[Mike Mahardy]

What?

[Mary]

I didn't. I didn't say that.

[Dan Reichert]

You did say that.

[Mary]

Enthusiasm.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't have that.

[Dan Reichert]

No, that's direct.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, but, like, what did you truly think?

[Mary]

Love that pandemic.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, well, let's move on.

[Mary]

Is sarcasm dead in this podcast?

[Mike Mahardy]

Politics, Health. I don't ever want to talk about health or politics again.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm fine. Although we're recording this one super early, so. I mean, if I do die in the next week and a half, it'll be pretty funny. I don't mean that. I'm fine.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary, how are you feeling these days?

[Mary]

I feel fine. Genuinely.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, relatively speaking?

[Mary]

Yeah, like, I'm genuinely physically fine. I will say, like, I also got a little sick because I just got back from packs and usually when you do a pax, you're just probably going to get the pax pox. That is like a natural thing that happens. So my. As it. As it happens, I just recognized maybe like three or five days ago that I Wasn't feeling super hot. But I beat it by sheer willpower this time, which is how I usually beat all sicknesses. I very rarely have to go to the doctor and I always feel like if I just rest and have soup, I can figure it out. And the last time I got sick, I needed antibiotics and everything. I was fucked up. I was like a total mess bag. This time I'm back to my usual, like, I just beat it with willpower and like time, you know, like regular people.

[Mike Mahardy]

You're like, dennis and the gang gets quarantined. Where he's like, if I was sick, I would simply say, sickness be gone.

[Mary]

Yeah, I usually fight it. I mean, I'm telling you, I'm kind of notorious for it. And like, some people call me patient zero because, like, I'm a kind of person. Will be like, my throat's a little scratchy on the way to like TwitchCon. Anyway, everybody have a good con. And I'll just sit on the fucking plane and be like, I'm not sick. And I will, I will will it down into my body. And I will, I will work and I will do my job and I will do, I will work like everybody else. You know, all the hours, all the late nights, all the early mornings. And then when I get home, my body will implode because I have allowed it to. I have been like, now you can be sick, but I won't allow myself.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think that's a fairly common thing. Like, your body recognizes you just genuinely, you're not in like a safe place to be sick. So it waits until you assault you body.

[Mary]

Like, you can't, you can't be sick.

[Mike Mahardy]

Right now as soon as you walk in the door.

[Mary]

E3 was no different. You just can't be sick during E3. Like, get your together. Yeah, get it together. Figure it out. It doesn't matter. Like, yeah, like, I'll like take cough drops or something like that or some kind of like minor medicine for headaches. But like, my ass is getting out there and I'm doing the thing. I know it's not right, especially by today's standards where you're really not supposed to like, even come out of the house if you're sick. But like, there's just like work stuff where I'm essentially like, you're fine, just get over it. And my body actually does react to that. And it's just like, okay, no fever, like, figure it out. Like, go do your job. And then, and then when I come home, I like actually melt.

[Dan Reichert]

Especially like when we all work from home, where it's like, I never really took sick days anyway, like, when I worked at an office. But, like, I cannot remember. I cannot remember the last time I took. Certainly not in the last five years. And that's why I remember, like, when I was a game informer, there's someone who, like, literally would take, like, two days off because, like, I got a flu shot yesterday and my arm's kind of sore, and it's like, that was an actual excuse. And I was like, I want to kill you. Like, that is like. I don't know if it's just, like, Midwest, like, work ethic stuff, where it's just like, I think we are toxic.

[Mary]

You know, I think we are bad. Yeah, we are bad. And it is very normal to be able to be like, I am sick, but I just. I don't have that ability. My. My mind is like, no, you get your ass up. If I'm genuinely, like, feverishly ill. And that happened a couple months ago. I really was down for the count. I had to go to a doctor and everything, and it was a mess. I. I took a. I took an afternoon off.

[Dan Reichert]

I have done it.

[Mary]

I took one afternoon off to go. I went to an emergency room and got. And got medicine. And then I sat in a hotel room and, like, stewed about it. And the next day I was like, I'm fine.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't like getting medicine. Staring at yourself in the mirror. You're weak.

[Mary]

I was. I was, like, slapping myself in front of the mirror. Like, you get better. I. I don't like it. And I. I want to be a part of the experience and be better, but I have to. I have to give myself the ability and the flexibility to be sick. And we definitely have to give the flexibility to other people to be sick.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, we can't expect everyone to be, like, weird about this. Like, we are, like, I guess with, like. Well, I had Covid once, and I took time off for that. And I. I had the pandemic.

[Mary]

God damn it.

[Dan Reichert]

And then I had a couple of the surgeries, like, post surgery. Like, if you count, those are sick days, and I've taken them for sure. But, like, for like, a cold or something like that, like, no way.

[Mary]

You know, it's very, very rare. Like, I have been at Twitch for eight years. I don't think I could count on one hand the amount of sick days I've taken. It never happens. And I defin. Really has been sick. When you work from home, though, like, wait, you just pull up a laptop next to the bed and you just turn it on.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I'll maybe, like, if my nose is totally stepped up, maybe I'll be like, oh, are you good for this podcast? Or whatever? And I'll sit that one out. But, like, sure, I can email people and do that and play games.

[Mary]

You know, you can email. You can think about a problem that you're solving.

[Dan Reichert]

But I think we're just tougher and better than everyone.

[Mary]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think our jobs are easier than a lot of people.

[Dan Reichert]

Also, that. That's probably a big part of it.

[Mike Mahardy]

If I was to be there. But like, yeah, if I was driving.

[Dan Reichert]

A forklift to the UPS factory, I would probably not feel the same.

[Mike Mahardy]

Airline pilots don't really have this same.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm gonna sit out my session of Doom the Dark Ages today. I got some sniffles.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't know how many demons I can quench if I don't.

[Dan Reichert]

I love quenching demons.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love quenching demon skulls.

[Mary]

I got a fever.

[Dan Reichert]

That is something we should always keep in mind is that we have very different jobs than most people. And it's maybe easy for us to say, but I don't know, like, Mike, you're always doing stuff. Mary, you're all like, I'm always doing stuff. Most of my stuff involves just, like, talking to my friends on podcasts about video games. So, like, I don't think I have the hardest job of us three.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, I.

[Mary]

No, you're the biggest joke of them all. I think, like, there's, like, he's a CEO. There's Ranger.

[Dan Reichert]

CEO.

[Mary]

Yeah, he's a ccown college. Like, you can be a CEO of a bunch of joke. You're still a CEO.

[Mike Mahardy]

The CCO you're talking to like that.

[Dan Reichert]

That's right.

[Mary]

I'll make a company CEO of it.

[Dan Reichert]

That's just one. We have five.

[Mary]

Worthless. Yeah, you can't all be CEO.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I'm. We don't have a CEO. I'm CCO and co owners.

[Mike Mahardy]

He's watching someone play Rascal right now. You be careful who you're talking to, CCO Stu.

[Mary]

Yeah, I'm very aware of who I'm talking to.

[Mike Mahardy]

I got the sniffles. I can't watch you play Wescal.

[Dan Reichert]

No, I say I do because I'm a tough, hard worker. Oh, that's right. Be impressed, everyone.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hey, dad, I'm going to muscle through watching my friend play Waskell for the day. I'm going to be a big man about it.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, that's a good impression.

[Mike Mahardy]

I've told you this. There's a. There's a real estate company, like, in my neck of the woods. It's spelled W E I C H E R T. Yeah. I'm not sure how it's supposed to be pronounced, but I always see it white cut. And it's like that was my last.

[Dan Reichert]

Name when I was a baby. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. You changed it when you came of age. Yeah, yeah. It's. It's uncomfortable to see around town, but. Yeah. No, I don't like. I think it depends on your occupation. I definitely say there are certain people who. Who have to call in sick. Medical workers.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes. Of course.

[Mike Mahardy]

Clearly not politicians.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Definitely not saying it's the right way to be. I'm just saying, like, in our. Like, Mary and I specifically, like, you know, we can do our jobs. Sick from home.

[Mike Mahardy]

You know, my job's mostly remote as well.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Most of the time.

[Mary]

I think that we do have a lot of leniencies, but I also think that because maybe we have those leniencies, it makes it more important for me to always be available. And that's sure good nor bad. But I do feel the urge, and I've always felt the urge in every job that I've ever had, even if it was like, you know, being a hostess or a sandwich artist at Subway. I was always like, I'm here. I'm going to do my best. I don't care how sick I am. I'm going to make these sandwiches.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm going to come in the mail.

[Mary]

That was me.

[Dan Reichert]

You know, you're a hero, Mary. Let's hear it. Yeah. All right.

[Mary]

Thank you. I've always said that I'm a hero, and I'm really glad that this podcast at least has one hero.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, we need one.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes. That's a collective of us. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. One villain, one hero.

[Mike Mahardy]

We did politics and health.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Whatever the opposite of health is.

[Mary]

Let's do finances.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, sure.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Religion after that.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah. Well, let's do religion first. Okay. I hate God. No, I was joking. No, finance. Invest a little. A little stock. Invest in a little stock I like to call Giant Bomb, because I think there's stocks going up.

[Dan Reichert]

We should go public. That's a good idea.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you have. Yeah, that'd be sick. I could be part owner and then I could own Dan if I buy enough stocks.

[Dan Reichert]

We shouldn't go public.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, I would love to call board meetings, and it's just me at the end of a long table. I don't agree with this video you.

[Dan Reichert]

Did got a nice odd number right now. So you were not funny enough. No. Yeah, we don't know how that's going to go yet. It's just there's still so much stuff to do. Which again, thank God for Jeff Bacalar. He's been doing all the big kid stuff. So, yeah, it should be all set up here a little after sgf maybe. Maybe like within the next month after that. But it's been fun.

[Mike Mahardy]

Shay, Gil, just Felixander. That's a very esoteric joke. So Jeff's. So Jeff. Jeff and Jeff and Mike and you and Jan and spirits seem high. Things are going well. I know you talk about this on every show you've gone on, so you don't have to go into detail, but short version is.

[Dan Reichert]

It's just been tremendous. The amount of support that's come in from folks. GiantBomb.com join support independent games media has been amazing. It's been very, very. Also patreon.com fire escape and deepdishpussy.com deepditchpussy.com yes, it's great. It's just really great. It's just worrying about the stuff that matters in putting together sgf. Hopefully, you know, still a lot of things up in the air, but we're working very hard on that. The content stuff's been incredible. The audience has been awesome. We're seeing so many people come back that haven't watched for years and everything. It's just. It's been feeling tremendous. So, yeah, that's. The short version is big. Big thumbs up so far.

[Mike Mahardy]

Happy to hear. Mary, how's bowling going?

[Mary]

It's amazing. It's like cathartic and. Oh. So the season I was in ended. So we've. We finished. We were. We finished in second place.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wait, how many, many nights was it?

[Mary]

Yeah, it was like two and a half months. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, so you signed up two and a half months ago. Gotcha.

[Mary]

I don't know why I didn't tell anyone because I. I thought maybe I would quit or. I didn't know if I was actually like into it, but I've signed up for a second season now. I'm actually like. I've decided I like it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, we'll call you out.

[Mary]

I bought a ball. What pound is I have a ball?

[Dan Reichert]

Eleven. You get eight or ten. What do you say?

[Mary]

Twelve?

[Dan Reichert]

Hell yeah. Hell yeah. That's a good one.

[Mary]

I was. Boys, I was told from Larry's Ball Shop that you want to go heavy because it knocks the pins over. Yes. Larry's this crazy guy who has been. I think he must be coveted. There are bowler shops. There's not a lot of bowler, like places to get your ball drilled in Portland, you know what I mean? But, but there's a couple and most of them have like five to ten reviews. And Larry's has like hundreds and hundreds of reviews. This dude has been doing this for 40 years. He is tried and tested. He's a bit of a firecracker. Like when I paint. Yes, test. And he, he's a strange man. His. His desk was filled to the brim with papers. And the first thing he did did when I came in was he was like, have you filled out a paper? And I was like no. And he's like well you gotta fill one out. And I was like, where are you gonna put it? And he was like, with all the other papers? How dare you. And I was like, okay. And I filled it out and he put it on his giant desk of papers. And he said, what do you want? And I said, well I already. Someone gave me a ball and I'd like to fill the holes and then I'd like to redrill them with my fingers. And he was like, I bet you'd like that. And I was like, I would, genuinely. And he was like, who is this guy?

[Mike Mahardy]

I know he's like the coolest man in the world.

[Mary]

He was giving me all this and I was like, that is what I would like. And he was like, he was like, well, I can do it by next Tuesday. And I was like, that's a great deal. And he was like, well then great, I'll see you next Tuesday. And then the next Tuesday I came in and I said it's me. I'm here for my appointment. And he said, are you Marty? I said no, I'm Mary. I have Marty down for your for this appointment at 5:30, Marty. I said I'm Mary. And I wrote it down on this piece of paper. And he was like, I have Marty. And I said, well then I am Marty. For the entire one hour appointment when he measured my fingers, I was Marty.

[Dan Reichert]

Awesome.

[Mike Mahardy]

Nice.

[Dan Reichert]

That's good. Yeah. Marty Kish. That works.

[Mike Mahardy]

The people with those jobs, you need them to be eccentric or else I don't trust them. There's someone here in Jersey. Back when I was in the dart league and people were really into their personal set of darts. There's a woman near here, Dan. Like maybe Bonk has heard of her at some point. I don't know. Or you know, Bonk's family. She's called the dart whisperer. And you basically go, and she's got a dartboard and you like, you throw a dart and in that one throw she could tell like what kind of stroke you have. Like what she. She. I don't. I think a lot of people expect her to coach you, but she's like, I don't coach. I just observe and I react or something like that. And then she'll measure your arm. She'll look at your hand size, like the thumb to finger, the thumb to middle finger. And then she'll design a set of darts that would work best with your throw.

[Dan Reichert]

That's cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah. Like I want to be a specialty artisan for.

[Mary]

I want to be an artisan person too. There's something very interesting about that. Isn't like, that's all they do. Larry, balls for 40 years.

[Mike Mahardy]

What's the most specific sports paraphernalia you'd like to design?

[Dan Reichert]

I was thinking like bowling, because I do like bowling. And Mary, you've like activated me. Just talking about bowling again. I want to get like, you know, like kingpin, how Bill Murray has like his hand inside the ball and it's like clear. Could your Marty, could your guy do the thing where like you could give him an object and he would put it inside the ball?

[Mary]

I don't know. I've never asked him. He's so weird. I'm like a little afraid to ask him stuff because it usually like, it just turns into these crazy tangents for like hours. Sounds like you want like a custom resin ball where you're like putting weird objects into resin. He will drill any ball.

[Dan Reichert]

It Larry's pro Shop bowling store in Portland, Oregon.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Bowling equipment up your game. Let me see. Drilling and resurfacing.

[Mary]

He was incredible.

[Mike Mahardy]

The drop down for the contest. Contact us box just says feedback.

[Dan Reichert]

That's not contact. He gives lessons.

[Mary]

He. He does. And when I was done, he. So he gave me my drilled. Oh, this was interesting. So my appointment was at 5:30, my first round of official bowling. And they are serious about the rules. You have to show up on time was 6:15. And I said, do I have enough time? And he said it's no problem. He measured my hand for like 30 minutes. And it's six. And I was like, cool, so you're gonna drill this ball and give it to me in the next 15 minutes. And he was like, no problem.

[Dan Reichert]

Really?

[Mary]

And so I sit down, we're waiting for 6:15 and at 6:14 he comes over to me and he Gives me my ball and he goes. It was actually done by 608. I just sat there for five minutes with him.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay, you know, we gotta do here. And doing some quick searching. This is Larry Schwab from Larry's pro shop in Portland. I saw there was a video down there where it's like, hey, check out what we're about. I am now on Larry Schwab's YouTube page. He has one video and one subscriber. Let's. Let's.

[Mike Mahardy]

Let's subscribe. Larry.

[Dan Reichert]

Everyone go to @larry.l a R R Y Schwab. S C h w a b9245 on YouTube. That's Larry Schwab 9245. Let's just suddenly make him go from one subscriber to like hundreds, if not thousands.

[Mary]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Mahardy]

These subscribers doing in my backyard.

[Mary]

Zachary, this guy obviously, like, really gives a shit. I. He is a. He is a silly man, but I really do think that he is good at what he does. And towards the end of my bowling, and this is three games, so it took about two and a half hours. I turned around and he was just sitting and watching me bowl. And I was like, hey, how's it going, Larry? And he was like, good. How do the holes feel? And I was like, they feel great. And he was like, good. Just making sure. Just making sure that the ball meets your needs. And then he walked away. He watched me for, like, probably 30 minutes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Zachary, I was gonna ask, is it a comfortable ball?

[Mary]

Zachary? Yeah, it's very comfortable. I don't know a lot about balls and holes.

[Mike Mahardy]

You would know if it was uncomfortable. Like, an uncomfortable bowling ball does not feel right coming off those tips.

[Mary]

It feels good in the hand. I feel like it has a good swing to it. And I got a good. I got a good total that night, even though it was a new ball. So I had to get adjusted to it. But I'm still learning, you guys. So, like, my max is, like, lower than probably other bowler league people's maxes. Like, If I get 120 score at the end, I'm like, not too shabby. Like, I just. I have low expectations for myself. So just everybody's aware.

[Dan Reichert]

Can we. Next time we're doing game of the year, whether it's here or elsewhere, can we all go bowling together? Together? Can that be part.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love bowling.

[Mary]

Love that. That would be so cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love bowling. Bowling's up there with, like, rollerblading of things I did when I was young that I want to do. More now that I'm an adult.

[Dan Reichert]

If I rollerbladed, I would immediately break so many bones. And, yeah, I couldn't do it as a kid. Not that way. I just don't have any balance at all.

[Mary]

Yeah, it's a. It's a tough game.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I'm great at bikes.

[Mary]

Yeah, I'm great at bikes. Biking, good bowling. Top. The thing that I. I like about bowling and the reason I've, like, decided that this is the sport for me, is that, like, it for now is that it doesn't matter if I have a bad day. I couldn't give a. If I have a bad, like, round of bowling. It's just something to do. I'm drinking, like, a pitcher of beer while I do it, but it gets me off my butt. I'm not watching TV all night. Like, I'm enjoying it. So it's silly, but it's. It is meaningful now, actually.

[Dan Reichert]

God, it makes me want to do it.

[Mary]

Yeah, let's bowl. Let's bowl together.

[Dan Reichert]

It makes me want to do, like, a league, like, and then bowl together, like.

[Mary]

Yeah, commit.

[Mike Mahardy]

Doing a dart.

[Mary]

You did a dart league, Mike?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, in Hoboken.

[Dan Reichert]

People.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's a lot of people. So I was in the B league, thankfully. I consider myself pretty decent at darts, but I was in the B league, and I. There were people there. And it's kind of cool because you represent a specific bar, so your away games are another bar just down the street. I represented the bar you both have been to, dan. You especially. 8th Street Tavern at the time. Not anymore, I don't. I haven't been there in years. But you would go to away games at other bars, and certain bars took it very seriously. And we were the B league. A league, I found out later, does not touch a drop of alcohol when they're doing it.

[Dan Reichert]

They're.

[Mary]

They're in the zone. We have bowlers that are like that, too.

[Dan Reichert]

And they.

[Mary]

When I. They bowl, and when they get a strike, I go, great job. And they don't look at me.

[Dan Reichert]

Not.

[Mike Mahardy]

Fucking having it at all.

[Dan Reichert]

It should be fun. It should be drinky. Like, if you're going. If. Yeah, that's. That would.

[Mary]

I mean, there's just. There's people like that in every. Every thing that take it a little too seriously. I think that is par for the course. But I find it funny because, I mean, it's just a hobby, you know, it's just something you're enjoying. It shouldn't. It should not be that serious.

[Dan Reichert]

Just John Goodman from Big Lebowski just like, okay, settle down, dude.

[Mary]

Like, over the line. Yeah, we've had experiences like that a little bit where people just like taking it really seriously. But I. I think it's funny when they get really upset because it's not that serious.

[Dan Reichert]

Upset people over things that don't warrant it is pretty funny.

[Mary]

That's the right reaction. Like, oh, you're mad that, like, bowling isn't good tonight. Like, who cares?

[Dan Reichert]

Like, it's the same feeling I get when it's like, people are getting furious about something and like, whatever the non controversy of the week is in video games or whatever, it's just like people getting like, it's ruining their lives and they're making angry YouTube video about it. It's like, that's. This is not a real problem.

[Mary]

We've lost the plot when the thing that you are supposed to enjoy brings you, like, an immense amount of pain. And, like, I'm talking to you Star wars fans that are just, like, unable to enjoy something anymore. And it's like, Star wars fans, wrestling.

[Dan Reichert]

Fans, video game fans, fans of certain consoles and brands and developers.

[Mike Mahardy]

Sports fans.

[Dan Reichert]

Sports fans.

[Mike Mahardy]

Just fandom itself. Like the. No, no, no, no, no, no. I literally mean this as a concept. It's like being a fan of something thing can go very awry.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's kind of always been the case. And I always think back to, like, recess in the early 90s, and it's like, yeah, people were about Super Nintendo versus Sega Genesis back then or Sonic versus Mario, Mortal Kombat versus Street Fighter, but then the Internet happened, and it's like, everyone's just louder and stupider about it.

[Mary]

I mean, again, I think the right reaction, though, is to laugh about it. I mean, none of these things are meant to be that serious, and life is too short, and I think to be really upset all the time. Like, yes, I could take bowling really seriously, and I could get mad at everybody who's a better bowler than me and get mad at myself when I don't bowl as good as I want to. But I just think that life is better if I drink two pitchers of beer and kind of bowl. Okay.

[Dan Reichert]

You are on the right side of history, Mary.

[Mary]

Thank you.

[Mike Mahardy]

Minus the Nixon stuff.

[Mary]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

And the. And the airplane.

[Dan Reichert]

And the pandemic thing.

[Mike Mahardy]

And the pandemic thing.

[Mary]

I regret nothing. Everything I've done is right.

[Mike Mahardy]

You guys want to talk about video games? Yeah.

[Mary]

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[Mike Mahardy]

I think we talked about Doom. We definitely talked about Doom. The Dark Ages last episode. I have since played it quite a bit. I'm 14 missions in.

[Dan Reichert]

Do you like that?

[Mike Mahardy]

Out of 22? Yeah.

[Mary]

Do you like it?

[Dan Reichert]

Right, Mikey, I'm Doom sitting in a tree.

[Mike Mahardy]

F youCk. I like that game a lot. Mary. Oh, Mary. This is a, this is a family broadcast.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Mary. Come on.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, come on. Oh, come on. Oh, come on. Oh, you're fluffing me.

[Dan Reichert]

That's for the video podcast, folks.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I like Dark Ages a lot. It's good.

[Dan Reichert]

Perry. And that green stuff is good.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's good. The shield, bash the shield. Throw the shield.

[Dan Reichert]

Charge.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love.

[Mary]

So enjoyable.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love every time you think you have a grasp on what's going to be in the next weapons drop, all of a sudden it's a fucking flail. And then.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, just smoking people with that or that grenade launcher. That's just like a heavy ass spiked grenade balls.

[Mary]

Like the grenade is fun. The grenade is fun. You might think to yourself, well, of course the grenade is fun. And good news. You're right. The grenade is super fun.

[Dan Reichert]

It's better than you would expect. A grenade launcher.

[Mike Mahardy]

To me, the, the, the skull crusher.

[Dan Reichert]

The pulverizer that shoots the spread. Yep.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is I, I, I'm hard pressed to think of a better. It's not even a reload. It's just the animation it makes while you're shooting it.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Just crunching the skull up. Yeah, yeah. For those who haven't played just the skulls sitting like right in between this, press like vice in the gun through these like four blades that then crunch it up and shoot pieces of skull. It's awesome.

[Dan Reichert]

And I like the skull of your dead enemies.

[Mike Mahardy]

It technically could work with like a tibia, but no, it has to be skulls in the lore here.

[Mary]

The animators clearly had a field day with this. And I think something that we probably, I don't think we talk about enough though is like, did they obviously have so much fun making this? And you know it, you know the dude who animated this, this was just like so stoked to be like, look at how sick this looks the next day. And they did that with maybe it was a woman. Dude is gender neutral. Sorry.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah. It's a lot of feminine energy to doom The Dark Ages.

[Mike Mahardy]

I want to go.

[Mary]

Not Doom. Yeah. Doom is also gender neutral.

[Mike Mahardy]

I do think doom, never mind anyone is a dude.

[Mary]

But what I'm just saying is, is like, whoever like animated this had a field day and they knew it. And I think you can, you know, you can see the joy in the people who worked on this game. I feel like the people who made this game, this was a labor of love and you can feel it. You can feel the joy in their experiences and how excited they were to have these giant monsters in the background duking it out. And the, I don't know, all of the constructions and the animations are really fun and whimsical. They're wild and very doom. Right. Everything's just like a big explosion.

[Dan Reichert]

Levels where it's just. You're just stomping on bridges full of enemies and stuff. That's so cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

They give you, they give you so many different ways to explode hordes of enemies at once.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Whether it be throwing the shield at the overheated metal, which comes into play in boss fights where the armor itself is overheated or you're trying to overheat it yourself, then using the energy weapons. Yeah. We talked about this last episode.

[Dan Reichert]

Or even the shield charge, like takes out like five guys in here.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. And I will say, like, I, I think I agree with what you guys were saying last time. Not to put words in your mouth. Mary, I think it was you more than Dan. The dragon stuff is super cool. It's. It's like, I like the structure of the first dragon mission where it reminds me of the Halo mission in Halo 2 and 3 where you're going between points in like either the Hornet or a Pelican and you're, you're, you're disembarking and going into these ships. It's a really cool mission structure. Overall, the dragon stuff just feels more like a one off set piece.

[Dan Reichert]

Not one off literally, but like 14 missions in. Have you done the dragon more than once?

[Mike Mahardy]

Twice now. Okay, so I might not be 14, but for, for reference sake, I've done the dragon twice. It does feel more like a tacked on thing. Not tacked on. Like, they clearly put a lot of thought and time into it.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think the coolest kill animation in the game is when you open up the Titan's mouth and breathe fire into his bargains and then he's like, ah. And then he explodes. Explodes. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.

[Mary]

They love shoving Things in people's throats too. Like there's multiple ones of that. That's not. There's not just the fire one. There's also one where I think you like have a grenade or something and you shove that in their throats.

[Dan Reichert]

It's a good way to kill a thing. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

I agree. Once you kill them, you're. Yeah. You can't undo.

[Mike Mahardy]

I do think it's funny. I haven't played Eternal in a while. I played. Played it, I think twice. And I came around on it a lot more the second time I played it. Enjoyed it quite a bit. And especially after going back to 2016, which 2016 was so clean in the loop of. All right, you chainsaw guys. I might be this up, but generally speaking, you chainsaw guys to get ammo. You do melee kills to get more health.

[Dan Reichert]

Right.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then there's one more that gives you chainsaw fuel. So it's this really tight. Tight like infinity loop, whatever you want to call it. Doom Eternal. Started blowing that up in several ways where you got so many options that it got a bit overwhelming.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

I would actually say Dark Ages kind of corrects that a bit. I stepped away from it for a few days to go to Montreal. I started it and did a few missions. I will say this is not the easiest shooter to go back to because of how many options you have. It's not a knock on the game. It's not like it didn't make me take a five day break. Break. But it is. It's like, oh, right. Okay. I'm gonna throw my shield at them because they're super heated. And that's the thing. I was gonna say the enemy hordes I don't love in the composition. And like now I'm thinking like Dark Souls wise. I too often feel so clean in that.

[Dan Reichert]

Here's the line.

[Mike Mahardy]

Five energy shields here. All right, I'm gonna throw that. It's gonna kill the other energy shield guys. I think Eternal especially felt really organic, where there's several different kinds of demons rushing me from different angles now. It's like overheated shields. Energy shields. Oh, this guy. That are going to do the green attacks. I got to get ready to parry that. It feels a bit too arcadey. And I feel. I realize I just said that a Doom game feels too Arcady. That's a dumb criticism. They're supposed to.

[Dan Reichert]

I never really considered it Arcady. You know, it's.

[Mike Mahardy]

It feels a bit too artificial in the. The enemy. Like the. The.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure. It just seems kind of, like, by the numbers and that. Like, okay, there's that shield line. Now I do this, and now here's this thing. I do this.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's a better way of putting it. That's what I was trying to say. It just feels.

[Dan Reichert]

Feels.

[Mike Mahardy]

I almost feel paint by numbers when I jump into, like, come off a cliff and there's a fight right in front of me. I'm like, all right, well, I'll take these guys out more out of obligation. They're not part of this puzzle I'm trying to solve like Doom Eternal did. But I do appreciate the balance between melee and ranged.

[Dan Reichert]

So you're saying Doom 16 is more of a Jackson Pollock of violence, where this is more of a Bob Ross. Is that what you're saying? I'm sorry, I'm using art. Art references again. I know that's my thing, but, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

That'S a good way to put it. I. I would say say Doom Eternal was like the Monet.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then I'd say this is more of a Mike.

[Dan Reichert]

Mike being character. Do wines.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, let's say doom 2016 was.

[Dan Reichert]

Why did I ask for this?

[Mike Mahardy]

Doom 2016 was more of like a. Like a premier crucial. Really good. You know what you're gonna get. Like, just, you know, what you want is there in spades. It's not trying to be something it's not. I would say doom Eternal almost to the. To the Chablis. The premier crucible of Doom 2016 was more of this, like, conjure, kind of like Viognier Marsan, Russan blend. It's like, it's doing a lot. It's in your face. It's coming out of you. And then Dark age is almost a correction there. It's like I was like, a little bit too much oak in this conjurer, I think. I think we're gonna scale back a bit and make it a bit more formulaic. But then they just end up with, like, the. This. This. This really, like, this. This. Reserve Pinot Grigio from alto AD And I'm not really sure where I stand with it, because it's delicious. Don't get me wrong. I just don't know if I'm going to go back to it night after night. Do you know what I mean?

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, Mary and I were going to respond, but I could see it in both of our faces that you just said everything we were going to say. So. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. No, it is fun. I. I continually just want to be playing it when I'm not, which is like my Sign of a good game.

[Dan Reichert]

There's not a lot of friction there. It's just like, you know, I like the fact that, like, there are secrets and things, but it's easy enough, look at the map and just, you know, oh, go figure out how to open that thing.

[Mike Mahardy]

This more than the other two games. I'm having trouble with some of these collectibles. Maybe. Maybe I like again, maybe it's a. By virtue of me stepping away for a few days. There's certain things I'm like, I don't know what they want me to do with this door. And I'm trying the shield slam. I'm trying the shield throw. I'm trying the. I'm looking around for the. The flesh statues that catch your shield and launch you. And maybe I'm just not, like pouring over every nook and cranny enough, which is possible because, you know, those games.

[Mary]

A lot of times it's like a hole. Like.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Every time I go to a door.

[Mike Mahardy]

And they jump wall or whatever, they're.

[Mary]

Showing me, like some thing that I want behind a wall. It's not to get in that wall. It's to. If there's a hole somewhere or drop.

[Dan Reichert]

Down onto a thing. Yeah.

[Mary]

100%. It's usually like, there's a small little section.

[Mike Mahardy]

What.

[Mary]

I've also found that I just like, maybe this is like nostalgia, but this game a lot. If once you enter an area, turn around, you will be amazed at how often they have hid something behind you when you enter a new space. And I think that's so cute and so indicative of like a classic game design, which is like, explore, dude. Like, get in there. Like, look around. I've really enjoyed all the little secrets that I found. It makes me feel really special. And I don't feel like I have to find them, which is also really nice. I miss them all the time, you know, at the end of the level. And I'll tell you how much shit you miss.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary]

And I'm never like, oh, damn it. I really needed that to get through this level. Like, I'm fine either way. You can buy the great when you get the money. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Like, I don't feel like I'm hurting if I like, oh, I didn't get everything there. I can't afford this upgrade. Like, I feel like I've been upgrading at a good clip.

[Mary]

You know, they put the gold bars also as secret finders.

[Mike Mahardy]

Most of them are. Yeah.

[Mary]

If you see gold bars up a staircase, like, that's your end. Like, That's a secret. And it's so funny. Like sometimes you'll just be like, oh, a piece of candy. Oh, piece of candy. And you're just like following this very obvious trail. And then I walk into a door and it's like secret discovered. And there's a guy who's like, we can't stay here. And they're having some like generic audio going on. It's just like, well, this isn't too much of a secret, guys. But God love you for letting me feel like I'm very smart by following these gold bars into this very obvious area.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I, I will also say, I've heard some people say there's too much story for them in a Doom game. There's not.

[Dan Reichert]

There's not.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't know what the last time someone played Doom Eternal was. There was some stuff going on there. Even Doom 2016, they had those two main villains. Like there's definitely a bit more here what they're trying to do with the characters. It honestly reminds me of Gears of War and the vibes of what's happening. I don't know, it's. It, it doesn't overstay. Its welcome to me.

[Dan Reichert]

It's, it gets annoying because like, you know, I'm not a big story guy in games. It bugs me if it's like in the middle of the mission. If it was taking a break. Like every time I enter a new area where it's like, oh, here's the cut scene I gotta wait for. That's a Metal Gear thing. But like they're longish levels. So you know, I could be playing for 30, 40 minutes before an in between level cutscene. At that point I'm fine to set my controller down. Check my phone for a second. I don't know, like none of them are super long or anything. I, yeah, it has not bothered me at all.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, no, I, I Sorry, go ahead.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, I was going to say playing it and you know, a lot of Doom talk lately, Mike Minati was talking about recently playing the Doom one and two, the Night Dive remakes that recently came out. Oh, you know what? I'm kind of in the mood for that. So I did download Doom one and two I think came out like in the last six months or something like that. And sure enough, they do incredible remakes and everything.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh yeah, System Shock.

[Dan Reichert]

The thing, the thing was really good.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're like, they're becoming, they're like the new Blueprint point with that stuff. They're killing Discredit Blue Point. But like, Nightdive's kind of the one that's hot right now.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Yeah. And they're really nailing with the Doom thing. Like, you know, you can have it be like the clean, you know, more modern hud, or you can make it look like all that chunky DOS font and everything. So I went just old with everything. It's like they have a whole remix soundtrack where I put it on. I'm like, man, this is fucking. This remix soundtrack is incredible with like, you know, like real, you know, guitar music and stuff. But then I just switched back to the MIDI and just like, nah, kind of just want to hear the original Doom music. This is still really fucking good. That game is still. Still very fun for being one of the first FPS games. Like, that's. It's crazy that it holds up.

[Mike Mahardy]

I have never played Doom 3.

[Dan Reichert]

I never really did either. It got kind of ravaged in the reviews back in the day.

[Mike Mahardy]

I, you know, I. The most I saw of it. Tim Terry was playing it when I lived in their house for that month. He was playing that. He finished Resident Evil 4 and he was doing all the, like, the hardest to do in Resident Evil 4. And then I think he jumped to Doom 3 to show me almost like survival horror. Ish.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, A lot of weird stuff with, like, inter. Like computer interfaces and, you know, a lot of, like, puzzles on screens and things. Like, I've seen enough of it where it's like, this doesn't feel like the Doom I'm used to, but I feel like there's been a reevaluation recently where some people kind of come around on it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I want to go back and try it out. Yeah. Between that, it's. It's nice that I feel like Doom, the reboot. The franchise has just maintained its momentum since it got rebooted. Wolfenstein, though, and I loved New Blood. No, no, no, no, no. No Blood I did not like.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. New Blood was the co. Op.

[Mike Mahardy]

Was the DLC for the first. New Colossus was the second game, which I loved.

[Dan Reichert]

Yep.

[Mike Mahardy]

New Blood or Young Blood. I. Jesus. I really, you know, I think arcane a lot of stuff I don't like about that game. Game. Is there a new Wolfenstein on the.

[Dan Reichert]

No. They made Indiana Jones.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah. Machine names in Sweden. That's what they did. Okay, so Wolfenstein's not happening soon, but.

[Mary]

I mean, what's the difference.

[Mike Mahardy]

Between. What?

[Mary]

Nazis.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, gotcha. Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

They're.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're always killing Nazis in their games. That's a given.

[Dan Reichert]

It's a different vibe to it, for sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Wolfenstein was way more just gleeful violence and just wild story things where it's like. I feel Indy was very, very faithful to the vibe of indie.

[Mike Mahardy]

I feel the need to remind you two and I guess people listening that Indiana Jones is eligible for any awards we might want to nominate it for this coming year. Because we. We went, I think a week, like a few days after it released, a few days after the reviews went up, a few days after we did that. But yeah, no Dark Ages. I'm digging. I'm actually kind of glad. I don't know what more they would have done if they just kept going. Same timeline, whatever you want to say for after Eternal. I'm sure they would have figured it out. They're good at that stuff. But Dark Ages feels pretty new. I like the balance between. It's not just melee and ranged. I like that they've embraced the idea of defense, which I did not think I would want in a. In, you know, in a series known for, like, their whole philosophy is always move forward and keep killing stuff and be aggressive. They somehow have maintained that, but also, like, propelled it with defense and melee stuff, which is pretty impressive. Impressive. Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, it feels almost more offense than it is defense half the time, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, it's when I'm fighting, like, I don't know what's the enemy you see all the time? The big dudes with the double arm cannon, flamethrower stuff.

[Dan Reichert]

I forget what they're called. Yeah, it's.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's when you're fighting them, it's like they kind of. If you really. You're fighting a tougher one with armor, they really require you to use a lot of the tools at your disposal because it's like, oh, they'll do the ground pound, which you could parry because it's green, but then they do the flames, which you have to block if you don't want to take any damage or dodge. Of course, you. Or dodge. Yeah. So I'm really liking that game. That's one of my. I'm only mid game right now. I'm past the midpoint. I think there's 22 missions. I'm at 14, 15.

[Mary]

It's pretty clear, right? It, like, even gives you, like. Like when you're finished, which I. I was just gonna say, I really like that the game says we have 22 chapters. Enjoy them. It. It takes out some of the anxiety of, like, how far is it? How much. How much longer do I have I get to enjoy each chapter. I know where I'm at in the process and I'm enjoying. I mean, I, I think it's a really well designed game. I think it's modern to tell your audience how long they have left. That is neat and I like it.

[Mike Mahardy]

The last thing I'll say that they're so good at like communicating what the game is doing. So anytime you get like a hint of a new upgrade, you know exactly how it's going to change the game. Like you, they show you, okay, here's how the shield works. Here's the cool. You could do with it. The moment, all of a sudden it's just, you get a chainsaw blade around the edge. You're like, oh, I get, I get exactly how this is going to change the game. And then of course, they. With those expectations, but like, they're almost like inviting you along for the ride. They're like, you're right there in the co pilot seat or you think you are, but then they do stuff with the new tools you're getting. We're like, oh, no, I've just been a passenger this whole time. They're piloting this whole thing. It's. It's great.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. And like the shield, it's like, I feel like it was. It's so much more of a, a fun addition than like, you know, I like the flamethrower, I like the, the kind of grapple shotgun thing in eternal. But like, I don't know, this feels like more of a core part of the game rather than like, I'll switch to the shotgun and do the grapple thing. Like, I'm loving it.

[Mary]

Yeah, they had fun making this and it shows. And I think that that is one of the reasons why we're having so much fun playing it. And I'm excited for this new era where Doom is not only relevant, but it's something we really look forward to. Like, I get excited when these are coming out because I know they're gonna be fun now. Like, I know they're gonna be good.

[Dan Reichert]

I just love it when, you know, games from my childhood are relevant and good and not just a nostalgia act. You know, like, I look at Mario Zelda, Mario Kart, Doom. There's a recent one. Oh, more. I think about Mortal Kombat all the time. Mortal Kombat, I feel like, is such a fucking great example of that because. Cause it's like it is still so true to what it's been since the early 90s. It's been Ed Boon at The helm the entire time, through all the ups and downs. It has evolved, it has taken risks, it's done weird things, but it's been Mortal Kombat through and through. And I just, I really, really love that because that was such an important series to me as a kid. And just every time there's new Mortal Kombat, it's like, God damn, they are still fucking doing it. Same with Mario Kart. Mario Kart World is about to come out very soon and it's like, holy shit. From some of my earliest childhood memories playing that game with my, my dad. Mario Kart has never left my life and it's never just been it. It's not just a nostalgia thing. It's not like, oh, I'm playing Earthworm Jim because I played it when I was 10. It's like, no, Mario Kart's still a force to be reckoned with.

[Mike Mahardy]

96 tracks you can play. It's after the DLC and the Deluxe edition. It's crazy. Yeah, it's like people like Ed Boone, that's so impressive. Not to just credit the series with just him, but obviously he's the, the head of the snake there. It's like for him to stay in touch that much with video games, not just like continue to make games, but to understand the zeitgeist surrounding them enough to then toy with it with characters and gameplay mechanics. I don't know if I would have that kind of 40 years later. Yeah, that's crazy.

[Dan Reichert]

He's one of the best. And I don't know how many big name developers and again, a whole team surrounded them, but if you're looking at a studio head or director or something like, you know, Miyamoto is not sitting there, you know, making the new Mario in his garage anymore. You know, it's like, I hope, I.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hope Hugo Martin continues to get those opportunities with Doom games or other shooters, whatever he does. Like, if they can keep messing with Doom. And I, I'm not super optimistic just thinking about how things are going with Microsoft and whatnot. I don't know how many more chances they're going to get to make games like this. And these games are, you know, different kind of scale than a lot of fighting games, games in the grand scheme of things. But like, I don't know, it's always cra. It's great to see like in this day and age, people continue to make that kind of stuff. That's like adapting with the times and finding success with it. Yeah.

[Mary]

Or Larry, 40 years later, still really drilling Those balls and doing a great job at it. Imagine how much culture changes in 40 years and you're still able to drill a ball.

[Dan Reichert]

Larry's like the Hideo Kojima of drilling bowling ball.

[Mike Mahardy]

Let's get Larry Schwab and Ed Boone on a podcast stick stat.

[Dan Reichert]

Let's. I would be fine. Just. We need to sub one week. Bring in Larry.

[Mike Mahardy]

That would be.

[Dan Reichert]

I would do it. I would do it, Dan.

[Mike Mahardy]

Here's a free idea for this new venture of yours. Find, like, local small business artisans who have just been embedded a community for, like, 40 years, mom and pop kind of stuff, and are just very good at what they do. Get them to talk to, like, the Ed Boons, Hugo Martins.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, like, that feels very Letterman. Like, let's find the guy that works down the street and send him to, like, be our Olympics correspondent. Yeah, you know, know, that's.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love that they talk. Okay. They talk for half an hour each, and it's like they'll find some common ground. It's like, oh, I love bowling balls as much as you love, like, rendering lighting.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. I got shot down numerous times. Probably for good reason and probably still would today is to just task rabbit four people to come play 50 turns of Mario party against each other. Like, four random people that don't know each other. Other. And just like, you will be paid. You will just. Yeah, we'll give you snacks and drinks.

[Mary]

You will be paid.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, there's something about that. If I was one of them, I would start to feel like I'm in a Saw movie.

[Dan Reichert]

I'd make it very clear that, like, here's what we are. Here's what you're gonna do. It's not. We're not making fun of you. It's just like, let's see what this is like.

[Mike Mahardy]

I. Yeah, no, I agree. The. The end result might be really funny, but if I was them, my. My alarm bells would be going on off as soon as I walk into that door.

[Mary]

Kill me. I will be murdered because you have told me that you're going to pay me to play Mario Kart.

[Dan Reichert]

I would jump at the chance.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Well, I'm glad you're still with us. Glad you never gone to that white van. Who said that they were going to let you play Mario Kart all day.

[Dan Reichert]

I've done a lot of very questionable, like, I shouldn't have gotten gone there. The thing in college, I used to frequently, if I ever saw party people bus just, like, whoever I was at the bar with, I'd be like, let's Just hop on this party bus and see where it goes. And I would just hop on and befriend people on the party bus. Whoever was the birthday guy or whatever or some party or something. Just befriend people. And then they just like, oh, yeah, you're part of the crew. Then you wind up in Topeka or something. And, yeah, nothing bad ever happened. It was always fun. Everyone loved me. It was great. I could have gotten killed so many times.

[Mike Mahardy]

That make for a good bachelor party? Killing you?

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, murder. Yeah, that's good. Yeah.

[Mary]

We are all united.

[Dan Reichert]

You had me in the Hamptons at your bachelor party.

[Mike Mahardy]

We had you in the woods, on the beach, wherever we wanted.

[Dan Reichert]

We could have easily killed me in the Hamptons.

[Mike Mahardy]

It would have been so easy.

[Mary]

Punch Dan at your bachelor party.

[Dan Reichert]

That was about mar. That was about Ms. Pac Man.

[Mary]

That was about Ms. Pac Man.

[Dan Reichert]

But who won in the end? It was me.

[Mary]

It was me.

[Dan Reichert]

You, Pizza. I got the picture.

[Mary]

I do too. You can't use my own proof against me. I got my own proof in a court of law. Let the record show that Dan changed all of the photography.

[Dan Reichert]

You fucking assaulted me physically. All I did was beat you in a video game. You think the courts are gonna side with you?

[Mary]

Your own wife told you that you deserved it.

[Dan Reichert]

I don't think that's admissible in court.

[Mary]

Within 10 seconds, she was like, it's too much. Get away from her. And I was like, get away from me. I'm gonna kill this man.

[Dan Reichert]

Was that just being a jackass about it?

[Mary]

Yes. You were doing this thing where I was getting close to beating your score. And when I would get close to beating your score, you'd get really close to me. Be like, oh, you better not make any mistakes, because you're very close to beating my score. Better not be. Don't go left there. And then I would. You were, like, psychologically with me, which I think is, like, cheating in a way. Like, you weren't touching me. Where you're doing that thing where like. Like really annoying brothers where they're like, I'm not touching you.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Little brother energy.

[Dan Reichert]

I've never been an annoying brother.

[Mary]

Peripheral to the degree where, like, I was close. You got in my face enough. And I lost. And I turned around and I socked you right in the arm. And.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

And Bonk was there and was like. Like, dan, you get out of here.

[Mike Mahardy]

I came down. I came. Or I came into the room, like, while Dan was kind of recoiling from it. And I could sense it's called selling. Violence had just happened.

[Mary]

No, but you were tensing up for it. He was tensing up his eight pack right when I hit him.

[Mike Mahardy]

It wasn't. Oh God. I might.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm gonna this up Died like Houdini.

[Mike Mahardy]

It was for shoot.

[Dan Reichert]

Huh?

[Mike Mahardy]

Not a work. Like, I could tell it was for shoot. I was like, oh man. He's actually kind of thrown off from something.

[Dan Reichert]

I remember Mary hit pretty hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That kind of threw me off.

[Mary]

I was like punching a wet paper bag. It was like I just crumple. I wanted to hurt you. And then as soon as I did it, I was like, ah, you really shouldn't punch people because of video games.

[Dan Reichert]

So who's the villain here?

[Mary]

You? Still you. I haven't changed my tune. I don't always think violence is the answer, but I don't regret hitting you.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, I won in the end, so whatever history is in my favor.

[Mary]

Yeah, that was a fun weekend.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then we discovered. We did the. We've. The. The garage had like 12 Schwinn bikes on hooks. So we made. They took advantage of that.

[Mary]

We all rode the bikes. That was so cute.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then we like found this. A couple of my friends, like local friends here, found that backwoods route into a different neighborhood. And then we stumbled across that gas station with the beers.

[Mary]

We all.

[Dan Reichert]

The fan. There was the fan that worked there, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, no, no, no. That's the liquor store.

[Dan Reichert]

Liquor store. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, we. This might have been. It was my. My buddy Drew and Nick, like found this path through the woods somehow. And then we came out into another neighborhood and there was like this bodega on the corner corner that we got beers at and rode back with beers and paper bags to the house. The. No, the liquor store was Dylan. That's a fan named Dylan. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Good memory.

[Mary]

That was a fun trip. We had a good time. Everybody drank a lot of punching, and I won the Ms. Pac man contest.

[Dan Reichert]

Jake, you can edit that part out. But yeah, it was a good time.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan. What's. I know what it is, but how's deliver at all costs?

[Dan Reichert]

Actually, I want to segue from our doom conversation into I've been playing. We were talking about Doom 3 and I've been playing a game that runs on the Doom 3 engine and that is skin deep. I don't know. Have you guys heard of this Skin Deep? No.

[Mary]

Tell me about it.

[Dan Reichert]

So I've actually specifically thought of Mike a lot.

[Mike Mahardy]

It looks like shadowrun kind of art. Almost most old school Shadow run described.

[Dan Reichert]

To me as an imim, but, like, comedic. And so as soon as I heard that, I thought Mike Miy. Because, yeah, people were saying, like, oh, it's like prey or dishonored. But, like, if it was funny. And I. And yes, that does appear to be an accurate description of it. I suck at it. So, like, I don't think I loved it, but I think this is a me problem because, like, it clearly gives you a million tools here where it's like, you're in space and you're saving cash cats from, like, spaceship. Like, spaceship.

[Mary]

I can get behind this. Is this Mike?

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, this is the most Mike Mahardi coded game ever. So, yeah, you're in space saving cats. And so there's stuff like, okay, you can go up and there's a soap dispenser. And if you hit that, it'll make a cloud of flammable soap liquid in the air. And you can go hide somewhere, wait for a guy to walk through it, and you can throw a lighter and you can, you know, ignite everything. Or like, you can set a banana down next to an airlock and a guy slipped on a banana and gets sucked out of an airlock into space.

[Mike Mahardy]

Next to a what airlock? No, you slip on a what banana?

[Dan Reichert]

Thank you. Yes, yes. So you slip on the banana and. But I suck at it. So I would just get caught and throw, like, pepper in their face and then go, like, try to beat them to death with a pipe. So it was frustrating for me because it's like, I could tell there were so many cool things you could do, and I wanted to do them, but I just kept fucking up. But I think. I think either of you would be much better than me at this. And it's fun too, because, like, when you knock out an enemy, you have to, like, their head comes off and you have to. To kill them. Kill them. You have to, like, send their head out into space. So you can throw their head into an airlock and jettison it out, or you can throw it in a trash can that exits into space. Otherwise it will, like. Like the head gets, like, reconnected to the body, basically, and they come back to life. Okay, so it's. This is a weird game for sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, you're saving cats that are in, like, these, like, locked up up, like, in case of fire, break the glass kind of containers.

[Dan Reichert]

So, yeah, you're getting, like, a blue cat key and you go save Jerry the cat. And then after you save them, they're, like, emailing you. So, like, you go up to terminals and you're like responding to cat emails and having conversations with them and stuff. It's. It's got a lot of personality. I think it works. I think describing it, I would worry that it's like, oh, is this going to be fucking Internet? Oh, isn't bacon sweet? I can't has cheeseburger. Like wacky random humor. It's not. It seems actually funny. Like, I like the tone of this game a lot and I think if I was just better at these type of games, I would love it. But I gotta hear what Mike would think of it. But also, Mary, I think this might be like, this could be like a fun stream indie game for you.

[Mary]

Yeah, usually when they're games like this, I struggle with them too, because I'm not sneaky. And usually unless it's being more clear with what it wants me to do, I'll be like, this is too sandboxy. Just tell me, tell me like what you want of me in this situation. But I love the humor of it. It's like, it looks like another way you can get rid of the heads is by flushing them. Just a funny idea is like, you're just like getting rid of these heads after you've killed them.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's like, yeah, I'm seeing gameplay. It's like, okay, you got. You escaped one sector or whatever you want to say through the trash chute. So now you smell and you're tracking fart like smell clouds around which they can follow you by.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, like I came out of a stinky thing or whatever. And like this text on the screen is like, you are smelly. It's like, oh, shit, I'm smell. So like, you gotta keep your stink in mind. But it's also stuff like, you know, you. You break a window with something and then you walk past it and oh, shit, you get glass in your feet and you have to like, you know, pull the glass out and stuff. Like, there's just a lot of interesting interactions with the environment and the enemies in this game.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, this looks rad. I like the. I kind of read this description in Mary's voice. It's like Skin Deep is an immersive first person shooter. We got sneezing. We got things getting stuck in your feet.

[Mary]

Feet.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's just the most like, Mary wrote that. Kind of.

[Mary]

Maybe I did their marketing. Yeah, you're outnumbered.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's Annapurna.

[Mary]

No shoes.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's got the Annapurna stamp.

[Mary]

I love Annapurna too. I haven't heard much about this. And I also haven't heard much from Annapurna in a while, so I'm quite interested in what's going on over there.

[Mike Mahardy]

Blendo Games. What else did they do? Oh, they did Quadrilateral Cowboy. Yes. Oh, and Cyber.

[Dan Reichert]

No.

[Mike Mahardy]

What's it called?

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. 30 flights. 11.

[Mary]

Quadrilateral cowboy.

[Mike Mahardy]

Gravity Bone Flotilla. Quadrilateral Cowboy. Adam Zombie. No. Hypnospace Outlaw was the same people that did that. Ah, fuck. They did another similar game, but yeah. Okay. Yeah, I.

[Dan Reichert]

So, you know, the humor is good. You know.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, Quadrilateral Cowboys humor was definitely good. The. The hacking game for those didn't play. It was. It was funny. Yeah. I want to play this. I'm gna download it.

[Dan Reichert]

I would love to hear what you two think of it because I want.

[Mike Mahardy]

To add to cart. Let's go right now. Do that. Expense this. It's a company. No, I'm just joking.

[Dan Reichert]

O. We work for companies and can expense stuff. Look at us.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, I'm. I'm just going to. Oh, I don't have it. Steam. Oh, I'm not in Steam. Or. I was in the. I was on the website.

[Mary]

What?

[Mike Mahardy]

Not Steam.

[Mary]

Anyway, what other games?

[Mike Mahardy]

I was in the website.

[Mary]

Not seems I don't care.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, no one cares.

[Mike Mahardy]

90 off. Hold on a second. Let's check this out. Oh my God. Minus 70 of the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt with expansion is 749. Oh my God.

[Mary]

Saying things out loud.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh my God.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, Dan's gone and it's just me doing this.

[Mary]

Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

And you. Listen, Mike.

[Mary]

Mike. You're playing they are Billions.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh yeah. This is going to be a really quick thing. I don't think. I know it doesn't play this game. It's Billions does not have rats.

[Dan Reichert]

What am I thinking of?

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't know.

[Dan Reichert]

The like tower defense am I thinking of?

[Mary]

We don't know. Dan.

[Mike Mahardy]

Zombies. Not rats though.

[Dan Reichert]

No, it's rats.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's no rats. And it's zombies. Zombies. So I don't think. I think this would have been pre fire escape, this game. Numantian Games Spanish studio made it. Yeah. I don't know. It's not a new game whatsoever. I just went back to replay it lately. It's still really good.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like an rts but you're like basically just building the base and then you're waiting for the waves of rats.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, it's. It's. It was made for people who play real time strategy games. Zombies. Not rats.

[Mary]

Wave of rats.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wave.

[Dan Reichert]

I liked it. I remember. I Played a decent amount of it and I was like, oh, this is. This is kind of scratch base building itch.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Tower defense.

[Mike Mahardy]

No. Well, so it's, it's built. They literally built it for people who turtle in real time strategy games. Whereas you play defensively and you slowly build out your base and build up your. The strength of your forces. So you're just. You start off with a, like a. In command center rather, and you get a few different like bow and arrow characters and a soldier and you're just expanding across this wasteland, building shelters and then fishing huts for food, lumber mills, stone quarries, and eventually you're building up an army. But your main concern is that every like 10, depending on the difficulty, every 10 to 30 days, zombies, waves of zombies going to attack. And the game's tech is such that it can render a lot of zombies at once and explosions and blood pops and whatnot. So you're just. It's defending this base over time and slowly expanding it when you need more space. Eventually the last wave, it's like, all right, they're coming. They are billions. It's not actually billion, but it's quite a few of them. If you haven't played this game, I don't know if you're a strategy fan, real time strategy fan, and you like turtles in Command and Conquer or Company of Heroes, what have you. Check this out. It's still in really good spot. Do not, don't play the campaign. Play the survival mode. Oh, sure, they started with survival mode in early Access and they added the campaign. All the campaign does is some very loose story on top of pretty boring linear missions that introduce certain units at a very slow pace as opposed to survival, which is very much about kind of making the most of your time time. And you know, you send out parties to go investigate zombie villages and get the resources there. I don't know, just. Just a shout to them because this game has held up.

[Dan Reichert]

Have you heard of Tempest Rising?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes, that's the Command and Conqueror inspired.

[Dan Reichert]

I want to play that. I played very briefly and it's extremely. Command and Conquer. Like they even got like Frank Lapacki for some like music tracks.

[Mike Mahardy]

What era? Mechanically speaking speaking.

[Dan Reichert]

Maybe like a Tiberian sun. Or a Tiberian sun. Red alert to era, I would say. Oh, I think you would like. I would. Maybe we should play it against each.

[Mike Mahardy]

Other at some point. No, I, I know the time period you're saying. I'm saying Tiberian Sun Rails, who are very different games in terms of like how they Flow.

[Dan Reichert]

The units themselves are more GDI versus nod, but the gameplay itself and a lot of the sounds and stuff like the unit sounds sound like they're straight out of Red Alert 2. So definitely thinking of like numerous command and conquer games while playing it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I want to play that for sure. Is it early access or is it fully out?

[Dan Reichert]

It's out out now.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I think we got a couple emails asking if we had played that. I'm not yet.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I want to play more for sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Strategy, real time strategy is kind of the thing I go to the most lately to get away from everything in terms of like I'm playing new games, but when I have a choice of what to play out outside of trying to keep up with new releases, it's real time strategy. That's probably why I went back to their billions. But Tempest Rising is high on my list as well.

[Dan Reichert]

Nice.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary, what else have you been playing?

[Mary]

I played a game that Dan recommended to me. Dan told me that he was playing this game called Bionic Bay that was like kind of limbo, you know, where you just go through it, you die, but you do your best to survive and you learn the different rules of the world. And I, I, he was right playing it and I, I think it's really cool. It has atmosphere out the wazoo.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh yeah.

[Mary]

You are essentially in some kind of like futuristic up factory. I don't know what they're making in that factory, but it is deadly. There is like, yeah, there's bombs everywhere and the gears are sharp and you're just this tiny person in this giant factory. If you look at any screenshot or any gameplay from this game, you'll, you, you're just this tiny little person with these gangly little arms and you're dip and diving through these giant mechanical parts trying to survive. Now the interesting component of this game that I don't know if you explain, maybe I was like, I'm not listening but like I don't remember you telling me about the swip swap ability ability where you can like punch stuff and then you can swap places with it, which is a really nice and new way to play on this limbo type game where you're constantly dying and getting crushed or electrocuted or melted or whatever. But like in this one, maybe a laser is coming towards you and there's a box. So you have to switch places with the box. The laser hits the box and not you and now you're hiding behind the box. I think that's a really fun concept behind it. I think there are other games that are like completely dedicated to swipe swapping, like swapper and stuff like that.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

I think if you like things like that, this game is so up your alley. I think it's been a fun ride so far.

[Dan Reichert]

And even the platforming, like the jumping that like roll, dive, you know, dive in the air, like that feels like super fun.

[Mary]

Yeah, there's like roll, jump, dive, jump dive is the longest and it's a big ass jump and that's pretty fun.

[Dan Reichert]

And then sometimes when you're doing that with like swapping a thing out, like, okay, and then I'm going to drop this block onto Spike so I can land on it and like, oh, it's really fucking cool.

[Mary]

There's a lot of platforming in this that I don't think limbo every, every day. And like I, I know maybe like the limbo comparison is mostly because you die a lot. Like you're experiencing something and your intent, the intention is for you to die and then learn and be like, oh, okay, I see. This crushes me. I need to get past this faster.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, like the atmosphere kind of like it's got that limbo vibe to it. It is just like limbo is heavier. The needle is more in the puzzle side with limbo and it's more in the platforming on this. But there's elements of both, both and.

[Mary]

Both, you know, and I, and I appreciate platforming puzzles. It's like one of my favorite things to do. So over time, like figuring out how it wants me to get past a certain area has been quite fun. There's some gotchas just like any of these games where like you think you've gotten past scary and you touch a box and it explodes and it's like, well, those are the exploding boxes. And it's like, all right, you little. But like I think it's fun and light hearted and simple enough and the save states are respectful enough that even when I die randomly, because I didn't know that that thing was going to kill me, I'm like five seconds away from that area. It's very considerate.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm always laughing. I'm never frustrated when I like died or something like that because like there's not like a load time when you die. It's just like you're right back there. And like Mary said, the save states are just like right like your checkpoints are right where you were. So like you'll never lose a ton of progress. It's. I will. Just because your little dude gets fucked up. It's like, oh, that thing just cuts me, cuts my limbs off. Oh, that thing explodes me. It's like, yeah, let's try that a different way. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. It's not a frustrating game. I think it's, I think it's nice. I also just will say visually I think it's. There's something kind of almost monochrome about it where like everything is either like all soft blues or like all warm orange hues. They've done a good job. Visually the aesthetic is nice. You're in some kind of futuristic tech world or hell, I don't really know.

[Dan Reichert]

It doesn't even try to like, it's just like, oh, something goes wrong. Some science experiment went wrong at the beginning and like at the end of like each like longer level you'll get like a page of text from like a dead guy or a scientist or something.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

It's like okay, whatever. It's. You don't, you don't need to follow anything story wise here.

[Mary]

On the Dewey vs. Talkie scale, you just show up in this factory and like eight hours in there's like one paragraph.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes, yes.

[Mary]

And you don't. And you don't have to to read it.

[Dan Reichert]

I was worried that it wasn't going to run well on Steam Deck because like there is a lot of physics stuff going on in this game. But it is a fantastic flight game. It's a great Steam Deck game. Highly recommended.

[Mary]

Yeah, I, I've really liked it. Thank you for the recommendation. I think this is perfect for someone who's just looking for like a. I don't want to say brain dead. I think there are some puzzles, there are some thinkings, but not like not really. Most of the time it's just like get it done, figure it out. Get, get past this glowing blob. Don't get electrocuted. Don't let this crush you. Like whatever.

[Dan Reichert]

So I go through life. Yeah.

[Mary]

Yeah. Don't get electrocuted. Don't let this crush you. Figure it out.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Yeah. Awesome game again. Took like hours off of my Japan flight recently. Real good flight game.

[Mary]

It's. It's probably longer than it seems too because I put like eight hours into it and I don't think. I don't know how far I am into it, but I bet I have a lot more to to go.

[Dan Reichert]

But it evolves enough. Like it's not like you're just doing the same thing over and over again. It's like, okay, this is really heavy on the swap mechanic. And then it's moving into a different thing. And yeah, it's very, very smartly put together game.

[Mary]

Cool. Thank you for the wreck.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

What about Deliver at All Costs?

[Dan Reichert]

This is a wacky little game that speaks to me also on the, the Dewey scale. Actually there is, there is more talking than you'd expect in this game, but the Dewey is very Dewey. Um, it's isometric. You're driving a car around, you're a delivery guy. You work for a company called We Deliver. And it's just really weird shit. So like one of the first emissions is like, oh, at this tiki bar, all of these watermelons got stinky and gross and there's bugs on them. It's like, okay, well I'm going to get paid to take these watermelons to a pesticide plant or whatever and spray them all with pesticides. And then I'm going. And like while they're in the back of your truck, it's all physics. So it's like you start with 60 watermelons and you need to at least deliver 20. But if you take a turn too sharp, Nope, there go 10 watermelons, you know, so you're like really trying to be careful delivering this crazy taxi boy, in a way. I mean, it is a lot of delivery.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's not as, yeah, taxi goes vroom. But I know that's not what it is. But it's just similar name convention.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure. No, it's. It's less time specifically than Crazy Taxi because Crazy Taxi was made for the arcade. So it's like, get people out, get another quarter. You know, this one is. There are sometime missions, but it's a lot more just like get up and down this precarious mountain and drive a truck into a volcano or like that, that watermelon one. So you spray them with pesticides, then you take them to like a place where you paint them all green and then you go sell them back to the tiki bar because it's like, oh, look, they're fresh melons. It's like, no, you just sprayed the bugs off them and painted them green. So just weird shit like that. You're delivering fireworks, like boxes of fireworks while they're all going on off and like they're exploding and making the physics on your car go crazy. You can get spike, spike wheels. You can like get a catapult that launches stuff off of your truck. There's alien stuff where you're following saucers around and taking pictures while they're abducting cows. It's just it almost. It's got the vibe of like, a weird PS2 game that I really enjoy.

[Mary]

It definitely does. It's set in like a 1940s mobster era, like, 60s.

[Dan Reichert]

It's kind of like idyllic 60s stuff. And like, there is a little more story than I think I would want in this game because it's not the best in terms of story, but the driving around, I. I think a key thing is too, the destructibility is you can just drive straight through any building. Like, you go into the suburbs and you're driving through every church, every store, every house.

[Mary]

Like in real life.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, yeah, yeah. And it's. It all just is very satisfying the way everything kind of breaks apart and then it's like, oh, you have to like, go the opposite direction where it's like I have a bomb in the back of my truck and if I tap a. Another car, it's going to like Terminator 2 nuke explode everything in this area. So it's, It's. It is all just delivering stuff from A to B for the most part, but it does a good job of kind of keeping those missions fresh.

[Mike Mahardy]

You know, I haven't played, like, something like that in a while.

[Mary]

It seems fun, like, kind of silly and quirky and like, I don't. It seems interesting though. But, like, what's the depth of. Of it? Is it. Is it super cas.

[Dan Reichert]

It's cash. Like, I. I've come to kind of play it as a podcast game. You know, at first, like, the tone is. Is very quirky and fun, but there is just a lot of story. And I, I'm. I don't love it as much as, like, the tone. Great. The story itself, it's just kind of convoluted unnecessarily. And so I do find myself just kind of like, listening to podcasts or, you know, like, I'll have something on in the background while I'm playing this. And like, I'm just kind of here for the driving around and destroying show. And the missions are more fun than the. The cutscenes between the missions, for sure. But, yeah, very, very, very fun. And it turns out Konami's making video games again, so that's great.

[Mary]

Watch Konami. Doesn't feel like it should be.

[Dan Reichert]

No, it doesn't. I was surprised when I went to that event in England and it was like, okay, I'm going to the Snake Eater event. It's like, yeah, they got Snake Eater, but also Silent Hill 2, which is also good. And then also Delivered all cost. This quirky indie game. It's like, wait, they have three games games here and they're all good and very surprising. Like, we had two remakes, but in one totally original indie game. Like.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, cool. Remind me when Snake Eater's out.

[Dan Reichert]

What is it, like August, September or something like that?

[Mike Mahardy]

Is it okay? So it's still a ways.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, but it is this year. They did August 26th, so, I mean, that's just three months away.

[Mike Mahardy]

I can't wait for that.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, it's. What I played is very good.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right. I think that's all the games I played. More blueprints. I'm still playing that. Liking it more and more the more I play it.

[Mary]

I. I better hurry up and finish it. Going to do a spoiler cast. So I. I would love to.

[Mike Mahardy]

That'd be great. Will it be obvious when I quote, unquote, beat it?

[Dan Reichert]

I didn't beat it.

[Mary]

I mean, like, you don't actually ever beat it, but there are a credits roll.

[Mike Mahardy]

Right. But like, the Hades, you know, when you quote, you, like, beat you. You beat the base game.

[Dan Reichert]

I think if you see credits, I think you beat. Like, if you want to be a real sicko about it, you can. And I respect. But it's like this whale goes very deep, and I had to play other stuff at a certain point.

[Mary]

Yeah, I agree. I think you'll know when I have.

[Mike Mahardy]

Not yet. I've not seen.

[Mary]

There's like a. There's like a VO and everything. Like, there's like a. Like there's like a voiceover and there's like a. I don't know if it's animated, but there's like an ending.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, it's getting to room 46. You know, it's the thing they tell you from the beginning. Like, yeah, 46.

[Mike Mahardy]

And that's pretty much not lying about that. Okay, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll keep playing it. I'd love to do a spoiler cast at some point.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes.

[Mary]

Cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right. You want to. You want to talk about Emma? Emails?

[Dan Reichert]

Sure.

[Mary]

Yeah. Let's talk about.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, okay, cool.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary]

So crazy that they used to, like, be like, you are in so much trouble at this company, and then they would stamp it and put it in the mail.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Get it. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

You can flee the country by that point. Yeah, I could be. I could be in. I could be in Guadalupe by that point. You don't know where I'm going.

[Mary]

We don't.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, let's talk about emails. You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com all right, as usual, you can write into firescapecastmail.com get those questions comments in Mainly questions. We've got a pretty deep well most of the time, but we've been running through a bunch of them. Dan and Mike and Jeff I think did like 8 on their episodes. So keep filling up that inbox with questions for the show. We might read it if we like it enough. Mary, can you read this one from. This is from Jeffrey. Mary, I believe also like a Canini fan, so longtime listener of Fire Escape.

[Mary]

As well, but we owe you an apology. Okay, here we go. Earlier tonight, I ordered my kids and our sitter the new Domino's stuffed crust pizza, which apparently only comes out in medium. I didn't know that. Whatever. I had a slice. It was good. I went out for drinks, et cetera, et cetera, yada, yada. Anyway, I got home and leftover room temp slice of aforementioned pizza. And God damn it if that room temp pizza was the best fucking thing I ate all day, it was even more memorable than when it was hot. What are other foods that are better at room temp after they've been left out than when they are fresh? Jeffrey.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, really, really quick, because I know, Dan, you've got some stuff locked and loaded. I got an idea. Or Jeffrey, I want to clarify something in this email because what it sounds like is he had a sitter come over, right, to go out for the night. So the sitter was going to watch the kids. So he ordered pizza for the kids in the sitter. Oh, I'm positing that maybe you just got home after a couple drinky poos and anything you were gonna eat tasted really good. No, and I'm counting on that.

[Dan Reichert]

This is a good pizza. I'm telling you. I had, I had two Domino's pizzas this weekend. I had two Domino's pizzas.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm a thin crust. It's got a, like the cardboard thin crust. And I mean, it's dark.

[Dan Reichert]

It's cardboard cracker crust.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, that's what I got.

[Dan Reichert]

So it was.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm not judging, I'm just saying.

[Dan Reichert]

Listen, it was a 6.99. You can get as many things as you want for 6.99 from this list. So I got the parmesan stuffed crust with a bacon on one half, pepperoni on the other half. And then for the other medium pizza, I got my thin crust barbecue with ranch punch dip thing.

[Mike Mahardy]

It all sounds delicious. I. I don't. I don't. Yeah, I don't fault you for it, but what's a. Yeah. Okay, so to answer a question, what is something that tastes better? Room temp after it's cooled off?

[Dan Reichert]

Uncrustables.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, wait. Texture thing.

[Mary]

Neutral.

[Dan Reichert]

No, they come from the freezer, and then you leave them out for, like, 45 minutes.

[Mary]

Right. You don't want to eat them from the freezer.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, am I wrong, then, that they're better at room temperature than out of the bag?

[Mike Mahardy]

He specifically says, so what are other foods that are better at room temperature temperature? Then they've been let out, left out than when they are fresh. Like hot.

[Dan Reichert]

Halo top.

[Mike Mahardy]

Halo top?

[Dan Reichert]

The ice cream.

[Mike Mahardy]

We just did the same thing with our heads. When you said the location, you never.

[Dan Reichert]

Had a halo top or the Breyer's Delights or something.

[Mike Mahardy]

So I was gonna say ice cream. When you pull ice cream out of the. Or, like, we'll eat out of, like, the things. Yeah, yeah, we'll eat out of the cartons. The talenti. Also, like, even so, sorbet, when it melts a bit and it gets that little, like, puddle around the edges, then it gets way better. Yeah. Ice cream was mine.

[Dan Reichert]

You got to be patient. Give it at least 10 minutes or.

[Mike Mahardy]

Just breathe really hard on it.

[Dan Reichert]

You need to microwave for, like, 10 seconds to kind of kickstart it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah. There's methods, There's. There's ways. Yeah, there's. There's got to be a few things, too. I would actually say, like, this is a Sopranos thing. I would say ziti, like pasta involving cheese. Cheese, I would say, is better once it's cooled off a bit and the cheese gets a bit chewier and kind of coagulate.

[Dan Reichert]

Like, that's the thing with pizza, too. Yeah. If it's super hot, let it sit for a little bit. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

And I don't mean to avoid burning. I mean, I just think the texture of, like, ziti or lasagna is better once the cheese is cooled off because the cheese is incorporated into the actual dough. Much better.

[Dan Reichert]

Mac and cheese is the same way. It'll be a little soupy if you do it right away.

[Mary]

I was gonna say Mac and ch. And cheese. I personally, when I make Mac and cheese, I usually put it in the fridge or Just leave it around and just like pizza. I think Mac and cheese is better the second eating. It's just had time to marinate a lot of pasta.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

In there. Adding its flavors.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah. To that point, I would actually say. This is not exactly the question. I would say most braised or, like, stewed food. I would say most stews are better. Better once they've sat in the fridge overnight. And the, the flavors incorporate way more.

[Mary]

You usually want to reheat those. It's a bit.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

I'm not eating the one.

[Mike Mahardy]

But like, it's. Yeah.

[Mary]

Mac and cheese. I actually will eat cold from the fridge. And it's delicious.

[Dan Reichert]

It's good.

[Mary]

Cold, still good.

[Dan Reichert]

But also Mac and cheese just microwaved is very good still. Like, it's very reheatable. Like, there's some stuff like French fries you never want to microwave. That sucks ass. The air fryer is the only way that makes it even decent even, you know, even that's kind of a pale imitation pizza. Like, I, I, I air fried so much that Domino's and it was like, better the second time around. Taco Bell is extremely good air fried. Like, oh, yeah.

[Mary]

But can you have Taco Bell room temp and be like, that is better than when it came?

[Dan Reichert]

Not better. It's good, but it's, it's not going to be better. No.

[Mary]

Okay. I have one that might be.

[Mike Mahardy]

Brownies are better when they've cooled off than if they're hot.

[Mary]

I think that's true too. And I think it's just because they're too hot.

[Mike Mahardy]

So you need that. I need to chew in my dessert.

[Mary]

I have definitely every time I like, go to Buffalo Wild Wings or like, any sports bra. Bra. Any sports. We actually, we have a sports bar in, in Portland called the Sports Bra, and it's a women's sports bar.

[Dan Reichert]

Wow.

[Mary]

It's very funny you told us about that. I don't know why I.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're loving these Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark face offs. Have you, have you been seeing this shit?

[Mary]

Dude, I can't get enough of it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Every time they face off, apparently it's like they break a new record every time. Viewership record. Every time they play.

[Mary]

They hate each other and it's.

[Dan Reichert]

Are they on the same team?

[Mary]

No.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, no. Dan. This is like WWE level. Like, like, drama gets played up.

[Dan Reichert]

Magic Johnson, Larry Bird thing.

[Mary]

If one of them, like, touches the other one, they're like, that's a foul.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, no.

[Dan Reichert]

They legit hate each other.

[Mary]

And they, and they, and they push each Other. It's crazy.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, wow.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's. There's a clip. Look up Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, the other day. Angel Reese is, I want to say, like, a foot and a half, if not even more taller than Caitlin Clark. They're completely different positions, but they, like, they know each other from college ball. Oh, like, so that big rivalry, so.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, Angel Reese. Is that okay? I didn't know who that was, but I recognize the name because there's a McDonald's. I think there's an angel Reese McDonald's.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're blowing up. They're getting sponsorships.

[Mary]

You probably see cereal.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. The Angel Reese special, and then Caitlin Clark. I think I saw an snl, so I think I'm familiar with her, too.

[Mike Mahardy]

Angel Reese was. Ella. She plays for the Sky. But, yeah, she played for lsu, so. So. But yeah, Caitlin Clark just, like, comes in wnba, and all these. All these athletes when she got there last year were like, hey, welcome. They're tossing her. I mean, she's really fucking good, but they're tossing her around like, hey, welcome. This is a much more physical league, so I think this, like, she's just. I mean, where they're only two games in or whatever, but first game of the season, they played, like, these two rival players played, and, like, Angel Reese caught a rebound, and Kayla Clark, like, threw her, and then she got up, started. It's been. It's been awesome. Oh, wow.

[Mary]

Dramatic.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. But what. Why did. How the Are we talking about this? Why did you bring this up? Mary, Is that me?

[Mary]

I think.

[Mike Mahardy]

I mean, did you say Reese? And then I just heard, no.

[Dan Reichert]

How did we get there?

[Mike Mahardy]

Taco Bell sponsorship? No, that was after.

[Dan Reichert]

How do we go from fast food and microwaving stuff to women's basketball?

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't know. Well, what the happened? I. I said, we'll roll back the tape. I'll figure it out on Monday.

[Mary]

Sports bra.

[Dan Reichert]

Ah, that's it. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, they only play women's sports. Yes. Sounds like they're probably busy these days anyway.

[Mary]

So the sports bar where I go anytime I'm doing sports bars and I want to have food, I always order. I always order fried pickles if they are in the form of discs, not sports spears. And fried pickles are straight up better if they've cooled off in a room temp. They just are. They're too hot. They're little lava bombs. You don't want any of that. You just have to wait until they're about, like, warm room temp. And that's when they're like, at their sweet spot.

[Dan Reichert]

Like a Juicy Lucy.

[Mary]

Juicy Lucy's are.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's how you don't melt your mouth though. That's.

[Dan Reichert]

You don't have the option of eating them hot.

[Mary]

You have to fry. Make a fucking hole.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's a place here that does. Dana, I don't know if you've been. No, I don't think you would have been. But there's a place that does like fried zucchini alongside their fried pickles. I would, I would also argue to agree with you, Mary, that fried pickles, when they're super hot, the breading and the pickle separate way too easily and it becomes two separate things. When it's cooled off, they're more. They're of a piece like you're going to bite into it. It's going to continue to. What? What's funny? What did I say?

[Mary]

Why you laugh of a piece.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, they're cohesive.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

I think they're better in the trash can.

[Mike Mahardy]

Not a fan of pickles?

[Dan Reichert]

Nah, I don't think so. I think I've had them like once.

[Mary]

Dude, are so great. You are just like. You are so off your game when you. You talk about flavor and the things that are so valuable to you. Pickles are secret flavor. They just are.

[Dan Reichert]

There's no way that's true.

[Mary]

It's like got salt and like some.

[Dan Reichert]

I love salt.

[Mary]

Pickly flavor. Like the sourness. Pickle flavor, chips and crunch. It's got all good. Good.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Pickles are top tier snack.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm telling you. I think this comes back to granted, I never had pickles, but I think it ruined it for me in high school or junior high when I worked at Funko Land and my assistant manager Tim would pay for my meal if I would drive to McDonald's and I would get him a number two, which is the two cheeseburger meal with extra pickles. So basically by going there and picking it up, I'd get a free. A free meal. But that meant my car smelled like Tim's shitty pickles all the time in the summer. And I was like, pickles, I hate these. But I never had them leading up to that either. So I'm just. Pickle.

[Mary]

I think spite is like very powerful. But I just, I think you are missing out as someone who really likes, I don't know, fast food and like casual, like just really intense flavor profiles. Like pickles are where it's at, man. Like, I don't like this.

[Dan Reichert]

I just want meat and cheese and bread. Like I just. Anything else any Condiments outside of barbecue sauce, which is delicious, is just going to distract from the things I love.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, but you can enhance things you love. You can enhance the things you love with, like, a hint of, like, a nice.

[Dan Reichert]

I feel like it would be insulting to the meat and cheese of the Quarter Pounder if I was like, let's put some ketchup on there.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't think you're giving enough credit to your mouth or your brain. Like, I think they would both be fine with you adding a slight.

[Dan Reichert]

Mouth and brain are both great. Thank you very much.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're not.

[Mary]

I do think he gives his brain a lot of credit. Maybe too much credit.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I think you could start putting more stuff in your mouth. You'd be fine. Try expand your horizons.

[Dan Reichert]

But they would just. I don't know.

[Mary]

I feel like we do it delicately. Like a very light, tiny pickle in there. Lacroix of pickle.

[Dan Reichert]

But if I put a pickle in.

[Mary]

A Quarter Pounder, little pickle in there.

[Dan Reichert]

If I don't like. It's too risky. Because if I don't like it, then I've ruined a good, perfectly good Quarter Pounder.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, so pay another $80. What are.

[Dan Reichert]

I can't expense Stuff. Stuff anymore.

[Mike Mahardy]

Use our card. I'll grant. I'll give. You can use.

[Dan Reichert]

All right. You can doordash me a pickle meal for McDonald's, and what I'll do is.

[Mike Mahardy]

I want to order, like, five burgers or whatever. You know, five Quarter Pounders, and three of them are gonna have pickles. I mean, it would be. The scales would be tilted in your favor because you could tell which ones have pickles in them. So you'd like, automatically say, I don't like this one. But I want to.

[Dan Reichert]

I've had 5,000 quarter pounders in my life. Maybe three of them had barbecue sauce on it. None had pickles.

[Mike Mahardy]

You're not a fan of barbecue sauce?

[Dan Reichert]

No, I like it a lot. No, I'm just saying that, like, I don't like the barbecue sauce. Fucking incredible.

[Mike Mahardy]

But you're Quarter Pounder Kansas City, and you don't like barbecue sauce.

[Dan Reichert]

You're insane. I've had. So I'll chug barbecue sauce.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God. Dan doesn't like barbecue sauce. This is crazy.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm saying I don't want to distract from the meat, the cheese, the bread. The ratio of the Quarter Pounder is pristine. It is perfect. And to put anything else in on there would do it a disservice.

[Mary]

It enhances the cheese.

[Mike Mahardy]

How do you know that? If you haven't tried it with. It's just common stuff.

[Dan Reichert]

It's common sense.

[Mary]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, but to that end, did you ever have anything besides cheese? Pizza?

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, Meat. I won't do like vegetables and stuff.

[Mike Mahardy]

Right, but you added stuff to the cheese and the sauce and the bread, which again?

[Dan Reichert]

Meat, cheese, bread. That's the combo. That's. That's the trifle force.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, which one's ganondorf meat? Oh, yeah, it's an easy one. Which one's link.

[Dan Reichert]

Cheese?

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, I would have gone bread.

[Dan Reichert]

I think Zelda cheese bread and Zelda's cheese. Oh, the blonde hair. Well, they're both kind. Blonde. Yeah, yeah, whatever.

[Mary]

Because of the blonde hair.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, that's exactly.

[Mary]

Obviously Zelda's cheese. She's blonde.

[Dan Reichert]

I can't see a blonde lady without thinking about cheese. Margo. Robbie. I'm thinking about cheese.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cheesy hair. He doesn't know how to deal with both of them. Are you Fama or are you Natalia? Thank you.

[Mary]

Jeffrey.

[Mike Mahardy]

Jeffrey. Dan, can you read this one from Nathan?

[Dan Reichert]

Hey, fire escape. What are some times you've been surprised by games media's reaction to a game? I was told by a friend a few years ago that I needed to play a plague tale requ. I binged the game over a weekend.

[Mike Mahardy]

To be clear, that's not how he spelled it. That's just how Dan pronounced it.

[Dan Reichert]

A plague tale requiem. Oh my God. I binged the game over a rec room for dream. I binged the game over a weekend and nearly cried at the ending. Loved every minute. I was surprised to find out most people in games media either got bored of it or didn't have any thoughts on it at all. Have you had any games that you loved or hated? Only to find out reviews completely disagreed with your opinion. Nathan. Yes. The fucking walking dead game that sucks. So that everyone just had some nationwide delusion. Games of industry wide delusion that this is an important or good game in any way. It sucks so much. I said I wouldn't do this anymore after destroying Redemption 2. But enough times gone by and I still feel like Walking Dead sucks.

[Mike Mahardy]

The telltale game.

[Dan Reichert]

Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, there's like five.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, whatever. The one that everyone said was like game of the year. And everyone's like, you're all losing your minds.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, there were reviews. They're like, this gives me the sense that everything's about to change. And like, shut up.

[Dan Reichert]

No.

[Mike Mahardy]

I enjoyed it. For the record. I came away from it being like, all right too.

[Mary]

I don't think it's goatee. But I thought it was good.

[Dan Reichert]

A lot of people said that's the thing. If it just came out and a bunch of like, you know, visual novel dorks liked it or whatever, I'd be like, okay, yeah. If a bunch of theater kids were like, oh, it made me cry. Whatever, that's fine. Enjoy your shit. I But it's the fact that everyone around me was like, this is game of the year. I was like, you're all nuts.

[Mike Mahardy]

Disney adults, theater kids, they're to blame for all the woes of the world.

[Mary]

Yes. We hate Minati.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm not. I'm not anybody.

[Mary]

He's banned from the podcast. Not allowed on.

[Dan Reichert]

No, that's my co owner.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan's lost his edge. Mary, me and you can go at theater kids and Disney adults all we want.

[Dan Reichert]

No, no, they're very easy to make fun of. Yes.

[Mary]

Dan's too soft now. He doesn't want to hurt all the Disney adults.

[Dan Reichert]

I am anti theater kids kid. An anti Disney adult. Don't let that slip.

[Mary]

But there guess what? You're anti Monati.

[Dan Reichert]

I'm not anti. I'm not anti every theater. I'm good friends with Alex Bone Yellow. He's the most theater kid I've ever met.

[Mike Mahardy]

He's one of my best. You're going to latch on to him. But of course, Dan puts meat on his pizza now. Like, what is this piece? Come on, Mary, let's me and you talk about this.

[Mary]

I Minati don't care for him.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, no, no, no, no. The question.

[Mary]

Oh, right.

[Mike Mahardy]

Not Minati. We established.

[Mary]

I know he listens to this podcast.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh yes.

[Mary]

I like him and he loves it.

[Dan Reichert]

When we say his name. Let's all just say his name for a little bit. Mike Minati.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mike Minati. Mike Minati.

[Dan Reichert]

He's just smiling and chuckling to himself right now.

[Mike Mahardy]

J in it.

[Dan Reichert]

In this room. He might be. It is fun. I hate to say it. It is a fun name to say.

[Mary]

It is a nice name.

[Mike Mahardy]

I. I enjoy the name a lot.

[Mary]

To confusing.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, no, you see, it's JRR Tolkien and Shigeru Miyamoto.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh my God.

[Mary]

Mine is. Everyone's gone to the rest.

[Dan Reichert]

That game sucks.

[Mike Mahardy]

I hate that.

[Mary]

I just think when this game came out, everyone was like, this game is so incredible. It's so monumental. Like I cannot believe it. This is is what we don't like the term walking sim. That's not honest and indicative of like what these games are. But it's just like I just walked around and ghost like whispered to me and nothing really interesting happened.

[Mike Mahardy]

Sprint function. You just didn't know.

[Dan Reichert]

It doesn't matter. That game still look. And I'm not anti walking, so I. I love Gone Home. I love Edith Finch, all that. They're gonna be really great ones.

[Mike Mahardy]

Edith Finch is still my favorite. I think that one's awesome.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. But no, everybody's gone to the Raptures. Like, what are we doing here?

[Mary]

No, I'm over it. I didn't care for that game and it got really high reviews and I. I was not on board.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, there are a few.

[Dan Reichert]

There were some that I went the other way with where I thought, like, I love this game.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, I've got one of those.

[Mary]

Yeah, this one's funny. Positive ones.

[Mike Mahardy]

This is probably not aged well or not like problematic way. I reviewed Far Cry Primal.

[Mary]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Remember that game, the Stone Age.

[Mary]

I remember. I like that game.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love, love that game. I thought. And. And it's not like my favorite game ever. I don't think about it most times unless someone emails a question about games that we had a different reaction to. I just loved that, you know, like that series was already kind of flagging and getting a bit boring. And then they did this, okay, Stone Age. And they resisted the urge to ever make you feel overpowered until pretty late in the game. I thought that was actually pretty rad. And like they had the whole nighttime thing where predators are coming out more like saber tooth tigers are more aggressive at night and trying to hunt you all you have a spear and a sling.

[Mary]

They had a good tower.

[Mike Mahardy]

I was like, at least people will say they're trying to keep this franchise alive. And then people are like, no, this fucking sucks. I'm like, all right, you know, teach their own. I'm going to go fucking throw spears at fucking dinosaurs. There's no dinosaurs in that game. Oh, a fire. A fire escape or a Far Cry with dinosaurs would be.

[Dan Reichert]

That would. That's a pretty good idea.

[Mary]

Would be fun.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is there one?

[Mary]

I guess they're actually mechanical and so you kind of have to like take them down in like a mechanical way.

[Dan Reichert]

Wait, no, you're describing a boring game.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Like a monster hunter or something else. Tim Curry and Jake Decker blowing my phone up.

[Mary]

Dan's on the trolley.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, I get it.

[Mary]

There was a game that came out that critically, people just ignored it or they just. I didn't say it was very favorable. That I love that. Not a lot of people know about. And it's Trine three.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah.

[Mary]

Third person Trine three slaps. It is A three. Three everybody talks about. You know, what is it called? It takes two. And all these games you have to have two people trying threes. The it's three player puzzles and one person is a archer and one person is really strong and one person wizard who makes boxes and you need to use each other to solve all these puzzles. Three people. Puzzle solving is actually so much fun and you can grief each other and you have to work together and collaborate to solve these puzzles. I cannot believe everyone slept on this game. Trine three rocks and everyone should play it.

[Dan Reichert]

I remember that being pretty good. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

This question is tough for me because every strategy game I play that I love I'm like why, why? Why don't more people love these games? I routinely stand up in the middle of flights and just start shouting Wildermyth.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh right. I'm really hot on that one. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. It was my game of the year in 2021. Forget what that was.

[Dan Reichert]

I feel like Nobody saves the world I was very hot on.

[Mary]

I remember that.

[Mike Mahardy]

The people played it. I just don't think that many people.

[Dan Reichert]

It didn't really blow up. I I also think Returnal like it. It's a well liked game and it reviewed well. But like I was blown away by that game and I feel like we gave it game of the year. You know.

[Mary]

I think it did pretty good.

[Dan Reichert]

It did pretty good. But like I will talk to people about it and I feel like us three are higher on it than maybe the general consensus.

[Mary]

I'm like obsessed with that game. I do think, I do think it's was moderately favorable. Like I think like this is like people forgot about it or they just didn't give a about it. And you're like why didn't more people care about this game? Like why didn't more people talk about this game? They should have been talking about it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yep. Signalis years ago. Yeah, like old school Resident Evil kind of stuff. Like no, that's not the best because like I guess it. It's literally going for that old school survival horror niche which is just that it's kind of niche today.

[Mary]

I'm putting some of these in like Metacritic just to be like does anybody talk about these?

[Mike Mahardy]

Nathan? Like a Plague Tale Requiem was surprising to me. I I wholeheartedly agree with him. That game is awesome. Plague Tale Innocence. More people talked about. I think that game came out and people are like oh cool. This is that last of us third person over the shoulder stealth combat when you need to really frantic. You're also protecting this weaker character next to you. But also the level design is such that, you know, it's encouraging you to sneak by when you can, but then using the things in your environment to your disposal when you need to and then plagued out. Requiem was in my mind actually better in a lot of ways. I don't know. I actually think looking back, I want to say it came out right before or right after another big game. And also it like Microsoft itself, it was a game pass day one game. And I don't know that Microsoft really promoted it all that much. It's a great game. It's also pretty creepy in some spots. Like they, they did the horror. Well, I think both those games are really, really good stealth games. Um, I do wish more people talked about those still. Wild Bastards.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, you know what?

[Mary]

That's a good one for you actually.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wild Bastards. Oh yeah. Wild Bastards. I saw some reviews come out and I think this was more a case of the game just being divisive. I saw some people review saying like, this is one of my favorite shooters, Roguelikes since like Returnal.

[Dan Reichert]

Sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then other people are like, I, I, this is not working for me. I don't get it. Which again, like, it's not made for everybody. But I remember playing Wild Bastards. That was my game of the year last year.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, I hailed that game. Like I was playing hours and hours, like big chunks at a time.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah, I, that was my favorite game last year and a lot of people didn't like it.

[Dan Reichert]

It's a great one.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

There's a lot times sometimes people sleep on the good ones.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm trying to think if there's anything I really dislike that a lot of people liked that. I'm like, I don't, I don't get it. There probably is one.

[Mary]

There's probably a lot. I think we could do like an entire episode dedicated towards, like we disagree with the masses and you're wrong. And I think that would be pretty fun. I think there's like a lot of sleepers where I was like, I can't believe no one ever played this game. Like it's a bummer that like the world just didn't pay attention. And what was that game that I was like fucking raving about? No one ever played it. Snow. Snakebird. Snakebird is so sick. And everybody like, nobody played it. Nobody talks about it. Like, I, I tried to sell this bird. Like this bird. I tried to sell this game like crazy. It's a fantastic puzzle game and it's got such a good gimmick And I think the people who did play it like it, but it's. I don't think enough people really knew about it, so. And that was a bummer. The world was wrong.

[Dan Reichert]

I bet hundreds of people played the game that wouldn't have normally, because you were absolutely advocating for it.

[Mary]

Thank you. I mean, that actually does make me feel good. I. I would like to. I would like more people to. Maybe that's like, one of the good things that this podcast can do. But I. I hope, like, more people are able to, like, try these games. I think I feel that way about my streams too, is I will play, like, some weird, obscure indie game that I feel like no one's talking about. I'll be like, this game's so good.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Why is anyone talking about this? I feel like we got to do that more.

[Dan Reichert]

That's how I felt with, like, delivered all costs, where it's like, not a lot of people talking about it. It's like we did a quick look for giant bombs. Like, I just want to spread the word. This is a fun game. You know, it's not. It's not gonna be game of the year. It's not gonna be getting tens or anything, but, like, it's a fun time. People just play it hero. We're all heroes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I was just looking at, like, different sites, top 50s the last few years.

[Mary]

I know it's fun to look through my Steam history when we get these questions too, because I. I enjoy looking at my Steam history and being like, oh, remember when I played Crawl, which was a 4v1 asymmetrical indie game before asymmetrical games were really a thing. Such a good game. And people really didn't talk about it. Like, I. I love talking about this kind of stuff. All right, all right.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, let's go into the last question. Nathan, thank you. All right, this is a self indulgent one. This from Pete from Central Coast Australia. High Fire escapees. Congratulations to Mike becoming a sommelier. I really enjoyed hearing you give some unique wine pairings on an old episode and really enjoy the combination of Sour Patch Kids with a Crip crisp chardonnay. I was hoping you could help me with some pairings for some of the complete garbage I eat. Now that you're a certified sommelier, hopefully without receiving a bill in the mail or without having the wine police kicking down your door to revoke your sommelier powers. All right. He did a few, like, I don't know it clearly. I think it's going for, like, more low Brow junk food, which I'm fully on board with. That's some of my favorite. All right. Cheese and sweet chili on toast. Is that an Australian Italian thing? Sounds good.

[Dan Reichert]

Don't get really good.

[Mary]

Sweet chili sauce is very Australian. Although you usually put it on fries. Like sweet chili and sour cream.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Cheese and sweet chili sauce on toast. I'm saying between the cheese, which is going to be fatty, and the chili sauce, which I would imagine has some sort of heat or spice, and if it doesn't, that's fine. I would go Gamay. Go Beaujolais. Go like more full bodied one. Like Morgan or Milan Avant. I would. I would say Morgan. Like Cote to P from Jean Francis Foyard. Can't go wrong.

[Mary]

You don't know any of these words.

[Mike Mahardy]

Beef jerky.

[Dan Reichert]

They're not.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, so cheese and sweet chili sauce. Look up Morgan. M O R G O N from Beaujolais.

[Mary]

Morgan.

[Mike Mahardy]

Beef jerky. There's a lot of ways you can go with that. I'm gonna say cabernet franc from Loire Valley. Go like a Chinon. C H I N O N. It's gonna have some good, like deeper fruit notes, but it's also gonna have a bit of spice, a bit of like, like green notes to it. That'll go really well. String cheese and pickles. That's the first challenging one because anything super acidic, like pickles, which inherently are just pickled, like, which means they're. Yeah, I agree. String cheese though, that's fatty. And then you got pickles that are.

[Mary]

Pairs really well with a cheeseburger.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm gonna go with one of my cheat ones. And I would say go with a. A. No, actually I'm going to change that. Let's go. I'm gonna throw a curveball. Central Otago Pinot Noir from New Zealand. That's gonna be.

[Mary]

That's crazy.

[Mike Mahardy]

I know, I know. I'm in a. It's. It's. I'm feeling like a rebel today.

[Dan Reichert]

My dad's yelling in his car right now.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Central Otaka. What the hell is this kid thinking? I'm.

[Mary]

It's a Beaujolais. He should have picked up Beaujolais.

[Mike Mahardy]

Be fair. Beaus is the easiest pairing for most foods. But yeah, string cheese and pickles. I think Central Otago New Zealand Pinot noir is gonna. Gonna do you well. It's gonna be really fresh, but there's gonna be enough oak on it to help with that. String cheese. Seaweed rice crackers dipped in ketchup. What the fuck? Seaweed rice crackers. I'M trying to figure that out. Are they predominantly seaweed or are they rice crackers with seaweed on them dipped in ketchup?

[Mary]

I mean, the seaweed. Seaweed snacks that I like.

[Dan Reichert]

I love those. Those are good as hell.

[Mary]

I love them. And they're so local.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, you can just chomp down on, like, you know, 20 of those and.

[Mary]

Feel like you can have as many as you want.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Dipped in salty. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, okay. Dipped in ketchup, though. How about at Norusso, from the volcanic slopes in Sicily. I love it. Norello Mascalay. Say maybe a little cappuccio in there. Like a nice blend.

[Mary]

Yeah, you gotta get yourself a cappuccio.

[Mike Mahardy]

Ketchup is going to be acidic. It's just straight up tomatoes. And there's going to be some vinegar involved as far as I know how ketchup is made. So you want something more acidic. So I would say Edna Bianca, or, sorry, Edna Rosso's are gonna steer you. Right. I would say it's a good thing.

[Dan Reichert]

This is the last email of the show because everyone who's abandoning ship right now, you know, they heard the most of the episode. Yeah.

[Mary]

They. The most important pieces that they needed. Their politics, their political views.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mary]

But they need to know about health care systems.

[Mike Mahardy]

Bowl of chocolate cereal without milk. Bowl of chocolate cereal without milk. Chocolate's tricky. I would actually say there's, like, two things I would recommend. I'm gonna say go with. Go with, like, a young ruby port with that 20 bucks off the shelf. Good port. No problem. Old Easter chocolate and marshmallows. I'm gonna. You know what I'm gonna say for that? You should go with a Pedro Jimenez shot Sherry. That would go well with the chocolate. That would also balance out the sweetness in the marshmallows. You want something sweeter than the food? You're fine. There you go, Pete. Thanks, Pete from Central Coast Australia.

[Dan Reichert]

Can we reverse matrix Mike and take all this knowledge out of his brain?

[Mike Mahardy]

That'd be fun.

[Mary]

And then rescind his award?

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Oh, I'm glad you're following your dreams.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's funny, too, because the wine bar I work at and I'm not going to, like, it's. It's not hard to figure out which one I'm at. But it's different now because, like, it's easy enough to say, oh, I'm streaming on Twitch TV/ Emma Hardy or whatever. It's a different thing for me to say. I'm working at this physical brick and mortar place. If you if you want to go look, you could figure it out. But I also don't want to just say, here's where I am some days. Come see me there.

[Dan Reichert]

Make it all a puzzle.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's not a puzzle. I just. I feel like I'm doxing myself if I just say it. It's a place where we, like, you could come in with no wine knowledge. And, like, that's almost just as fun because then you don't have to be like the biggest wine aficionado there. It's just a more laid back place. But I enjoy, like, when people are sort of into wine or sort of into just like, beverages in general. Like, we have a lot of cocktail people or like, tiki fans come in and they say, like, oh, I like. I don't know. I like tiki drinks. Where there's a lot of, like, I prefer more like rum heavy with, like, the nutty flavors. I'm like, oh, perfect. Let's go something like oxidative on the wide side. I don't say that to them. And I'm like, try. I bring up three bottles. I'm like, let's try these. And they do it and they love it. And that's.

[Mary]

You say this goes great with pickles?

[Mike Mahardy]

No, I don't say that because there's no reason to. We don't have any pickles there.

[Mary]

There's no good reason.

[Dan Reichert]

Okay. I like the place you work.

[Mike Mahardy]

I jump up on the bar and then just start air humping. It's like, great with pickle.

[Mary]

We're gonna love it.

[Dan Reichert]

All right. Wine seems pretty cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's a low ph when the vines are getting pruned in the winter. Oh, God, that hurt. Yeah. You guys, you two would like it. Yeah. It's despite the name, what the name of the bar might suggest. It's not extremely highbrow. It's definitely French oriented. But we also have, like, Aloha Fridays where everybody wears tropical shirts. We have have.

[Mary]

Well, that's fun.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. We have turntables where we come in. The winemaker is like, okay, we give a record. The menu is a literal vinyl record. And there's a flight and a B flight. And you order the A flights, two wines, or the B flights, the other two. And then the winemakers walking around, they get to pick the. The playlist for the night. There was a guy from Barbaresco in northwest Italy last night. Half of his songs were like, Empire of the sun or Naked Fan Famous or Red Hot Chili Peppers. Like, stuff, like, relatable stuff. But Then he also. His other. The other songs on the playlist were, like, folksy Italian cafe songs. And he would come up to us, be like, do you speak Italian? Like, not at all. He's like, okay, so this song's about a gorilla who's a virgin who breaks out of the zoo and just is roaming the streets looking for something to fuck. I'm like, okay, that doesn't seem like a good idea. Idea. But nobody there spoke Italian, so it was fine.

[Dan Reichert]

Mary, how long until Mike is studying Italian?

[Mary]

I mean, he probably already is, like, secret.

[Mike Mahardy]

A little bit. A tiny bit. Enough to get by.

[Mary]

Enough to get by. Yeah, yeah. He'll announce it when he's, like, good enough. Where he feels like he can show it off and, like, only talk in.

[Dan Reichert]

Italian on this podcast. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, of course not.

[Mary]

Why are you sassy?

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm getting there. On the volcanic slopes of this dear mother mountain that erupts once every 50 years.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, brought a mountain. Mike, this is for you. You know mountain. No, you brought up a mountain. Oh, but that Darby Allen guy you liked, the crazy wrestler.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes. The skateboards.

[Dan Reichert]

He just climbed Mount Everest.

[Mike Mahardy]

He was doing kick flips on people's throats.

[Dan Reichert]

He set a Guinness record. He brought a skateboard onto Mount Everest and did the world's tallest kick flip. That guy. Holy.

[Mary]

What a psycho.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

The. He was doing those matches was.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, he's insane.

[Mike Mahardy]

High flying shenanigans left, left and right.

[Dan Reichert]

He's descending Everest right now.

[Mike Mahardy]

He's. Oh, he's on. He's still on the mountain right now as we speak.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah, no, he's. It's summited, like, two days ago. Yeah.

[Mary]

That's the most likely time to die is when you're descending.

[Dan Reichert]

That's what I've heard.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is it really?

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's not on the way up, is it? Like, you're.

[Dan Reichert]

You're exhausted and everything at that.

[Mary]

Because. Because you fight so hard to make sure you get up there. You don't think about whether or not you have enough oxygen or energy to get back, back down. And so people get to the top and then they don't make it.

[Dan Reichert]

We should do that. We should do, like, a Patreon thing. We climb Mount Everest.

[Mary]

Climbing Everest is like a crazy book. People die all the time watching Everest.

[Dan Reichert]

New tier Everest. Yeah. Okay. Okay. 10 and 15. Is that what we're doing? Everest.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's like a 50 this big.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

See me. See me climb the Himalayas. Tall, tallest mountain. Fully torque.

[Dan Reichert]

Could someone do it fully naked? Climb Everest?

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, I Don't think so.

[Dan Reichert]

The best mountain climber in the world, Edmund Hillary couldn't do it.

[Mary]

Think of the articles. Tallest mountain with the fattest fucking ass you've ever seen.

[Dan Reichert]

Could you do it? It's possible, right?

[Mike Mahardy]

Boys got cake. And it's higher than anybody else.

[Mary]

You have so much oxygen going into your system, but your cheeks are just out to the sky. Guy.

[Mike Mahardy]

Huge ass. Butt plug.

[Dan Reichert]

Frostbite.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I don't want a frostbite. It's a. The JFK speech. Like, when was it? Admin. Hillary? No, it was like. I thought it was.

[Dan Reichert]

Edmund Hillary is the guy whose gimmick was climbing Everest. And then Hillary Clinton was named after him. Right.

[Mike Mahardy]

When asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, Edmund Hillary said, because it is there. Well, I'm going to climb it and I'm going to be naked and my ass is going to be there.

[Dan Reichert]

Is that how JFK died?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Mahardy]

He kept a. He kept a BP in too long. It's still. It's still tumbling down the mountain as we speak. Apparently legend Everest. Yeah. Tibet is. Here's the clanging every night. Jfk.

[Mary]

The ghost of jfk. Butt plug. And a voice roams to bed.

[Mike Mahardy]

A voice cried out on the height. Excelsior.

[Dan Reichert]

This is stupid.

[Mike Mahardy]

It was not two shooters from that grassy knoll. It was a defective butt plug that did me in.

[Dan Reichert]

Wait, his ghost is talking?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, he's dead, but he's speaking to us from the afterlife and telling us.

[Dan Reichert]

About the butt plugs. That we were barking up the wrong tree the whole time. Thinking about Oswald and the Freemasons. Right. It's the butt plugs.

[Mike Mahardy]

I've had enough of these mysteries. It was Jackie with a butt plug in the Oval Office.

[Dan Reichert]

She was in the car with him.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, but she put it in before.

[Dan Reichert]

She grabbed his brain.

[Mary]

Jesus.

[Mike Mahardy]

Tactical. Tactical. Gaps in our front lines are not the only things being plugged in the Situation Room. My fellow Americans. Is that at all a decent JFK or. No, it's fine.

[Dan Reichert]

I mean, I think by nature of you being from that general part of the world. I think you've got a heads up. It's the same general part.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cape Cod is not. I wish. I wish I was from Cape Cod.

[Dan Reichert]

Syracuse and Cape Cod.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God.

[Dan Reichert]

There's. I said general part of the world and country.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, okay.

[Dan Reichert]

Like people that aren't from the Northeast. They would see New York and. And Cape Cod being near each other.

[Mike Mahardy]

General, our five listeners from either Cape Cod or Syracuse are going to have something to say. But I get what you're saying. It's the same corner.

[Dan Reichert]

Same way you could say Portland and Seattle are in the same general area, even though they're totally different cities, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Sure.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. Yeah, sure. Yeah. So you gotta. You gotta leg up on the Kennedy impersonation.

[Mary]

Yeah. Plus all your butt plugs, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, we both love butt plugs. Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

It's not a presidential collection.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, I haven't scaled mountain with one.

[Mary]

In United States flag.

[Dan Reichert]

There's just a cabinet in the White House. No one's open for 60 years, and it's just filled with JFK butt plugs.

[Mary]

Every time I hear the anthem, my.

[Mike Mahardy]

Butt squeezes that dude. That dude gives speeches and, like, makes war plans and leads the free world. Or lead with butt plugs in. All I do is record each and every episode of Fire Escape with a butt plug in.

[Dan Reichert]

Right.

[Mary]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Out of.

[Mary]

So different.

[Dan Reichert]

It's a tribute. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Anyway, thank you, Pete from Central Coast Must Australia.

[Dan Reichert]

Well, bonus discussion for people who made it through the wine talk.

[Mary]

We appreciate a little extra for you.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, that's the episode as usual. Like I said, firescapecast gmail dot com. If you want to send in more questions, get those in. Always love bolstering our. Bolstering. Bolstering our inbox. We will be back in a couple weeks, but first I want to say get some [e-mail] I actually don't know that it's active anymore, so just go to our Patreon. You'll find it there. Through there. Through Instagram. Okay.

[Dan Reichert]

Because every time I go.com site can't be reached.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary]

Oh, you laugh.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary's so good at this.

[Dan Reichert]

Run a tight ship here.

[Mike Mahardy]

We're going to fourth Wall and look for. Maybe that's why we haven't sold any merch in, like, six months. No, I'm joking. I see people with those thongs left and right.

[Mary]

Dude, I. Someone came up to me during the Giant Bomb podcast and was like, I always rock that banana yellow. And I was like, I see.

[Dan Reichert]

I googled fire escape merch. And the fourth wall. Fourth wall is our current one, right? Yeah, because there's a bonfire one, but we don't do that anymore, so click the fourth wall link when you Google it.

[Mary]

Fourth wall.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, I'll re. I'll re up some. That'd be funny if it just goes to Jake Decker, like, giving us the goat from waiting. Oh, God, I hate that movie. I hate that you fucking made me watch it. And you're basement dan.

[Dan Reichert]

Oh, waiting.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dr. Ryan did.

[Dan Reichert]

I haven't seen that movie. I don't know about that.

[Mike Mahardy]

Awful. And I was in your basement with scorpions and shit. Skittering.

[Dan Reichert]

That was the Connecticut basement. We're all good here.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, no, I'm sure you're fine. Send in those questions. Go get some merch. Also, if you're not a patron, go to firescapecast.com go to deepdishpussy.com go to patreon.com firescore any one of those, all the good stuff, all the hits. You can be a. If you want to treat it like a tip jar. You appreciate what we do, you contribute whatever you want. You can get some ad free episodes audio wise. You can also get our video versions and if you are a video subscriber, you'll get access to our bonus videos that we do often. Co op games, multiplayer, et cetera. And then Vinny Caravella from Nextlander and I are doing that Warhammer, those two Warhammer 3 Total War campaigns we're doing doing the quote unquote order faction good campaign at Fire Escape and we're doing the evil campaign over at nextlander. So if you're not subscribed to them, they have a lot of awesome stuff as well. So go make sure you do that. In the meantime, Dan, what do you have going on?

[Dan Reichert]

GiantBomb.com join to support us and just check out our stuff. If you don't want to give monetarily, we want to have everything out there for free. So yeah, check us out on YouTube, check us out on podcast, all that stuff. Giant Bomb is we are reinvigorated in a major way and we are independent, fully independent. So come support us. We're doing good stuff over there.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary, what about you?

[Mary]

Twitch on Mondays? I usually stream on Mondays and Instagram for updates about my dog. He is important.

[Dan Reichert]

They're good updates.

[Mary]

They're good.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh God. How's boss dates?

[Dan Reichert]

Boss is great. I got my wrist slashed up. I don't know if I had that last time we recorded, but just don't pick up a cat when they don't want to be picked up. And I'm.

[Mary]

It's true.

[Dan Reichert]

That was early on where he was very much just like very scared. Like, this is a new place. There's dogs. What the is this? You know, I think a bit.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

And he is fully in, just full ham cat, like just. Just draped himself over things. Just like sitting in laps and purring for like 10 minutes. Like sleeping in the. Like we sleep in a bed with Two dogs and a cat now. And the dogs are used to us now, but boss is just a total ham. The sweetest cat. And so great. So. Oh, and also we were watching Bourne Supremacy last night, and it was Boss's first time with surround sound. And so Boss was just like sitting on the table in front of the couch and just every time there's a bullet or a helicopter going by, it's like, what the. The is what the? Like the whole Bourne Supremacy. This cat is like, looking at the screen every. Like, what the was that? It's very funny watching this.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's awesome. Yeah, they're hilarious. Yeah, it's funny. They're so much more aware than dogs in certain ways.

[Dan Reichert]

Like, situationally smarter in a lot of ways, but also, idiots, not all the ways.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, dogs are also much more, like, much more smarter. Oh, my God. Much smarter.

[Mary]

Smarter.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. It's just the ways in which they're smart is very entertaining, like, endlessly.

[Dan Reichert]

It's just stuff where it's like somebody, like, there will be a noise outside in Razor and Gizmo will just be losing their minds, sprinting around circles, barking. And, like, boss won't even, like, raise his head. I was like, I don't know. Some sound. Who cares, you know? Yeah, yeah. Very different.

[Mary]

Dogs are such ding dongs, but they're like, so excited when you come back home. And cats are like, I couldn't care less. And they're hungry.

[Dan Reichert]

Yeah. That's the thing where it's like, yeah, you got to get used to, like, you know, I'm very used to dogs. Oh, my God, you're homo. Wagon tail and like.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

And a cat's like, yeah, whatever.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, you're the cat to boss. Yeah, you're the dog to boss.

[Dan Reichert]

Yep, yep.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Reichert]

Loving it.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's. She's curled up right now in her bed a.

[Mary]

Well, thanks for listening and hanging out with us again. We'll have really good updates and keep.

[Mike Mahardy]

We'll.

[Mary]

We'll be back here in, what, two more weeks? When I'm ready to go. I'm excited. I got some games.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hopefully all of us, but we got a bit more travel coming up, so we'll.

[Dan Reichert]

We'll try to make it happen.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yep.

[Dan Reichert]

We will have an episode go up every Tuesday weeks, so.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah, We've never missed one since we started.

[Dan Reichert]

Nope.

[Mary]

We're all killed. Mike Minati.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mike Minati.

[Mary]

That's my promise to you.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, see you. Two weeks. Bye, Sam.