Fire Escape Cast #131

Summary

Fire Escape Cast #131 — April 27, 2026

Overview

In episode 131 of Fire Escape Cast, hosts Dan Ryckert, Mary Kish, and Mike Mahardy reunite for their signature blend of banter, video game discussion, and offbeat humor. The crew touches on everything from wild Vegas escapades and dental disasters to the trials of candy-fueled childhoods and elaborate game-show hijinks. They dive into new and upcoming video games, reflect on favorite outfits from games, share amusing stories on learning from personal misjudgments, and provide thoughtful listener Q&A. All this comes wrapped in their trademark playful—sometimes irreverent—tone.

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1. Catching Up: Vegas Stories & Dental Disasters

Timestamps: 01:37–12:59

• Dan’s Vegas Trip:

  • Wild 48 hours, minimal sleep, and a night spent gorging on candy in a hospitality suite at WrestleMania.
  • “I ate so many Sour Patch Kids that I threw up.” (03:23, Dan)
  • Brings back not just memories, but also dental consequences: cracked teeth, recurring dental visits.
  • Dan reflects on a “childhood diet of more candy than normal food.” (05:53, Dan)

• Health Check Banter:

  • Mary claims medical purity, “No, I’ve been cleared by all doctors as medically pure. Impervious.” (07:44, Mary)
  • Admits, however, to lingering ankle issues from gymnastics.

• Legacy of Family Health:

  • Discussion about family members surviving on wild diets and somehow thriving.
  • “My dad, who is a million times worse health and dietary stuff than me, has like better blood pressure and cholesterol than I do, which is insane.” (11:06, Dan)

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2. Travel Tales: Memphis, Music & Pyramid Pro Shops

Timestamps: 12:59–16:06

• Mary's Memphis Trip:
  • Memphis as “Nashville’s baby bro”—good BBQ, music every night, St. Jude’s tour.
  • Describes the city’s tourist demographic: “Dozens of these old happy white couples everywhere.” (13:03, Mary)
  • Recounts previous visit to Bass Pro Shop Pyramid.

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3. Streamer Family Feud: Game Show Segment

Timestamps: 16:06–27:56

• Mary Hosts St. Jude Feud:

  • Live at St. Jude, polled 100 streamers with game show–style questions.

• Notable Segment: “Name a video game character associated with the color green.”

  • Mike, Dan, and Mary face off.
  • Best answers: Luigi (#1), Yoshi (#2), Link (#3), Master Chief (#4).
  • Unexpected picks: Hulk, Blanka, Tingle, Zitz from Battletoads.
  • Dan completely blanks on Link: “How did I not think of that?!” (27:13, Dan)

  “My brain doesn’t work.” (23:55, Dan, after missing Link)

• Follow-up: Name a famous captain.

  • Answers include Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Crunch, Captain Falcon, Captain Hook (#1), Captain Underpants, Captain Morgan.
  • “Kirk is not on here.” — Notable for who’s missing (30:16, Mary & Dan)

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4. Upcoming: Riesling Camp & Loving Travel

Timestamps: 33:38–36:22

• Mike’s Upcoming ‘Riesling Camp’:

  • Wine-focused multi-day learning trip in the Finger Lakes.
  • “It’s a lot of stuff I’ve been wanting to do and try out…” (34:26, Mike)

• Discussion on travel clashing with enjoying home during nice weather.

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5. Main Game Impressions

Timestamps: 37:56–56:11

Returnal Follow-Up: SOROS (Housemarque)

• Dan’s Playthrough:

  • “Very much a follow-up to Returnal.” (38:44, Dan)
  • More persistent upgrades (skill tree), color-coded projectile gameplay, new shield mechanics.
  • Early stages, “fantastic start,” tougher bosses, and promising future impressions.

  “I have a feeling I’m really, really going to wind up liking this game. But it’s just like I’m not fully in the like, oh, it’s fully clicked yet thing.” (42:37, Dan)

  • Mike compares movement to Returnal’s Selene, “Soros feels a bit twitchier in the acceleration in a way I like…” (43:15, Mike)

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Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland

• Mary’s Impressions:
  • Metroidvania, hand-drawn animation, very difficult.
  • OST by Anamanaguchi’s Scott Pilgrim composer: “Fantastic music accompaniment, I was surprised with the level of care and quality in this game.” (48:49, Mary)
  • “For a game that feels like it should be for kids, I was shocked that it’s very difficult.” (49:10, Mary)
  • Nostalgic, but with high difficulty and some repetitive segments.

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Scam Line: New “Friend Slop” Deception Game

• Dan’s Recap:
  • 4–8 players, deception-based minigames, prox chat, voice mod, Prisoner’s Dilemma, wild situations.
  • “A lot of just weird, fucked up things like that.” (54:16, Dan)
  • “Classic deception lying with some fun twists on it.” (55:07, Dan)

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Gecko Gods:

• Mary’s Relaxing Puzzle Adventure
  • Play as a gecko, environmental puzzles, “no predators,” “cathartic Steam Deck couch game.”
  • “If you just want to relax and play a visual puzzler…this will tickle your nostalgia bone.” (61:06, Mary)
  • Comparison to Sable’s visual style but emphasizes it's not a platformer, more environmental puzzle.

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Dome Keeper (Lost Keepers DLC with Co-op)

• Mary’s Review:
  • Tower defense meets resource mining.
  • New character the Beastmaster (with cats that help bring back resources), “fun game to play with your partner or with your friend online… easy for another person to be like, ‘just dig, and I’ll grab all the resources and bring them up…’” (68:00, Mary)
  • Co-op up to 8 players, learning curve but becomes addictive.
  • “For someone always looking for good co-op games, I got you. It’s Dome Keeper, the Lost Keepers DLC.” (69:37, Mary)
  • Dan intrigued: “That does sound really fun.” (69:52, Dan)

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6. Q&A Segment:

Timestamps: 75:27–98:44

What is Weather?

• Discussion on defining 'weather’
  • Dan: “It’s stuff that happens outside that you feel.” (76:07, Dan)
  • Deliberation on whether earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamis qualify as weather.
  • Mike: “You wouldn’t look at your weather app and see a volcano icon.” (77:28, Mike)

Video Game Outfits You’d Steal

• Mary: Advocates for resale finds, shouts out For Love and Lemons and Reformation; inspired by iconic women’s outfits (Lara Croft, Jill Valentine, Ada Wong, 2B from NieR: Automata): “God, women are amazing. You guys are, like, dressing up like Frogger.” (86:58, Mary)
• Dan: “My answer is frog suit, Mario 3.” (83:04, Dan)
• Mike: Mentions Tingle from Zelda, NoHo Hank’s outfit from Barry (with visual reference), Resident Evil characters.
• Amanda (Mike’s partner): Owns Leon Kennedy’s RE4 jacket.
• Group: Fun, earnest takes on favorite game-inspired fashion.

When Have You Misjudged Something Because of Your Own Error?

• Mike: Drank undiluted “orange squash” in the UK and thought Brits were insanely tough with their drinks. “It was almost a solid in my glass. It's like, how do people do this every morning?” (89:35, Mike)
• Mary: Explains the logic behind concentrates (cordial) and why Americans miss the point.
• Mike: Travel prejudices—people hating cities because they don't make an effort.
• Dan: Rushed through games/shows and didn’t appreciate them, now regrets: “Death Stranding and Red Dead 2…I came at it with more vitriol than I have now.” (94:00, Dan)
• **Banter about learning to like foods/discovering you were the problem, not the thing itself; e.g., olives, The Wire, and Sopranos.

Story Highlight: Watching Star Wars During a Kansas Microburst

• Dan’s wild marathon:
  “I opened the door and I’m literally seeing roofs and shingles get pulled off. I’m watching power lines go down…completely annihilated drunk at the end of Return of the Jedi.” (99:47, Dan)

• Mary & Mike:
  Bond over the universal experience of falling asleep during a Star Wars marathon, “What a great waste of a day.” (98:44, Mary)

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7. Notable Quotes & Moments

• “My brain doesn’t work.” (23:55, Dan, after blanking on Link)
• “No, I’ve been cleared by all doctors as medically pure. Impervious.” (07:44, Mary)
• “I ate so many Sour Patch Kids that I threw up.” (03:23, Dan)
• “You guys are dressing up like Frogger.” (86:58, Mary, on Mike and Dan’s cosplay picks)
• “What a great waste of a day.” (98:44, Mary, on marathoning movie trilogies)

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8. The Hosts’ Plugs & Wrap-up

Timestamps: 104:18–105:39

• Dan: Giantbomb.com, nearing end of his Blight Club run (“so I can be free of this for a bit”).
• Mary: Streams on Mondays, posts cute outfits on Instagram, prepping to attend Ren Faire.
• Mike: Recommends Fire Escape merch for seasonal gear. Promotes the finished "Mike and Vinny Save the World" Total Warhammer 3 campaign (collab with Nextlander).
• Email for listener questions: firescapecastmail.com

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9. Tone, Style & Listener Experience

• Casual, rambling style: Fluid transitions between topics, inside jokes, and playful ribbing.
• Honest game impressions: Emphasis on peer-to-peer recommendations, early impressions, and personal play experiences.
• Strong camaraderie and recurring bits: Long-running in-jokes (e.g., “friend slop,” sartorial burns, medical “impurity”).
• Appeals to both hardcore and casual listeners: Equally likely to riff on mechanics or go off on a wine camp tangent.

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In Summary:
Fire Escape Cast #131 serves up a classic dose of the trio’s signature style—blending earnest (and at times hilarious) game discussion with digressive tales, mock-serious debates, and a friendly passion for all things playful and nerdy. Whether you dig deep dives on new indie titles or just want to laugh along with stories of Sour Patch-fueled Vegas nights and the great “green video game character” gaffe, this episode is a lively and essential listen for fans.

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Key Segments & Timestamps

| Topic | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------|---------------| | Vegas, Dental Health, Childhood Candy | 01:37–12:59 | | Memphis & Travel | 12:59–16:06 | | Streamer Game Show (Green Characters, etc.) | 16:06–27:56 | | Riesling Camp & Travel Reflections | 33:38–36:22 | | Games Discussion | | | - SOROS (Housemarque) | 37:56–44:17 | | - Little Nemo & Guardians of Slumberland | 44:37–51:26 | | - Scam Line (Friend Slop Impostor Game) | 51:33–56:11 | | - Gecko Gods | 58:55–64:01 | | - Dome Keeper (Lost Keepers DLC) | 66:01–73:01 | | Q&A Segment | 75:27–103:18 |

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For further reference, contact or merch info, listener Q&A, and details on supporting the show, visit fireescapecast.com.

Transcript

[A]

Have you guys seen the Kia K4 family? The design is actually really sleek.

[B]

It's sporty. Dan. I've been looking at the K4 hatchback. It's got that panoramic display on the dashboard that makes it feel like you're in a high end flight sim. And the cargo room is huge. I could fit like four cases of soda and a whole gaming setup back there.

[C]

It's not just about the screen, Mary. Both the sedan and the hatchback come with an available 1.6 liter turbo engine. It. It's actually got some muscle behind it. It's that rare best of both worlds situation where it looks good but doesn't drive like a golf cart. I'm not sitting in the back, Dan, but if I were, the K4 is probably the only place where I'd have enough room.

[A]

See, I'm a sedan guy. It's got that sophisticated look. Makes me look like I have my life together, even if I'm just driving to buy more batteries. Plus, the legroom is actually roomy. I can stretch out while Mike is trapped in the back.

[B]

Honestly, whether you want the hatch utility or the sedan style, they're both great. If you guys want to see what we're talking about, visit kia.com to learn more.

[D]

Save on family essentials at Safeway and Albertsons. This week at Safeway and Albertsons, fresh cut cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple or melon medley bowls, 24 ounces are $5 each and wild caught lobster tails are $4.99 each. Limit eight member price. Plus selected sizes and varieties of Doritos, lays, Cheetos, sun chips and kettle cooked chips are $1.99 each. Limit four member price. Hurry in. These deals won't last. Visit Safeway or albertsons.com for more deals and ways to save.

[C]

What? Flossington. Denzel Washington. We're back with the fire escape pass. It's episode 131. I'm Mike Maharti, your host as always. That's Daniel Reichert.

[A]

I think I kind of respect that one. It's so stupid. It broke through to the other side and I think I like it.

[C]

Yeah, he's smiling.

[A]

Yeah, it's good.

[C]

Rinnan, that's Mary. Kish. What's up? Yeah, Mary, you love all of them.

[B]

Thank you. If you're gonna have if you're dance. Full name Daniel. You can use my full name.

[C]

Meredith Kishler.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Is Mary short for Meredith? Is that a thing?

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're fucking with me.

[C]

It's Mary Beth, she just doesn't like it. So I go, meredith.

[A]

But, I mean, it's. That's a believable thing. Meredish. Meredish. Jesus Christ.

[C]

It's fun playing Hitman. I'm doing Marrakesh. I. I, like, will say Marrakesh. Yeah, Marrakesh Marash. Because that's how you talk sometimes.

[B]

That is exactly how I pronounce my name back.

[C]

Dan. You're in Vegas. How you feeling? How you doing?

[A]

I did. Yeah. Less than 48 hours there. I did the red eye thing. So it's like I only got one night at the hotel. And then I just, like, checked my bag and, you know, left for the airport, like, 9pm I actually slept on the flight for, like, the first time ever. I never, ever sleep on flight.

[B]

You were so tired.

[A]

Yeah. Because, I mean, God, it's like Vegas. You forget about, like. You look at the map and it's like, oh, the MGM grand is right across from New York. New York, which is right across from Excalibur. And you think it's, like, next door, but these buildings are so fucking huge. It's all, like, a half hour apart. So I'm getting, like, 30,000 steps a day. I am not sleeping at all. I didn't even drink that much, really. But I only ate, like.

[C]

You know what I mean?

[A]

That's right. Yeah, that's me. No, I ate so many Sour Patch Kids that I threw up.

[C]

The weirdest Vegas experience.

[A]

Yeah. And it was the next day, so I, like, brought it home. So I, like, get home from Vegas, and I wake up the next morning puking Sour Patch Kids. That was fun.

[C]

Also bringing millions to Vegas every year. Strippers and cocaine.

[B]

Yeah, but you can't bring those home in your duffel bag.

[A]

Okay, listen, I had to, though, because. Okay, so I had a friend from college just happened to be in town for, like, the Fish concert at the Sphere. And his friend, I guess, is some. He's rich, and he just gets sweets for everything all the time. And so we got a suite for WrestleMania. And he's like, hey, I got a space for you here if you want to hang out. And I was like, oh, I'd rather hang out there than the press box. So I went and hung out with them. And it was in one of those, like, hospitality suite things, VIP things, where it's like, they had a concession stand where everything was free, and they had one where it was, like, dinner stuff. And there had one where it was just desserts, and the desserts had a full ass Like, Blockbuster style. Like, Candy stand. Like, all my favorite. Like, Sour Patch Kids, skittles, M&Ms, red vines, everything. And so I just kept going back. Like, every time I went to Take Leak, which was constant, I was just grabbing, like, handfuls of candy boxes. And then at the end, I went to go pee, and I said the lady that worked there was like, hey, the show's almost over. Got to fill those pockets. Fill those pockets. And I was like, hell, yeah, I got permission. I'd be rude not to. So I grabbed way more.

[B]

You don't want to offend your host.

[A]

No, but it's like one of those.

[B]

Your pockets.

[A]

It's one of those days where I ate so many Sour Patch Kids that, like, my entire mouth and tongue hurt for a while. You know, We've all been there. Yeah.

[B]

It's a mystery. What's going on with your dental issues.

[A]

It's weird that I was at the dentist this morning. Yeah.

[C]

There's an entirely replacing his teeth. Meanwhile, he's just fucking chewing on Sour patch kids for 48 hours.

[B]

Found an entire kid in between your gums, Dan. It's a mystery to everyone before.

[A]

It's a total mystery to everyone. And I was there this morning, and I saw the, like, readout of my teeth from the last X ray. And, like, all the other ones were, like, completed crowns and stuff. Like, I could see they highlighted in a certain way. And then one tooth, they had just, like, a lightning bolt looking, like, crack through it. And I was like, what's that? And he said, oh, yeah, you got a fracture in one of your teeth currently. But it's not the top priority right now. So we'll deal with that in, like, six months. It's like, oh, God, my tooth is cracking in half, and it's not the top priority. That's a good sign.

[C]

We talked about this last episode.

[A]

Are.

[C]

Do you think a lot of these dental issues? Did you eat a lot of candy when you were young, too?

[A]

I ate more candy than normal food.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

I drank more soda than water.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, it was unbelievable how much of the I ate and drank.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, it's. Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

So we. So you know the cause of it. It's just, like, not dealing with it as an adult. Yeah.

[A]

There's no mystery here.

[C]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

But the thing is, they're all so now anyway, that it's just like, they're all. All my molars are crowns and stuff, and crowns fail after a certain amount of time. So, like, I'm just. I could have the Most pristine dental health starting now. And it's still gonna. I'm gonna have to keep doing this forever, so might as well just ride it out.

[C]

Yeah, I drank a decent amount of. Because my parents only allowed soda on Fridays, which of course made me want to sneak it other days as I got older as you do. But I also had a decent amount of candy. Not a ton, but more than like enough that I kind of regret how much I ate of candy. But I don't think it was as bad as you've described of your childhood.

[A]

Oh, yeah. I mean, if it was like, you know, there's like buckets of Red Vines, the, like white or the. The see through buckets. I mean, I could go through an entire one of those in one sitting. Yeah. You know, or I would drink an entire 2 liter of mountain Dew, not diet, in one sitting, you know, like with dinner.

[B]

So a 2 liter?

[A]

Yeah. Regularly. Regularly.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

We would usually have those because they were cheaper. My dad was, you know, super cheap, so we would just load up on 2 liters. And so it's like, well, once it's open, it's gonna go flat, so you gotta just drink the whole thing.

[C]

Yeah, it's like a bottle of red wine.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

That's just like the American way. You get the 2 liter because it's cheaper, but then you chug it because it's gonna go flat. Then you have no teeth.

[A]

I had all the tricks. They had the big 64 ounce thing at 7:11 you could buy. And if you bought the big ass thing, you'd get just free refills for it. So I would just like go to the 7 11. I would like drive to the 711 just to fill it all the way up with like coke or Mountain Dew and just go home and just chug 64 ounces of it. Yeah.

[C]

Mary, do you have any medical issues?

[B]

No, I've been cleared by all doctors as medically pure. Impervious. Yeah, nothing can.

[C]

You have been going to a lot of doctors and texting me afterwards saying another doctor said I'm pure. Just out of context. I'll be hanging out with Amanda on a Saturday and be like, mary told me she's pure again.

[B]

I keep looking and they keep saying there's nothing wrong with her. They can't find one flaw.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You texted, you texted me the, the you.

[A]

You.

[C]

You texted me a video. You're like, should I shave my head to be more pure? I said, no, give that some time. Wait a few months and maybe you

[B]

did well, the doctor said that I should shave all my hair.

[A]

Yeah. On a robe. Put on the Nikes, the Kool Aid.

[B]

Yeah. I feel like my time is coming. No one. Is death impervious? Yes. Not just death, but like the heirs of death. You know, the, the bad joints because you broke a bone when you were 12, when you thought God couldn't touch you. And now you are in danger.

[C]

Oh, he's touching you now for sure.

[B]

Now he's. Now he's, He's. He's poking the bear. Yeah, I, I've told you this story. I've broke my ankles in gymnastics. And to this day, if I'm walking on a sidewalk and it's uneven, if my ankle hits it wrong, I'll just fall over. So that is something that happens to me. And I think about like, you know, when I'm 70 or whatever, what are my ankles going to be like? Am I going to be completely wrecked? Because it feels a little early for me to have bad ankles, but I do.

[C]

My Hope by the Wheels died too. So you can't get that operation that he had.

[A]

Did you guys hear about this inventor of the. What?

[C]

The inventor of Wheelies Heelys shoes with the wheel in it. Oh.

[A]

So they discontinued them. So what happens when our inventory does.

[C]

He falls. He died.

[B]

And they were doing, they were doing

[C]

the autopsy and they found he had installed the wheels in his own foot. So like, you can't rely on that anymore because no, he didn't tell anybody how he did it.

[A]

So.

[C]

So you're gonna. Yeah, you're gonna be tripping left and right.

[B]

When his casket came out, did they like lift it and go weeee?

[C]

I saw someone saying like, the pallbearers better be having a spirited discussion. They all just start gliding toward the altar.

[B]

Do not invite me to your funeral because I will have a joke in there. I can't help it. Because like that shit is so wild to me to be the Wheelies guy and to pass away and for us to not joke about some. Some kind of wheelie related device.

[C]

I told Amanda I don't want to I. At my funeral. I want it to be a roast of me.

[A]

Oh yeah.

[C]

And I want it to be, least I got plenty. Because you can't go too far. You can't offend me. I'm already dead.

[A]

Who's dying first out of us? Is it definitely me probably. Or is it. It's either super me or super not me, you know, like it's gonna be extreme one way or the other.

[B]

Statistically, you're the most likely, but. But you know, you just never know what's going to happen. And I think fate would have it that a baby grand piano will fall on Mike's head.

[A]

Yeah, I've definitely got the age disadvantage, but like, I don't know, people in my family live pretty fucking old. Like people like my dad, who is a million times worse health and dietary stuff than me, has like better blood pressure and cholesterol than I do, which is insane.

[B]

Yeah, he's like tempered himself in two liter bottles of soda and a pack of cigarettes a day and somehow just impervious.

[A]

Fortified him.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know. I don't think that's good advice. I think that's what you should learn from that.

[C]

He's like, he's like a fine port.

[A]

That's what he says.

[B]

Yeah, that's what he says when he's putting his cigarettes out in his bed on his head. A fine port. I say when he does his little

[A]

family guy thrust dance every night as he goes to sleep and puts cigarette out.

[C]

Messes with me have knowing that he does that message.

[A]

Oh yeah, every night.

[B]

I also traveled. I went to Memphis, Tennessee for beautiful city.

[A]

I've heard. Wait, is that. I've never been.

[C]

I only know the NBA because the NBA is like, why the fuck is there still a team in Memphis, Not Nashville? Memphis is a. I don't know Memphis. I've never been. I've only ever been to Nashville in Tennessee.

[A]

I've been in Nashville.

[C]

Not heard great things about Memphis. But you've been there, so I'll defer to you.

[B]

I've been to both. And I think it's probably hard to be Nashville's baby bro.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But Memphis has its own barbecue journey. It has its own music. I, I listen to live music every night. It was actually really good. No cover, just good musicians, which I thought was pretty entertaining. Um, and. And that's where St. Jude is. And so we like did the tour and stuff. I agree with you. I think it's hard to probably compare to. To Nashville, but I didn't hate it. And I saw a lot of older couples on vacation. You could tell that they were from out of town just because of the way they were dressed in their, like, culottes and their little khaki shorts. And all the men look the same with their hat and sunglasses.

[C]

But the T shirts the guys wear that have the UV protection, you could

[B]

spot them a mile away. And there was, there was dozens of these, like old happy, you know, white couples everywhere yeah.

[A]

Did you go to the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid?

[B]

Oh, yeah, I. I did that the first time I went. I did not go this time. I. I feel like once you've seen.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

The Pyramid Brass Bass Pro Shop, you don't technically need to go back, but it is, it is a surreal experience to go and like, see, they're, you know, they have like live gators and like huge tanks. A shoot, like a. You'd shoot like a shooting range and a bowling alley and a really nice restaurant at the top, which I ate at, which was like, unnecessary.

[C]

Did you climb up the side to get there?

[A]

The Suction cup, Garfield things? Yeah.

[C]

No, I'm not talking about Bayek of Siwa. Just fucking sprinting up it.

[A]

Mary, I had a weird moment when we were doing a stream while you were out of town on Giant Bomb. And you were in the chat briefly and we saw you, like, post a couple messages to it. It was like, near the end of the stream and then we're like, we ended the stream and we always like, look, you know, we go off the air and then we come back up and we say like, okay, let's find someone to raid. And we looked, and on the homepage of Twitch, you were live on stage. It seems you doing like a game show thing. Wait, you were just posting in the chat five minutes ago, what the hell?

[B]

Yeah, I think I might be chronically online, but I do. I think part of my job is to, like, just see how things are going on Twitch. And so I'm on there a lot. But yeah, we. We go to St. Jude every year. That's funny. We go to St. Jude every year to do a live game show or like some kind of show. And what we usually do is we donate to streamers, charity funds for St. Jude because all these like 150 streamers go there. They do a tour, they like meet the doctors and the children, and then they go raise money. And it's crazy. They've raised like $80 million for St. Jude. It's. It's insane. Yeah, and every year Twitch goes and we kind of like suckle off of their goodwill and say, we will give you guys some donations to your amazing charity dollars. And we support them as they do. Good. So I think, like, I probably was waiting to go on the show and was watching you guys and was like, this is a fun game. Hahaha. And then literally had to get on stage and do this game show. The concept, which we called St. Jude Feud, we polled 100 streamers, a bunch of questions and then just like St. Jude Rules, we made them hit a buzzer to answer what they thought out of the hundred was the most popular answer to the question. And then that person. 100 options out of no, out of 100 votes. Family feud, right? Yeah. So, yeah. So it's like, you know what? What would you not want to see? If you robbed somebody's house and the guy was like, naked grandma. That's what it is. But maybe like, 15 people say that. Maybe nobody says that. And that's an E. Anyway, I have the questions and I. I was. I was thinking, what if I asked you guys one?

[A]

Yes, please.

[B]

Saw what you guys thought.

[A]

I will compete. I'll be family. Recording.

[C]

Yeah. But don't tell us the options. I feel like we could probably do it without the.

[A]

Yeah, the multiple choice.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm going to tell you the question, and you have to literally say, and I'll pick you, and then you have to give me an answer. Now I'm going to give you one caveat. This is, like, going to be my.

[C]

This will be helpful if we're ever training for a game show.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

It's going to be. It's going to be like a clue. But it's important for you to understand that you might say, well, everybody knows that the answer should be X. But I want to be very clear. We pulled 100 streamers, so they're going

[C]

to be weird answers because streamers are weird.

[A]

So it's all a ballerina cappuccino. Right.

[B]

Who's to say is your hint? So I want you to understand that these answers might be different because we pulled streamers for the answers. Are you ready to play?

[A]

Yeah. By the way, my buzzer is going

[C]

to be the first.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Just so you know who that is.

[C]

Make a fart noise in my mouth.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Hopefully you can tell the difference because mine are really realistic.

[B]

Okay. Your question is name a video game character who is associated with the color green.

[C]

Did you hear that?

[B]

Did you actually fart?

[C]

Did I get it first? I had been saving that for, like, 10 minutes. I was like, I don't know if I'm. Why I would need this, but I might.

[B]

I mean, really farting deserves the first one. So go ahead.

[C]

Ah, I don't even. Bowser.

[B]

It's a no. That guy.

[C]

Nobody mentioned him or. That's just not the first one.

[B]

It's. It's not. So it's not listed. I know the rules of this game really well. This did not come up.

[C]

Dan can steal now.

[B]

Dan can now, see, I will also state for the record that I find Bowser to be mostly orange. His back is green, but he's a very top face. Oh, no, very yellow.

[C]

On the spot, though. I said it.

[B]

You also on the spot, farted, which is very impressive. The answer the. The question now goes to Dan. Name a video game character who's associated with the color green.

[A]

Now, there are two very obvious ones here. I am curious which one would be.

[C]

I know they're both going right now.

[A]

You're insane. I don't know which one would have more, but I'm gonna. I'm gonna take a wild card here. I'm gonna say Yoshi.

[C]

Oh, duh.

[B]

That's our number two spot.

[A]

Okay, that's number two. Now, do I get to keep going and see if.

[B]

So you get to keep going. So these are the rules of feud is we go to your family, which is you, because you guys are both

[C]

alone

[B]

and you get the points. Yoshi was our number two most voted answer at 18. So there's ones voted higher and there's several voted lower. If you get three X's at all, it goes to Mike, and Mike can steal and win it from you.

[A]

Okay, okay, okay. I. Okay, I got this. All right, so I'm going to go with the one that is, I assume, number one.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Ding. Luigi is the number one most. Luigi Yoshi voted with 20. 20. So Luigi is 20. Yoshi was 18. You still have the floor. You are in the lead.

[A]

All right, I'm gonna go with Master Chief.

[B]

Ding. Master Chief was number four.

[A]

Okay, so there's a three. How many. There's a. How many blanks are there? Three, five. I assume eight. Oh, God. Okay, so here's where I'm up because, like, it's Twitch streamers. I assume Pokemon, and I assume there has to be a green Pokemon.

[B]

You never know. Who's to say?

[A]

Pikachu's yellow, Charmander is orange. Squirtle and Bulbasaur are both blue. I don't know what the. A green Pokemon would be there. Any Sonic characters? Green. Kirby's not green. Luigi. Kermit's not a video game guy, for the most part. Master Chief. There's eight.

[C]

There's eight.

[A]

There's probably five Pokemon on there. Why did I say that? Mike. Mike's young. He knows Pokemon. He's gonna run the table with Pokemon.

[B]

I think you got. So you've done 1, 2, and 4 so far.

[A]

It's stupid that the next one. In my mind, this is not a gu. Is Boogerman and then Vector man, which I don't think that's what these 20 year old twitch streamers are picking. Those aren't. Those aren't picks.

[B]

It actually is.

[A]

Because I'm just making conversation.

[C]

Yeah, it's not final answer thing.

[B]

This isn't a final answer situation.

[C]

Really?

[B]

Man, you're not good at game shows.

[A]

Okay. Hey, reptile.

[C]

Who's rep. What the. Oh, actually that just reminded me of another one that. But I don't think Twitch streamers would think this far back.

[A]

Reptile.

[C]

The reptile reminded me of a different character.

[A]

Oh, okay, okay, okay. Fuck. The other fighting game characters that are green. Not Jack. Not. Wow. Why is this as hard? There should be more Nintendo characters that are green.

[B]

I mean, you're missing a few.

[A]

A few Nintendo characters.

[B]

There's like. You're missing some stuff here.

[C]

We'll get one more guess and then it goes to me just so to cut down on dead air.

[A]

Sure, sure.

[C]

I don't think I'm gonna get any. And I mean, I have a few ideas.

[A]

I'm straight. You know, maybe Bulbasaur is green. I feel like he's blue.

[C]

Keep in mind, it's character who's associated with green.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Cowardice. Or wait, no. Cowardice is yellow.

[C]

I. Yeah, you're thinking too deeply.

[B]

Any. Any way you do this, you're wrong. Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Give me like 15 more seconds. See if I. I wish I could just look at my games. There's no Resident Evil.

[C]

Your amiibo nearby, are they?

[A]

No, they're not in this room. No. Oh, it's any green amiibo. Why aren't there green video game characters other than three?

[B]

Yeah, only those three. So weird.

[A]

God damn it. I don't think I'm going to be. Gordon Frame is not green. Call of Duty guys wear green camo. That's stupid though.

[B]

You also got. Already got Master Chief.

[A]

I did?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Which was really smart. And that was kind of like the iconic one from that series. So that's pretty good.

[A]

I got the Halo guy.

[B]

There's a pretty big series.

[A]

I'm missing one from a video or Halo.

[B]

You are missing one from a big series. Yes.

[A]

There's Elder Scrolls. What are the big series? Fortnite.

[B]

Yeah. Greeny McGreenson from Fortnite.

[A]

Big. Resident Evil doesn't have a green guy. Sonic doesn't have a green Sonic has like a weird guy known for like an alligator guy.

[B]

I'm going to give sizes. King K rule.

[A]

King K. Rool.

[C]

Okay, that's his last guy Go ahead. Way Link from Legend of Zelda.

[B]

Yeah. Ding ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Mike has stolen the board and won all the points.

[C]

I am also going to say Bulbasaur because although he's largely blue, I still think he's associated with Plant. With Plant. Pokemon, which is green. The color green.

[B]

How are you so Link, it's very embarrassing for you.

[C]

Wait, do I like Zelda way more than Dan?

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

I think it's possible that the pressure of the game show just doesn't work. Jive with you, Dan, and you can't handle the pressure.

[A]

My brain doesn't work.

[C]

It's so much funnier than it that it was a Nintendo character too.

[B]

My favorite game series, like ever.

[A]

I don't know, Dan, I think. Are you kidding me? I spent more time looking at that than any other video game character.

[B]

I don't know if you like games.

[C]

So Bulbasaur was one.

[B]

God, no. I will tell you the final list because it's very funny and that is how the game works. So you won because you stole and the rest don't matter.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

But I'm going to read them to you because I think they're very funny. One is Luigi with 20 votes. Two is Yoshi, 18 votes. Three was Link with 16 votes. Four was Master Chief with 14 votes. Here's the ones you guys didn't get. Five was Hulk with 12 votes off.

[A]

That's game, not a video game character.

[C]

He said. What's the phrase? What's the phrase you guys use in Giant bomb? No. Something.

[A]

Oh, that's some of the Goku's.

[C]

Yeah, like he's not.

[A]

Yeah, it's got someone that's known for video games. Like yeah, I've played this. I'm in a million games. But it's not a video game character.

[B]

Well, according to this list, he is.

[C]

Okay, well then in that case, six blocks I was actually thinking of.

[A]

He's just a big green guy.

[C]

Is Green Lantern or Green Goblin in there too?

[B]

Because he's so green. No, he's the only one that made it in Marvel's, which I found really interesting. But blanco. When I like when someone. When. When it flipped I went, oh my God, I can't.

[A]

Like he's the most dream character.

[B]

Streamers have some like age to them. Right. Like a lot of them are OG gamers and so they know that stuff

[A]

is probably still around in current Street Fighter. Probably.

[B]

I think so. But I think it's very like classic to me. I don't know.

[C]

Is that all Very.

[B]

No, there's two more. You ready?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Seven is tingle. Okay, that's reasonable.

[A]

No, that's not. That's a final fantasy. It's Zela.

[B]

Oh, yeah, he's.

[C]

Yeah, he's the.

[B]

The most famous.

[C]

The balloon.

[B]

And eight zits from Battletoads, specifically.

[A]

Zits. Wow. There are three battle toads and they're all green.

[B]

Very specifically.

[A]

One might be kind of yellow.

[C]

Yeah, they're all mucus colors. Yeah.

[A]

Holy.

[B]

I think it's a really funny list. I was laughing when we did these. I have several more. I'll send them to you.

[A]

This is great. I love this.

[B]

Yeah. I was laughing because I think what's hilarious about them is because Streamers wrote them down. I feel like there's a world in which you'd be like, that's impossible. Why would people pick this? It's so stupid. And then you'd be like, oh, right. Streamers voted on this. So of course one of them voted for zits from Battletoads. It's the most iconic green character. So it's like really hard to win. But I think they're really funny.

[C]

Let's see if.

[A]

See if Mike can get one real quick. And I'll try to steal from him if you can't.

[B]

Oh, okay. You want me to do another one?

[A]

I like this. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. Let me read. What? Let me. Can I read through them? Give me. You guys talk about something while I read these real quick. Just make sure I give you a good one. Cuz some of them are bad, man.

[C]

I was just running through Super Smash Bros. Characters that, like, I. I got.

[A]

I was trying to.

[C]

I got excited about the.

[A]

I have a whole shelf dedicated to link amiibos. I have.

[C]

I own like 15amiibos room.

[B]

You were looking around the room for green items.

[A]

I have a giant green wall. I swear to God, I have not looked at any video game character more than I've looked at Link, maybe Mario, but holy shit. Link is like, oh, my God. How did I not think of that?

[C]

I got so excited about the fart, I just went to Bowser even though only his shell is green.

[A]

Yeah, I guess that's true. I do think of him as green, though.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I think he's a big green dragon. Yeah.

[C]

He's spinning around a shell. Yeah. Then I was going to Super Smash Bros. And I was going through them. But it's funny. I think my modern image of Link from Super Smash Bros is in the breath of the wild tunic.

[A]

Oh, the blue. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna look up green Pokemon here. Okay, you got a Bulbasaur is listed as green. Really?

[C]

He's so green is like. Some people use it interchangeably for plant damage type.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[C]

That's why.

[A]

Quaza, Sprigatito, Chikorita, Baylee, all the stars.

[C]

It's all the green starters you can go through.

[A]

Oh, that weird shell at a mommy guy. What's his deal? The guy that does harden.

[C]

Yeah. Pod Ichapod.

[B]

Do you guys want it to be video game related or can it be just like life related that stream?

[C]

Life related?

[A]

Either is fine.

[B]

Okay, all right. I have.

[C]

I have.

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

And then he becomes the moth. Okay, I think.

[B]

I wonder how you guys are going to react to this.

[A]

Oh, God.

[C]

Oh, God.

[B]

I know you guys. Are they going to think this is great? Are you going to be like Disney World annoyed? Okay, buzzer's ready.

[C]

Not yet.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Load your butt.

[A]

This is my buzzer now.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Here's my new buzzer. You shove it up your ass. Okay.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Perfect.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. Name a famous captain.

[A]

Do you shove it up your ass?

[C]

Can I go?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, did you make it? Oh, I think you Discord ate your thing.

[B]

He farted it.

[A]

Okay, okay. Sorry, sorry.

[C]

Captain Jack Sparrow.

[B]

Ding, ding, ding. This is a number four most popular answer from streamers. So that is. That is technically the truth, Dan. You can steal it by getting the number like a. Like the number one.

[A]

Number one. Do I try now?

[B]

He didn't get the number one.

[A]

Do I try now?

[B]

You can try now.

[A]

Crunch.

[B]

It's number two. Yeah, that's a better answer. So you win.

[A]

Oh, okay. Well, shit, I don't have any.

[C]

There's Captain Falcon up there.

[A]

Oh, yeah. I guarantee he is.

[B]

Ding, ding, ding. Captain Falcon is number eight. Good job.

[C]

Or Captain. What was. What's the movie with Tom Hanks? I'm the captain now. Captain Phillips. Captain Phil. Or what's that called? Captain Phillips.

[A]

I think so.

[C]

Isn't it that.

[B]

I think it's funny which ones they, like, know and which ones.

[C]

Yeah, they.

[A]

Kangaroo.

[B]

That's a. No, that's not.

[A]

Young streamers. Not the show from the fucking 60s.

[C]

I would assume they didn't say Captain Ahab, but maybe they.

[B]

It's on here.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

What number?

[B]

Number seven. It's above Falcon.

[C]

Oh, what the hell would number one be? Captain. Oh, Kirk. Captain Kirk.

[B]

You know what? It's hilarious. It's so shocking. Kirk is not on here.

[A]

Card.

[B]

Picard is not on here.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

But there is a very famous captain that you Guys are totally overlooking. And when I say it, you'll be like, oh, my God, is it fictional character?

[C]

Yes, fictional Captain. Video game character, movie character, tv, all.

[A]

Whoa.

[C]

Where's the original? Where did it originate?

[B]

I won't. I can't tell you.

[C]

Well, I want to move. I want to keep things moving. I'm trying to host.

[B]

You have to think.

[C]

Captain.

[B]

The most famous.

[C]

Oh, Captain America.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

Oh, that's good. No, that's. That's not it. That's not the number one.

[C]

The list.

[B]

No, he didn't make it. We hate him.

[C]

I am really drawn a blank. I don't know. What is it?

[B]

He hangs out with a bunch of kids.

[A]

Kangaroo. Oh, Captain

[C]

hangs out with a bunch of kids.

[B]

He said that with such conviction.

[A]

I think it might be kangaroo. You might be misreading it.

[B]

I mean, he hangs out with old people, but he likes. He, like, wants to, like, get to those kids, you know, Hook.

[A]

Kids know Captain Hook. That feels, like, too old for me.

[C]

That's number one.

[B]

That's number one.

[C]

What? Has Hook had a resurgence online lately?

[B]

I think that Captain Hook is always famous because that's, like, one of the best stories of all time.

[A]

I don't really understand the story. I've never.

[C]

Complexes.

[B]

Peter Pan, man.

[A]

I know, but I've never taken in Peter Pan media ever.

[C]

We watched Hook a lot growing up, but that was in the, like, 90s early off.

[A]

I haven't seen Hook. I haven't seen whatever cartoon. I don't think I've ever seen a Peter Pan thing.

[C]

Terrifying. They put a guy in a. What? PG movie. They put a guy in a treasure chest, and then they fill it with scorpions. You hear him screaming.

[A]

It's cool.

[C]

Oh, Rufio gets killed.

[B]

It's shocking.

[A]

From the Sopranos.

[B]

So good.

[C]

The guy with the. The cool.

[A]

I'm thinking Furio. Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Oh, stupid. A game.

[B]

Captain Crunch.

[C]

I said that's what he stole.

[B]

With Captain Morgan.

[C]

Captain Morgan.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Four, Captain Jack Sparrow.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Five, Captain Underpants. Six, Captain Blackbeard. Seven, Captain Ahab. And eight, Captain Falcon. Those were the streamer hot lists, Dan. I know.

[C]

Where are you in the Sopranos watching season two?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

What was the last episode that you watched?

[A]

They're trying to go to college. Trying to get Meadow into college. Oh, and someone got shot at the end and is currently in the hospital.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. Big character.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

By. By a guy whose last name starts with Jizz.

[A]

I don't know his last name, but two total idiots shot him.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Beval, Aqua and Jizmonti.

[A]

Whatever. Those two morons.

[C]

Yeah, but they call him Drink Water. It just means it's still great. Still. Yeah, yeah, Still. Really good show. I'm waiting until after I take this test. Oh, I have some travel coming up. This is really funny.

[B]

It better be.

[C]

It's the most fucking me thing ever. On May 18, I'm going to a Riesling camp. I'm not joking.

[A]

I know.

[C]

Finger Lakes. It's a Finger Lakes wine alliance. Got like 18 wineries to agree to basically do this thing. They just.

[A]

You apply.

[C]

And 24 of us from around the country got in, and we go up for like three and a half straight days of vineyard tours, talking to winemakers, going through the cellars, doing blending classes, seminars, panels with a bunch of winemakers up in the Finger Lakes, which is. I used to say it's an upcoming region, but if you hadn't had much Finger Lakes wine, there's a lot of really good stuff there, like cool climate wines. So I'm looking forward to it. We get a sign, like a quote, unquote, Buddy Winery. They're kind of like our mentors while we're there. So I'm really excited. I'm also.

[A]

We're gonna have to. We'll bunk up because I'm one of the 24.

[C]

That would be the fun ever.

[A]

You just show up and I'm there.

[B]

No, you're talking about Riesling likers.

[C]

You're my mentor. Hey, I'm gonna show you how to grow and then you check the note. Riesling. It's gonna be great. I'm excited for it. It's gonna be. It's gonna be fun. It's a lot of stuff I've been wanting to do and try out, so I'm glad I get to go up for it. Staying on.

[A]

How long are you there?

[C]

Three and a half days. Okay, well, I'm going up a day early to go visit the Buddy winery. I got assigned to meet them before things get crazy. But then it's like 7am to 7pm every day.

[A]

Okay. Drinking fun?

[C]

I wish. Just. Just Riesling drinking competition.

[B]

Just chugging Riesling. That's what you do in camp?

[C]

Yeah. That'd be sick. Looking forward to that. Can't wait. But yeah. In the meantime, I don't have travel coming up, but it's kind of nice. And that's just the drive up four hours north.

[B]

I want to not have travel coming up. I'm. I'm good for a couple weeks, but I'm gonna have so much travel and I'm, like, stressed about it when I think about it, because I like being home. It's such a lovely time to be here. I like being home.

[A]

Yeah. I have that same thing where it's like, that's part of, like, why I love living here is, like, when it's bad, it's bad weather wise, but when it's good, it's the most beautiful. And then it's like travel always happens just like, during, like the best months.

[B]

Summer.

[A]

God damn it. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll be out next episode. I've got some big travel coming up,

[B]

so I'm excited for you and your travel, but you will be missed. And we'll have a really good guest that knows that link is green. And I think that will be, to

[A]

be fair, there's the red male. There's the blue mail. And yeah, you know, the breath of wild tunics.

[C]

They're called tunics in the first.

[A]

Well, they're male. And then they link to the past.

[C]

But yeah, but yeah, yeah, link to the past.

[B]

Captain Kangaroo.

[C]

All right. You guys want to talk about video games? Sure.

[A]

Have you guys seen the Kia K4 family? The design is actually really sleek.

[B]

It's sporty. Dan. I've been looking at the K4 hatchback. It's got that panoramic display on the dashboard that makes it feel like you're in a high end flight sim. And the cargo room is huge. I could fit like four cases of soda and a whole gaming setup back there.

[C]

It's not just about the screen, Mary. Both the sedan and the hatchback come with an available 1.6 liter turbo engine. It's actually got some muscle behind it. It's that rare best of both worlds situation where it looks good but doesn't drive like a golf cart. I'm not sitting in the back, Dan, but if I were, the K4 is probably the only place where I'd have enough room.

[A]

See, I'm a sedan guy. It's got that sophisticated look. Makes me look like I have my life together, even if I'm just driving to buy more batteries. Plus, the legroom is actually roomy. I can stretch out while Mike is trapped in the back.

[B]

Honestly, whether you want the hatch utility or the sedan style, they're both great. If you guys want to see what we're talking about, visit kia.com to learn more.

[D]

Save on family essentials at Safeway and Albertsons. This week at Safeway and Albertsons, fresh cut cantaloupe, watermelon pineapple or melon medley bowls 24 ounces are $5 each and wild caught lobster are $4.99 each. Limit eight member price plus selected sizes and varieties of Doritos Lays, Cheetos, Sun Chips and Kettle cook chips are $1.99 each. Limit four member price. Hurry in. These deals won't last. Visit safewayoralbertsons.com for more deals and ways to save.

[C]

My shopping style is more stay at home than try in store. So my Amex Blue Cash Everyday card is my go to accessory. When I shop it's easy to earn by getting 3% cash back on US online retail purchases. Each order brings me closer to more cash back. So go ahead, add to cart and shop the latest styles. Reinvent your look and reward yourself with amex and try on the Blue Cash every day card. Learn [e-mail] Explore BCE terms and cashback Cap apply. All right. And we're back. Dan, you've been playing some Soros a little bit. Yes, the follow up from Housemark who had made Returnal.

[B]

So excited about this. Tell, tell me every game of the

[C]

year 2021 for yes, follow up Eternal.

[A]

It is fantastic and like I want to preface this for sure with the fact that I am not far in this game at all. I've done like maybe, yeah, I've done like five, maybe six runs. I, I've gotten to the boss of the first kind of biome like a couple times. But yeah, I, I, I, I don't want to give any like fine. Like here's what I think of this game. I'm gonna say so far it is very much a follow up to Eternal. I'd say the main differences I've seen is that like there is an actual persistent skill tree of like you know, actual upgrades that you are getting as you go. There is more interplay with like there is the shield that is like I don't know if you want to play Ikaruga but it's like you know certain like colored orbs of projectiles. You know the blue ones you can kind of absorb with your shield and charge up like your weapons and things like that. And you can also repel certain things. So there's, there's some more like kind of color coded projectile stuff going on in this one.

[C]

It reminded me of Doom. The Dark Age is a bit, sure a little bit.

[A]

I think I like it better in this. Like I don't know, it seems a little more refined in this and like just kind of particle effects and like The. The way they've made bullet hell patterns in a 3D space or just.

[C]

I mean. Yeah, he moved. He moved super well. Just as well as Celine was her name. I think Celine did incredible feeling game. I've done like two runs, I will say. I think it's funny, I was hearing people from my day job saying that a few of them didn't find the long term progression satisfying in Returnal. I didn't realize that was like a persistent criticism. And it feels like sorrows with that. That progression tree is kind of an answer to that.

[A]

Yeah. I mean there is a thing like

[B]

the progression after you die. Just trying to clarify for those of us, you know, in the audience that haven't played this and are jealous how I don't know anything about this. You get a currency keep your. You get to keep some of your skills forever, right?

[A]

Well, you are getting currency as you kill. You find things and kill things and everything during the runs and you bring it back and you lose a certain percentage of it. And I think actually one of the upgrades is to kind of keep more of it. Think like in Rogue Legacy and you had to like pay the guy, the boat guy, a certain amount. Yeah, yeah, it's like that. And then the skill tree is pretty basic from what I have done so far, which it gates at like. Like I can't go further until I beat the first boss. And all of my upgrades so far have been like, oh, I'm gonna get more of this currency as I play. My. My health, you know, gets restored more with. It's some pretty basic skill tree stuff early on, but you're doing the same

[B]

beginning again and again and again. Every time you die, you do. You get to the same level layout.

[A]

Yeah, it's the biome thing where it's like it's. It's all going to be kind of this craggy, kind of mountainous. It's kind of very red and gray. The first biome. And it's gonna like mix and match the rooms the way Returnal did. So same biome each time, same kind of room layouts, but just kind of like set down in a different, you know, like, like. Like Carcassonne, if anyone's ever played that. It's like same pieces, but you can put it together in a different.

[C]

I'm also seeing stuff similar to Eternal where it's like, I don't even have the item, like a permanent progression item, open doors or chests, et cetera. I'm like, I don't know how to get to that. If I, if there is a way for me to get to that, I. It's not apparent yet.

[A]

Yeah, you'll see stuff where it's like, oh, I'm seeing these glowy dots on these high up things and it's like, well, obviously I'm going to get some sort of like grappling hook thing or whatever and like open up that progression, but I haven't gotten there yet. Lots of like, you know, side rooms and things like that where you're getting audio logs and stuff like that. There's seems like there might be more lore in this game. There's more actual like characters when you go back to your hub area that you can interact with. So it seems in spirit it a lot like Returnal, but it seems like a lot of stuff is fleshed out a bit more, you know. But again, still very early. I'm curious to see if the skill tree expands to be more than, you know, just kind of basic like health and XP upgrades and things like that. I assume it will for sure, but yeah, still tour.

[B]

How's the boss fight that you're stuck on?

[A]

Tough. I mean I've just done it like twice, died both times. But I'm starting to like, you know, you figure out each time you go back it's like, okay, if I stand in these plants that slows me down. Oh, this pattern of attacks is this way, this way and then I block this one. So it's just gonna be a matter of like getting back there and knowing it a little more each time. So I, I have a feeling I'm really, really going to wind up liking this game. But it's just like I'm not fully in the like, oh, it's fully clicked yet thing, you know.

[C]

Yeah, I will say like, like anything House Marks ever made. It feels incredible. I don't know what. I haven't played Returnal in a long time. I've been meaning to go back and try it in Co op since they added that like what, a year and a half, two years after it came out or something like that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

I mean to try that. And I loved how Selene moved, but I remember certain times it felt like her acceleration was not as fast as I would like it to. Soros feels a bit twitchier in the acceleration in a way. I like just to say like I feel like he's even more responsive than Celine was in some ways.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, the jump dash, like all that stuff is great. I actually swapped like default is L1 is dash and R1 is melee. And I don't know, R1 dash felt a lot better to me, so I swapped that if anyone.

[C]

Well, isn't that, isn't that the dash in what's the Geometry wars looking game that you were upset?

[A]

Tory?

[C]

Isn't that the dash thing?

[A]

I mean you can make it whatever you want. I usually have it on like rt. I have it on RT and R B. Yeah, okay.

[C]

Yeah, I was, I was wondering if your muscle memory acclimated to that game maybe.

[A]

I just like R1. I like R1 being a dash. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

A very, very, very promising start and I'm sure I'm going to have a lot more to say about it.

[B]

I'm excited. I really want to get my hands on it. Very jealous. That sounds cool.

[C]

For what?

[B]

What?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I've told you this in the discord.

[B]

Fuck. Fuck.

[C]

Fuck. Yeah. You could have been playing a lot.

[B]

I played really important games too.

[C]

Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland. Hit me with that nugget.

[B]

Sit down. If you guys are really excited about

[C]

where's my code for that game?

[A]

Make the kids phone the neighbors.

[C]

Who's your PR contact? Where's the code for that one? No, maybe it's a great game. Who knows? Sounds cute.

[B]

It's. It's pretty cute. Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland.

[C]

That's, that's like when I was talking about what was that like highbrow strategy game I was talking about? And Dan's like, yeah,

[A]

yeah,

[C]

yeah. But does the structure of the game, is it talking about how you repeatedly return to past traumas? Like Sorrow says, oh, does it play

[A]

into the Yellow King and Carcosa? Just like if you get hit too

[B]

many times, you wake up and then you have to get back.

[C]

Does Rahul Kohli play Little Nemo? No, I don't care. Then Rahul Kohli or Duh duh.

[A]

Symbolism, symbolism, symbolism in his little jam

[B]

jams your little Nemo. This is a Metroidvania. It is hand drawn animation, which I love. It's. It's so cute looking, but it is vicious. It's not an easy game. I was surprised with how difficult it is because you're only allowed to get. You get three hearts in most of this game. And so getting hit twice, you know, after the third you get knocked conscious. So you wake up in bed, you basically fall out of bed. You to go back into your bed and go back to sleep to go back to Guardians of Slumberland. And in this Metroid like game, you essentially start with no skills or tactics. And over time you'll acquire maybe like a yo yo which will give you a better attack. And then eventually your yo yo will be able to let you grapple. And then you'll be able to jump on different walls for access. You're getting the Guardians scepters back. For anybody like me who remembers Little Nemo the movie when I was growing up.

[A]

Game. There's an nes.

[B]

Yeah, I think this is made in the vein. I didn't play Little Nemo and nes so maybe you could.

[A]

I love it. Capcom game. Yeah.

[B]

Played it because I didn't play it. But I watched Little Nemo the movie growing up and I thought it was sick. Tell me about the NES game.

[A]

So yeah, you're a little dude who's like sleeping or asleep or in a dream. It's like Little Nemo the dream master. And you go around and you're in pajamas and you feed candy to like diet like friendly like dinosaurs and dragons and frogs and stuff like that. And then you can ride them, basically. It's awesome. It's really. I would say it's a Capcom any game. I did not realize I'm looking at the Wikipedia now. It was based on. There was a 1989 animated film. It is based on that. And that film is based on a comic strip. So apparently Little Nemo is just an old ass property that they made some games and movies off of.

[B]

That's so cool. I feel like this is a love letter. Like I feel like this is. This feels a lot more solo driven.

[C]

It's a Candyland biome.

[B]

It's definitely a Halloween biome.

[C]

Ooh, a spelunky biome.

[B]

Yeah, you're on. You're on the trolley.

[C]

A dinosaur in a castle. Oooh, a Resident Evil 4 castle. You can sound legend though.

[B]

Made by, you know, a very tiny team of one. And the, the other thing I do want to mention is the. The soundtrack is by the guy from Anamanaguchi who made Scott Pilgrim versus the World the game. Great soundtrack. Banger soundtrack. I couldn't believe it. I was in this like gun drop land and I was like. I was like getting down to the beats. Fantastic music accompaniment. I was surprised with the level of care and quality in this game. That being said, scheme is frustrating to get through because the difficulty curve is wild for a game that feels like it should be for kids. I was shocked that it's very difficult to get health upgrades. So you're essentially like only ever able to take 2, 2 damage before you wake up and have to redo the entire area before you get all of your upgrades and can fast travel, you just have to redo that area like six or seven times, which I think is pretty grating. There's been times in this game where I have had to take a deep breath and been like, I don't know if I can go on. It was a bit grating sometimes. But I will still state for the record that I think it's a beautiful, cute, very curious little game with, with a banger soundtrack. And I think people who are fans of Little Nemo, maybe from the NES game or from the movie, like when I was growing up, I think this will like tickle your nostalgia bone and like you will get a good enjoyment out of this.

[C]

Nice.

[A]

Yeah, I really did love the game and just the setting was unique and yeah, I did like that quite a bit. It was not a Metroidvania, it was more of a standard platformer. But I see that working with Metroidvania,

[B]

this is by all means it is a platformer. Right? But like there are areas where you just cannot get until you have upgraded your yo yo thus Metroidvania. But like by and far I. You suffer the most being like, like there's like this area where there's like mushrooms and if you eat a mushroom, all of your controls are backwards. So hitting forward makes you go backwards hitting. You know what I mean? And like that'll mess you up for a while. To me, even though that's cheeky and fun, I was getting so frustrated dying and having to restart these long platforming stretches and I love platforming games. So for me to get frustrated, I was like, it's a bit grading but I, I still played through it. I still wanted to. To get through it and see all the guardians. So I don't know, like it's. It's good, I think, I think the OST and just the hand drawn animations are like the wins for me. But it had some grading elements just with like the difficulty and you know, the curve and the boss fights kind of sometimes were so odd.

[A]

Anyway, that's a good Steam deck game.

[B]

The soundtrack I loved was really surprised. I don't know when you're like in a gum gumdrop kingdom, you just don't expect the music to be good. I don't know how to just. I don't know how to say that without sounding mean, but I thought the music would be like dun dun dun dun dun dun. You know, like something really stupid and boring and simple and the music is like I don't know. It's like catchy. As hell.

[A]

Nice.

[C]

All right, Dan, you've also been playing something called Scam Line.

[A]

Yes. This is very much in the vein of I. I guess you could throw it in with the friend slop category, but it's a different style thing and say it's more kind of deception based a lot of lying to your friends stuff. So let's. It's four to eight players. We played with God, we might have had a full eight on Giant Bomb, and it was incredible. But let's say it was us four. We all are in a room. It looks like a jail cell. And there's like basically like a chalkboard and a phone on there. And it will cycle through a bunch of little games and kind of keep score throughout until the end and then tab it up. So it's like, imagine a bunch of little minigames. So the first one could be like, all right, it. Like, we would basically only hear each other through the end game thing, you know, prox chat and stuff like that. So it would disguise our voice so you can call any number. So like, you. Let's say you wake up in the room, you see you have a number one on the wall, and you can pick up the phone and be like, do you want to dial room 2, 3, 4? And it doesn't say who's in it? So I don't know who I'm calling. And it is doing a voice modifier, like a witness protection thing on it. So you're kind of trying to figure out, like, it's better to play with your friends because it's like there's certain, like, kind of vocal patterns and things like that. It's like, oh, that's Mary. That's Mary I'm talking to right now. And so like, you're going to the chalkboard and you're trying to say, like, okay, room two is Mary, room three is Mike. And you're trying to kind of disguise your own pattern of speaking and everything so that like, that's one. For instance, there's another one where it's like the. The prisoner's dilemma thing where it's like, I'm going to call Mary, and you know it's me. And it's like, hey, Mary, if we both press the green button, we will each get three points. If we both press the red button, we'll get one point each. But Mary, if you press green and I do red, you get. Or vice versa, you get five points. So it's like, okay, does it behoove us to, you know, work together and get the three points or do you want to lie to me and get the 5? There is one fucked up one that was just like. I just started with a gun and it was just like, you got a gun, do what you want with it. And I realized I could leave my cell. And so I was like, oh, God. And so everyone else is just like, picking up the phone and calling each other and they don't know what's going on. So I just walked into. No, I opened someone's door and just stared at him with a gun for a little bit. And I could hear them be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on. No, no, no, no. And I just, like, shut the door and backed away. And I just walk into Jan's room. I just see him is back to the door, he's talking on the phone. So I'm like, I don't know. I don't have a gun. I don't know. And he turns around and he goes, shit. And I just shoot. Just blast them. I don't know how the scoring works on that.

[C]

Doing like, Russian roulette, too.

[A]

Yes, there is a Russian roulette one where you're all just out in the hallway with a gun. And since there's six bullets, it's like, okay. So if I pull the trigger now, there's a, you know, 15%, 20% or whatever that it's going to be an active round. And every time you pull the trigger it's like, okay, it's now down to 50, 50. There's two bullets left. And you can, like, aim at yourself and, you know, deer hunter style.

[C]

Jesus.

[A]

Yeah, so a lot of just weird, fucked up things like that. And then there's ones where it's like, okay, whoever gets closest to the middle number wins. And whoever writes it on their chalkboard on their cell. So I can like call Mary and be like, all right, Mary, let's. It'd be funny. Let's both do 69. Okay. And then I can call Jake and be like, okay, let's do 4:20. Or, you know, Mike, let's do something crazy. Let's do like a million. I can, like, if I convinced you all to do that, and it's like, okay, everyone thinks I'm doing this. I can try to get in the middle there. So just a lot of weird, like, how can you cleverly lie to your friends and how well do you know them and can tell if they're lying to you or not? Very, very clever, because I think A lot of friend slop stuff is kind of more like, you've got a simple task, whether it's climb this mountain or go into this place and put a bunch of stuff in a wagon. And this was more just kind of classic deception lying with some fun twists on it, you know? Okay. Yeah.

[C]

I like the idea that it's like, Among Us meets. I don't know. It's like, among us but more up. And I think it sounds like a bit more. It's not the same game over and over. There's different levels, a little bit of

[A]

squid game vibes going on. Yeah. And it's just a lot of room for just being goofy and, like, you know, I was trying to be Mike Minati and calling everyone and, like, I was just, like, singing Little Mermaid songs.

[C]

And did anybody. Did anybody, like, really effectively convince someone they were someone else?

[A]

I feel like Grub was doing a good job of, like, lying and. Sorry.

[B]

Bless you.

[A]

I think Grub was kind of working everyone in a pretty clever way. Bailey Myers did a great job. I think Bailey destroyed us at the Prisoner's Dilemma game because you can see everyone's scores. So it's like you're making all these deals with everyone, and you're like, okay, wait. If everyone's actually telling me the truth and we're all hitting the green button together, we all have roughly the same score. But then when I look in, like, most of us have five and Bailey has 17. It's like, oh, she's fucking working everyone. Like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

That sounds fun.

[A]

It's very cool. Yeah.

[C]

I don't think I'm good at lying, though. I would probably suck it.

[A]

I'm not either, because it's like, you do these earnest calls where it's like, I'd be talking to Grub or something, and it's like, okay, hey, we're really gonna do this, right? We're not fucking with each other. We're both gonna press this. We're both. We're gonna tell Mike this thing. And then it's like, I can't just lie. Yeah. So it's fine.

[C]

Or maybe I'm already playing the game when I say I'm not a good liar right now. Maybe I am. Raven. Jim. Who made it?

[B]

Dan, let's vote Mike off.

[A]

Okay. I'm okay with that. Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Done.

[A]

Fire Escape Island. Have you guys seen the Kia K4 family? The design is actually really sleek.

[B]

It's sporty. Dan, I've been looking at the K4 hatchback. It's got that panoramic display on the dashboard that makes it feel like you're in a high end flight sim. And the cargo room is huge. I could fit like four cases of soda and a whole gaming setup back there.

[C]

It's not just about the screen, Mary. Both the sedan and the hatchback come with an available 1.6 liter turbo engine. It's actually got some muscle behind it. It's that rare best of both worlds situation where it looks good but doesn't drive like a golf cart. I'm not sitting in the back, Dan, but if I were, the K4 is probably the only place where I'd have enough room.

[A]

See, I'm a sedan guy. It's got that sophisticated look. Makes me look like I have my life together, even if I'm just driving to buy more batteries. Plus the legroom is actually roomy. I can stretch out while Mike is trapped in the back.

[B]

Honestly, whether you want the hatch utility or the sedan style, they're both great. If you guys want to see what we're talking about, visit kia.com to learn more.

[D]

Save on Family Essentials at Safeway and Albertsons this week at Safeway and Albertsons, Fresh cut cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple or Melon Medley Bowls 24 ounces are $5 each and Wild Caught Lobster Tails are $4.99 each. Limit eight member price. Plus selected sizes and varieties of Doritos, Lays, Cheetos, sun chips and Kettle cook chips are $1.99 each. Limit four member price. Hurry in. These deals won't last. Visit safewayoralbertsons.com for more deals and ways to save.

[C]

My shopping style is more stay at home than try in store, so my Amex Blue Cash Everyday card is my go to accessory. When I shop, it's easy to earn by getting 3% cash back on US online retail purchases. Each order brings me closer to more cash back. So go ahead, add to cart and shop the latest styles, Reinvent your look and reward yourself with amex and try on the Blue Cash every day card. Learn [e-mail] Explore BCE terms and cash Back cap apply. All right, Mary, you've also been playing Gecko Gods. Oh, that was another character I was going to mention earlier that I associate with Green is gex, but I can't imagine any streamer.

[A]

Croc and Croc.

[B]

Yeah, it could come up. People brought up GEX when I was streaming this. Gecko Gods is a game where you play a gecko that can stick to all these walls and there's no predators as far as I'm aware. Nothing like violent that can hurt you. It's environmental puzzles and you're essentially walking through the area pulling levers, pointing lights towards something or getting a ball to drop into a vessel by, you know, moving mechanisms around with your little lizard body.

[A]

This sounds like the classic video game series Zelda starring famously green protagonist Link.

[B]

I know you don't know what this is.

[C]

Red King boat in this game too,

[B]

but it is, it is. Wind has a wind waker boat. Okay, so what happens in the very first island when you solve it? It unlocks a boat and then you take the boat to other islands and solve their puzzles, which I really, really like. There's like no text in this game. It's all visual cue based. I got stuck a couple of times because I was like, I genuinely don't know what to do. And there's no hint system or like guide. There is a map and the map will give you. Hey. Your goal is to point all the lights in this direction or to open up this gate. Other than that, it's up to you. Lots of secrets. Everywhere I crawled, I would find a little hole, a little nook, and it would lead me to some secret treasure in some area that I had to discover. I've really enjoyed this game in terms of like, I've been under a lot of stress rate lately. This has been my cathartic Steam deck couch. I'm going to relax and play this game. I truly love this game and I think it's enjoyable for people who just want to relax and play a visual puzzler. I don't think it's super exciting, only it's like most outrageous, stunning visuals. You're a fucking gecko on a boat and you solve puzzles. Like, it's just. It ticks a piece of my brain that lets me like relax and enjoy myself. I really, I've really enjoyed it so far.

[C]

The art direction kind of looks like sable. You remember that a couple years ago.

[B]

I do remember that.

[C]

It's almost rasterized, sort of. It's good looking. I like it.

[A]

Well, is that. Is it. It's not made by the same people, is it? Because I'm looking at a Steam community thing that's like a split image of both of them.

[C]

Super in resin does not sound familiar. No. This looks like it's a debut from the studio at least could be this.

[A]

They have a. They have a bundle.

[B]

Similar person. Yeah. Maybe they have like a similar art director or something.

[A]

It's a bundle. It's the Ruins and Relics collection on Steam. You can get Sable and gecko gods for 15 off. Yeah.

[C]

Okay. Interesting.

[B]

Oh, I guess technically you can get hurt. I forgot about that. There's like these little. I was like looking at the trailer. There's like these little guys that can shoot stuff at you, but at no point was I like, I'm scared or like stressed out. It's like real slow puzzles of like crawling into a space and unlocking a gem and carrying that gem to a new location that unlocks something else. And you can talk to birds and they'll give you little hints and oh, you can eat the bugs. That's pretty fun. You can eat the bugs and it gives you a dash. You're fast when you want to be. It's very fun to zip, zap around as a little gecko, like on the ceiling and stuff and dash around. I, I found myself quite enjoying myself as a little sticky handed gecko crossover.

[A]

What's that?

[C]

I was gonna say they did a crossover with little Kitty Big City. You can get items in each game.

[A]

Mary, did you play much Demon Tides? I can't remember.

[B]

I. What is that? Why does that not sound familiar?

[A]

It was a 3D platformer, but like when you're talking about just kind of zipping around and everything, it's, it's. It also has some wind waker type stuff. You're swimming around, you turn into a snake and like you can turn into a lot of different like demons and snakes and stuff like that.

[B]

Earlier this year. Yeah. Yes, I, I did play this. I only played like an hour and two to three hours of this, but yes, I did play this.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Why are you just.

[A]

It just reminded me of when you were talking about like, you know, just the, the sailing around and you know, like zipping around and it's very much. Yeah, a lot of platforming amidst the oceanic vibe.

[B]

Well, this is. Yeah, Demon Tides is very platforming. I don't think there's any platforming in Gecko Gods. I think you are, you are a land creature. Okay, well, I guess you have a boat, but you never like, you're never like jumping in precarious ways in this game. This is, this is not a platformer. This is a environmental puzzle game is what I would call it. And for whatever reason and I, and I am cool with this decision, they aesthetically put them on islands and gave you a little boat to drive as a gecko. I think they just liked the visual. This is the kind of game where I wish they did have a Big publisher that sent out sick press kits because I want a little boat with a little gecko sent to my house.

[A]

Live gecko?

[B]

Yeah. That's so cruel.

[A]

It would send live animals to someone

[B]

in the d. In the tub with you.

[C]

Yeah. Oh, I forgot to tell you. I learned about this while studying for my wine production class. Apparently ladybugs are a natural predator of mealybugs. Mealybugs are known for spreading harmful viruses to vines. So people sometimes order boxes of 25 live ladybugs to introduce them to.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

A field, a vineyard, etc. As natural predators.

[A]

Yeah, that's why I was just trying to get. Yeah, I was trying to help just in case you had any around.

[C]

But for those who might not know, I wasn't working in a vineyard when I received a box of 25, I

[A]

could tell you were heading that direction, so I thought I might give you a little heads up.

[C]

I got a box that was in the weirdest, like, biohazardy looking wrapping material.

[A]

At work.

[C]

At work at Gamespot when I sat across from Mary, I was probably playing Rocket League or something. When I get this box and I open and I peek inside and I see, see the interior of the box is just short of sort of like morphing. And it dawns on me that Dan had talked about how you could send 2500 live ladybugs to someone. And I realized it was a box of live ladybugs. I could see through some breathable holes. Coworker at the time, Emily, took control of re releasing them into the wild. You're supposed to do it like little by little. So apparently they were fine. I mean, I don't know what they survived on in San Francisco.

[B]

They find things to mung on. That was probably a wild thing to open, though.

[C]

Yeah, that's very weird.

[A]

Yeah, I'm looking. They still do it. You can get 1500 live ladybugs for 39.99.

[C]

Don't do that.

[B]

That's a good price.

[A]

That's a good. That's good ladybug price.

[C]

Don't do that. They could upset the ecosystem in my neighborhood.

[A]

I'm just trying to help your vineyards.

[C]

Don't do it. No, it was, it was funny to read that in my, like, textbook. Be like, oh, that's why those exist.

[A]

Oh, sure.

[C]

For numerous. Oh, it's not just farmers, agriculturalists. Yeah, they're natural predators. But if you're like doing sustainable or organic or regenerative viticulture or whatever, and you don't want to use pesticides all right, Mary, you also played DLC for Dome Keeper, which you've talked about on several episodes, I feel like, throughout the show's lifespan.

[B]

Correct.

[C]

The Lost Keepers DLC with Co Op.

[B]

I will not belabor it, because I. You're right. I have talked about Dome Keepers. Oh, no.

[C]

I confuse it with Core Keeper. But you have. You have talked about Dome Keeper, but I feel like you got obsessed with Core Keeper for a bit.

[B]

I did get obsessed with Core Keeper. Dome Keeper is a very different game. Dome Keeper is a tower defense, but done in a unique way where you half the game. You are literally defending your dome from monsters that are attacking it. They're coming from the left, the right, and from the sky, and you'll have different types of defense based on the tower that the dome that you choose. The most iconic one is a laser. And so you're just, like, moving this laser left and right. Think of, like, the hand of a clock, and it moves kind of slowly, and you have to laser all these creatures as they come at you. But that's only half the game. The other half of the game, you leave your dome to dig a tunnel system underground to get resources to upgrade your dome, and that part is to sick. I really like Dome Keeper. I think it's super fun. Once I started, once it clicked for me, I got really addicted to it. This new DLC gives you two new characters. The Beastmaster is the one that I played the most. They look like. What's the Octo guy? Who has octo dabs?

[C]

Dr. Octopus.

[B]

Dr. Ock. Yeah, Doc Ock.

[A]

He looks like Dr. Willem Dafo.

[C]

Willem Dafoe, Yeah.

[B]

Captain Kangaroo. He.

[C]

We're gonna get emails about that.

[A]

He'll always be Doc Ock to me.

[B]

Yeah, you'll always be Doc. OC to me. He has all these metal tendrils that he can climb, but he also comes with cats. So the Beastmaster automatically comes with a cat system. When you find resources while digging, you can punch a hole in the world. The cats will come through that hole, grab your resources, and bring it back up for you. So they're essentially your traversal system so you don't have to carry all your resources back. It's really fun to play Beastmaster. I think it's a nice update to give you the new, new ways to play, but the. The main hook for this is the Co Op dlc. I think it's up to eight, which is crazy to me, playing this game with two alone. They obviously increase the difficulty because you can mine twice as Fast So they make it, they, they kind of increase the amount of monsters that attacks. You have to be fast to upgrade your, your dome so you can protect yourself. I also find it interesting. It's like only one person protects the dome. The other person does other things while you're protecting the dome. I really like the concept of eight player co op Dome Keeper. I would like to know what that's like. But I've enjoyed co op and so for me and anyone else out there who is always looking for good co op video games, I got you. It's Dome Keeper, the Lost Keepers dlc. This is like a fun game to play with your partner or with your friend online. It's local and online and it feels really easy for another person to be like, this is how you play. Just dig and I will grab all the resources and bring them up and, and we'll protect ourselves against the monsters at night. Like, how fun is that? I don't know, like for, for someone who's always looking for, for co op games, like, this is, this is what I look for.

[A]

Yeah. I feel like even just the base game is something I heard so many good things about that. I've had it like sitting on my Steam deck a million times. I've told myself, like, okay, this next flight, I'm gonna play this. And then something else comes along and I, I have not loaded it up yet. But like, I've always been curious about this and what you're saying about co op. That does sound really fun.

[B]

Yeah. The co op I think is what will hook you. I will say I will, I will preface for new people, I think that the learning curve can be a little intimidating. I died the first like six or seven times and I was like, oh, this game's so hard. But once you get it, it's actually, it's. It's like fluid. You're. It's like for people who really like efficiency.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And min maxing, min maxing and being like, I can mine this much and I can bring this many materials and then once we get to this area, I have to get back to the dome because we have to defend. Once you learn the habits of this world, you're good, you're good. But the first couple times you play, you'll. You'll probably get smooshed because you don't know the rules.

[C]

Sorry, but remind me, are the shooting mechanics or the turrets, are you manually

[B]

controlling them or those automatic you, you manually control your main weapon. You can get secondary weapons that are passive and there and oh, you guys, I love this game. There's different modes that you can play, and one of the modes is no defense mode. And so your dome doesn't have anything, doesn't have a laser. It doesn't have, like, anything, which is so wild. So you have to invest in these, like, secondary and tertiary defense mechanisms in order to live. What a fun way to play the games. They've, like. They've come up with all these different modes, but even without that, there's different types of dome. I played a dome that was. I think it was called Tesla Dome. And so you. You have this coil, and you'll just have this circle, and you have to hold it down for a really long time, and then it just electrocutes everything in that coil, which is pretty fun. But you have to be very committed to where you're putting it, because that's a lot of energy, it's a lot of juice into your one coil hit while you're getting, you know, destroyed by all these other monsters. So you have to be very smart with your investment choices, make the right decisions, the right upgrade decisions based on your current circumstance. Playing Beastmaster, for example, because it comes with cats who automatically grab your stuff, it's probably not a smart move to upgrade into carrying more stuff, because you're not carrying shit. You have your. I got my cats doing that, right? My cats carry my shit. I don't need to carry stuff. So, like, don't put your points into carrying stuff. You get it? If any. If anyone fudgeing gets it on this podcast, it's Mike. Mike's like, I know exactly what you're talking about about Min. Maxing your little defense stuff and, you know, having the right rat. This game unlocks a piece of my brain that makes me feel like, I get you, Mike.

[C]

Yeah, I was just looking at different reviews from, like, a year ago, because I think the game originally came out a year ago. Yeah, PC Gamer loved it. Reviews on Steam are super positive. I know you. You've been high on it for a while. I want to try it out for sure, because I also just like the art direction, too. It's cool.

[A]

Well, cool.

[B]

As we all know, once it has dlc, apparently it's up for Game of the Year, so watch out, Dan.

[A]

We.

[C]

We put the kibosh on that a few times. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, that's. I. Realistic.

[B]

I'm bringing it back.

[C]

We'll just. We'll just. We'll just snuff it out again.

[A]

Yeah, There are rules, you know.

[C]

Yeah, we have.

[B]

Yeah, you've never cared about rules or principles. Or principles.

[C]

Dignity, shame or none.

[A]

What that sounds like, Mary.

[C]

All right.

[B]

Thank you. You don't have any of those. And game of the year. That all goes out the window.

[A]

Well, this is going to be the nice year.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It'll be civil.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

We'll make sure.

[B]

Watch me fight for Gecko on boat

[A]

Game of the year.

[B]

All right.

[C]

You want to talk about emails?

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Chop.

[A]

Have you guys seen the Kia K4 family? The design is actually really sleek.

[B]

It's sporty. Dan I've been looking at the K4 hatchback. It's got that panoramic display on the dashboard that makes it feel like you're in a high end flight sim. And the cargo room is huge. I could fit like four cases of soda and a whole gaming setup back there.

[C]

It's not just about the screen, Mary. Both the sedan and the hatchback back come with an available 1.6 liter turbo engine. It's actually got some muscle behind it. It's that rare best of both worlds situation where it looks good but doesn't drive like a golf cart. I'm not sitting in the back, Dan, but if I were, the K4 is probably the only place where I'd have enough room.

[A]

See, I'm a sedan guy. It's got that sophisticated look. Makes me look like I have my life together, even if I'm just driving to buy more batteries. Plus, the legroom is actually roomy. I can stretch out while Mike is trapped in the back.

[B]

Honestly, whether you want the Hatch utility or the sedan style, they're both great. If you guys want to see what we're talking about, visit kia.com to learn more.

[D]

Save on family essentials at Safeway and Albertsons. This week at Safeway and Albertsons, fresh cut cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple or melon medley bowls, 24 ounces are $5 each and wild caught lobster tails are $4.99 each. Limit eight member price plus selected sizes and variety. Varieties of Doritos, Lays, Cheetos, sun chips and Kettle cooked chips are 199 each. Limit for member price. Hurry in. These deals won't last. Visit safeway or albertsons.com for more deals and ways to save.

[C]

Okay, as always, you can write into firescapecastmail.com if you want questions, read on the show. We've got several here tonight. Some from what seemed like newcomers, some from some regulars. That's fire. Escapecastmail.com Mary do you want to read this first one from Eric.

[B]

Hi. Fire escape. What is quote unquote weather? Is an earthquake weather? What about a tsunami? What about tides, eclipses, the air quality index. Can you please come up with a good definition of weather for me? Thanks, Eric from Cleveland. Dan, I. We gotta start with you.

[A]

It's stuff that happens outside that you feel.

[B]

Huh?

[A]

It can be hot, it can be cold, it can be a wave, it can be a tornado. It's something happening outside in the air and the atmosphere that can impact your physical body from.

[B]

The atmosphere is important, though. Can you.

[A]

I mean, atmosphere, just natural forces. That was just an example. Like, it could be the atmosphere of the ocean. Yeah. Natural forces that happen, like

[B]

blowing wind at you or pouring a bucket of water on you. It has to happen from, like, a natural.

[A]

That's not weather. It has come from the earth and its surroundings in space.

[B]

Yes, I think that seems pretty good, actually.

[C]

Michael, I know there's a definition that it's any deviation from the climatic average, but that technically would include like, a tsunami is a deviation from the, like, climatic average. So I guess natural disasters would be weather.

[A]

Yeah. Cold, hot.

[C]

But what if. But what if. What if a volcano is always erupting, like an active volcano? An eruption.

[A]

That's not weather.

[C]

An eruption wouldn't be a deviation. So, yeah, I would agree. It's not weather.

[A]

Yeah. So we're on the same page. Volcanoes, not weather. Volcanoes, a volcano.

[C]

Yeah, but you wouldn't.

[A]

You wouldn't look at your weather app on your phone and see a volcano icon.

[C]

Well, on Mount Aetna, you might, like in Sicily, they live right next to an active volcano.

[A]

Like, is the ash. Like, sometimes, like, you know, a volcano will erupt in. The air, is like, ashy, you know, I still don't think that. I don't think that's. I don't think that's weather.

[C]

That's more natural disaster. But again, by that definition. Oh, the sooner disasters are weather because they're deviations from what you'd expect.

[A]

Okay. A hurricane is weather.

[B]

That's weather.

[A]

A tornado is weather.

[B]

Tornadoes, weather, earthquake, weather,

[A]

earthquakes, an event.

[B]

There's a weather out, there's a earthquake outside. Don't go.

[C]

Well, tsunami is caused by an earthquake in the ocean, isn't it? Somewhere in the ocean or across an ocean. Yeah, it doesn't. Don't. Tsunamis, they're formed because. Because of an earthquake, something across or in a large body water caused a little ripple.

[B]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[C]

I'm not a meteorologist.

[A]

That is tricky. Yeah, Earthquakes, volcanoes, things like that. Like, don't that doesn't strike me as weather. They strike me as events.

[C]

Snow is weather. Rain is weather.

[A]

Yeah. Humidity, anything.

[C]

Water feels like weather.

[A]

Yeah. Not like water guns.

[C]

No.

[A]

Not like super Soakers aren't weather.

[B]

Again. It has to be Natchez.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

It can't be man made. Oh, do you guys want to hear something really cool?

[A]

Oh, here he goes talking about the military control and the weather again. We've heard this a lot.

[B]

Old conspiracy theory.

[C]

It's not the military I usually blame. No.

[A]

Oh, right. Democrat.

[C]

Okay. I. I discovered that there are you. You have the option. If you are trying to avoid a hailstorm that you know is forming, people can go outside and shoot rockets.

[A]

No.

[C]

That are seeded with silver iodide into the clouds to ensure that it will be rain instead of hail.

[A]

Well, you're really going to miss Infowars now that the Onion owns it.

[C]

I want to be that person. No, this isn't a conspiracy. This is what like people do this. Like farmers do this the world over when they don't. Well, if you can afford the rockets. If you don't want hail. I want to just be the person.

[B]

Cats with their weather rockets.

[C]

I want to be a freelance rocketeer who's just got these silver rockets in the back of his truck that drives all over like Europe.

[A]

That was Glenn Powell and twisters.

[C]

Is that what he does? He do that?

[A]

He drove around shot rockets and tornadoes. Yeah.

[C]

Oh, there's that. Dampen them. I wonder. It ensures that it's not going to be hail forming. I don't know.

[B]

It shows them who's boss, you know, like threatening the clouds.

[A]

Yeah. It shows who the alpha is. Yeah.

[C]

I just. If I'm going to show if I'm going to be interacting with clouds, you know, I'm going to let it know I'm the alpha.

[A]

Sure.

[C]

Fucking cumulo dingus more like it. I really want to just be the guy who. Who shoots rockets into cloudsby. That's dream job. Shit. Yeah. When I was young, I was like, oh, I want to be famous. Or oh, I want to be a creative director. Video game. No, I want. I want a simple life. Shooting rockets into clouds.

[A]

I want you to quit being a sommelier to become a guy who shoots rockets at clouds.

[C]

Ironically. You know how I learned about this?

[B]

It's because they for this job.

[C]

It's because like Veneer owns do it in France.

[A]

Wow. Okay. Yeah. Geez.

[C]

I just. That'd be the dream. I want to be making silver rocks like Van Helsing in my Workshop with these vampire clouds or no werewolf. I'm sorry. I'm embarrassed. All right, well, I think we got to the heart of it. Thank you, Eric.

[B]

I feel like we got to the heart of it.

[C]

Dan, you can. I guess this made more sense for Mary, but you can read this anyway then. Mary, you can. You can. You can answer it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Hello, fire escapers. Mary always has very cute outfits when she posts on Instagram. Mary, where do you get your dresses from? They're always so cute, and I need to revamp my wardrobe soon.

[C]

James, a lot of good sound bites there just now.

[A]

And here's a question for everyone. If you could steal one video game character's look, whose would it be? Mine would be Rosalina's or the majority of Lunae's outfits in Expedition 33? Thanks, gang. That is Shayna. Start with Mary.

[B]

Well, that was very sweet. Thank you so much. I would say most of my cool outfits are resale, and I have found them randomly in a resale environment. I really love reselling clothes and finding other people's clothes because it's better for the environment. And there's things in there that I would never have bought myself. And I'm like, oh, my God, I'm so glad I found this, like, crazy dress or skirt that I would never have found otherwise. Other than that, brands that I tend to gravitate to are for love and lemons. Good dresses there and reformation. I only buy them on sale. They're way too expensive. Full price. So wait for a sale, for God's sakes, before you buy those. But that's. That's where I. Those are brands that I like. And most of the time when they make stuff, I'm like, oh, I like that. But bad resales where it's at. You guys are not stylish.

[A]

No, that's not true.

[B]

You look like Steve Jobs. Mike, most of the time. And I. Okay, you are wearing black all the time. Like a black T shirt or black long sleeve shirt. And Dan, you look like a stepdad from the 80s.

[A]

Hell, yes. Oh, God, I'm so happy that I've never put words to it, but you just described it, and I'm so happy about it.

[C]

Thank you, Tim the Tool Man.

[A]

My answer is frog suit. Mario 3.

[C]

I was gonna say tingle. His. His. Unif. His. What is it?

[A]

Unicard.

[C]

Yeah, that'd be good. I also, this is not technically a game, but Dan, I remember you were ahead of me in Barry Season three. I want to say, and you texted me, you're Like Hank wears something or Hank forgot how you phrased it. You're like, hank wears something that I just immediately thought of you. There's an episode in Barry where he's talking to Crystal Ball. He absconds with to Mexico or California, and you just. The cameras train on Crystal ball across the table for, like, most of the conversation finally cuts. And they're supposed to be literally laying low, mind you. And it finally cuts to NoHo Hank. And it reminded me of this conversation because Dan, I think you described it as him. Like, he's dressed like a bloodborne character with a crazy huge sombrero and. Yeah, I would love that look. Yeah. Tingles up there. I also feel like I would like. What's his name? Who'd you just look up? Oh, Sora with those huge clown shoes.

[A]

Oh, sure, of course. I just posted the Barry outfit in our discord.

[B]

That's such a ridiculous outfit.

[C]

That's amazing. They're supposed to be, like, hiding out.

[B]

I feel like I'm inspired by women's outfits a lot in video games. There's so many good girl outfits that are so iconic in games that I think have sparked something inside of me. Do I think I dress like Lara Croft?

[A]

No.

[B]

Do I. Am I, like, inspired to look like her when I hike? Absolutely. Do I wish to be looking like that? Yes. Yes, yes. Do I have Jill Valentine's outfit?

[A]

No.

[B]

Would I like to look like that in a tube top? Yes. I am inspired by women all the time. They're so hot. It's incredible the amount of outfits from women. Claire Redfield, Ada Wong, like.

[C]

Well, yeah.

[B]

Stunning. I mean, I guess they are iconic. They before remake.

[C]

Ada Wong is God.

[A]

Seems physically impossible.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Ridiculous.

[C]

I do like the outfits in Expedition 33. You can get where they have baguettes slung over their. The backs, like their staffs. That's a really good look with like the. The mime black and white shirt and the red beret. Amanda has a jacket. She has Leon S. Kennedy's jacket from Resident Evil 4. The one he starts with the brown leather with the furry cuffs and. And. And the collar. I like that look quite a bit. Any Resident Evil outfit would be sick. I'd like that look. But I still think tingle would be nice to go into work with one day, everyone balloon and everything. I don't even take the other balloons.

[A]

You just throwing confetti at everyone.

[C]

I just float up the side of the building, the 31st floor, and enter through the window.

[A]

Yeah. I would hop like Mario and Mario 3 if I had the frog outfit.

[C]

That'd be good. Tanuki.

[B]

We just have such different standards, I think. So the. The main character in Nier Automata. The outfit is crazy. So hot. So pretty. So cool to be. Yeah, like all black with like stockings and thigh high heels and like this skirt with like a weird slit in it. Oh, that's such a cool outfit. God, women are amazing. You guys are, like, dressing up like Frogger.

[C]

Whoa. I said tingle.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah. And I said frog Mario. So much cooler. So hot.

[C]

Thank you, Shayna. All right, last question. Hey, all. While listening to last episode. This was written in after, I want to say, two episodes ago, but it'll still make sense. While listening to last episode, I noticed you were all speaking much more slowly than normal. And it wasn't until the discussions about drinking in New Orleans that I started to wonder if you all were podcasting while currently drunk. No judgment. But then I looked at my. But then I looked at my podcast app and realized I had accidentally started the episode on 0.7 times speed. Is there anything you've encountered, be it a piece of media, a city, or even a human being, that made you jump to certain conclusions only to realize it was all because of something that you did? Thanks, John from Tucson, Arizona. Tucson, Arizona? Yeah, I do that all the time. I assume every.

[B]

Someone else up every day.

[C]

Every day.

[B]

It just happened to me because you guys were talking about playing Soros and I was like, where did you get your code?

[C]

Where's my code?

[B]

Inside. Inside my head.

[A]

Why don't you scroll up a week ago.

[C]

It's almost like Mike had your back

[B]

from the beginning with these cool codes. Hoarding them, keeping them from me, probably. The patriarchy is at play. And I didn't read my email.

[A]

You were tagged on Discord.

[C]

I have one. I gotta find the name of it. What's it called? Okay, I know one. I don't know how I just remembered this, but I think I was just trying to think of, like, they mentioned a specific city or people, and I was like, is there anything I've done with food that I assumed food was really bad, but I actually just didn't prepare it correctly or eat it correctly. When I was working out of the UK office for GameSpot Back before Gamescom 2017, I went to the break room and it was my first time in the uk in London, and I had just. I had Marmite for the first time, which I loved. Spread them on toast. I also had squash for the first time. Orange squash. The first time I had it. However, I Just drank it straight. I didn't realize you need to dilute it and mix it with water to make it drinkable. So I'm in the break room and Dave Jewett and Lucy James come in. They're like, what are you doing there, pals? Like, just trying to squash stuff out. They're like, yeah, you're supposed to. You're not supposed to just drink it straight. I was basically drinking like concentrate. Concentrate of not even orange juice. I don't know how to describe it, but I was just drinking sludge, thinking that was the drink that everybody in the UK had made because I had just tried Marmite like the day before. So I was like, okay, that was weird, but I liked it. So I was trying this drink and like forcing it down. It was almost a solid in my glass. It's like, how do people do this every morning? And they're like, yeah, that's not how. That's not how you do it.

[B]

That Australia has something really similar called cordial.

[C]

And you buy, mix it and then package it for. So we can skip the step.

[B]

It's. I think it's in other countries. It makes it so logical, which is they remove the water from the product so that it's easier to ship it.

[C]

It costs less to ship too.

[B]

Yeah. 100 and you get more product. So when you're bringing home this. This happens all the time with laundry detergent. Think how many times you're like, bring home this fucking jug. You're paying for water and they're shipping water. It's a waste of. It's a waste of resources. And they've solved it in other countries and we're so stupid that not only have don't. We don't do it, but when you have the opportunity to have a concentrate, you just drink it. We are. We're so unfamiliar with the concept that we're just like. We ship our. Our products with all of our water in it.

[C]

Yeah. And I've never. I don't think I've ever made like orange juice from concentrate before. So that I didn't even have that frame of knowledge. Like, I don't. I've minute made or Tropicana or whatever.

[A]

I don't know how they become orange juice, though. Yeah.

[C]

You mix them with what you do, what you're supposed to do with orange squash and mix it with water. You're basically. It's not diluting. Yeah, I guess. Diluting.

[B]

And you're diluting it.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

Or saturating it, rather.

[B]

Yeah. You're just Mixing it with water. That's a good one.

[C]

So that was fun. I. I've.

[A]

I've.

[C]

There's also been, like. It's funny. We. We're planning a trip to it. We're going to Italy for the first time in September. We just booked. We don't know whether we're starting or ending in Venice. And I've done a lot of research and I've talked to a lot of people who go to Italy often. Talk to, like, wine reps, to friends to. I've gone on, like, Italy travel subreddit throughout the years. All my friends who went to Italy often were always, no, Venice sucks. It's touristy. I'm like, okay, then, like, maybe that won't be on our list. But the more I've read about it, the more I'm like, no, it sounds rad. And, like, a lot of people I trust are like, no, it's awesome. Just get away from the fucking touristy areas. And like, yeah, like, we talked about it with Bourbon Street. It's like there's a rite of passage for certain cities. Like, okay, go do Times Square the first day, get it out of the way, and then go down to the Village, go over to East Village, go to Brooklyn, etc. I'm just like, I wonder how many of these people are making any effort to get away from, like, San Marco or Rialto Bridge. I might be butchering those or whatever to different neighborhoods in Venice. So, like, not. We're excited for that. But I've. I feel like a lot of people will get to a city similar to San Francisco. People will be. Go for GDC and be like, san Francisco sucks. I was like, well, I don't love, love, love San Francisco, but there's a lot of character if you make any effort to get away from Moscone and Soma. So, like, at that point, it's like those people are just hating the city based on the circumstances of gdc, which sucks because it's in, like, a terrible neighborhood. Like, go to. Go. Go 15 blocks north and you'll be fine. So, like, I. I appreciate that they mentioned how you can kind of up a city yourself.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Memphis still sucks, though. I've never.

[B]

I've never been Memphis. I. I don't think it's this, like, incredible place. I'm not gonna.

[C]

I've never been.

[B]

I've been Memphis.

[A]

It was called Mary Memphis. Here she goes again.

[C]

Memphis.

[B]

Mary, I like you. Memphis, Memphis. Walking in Memphis, I always say, I

[A]

think I fucked up the egg whites situation. That probably wasn't the way to do that.

[C]

Yeah. Most likely you probably did a few things with cooking.

[B]

But the story is not just that you're. That you're, like, kind of blindly walking through life, but you're assuming that, like, other people were wrong.

[C]

Did you're hating something?

[A]

No, I knew I was wrong immediately with that. Oh, okay. So here's.

[C]

Is there a person you met that you didn't like and then you found out you were wrong about them?

[A]

Oh, that's happened for sure. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Pride and prejudice.

[C]

Yeah. Mr. Whaley. What's his name?

[B]

Dan. Read a book.

[A]

If I'm gonna read a book, it's not that sounds like it's about kissing or something.

[C]

Oh, my God. Not until the end.

[A]

Oh. You know, Death stranding in Red Dead 2. The way I just rushed through it, it. You know, and it's like, I kind of came at it with more vitriol than I think I have now, just because I think I was rushing through it, you know?

[C]

Yeah, those are good examples. I've. There's probably been, like, TV shows that I was like, oh, I wasn't really meeting it halfway.

[A]

I was the Wire and Sopranos, because those were shows I was watching with, like, my laptop open in college and stuff, like, you know, just around answering emails and stuff like that. And it's like, both of those shows super require attention. So, yeah, it feels like I'm watching Spanish for the first time, you know, The Wire is one of my favorite shows ever now. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, we don't have to harp on that. We talked about our varying approaches to, like, second and third screens while we're watching a show. But, like, I still stand by, like, hard. And, like, there are. There are shows that people are making now. Like, Creators Talk. We're like, no, we have to, like, write the dialogue with the intent of getting them to look back at the screen every, like, 10 seconds.

[A]

I'm, like, totally insane.

[C]

Jesus Christ. I cannot imagine any of those people. Like, Mary, I would love for you to watch one of my top five favorite movies, in the Mood for Love by Wong Kar Wai. But, like, it would definitely be, like, a. Turn the lights off and just have the one screen. Stuff like that.

[A]

I kind of, like. I kind of can't do the other way. Like, if I'm listening to, like, Deadlock, the podcast, I listen to, like, and I get a text, I will pause the podcast, respond to the text, you know, Like, I will pause the podcast anytime something else comes up. Just because it's like, I'm not going to be able to give either of these things my attention. So let's just pause one.

[C]

Yeah, I. I was. Yeah, I. Similarly, I was. I. I can't get. It'll like, overwhelm me if I hear two different conversations happening. Like in classes these days, if someone is talking in the back room, like while the teacher is speaking, it. It. Absolutely. It makes me crazy. And like, not just. Not just the respect thing.

[A]

And this is a tangent your brain just can't process either. It's like the ultimate for me is I'm on the phone talking to someone and someone in the room is asking me a question. Be like, oh, tell them this or whatever. It's like, oh, well, I can't. Yeah. No one's getting like, my brain can't process either. Yeah.

[C]

It's just overload. But yeah, no, I do think it's like, I've Similar to food. I feel like anytime I dislike a food, I get really annoyed and I, like, have to train myself to like it. I used to hate olives. Now I love them.

[A]

Who I still hate.

[C]

Like, I drink like dirt martinis dirty now because I like olives that much, but they're delicious. I don't know that that's super answering the question, but like, I. I literally can't. Couldn't stand the fact that there was a food that a lot of people loved that I didn't like and I felt like I was missing out.

[B]

I think the question is that you've made an assumption.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Based on the information that you had and it turns out you were looking at it wrong the entire time.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You didn't even realize that earthquakes are weather. You know, you have to like, reconfigure your entire mindset. It's a good question, though, because I'm sure it happens to us all the time in different ways.

[A]

I'm flirting with the idea of watching the Lord of the Rings movies.

[C]

Yeah. What's propelling you?

[A]

I'm older, I'm wiser, I'm more. I have different openness to cinema and. And what it's doing and seems like people like those movies, so I'm open to trying that.

[B]

They're so like the. The way that they've aged is just still incredible because most of the time when you watch a movie from like 10 years ago, you're like, that's not bad. But like, you know, didn't do all the things that you would do now, but it really holds up. Dude,

[C]

we marathon them. That's like our yearly Tradition now for around Thanksgiving, Fellowship of the Ring with like coffee, tea, whatever we're drinking, Two Towers will start breaking into some like, aperitifs. By Return of the King, by the Ride of the Rohirrim. I'm fucking like slamming an Asahi.

[B]

That's a special experience as well, is watching a trilogy while getting like a little toasted each additional film. I recently bought Star wars original trilogy on vhs. You guys know I'm like on my VHS hunting journey.

[C]

It's the Black and Gold box set.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

I love those. That's a good one.

[B]

And it has the behind the scenes commentary of like, yeah, like what they were doing. I, I think it's really fun. But I have, I haven't seen that series a very long time. I have not. I like kind of forgot a lot of what happens in it. So I was still surprised. But the idea of just getting a little bit drunker each movie is so special. And you only get to do that with a trilogy. Like such a wonderful experience to sit around with other buds and just slowly get blasted watching three movies in a row. What a great waste of a day.

[A]

Have I told you guys my Star wars trilogy? Getting a wasted story. Also dealing with weather. Does this ring a bell at all?

[B]

What? Wait, is it this podcast?

[A]

No, it's like, wow, this is very appropriate. I'll tell you. I'll keep it short. But basically I was at the bar in college, we were out on a master eating, drinking, and I got tanked. And we started talking about Star wars, the original trilogy. And at this point, it had been years since I'd watched these movies. And I was like remembering, like, we're talking about certain fights and battles and stuff. I was like, oh, right, I fucking love those movies. And I said, I'm gonna go home and I'm just gonna watch all three of those movies back to back to back. Tonight I'm just gonna keep drinking. And I remember I had, I was on a black and tan kick, Guinness and harp, you know, and so I was already tanked. Got home after like 2am and I'm starting the trilogy and I told myself, I'm gonna make black and tans. I'm making black and tans all night and I'm just gonna by myself, watch all three of these movies back to back to back. And I'm just loving it. And I'm already tanked as I'm starting a new hope. And I'm just, oh, getting the Empire.

[C]

And I'm trying to read the scroll.

[A]

Wait, wait, yeah. Morning. At this point I'm like, yeah, it. I'm still going, I'm still going, still drinking. And I get to Return of the Jedi. And it's at the, it's at the end and it's like, it's when they're doing the, the Akbar stuff and the second Death Star, it's like the big like, you know, space battle and stuff like that. And I start hearing just like the loudest noises ever. And I'm like, I have shitty fucking surround sound. There's no way. And so I paused the movie and I'm just hearing the apocalypse outside. What the is this? I live in Kansas. And I opened the door and oh my God, the amount I would pay to see footage of me at this moment.

[C]

Wait, I do know this story. I remember this.

[A]

Annihilated drunk. I opened the door. I'm literally seeing roofs and shingles get like pulled off. I'm watching power lines go down, trees are going down. It was a micro burst. I don't know if you know, it's not a tornado. It's a thing where there's like, like just a ton of like liquid or humidity and it's like a bucket gets dumped down at once. All this air, it's just like a one time boom. It's not like a tornado that lasts a while. It's just this huge like burst of air and water. And it was just up. The entire like the campus was closed for days afterwards. Like it was like it up the town. And I'm like been drinking for 12 hours at the end of Return of the Jedi. And I just like looked at it for a second and I just shut the door and I think I just went and sat in my closet and I was like, I guess I should probably do this. Like there wasn't a basement.

[C]

I would have been, I would have paid so much money to like be on the other side of the door. So you open it and try to process it.

[A]

Oh my God. It was just insanity. Yeah. I've never seen anything like it.

[C]

I don't know how you made it through two movies these days. If I almost, if I get home at like 10pm and I'm a bit drunk, I. I've got like under 20 minutes.

[B]

You're in danger. Yeah, I have. I think we probably. But I do think what you're saying is maybe a universal experience for Star wars fans. I have a vivid memory. I went over to Josh Shaw's house. This is like my early days of Gamespot. And I remember like Going over to his house, getting plastered drunk. We were watching, you know, A New Hope. It ends. It's like 2:30 in the morning. I'm starting to like think about Nuber. It's pitch black in this room. I'm. I'm like about to like get an Uber and say, well, it's time to go. And as, as I'm just gonna say something, it just goes. He just puts on the next movie and it's full volume, full. Oh my flight. We're staying. And I just fell asleep watching the second.

[C]

Wait, was I there wasn't work. Was that when like Rob, do you

[B]

remember the giant TV that he had? Like, it was like the TV was like the size of a hole wall.

[C]

He had the Millennium Falcon in there, the Lego one too, right in that room. That was when he lived.

[B]

He still has it.

[C]

He and Pete lived there together.

[B]

That's right.

[C]

Yeah. That was early when I was hanging out with you guys. I remember that too because I remember like I was also fading even though I was like 23 and then all

[B]

of a sudden should have been in bed.

[C]

I just hear all of a sudden the room, like the music wasn't even coming out of speakers, it was so loud. The room itself starts playing.

[A]

Bam.

[C]

He comes back and rob hand.

[B]

Very good experience to be too tired for a Star War or for a trilogy. And yet we go on. What a wonderful, wonderful question that led to that story.

[C]

Well, thank you, john from Tucson, Arizona. That's our show. That's episode 131. That is firescapecastmail.com if you want questions read on the show next episode potentially. We've got some in the bag in the inbox, but it never hurts to have more. We will be back in a couple of weeks. You can become a video patron if you would like Video versions of the show, that [e-mail] or deepdishpussy.com youm can also get ad free versions of the episodes. We also have a video series with nextlander that's fully done now. It's called Mike and Vinny Save the World. It's us playing a co op campaign of Total Warhammer 3. We have a Mike and Vinny Destroy the World. That is for patrons of nextlander. If you're not already a patron for them. They are awesome. Go do that and watch that show. It's about 18 episodes. We got through quite a few episodes in those campaigns. In the meantime, before next episode, Dan, what do you have going on?

[A]

Giantbomb.com doing plenty of Good stuff over there. Hoping I'm getting somewhere near the end of my blight club run so I can be be free of this for a bit. But yeah, doing all sorts of great stuff there. Check it out. Giant bomb.

[C]

Mary, what about you?

[B]

I am streaming every Monday on Twitch and I'm posting my cute little outfits on Instagram. I was recently invited to a fantasy themed birthday party and I had a lot of fun putting together like what I considered a fantasy like animalistic outfit. And you're, you're goddamn right I'm going to Ren faire this year so I put those fun options there.

[C]

Nice. Sounds fun. Yeah, we'll be back in two weeks. We also, it's getting toward the warmer weather months at least in all three of our neck necks of the woods. So you can get some, some sweet banana hammocks, you can get some thermoses, you can get some stuff for the summer.

[A]

Mary.

[C]

I'll make sure that the domain does go toFire Escape merch dot com. I believe we got one of them. It's like fire escape merch or just search go to fourth wall fire escape and you can get some, some cool stuff. T shirts, speaking of Star wars titles, title crawls, you can get some mouse pads that I don't, I don't really approve of some shirts that have the Star wars iconography on it. But yeah, we'll be back in two weeks with episode 132. Until then, have a good time. Bye.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Hey, Have you guys seen the Kia K4 family? The design is actually really sleek.

[B]

It's sporty. Dan, I've been looking at the K4 hatchback. It's got that panoramic design display on the dashboard that makes it feel like you're in a high end flight sim. And the cargo room is huge. I could fit like four cases of soda and a whole gaming setup back there.

[C]

It's not just about the screen, Mary. Both the sedan and the hatchback come with an available 1.6 liter turbo engine. It's actually got some muscle behind it. It's that rare best of both worlds situation where it looks good but doesn't drive like a golf cart. I'm not sitting in the back, Dan, but if I were, the K4 is probably the only place where I'd have enough room.

[A]

See, I'm a sedan guy. It's got that sophisticated look makes me look like I have my life together, even if I'm just driving to buy more batteries. Plus the legroom is actually roomy. I can stretch out while Mike is trapped in the back.

[B]

Honestly, whether you want the Hatch utility or the sedan style, they're both great. If you guys want to see what we're talking about, visit kia.com to learn more.

[D]

Save on family essentials at Safeway and Albertsons this week at Safeway and Albertsons, Fresh cut cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple or melon medley bowls 24 ounces are $5 each and wild caught lobster tails are $4.99 each. Limit eight member price, plus selected sizes and varieties of Doritos, Lays, Cheetos, Sun Chips and Kettle cooked chips are $1.99 each. Limit four member price. Hurry in. These deals won't last. Visit safewayoralbertsons.com for more deals and ways to save.