Fire Escape Cast #85

Summary

Fire Escape Cast #85 Summary

Release Date: July 15, 2024

Hosts: Dan Ryckert, Mary Kish, and Mike Mahardy
Podcast Description: Fire Escape Cast serves as a platform for Dan, Mary, and Mike to continue their engaging conversations about video games, keeping the discussions alive from different locations across the country.

---

1. Welcome and Personal Updates (00:10 - 02:12)

The episode kicks off with Mike Mahardy welcoming listeners back to Fire Escape Cast with Episode 85. He introduces the trio—Dan Ryckert and Mary Kish—joining for the first time in two or three episodes via Zoom. The hosts humorously remark on their organized hiatus, likening it to a corporate vacation structure.

Notable Quote:
Mike Mahardy [00:28]: "Look at us, how organized we are."

2. Dan's Surgery and Recovery (02:12 - 06:27)

Dan Ryckert shares a detailed account of his recent sinus surgery, clarifying the medical procedures he underwent, such as sinus endoscopy and nasal septoplasty. He describes the challenging recovery period, including restrictions like not blowing his nose and dealing with post-surgery discomfort. Dan also humorously mentions sneezing strategies and the mental struggle of not being able to breathe through his nose.

Notable Quotes:
Dan Ryckert [01:39]: "They knocked me out, and they put a bunch of knives and cameras up my nose into my mouth..."
Dan Ryckert [02:12]: "I got headphones on my face comfortably here."

Mike inquires about adding support, leading to Dan expressing gratitude for his father's assistance during his recovery.

3. Travel Tales: Vegas and Area 15 (06:27 - 12:42)

Dan recounts a pre-surgery trip to Las Vegas with his partner, Bonk, celebrating his 40th birthday and their wedding anniversary. They visit Area 15 and Meow Wolf's Omega Mart, an immersive art exhibit resembling a surreal supermarket with hidden portals and interactive environments.

Notable Quotes:
Dan Ryckert [07:21]: "Portal to hell. Surreal thing."
Mary Kish [07:31]: "I think, like, this is the thing if you're in Vegas, this is what I recommend."

Mary elaborates on the experience, highlighting the immersive storytelling and interactive elements of Omega Mart, while Dan praises the venue's intricate design and gimmicks.

4. Unique Dining Experiences: Moonshiner and Blackout (10:39 - 14:26)

The conversation shifts to unique dining experiences Dan and Mary had during their travels. They visit Moonshiner, a well-established speakeasy in Paris known for its creative cocktails and hidden entrance behind a pizza shop. Mary describes the bar's innovative drink presentations, including cocktails with foam and cookies, enhancing the speakeasy's immersive atmosphere.

Notable Quotes:
Mary Kish [10:39]: "It just doesn't seem like something you should be walking into."
Dan Ryckert [13:10]: "So we're doing like game of the Year in the Raptor Den there, right?"

They also discuss Blackout, a restaurant where diners eat in complete darkness, heightening their other senses and encouraging adventurous eating.

5. Additional Travels: TwitchCon and Mallorca (14:26 - 22:20)

Mary Kish shares her experiences attending TwitchCon in Rotterdam and subsequent travels to Mallorca, Spain. She highlights Mallorca's stunning beaches and a humorous encounter with a Jurassic-themed park named "Jurassic Adventure Park." The park features animatronic dinosaurs and themed attractions that blend with real cave tours, creating a mixed reality experience.

Notable Quotes:
Dan Ryckert [17:34]: "You could tell they copied Jurassic Park."
Mary Kish [21:03]: "She was guarding the cheese, and then she would bring down the cheese and slice you the cheese."

The hosts laugh about the park's over-the-top themes and exaggerated dinosaur replicas, discussing its appeal despite its bootleg nature.

6. Scheduled Travel and Upcoming Events (22:20 - 30:04)

Looking forward, Dan mentions his upcoming trip to Oklahoma for a wedding, describing the unique setting of a farm Airbnb next to a rodeo and anticipating fun stories to share in the next episode. The conversation briefly touches on their favorite travel experiences and the challenges of balancing travel with personal commitments.

Notable Quotes:
Dan Ryckert [27:01]: "It's a pizza buffet on a farm? Yeah."
Mary Kish [27:54]: "Have you played anything else?"

7. Listener Engagement: Emails and Interactions (34:10 - 86:58)

The hosts engage with listener emails, discussing topics such as favorite games, nostalgic experiences, and humorous anecdotes. They share personal stories about interacting with friends and family during gaming sessions, highlighting moments of camaraderie and playful teasing.

Notable Quotes:
Dan Ryckert [52:19]: "It is like a stomach."

Mary Kish [85:58]: "In the roguelike video game Balatro, there's a common joker that's unlocked from the beginning called Gross Michael."

8. Gaming Discussions: Hollow Knight and Diablo 4 (46:22 - 84:00)

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to in-depth discussions about video games. Dan talks about his experience with Hollow Knight, describing it as one of the best Metroidvanias, praising its complexity and rewarding gameplay. Mary Kish and Mike Mahardy chime in with their own game recommendations and experiences, fostering a rich conversation about game mechanics, storytelling, and personal preferences.

Notable Quotes:
Dan Ryckert [52:26]: "It's like Syrup of the Night. It's super Metroid. It's this top tier."
Mary Kish [61:37]: "Roguelites have changed my perception of losing everything. It's just life. You'll get another one."

Mike discusses Diablo 4, sharing his evolving appreciation for the game's loot system and character progression, while Dan expresses renewed interest based on Mike's positive feedback.

9. Memorable Moments and Humor (86:17 - 120:57)

The hosts reminisce about memorable moments from past episodes, sharing humorous interactions and playful banter. They recall specific instances from their time at Giant Bomb, including funny game-related anecdotes and inside jokes about characters like Drew and Rory.

Notable Quotes:
Mike Mahardy [114:03]: "You've gotta know. Every time I fart, I text Bianca."
Dan Ryckert [113:09]: "How dare you call him nice. No, I threatened my life every week."

The lighthearted exchanges continue with jokes about game recommendations, personal quirks, and the dynamics between the hosts, showcasing their camaraderie and shared humor.

10. Closing Remarks and Promotions (120:57 - End)

As the episode wraps up, the hosts discuss merchandise, share final thoughts, and tease upcoming content. They encourage listeners to support the podcast through Patreon and merchandise purchases, maintaining the casual and engaging tone that defines Fire Escape Cast.

Notable Quotes:
Mary Kish [121:10]: "Precious Glue Mike Mahardi."
Dan Ryckert [121:03]: "Dungeon Clawer. It's a demo. It's early access, but it's very good."

---

Conclusion:

Fire Escape Cast Episode #85 offers a blend of personal updates, travel stories, in-depth gaming discussions, and lighthearted humor. The hosts' dynamic interactions and insightful conversations provide listeners with a comprehensive and entertaining overview of their lives and passions, particularly in the realm of video gaming. Through notable quotes and structured segments, the episode captures the essence of Dan, Mary, and Mike's camaraderie and their dedication to keeping gaming conversations vibrant and ongoing.

Transcript

[Mike Mahardy]

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the fire escape past. It is episode 85. I'm Mike Mahardy, your host, as always. Guess what? All three of us.

[Dan Ryker]

Whoa.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan Ryker. Mary Kish.

[Dan Ryker]

We're here in the flesh. Well, on a zoom call, but, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

First time in two, three episodes.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. You did one with Benny and Ben, and we did one with Minati. Yes, yes. We all. All three of us had an episode off.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yep.

[Dan Ryker]

Nice and evenly distributed there. Look at us, how organized we are.

[Mary Kish]

Like a nice vacation structure at a corporate company.

[Dan Ryker]

Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

And we haven't been busy.

[Dan Ryker]

Vacation.

[Mike Mahardy]

Nothing has happened to any of us in that time.

[Dan Ryker]

No.

[Mary Kish]

Yes. Vacation.

[Dan Ryker]

What a relaxing vacation. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'll start with you, Dan. I talked about. Apparently, you informed me that I got details of your surgery wrong. Let me. Let me be clear. A, I don't care. B, I was. I was talking to Vinny and Ben, and here's what I told them. I told them you were A, doing a deviated septum surgery, which I can relate to, but that's part of it. And then, B, you were also getting, like, 16 different sinus spots.

[Dan Ryker]

Okay, you're. You're close. Ish. Because, like, it's more that it was sinus stuff. And then also while they were in there, they're like, oh, you have a minor deviated septum. We'll just kind of, you know, pick that a little bit. But that was, like, the most fun. Technically, the surgery was sinus endoscopy, bilateral maxillary antrostomy, bilateral anterior ethmoidectomy, nasal septoplasty. That's the deviated septum and bilateral submucous resection of my inferior turbinates.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, I said nasal septorhinoplasty. That's where I got it wrong.

[Dan Ryker]

There's your problem. Yes. No, sorry. My bad. No. They knocked me out, and they put a bunch of knives and cameras up my nose into my mouth, and just cut up the whole inside of my head. And, yeah, that. That was, I'd say, the worst four days of my life were the ones following that in terms of just physical discomfort, and that was really, really bad. I'm. I'm not 100% right now, but I think, obviously I'm up, moving around, talking again. I got headphones on my face comfortably here.

[Mary Kish]

Can you breathe through your nose?

[Dan Ryker]

You don't have headphones? Yes. What? I have headphones on.

[Mike Mahardy]

On your face is a weird way to phrase. They're on the sides of my face for audio listeners. They're on his ears. He's not just putting headphones over his head.

[Dan Ryker]

How about that? Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

I would have loved if the EMTs. Ents rather saw, like, a miniature version of you in a Waluigi costume conducting your brain when they went up there.

[Dan Ryker]

Just running around or just got cymbals like the Homer monkey.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, that'd be great. So, okay, what is the recovery time overall? Like, two weeks for something like that? I think he's septum's like a week or two.

[Dan Ryker]

I'm over two weeks in right now, and so that's like, okay, you should be able to go back. I just did my first 5k again today, so I wasn't able to run for a long time. So trying to get back into that. Still can't swim. Still can't. But most things I can do now. It was just the first couple of weeks. You just got to make sure you don't sneeze. Or if you sneeze, you got to sneeze out your mouth. Which that is a concept I had never considered before. I was like, how the fuck do you do that? But then I sneezed a bunch because I got a bunch of bullshit in my nose. And you just. It just comes out of your mouth, and that works. Otherwise, it's like, I don't know, your head just explodes in blood or something. But you can't blow your nose. The main thing they tell you is you can't blow your. No. Which.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, you want to.

[Dan Ryker]

Well, that's the thing is the mental aspect of this was crazy to me because I expected to be uncomfortable not being able. Like, I literally cannot breathe through my nose because, like, all that inflammation inside your sinuses, they just got cut up, so they're all puffy and inflamed. No air is coming through the nose, period. So I expected that. But you can't. Like, when you feel stuffed up up there, all you want to do is blow your nose. And, like, even though logically, you know, it's not mucus, it's not snot, that's not what is up there. It's just closed off. It's literally just laying around, like, for hours, being like, I wish I could blow my nose. I wish I could breathe out of my nose. I wish I could breathe out of my nose. I wish I could breathe out of my nose. And, like, swallowing is really weird because you breathe it through your nose when you're swallowing. Like, you're supposed to stay hydrated. So every time I took a swallow of water, all these clots would get loose and, like, Just evil black goo was just coming out of a bunch of holes and it was. Boy, it sucked so much shit. I am. We'll get to the game section later. But I did have some good options on the steam deck. Just laying in bed, playing a bunch of games on the steam deck, sleeping as much as I could. I didn't like the way the. I think it was Vicodin. That was the pain meds they gave me. Took it for the first two or three days that you're not using. I do, yes. I did not like the way it made it feel.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, this all sounds bad enough. Whose idea was it to add Paul Riker in your vicinity onto this?

[Dan Ryker]

All right, I gotta give him some credit. He is not historically maybe the most empathetic dude in the world. He very much has a love for his family and me, his kids, obviously. But, you know, sometimes his way is more giving you a shit is kind of how he talks to his kids and stuff like that. He really did help out in that bonk. Had a trip overseas. She was here for the first several days, which is the most important part. So she was here during red alert, like, hey, just make sure I'm not bleeding profusely. But then it's like I was looking at it like, oh, man, it's going to be like a week she's gone. And I get very anxious about a lot of things, obviously, but health stuff like, oh, my throat going to close up. Am I going to have a bad reaction to something? And my dad did offer to drive up and just kind of like be here for a week. And he was. And there were times that it was a huge help. There was one night where I was. What was it? I was watching wrestling downstairs here. And all of a sudden I just felt like a bubble pop in my nose and then just profuse blood, like, just pouring out of my face. And this is like a week in. And I was told, like, oh, it's kind of concerning if it's bright red blood that far out. And I've just got bright red blood just all over me. I hold my hands out, it's just blood all over my hands. I ran upstairs and, like, you know, I go right into kind of panic mode with something like that. It's 10 o'clock at night or something like that. And I'm trying to get a hold of the doctor. And my dad was very helpful at like, you know, while I was on the phone with a doctor, he was getting me Kleenexes and all this stuff. And you Know, he was. So he is Paul record. He is himself. And, you know, but he was. He was definitely a good help to have around here. And we had a good time.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then you went to Vegas.

[Dan Ryker]

That's correct.

[Mike Mahardy]

What was. What was the. For what?

[Dan Ryker]

So that was the thing we had planned prior to the surgery where it kind of aligned with like, you know, it was my 40th birthday last month and it was also like our wedding anniversary last month. So Bonk planned a trip to Vegas. And I just got back yesterday. And so that was a concern with the surgery was I asked the doctor, like, am I going to be okay to fly? And he's like, well, it's two weeks out from surgery. You should be okay. He usually recommends two weeks. So he had me come in a week later after the surgery and look at everything and he's like, yeah, everything's healing pretty good. You should be good to fly. But, man, you talk about anxiety again. And I have a lot of pressure and ear pain and stuff on flights and just normal flight anxiety anyway, so. Holy shit. Like the flight out there, just constantly just worrying about my ears popping and just like, it was very, very uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. But we were able to go and we had a lot of fun there. So she planned out a bunch of really fun stuff for us.

[Mary Kish]

So I heard you went to a place that I've been to that I adore. Area 15.

[Dan Ryker]

Area 15. Meow Wolf. It's like eight different things, but the Omega Mart, just the super weird David Lynde supermarket. Portal to hell. Surreal thing. Yeah, that was a. That's an interesting thing. It's like off the Strip. It's just this weird little complex. You know, we talked about it a bit, you know, several episodes ago, but yeah, it's just a very surreal thing. I don't want to spoil too much of it, but yeah, you go into a really weird, like, meta grocery store. It's like just a really big art exhibit. I'm sure when they're putting together the word immersive was brought up a billion times because it's a lot of just like you can grab the things on the shelf, you can buy some of the stuff. And then there's just like, oh, you walk into the freezer or you go into this back little door here and suddenly you're in a fucking tool album cover or something. It's just like weird mirrors and optical effects and just rooms filled with it very much felt like just like one of those games that has very detailed environments where you're Just looking at stuff on the shelf and you're just reading things and all this weird stuff on the walls. It's a very hard thing to explain. And also, I wonder how the hell they were able to pitch it, because it is a wild and expensive thing that I've never seen anything quite like it.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I think, like, when I did it and I talked to you about it before, Bonk messaged me and was like, I think, is this, like, the thing we should do? And I was like, this is the thing. If you're in Vegas, this is what I recommend. And unfortunately, I can't tell you why I can't describe it, because I think the joy is the discovery of what's in the freezer. Like, go and see it. And I think that is what's so interesting about it. I have one question that I don't think is too invasive, which is like, did you play the game? Like, there's, like, a metagame back there?

[Dan Ryker]

No. Is it one of the things on the screens?

[Mary Kish]

Yes.

[Dan Ryker]

Did you know I saw there were people at a lot of the screens, and I didn't know if they were just, you know, pressing things. I didn't know there was, like, an objective or anything.

[Mary Kish]

There is. There's actually, like, a game back there, and there's actors as well.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, really? I saw the guys in, like, the lab coats and stuff.

[Mary Kish]

Like, they're in on it.

[Dan Ryker]

I did not know that. Okay, that's. That'd be a really interesting thing. I would love to go in there. Like, if you just solo and just go around and really take your time and figure it out. Like, there's. There's clearly a lot going on there that you wouldn't be able to see all of it in one visit, by any means.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, I don't think you can see all of it. And I didn't actually partake in the story, but my friend did, and I watched her solve it. And you get a lot of context of why the space exists and what happens. It's obviously all made up. Like, they've constructed this really elaborate. I don't know. And unfortunately, I can't get into it. Cause I think that's part of the charm of it. But, yeah, the lore, the backstory, the actors walking around, it's all to help feel immersive that you are, like, in this experience. And so I think it's really neat. I'm really glad you experienced it, because it's, like, the main thing that I was trying to pitch you after I went. Which is Like, I think you should see it. I think you should go.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, I really do appreciate that. The thing I kept saying like during the trip was like, I love a good gimmick. And like Omega Mart definitely has a gimmick to it. And I like that a lot. And Bonk knows that I like a good gimmick. And so one of the dinners, it was a couple nights ago, she booked at a place called Blackout. Have you heard of this?

[Mary Kish]

No. Oh, wait. The one where there's no visual at all. And so it increases your other senses.

[Dan Ryker]

But literally it's pitch black, 100% pitch black, where you get the entire meal. It's like a seven course meal. And I expect it to be like, oh, it's dark. Or like, oh, it's a thing where halfway through the meal, oh, there was a hurricane or whatever. And now the lights are off. It's like, no dudes in fucking night vision goggles come and get you and bring you into like a red room to start your eyes adjusting. And then they bring you into a fucking room. You're grabbing like each other's shoulders and stuff and walking in. And they have to like step by step explain to you where your actual glass is, which I don't know how they're not constantly breaking stuff. But like, okay, your knife is over here. You're okay, Just slide your left hand forward, forward, forward. There's your glass and they're just bringing out like seven courses. The lights are never on. You're there for like, we were there for over an hour. And it's so weird. Like I knew I was going to try things that I normally wouldn't. Because if you told me what something was or if I saw it and it wasn't something I normally have, I'd probably be like, eh, I don't know. But I'm literally just so for the second course they were just like, okay, you're gonna reach in front of you and there's gonna be a crispy square and on top of it it's going to be a spongy circle. And I'm like, uh, okay, I don't know what the hell that is. And I put it in my mouth and I'm like, okay, that's definitely like a cracker. It's on. It's like an appetizer thing. There's. I think there's like rice happening here. But there's a flavor. I don't know what this is. There's like a weird flavor. I didn't dislike it by any means. But it was like some sort of like mayo based thing or something that like, if I saw that on a menu, I never would have ordered it. If I looked like, I never would have eaten it. But when I'm literally just grabbing shapes and eating them, you know, I'm much more prone to be open minded. And yeah, there was like, you know, mushroom gravy and stuff. There were things that I probably would not have tried. And I was like, oh, shit. Okay, that was really good.

[Mary Kish]

So really how you find out that you like all sorts of condiments?

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. In an elaborate gimmick restaurant to get me to try a basic food? Yeah. But yeah, it was cool. Like we. The whole time, it's just like, what does this place look like? Like we're sitting at a table, we hear people walking around and stuff with night vision goggles. Like, I have no idea what this space I'm in looks like. You know, I don't know what my plate looks like, what this food looks like. It's really, really odd feeling. But it was a good gimmick for sure.

[Mary Kish]

I'd like to do that. I've heard of this as well. And I like the idea of having this fully immersive experience where all you do is taste. You probably don't see anything. I suppose you. Do you touch it or. Yeah, but you're touching the food. Let me ask you this. Like, when they serve you a plate, do they put the fork in your hand or is it like always in your hand?

[Dan Ryker]

I fucked up with the first one. So the very first course, we're like, okay, we're gonna give you a bowl and it is gonna be. It's gonna be wet inside. So there is a spoon. If you want to use the spoon to the right and put it in the bowl. And I was like, I don't know. I was picturing like a buffalo wing. I don't know. And so I just put my hand in the bowl. Turned out later, they tell you afterwards what it is. You can look at the menu. It's fuck carrot soup. I just want plop with my hand. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Sir, please don't grab the soup.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, Tried to get a fistful of soup. I just use a spoon. Once I realized it was a liquid, I switched to spoon.

[Mary Kish]

How do you know where the spoon.

[Mike Mahardy]

They have to direct you to the napkin.

[Dan Ryker]

They tell you. No, they. They give you the napkin at the beginning. And then they say like, okay, your, your fork and your knife are over here, Your spoon is over here. And then they, they guide you Kind of step by step to the glass. And then they tell you, like, okay, now scoot it forward, scoot it forward. And they make it so you. You clink glasses with the person you're eating with.

[Mike Mahardy]

So that'd be funny if you were using what you thought was a napkin the whole night, and then afterward they finally told you, like, that was your wife's hair.

[Dan Ryker]

That'd be really weird if I couldn't tell if my napkin wasn't her hair.

[Mike Mahardy]

Bianca was just fine with it because.

[Dan Ryker]

Her hair just comes in one cloth sheet. Yeah. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

She has to wash her hair every night and. Well, I mean, I guess a lot of people wash their hair often, but, like, put it in a washing machine and close the door. Just her hair?

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

And then play on the switch.

[Dan Ryker]

It's on a closed clothesline out back.

[Mike Mahardy]

This bit rules. Mary, where have you been? Was it. Is it. Was it less gross than most of Dan's vacation?

[Mary Kish]

Generally speaking, vacation?

[Mike Mahardy]

No.

[Mary Kish]

I went to Netherlands for TwitchCon, which was in Rotterdam. But I went to Paris before, and I got to give a shout out to Mike, who gave me a really cool recommendation. I was in Paris just for two days, just to. Essentially, it helps. I have really bad jet lag. And so, like, the idea of going two extra days lets me acclimate a little bit more before working a convention. But also, who doesn't want to just hop, skip and jump to Paris real quick for two days? So I went with a girlfriend. And while I was there posting cute little pics, Mike was like, are you in fucking Paris? And I was like, I am in fucking Paris. And he was like, you gotta go to this bar. And gave me a recommendation. And it was a really cool place. It was a speakeasy, because I guess I wasn't really paying attention when he sent it to me, I googled it and we arrived and there's nothing there. Like, it doesn't exist. Well, yeah, And I think it's a pizza shop.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's called.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, yeah, but this is a bar. So we walk past it and we're like, oh, this is a pizza shop. Keep going. There's nothing at the end of the street. We turn around, we keep going. There's nothing on the end of the street. And then two guys were like, you're looking for the speakeasy, aren't you? And I was like, yes. And they were like, go into the pizza shop and just go through, like, the working door verbatim.

[Mike Mahardy]

What I told her to do, for.

[Mary Kish]

The record, I wasn't Paying attention. And then I walked through and we just, like, ignored. There was a dude, like, making pizza. And I just opened the door and there was a little hidden speakeasy back there. A really nice bar, well decorated, amazing drinks. The bartender was super knowledgeable. The drinks were weird. They all had, like, foam or one of them was served with a sweet cookie. They all had, like a. It was kind of gimmicky, but very well done. I loved it and so did my friend Alyssa, who went with me.

[Dan Ryker]

Do you also like a good gimmick?

[Mary Kish]

I love a good gimmick. I like it.

[Mike Mahardy]

So. So this place is called Moonshiner. If you're in Paris, it's in the 11th. Because, Mary, you told me where you were staying. I was like, oh, you're one neighborhood away. You go to devito Pizza. And then when you walk in, there's just a padded leather. It looks like a walk in freezer door. And you just open it and you're there.

[Mary Kish]

It just doesn't seem like something you should be walking into. Like, it felt wrong, but that was literally what to do. It was a great little hidden thingy. I had a good time, but.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, that'd be a really good prank to do everything to just tell someone exactly that. And then make.

[Mary Kish]

Walk, go into the olive garden on 8th and then go into freezer. It says employees only.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Walk to the back and give the finger to the cook. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

He'll know what you mean.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Then he'll let you in.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Then they'll call the police. Yeah. And that's when you got to, like, take the tomato sauce and rub it all over your body and then shout.

[Mike Mahardy]

Lizard king and then dive into the toilet. But Moonshiners drinks are actually. I thought were really good. They. I think speakeasies can be overly gimmicky these days. But I like Moonshiner. It's been there a bit. I'm glad you went. Glad you had fun. But then you went to Rotterdam.

[Mary Kish]

Went to Rotterdam for TwitchCon. Had a good TwitchCon. Nothing amazing. It was just a really good con. Two days of essentially, like, streaming and hanging out with people. And then as soon as that finished, I went to Mallorca, which is an island.

[Mike Mahardy]

Turkey.

[Mary Kish]

Spain. So Spanish island. It was really, really pretty. I was so tired. Usually we all understand this. It's like. It's like having a vacation after E3. You're just so damn tired.

[Dan Ryker]

You're ready to be home. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

The first day or two is kind of a wash. All I really wanted to do was Sit at the pool and like, be fed crackers or whatever it is I could consume at the time. But Mallorca is known for having really beautiful beaches. I was pushed into a car several times where we got to see these stunning beaches. But my. One of my favorite memories is we were with a group of five and the ringleader, the person who did most of the organizing of the event was like, do you want to do a boat tour or a cave tour? And we all were like, let's do the cave tour. That sounds interesting. You know, you know, you pick one and she's really excited about it. She's kind of been hyping it up and she's like, it's a really cool cave tour. These caves have been around for a really long time. I got these reservations long in advance, and I'm so glad I did because it seems like they really book up and this seems like a really amazing experience. We're all really stoked and we're on the highway and everyone kind of like sees this crazy thing in the distance. It looks like a giant lizard butt. And we're just like, what the fuck is that? And as we get closer and closer, it's a giant dinosaur. A long neck brontosaurus. Not real, giant, fake brontosaurus.

[Dan Ryker]

Fake.

[Mary Kish]

Like huge. Huge. Like, probably, like, would have had to.

[Mike Mahardy]

Make a bonus episode if that was a real.

[Mary Kish]

Turns out dinosaurs are still here.

[Dan Ryker]

Whoa.

[Mary Kish]

So we're all like kind of laughing about it. You don't usually see a giant dinosaur off the highway. And then our turn is coming up and we're recognizing that the turn is really close to the brontosaurus. And we're like, what's going on here? And as we turn in, it says, welcome to the Jurassic park experience.

[Dan Ryker]

Whoa, wait, is it licensed? No, it's a fucking bootleg Jurassic park.

[Mike Mahardy]

Experience in Mallorca in Spain.

[Mary Kish]

In Mallorca, there is like a weird.

[Mike Mahardy]

Off brand, Get Hanson there, dinosaur.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, Aminati.

[Mary Kish]

I immediately put on the theme song for Jurassic park as we go into this parking lot and recognize that this is a dual experience. One half is like a dinosaur themed park for kids, I think, and the other half is a cave tour. And it's a real. It's a real cave. Like, it's a real cave with real stalactites and stalagmites, but it's. It's in the same park as this fucking Jurassic park tour.

[Dan Ryker]

Are there dinosaurs in the cave?

[Mary Kish]

They did not put fake dinosaurs in the cave.

[Dan Ryker]

They should just merge at that point.

[Mary Kish]

Seriously, at that Point. I was so sold because we were, we were dying at the idea that this is hap. This had happened, right? Like, how did we get here? Why? We thought we were like going on this like really nice, incredible cave tour and they're selling Bronto Burgers and all these like. It's essentially like a fried chicken sandwich, but they're like, it's a copy, you know, like they're, they're doing like all this language of Jurassic park themed items to eat. Raptor burgers. Yeah, it was fucking hilarious. Anyway, the cave tour was actually more normal. And there weren't any dinosaurs at all in there.

[Dan Ryker]

They didn't put you in one of those rolly balls from Jurassic World.

[Mary Kish]

I wish once you, once you go down that path. They even had the doors. You know what I'm talking about?

[Dan Ryker]

The doors. Did it say Jurassic Park?

[Mary Kish]

I want to say it was called Jurassic Experience. Like they alternated very slightly.

[Dan Ryker]

I'm guessing the font was the same though.

[Mary Kish]

It was literally the same.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dinosaur land. It looks like Jurassic Adventure Park.

[Mary Kish]

Cave in Jurassic Adventure Park.

[Dan Ryker]

Jurassic Mallorca.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, wait, it's part of Royal Caribbean Cruises or is this just a stop or they stop?

[Mary Kish]

I mean, I don't know. I wasn't on a cruise. But I mean obviously attraction for global audiences.

[Mike Mahardy]

But the actual theme park that's showing up on map is just called Dinosaur Land. Did. Did Royal Caribbean co opt it as a knockoff Jurassic Park?

[Dan Ryker]

I'm just looking up Jurassic Spain island and I'm not getting anywhere.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's just a dinosaur. A dinosaur. Like dancing.

[Dan Ryker]

Jurassic Adventure Park Cave and beach.

[Mary Kish]

That's the one.

[Dan Ryker]

That's it. Okay. That's on the Royal Caribbean cruise website for some reason.

[Mary Kish]

And I think what's also really interesting about this is that there was nothing about Jurassic Dinosaur anything on the cave tour that we booked. The cave tour was come see an ancient cave that was discovered hundreds of years ago and learn a bit about the history of Mallorca. Which we were all like, that sounds great. But it was in the fucking Jurassic Park.

[Dan Ryker]

These are just full on animatronic big ass dinosaurs. There's a Dilophosaurus that is just straight up the one from Jurassic Park.

[Mary Kish]

I think they just, wow, copied Jurassic Park. And then they were like, well, actually I think the caves came first. I think somebody was like, oh my God, there's some fucking caves down here. And they started with that and then they were like, our cave numbers are dwindling. And someone was like, I've got it. We're going to make Jurassic park around it.

[Dan Ryker]

They have Jeeps with the fucking Jurassic logo on the side, just like in the movie.

[Mary Kish]

It is 100% ripped.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wow.

[Dan Ryker]

I respect it.

[Mary Kish]

The. The Bronto burgers, the Raptor burgers, and like, the compy chicken sandwich was real. It was like the icing on top of it. It was just so funny to like, have like a dinosaur themed sandwich.

[Dan Ryker]

Do you go to the Raptor Cafe? They have dinosaur coffee. Oh, here's. I got the menu for the dino burger. Oh, okay. So we got chicken rocks with barbecue. I told you I'm looking. Okay, so I got everything here. We had the dino bravas fries. What is that? Potatoes, mayonnaise and brava sauce. What the fuck? Brontosaurus fries.

[Mary Kish]

Brontosaurus fries, yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Jurassic salad. I don't know what's Jurassic about that.

[Mike Mahardy]

The burgers, it's just leaves.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, it's just breaded chicken and lettuce.

[Mary Kish]

It's grass.

[Dan Ryker]

It has alfalfa. You know, the most dinosaur of whatever that is. You got a raptor burger, a Titano burger, a T. Rex burger, a Gallimimus burger, Triceratops burger, Compy.

[Mary Kish]

The little guys.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, the gallimimuses are copies. Okay, got it. And there's raptor sauce. Oh, what is that, baby? The barbecue. Chili mayo, Sriracha mayo and raptor. Oh, Raptor sauce equals mustard and honey.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, that sounds good. Actually.

[Mary Kish]

Everyone knows that.

[Dan Ryker]

What? I know it now. Damn, this place looks awesome.

[Mary Kish]

I know. It was. It was just a really. I have a video of it. There's a really funny. I should post it. There's a really funny video of all of us slowly coming to the realization that we are turning into Jurassic Theme park instead of this cave tour that we thought. And as I play the Jurassic theme Park music, we go from, like, weary and a little. Like we felt like we had been like, tricked or something like that. And everyone was like, oh, what's going on? To. Let's fucking get a Bronto burger and.

[Mike Mahardy]

Rocks and barbecue sauce.

[Mary Kish]

We basically, like, converted from like. I'm not sure if this experience is gonna work to. Let's. Let's enjoy this. Like.

[Dan Ryker]

So we're doing like game of the Year in the Raptor Den there, right?

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. I think we should all go to Mallorca and in the Raptor Den talking.

[Dan Ryker]

About Infinite wealth next to a bunch of raptors.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah. So I think that would actually make.

[Mike Mahardy]

More sense than most of our.

[Dan Ryker]

I'll get killed.

[Mike Mahardy]

That's. That's the. That's our Dondoku Dundoko Yes.

[Dan Ryker]

That's awesome. That's great. That's another good gimmick. Sounds like.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, a lot of gimmicks. We're all back now.

[Dan Ryker]

Y'all have some great travel stories. You guys had Spain and France and everything. And tomorrow I'm going to Oklahoma. So next episode, I'll have some great, wonderful, exotic travel stories for you from Oklahoma. I'm staying at a farm. Airbnb.

[Mike Mahardy]

Any wine tastings?

[Dan Ryker]

No, I don't think wine will be allowed at this wedding.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, really?

[Dan Ryker]

No. The groom only eats chicken tenders and my dad will be present. So, yeah, I don't think it's gonna be a very wine type of wedding.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, but there'll be alcohol.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, there will be alcohol. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Bud lights, Bud heavies. That's it.

[Mary Kish]

Wine.

[Dan Ryker]

There might be wine. I don't know. There might be some non Paul Riker types there. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Fermented beer with grapes.

[Dan Ryker]

It's a pizza buffet for the food, which I'm excited about.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is it really?

[Dan Ryker]

Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

On a farm.

[Dan Ryker]

Pizza buffet on a farm? Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

In Oklahoma.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Next to a rodeo.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, this keeps getting better.

[Dan Ryker]

Sounds like a very Oklahoma.

[Mike Mahardy]

I would go to that. Can I come? Do you have a plus one?

[Dan Ryker]

Come on by. My dad will love it.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm sure he would.

[Dan Ryker]

Anything you post from France and send it to my dad and he hates it.

[Mike Mahardy]

I know. I'm sure. I'm just, like, specifically trying to annoy him with my posts.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, good, good.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I already told people about my trip last episode. I'm trying to think if there's anything like Dan and Mary that I need to convey about the clip.

[Dan Ryker]

God damn it. Vinny's so funny. The clip I saw where you asked about the cheese cart stuff, like, how many times have you had that? How many times do you think, Mike? And just seeing Hanson's face just like, what the fuck are you talking about?

[Mike Mahardy]

Did you watch the rest of the clip? I also said that was my first cheese card ever. That's why I asked.

[Dan Ryker]

Okay. Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, no, it was my first cheese.

[Mary Kish]

Cart wheel up, drive by at the partner lounge. We had a cheese girl.

[Dan Ryker]

A cheese girl.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's not 2005 anymore, Mary. We can't really do cheese girls.

[Dan Ryker]

She was made of cheese.

[Mary Kish]

She was made of cheese. She was serving cheese and whatever. Whatever you wanted, she procured the cheese.

[Dan Ryker]

Was it like the old E3 Nintendo DS girls, where the cheese was like, handcuffed to her and you had to weirdly eat it in front of her?

[Mary Kish]

I don't think that we were torturing this girl. I think that she was a cheese enthusiast that had several types of cheeses, and her knowledge of cheese was really good. So she told me about cheese. She was cheese mongrel.

[Mike Mahardy]

Monger.

[Mary Kish]

Mongrel.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Mongrel cheese mangrill. We can do that girl.

[Mike Mahardy]

Crashes through the wall at your Oklahoma wedding rodeo pizza buffet.

[Dan Ryker]

So was it like a whole, like, assortment of, like, a bunch of different plates of cheeses and stuff that the girl had?

[Mary Kish]

She had cheeses behind her, and then when you were like, I want a blue cheese.

[Dan Ryker]

She like a bouncer for the cheese. When you say behind her, I just picture her, like, guarding it.

[Mary Kish]

She was guarding the cheese, and then she would bring down the cheese and slice you the cheese.

[Dan Ryker]

Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

What? She's carrying the cheese with.

[Mary Kish]

Sticks? I don't know. I don't know if I can.

[Mike Mahardy]

Just loose cheese juggling.

[Mary Kish]

Don't make me lie. I don't remember all the facets of the cheese girl. It was like a board of cheese, and then she would pick out the cheese and slice it and give it to you.

[Mike Mahardy]

As she's cutting the cheese, she's like, do you have a moment to talk about Jesus while I serve you?

[Mary Kish]

She was not a religious cheese hmong girl.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cheese man girl. Talk about Jesus man girl.

[Dan Ryker]

My favorite comic superhero.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cheese man girl here to talk to you about the savior.

[Mary Kish]

She's. Her superpower is Jesus Christ. She's actually not special at all. It was in the partner lounge. I just thought it was interesting because it was like this, like, kind of exclusive thing that only partners could get.

[Dan Ryker]

I would just stay in the lounge eating cheese.

[Mary Kish]

You could go upstairs stairs and get some cheese from the cheese mongrel.

[Dan Ryker]

Wow. Yeah. You guys have good snacks. I went to your was it game awards where you guys had that twitch party, and you had some real good sliders and stuff going on there.

[Mary Kish]

Every once in a while, I feel like we pull out the stops and it's cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

I would like to try that is your. That sounds good. Depends on her cheese. I would judge her based on the selection.

[Mary Kish]

Well, I don't know if they, like, were her cheeses. I feel like she had rented the cheeses from the cheese.

[Dan Ryker]

You gonna rent. Well, it's return it. It's like a block when you're done.

[Mary Kish]

I've exhausted all my knowledge about the cheese girl.

[Mike Mahardy]

Air brienne brie.

[Dan Ryker]

Wow, Mike, your face.

[Mary Kish]

When you said so proud of himself.

[Mike Mahardy]

I was very fucking excited about it.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, boy. Well, that went to the sphere, I think it was cool. What was a big expensive orb?

[Mike Mahardy]

What was the outside look like when you got there? What was it?

[Dan Ryker]

It looks different when you're up close, especially during the day, because we went around like noon and like you can see kind of the mesh aspect of it. Like you can tell like from anywhere kind of far away. Especially at night. It just looks like it's this unbroken screen. But when you get closer to it, like there is a mesh element to it, which it was a fucking nightmare. This was yesterday or two days ago. We went there and it was like noon. It was 118degR and not heat index. 118 straight up degrees and like noonish sun straight down on you. And it said that the thing started at like 11:30 or something like that. So we show up and there's a huge line and it's. The fucking thing costs $2 billion or whatever for the sphere. They couldn't have a tarp in Las Vegas to protect the people in line from the sun. You have to wait outside. They had Bianca throw away her water. Why? It is like.

[Mary Kish]

Was it open?

[Dan Ryker]

I think it's just like. Yeah, you can't bring it in. Like you couldn't bring it into a theater or something like that.

[Mary Kish]

They're always weird about open water because they're afraid. It's like acid.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah. Sometimes they weren't performers. It was a screen, you know, so. Oh God. It was. We heard on the walkie talkie someone like passed out. There were like elderly people there and stuff. It was just like a nightmare getting in. But once you're in like every aspect of even just like kind of the design of the place. And it's like. Because I've been in a million arenas for like wrestling stuff and everything. It was just like this. Everything was so much more considered than like a standard arena. Every arena, it looks like concrete pillars, concrete floors, you know, the same concession stands and everything here, the floor has this weird reflective quality to it. So it almost looks like you're looking at, you know, ocarina of time when you go to fight dark link. And it's like that water kind of. And everything's kind of reflective. It looked like that in there, but like dark and like kind of purpley and stuff. And then I didn't realize that it did like wind and vibration and smells and all that that could sync up with the presentation. We saw the Aronofsky movie thing, but the Grateful Dead was playing like at night. And so God knows what smells or Whatever they're shooting through there. But it is. It's the craziest shit I've ever seen as far as, like a screen and technology. It's 16K screens that are just completely surrounding you. Craziest speakers you've ever. I heard that, like, they're doing UFC there and they can do things where it's like they could directionally have like, the English announcers going towards one section of the audience and the Spanish going to the others. With no headphones or anything. It's just directional audio. Like, it's wild shit there. But very, very impressive. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Can I ask you, like, as someone who likes concerts but really is not cool with flashy strobey light, things sure was their refuge. If the Dome were to be flashy, like, what would you do?

[Dan Ryker]

It's hard to say because, like, yeah, the thing I saw was just like a 40 minute movie. It was basically a nature movie. And so it wasn't a lot of that. And like, I've seen footage of like the U2 concerts and some of the Grateful Dead stuff. It kind of looks like it's just a bunch of stuff on the screens. But, like, I'm sure they're. I'm sure they're doing lights and stuff because they set up a stage down there.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't know if it'd be much more than a normal concert because otherwise it's just like. It's like a big ass. Imagine like the biggest IMAX screen you've ever seen. You know, it's not like that is flashing in your face like crazy. It's a lot, though. I mean, like, my ears were still pretty sensitive. You know, sound is just vibrations and so there were parts where things were just like booming sound and I was like, oh, fucking. Like, you can't really escape that. So. But that's a specific case. But it very, very impressive. I'm not a big concert guy in general, so, like, I don't really know who I would see or went to see there, but, like, I was talking to Bianca about, like, you know, she likes Tool a lot and Tool does a ton of, like, visual stuff and everything.

[Mary Kish]

Like, I'm sure I would love to see Tool in a. She said she would like, in the sphere. I think that would be Metallica.

[Dan Ryker]

In the sphere, I would do Metallica.

[Mary Kish]

Unbelievable. They would do such a good job.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, there's something I would see there. But it's just a marvel of technology, like, no doubt about it.

[Mary Kish]

So Pantera in the sphere. Oh, my God. Any metal show in the sphere sounds good.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

People are always like, you gotta see you two in the sphere. And it's like, fucking.

[Dan Ryker]

Why?

[Mary Kish]

So I can, like, hear Bono, like, cry from above. I don't really want that experience.

[Dan Ryker]

And I wish, like, Prince and David Bowie were alive for a bunch of reasons. One of them is, I bet they would put on a good sphere show.

[Mary Kish]

I agree. That would be a good sphere show.

[Dan Ryker]

The Beatles, I saw their Cirque du Soleil show while we were there. That was my first Cirque du Soleil show. And that was incredibly impressive. I know. We just did, like, the Beatles.

[Mary Kish]

The Beatles Cirque du Soleil show. It's amazing.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, I know. Paul McCartney flips the whole time. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Ringo just diving off a lot.

[Mary Kish]

He doesn't do anything. Ringo literally doesn't do any tricks.

[Dan Ryker]

No, Ringo's. No, no, Ringo. When they bring in the ramps for the inline skaters, that's all Ringo.

[Mike Mahardy]

He is the ramp.

[Dan Ryker]

He's got a fetish. Just let the man be. Oh, I'm a ramp. That's what he says.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, you got your roller blades on me fingers.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, no, not my feet.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, no, my belly button.

[Mary Kish]

Stop tickling it.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, no, not my balls with your skates.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, the balls. Whose skates?

[Dan Ryker]

I'm just a little rat boy.

[Mary Kish]

You forgot your brakes.

[Mike Mahardy]

How are you gonna stop? Oh, something stopped you. It wasn't me. Or was it?

[Dan Ryker]

This is a stupid band.

[Mary Kish]

You guys are so dumb. Those are really bad impressions. But I do like the idea of Ringo. Like, Ringo's kink is like being rolled over.

[Dan Ryker]

Being a ramp at a Cirque du Soleil show while people watch.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, it's a good show, especially for people who like Beatles music, because you get to hear a lot of the good claps and. And they're flipping and throwing each other up in the air. I think it's. It's entertaining. I think I saw it when I was my. For my 21st birthday present, my dad took a trip with me to Vegas, and I saw the Beatles show when I was 21 and I loved it.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, it's been going. It's about to close, like, very, very soon, and so. But it's been going since, like, the late 90s, basically, so apparently.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, yeah, I went and saw it, like, over a decade ago. It's crazy.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah, They've got a bunch of different ones. They got a Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show. They got, like, a water one that we want to check out. But, yeah, we went to dad saw.

[Mary Kish]

The water one, he did not care for it.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, really? Oh, my Uber driver loved it.

[Mary Kish]

Picky about stuff like that. Okay. Where there's like a giant board and the entire board does like 360 degrees. They climb up the board. I've seen that turning.

[Mike Mahardy]

That was the one time I've seen Cirque du Soleil. They were at a theme park nearby.

[Dan Ryker]

Huh.

[Mary Kish]

The problem with, like, water based sports is like, you can't really see what's in there. I, I also. This is so odd that this is happening. But I also realized. So when we went to Paris for the two days I went to the Moulin Rouge show, you know, it just seems like you're there. It's a bit gimmicky, but why not? And yes, there's like nudie booby girls everywhere, which is very entertaining and I loved it. But then Cheese girls, out of nowhere, they raised a giant water tank from the fucking ground up. And they had this whole gimmick of like this girl running on different sides of the stage and getting blocked by guards. And we were all like, she's gonna jump in the water. We all know she's gonna fucking jump in the water. And she eventually jumps into the water. Everyone in the audience is freaking out because it's really neat. She goes to the bottom of the tank, she pushes up. She does have nudie boobies. So that, like, that was cool and that was going on. But then she, like, just kind of did the same move where she, like floated from one side of the tank to the other side of the tank. Besides the fact that it was like a lovely water rack, I didn't see any really interesting things under the water that, you know, you can't see your average person, you know, circling and flipping and pushing off of the bottom. She just did everything. Everybody.

[Dan Ryker]

You can float in water you can't float in. Not water.

[Mary Kish]

No. I mean, I mean, like, it was just something anybody could do in water. Like, she was just bouncing around under there. She wasn't doing anything really difficult, I guess.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Water makes it kind of. Water's kind of an equalizer. Like, I can do a flip in the water.

[Mary Kish]

Anyone can. Anyone can do a flip in the water, right? Like, you see, really, I would say not athletic people in the water. They're just like, incredible. They're flipping around, they're spinning. We're all, we're all, we all float down here in the water. It's just a move. You're just turning. Anyway, I didn't think it Was great to me. That was like the clincher where I was like that o show underwater. That can't be good because this lady had boobs out and I wasn't impressed.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, I don't think they do boobs out in Cirque du Soleil.

[Mary Kish]

I don't think so. I don't think that's their thing.

[Dan Ryker]

I went to a comedy pet show. I saw a dog ride a horse.

[Mary Kish]

Now that I gots to see.

[Mike Mahardy]

We had very similar vacations Watching a.

[Mary Kish]

Bunch of naked girls underwater and you watched a dog ride a horse?

[Dan Ryker]

I went to a mentalist show. What's that?

[Mike Mahardy]

I need someone to cross stitch the footage of me talking about my vacation in France last week and you talking about your Vegas trip.

[Dan Ryker]

A dog ride a horse. Saw Rico star getting his nuts rolled over.

[Mike Mahardy]

I had some really good cat fogs.

[Mary Kish]

I went to J. I ate.

[Dan Ryker]

I ate in the dark.

[Mike Mahardy]

I made a taste. Going to the market in the morning for some local produce.

[Mary Kish]

I saw 16 boobies. Perfectly, very in.

[Mike Mahardy]

In sync, unison synchronized movies, clockwise, counterclockwise.

[Dan Ryker]

And just wait till Oklahoma. That's going to be the real wild shit. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

We're having very different summers.

[Dan Ryker]

It's been a weird summer. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

I've enjoyed mine.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. I have two for the most part. Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Minus the surgery.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Yeah. But I feel like I'm getting past that, so I have a couple overseas trips coming up too. Coming up soon, so. Yeah. Through my mouth.

[Mary Kish]

Okay, so you can't sneeze right now.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hold on a second. Okay. I've sneezed through my mouth my whole life.

[Mary Kish]

What?

[Mike Mahardy]

Like. Like, I don't. I don't involve. Like, I don't go through my nose and I sneeze.

[Dan Ryker]

Where do you feel the air come out my mouth. Oh, then you're. That's. That's weird. That's not how you do it.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't think that's. I think that's kind of normal.

[Dan Ryker]

It feels better having sneezed out of my mouth for the last two weeks. It feels better coming out of your nose.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Next time you have to sneeze, just cover your mouth.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, I'll try.

[Mary Kish]

What if he dies?

[Dan Ryker]

That'd be fucked up. Can we be arrested?

[Mary Kish]

I don't know.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's not the first time someone's threatened.

[Mary Kish]

I want to go to jail.

[Dan Ryker]

I do feel like even when you sneeze through your nose, your mouth is involved. Like, I'm picturing sneezing while holding my mouth shut now, and I think my head might explode. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

My whole life I've seen most of the forces come out of my mouth. Like my throat.

[Mary Kish]

It's so much more interesting out the nose because you're doing something. But. But there's stuff in there. Yeah, like you got to do this and then it just shoves out. It's nuts.

[Mike Mahardy]

I sneeze out of my mouth and then like it's run. So like. And then I just blow my nose afterward if I can.

[Mary Kish]

You gotta blow the whole load.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh. Actually, while we're on the topic of weird things. Much better. Since you guys took a vacation, let me ask you this. If you're around the house and you don't have socks on and then you discover you have to leave the house, so you have to put shoes on. Yeah, obviously you have to first put socks on if you sit down. Okay, okay, okay. Say it's a situation.

[Dan Ryker]

No, no, I'm saying if I need to go to the mailbox, I've got some like sketchers slip ons. I'm not socks on for that.

[Mike Mahardy]

You have to go like the grocery store.

[Dan Ryker]

I mean, sketcher slip on.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh my God.

[Mary Kish]

Okay. Not a sketch or slip on situation.

[Mike Mahardy]

Whatever situation.

[Dan Ryker]

I need to go get bread.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan. Whatever situation. You would need to put socks on and then your sneakers. Just imagine this is that situation.

[Dan Ryker]

I've done that many times. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay.

[Dan Ryker]

I did that today.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, what? I have to go to the theater and put on socks.

[Dan Ryker]

I mean, like I went for a run today. I put socks and then shoes on. But like, I need to go get a prime at the gas station. I'll fucking just slip my feet in there.

[Mike Mahardy]

Guy goes to one blind tasting and then a beetle show and suddenly he's.

[Mary Kish]

Hoity toity gas stations.

[Dan Ryker]

No, because primes have treasure maps now. And I'm one piece away from winning a million dollars, so I got to sometimes go to the gas station and find some prime X.

[Mike Mahardy]

If you're sitting down and you have to wear socks with your shoes and you're going straight from bare feet to sneakers. But what do you do? Do you. I'm trying to figure out how to question this so I don't lead you as witnesses.

[Dan Ryker]

Because you're saying if you are barefoot and you're going into sneakers.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes, but you're also going to be wearing socks. What is the order of operations when you sit down, you put the socks.

[Dan Ryker]

On before the shoes. They won't fit over the sho shoes.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, no, no, no, no. That's a good. Okay, see, that's why it's Weird.

[Mary Kish]

This is a stupid question.

[Dan Ryker]

I know.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you go, sock, shoe? Do you go put it.

[Dan Ryker]

One sock, both socks, both shoes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, thank you, Mary.

[Dan Ryker]

What about sock, sock, shoe, shoe, sock, Sock, shoe, shoe?

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay, thank you. Because we're all normal people, I discovered that one of my brothers goes sock and then that shoe and then the other sock and then that shoe.

[Dan Ryker]

No, what you do is you put one pant leg on one sock, one shoe, other pant leg, then sock and shoes.

[Mike Mahardy]

I realized as soon as I got into. I was like, this is not a fun bit. It's not even a bit. I just actually discovered my brother goes sock right. Sock right, shoe left, sock left.

[Dan Ryker]

No, that's fucked up.

[Mary Kish]

What we actually discovered through this bit is that Dan goes to gas stations to buy prime to get a puzzle piece so that he can get a million dollars.

[Dan Ryker]

Listen, I made it. It's not just me. Me and two of my friends are doing this and we're coordinating. I am the keeper of the map.

[Mary Kish]

I am the keeper of the map, America.

[Dan Ryker]

We have all the pieces but one. We're close to a million dollars trying.

[Mary Kish]

To get this one puzzle piece that doesn't exist.

[Dan Ryker]

We're gonna rob Logan Paul of a million dollars.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love how. Oh, my God.

[Dan Ryker]

If anyone has the number 11 piece of the Primex treasure map, let me know and I'll split the money with you.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love how like a month ago, Dan was Logan Paul's biggest fan. Because then they get one lawsuit and he's like, oh, I didn't ever like, this was a bit. I was just trying to rob him.

[Dan Ryker]

That's it. I don't. I don't. You should see my map. I said, oh, we have enough for a glitch elixir right now. You get points. So even if you don't win the million, you get all sorts of fun. You get a cyber tech, you get all these. It's. It's very fun. And then we're going to win a million dollars. Oh, it's in the treasure verse. You go into the treasure verse and you have to log in at the beginning. Is it an app? No, it's a website. I saw an ad for this on wrestling, and I was like, I want to win a million dollars.

[Mike Mahardy]

No, it's a website. But weirdly, it brings up up something else when you get to go to the website. Brings something out of the app Store. I don't know. It's really weird, you guys. When I was gone, when Mark Minati stepped in for me, you guys show Us, the app.

[Mary Kish]

I don't give my map.

[Dan Ryker]

Look at my map. I'm just missing the middle. That real estate in the middle.

[Mike Mahardy]

Star Wars Jedi survivor hologram esque map.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

What are you missing?

[Dan Ryker]

11. It's the number 11 puzzle piece.

[Mike Mahardy]

Where do you find these puzzle pieces?

[Dan Ryker]

Under the caps of Prime X.

[Mike Mahardy]

So, like, it could be any.

[Dan Ryker]

I got enough points for a tech tee and a pixel cap.

[Mike Mahardy]

What are those, a T shirt?

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. And then rare prime bottles that sell for like $300 on eBay.

[Mike Mahardy]

I like in your quest to rob.

[Mary Kish]

Him at a prime warehouse distribution plan.

[Dan Ryker]

It won't be around.

[Mike Mahardy]

But I like in your quest to rob.

[Dan Ryker]

You'll be arrested for something.

[Mike Mahardy]

In your mission to rob Logan Paul, you're not only spending a lot of Giving him a lot of money. You and two friends, you said. Right. You're also talking about it on a podcast that gets a deeper, decent listenership.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah. And also we're drinking it a lot. And also he's now denied. One of my friends is now denying his child the flavors he wants. He sent me a picture of an end cap of prime and he's like, I didn't expect to have to explain to my son that we can't get all these other fun flavors because they don't have treasure maps on them.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is this someone I know?

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is it?

[Dan Ryker]

They both know.

[Mike Mahardy]

Is this someone. Is it someone we all know?

[Dan Ryker]

One is industry that you worked with, and the other is a friend of. Of the group. Yes.

[Mike Mahardy]

Interesting. Okay.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah, it's good. It's good. We're gonna win a million dollars to split it. Unless someone out there has the number 11 piece. And then we'll split it four ways.

[Mike Mahardy]

What would you spend your 330 million on? 333 million.

[Dan Ryker]

No, no, no. Not a 333,000. Very exciting. I just put it into the mortgage.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah. That's boring.

[Dan Ryker]

From Logan Paul. I'm gonna pay off my house from Logan Paul's money.

[Mike Mahardy]

You guys, you guys. You guys went at it. Mary came out guns blazing, rather for just annihilated people. Mary Vicious. The episode I wasn't here.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, oh. Mary was on one that night. Jesus Christ. It was. I still think about that insult. I think it's one of the best off the cuff insults I've ever heard in my entire life. I think about that. You're not important enough to be this in wing is.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Just incredible. Fantastic.

[Mike Mahardy]

I was listening. I think I was in France when I was listening to that, and I laughed very Hard.

[Dan Ryker]

It's funny because I think I was trying to be, like, especially diplomatic in that episode, and that's what she decided to bite my head off.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I didn't realize. I didn't realize I was such a meat shield for both of you to not go at each other's throats.

[Dan Ryker]

No.

[Mary Kish]

This had been building up for a long time and even Dan's like, diplomacy is honestly targeted harassment.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. You can't not break balls even when you're being diplomatic.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, no, my balls.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, no, you rolled over them.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, the elephants jumping through the hoop.

[Dan Ryker]

Don't let those wheels are so hard.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, those wheels are so hard. Something else is.

[Mary Kish]

Ooh, it's better.

[Mike Mahardy]

Hard day's night.

[Mary Kish]

Get it? Ooh.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you want to talk about video games?

[Mary Kish]

Sure, Mikey. Dan, I've been traveling a lot and between the travel, gaming, working and this podcast, there's a lot to juggle. And I have needed something that helps me keep my focus. And I've really enjoyed Magic Mind. It's basically like a mental performance shot which allows me to stay mentally clear, motivated and productive in times of stress or there's just a lot going on. It has been really helpful. I've been drinking it all week. Dan, what do you think about it?

[Dan Ryker]

I like it a lot because, you know, a lot of times not all the podcasts I do are at night. Like this one. Sometimes I gotta get up and first thing in the morning, be on a show or a stream or something. And I like being focused and awake. But sometimes, you know, I'm an anxious guy. I don't wanna get too much caffeine in my system. So having something like Magic Mind, which will give me that focus, but also not kind of like overstimulate or over caffeinate me, is very helpful.

[Mike Mahardy]

And firescape listeners, good news. You have a limited offer you too can use right now that gets you up to 48% off of your first subscription or 20% off one time purchases with code fire escape 20. That's one word. Fire escape 22. Zero at checkout. You can claim [e-mail] fireescape. The code is fire escape two zero at checkout. Dan and Mary. I just got back from seeing my family for the fourth of July. It's our big blowout weekend we have every year. And contrary to what some people might tell you, wine goes really good at barbecues. I got some cabernet Franc going. I had some Syrah. Everybody had a great time. I love sharing wines with my family, particularly New Ones they might not have had. That's why First Leaf came in super handy. A lot of stuff pairs really well with barbecue. Or if you just want some like Vinho Verde to crush in the hot heat, it's great. There's something for everybody. And Dan, I know you've been getting into it as well.

[Dan Ryker]

Well, yeah, but you see, First Leaf isn't your average wine club. It's better. With each shipment, I get personalized selection of wines from all over the world, handpicked just for me. You mentioned barbecue. If I've got barbecue, a happy hour, a family dinner or something like that, I can opt for First Leaf's fine wine upgrade to get a really special bottle that's sure to impress.

[Mary Kish]

So get wines to sip and share all summer long with First Leaf. Go to try firstleaf.com fire escape to sign up and you'll get your first six handpicked bottles for just 44.95. That's try firstleaf.com fireescape try firstleaf.com fire.

[Mike Mahardy]

Escape all right, Dan, I'm going to start with you because you said you were playing a lot of Steam Deck mobile games while you were out of commission.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

I also am curious. I believe you talked about Hollow Knight when.

[Dan Ryker]

Huh.

[Mike Mahardy]

I was out. Sounds like you're sort of coming around on that.

[Dan Ryker]

Well, I'll start with that because that's probably the main. Well, it's been that in Erdtree and I beat Hollow Knight. I am doing post game stuff now. I'm. I got the completion ticker and all that stuff, so I'm like 78% technically, but I'm doing the kind of like arena stuff, trying to find all the lost charms and things like that.

[Mary Kish]

It's dope. Arena's really fun.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, it's been cool. So it's awesome. It's such a fucking perfect Steam deck game. And it's. I've heard it runs great on the switch too. It is up there among the. I think I said this last time. All time. Metroidvanias. It's. It's like that list is, you know, Symphony of the Night. It's super Metroid. It's this, It's. I think the new Prince of Persia. I mean, this belongs in, in that conversation. I think of like that top, top tier. And it is. I. I was 15 hours in and I suddenly get a new item.

[Mary Kish]

Are we playing? Are we recording? Is this a part of. Are we in?

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, sorry.

[Dan Ryker]

Podcast. We do.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, good.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. I thought you don't really? Talk about video games. We're not recording ever.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Oh, no, no, no. This is. We're doing it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

I thought you were. You were teasing us.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, no, that'd be a lot, Mike. We don't talk off mic. Yeah. At one point, I got a thing, 15 hours in that it said, you got the monarch wings. And I'm reading the description, like, wait, this is a double jump. And Somehow it's like 15 hours into a Metroidvania. I normally am, like, in every Metroidvania. I'm like, when do I get the double jump? When do I get the double jump? And this one, there was so much other stuff going on and other cool abilities and stuff I was playing with and everything that I. Somehow, that part of my brain turned off. And then I was like, wait, I just got a fucking double jump. And then I'm just thinking about the entire map. And all these times that I was like, I couldn't get to that. I couldn't get to that. And I'm waiting to get something. I don't know why, I just totally blanked on that. But that opened up the game like crazy. And then one of the things that had frustrated me, the whole game that turned into be a plus for the game is, you know, the backtracking and things like that that I was, like, frustrated by at first, but then as I did find myself kind of, like, backtracking a lot and just looking for, like, oh, where do I go next? I don't know where to go. I got to know this map better, and I felt like it was becoming my own journey more than if there's just a blinking dot on the map that is like, oh, now I go there. You know? Like, I really do feel like I was learning that space in a really cool way, and that made every shortcut and everything more meaningful. And then you get the fucking Dream gate thing where you can just like, make your own fast travel point, and it's like, well, that fucking changes everything. Now I don't have to worry about, oh, that's pretty far from the stag station or whatever. It's really tremendous. I think the really cool thing about Hollow Knight is how it really taught us all on this podcast about how even if somebody could be stubborn and even if somebody could dig their heels in, some people can overcome that and become bigger people and better people and really deserve a lot of praise. And here I'll use the word hero. I'll use the word hero. And people that come around on games that they were Once stubborn about I think are the real winners and the real heroes in this situation. And if you want to go ahead and tell me that, I would appreciate that 100%.

[Mary Kish]

I think I am a hero for digging my.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, I talked about myself. No, I was talking about myself.

[Mary Kish]

I'm not listening to you. Absolutely was so stubborn that this game was tremendous and how wrong you were and how stupid you were. I never disagreed how much you embarrassed yourself episode after episode after episode.

[Mike Mahardy]

Such a good streak.

[Mary Kish]

I also very well that I am a hero for just pushing this game on you.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't think you think it's a.

[Mary Kish]

Good game and I agree. And so I'm so glad that we had this conversation. I actually feel really vindicated by this and I agree. Hiro me. Thank you. This feels great. I feel really good. I feel good about it.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't think you can prove you've said anything on this podcast about it. I believe you that you liked the game, but I did this in my own position. So yeah, let's roll the tape back. I will. Let me admit something here. My fucking thing about it looking like a flash game, I realized why that is and I think it was stupid on my part because there was a game called Alien hominid on the PlayStation 2 and I think the GameCube and it was based on a flash game and you're like a little bug alien looking dude and it's got these really thick lines and stuff like that. And I think when I saw Hollow Knight, it made me think of Alien Hominid which was based on a flash game. And so that became the talking point, like, ah, it looks like flash game. But then it's like, no, wait, it just looked kind of vaguely like Alien Hominids art style. And it was a very reductive view of that. So I am a big person for seeing past me mistakes.

[Mary Kish]

You were really stupid with that judgment call. And it's just been so validating to hear you say both that you are stupid and that the person who dug their heels in aggressively about this game was a hero. I think that's super true.

[Dan Ryker]

No, I dug my heels in when.

[Mary Kish]

I said it was bad, but then.

[Dan Ryker]

I was the hero for saying it's good. Listen, I'm a gaming professional and I can see quality when I see. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Next. Do you think given your reversal, both of us had the reversal on Death Stranding, now you've had the reversal on Hollow Knight.

[Dan Ryker]

Do you think I know where this is going?

[Mike Mahardy]

I know. Do you think you'll Give Red Dead a chance.

[Dan Ryker]

No, I think I'm a big person for being able to look at past opinions and think maybe I should try it again and reconsider this and maybe it's not always going to change.

[Mary Kish]

He's just gonna change his mind in six months and then say that he's smarter because of that. You didn't.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, it's a win win thing for me. It's great.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, you've always been. You just couldn't deny it anymore. Anyway, you play Red Dead or not?

[Dan Ryker]

You piece of it is Red Dead. And like look, honestly, no bit here. I think I played it under not great circumstances and trying to rush through that game for embargo.

[Mike Mahardy]

That was a review Death Stranding and.

[Dan Ryker]

I didn't review Red Dead 2, but it was like an early. It was a review code prior to release. So was Death Stranding.

[Mike Mahardy]

It was for content and an embargo.

[Dan Ryker]

If not, I was trying to finish it so I could be part of the conversation on the podcast.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you think you'll. You might take. If you get like a month where things are light, you might take.

[Dan Ryker]

That's. I just can't fathom having a light month. Like, I just can't imagine having that much time for a game that long. But I am open to the idea that my negative opinions on Red Dead Redemption 2 were largely due to the circumstances because I'm not standing for it.

[Mike Mahardy]

I love that game with all my heart, but I don't give a shit if you like it or not. I'm not Mary. I don't need you to validate my opinions like Mary does. So I just wanted to out there.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, she's the villain in the story, basically.

[Mary Kish]

That's right. But I'm also right about games. The real moral of this story is that I am really stubborn and I was right.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, one other thing.

[Mary Kish]

Red Dead isn't that good. So I don't think you have to play it again.

[Mike Mahardy]

One other thing.

[Mary Kish]

Too long.

[Dan Ryker]

It's very long and slow.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary. I love that you waited until I was gone. It was the episode with Minati where you admitted that sometimes you argue just to argue, even if you don't even care about your stance. I was like. You waited until I was gone to admit this. Finally, when I've been saying this on Knievel and Fire Escape and Gamespot for years.

[Mary Kish]

I have morals. I argue vehemently for things I believe in. Or things you don't believe in. I just want to watch the world burn. Yeah, that can happen too. I believe vehemently in Hollow Knight.

[Dan Ryker]

I remember. I remember distinctly being at Twitch headquarters in San Francisco years and years and years ago. I think I was there with Abby. I think it was during like a Game of the Year thing. And you were showing us around. I remember you were in the midst of your Hollow Knight addiction and just going off about how much you loved it. And that's when I tried it afterwards and. But I had a lot of people tell me, like, a lot of people, the way they talked about it. I remember Russ Fresh take was huge on, like, lots of people be like, oh, it's on switch now. You got to try it. And like, man, I don't know. I guess I just didn't give it enough time. I got too frustrated by the backtracking, by losing progress in the map areas and things like that, or getting into a dark area. And the marker system was a little weird to me. It was trying new things that other Metroidvanias had not done. And I think I wasn't ready for it at the time. And as I played more soulsborne games and stuff like that and more different types of Metroidvanias and stuff, I was more open to it this time and I very much appreciate it.

[Mary Kish]

Repertoire of, like, games that you respect and understand. I agree. I mean, playing a souls game changes you and it gives you a fondness and appreciation for losing. I don't actually think. I think before I was playing souls games, I would quit a game if I lost everything because I'd be like, what do you mean? I lost all my money. Yep. I earned. That took a long time. It's gone. Like, that would make me quit a game. Souls games have changed my perception of losing everything. Roguelites have changed my perception of losing everything. It's just a life. You'll get another one.

[Dan Ryker]

And these are both massive changes in just how we view things. And I'd say In the last 10 years between, I guess more than that now, but roughly, let's say a decade of roguelites and soulsborne games becoming such a force in the industry.

[Mary Kish]

Such progress.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. And those concepts, a lot of those concepts even like in Hollow Knight, like, to heal, there's that animation. You have to like, charge it up to get your health or whatever. It's not just like instant, you know. Yeah. It's the risk reward stuff and everything and major risk and like losing all of your. What's it called, your geo and your currency in this. It adds a lot to it. And like, those boss fights are fucking awesome. And like, there are times where it's like, I know I'm about to walk into a boss fight, but I've got, you know, 3000 geo. And I'm like, ah, I gotta go find some place to spend this. I don't want to risk this. And you, like, walk into the boss fight with zero Geo, and it's like, I got nothing to lose. Let's fucking do this.

[Mary Kish]

I love that it was Geo. I have a. I have a vivid memory when I was in the midst of my hollow knight craze, playing it with on a plane, and I was sitting next to a coworker, and my coworker was like, can I. Can I try it? And I had, you know, I had like 900 geo. And I was like, yeah, so this was early, right? When 900 was like a shit ton. And I was like, yeah, I mean, I guess you could give it. Give it a try. And he immediately dies, and he's like, well, I'll just go back to your body and then I'll hand it back. And I was like, yeah, all right. All right. I'm watching him with bated breath. He gets killed again and loses all my Geo. And he's just like, ah, say lovey. And gives me my little steam, like, gives me my little. And I'm like, twitching a little bit to Rob Handlery.

[Dan Ryker]

It was. I guess it wasn't. Oh, okay.

[Mary Kish]

It's really funny that you would assume it was Rob.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, yeah, I can see Rob.

[Mary Kish]

God damn it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Rob would do it and then it would be a company. Be like, whoops, you're dead. Huh? And then he would give it back to you. Whoops.

[Mary Kish]

Sorry.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan, did you also. Did you try Case of the Golden Idol?

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I beat that a few weeks ago. That was. That's awesome. And now I'm super fucking excited for the new one. Like, I. New ones who I'd be excited for anyway, but, like, with a setting that I find more interesting, like, you know, it's 70s detective instead of like satchel times, you know, like doubloons and pokey swords. I don't know, whatever time period that medieval. I don't know. Sure. Old.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Pre trains, you know, Glad you played it post caveman Pre Trains.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm glad I didn't waste any breath telling you to play it in 2022. That would have been annoying.

[Dan Ryker]

Did you. Did you really?

[Mike Mahardy]

Are you serious? Damn. We just.

[Dan Ryker]

I do not remember you ever talking about this game.

[Mary Kish]

I. You have.

[Mike Mahardy]

I was the one who told you to play it.

[Dan Ryker]

No, you're thinking a grub.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God. No, I'm not doing this. Dan, you actually. If you don't remember this, you.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't remember this.

[Mike Mahardy]

You have a problem. You're doing too many podcasts.

[Dan Ryker]

No, my memory is bad. I understand that. I legit don't remember you ever saying this.

[Mike Mahardy]

When you hit up.

[Mary Kish]

When you let.

[Mike Mahardy]

We got an email. We got an email specifically saying, have you ever recommended something to someone and then they didn't play it or whatever? Like, yes, Case, the Golden Idol 2022. I said it was one of the best games that year.

[Dan Ryker]

I must not have been on that episode.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, my God, Mike.

[Dan Ryker]

If somebody put a gun to my head before this recording and said, has Mike Mahardi ever said the phrase case of the Golden Idol? I would have been like, I don't know.

[Mary Kish]

He pushed it really hard on both of us.

[Mike Mahardy]

When you really knew, what did he say?

[Dan Ryker]

He did a bad job.

[Mike Mahardy]

You have a problem.

[Dan Ryker]

Listen, I've taken so many recommendations from you. You must have done a bad. This is on you, Dan.

[Mike Mahardy]

When I first pitched it to you two years ago, I said, it's kind of like logic problems and murder mysteries. Oh. You're like, oh, shit. I love logic problems. Then you never played it. And then Game of the Year came around. You're like, oh, I never got the chance to play it. And I was pushing it. And then like two episodes ago, that email came in and I said it, and you're like, oh, this is perfect. I'm going on a bunch of flights soon. This sounds like a perfect scene.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, wait, wait.

[Dan Ryker]

The reason I fucking. Because a lot of times we'll talk about games on this show, and in my little notes document at the top, I will write down, like, download this game. Download that thing. And I remember typing in Case of the Golden Idol because I heard about it on this show, but I'm pretty sure it was Mary.

[Mary Kish]

So in our last recording, when it was just you, me, and Minati, you said, who recommended this? Was it you, Mary? And I said, oh, yeah, as a joke.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, no, I thought it was you.

[Mary Kish]

And then you believed me.

[Dan Ryker]

I've been in my head, just think like, oh, man. Good recommendation from Mary.

[Mike Mahardy]

You do too many podcasts, I think.

[Dan Ryker]

Yes, I know it's a problem. Wow. Well, no, Mary, it was a great recommendation. I really enjoyed that game. Thank you. Hollow Knight Case, the Golden Idol. You're just nailing it two for two.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mary, what have you been playing?

[Mary Kish]

I've been playing a dungeon Crawler that uses the claw machine and it's called Dungeon Clawler.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't like claw machines. They piss me off.

[Mary Kish]

I love claw machines and this game is delightful. I don't know if you remember me telling you about a little game called Peglin, which was a peggle game.

[Mike Mahardy]

I tried that because you recommended it and said it was good and we played it too.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, that's right. This is my new fucking crack. It is an RPG where you're going through a dungeon and you get enemies turn based the claw you control. But as we all know, with claw machines, sometimes you try and pick up stuff and the claw does what the claw wants. If you pick up knives, you throw the knives at the enemy. You can also pick up shields. That gives you defense. And then as you continue to play, you build your deck. And the things in the claw machine are your deck. You can have giant swords that do like 15 damage or 20 damage. There's some really cool stuff in there. Like there was a sword that does 10 damage, but if you only pick up that sword, it does 20 damage, which is really rad. They have like armor, they have just really weird stuff that alters the entire concept of how you could pick stuff up. There's metal objects and there's. Sorry, I'm thinking about it. A magnet. And the magnet picks up things that are metal, but all the shields are wooden, so the magnet won't pick up the shields. And so you have to be very strategic how you pick things up. They do a water thing where they can fill the tank with water, then you can alter the water and you can turn water into lava. Crazy shit, all of that.

[Dan Ryker]

Now this looks like this would be good on Steam deck.

[Mary Kish]

It's super rad. Now this game is in early access. This is very important. When I played it, it's not polished yet. It's phenomenal. Like the bones are there. It's a good game, but it doesn't have all of the cool sound effects yet. And I don't think this is out on anything except for the demo on PC. The demo is extremely replayable. I think I played as four different protagonists and they all have completely different skill sets. Kind of like when you do a run in Balatro, it fundamentally changes the game forever.

[Mike Mahardy]

Slight aspire?

[Mary Kish]

Yes. When you play as a different character, you have to completely change your playstyle. The game ramps up in difficulty quickly. I have yet to beat it. I've gotten really far. But the difficulty late game is no joke. And so I have. I keep dying. But it's so lovely. The mini games, too, which, Dan, I think you get a kick out of some of these minigames. There's, like, lots of little things. There's one that's Peggle. Ish.

[Dan Ryker]

I was gonna ask. I'm looking at images and that looks like Peggle. That looks like a gumball machine. That looks like a claw game. Yeah, yeah.

[Mary Kish]

It's just super enjoyable, you guys. This game is. It's candy. It's candy for me. Like, it's super addictive. It's all the stuff that I love. I love claw machines. I. I swear we've talked about this, but, like, I go out of my way to play claw machines.

[Dan Ryker]

I. Yeah, they're fun as hell.

[Mary Kish]

I keep quarters on me at all times to play claw machines.

[Dan Ryker]

Should produce a quarter right now.

[Mary Kish]

I'm a freak. Well, I not.

[Dan Ryker]

I haven't left. Okay. Okay.

[Mary Kish]

You think there's going to be a claw machine in my house?

[Dan Ryker]

No. You got to be prepared for anything. This kind of looks like a flash game. This does sound fun.

[Mary Kish]

Here's my Pikachu butt purse.

[Dan Ryker]

Any quarters in there? Okay. Okay. That looks like Spain money. Yeah, they don't have holes in money. Yeah, that was. That was Jurassic Park. Spain money.

[Mike Mahardy]

That was. Those are bronze.

[Mary Kish]

I thought I could get you.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, no, it's a Bronco.

[Mary Kish]

This is a bronze buck.

[Mike Mahardy]

Those are Raptor nickels.

[Dan Ryker]

It has a queen on it.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, these are Raptor bucks. You got me.

[Mike Mahardy]

Those are Stego dimes.

[Mary Kish]

Anyway, I think this game. Oh, I do have quarters.

[Dan Ryker]

You. Too late. Too late. No way to prove it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Lost my capacity for being impressed.

[Mary Kish]

Well, after me lying to you guys. Anyway, going back to Dungeon Clawer. I'm very much looking forward to it. This game is supposed to come out Q4 of this year. I think it's going to be. It's on my list as, like, a game. I can't wait to come out now. And I didn't even know it existed. You can play the demo for Frizzle. And I played it for several hours and loved it.

[Dan Ryker]

Nice.

[Mary Kish]

Thank you.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, that sounds like something like. Remind me when you see it come out, like, the full game, because that sounds like something I'd probably like to check out.

[Mary Kish]

I'll let you know. Mikey, you've been playing Elden Ring. What are you crazy? You play the dlc?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Nothing that no one else has said to add there.

[Dan Ryker]

How far are you?

[Mike Mahardy]

Not far into the dlc. I. Okay, I. I think I. Back in eight. April, March. I told you I had restarted with a new character. Just because.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Just to play through more of the game. I've done one boss in the dlc. That's about it. I switched over to some other stuff that I could talk more about, but. Yeah. How far are you?

[Dan Ryker]

I've done like everything. I'm just at the last boss now and beat my head against it, difficulty wise.

[Mike Mahardy]

Are you having a tough time with the dlc? Are you finding it like what you expected?

[Dan Ryker]

I'm fine. But I also, like, every time I get to a boss, I do one play. You know, one session, just trying it out myself. I die immediately. And then I summon dudes and I just play super cowardly. So like, I don't know. I. I don't have any like, pride over like, yeah, I'm gonna not get any help or whatever. Like I will fucking summon people like crazy.

[Mike Mahardy]

Like, it's like player multiplayer.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Two players to like do the work for me basically. And I'll sit back and I'll admire the patterns and attacks and everything and. But I'm just total coward back there. So fine.

[Mike Mahardy]

For me it's a fun game just to play for the spectacle for me and the world.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, no, it's fucking awesome. I love that. It's the most important. I Normally don't play DLCs at all. This one, it was clear that the scope of it was going to be beyond most like dlc. And sure enough, yeah, it feels like a full fucking game. It's great. It's probably the best DLC I've ever played.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, it's. I mean, I'm not far enough into it. I think for me, my favorite is Blood and wine or Witcher 3. Although there are some fallout ones I liked a lot. I liked.

[Mary Kish]

I loved Witcher's dlc. It was so. The story was so enjoyable.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Also like the Witcher 3, most of the world was that like war torn wilderness. And then you get to Blood and Wine and there's just these like poppy fields and flowers and it's colorful as heck. I loved it. What was the Fallout 3 DLC?

[Dan Ryker]

They. Fallout 3 had like five great ones. It like the alien one, it had the Pit. It had Operation Anchorage, the Alaska. Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

Where you get 1B armor. And then there's the big one, the actual new open world, which was like Maryland. The lighthouse.

[Dan Ryker]

I thought there were like five fairly substantial, substantial ones.

[Mike Mahardy]

Fallout 3 DLC, it was the Operation Anchorage, the Pit.

[Dan Ryker]

Right. Broken Steel Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta.

[Mike Mahardy]

Lookout was the. The one I was talking about. The Lighthouse and then Fallout 4 Harbor and whatnot. No, but I actually another game I'm playing a lot is. Let me turn this off. Diablo 4. I went back to.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, why? What's your motivation? I just want to know how you got here.

[Mike Mahardy]

So came out last year. I only played three hours or so with a druid. Lost interest. I didn't feel like the loot. I felt similar to how I felt when Diablo 3 first came out, which I still kept playing Diablo 3 to be clear. But I didn't feel like the loot was actually impactful. I never felt like my character was getting those noticeable jumps where I went from. It was having a semi difficult time to all of a sudden, okay, I'm overpowered for this area. It feels great. The game's satisfying, it's crunchy. It's. You know, I got my. These abilities. The synergy between them is really rolling now. I got a lot of loot that was not meant for my druid. I got, you know, like the. The open world wasn't. The rewards weren't great, but they're in season four now, Loot Reborn. They've added a bunch more options to actually manage your loot and add modifiers to it that can feed. That can fit your character more just generally, they kind of. It's been going through the same evolution that Diablo 3 did in its early years. And I'm frequently getting to points where I pick up. All of a sudden I get a legendary scythe for my Necromancer and all of a sudden I'm just wrecking people left and right. Where I was kind of not a slog. It was still fun. But before that, you know, me and my skeleton army were kind of whittling away at dudes all of a sudden. Now with that scythe, I had that power jump that I missed from Diablo of Threes. Like Prime. I'm level 35 with Necromancer. I think I put six hours into this character. Maybe not that many, but I'm already loving liking it a lot more. I'm playing on PS5, which I think is also. I thought I would just go back to PC, but I have it on PS5. I'm getting ready. They're adding a new class and they're adding like a whole post game new area Jungle DLC in October. So that was kind of part of it. I was like, well, that sounds fun. I've got like some siblings asked me to play with them, so I'll go back and it's just night and Day like the loot system feels way more focused, honed in. I'm frequently getting a ton of stuff that is just, you know, like helping that power of fantasy and it's lacking it a bunch, man.

[Dan Ryker]

That's. That's making me want to try it because, like, every time I hear about that game, I know it wasn't like super highly regarded when it came out. I know there are a lot of complaints about it, but I still, like, that was the game I was looking forward to trying. And it came out like right when I was in the middle of moving. So I didn't have like any of my like gaming PC type stuff at the ready. So I was like, I'll get to it afterwards. But like, that was. It was like Street Fighter 6 Diablo 4 was during that time where I was just like, I didn't really have a chance to play. So like now hearing that they've improved some of that stuff and that you're enjoying it, that does make me want to try that.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

And that stuff has gotten me through those early hours. And now I'm to the point where, you know, I have mounts, I have pets like that are actually gathering stuff for me. I have a system. Whenever I log in, I check to see what, like, what has gone, what happened since I was away. I've again, I'm getting more and more of these weapon modifiers that they added with season four that you can use to tweak weapons you already really like, which like these temperaments. I believe you go to the Blacksmith and you basically are picking up these scrolls in the open world just randomly. And one of them is like, hey, apply this, your weapon and you have a chance to get like life on Kill or whatever. And there's like eight tiers that you could get. It's basically rng. And then all of a sudden this scythe I have that has two diamond two topaz in it that's already ranking my damage up 20% more. And plus the scythe is making this one ability that I summon a bone Golem with and then another ability to have blood spears with. It's making both those abilities better. Suddenly that scythe is also giving me like 300 health on kill. It's much more of a. I think the pacing feels much more like the steadily increasing power Fantasy of Diablo 3. I like it a whole bunch. And then once you beat the campaign with a character you can do, basically, I think it was adventure mode in Diablo 3. When you start a new character, if you want to try another class you can go in. You just. It drops you literally right into the open world.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, nice start.

[Mike Mahardy]

Exploring towns, getting the waypoints unlocked. Finding side quests. Quests. I meant to play it just kind of as a palate cleanser from Elden Ring just to get my mind off Elden Ring because I'm playing that straight for the last few weeks. And again, a sibling wanted me to play. I was like, oh, I haven't tried it on console. Let's see how they integrated it. And I like flash forward to my character's level 35 and I'm pretty hooked. And also, I don't want to get too deep into the season pass stuff. The addition of the game on PS5 I got gave me access to a premium battle pass. I hate interacting with that kind of stuff. But I will say that some of the free tier of the battle pass, some of the cosmetics it's giving me are really cool looking. Like season four right now has a very Mortal Kombat feel to the cosmetic theme. It looks a lot like. I forget which character it was. It might have been Raiden from Mortal Kombat 1. The most recent. Was that the most recent Mortal Kombat?

[Dan Ryker]

Mm.

[Mike Mahardy]

He has a skin in that game. That looks a lot like what they're going for with this season of cosmetics. Yeah. Overall it, it's just. It feels like they really turn that game around. Not to say that there are still some annoyances. Like I still wish it was easier to compare certain items. Most items you get and they'll say, oh yes, a green plus 12 damage. I know I'm going to equip this. Or plus 149 armor. I get that when you pick up jewels. I have not. Maybe this is just a PS5 problem I haven't played on PC. There's no easy way to compare what these jewels are going to do because the jewelry, the amulets and the two rings you can equip have such more specific stat based changes than the weapons and the armor, which is like X more armor or resistance or X more damage or life on kill. I wish there was an easier way to compare jewelry because I do spend a decent amount of time back in town. Granted after things have cooled off. But like, okay, now, okay, let's swap this ring out for that one. Oh, my damage went down 12. Okay, remember that? 798 damage. Now swap this one out again. Maybe on PC. I'm sure that's way easier because you have a mouse, but outside of that it feels great. On PS5 it's nice to sit in like a comfortable chair. I associate Diablo 3 with like borderline carpal tunnel tunnel syndrome on PC and whatnot.

[Dan Ryker]

See, I didn't hop in until like Diablo 3 had that PS4 version and it was like, ooh, they really did a good job with like these radio menus and like rolling with the right stick and all that Felt great. With controllers, they.

[Mike Mahardy]

The workaround they found for same screen co op where you pick something up and you can use the D pad to go back. It'll just have a little. The widget at the bottom that cycles through without actually going to the pause menu and it'll tell you, oh, nice, that was great. That's not here. As far as I know, Diablo 4 does not have same screen co op. But into like jumping into games with my brother has been super easy. It feels great on PS5, which is a weird thing to say, but like, it's just the right amount of screen shake. There's a lot of good feedback when I'm a Necromancer. Blowing corpse explode is the iconic Necromancer ability, I think, from all the Diablos. Like, it's. It's just so satisfying. Okay, I killed them. Now I have another corpse to blow up and that's gonna. Chain Reaction. It's. I love such a satisfying game in the current state and I'm already. I'm already kind of looking forward to the new class they have coming out in October. I'm glad I went there.

[Mary Kish]

What's the new class?

[Mike Mahardy]

So jungle something. Let me look it up.

[Dan Ryker]

Velociraptor.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's like the spirit born.

[Mary Kish]

So funnily enough, Velociraptor, you just shoot Bronto burgers out.

[Dan Ryker]

All right.

[Mike Mahardy]

So basically they're making it. So I think the. It's called Vessel of Hatred is the big expansion and it's. Once you beat the campaign you go into this, people are already hoping it's going to be like the reaper of souls moment for Diablo 4, where it just makes it the ideal version. Maybe not the ideal, but, you know, an even bigger jump. But so far, the spirit born gives me heavy witch doctor vibes from Diablo 3, which they definitely took pains to distance themselves from because a lot of people called it out as stereotypical of voodoo and, you know, like shrunken heads and whatnot. Spiritborn looks like it's tied to. It's got a jungle theme. I don't know how much they're going into that, but it's just after, you know, reading so much about these five classes and different builds you could do with them. I'm just excited for any sixth class to be added, see how they actually do with it. But yeah, yeah, if. I mean that. Also be a fun game just for. If you guys wanted to casually jump in and play with new characters and be super fun, I would like.

[Mary Kish]

I. It's been a while. I loved Diablo 3 and got mega into it. Diablo 4 I played and then I felt like I was done really quickly. Would love the ability to. The excuse to get into it again.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's super fun. I'd recommend it if people want to check it out before it gets the big expansion in October. I think it's in a good state. There's so many more minutia that I didn't get into with the loot specifically because I don't fully understand it. But a lot of people are saying like, oh yeah, this weapon modifier helps a lot and managing loot is so much easier now. But just in general, the stuff I'm getting with my character is constantly. I'm really frequently equipping new stuff that A, looks cool as shit for the Necromancer, but also B, is just making me steadily feel powerful. So when I get those skill points to upgrade, I'm really excited to see what that's going to do with the next one I spend now.

[Dan Ryker]

If I give it a shot now and I really get into it, is it okay if I credit Mary for recommending it?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, go for it. I don't care.

[Dan Ryker]

Okay. Okay, cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right.

[Mary Kish]

I agree.

[Mike Mahardy]

Cool. Have you guys played anything else?

[Mary Kish]

Nope. I was traveling.

[Dan Ryker]

Good Monkey ball. I like the monkey Ball. Yeah. Haven't. I've just done the single player stuff. It's just straight up monkey ball the way I like it, the way I remember it. Haven't done the multiplayer stuff yet, but I think we're gonna do a giant bomb stream at some point of that, so. But yeah, thumbs up from a Monkey ball guy here.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, do you guys want to do emails?

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Hi folks, it's me, Dan. During the break, Mike informed me of something I was not aware of. Apparently when I discovered of my own accord, how good case the Golden Idol was a few weeks ago, I got very excited about it and wanted to introduce my good friends to this great game I found. And so I asked for codes and I got a bunch of codes for Case the Golden Idol. And I tagged Mike and Marion Discord. Be like, you gotta check this out. Mike thought I was fucking with him.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think Jake did, too, but Jake was like, yeah, I'll take a code.

[Dan Ryker]

No, I thought I was being a good friend and being like, hey, try out this cool game.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, my God, I cannot believe I want.

[Mike Mahardy]

I. I wish somebody had enough time on their hands to do a supercut. Of all the times I vehemently recommended it.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't know if it's happened. I think you guys are fucking with me now.

[Mike Mahardy]

Who was Hanson? Hanson messaged me that the first episode where you actually kind of. You told me you don't know what kind of game Total War 3 was. Hanson's like, dude, this is infuriating to listen to. He's gonna love this episode. He's gonna really like this one.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, boy. Cool. All right.

[Mike Mahardy]

Anyway, I'm gonna read. Wait, no, I'll read the second one because that's more specifically geared toward me, Dan or no. Mary, you want to do the first one here from Ryan?

[Mary Kish]

Sure. Hey, friends. Ryan from Minneapolis here. In the last few episodes, there's been some banana discourse, so I just wanted to contribute my small part. Oh, how nice. In the hit roguelike video game Balatro.

[Mike Mahardy]

You may have heard of it. Oh, I'm so sorry. Actually, this is crucial. I just realized you two weren't here last episode.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, I assumed. I forgot. Banana discourse. No, no, no.

[Mike Mahardy]

Sorry, Mary, I'm not. I'm not doing the bit where I interrupt you on purpose. Really quick. When you guys were here. When you guys were here with.

[Mary Kish]

I thought they meant the tweets where I always say when someone's wearing banana yellow that they look hot. That's not what we're discussing.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, I can see the confusion there. When Manati was here, you guys talked about how banana candy tastes nothing like real bananas. Everybody agreed. Several people emailed in saying that candy was create. That flavor was created based on a kind of banana that more of the world used to eat before a bunch of it got hit by a fungus and a lot of it died.

[Dan Ryker]

Right.

[Mike Mahardy]

Something along those lines. So the kind of bananas we eat now today, that candy was not based on. Right. Someone emailed in last episode. That's useful foundation for this email. Sorry, man.

[Dan Ryker]

Got it. Okay. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

What? The banana discourse is so deep. Okay, thank you for the lore. In the rogue hit roguelite video game Balatro, there's a common joker that's unlocked from the beginning called Gross Michael. This particular is it.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's Gross Michelle.

[Dan Ryker]

I think it's Michael.

[Mike Mahardy]

It means Michael in French. Yeah. Michelle. Michelle.

[Mary Kish]

Gross Michael. And this particular Joker gives you a plus 15 malt, but also has a 16 chance of being destroyed at the end of the round. Obviously, this is a reference to the banana cultivar God that went extinct in the 1950s. Obviously. But did you know that having Gross Michelle destroyed unlocks access to a rare joker called Cavendish, named after the current cultivar of banana. This joker is much stronger, giving you a three times malt, but. But it still has a 1 in 1,000 chance of being destroyed at the end of the round. No idea if there's a third joker if you destroy that one. Also, Wikipedia tells me that Gross Michael is French for Big Mike, so do with that information what you will. Thank you. That's all. Ryan. Ryan, thank you for so many knowledge bombs. I am blown away.

[Mike Mahardy]

Well, now you call me Big Mike.

[Dan Ryker]

Like, that is very. I learned that at sgf because Bonk is obsessively into Balatro and she has not been able to get the Cavendish one. And so when she saw that we had Vout the PR guy for Balatro on the couch, she's like, ask him how you. How do I get the Cavendish? And I just recorded him. And he basically explained all of this stuff in this history. Bananas and stuff like, God damn, that's a good PR guy. Knows this incredibly detailed thing. Apparently there's just little banana jokes in Balatra. True. They know they're bananas.

[Mike Mahardy]

There's a lot of. A lot of bits in that game. Thank you, Ryan.

[Mary Kish]

Very good lore. Thank you, Ryan. My God.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, Mike, Everyone was stepping on each other, and I don't think Vinnie or Ben caught your joke, but I want you to know that I heard it and I laughed aloud. The subject for this email was July 11th.

[Dan Ryker]

What was the joke?

[Mike Mahardy]

I'll explain it. Trust me. I wrote this just for you. But if you want a prompt for the podcast, asked what's the coolest or funniest thing y'all ever did that nobody else noticed from? Brad Hansen was talking about his recent trip to Quebec City, and he went to. He saw the hotel, which is kind of their main landmark. Apparently fdr, Churchill, Eisenhower planned the invasion of Europe there before they even knew that they were going to go to invade through Normandy. Apparently the cafe across the street were a bunch of them, like went to get drinks often was called Cafe Normandy. And then so me, Vinnie and Hansen went off on a bit about how Churchill and Eisenhower were just stumped one night and Churchill walked up to the window of the cigar and saw Cafe Normandy. He's like, I've got it. And and then I continued the bit by saying that he turned to look the other direction. He's like, and we'll invade on July 11th. That was the bit being that he saw 7 11.

[Dan Ryker]

And that's good.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, that's good.

[Dan Ryker]

7 11's and Saving Private Ryan times.

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't think so, actually. Wait one. Curious. When was Seven Eleven founded? July 11, 1927 in Dallas, Texas.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, so that was. That was. Okay, so Private Ryan could have gone there.

[Mike Mahardy]

Mm.

[Dan Ryker]

Okay. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

The one. Weren't there five Private Ryan's six.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, yeah. Well, that was a famous one.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Mm.

[Mike Mahardy]

The Matt Damon one. Yeah. What is something super cool that you've done that no one has noticed? I do really cool stuff all the time by myself. I'm trying to pick which one, though, is coolest or funny. Funniest thing y'all ever did that nobody else.

[Dan Ryker]

I mean, if no one noticed, I would have. I think I would have called it out to bring attention to it, to make sure it would drive me nuts. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

It's Giant Bomb's 16th anniversary, and I saw that Dan was posting old memories of. Of Giant Bomb that are, like, really special or meaningful. This is not me, but I think it is worth saying one of my favorite memories of Giant Bomb is when we were playing. I actually don't know if I remember what this game is. Drew Scanlon was on the couch next to me. Brad was playing a game. And in this game, the shield is a fence. You're holding a fence. And I say on the show, oh, the shield is a fence. And you can watch Drew's face come up with the idea that it's a defense. It's defense, and it's really funny, and it's a really cool idea. And he's holding onto it. He's literally like, you can watch it. You can watch his face. Be like, I have a good one and I need the right time to say it. And then he says it, and no one fucking pays attention. And we just move on. And he just kind of, like, looks down and it's a very delightful moment. And I've forgotten until this exact moment, but if you were to, like, put me on that, I would bring up this moment. It's very funny. Oh, I deserved more accolades for that. It was just a very funny moment.

[Dan Ryker]

That was Drew, though, is because Drew is just, you know, he picks the spots and he's very funny and very smart. Honestly, my favorite Giant Bottom memory with you, Mary, I think is the one where you guys were playing some indie game. On steam. And it was like you, Gersman and Rory were on the couch camera, if anyone else was. And he. There's this. You spent minutes, many minutes going through this recipe book. And it was just like, you know, there's a menu item, it's like recipe book. And you're just looking at all these recipes and stuff like that. Is this ringing a bell, Mary?

[Mary Kish]

I need more.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh my God, you need to see this. It's. Rory is off in Rory land. I don't know, look at the pictures of puppies on his laptop or something. Rory, God bless him, is just off on another island mentally. And you guys are just looking at recipes for like five minutes. And then you're closing out the show. It's like UPF or something. And Gershman starts wrapping it up. And then Rory looks up from his laptop for a second and sees recipe book on the menu. And he goes, oh, wait, we should check out, we should check out the recipe book. And Mary, you don't say anything. You just kind of look over and you're kind of smiling. And Gertrude's like, yeah, maybe we'll check that out next time, Rory. We'll take a look at the recipe booklet. You are all just like this motherfucker just said, where has he been for the last five minutes? It's incredible.

[Mary Kish]

So funny. Some of the best moments on that couch, I think they're just so normal. They're not planned. There's nothing, there's no spectacular finish. It's just a bunch of people on a couch being stupid and like, it just naturally organically has some of the most funny moments of reactions and, I don't know, humanity, honestly, that I've ever seen. First of all, congratulations on 16 years. But like, what? Those are such good memories, like such good moments.

[Dan Ryker]

It's been a very fun place to work. Real good. I realized it's been over 10 years. It was over 10 years ago I started.

[Mary Kish]

I saw Lucy, tweeted her 10 year anniversary at Gamespot and I thought, you know, what an incredible achievement for her and for anyone to make it 10 years at any job in this gen I think is worth commending. But in games media, with all of the fucking layoffs and all the problems and the turnover and the churn and the burnout, like, yeah, yep. I mean, you're a superhero. It's crazy.

[Dan Ryker]

I think anyone who's been, who is employed in Games Media in 2024 and has worked there for a long time has to be very aware of how lucky they are. To have had a career in it because it's. It was hard to get into 20 years ago when I started and to still have a job in it. I am very aware every day of like, wow, okay, I'm going to. Going to enjoy this.

[Mary Kish]

Enjoy it.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Yep.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Giant bomb wise, I think I don't know what my favorite thing would have been. I love all of hitsmas. It's really good.

[Dan Ryker]

What I think about with you, Mike. That is just a stupid little thing and I can never even find it because it's just one of the Burgle My Bananas episodes and it's during the DK rap and you were just making dumbass Donkey Kong noises at the end of each verse.

[Mary Kish]

It's hard to always get them all really good.

[Dan Ryker]

There's.

[Mike Mahardy]

What?

[Dan Ryker]

Didn't you almost pass out once?

[Mike Mahardy]

That was the slide golden banana. I had to. We had to get. We were passing controller and then we were coming up on the end of the hour two hours or whatever was. And yeah, I cheered. We all cheered loudly and like Lost. You can see if you watch it back, it's one of the later episodes and it's. We spend the entire episode trying to get that banana. Because you have to not only finish the slide, like think Mario 64 slide, you also have to do it in under X seconds or whatever it is. And I finally got lucky at some point and did it. And then I cheered so loud that I actually, like, you could see the blood, like rush to my head.

[Dan Ryker]

I think there's a moment where you can just tell your, well, where am I?

[Mike Mahardy]

I almost passed out and hit my head on the microphone, but I caught myself.

[Dan Ryker]

Stupid web.

[Mike Mahardy]

It was close. I like hits miss a lot, but in terms of just like something cool or funny, I've done that. No one has noticed. I do a lot of dumb jokes that I think these days I don't call attention to it as much unless I'm reading an email explaining a joke from my last episode, which is what I said.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. I think we make sure we get our shit in. If we've got something we think is funny, we're good at getting into.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yep. But outside of that, I don't think I have anything. Most people. Most. Most of my stuff is really, like, so funny that it's impossible.

[Mary Kish]

You put the really sad ones in the vault. You know, like if you tell a funny. You tell a funny joke and no one laughs. I usually don't remember that memory because I'm like, oh, I thought that was a funny joke. But Maybe I'm stupid.

[Mike Mahardy]

I actually think it was. No, just this morning in the shower, a shampoo fell off the shelf and I. Not only did I catch it perfectly by the base, I caught it, like, behind me like this. And I audibly said to myself, nice. And then put it back. I thought to myself, I wish someone was watching me do that right now. That's sick. I must have been in a good mood because I actually like, like, oh, got it. And then put it back up. That never happens. Usually I juggle it for a while. All right. Thank you, Brad.

[Mary Kish]

Thank you, Brad.

[Mike Mahardy]

Do you want to read this one? From our frequent writer, Wes.

[Dan Ryker]

Hello there. I was born in 1991, but never had an N64 as a child. So I missed out on playing a bunch of games people my age tend to remember fondly. I played Ocarina of Time for the first time last year. The 3Ds version. I couldn't stand it. I slogged through the spirit temple before I put it down. I have to assume a lot of the love for this game is nostalgia based because it has not aged well. What is an older game that everybody loves but you don't because you didn't play it as a child? That's Wes from Baltimore. I. It's hard to disagree because obviously I have, like, deep nostalgia for Ocarina, but I don't know. I've played that game a lot and even, like, fairly recently I've been doing the Randomizer and stuff. I guess I could see how it's not the flashiest Zelda. It's pretty by the books as far as, like, it's what you would expect from, like, you know, turn Link to the past into a 3D game. But, like, just at the time. Turning Links of the past into a 3D experience was insane. And like, there was a reason it was so highly regarded back then. I can't speak to what it'd be like playing it for the first time now. I still love the game, but. Yeah, I mean, look, if you're playing it for the first time now and you've played other Zelda games and ones with kind of more modern quality of life type stuff and everything, like, I get it. Like, it's just, you know, you don't. You don't have to like it.

[Mike Mahardy]

My answer might. I think this is a judicious, judicial way of saying it. I didn't play the Metal Gear Solid games when I was young. One and two. I came in. You're wearing a shirt right now. I came in a Few years. My first game I played when it had like recently released was 4. I went back to the previous games after I had played that and I absolutely saw why people loved them. And I do love them. I absolutely adore them, especially three. But I remember one and two being really hard to get through, control wise. And I'm not the first person to say this, but I remember thinking like, I think I was aware enough to know that if I had played that and if I had had a PS1 one when that came, those came out, that I would absolutely have like spent every day playing them. But maybe because it felt more out of obligation because I loved four and then, you know, really wanted, from what I knew about three, I wanted to get to three. So I just wanted to get through one and two. And I still love one. Sometimes I think I look back on one is my favorite of all them. But those struck me as why. Why are the controls so. So rough? But again, I was like, ah, well, I was on the PS1 controller, so I get it. Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

I mean there's just little quirks and stuff. Like whenever I've tried to introduce people to metal gear after 1998, you know, people are always like the snapping necks. Like that's such a big part of the game. But it's like you have to explain like, all right, you got to run close to the guards, but then don't hit square while you're moving because if you do that, you're going to flip them over. So you need to run close to them, stop, and then jam on square a bunch. And it's like, all right, like back.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's funny because Elden Ring brings that back. You can't backstab if you're still moving. You gotta kind of stop briefly before you stab them. Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

Okay.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's just a funny, like we've come full circle. But yeah, no, there's a lot of like intricacies with though that control scheme that I remember and like swiping, flipping through items. That's also Elden Ring. Did Miyazaki just play a lot of Metal Gear Solid while he was designing?

[Dan Ryker]

Well, that's the thing is like back then it was more about like how many things you could do. Like I remember playing that demo of metal gear solid 2 and it's like, okay, so you can hold your. So if you go into for first person and you hold up a guard and then you aim down and you point at their walkie talkie, they'll shake and you can basically hold them up for stuff. But then if you don't want to shoot them, it's pressure sensitive face button. So you have to, like, slowly let up on square to not shoot him. It's like, when you're obsessed with it, you do it because you're so enamored with the fact that you can do all these things that you're. You're patient about learning at all. But if you're going back to it, especially now, I'm sure it's like, what the.

[Mike Mahardy]

And also, like, playing those, I remember thinking, or playing four even, which is, you know, like, still relatively more indoors or urban areas. I'm like, man, before I even knew about the rest of series, I'm like, I wish there was one that was just strictly outdoor survival. And my cousin's like, well, get. Get this. The game right before this. Yeah. No, I still absolutely love those games. It's not like I don't think the early ones have aged all that well, but I still am like, I love them, but. Yeah. Ocarina, I legitimately cannot imagine and what it would be like to play that for the first time in 2024.

[Dan Ryker]

Probably just kind of clunky.

[Mary Kish]

I'm sure it just feels, like, awkward. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

It feels like it takes forever, I'm sure, to walk across the field. I'm sure there's some logic. Things that probably seem dated. Yeah, I get it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Because the field initially was like, hey, check out 3D. Look how big the space fields 3D.

[Dan Ryker]

It had the fucking sun that would go across the sky, and then it would get dark, and the fucking enemies would come out at night. And it was like. It was fucking revolutionary back then, but I'm sure now it just seems like a big, empty thing. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

You hear wolf howl, the drawbridge would rise.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, it's awesome.

[Mike Mahardy]

It's fucking great.

[Dan Ryker]

The torch is light. Yeah, it's awesome.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

I still love that game.

[Dan Ryker]

I had plenty that I tried and didn't like, you know, like the adventure game genre, the rpg, Final Fantasy, all that stuff. But those I tried as far as ones that I just never even played back then, it was pretty much all PC stuff because I, you know, at any house I was at, it was a stepdad or my dad or something. Like, I was not allowed to put games on it because it probably had a virus. And so, like, Diablo, Quake, you know, And I still don't think I've ever played Quake. I've never played the original, like, diablo or diablo 2 for some reason. Command and Conquer I would say, well, because that would actually play on my computer. I got like an E Machines computer in the late 90s and command and Conquer would play on it. In general, it's not.

[Mike Mahardy]

What do you mean? Command and Conquer?

[Dan Ryker]

What's that?

[Mike Mahardy]

So are you saying you never really liked the earlier games?

[Dan Ryker]

No, no, no. I loved them because, like, those on my shitty $200 computer or whatever.

[Mike Mahardy]

I thought you were the early command.

[Dan Ryker]

Of Conquerors could play. And so that was like one of the few. So like, I probably got that in 1998 or something. And so it's like that was the game, the new game that could run on my thing, but once it went to Polygons with General, it's like, oh, my computer can't play that.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, I see. I thought you were including those earlier games in this. The answer to this question. I'm like, I thought you liked those earlier.

[Dan Ryker]

No, I'm saying that is like the exception as far as PC games. Like, any, like, first person. I mean, it's why I, like, I loved every gaming magazine, but I didn't want to get Next Gen Magazine because they always covered PC games. And I would just get pissed off at like, God, this Kingpin game looks so realistic. I'll never get to play what is Half Life. I can't. I remember I bought Half Life because everybody was raving about it so fucking much. And I tried to install it on my E machines and it's like I could get to the menu, but then it like wouldn't load up the game and stuff and you can't return it. So I remember just being like, I just spent $50 on this game and I can't return it. And it's like I just swore off PC gaming, you know?

[Mike Mahardy]

So, yeah, I guess my last answer is. I look back and I. Sometimes I wish I played Final Fantasy when it. Like the earlier games, when it was more kind of just this dominant part of the zeitgeist. But again, I didn't have a PlayStation, so I wasn't really playing. I had a PS2. I didn't have a PS1. But I. I know people have this reverence for that storyline. I know people love those characters. I. I think that's my Ocarina. I'm like, I can't put myself in a headspace where I absolutely love that. But again, that doesn't mean I can't see why other people like it. And I guess that's why Rebirth and Remake are great, because I can at least sort of see the characters Through a more modern lens. But, yeah, Final Fantasy is kind of my. I don't get it, but I can get why other people are.

[Mary Kish]

I respect it, but I'm not gonna play it. I think that would be mine as well, Mike. The other one I recognized was, this is a weird one. But I never played a Dr. Mario growing up. And everybody raves about Dr. Mario. I don't know if you've noticed that, but nobody has a bad fucking thing to say about Dr. Mario. And I finally played it, like, when I was working at Gamespot, and I was like, this game's stupid. This game sucks. It's boring. I'm flipping pills. I hated it. And I don't understand why. Everybody loved Dr. Mario. Like, there must have been some era when we were kids. Everybody thought Dr. Mario was genius.

[Mike Mahardy]

You know, I saw my SNES Classic with roommates in San Francisco, and that was the first game they wanted to play with me. Like, what is this reference? My. Like, two.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah, I get. Okay. I like Dr. Mario a lot. I have very fond memories of Dr. Mario. But, Mary, everything you said is right in that. Like, it's not as far as puzzle games. There's way more intricate and involved and better ones, I think. I think it's the fact that, look, Dr. Mario has fucking awesome music. It's great music. You got Mario in a fun little doctor thing. Like, the whole aesthetics of it. It's Mario in a doctor thing with a little thing on his head, and he's throwing in, like, these little virus guys, little asshole virus dudes with good music, good sounds. It's like, it was a good puzzle game on nes also two players, fun, but it's out. Even back then, it was outclassed by any number of. Obviously Tetris and stuff is way better. So I get it if you're coming to it now, just being like, there are so many better puzzle games out there. But I have fond memories of it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, there's probably a bunch of, like, Super Nintendo era. Although I had Super Nintendo, so I played a lot of those. But, yeah, outside of that, there are other series and whatnot and games where I'm like, I don't get why people love this, but like it. But those are games I've played, and I just. It didn't connect with. In terms of, like, things I missed out on. I think it's Final Fantasy Fantasy. It's Metal Gear Solid, when they were new, stuff like that.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't think I realized how anti Final Fantasy. This entire podcast is. Like, when A new Final Fantasy comes out. Do we even talk about it? Like, did we talk about 16 or 15?

[Mary Kish]

Or Mike is our savior.

[Mike Mahardy]

Not the new one, not the brand new ones, but we. You were really the remakes 7.

[Dan Ryker]

The 7 stuff is pretty good. But like, I feel like. Did any of us talk about 16? I didn't played it.

[Mary Kish]

Or was that 15?

[Dan Ryker]

15 was the car trip thing.

[Mike Mahardy]

16 was more like Game of Thrones E. And that was last year.

[Dan Ryker]

Did any of us touch it?

[Mike Mahardy]

No, there was never spent a second.

[Dan Ryker]

Thinking about that game last summer.

[Mike Mahardy]

There was stuff going on. It also had the unfortunate thing where at a distance, it reminded me a lot of Forspoken's aesthetic.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh.

[Mike Mahardy]

And I just didn't want to get into that.

[Dan Ryker]

Sure.

[Mike Mahardy]

But also I feel like people who love final fantasy also 16 came and went.

[Dan Ryker]

That's the thing. It's always weirded me out. Like, whenever they announce a new numbered Final Fantasy and everyone freaks out about it, I think, like, wait a minute. I feel like I haven't heard anyone love like a numbered Final fantasy since like 12. Like, and so why is it always such a big deal when they announced 16 or 15? Seems like people didn't like 16.

[Mary Kish]

Seems like people didn't get emails for this 14.

[Dan Ryker]

It seems that's a whole different thing.

[Mike Mahardy]

I think 13 was a 13.

[Dan Ryker]

People hated 13.

[Mike Mahardy]

That was the trilogy where her clothes affected her abilities. Right.

[Dan Ryker]

It's like the lightning one and the guy's got a burden his hair.

[Mike Mahardy]

Because 12. 12.

[Dan Ryker]

12 is the one with the. Like loves that one. So I've seen that. That's the one with the Gambit system and all that. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Which is super cool. You can program them the game to play itself if you just wanted to grind through some.

[Dan Ryker]

And then that one had some cool ideas. Like 10 and 12. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Zodiac age was the, like re release on PS4 and switch and stuff.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I like that. I. I didn't beat it. I played half it. I. That's a game I frequently think about maybe going back to.

[Dan Ryker]

But I think 10 and 12 were. I mean, hell, all the old ones, basically, like all the old ones. And then 7, 8, 9. Obviously 10 and 12 were kind of like massive things that even as someone who didn't care about the genre, you would hear about all the time. I feel like since 12, which I was in college for, that I haven't heard anyone be like, oh, this new numbered Final Fantasy is fucking awesome. Outside of the remix. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

16. I'm trying to think what else was coming out around that. That was summer last year. Right.

[Mary Kish]

I really like the open world one.

[Dan Ryker]

The MMO one.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Fourteen people. That's the thing.

[Mary Kish]

But like, I don't even, like, I.

[Dan Ryker]

Kind of don't count that because that just seems like a whole different product, you know? Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

That got a number, like retroactively, almost in development, but like, yeah, 14 from what I played. And I'm not the biggest MMO person. I was like, oh, I totally get this. I, I was like, I gotta stop playing this. I could play it a lot. 16. That like what that was. I think it was June last year. Let me look that up.

[Dan Ryker]

It feels like last year and I.

[Mike Mahardy]

Feel like 22nd, 2023. What else? Something else came. Like.

[Dan Ryker]

I just don't real talking about.

[Mike Mahardy]

I feel as if there were other things coming out around then that took my attention more.

[Mary Kish]

I mean, I can't possibly scan the recesses of my brain for more Final Fantasy memories. I have so few. It's just a jar with flies in it.

[Dan Ryker]

Yep. Yep. There's occasionally, like, tactics. I love tactics, but that's like a different genre. Basically.

[Mike Mahardy]

I liked, I liked six when I finally went back to it.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. Today. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, let me look. So fine. Okay. June 22nd. What else was out around then?

[Dan Ryker]

It could be nothing. I just didn't play it because I wasn't gonna play it.

[Mike Mahardy]

I feel like there's got to be a reason. I didn't because I was kind of curious about. Oh. Diablo 4 was June 6th. Super Mega Baseball 4 Street Fighter 6 was earlier.

[Dan Ryker]

Real games. Okay. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Was there anything else, June? Layers of fear, F1. I wouldn't have played that. Rogue Legacy 2 on PS4. PS5. Oh, Pikmin 1 and 2. Okay. There was stuff going on.

[Mary Kish]

There was stuff going on.

[Mike Mahardy]

Stuff going on. I also probably.

[Dan Ryker]

Look, you could give me a paddle with a ball on it that you can hit back and forth. And that's better than Final Fantasy for me. That would have distracted me.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, I, I, Maybe it's good. That's the best thing I could say about it. Maybe it's good.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. There's no way to know.

[Mike Mahardy]

Anyway, do you have any others, Any other games for Wes?

[Dan Ryker]

Old PC stuff?

[Mary Kish]

Dr. Mario?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, like strategy games in general. Civilization is, is yours. I could probably say for both of you.

[Dan Ryker]

I tried Civilization back then. I hated it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, we had that in school and it was like, why aren't I seeing these enemies or these characters attack each other? Did not like it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Fair enough. All right, well, thank You, Wes. And thank you, Dan and Mary, first.

[Mary Kish]

Episode back together for being on the podcast. You're welcome.

[Mike Mahardy]

Thank you for coming.

[Mary Kish]

I agree this has been a huge ask, and I'm glad that you agree.

[Dan Ryker]

And I've got an ask for Mike. A homework assignment. Play case the Golden Idol before the next one.

[Mike Mahardy]

What platform? Do you have a code?

[Dan Ryker]

I'll set you up. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right.

[Mary Kish]

Didn't I ask for a code and you didn't give me one?

[Dan Ryker]

That's not right. I would have given you one, too, because I got a bunch of layers of this. Have you not cashed and you asked me for code recently and I gave you one. I've been waiting for you to respond.

[Mike Mahardy]

Wait, what?

[Dan Ryker]

You asked for a code, like, two weeks ago, and I gave it to you. I've been waiting for your response.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Mahardy]

Are you tapping out for still wakes.

[Dan Ryker]

The deep or something?

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Did you respond do not cash that in?

[Mike Mahardy]

No, I realized it's on Game Pass.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

I should. I probably. I forgot to say something. Sorry. I was probably still pissed about the Golden Idol thing.

[Dan Ryker]

Okay. It's actually coaching in.

[Mary Kish]

One of these days, Mike's gonna give you the Mary treatment, and he's gonna tell you what a piece of shit you are, and then you're gonna get it from both sides.

[Dan Ryker]

Mike's nice.

[Mary Kish]

I don't know.

[Dan Ryker]

The code was for Pogo Stick Champion, but I gave you.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yes, it's like when I gave you.

[Dan Ryker]

The number to the hemorrhoid facility.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, well, yeah, it's exactly like that. Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

How dare you call him nice. No, I threatened my life every week.

[Dan Ryker]

Not me. He had to kill me once.

[Mike Mahardy]

I haven't threatened you in a very long time. And also, yeah, I use the code because it was on Game Pass.

[Dan Ryker]

Okay, well, if you want. If you want Pogo Stick Champion, you've got a code for that.

[Mike Mahardy]

That would have been a good bit. The hemorrhoids plus yes, on Game Pass. God, that was still such a good joke.

[Mary Kish]

That got away.

[Mike Mahardy]

I got so deep into the conversation with that receptionist.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, sure. Hemorrhoid facility.

[Mike Mahardy]

You could tell she knew right away something was up. Yes, Like, I don't think he knew he was calling a butt place. Well, that's episode 85. Thank you, everybody, for joining. You can go to our Patreon if you want ad free episodes if you want video versions if you don't already, or if you just want to treat a tip jar because you appreciate what we do. That is fire escapecast.com or go to patreon.com fireescape Mary, tell people what they can [e-mail] I toss the URL to you so you don't have to remember.

[Mary Kish]

At this time, you can get our merch line. Our summer merch is still available. I don't think the code. The discounts are over. But summer is still.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, you missed out. You fucked up. But you can get them still.

[Mary Kish]

You can still get bathing suits.

[Dan Ryker]

Just give us more money.

[Mary Kish]

Yeah, there's a banana yellow bathing suit for everybody. You're gonna want that. Cavendish tops, crop tops, crop bottoms, bottom tops. You name it.

[Mike Mahardy]

Love bottom tops, tube tops, crop tubes, muffin tops.

[Dan Ryker]

They're all words.

[Mike Mahardy]

Lube tubes, Lube tubes. What would fire escape if you. If we were a candle or a lube, what would we smell like?

[Mary Kish]

Banana.

[Mike Mahardy]

Bananas, bananas, bananas. And it would come in banana yellow.

[Mary Kish]

It would smell like bananas, macaroni and jack cheese. And there would be a code on the cap that if you collected all 100, we would give you a million dollars.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, now we're talking.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, we have a million, but it's.

[Mary Kish]

A gimmick and no one will ever actually win it. And only stupid people will play.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, you just wait till I get that 11 piece.

[Mary Kish]

I will.

[Mike Mahardy]

Dan, what do you have going on outside of fire escape?

[Dan Ryker]

Giant Bomb stuff. Check that out. We've got a lot of fun stuff going on there. I had the entire run of Metal Gear Scanlan put up on YouTube for those to enjoy. It's been behind a paywall for all these years, and with all the hype going around about Metal Gear, I wanted more people to be able to see it. So search for Metal Gear Scanlan on YouTube if you want to see One of the best things we've ever done at Giant Bomb. We were talking about Drew earlier. He's just a killer throughout that entire series, so check that out. Also on a podcast called Firescape. Personal stuff. Dan Rykert on Instagram and Twitch. I hope to be streaming again now, post surgery and get some of this travel behind me. I hope to be able to stream again because it's been quite a while and I like doing it, so I want to get back out there.

[Mike Mahardy]

Metal Gear Scanlan is appropriate for the conversation we were having earlier. If you don't necessarily want to be playing through those games. It is just as fun. Fun to watch. Dan guide Drew. Technically, they stole the idea from Mary and me because we did that. Resident Can Evil.

[Dan Ryker]

You were the first ones to do a playthrough on the Internet. Yeah, yeah, it's true.

[Mike Mahardy]

And everybody else stole that from us.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Just know that going in, it probably won't give up the expectations.

[Dan Ryker]

We credit you in every episode. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah, you do. I think. I think for some reason that got cut from the YouTube versions, though. If people are curious, I have.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, weird.

[Mike Mahardy]

I've got the backup somewhere. Mary, what do you have going on outside? Fire escape.

[Mary Kish]

I'm back at work, which is nice. Probably just trying to play games. Finish my backlog. I basically took two weeks off of playing games, so I'd like to get back into it. Let me know your recommendations. Should I be Case of the Golden.

[Dan Ryker]

Isles and Hollow Knight. Yes, both of those are great.

[Mike Mahardy]

Let's play Diablo. Play Diablo together.

[Dan Ryker]

Dungeon Clawer. It's a demo. It's early access, but it's very good.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah.

[Mary Kish]

You know what's crazy? Like, you obviously just a terrible, horrible, nasty little troll. But I think because of your experiences of having no memory whatsoever, you're just not entirely sure if you're just being stupid again. I can't tell anymore.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't know.

[Mary Kish]

Half the time I don't know if you're with me. You could be this dumb.

[Dan Ryker]

You. It's a hell of a way to live. Yeah. It's an interesting way to just go about and experience the world.

[Mary Kish]

Who knows what's going in that dusty old cabeza of yours, Dan?

[Mike Mahardy]

I don't know, Mary. You should play. You should play Platypus Adopted by a Fox. Really fun indie. Indie game. India game. It's a Bollywood game. You'd love it. It's a sick.

[Dan Ryker]

Boy, that was a long walk.

[Mike Mahardy]

The sick indie game. You'd love it.

[Mary Kish]

It's a cozy game.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yeah. Dan, you should play Dinosaur on roller skates.

[Dan Ryker]

That sounds great. I think I printed that on Super Nintendo.

[Mike Mahardy]

You just. You ride around in an arena knocking Ringos off their feet.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah, you gotta collect all his balls. Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

You gotta collect all his semen. Yeah.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

It was episode 85. I'm just here at Fire Escape. That's what I. That's.

[Mary Kish]

That's what I'm doing. Precious Glue Mike Mahardi.

[Mike Mahardy]

Yep.

[Dan Ryker]

Yep.

[Mike Mahardy]

I'm the glue. Glow grow, Michelle. Big Mike.

[Mary Kish]

Oh, Michelle. Dan is the wild card. And I'm here.

[Mike Mahardy]

You're the muscle. You're the. You're the soldier. Yeah, I'm the.

[Dan Ryker]

I don't think it picked up on my mic. I hope it's on the Audacity recording. But when you said I was the wild card I farted loud.

[Mike Mahardy]

I heard that.

[Dan Ryker]

You did. Okay.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right.

[Dan Ryker]

Please go back and check that. I did. That's my answer to the email. That's something funny I did that. No one noticed.

[Mike Mahardy]

And Dan, I love that. Like, I knew you would have no answer to that because you have this in. You have this impulse that everybody needs to know everything you did.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah. You gotta know. Every time I fart, I text Bianca.

[Mary Kish]

What a waste.

[Mike Mahardy]

Her phone just. Just constantly vibrating.

[Dan Ryker]

Farted. Farted.

[Mike Mahardy]

Oh, man. I've been doing some long farts lately.

[Dan Ryker]

Oh, cool.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're fun.

[Dan Ryker]

Yeah.

[Mike Mahardy]

Early morning and I'm up early. Something about Matosh is just not. Not ready to let him go. It's like. No, it's like a string of fart.

[Dan Ryker]

Falling off a clip.

[Mike Mahardy]

Don't go. I want to. Stay inside me. Stay inside me.

[Dan Ryker]

No. Stay inside me. No. Says Ringo to his fart.

[Mike Mahardy]

They're escaping. Somebody get it back in me.

[Dan Ryker]

Push it back. Push it back.

[Mike Mahardy]

Push it back in. I'll spread it for you. Get it back in me.

[Dan Ryker]

Stop.

[Mike Mahardy]

Stop with the roller skates. Stop the circus. Get it in. It's like toothpaste. Doesn't go back in the tube. Let's hope not.

[Mary Kish]

Knock on wood.

[Dan Ryker]

Knock on bar.

[Mary Kish]

We're back. Fire escapes back.

[Mike Mahardy]

All right, see you next episode. Bye.

[Dan Ryker]

Bye.

[Mike Mahardy]

Sa.