Runescape and a Competitor to Limbo? It's a Grab Bag, Y'all

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Besties – "Runescape and a Competitor to Limbo? It's a Grab Bag, Y'all"

Episode Details:

• Title: Runescape and a Competitor to Limbo? It's a Grab Bag, Y'all
• Hosts: Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Russ Frushtick
• Release Date: April 25, 2025

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1. Opening Banter and Introductions (00:00 – 02:11)

The episode kicks off with the hosts engaging in their trademark humorous banter. Griffin and Justin joke about synchronized burping attempts, which leads to Russ attempting a "cold open" about persecution. This light-hearted start sets the tone for the episode's casual and friendly atmosphere.

• Justin McElroy (00:05): "Russ had said he had a cold open and he was time sensitive. He really wanted to do it, but then we all fired. We all had one in the chamber."

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2. Trader Joe’s Egg Shortage Story (02:11 – 05:07)

Russ shares an amusing and relatable story about encountering a massive egg shortage at Trader Joe’s during the Easter season. He describes arriving to find a line of over 300 people eager to purchase an Easter-themed tote bag, leaving him frustrated as he just wanted eggs.

• Russ Frushtick (02:07): "So I went to the supermarket... It took like, 25 minutes to wait in this line."
• Griffin McElroy (04:04): "It was the worst day of my life."

---

3. Introduction to the Episode’s Theme: Grab Bag of Games (05:07 – 08:31)

After the anecdote, the hosts transition into discussing the episode's main content—a variety of video games they've been enjoying. Justin humorously downplays the significance of these games, but the hosts dive deeper into each title, offering insights and reviews.

• Justin McElroy (05:10): "Welcome to the Besties, where we talk about the latest and greatest in home interactive entertainment."

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4. Runescape Dragon Wilds Review (08:31 – 18:24)

Overview and Gameplay Mechanics

Griffin introduces RuneScape Dragon Wilds, describing it as an open-world survival crafting game that incorporates elements from the classic RuneScape MMOs. He explains the integration of RuneScape's skill system into a survival genre, making the game unique and engaging.

• Griffin McElroy (08:10): "...Runescape Dragon Wilds... it is like an open world survival crafting game in the vein of your shrouded rusts, things along that line."

Community and Development

Russ comments on the active RuneScape Reddit community, while Griffin elaborates on the game's successful integration of old-school mechanics with modern survival elements. They discuss the game's colorful aesthetic and the utility-focused base building, which differentiates it from other survival games.

• Russ Frost (12:58): "No, it's a lot of these sort of games, like even Enshrouded, which is a game I really liked, does have a kind of a filter over it..."
• Griffin McElroy (16:11): "So, yeah, I've been enjoying it. I've been playing on my Rogue Ally. It works pretty well."

Future Prospects

Griffin mentions his intention to revisit the game once it receives further updates, indicating the game's potential for growth and continued engagement.

• Griffin McElroy (17:23): "Yeah, it's definitely a check back in scenario."

---

5. Sunderfolk Overview (18:24 – 26:37)

Justin discusses his exploration of "Sunderfolk," a game developed by Secret Door. He presents it as a hybrid between cooperative and competitive gameplay, utilizing smartphones as controllers to enhance the multiplayer experience.

• Justin McElroy (19:35): "Think a game that is halfway between... Legend of Zelda, Four Swords."

Gameplay Mechanics

The game employs QR codes for players to download a companion app, turning their phones into touch-based controllers. This setup facilitates a seamless collaborative experience, allowing players to interact with the game environment dynamically.

• Justin McElroy (20:18): "...scanning the QR code on their phones and that prompts them to download an app that is the Sunderfolk controller."

Player Interaction and Experience

Russ and Griffin highlight the game's balance between collaboration and competition, noting how players must decide between helping others and pursuing personal gains, which adds depth to the multiplayer interactions.

• Griffin McElroy (25:05): "If you have kids, this would be a really great balance between, like, interacting with screens, but still, like, interacting with each other."

---

6. Bionic Bay Review (26:37 – 33:20)

Game Description and Aesthetic

Griffin introduces "Bionic Bay," a 2D puzzle-platformer reminiscent of "Limbo" and "Inside." The game features a scientist protagonist who is teleported to a hostile alien world, navigating through biomechanical landscapes filled with dangers like lasers and gears.

• Russ Frost (27:09): "You're a scientist in a lab and something goes wrong and you for some reason get teleported to an alien world..."

Gameplay and Mechanics

The hosts delve into the game's core mechanics, such as teleport swaps and super strength punches, which players use to solve puzzles and navigate the environment. The integration of these abilities with the game's physics-based challenges offers a fresh take on the platforming genre.

• Griffin McElroy (29:45): "A lot of moments are like, oh, shit, I can't believe that worked moments. It's quite smart."

Visuals and Performance

Russ praises the game's stunning visuals and smooth performance, particularly on platforms like the Steam Deck. The artistic design effectively conveys a sense of scale and immersion.

• Russ Frost (30:00): "I found it just visually very compelling, like immediately grabbing."

Online Features

Griffin mentions the asynchronous online feature, allowing players to compete against ghost runs of others, enhancing replayability through daily challenges and character customization.

• Griffin McElroy (30:51): "Once you beat it, there wasn't necessarily a reason for me to go back. And this gives me a little bit more of an incentive to, like, go back and, you know, play."

---

7. Listener Mail and Recommendations (34:02 – 35:56)

The hosts read a listener's letter from Bass Toad, requesting game recommendations focused on freeform construction and collaborative play. They respond with a curated list of games that cater to building and creativity, including "Vintage Story," "Planet Zoo," "Tiny Glade," "Blockland," and "The Sims 4."

• Russ Frost (34:35): "Blockland, a Lego style building game where you are the size of a minifigure."

Griffin and Russ share personal anecdotes about these games, reminiscing about past experiences and discussing their current impressions, emphasizing the versatility and creativity these titles offer.

• Griffin McElroy (35:22): "God, Blockland. I remember playing this game."

---

8. Upcoming Content and Wrap-Up (35:56 – 53:00)

Future Episodes Teasers

The hosts preview upcoming episodes, including a review of the "Oblivion Remaster" and "Skin Deep" by Blendo Games. They express excitement about these titles, hinting at in-depth discussions and high expectations based on past experiences.

• Justin McElroy (52:11): "I think it's eight years. That's gonna be next week. Be sure to skin next time for the besties because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games."

Host Projects and Personal Updates

Justin showcases his personal project—a portable video game console built using a Raspberry Pi 5, complete with custom controllers and a monitor. The demonstration highlights his technical prowess and passion for gaming hardware.

• Justin McElroy (44:05): "I got a Raspberry PI 5 Velcroed to the top of that. Right. And then I've got the two controllers paired with, with Bluetooth to this."

Conclusion and Thank Yous

The episode concludes with acknowledgments to Patreon supporters and a humorous exchange about the portability and naming of Justin's custom console. The hosts maintain their engaging dynamic, leaving listeners anticipating the next episode.

• Russ Frost (50:00): "Have you done like, how much, like, when you start a new device, how much work do you have to do over again?"

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Key Takeaways and Insights

• Integration of Classic Elements: The hosts appreciate how modern games like RuneScape Dragon Wilds and Sunderfolk integrate classic gaming mechanics with contemporary genres, offering nostalgic yet fresh experiences.

• Innovation in Multiplayer: Sunderfolk's use of smartphones as controllers exemplifies innovative approaches to multiplayer gaming, fostering both collaboration and competition.

• Emphasis on Visuals and Mechanics: Bionic Bay stands out for its compelling visuals and intelligent puzzle design, blending aesthetic appeal with challenging gameplay.

• Community and Longevity: The discussion around RuneScape highlights the importance of active communities and ongoing development in maintaining a game's relevance and player engagement over time.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Justin McElroy (05:10): "Welcome to the Besties, where we talk about the latest and greatest in home interactive entertainment."

• Russ Frost (02:07): "So I went to the supermarket... It took like, 25 minutes to wait in this line."

• Griffin McElroy (08:10): "...Runescape Dragon Wilds... it is like an open world survival crafting game in the vein of your shrouded rusts, things along that line."

• Griffin McElroy (29:45): "A lot of moments are like, oh, shit, I can't believe that worked moments. It's quite smart."

• Justin McElroy (44:05): "I got a Raspberry PI 5 Velcroed to the top of that. Right. And then I've got the two controllers paired with, with Bluetooth to this."

---

Conclusion

In this episode of "The Besties," Griffin, Justin, Chris, and Russ provide insightful and entertaining reviews of a diverse selection of video games. From nostalgic triumphs like RuneScape Dragon Wilds to innovative newcomers like Sunderfolk and Bionic Bay, the hosts offer their unique perspectives, enriched with humor and personal anecdotes. Listener engagement through mail and future project showcases, such as Justin's portable console, further enhance the episode's depth and variety. Whether you're a seasoned gamer or new to these titles, this episode delivers valuable insights and entertaining discussions that celebrate the joy of gaming among friends.

Transcript

[Griffin McElroy]

Did we all kind of cue up a burp at the same time there?

[Justin McElroy]

That's crazy, dude. I definitely have one in the chamber.

[Griffin McElroy]

Crazy.

[Justin McElroy]

Wow. Russ had said he had a cold open and he was time sensitive. He really wanted to do it, but then we all fired. We all had one in the chamber.

[Griffin McElroy]

When we did our cast, we didn't launch it. Like, we wouldn't. We're audio professionals. We wouldn't like. But we all got a little choked up there.

[Justin McElroy]

It's funny. We all burped, and now Russ can't do the one that he wanted to do. I really wanted to hear it too.

[Russ Frost]

Guys, I want to talk about persecution, okay?

[Griffin McElroy]

Just the idea of it.

[Justin McElroy]

Honestly, if I need an expert in that, Russ, you are the one I turn to.

[Russ Frost]

What do you guys know about me? What do you think? If you were thinking of facts that you know about Russ Frosty and things that he likes, what's one thing that you would say he likes?

[Justin McElroy]

The steam from scrambled eggs.

[Griffin McElroy]

The steam that comes off an egg when that hits your eye like a big pizza pie. He loves that. We know this.

[Justin McElroy]

His children. One child. It's tough to keep track of.

[Russ Frost]

No, no. You hit it in one. You hit it in one.

[Justin McElroy]

Got one kid likes that. Likes video games.

[Griffin McElroy]

Roguelike.

[Justin McElroy]

Likes hurting himself with video games.

[Russ Frost]

That's true. The secret about the egg steam is that it does require eggs, which is to say I like eggs. Indirectly, I like eggs.

[Justin McElroy]

It's funny, from the reflection of Griffin's glasses in his computer monitors, I can tell when his mind is wandering. And that's interesting because I could just.

[Griffin McElroy]

See the flashes I'm looking at.

[Justin McElroy]

It's like he's looking for any tab that might illuminate me.

[Griffin McElroy]

I'm nothing but my boys right now.

[Russ Frost]

So I don't know if you guys are aware, but there's been a bit of an egg shortage in America lately, such that for certain supermarkets, including the one that is within walking distance of me, it's a Trader Joe's. There's been a sincere egg shortage, such that you have to kind of get there right at opening to get a carton of eggs, you're limited to one carton. I get that. I'm. I have no objections to that. Obviously, the eggs should be shared among wide and all.

[Griffin McElroy]

I don't feel that way. I feel like if I get there early and have the most money, I should be able to buy all the eggs.

[Justin McElroy]

I realized I also don't think vegans should be buying them, period. I need those.

[Griffin McElroy]

Those are For Justin and Russ. Russ needs them to live.

[Russ Frost]

I don't think vegans can buy them. Right.

[Griffin McElroy]

So was there a point to your story? Or was there? Or were you just.

[Russ Frost]

Okay, so I went to the supermarket. This is the week leading up to Easter. I went to Trader Joe's to go buy eggs right at opening. And I arrive and there is a line of, no exaggeration, 312 people in line at Trader Joe's.

[Griffin McElroy]

Wait a minute.

[Justin McElroy]

Hold on, hold on.

[Griffin McElroy]

How did you.

[Justin McElroy]

How could you exaggeration then say 312?

[Griffin McElroy]

Did they give you a ticket that said 313 on it? Or did you go head by head?

[Russ Frost]

They were counting people as they went through the door. They had a counter, a ticker to make sure it didn't get overflow.

[Justin McElroy]

Legit. Legit. I'm sorry, Russ. I was out of line talking.

[Russ Frost]

Speaking of persecution, here we are.

[Justin McElroy]

This is a cold open.

[Russ Frost]

So I arrive and I'm like, this seems odd.

[Justin McElroy]

We should be recording this.

[Russ Frost]

There's too many people here for right early in the morning just to buy eggs. Normally there's like a dozen people that are pretty jazzed about buying eggs, but otherwise, no. Turns out Trader Joe's was selling an Easter themed tote bag that was specially released, and people were really fucking jazzed about it. You know who wasn't jazzed about it?

[Griffin McElroy]

Who?

[Russ Frost]

The guy who came just to get eggs.

[Griffin McElroy]

Oh, is that.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

And I had to wait in the line. It took like, 25 minutes to wait in this line.

[Justin McElroy]

Now, Russ, why wasn't there two lines? They know there's an egg problem. That would be really to'd if I was you.

[Russ Frost]

That's what I said. Why isn't there a tote bag line and an everything else line?

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

But honestly, I think it was fitting for the holiday for me to be suffering in this way.

[Griffin McElroy]

Okay.

[Russ Frost]

I thought it was an appropriate connection to the holiday that at least one person was being subjected to something truly awful. And in my case, waiting 25 minutes in line.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah. To buy a tote bag. And then three days later.

[Russ Frost]

Okay. And the worst part of it is, by the end, the worst part of it was.

[Justin McElroy]

I do know already, but go on.

[Russ Frost]

No, the worst part of it was after 20 minutes of waiting in line. I gotta be honest, I kinda wanted the tote bag. And they announced I was five minutes away from the end of the line. They announced, I'm sorry, everyone, we're out of tote bags.

[Griffin McElroy]

Did that at least clear out the line so you could go on, finish your animation?

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, people were like pot committed at that point.

[Justin McElroy]

They were like, I hope they have video epitaphs by the time that you die. I want a video tombstone that just plays you telling that story. This is the refreshing experience.

[Russ Frost]

It was the worst day of my life.

[Justin McElroy]

Did you try to buy one off of somebody else or.

[Russ Frost]

No, I should have ebay that. What were they charging, like $3. Idiots.

[Griffin McElroy]

Damn, that's.

[Russ Frost]

They could have really raked them over the coals.

[Justin McElroy]

My name is Justin McElroy and I know the best games of the week.

[Griffin McElroy]

My name is Griffin McElroy. I know the best game of the week.

[Russ Frost]

My name is Russ Rush. I know the best game of the week.

[Justin McElroy]

Welcome to the Besties, where we talk about the latest and greatest in home interactive entertainment. It's a video game club. Just by listening, you, my friend, have become a member. This week we have a melange for you, one of our beloved grab bag episodes where we talk about a bunch of different games that we're enjoying, none of which you care enough about to make a whole episode around it. That's the truth. That's the algorithm.

[Griffin McElroy]

That's it.

[Justin McElroy]

That's not us.

[Russ Frost]

You might care about them, but not right now. Currently you don't.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, the plural you.

[Russ Frost]

Currently you don't. But maybe at the end you will. Enough to be like that should have been a whole episode.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, perhaps. Well, there's only one way to find out and it's to take a quick break and then come back and then do the dang thing.

[Unknown]

This episode is brought to you by Aura Frames. I love aura frames and it is the perfect time to get one for someone that you love in your life, specifically your mom. If you get along this Mother's Day, you can give mom a call, you could shoot her a text, or you could get an aura digital frame, send it over, and then you can just publish photos directly to that frame all year long. Here's a tip though, looking back. Maybe give her a call, send her a text and do the frame. I think that's the best case scenario. You don't want to like not talk with your mom. Anyway, the frame is absolutely wonderful. I have one in our house, I have one in my in laws, I have one at my parents. I use this weekly. It was named the best digital photo frame by Wirecutter and featured in 495 gift guides last year. And that is because it is so easy to use. It really is. As simple as opening up the Aura Frame app, picking some photos from your photo reel and just tossing it in and that will put it on your frame or a frame, you know, halfway around the world. It's pretty incredible and it looks great. Aura has a great deal for Mother's Day. For a limited time, listeners can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off or plus free shipping on their best selling Carver Mat frame. I have that one.

[Russ Frost]

It's great.

[Unknown]

That's a U R A frames.com promo code. Besties B E S T I E S Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Please. Terms and conditions apply.

[Russ Frost]

Griffin, you played an old game, a game that's been out for like 30 years at this point, with like 2D graphics and shit.

[Griffin McElroy]

No, I understand your confusion, but when.

[Justin McElroy]

I saw this pop up on Steam with you playing at Griffin, I just assumed they renamed Blueprints.

[Griffin McElroy]

No, I have. I think I beat Blueprints. I am gonna talk this week about Runescape Dragon Wilds. And if you say the full title of that, your underwear goes up your own butt. It kind of is like an auto wedgie situation. Are you guys at all familiar with RuneScape?

[Russ Frost]

All I know about RuneScape is the Reddit community for the original game is very active and memes will bubble up to the homepage of Reddit, but I won't understand any of them.

[Griffin McElroy]

So I think the main reason for that is old school Runescape is sort of the re released version of just that old. The original Runescape that is out on iOS where it works pretty well and sort of really revived the community. RuneScape3 is also kind of still available, but from what I can tell, old school Runescape is sort of the supreme game.

[Russ Frost]

And are those MMOs or are they.

[Griffin McElroy]

Just like so yes, they are MMOs. Runescape was a very, just primordial MMO that had a sort of like top, not quite top down, sort of like isometric perspective. You had your character, there were no classes or anything like that. But instead it kind of spearheaded this idea of you have two dozen skills and the skills can be like logging and tailoring.

[Russ Frost]

I've seen people talking about how hard.

[Griffin McElroy]

It is tailor and as you do those things, those specific skills level up. And so that's a lot of the game's content. And it also sort of inspired a lot of other games that would then come after Elder Scrolls. Sure, yeah, absolutely. But it is an mmo. So what is very cool about runescape dragonwilds is if you are at all familiar with Runescape or old school runescape, there's a lot there that has been adapted in a weird way that is sort of non traditional for like, I don't know, new games in a franchise. It is not an mmo. It is an open world survival crafting game in the vein of your shrouded rusts, things along that line. So you're going around, you're collecting wood and stone to make a thing, to chop down a bigger thing. XYZ. However, it does have that same skilling system as RuneScape. So anytime you do anything in this game, you are constantly leveling up these skills and unlocking these little passive bonuses or unlocking new spells or unlocking X, Y or Z. And so this game is interesting because there's a lot of ways that the logic and rules of old school runescape actually lend themselves really, really well to this particular genre of game. Not only that, sometimes you'll find a quest that is a quest from old school runescape. I don't know that you will necessarily vibe with that if you don't give a shit about that.

[Russ Frost]

No, probably not.

[Griffin McElroy]

But it does some stuff that is sort of like. It does some stuff that's interesting.

[Russ Frost]

Sorry, what is a quest of like, is it like, oh, I remember that time that guy asked me for vlogs and I went fucking nuts.

[Griffin McElroy]

So you're showing your ass a little bit here right now because Runescape was weird in that like, its quests were not straightforward. They were not like, go here, do this thing. It was like you would find a ghost and it'd be like, here's an amulet, find my body, and you wouldn't get fucking anything else from it.

[Russ Frost]

I'm down there with that. That sounds like a movie.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, no, I mean, and I genuinely think like old school Runescape is free to play on your ph or iPad. And I do think there's a lot there that's interesting as sort of a historical document. But that stuff will obviously be lost on you if you didn't play that game. One thing that's really neat is that there is magic in this game. The way the magic system works is you collect these runes, which are sort of like your ammunition for casting these different spells. You unlock these spells by leveling up different skills. So for instance, the first spell I unlocked by leveling up my wood cutting skill summons a magic axe that you kind of swirl in front of you and then throw forwards and it chops down every tree right in front of you that you sort of aim it at. And then you get a spell that causes the trees that fall down to Explode. So you can just grab all the lumber without having to chop stuff down.

[Russ Frost]

That's cool.

[Griffin McElroy]

There's a spell that lets you just do one really high jump which really sort of makes exploration and stuff a lot more interesting. There's a lot of really interesting kind of applications of magic in the game and I think overall it feels pretty good. It was sort of a ste launch. Jagex, I believe, is the name of the team who makes runescape.

[Russ Frost]

Those Jags.

[Griffin McElroy]

Those jags, they kind of just like stealth launched it and were like, yeah, give it a try. It's early access. Let us know what you think. And it's like solid. It's genuinely pretty fun.

[Russ Frost]

I do like that it's colorful.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, sure.

[Russ Frost]

No, it's a lot of these sort of games, like even Enshrouded, which is a game I really liked, does have a kind of a filter over it that kind of jumps a lot, which is more realistic certainly. But this is like more also line with that Hera.

[Justin McElroy]

It's also the design of like the, the main characters and stuff. It feels less like there. We've gotten so kludgy with character design lately. Like the, the. The piling on of accessories and bands and everything. There's a lot of iconic silhouettes here. Like it feels like iconic fantasy, if you will. You know how like Final Fantasy games these days all want to have. Have their cake and eat it too. Like whether leather jackets and swords. Like that never happened.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, because they have the Uniqlo brand deal after the.

[Justin McElroy]

Exactly.

[Griffin McElroy]

That is not the case. And a lot of the armor from RuneScape is in the game. A lot of the weapons from RuneScape are in the game. And so that is why that stuff kind of looks sort of like 90s camp fantasy is because that's exactly where it was pulled from.

[Justin McElroy]

It looks like. You know what it kind of reminds me of is the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yes, for sure. And so like I have. I didn't play runescape when I was a kid. I played old school Runescape. And so like, I don't know, I've always been very charmed by that world. I think the aesthetic is really kind of something neat and I think that this game is really promising. I do think it is a bit content light at the moment. You can't level up all the skills to like max level. Some of the skills are like missing entirely. Like there's no. You can shoot bows and stuff, but there's no like ranged skill to like level up alongside that. And from what I Can understand, like you can get through most of the content of the game like relatively quickly.

[Russ Frost]

Is it. What is the like paint. Is it just like buy once and you're good or is there a. Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

No, it's not an mmo. It's buy once and you're good. I think it's like 30 bucks, I want to say. But like, I don't know. I have been enjoying it. I don't think it is hitting quite as hard as like Enshrouded. I think is in a really good spot right now and kind of does a lot of this stuff better and has better building and more to kind of do. But I do think that it's a really sort of ironically, it has a lot of original ideas or I guess Runescape had a lot of original ideas and this one has adapted them very smartly. And so, yeah, I've been enjoying it. I've been playing on my Rogue Ally. It works pretty well.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, I was gonna say Rogue Ally, a new addition. That does seem neat. You know, I get a little bit overwhelmed by all of the survival, whatever the genre is, the survival RPG genre. But it's good to see something that does at least visually stick out from the pack in that way.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah. And it's also like, I don't know, I think it's fun that fans of this franchise who have not really had anything to snack on since, you know, Runescape 3 dropped a million billion years ago just get this like huge kind of exciting thing.

[Russ Frost]

Do they seem happy? Because oftentimes.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, no, it's been, it's. The response has been like incredible.

[Russ Frost]

I can't imagine trying to make an audience like that. Like, that's pretty fucking impressive.

[Justin McElroy]

I do think it's kind of incredible that like an audience can just keep their busted, broken down thing going long enough with a great circle of time comes back around and like, wait, people still like Runescape?

[Griffin McElroy]

Well, I mean, just make more of this old school Runescape, really set that ablaze and I'll say really set the tone for World of Warcraft classic. That did kind of the same thing. Eq, I think did sort of the same thing, but I don't know. Old school Runescape, it just works so well on a touch device. And I think that's why the community is still as fired up about it as Lord British.

[Russ Frost]

What the fuck are you doing?

[Griffin McElroy]

What are you doing though?

[Russ Frost]

Time Man, Sitting on the toilet doing nothing. Get in it. Make your own remake. Lord. He's lost in his magic house.

[Justin McElroy]

That's what happened Griffin, here's the great. The great question I have for you. What is your plan for this game going forward? Is this something you're gonna hang with now that you've talked?

[Griffin McElroy]

Lord British was Ultima online.

[Russ Frost]

I know. I was saying he hasn't thrown his hat.

[Justin McElroy]

It's like not making something.

[Griffin McElroy]

Oh, I see.

[Justin McElroy]

Like, whereas he needs to get Ultima back going.

[Russ Frost]

Fell into a trapdoor in his fancy house and now he can't get out again.

[Justin McElroy]

Griffin and he are very close friends.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, true.

[Justin McElroy]

So my question to you, Griffin, because you weren't listening because you were looking up facts about Richard Garriott, my question once more is, now that the episode is completed, do you think that this is something you're gonna hop right back in and play some more of, or do you feel like we'll check back in in six months? Where you at?

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, it's definitely a check back in scenario. I've put maybe 10, 12 hours in it and built a cool base and done some of the story stuff and found a dope weapon and did that. But it is tough to dedicate a lot of time, at least personally speaking, it's tough to dedicate a lot of time to a game that you know is going to be better in some amount of time once it's gotten some updates. So, yeah, I am probably going to put this one to bed for now until it is more active. But that said, I've had fun with it and I wouldn't let that stop.

[Russ Frost]

You if you're interested with Enshrouded. Have you gone back?

[Griffin McElroy]

I'm waiting for yes, I've gone back to. Enshrouded's gotten a ton of shit waiting.

[Russ Frost]

For 1.0 on that. Like, I don't want to.

[Griffin McElroy]

As soon as that drops. Yeah, that's going to be. That's going to be huge. I did return to Intro a little bit earlier this year when I got the Rog ally and wanted to, you know, play some stuff on it. And yeah, it's in good shape too, but same sort of thing. Like, I'm in the same boat. I would love for 1.0 to drop. So I feel like, okay, all the time. I invest in this. Makes sense because this is like the Capital G game.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

What else are you talking about?

[Justin McElroy]

I checked out something this week called Sunderfolk. It was part of an Easter celebration, an impromptu Easter celebration, because I was stuck at my house while other people swam. So I started an impromptu Thunderfolk party. What is Thunderfolk, Justin? Well, thank you.

[Griffin McElroy]

I Was gonna. I would ask.

[Justin McElroy]

Go ahead.

[Griffin McElroy]

You didn't really leave much on.

[Justin McElroy]

I was being their listener, not just what is Sunderfolk? Yeah, sorry. In my head, that was the listener, not you guys. Who should have asked.

[Russ Frost]

I was distracted by Griffin's Funky Kong shirt and couldn't ask anything. So.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yes.

[Justin McElroy]

So Sunderfolk developed by Secret Door. Who has done Sunderfolk.

[Griffin McElroy]

You may know them from.

[Justin McElroy]

You may know them from Thunderfolk. Okay, so imagine a game that is halfway between, like, you don't know Jack and Four Swords. Legend of Zelda, Four Swords. So the idea is like you start the game on a computer or laptop, what have you. I think the ideal scenario is you're running it into a TV with an HDMI out, but you could run it off the laptop regardless. And then is it on?

[Russ Frost]

I could you do like an Apple TV situation or.

[Justin McElroy]

You know, I mean, I don't. I. As far as I know, this is just coming to steam right now. But so. And this is part of the, I guess, Dreamhaven franchise.

[Russ Frost]

Oh, sure. Dream Haven.

[Justin McElroy]

So that's a whole. I don't need to tell you about Dreamhaven. So when you boot up the game, it basically starts a campaign. And the campaign has a QR code on the screen. People scan the QR code on their phones and that prompts them to download an app that is the Sunderfolk controller. So then when you start. This is also. I think there's some parallels to the stuff that. Until Dawn. Is it super massive?

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

Some parallels to what they did with hidden. Somebody looked that up. You know the one.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, this. The anthology. Right.

[Russ Frost]

That they did hidden pictures.

[Justin McElroy]

There was like one where you had a. It was an investigation thing where you had a secret agenda that you were trying to complete. And the other players. Anyway, yeah, you. As you play through the game, the main interactions of it are basically a Hex.

[Griffin McElroy]

The Dark Pictures anthology.

[Russ Frost]

Thank you.

[Justin McElroy]

That's not the one you're talking about. I was talking about. But anyway, in Thunderfolk, it's a hex. The combat is like a hex based system where you choose a character class. All pretty bog standard stuff, right. You got a bard, you got a wizard, you got a fighter, what have you. And then the campaign starts. Each person is controlling a character and they can make like dialogue choices, stuff like that throughout on the phone. But then when you're playing the game, the phone becomes basically like a touchscreen controller where you're manipulating what's on the screen. So you're not doing much of the interaction on your phone, right? You're not staring at your phone the whole time, you're looking at the screen, but you're using the touch screen to move your character, choose things that you want to do. And then your spells and actions are all like card based on the phone. So you're swiping up the things that you want to do.

[Griffin McElroy]

Okay, I was going to ask. I don't understand why this needed to be a phone and not a controller until you.

[Justin McElroy]

Well, the thing is, if you are, it's the setting, right? It's a phone, not a controller. Because people have phones. And so you can get. It's the same model as like, I mean, you don't know. Jack could be a controller too, right? But the model is different because you can bring people in for a couch co op thing where the phone. You don't have to pair a bunch of controllers and hook it up and everything.

[Russ Frost]

Is it adversarial at all or is it.

[Justin McElroy]

So there is definitely an aspect of collaboration, but there is an aspect where the first person to touch the gold or the first person to interact with the treasure chest keeps it. And then your gold is specific to you. So there's definitely this element of like, I really should come help you with that, but I really want this gold. And so there's a little bit of like back and forth as far as that goes on and you've got the character. There's a story being told, right. There's a campaign story where you can like hop in and hop out and control the characters. What I don't know is like, I played it with slice for like an hour and a half, I would say. And it took us just a little bit to kind of figure out the basics mechanically. If you were playing this like solo, if it didn't have the other elements, I think you would be like, I don't know what the. You know, most of it is just kind of functional, right. It seems like the focus was just making it happen, but it was a really interesting way of like playing together without having to like. It's very similar to, I think, a lot of board game experiences just, you know, in a digital way that makes it easier to set up and easier to play. You can do a lot of the sort of boring character management stuff on your phone where it's not slowing people. Yeah, right. So when you both level up, you're doing your own level up stuff on your phone. You're waiting for the other person to do it, but you can actually like go to the shop and buy things while they're doing that.

[Russ Frost]

It sounds like playing multiplayer Baldur's Gate 3 was a similar. Obviously this is easier because it's just on phones, but, like, from a logistics standpoint, it does seem kinder in that way.

[Justin McElroy]

So the. My issue, I think the thing that worries me after playing it, the thing that I'm like, unconvinced about. This is out, by the way. You can go play this. Try this if you want. I don't know how easy it would be to, like, onboard someone who wasn't already in the room. I'm not sure this is like a party game. Yeah, I think this is more like I have friends over to do this or, like, have a plan. This is not like, you know, you don't know jack or some of the other jackpox stuff. It's kind of like, you know, the dinner didn't go as long as you thought it was going to. There's like an hour before everybody's going to leave, so, like, let's. Let's just, you know, goof around. This is not that. This feels a little bit more dedicated. You have friends that would get into this kind of thing. I think it's. It's. It's. It's pretty accessible and I think it's well worth. Well worth trying. I think it's. It's pretty cool.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah. There aren't too many of these that are, you know, like this format, but also, like, pretty approachable, I guess. Jackbox is the, like, the epitome. But this feels like a different experience entirely. This is more of an rpg.

[Justin McElroy]

I also think if you have kids, this would be a really great balance between, like, interacting with screens, but still, like, interacting with each other. I'm always looking for stuff like that, then kind of engage them, but we can still sort of hang out throughout. So I think that would be a good fit if the kids are a little bit older, I think it's not super. I feel like 12 plus, if I had to guess. Like, it's not super. And, you know, I don't send that. Not just ages, but, like, familiarity with games overall. Right. This is not something you're going to hand it to your grandmother who just likes Peggle or something, and she should be able to play it in the same. That's not judgmental. Like, you can hand Jackbox to, you know, you can get. You can onboard someone with that in 10 seconds. And this is not that, but it is very cool.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, it looks neat. It's a. Is there, like, A long campaign or is it just like individual play sessions where it's like, here's.

[Justin McElroy]

That's the thing that. I don't know, it feels like we have a campaign that we could return to.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

I don't know if I started a different campaign if it would be that different, and I assume it would. I mean, obviously there's branching narrative choices. So like, yes, it would be very different, but like, I don't know, the long tail on.

[Russ Frost]

But sometimes those branching narratives are like, not really.

[Justin McElroy]

Right, right. It may be the Dragon Age thing of like, I don't know, it's just a bunch of AI generated crap. It doesn't mean anything. Not to say Dragon Age was that. But yeah, you get it.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, that seems cool. I think we have one more game we can talk about and we'll do that after the break. Okay. So the last game today that we are talking about is called Bionic Bay. And this is a 2D platformer puzzle game in the style of games like Limbo and Inside. If you're into those games, if you've ever played any of those games, you will feel instantly very at home here.

[Griffin McElroy]

The game, we need a name for this. It's a puzzle niche sub genre, but.

[Russ Frost]

I think it's a puzzle platformer is what people call them.

[Griffin McElroy]

It doesn't seem atmospheric.

[Justin McElroy]

Puzzle platformer.

[Griffin McElroy]

That's better. Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

The problem with that term is that that instantly puts me in the mind of like, I have to shift boxes around.

[Griffin McElroy]

Which you do in this game.

[Russ Frost]

And you do have boxes.

[Justin McElroy]

I mean, they're nice looking boxes. Guys, there's some moody music, but let's.

[Russ Frost]

This game kicks off. You're a scientist in a lab and something goes wrong and you for some reason get teleported to an alien world. And the alien world looks kind of like Zen from Half Life 1. It's just like kind of biomechanical. But, you know, there's a lot of like creatures and lasers and gears that'll kill you and all sorts of shit.

[Griffin McElroy]

It hits you with huge out of this world vibes.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, that was my other world vibes.

[Griffin McElroy]

Really, really fast.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, it. You really just get dropped into this thing and you're like, well, this is a shitty situation. How am I gonna survive this? And within five minutes, you were shot with a laser that turns you into like a springy bouncy boy.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, sure.

[Justin McElroy]

It is a really effective like when you boot it up, you're like, oh my God, no, please, I can't play. When I thought it was the game of like, we were just doing this game for the week. When I booted up, I was like, oh God, I can't play many hours of this. But it's like, I mean, literally 30 seconds. It's basically a sight gag.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, they do like a slow. You're forced to like very slowly walk because all your bones are broken into this laser that like fully heals you and turns you into. Yeah. Bouncy jumpy boy. And from there it just turns into like a much more platformer centric game. Even the limbo, like there's a lot more of these like moves where you're doing like roll into, jump into, dive through the air and try to land on like a tiny grab ledge thing. These like just very balletic dives. And that's paired with some special abilities that you get as you play through the game. The first one that you get is a teleport swap. So you can tag any item, like any object in the game and then swap places with it. Pretty straightforward. But that obviously has tons of like puzzle elements to it. There's also like, you know, if there's like a tracking rocket, you could like swap at the last second with a box and then the box will like block the rocket. So it's those sorts of ideas that you're using while you're kind of progressing through this game.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, really a lot of like moments in this game where it uses this like pretty small handful of mechanics in like really clever ways. Like a lot of moments are like, oh, shit, I can't believe that worked moments. It's. It's. It's quite smart.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah. Later on, they do mix in. I don't know how many there are, but they do mix in other powers beyond just the teleport power. You do get like a super strength punch at one point, which really helped kind of mix things up. But broadly speaking, you are, yeah, using the jumps and the rolls and the teleport. I found it just visually very compelling, like immediately grabbing. They do. I love games where you have like a very, very little character and a giant environment around them because it really gives you the sense of scale and they fucking crush that. It looks so gorgeous. Runs great on a Steam deck, I really. But. And I think like, I know LED screen really helps this game as well. There's like really cool contrast with the art. Did you guys play online at all? No, there's online, there's offline in this game.

[Griffin McElroy]

I did not know.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah. So it's not unlocked at launch or right at the beginning of the game. But once you, I think, beat the first chapter or whatever, you can go back to the main menu and there's an online. It's called, like, Bionic Bay Online, whatever. And it's basically like, ghost runs of various, like, levels. So you can see 30 people doing the same run that you're doing, and you're trying to get the best time.

[Griffin McElroy]

Is it asynchronous?

[Russ Frost]

It is asynchronous, yeah. So I guess technically not online.

[Griffin McElroy]

No, I mean, that's. Having played, you know, Mario Maker Online, like, that key secret seems obviously superior.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, yeah, it's asynchronous and just, like, a nice addition to. I think this feels like the sort of game that I'm really enjoying and I will probably beat. But once I beat it, there wasn't necessarily a reason for me to go back. And this gives me a little bit more of an incentive to, like, go back and, you know, play. They have, like, daily challenges so people can keep coming back on a daily basis. There's even, like, a character customization feature of that where you can, like, make your character look unique in that, like, Sea of Ghost Runners. I really dug this game. I. I love games like this. Games that, like, really use physics in fun ways to result in, like, stupid ragdoll effects and making you feel kind of epic.

[Griffin McElroy]

I will also say it is a puzzle platformer, and sometimes the puzzle stuff gets a little bit challenging. But I was surprised at how good the Parkour kind of feels. You can really chain together some. I bet the speedrun of this game is going to be fun as hell to watch because you can really chain stuff together in a way that feels pretty fantastic.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, it feels surprisingly good. Not surprisingly, I guess, but, like, for one of these games, you're not used to them being as fun to play, I think, as this one is. Like, I was surprised. Once you. The elastic stuff kicks in, it's like, oh, this is really, like. It's. It reminded me of Cannibalt in the way that it feels like that. The joy of just, like, rushing and, like, sprinting and, like, throwing yourself forward. It really has a lot of that.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah. You compare that to, like, Limbo, which I think is a great game, but also, like, very slow and kind of pensive. And there are moments in this where you do have to, like, take a second to, like, figure out the situation. But broadly speaking, it is much more of a sprint through, which I really dig. Works. Cool. That is Bionic Bay, and that is also out on Steam. All these games are out, right?

[Griffin McElroy]

Who made it?

[Russ Frost]

The developer is Psycho Flow Studio and Marina Oi made it.

[Griffin McElroy]

Awesome.

[Russ Frost]

I don't know their stuff, their previous stuff, but it looks like, yeah, this might be their first major release.

[Justin McElroy]

All right, fantastic. These are great games, guys, and I love video games.

[Griffin McElroy]

Okay. Sort of weird thing to like. A weird thing to assert, I guess.

[Justin McElroy]

It was just like silence and I didn't know what to do.

[Griffin McElroy]

We've done this show for so long, we can be comfortable being silent with.

[Justin McElroy]

Each other for sitting here for 10.

[Griffin McElroy]

Minutes and not spurts of time.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah. Reader mail.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, I'd love that.

[Russ Frost]

Okay, we have one letter. We had many letters, but this is a long one, so I thought it was worth just focusing on this one. This comes from. Nice.

[Justin McElroy]

I'm excited.

[Griffin McElroy]

Bass.

[Russ Frost]

Or I guess Bass Toad podcast me to heaven. So apparently I wasn't here, but apparently you guys were talking about building games last week.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

Does that sound.

[Griffin McElroy]

I also was a question last week.

[Justin McElroy]

So there was a question last week about games that were about sort of like freeform construction where you can play together and make things cool.

[Russ Frost]

So Bastoad had recommendations for some other games to check out. Vintage Story is a take on the Minecraft Voxel game with more in depth building tools. It has a creative mode so you can build freestyle. There's also Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster with great customization and building tools for designing very intricate landscapes. Tiny Glade is a great game where you build these little castles and ruins. I played that one. That one is really neat. I like that a lot. Summerhouse and Townscaper. Also in the vein of Tiny Glade and a throwback from my childhood is Blockland, a Lego style building game where you are the size of a minifigure. And finally, the Sims 4 has very good building tools. Just like a ton of stuff. Especially if you type in the console. You can just generate whatever you want.

[Griffin McElroy]

God, Blockland. I remember playing this game. It is kind of a trip to see it because I have not thought about it in, well, 18 years, I guess.

[Russ Frost]

It's on Steam.

[Griffin McElroy]

Crazy perfect. Great.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, it looks very blocky.

[Griffin McElroy]

But Russ, you play a lot of. I mean, you've played like no man's sky and stuff like that. I think you have too. What's your. And maybe this is like germane to the conversation you had last week, but like, what's the gold standard of, you know, base building?

[Russ Frost]

That type of man stuff? No, man's guy's pretty good. I think the best that I've Ever played is probably. Fuck. What's the name of the. The scuba diving game?

[Griffin McElroy]

Oh, Subnautica.

[Russ Frost]

Subnautica has really incredible base building that I think. I think where a lot of the base building in games like no Man's sky get a little distracted for me. I know a lot of people like this is. They lean on like a little more of the roleplay stuff where things that you put in your base don't necessarily have like a ton of utility. Whereas essentially everything in Subnautica has like some utility to it, which I thought.

[Griffin McElroy]

I think that speaks to the fact that like Subnautica has a lot of plates. You have to kind of spin and you build things that make spinning those plates a lot easier. I really think Enshrouded has cornered the market on this. You can build some stuff in that game that looks truly pretty fantastic and really make a space your own.

[Russ Frost]

I remember feeling very intimidated when I first started playing. This is like right at early Access launch where I felt like my shitty block castle was very pathetic in comparison to what it could be.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, I remember.

[Russ Frost]

It left a mark.

[Griffin McElroy]

Have you guys been playing or watching anything else? Maybe we should say that Oblivion Stealth dropped very recently as we are recording this and I think we're gonna talk about next week's. I don't think we've spent a ton of time with it, but early impressions are quite positive. It's crazy how good this game looks.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, it's weird. I haven't thought about. It's weird to think about returning to Oblivion.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, that.

[Justin McElroy]

It's a big one.

[Russ Frost]

We are going to.

[Justin McElroy]

For a long time. I said it was my favorite game.

[Russ Frost]

Whoa. Really?

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, for a long time. It was. It's a. We will end up talking about it next week.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, we're doing an episode on next week, but that's. That's incredible.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, I have a TV show. I talked about it on another podcast, but the more I watch of it, the more I really like it. It's called Offline Love. It's a Japanese reality dating show. The premise is that there are 10 young Japanese singles, five men, five women, and they spent 10 days together in Nice, France. Oh. And the big sort of conceit of the show is that when they get there, they lock their cell phones in a locker that they can't Access until the 10 day trip is over. And so all correspondence, all kind of like courtship, all planning and stuff like that has to take place either face to face or through letter writing because there's a little mailbox with the box that you lock your phone in. And that seems like. Oh, that seems kind of stupid. That seems not enough to sort of hang an entire show on. But instead, you get these kind of thrilling moments where they have a map that they will show two people walking closer and closer and closer together, and then they'll just miss each other, and they'll walk right by each other because, like, there's no. There's like, a meeting place where they all sort of, like, drop their letters, but, like, there's no guarantee that you're gonna see anybody any given day. And then once you do, like, if two people ask you out on one day, you can't let that first person. You can't text that first person. You have to write them a letter and hope that they see it so that you don't stand them up. It has a lot of problems.

[Russ Frost]

You could just, like, not accept the second date. Like a classy person.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah. But if you get two letters in your mailbox, you have no right. So there's a lot of really great moments that come out of that sort of core idea. It has huge, I don't know, chill terrace house vibes. I know that the shine kind of came off that apple pretty hard, but it is really, really polished. The tour, I don't really have much affinity for. I've never traveled to France or, like, really prioritize that. But it has, like, a lot of great sort of that virtual tourism kind of element to it. The commentators are really, really fantastic.

[Russ Frost]

Is, like, language a factor?

[Griffin McElroy]

Like, so it's really interesting because they all speak Japanese when they're with one another.

[Russ Frost]

Right.

[Griffin McElroy]

And then they will get in moments where, like, there's one couple that go on a date to a winery, and they have to, like, try and stitch together any kind of conversation with this married couple that owns the winery. But they don't speak Japanese, and the people on the date don't really speak a lot of French. They all speak a little bit of English, and so they're just bouncing between conversation between different languages as they converse.

[Russ Frost]

Have they done that reality show where no one speaks the same language?

[Griffin McElroy]

They have done that reality show. I think it's called the Language of Love.

[Justin McElroy]

The Language of Love.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, that's right.

[Russ Frost]

So glad you guys are here.

[Griffin McElroy]

You've asked the two rightest people that you could ask. Yeah, it's on Netflix. Rachel and I have been watching it, and it's been a really lovely way to de stress from the NHL playoffs, which have been bad to watch as a St. Louis Blues fan so far.

[Russ Frost]

I mean, fittingly, for the name.

[Griffin McElroy]

What's that?

[Russ Frost]

The name of the team.

[Griffin McElroy]

It's fitting the Blues Blues because it makes you feel sad. Yeah, sometimes they make you feel good. But yeah, it's a great show and I've been liking it a lot. Cool. I think that's it for me.

[Russ Frost]

I have another show to talk about. I've been watching Daredevil Born Again, which is the new Daredevil show on Disney plus. It's basically just like bringing back the Netflix Daredevil show with basically the same cast or a lot of the same cast in a new adventure. And all your friends are here, except for some of them aren't. But the. But the most important.

[Justin McElroy]

Now you're just reading from the trailer script.

[Russ Frost]

But the most important person is here, and that is Vincent D'Onofrio. Because I do not think there is anyone in the Marvel universe that is more compelling to watch than get this.

[Justin McElroy]

Guy in a fricking movie already, please.

[Russ Frost]

I could watch him for Let him.

[Justin McElroy]

Fight Spider man and let me have that film, please.

[Russ Frost]

The, like, sad but also angry kingpin who's huge and is now mayor of New York City. Like, all this stuff is working for me so.

[Justin McElroy]

Well, is that canonical to the mcu?

[Russ Frost]

I mean, is anything.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, I mean, there's a continuity of the mcu.

[Russ Frost]

I know, but they, like, dream. Oh, this is on Earth 12. So, you know.

[Justin McElroy]

Sure. But, like, I do need the bullshit hand waving it away. I would like to know the.

[Russ Frost]

So here's what I'm gonna say. It is, I guess, my minor, minor spoiler. Kamala Khan, who. Who is Ms. Marvel, her dad has a bit part in this as Kamala Khan's dad. So I guess it is part of the mcu, if you consider it in that vein.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, it is.

[Russ Frost]

Yes, yes. I, I heard somewhere, and this was just like, just a short. I didn't read the article, but I heard somewhere that Vincentofrio was saying there was some licensing something or other that was keeping him from movies. But that might just be like he's being coy because he's in fucking the next Avengers movie as like Dr. Doom's best friend who fucking.

[Justin McElroy]

I mean, there's always a thing, right? But there's always like a dollar value attached.

[Russ Frost]

And you know who's very good at solving dollar value problems. Disney.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah. Just have to look around and they own it somewhere, whatever business it is.

[Russ Frost]

So. But I've been enjoying that show. You know, it's. It's, it's Fun. It's good to have something like that back again. Justin, you have anything to share with us?

[Justin McElroy]

You know me. You know me. I've just been kind of tinkering around.

[Russ Frost]

Making a little tinker.

[Justin McElroy]

Making a little computer, making a little video game consoles. I made a little portable video game console that was a big hit at Easter. Too big. I was a real entertaining guy at Easter.

[Russ Frost]

You made it.

[Griffin McElroy]

Thanks.

[Justin McElroy]

Hyper Fixation. You did it again.

[Russ Frost]

You made a portable game console.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

What does that mean?

[Justin McElroy]

You wanna see it?

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, I wanna see it. Yeah. Hold on. Describe it visually to the audience at home.

[Justin McElroy]

I showed last week. You guys weren't here. I showed Plant my Daphne, my laserdisc arcade cabinet that I made. Wow. Last week's best. That's still within arm's reach. I still have that little beauty.

[Griffin McElroy]

Oh yeah, I have that.

[Russ Frost]

Okay. It appears to be in a case that you would keep a nuclear football in. It's like a locked orange, like a safe case. Which seems like overkill for a portable device. Oh, okay. So when you mean portable you mean like is technically a carry on.

[Justin McElroy]

Go on, go on.

[Russ Frost]

I mean it is technically a carry on. You could fit in the overhead compartment, but it's pretty close to not to having to be checked.

[Griffin McElroy]

I mean it's going to set off some alarms. What are you playing there?

[Justin McElroy]

It starts when it boots up with a classic commercial from the 90s.

[Griffin McElroy]

A random one?

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah. About video games.

[Russ Frost]

Like the Paul Rudd commercial or the Jack Black commercial.

[Justin McElroy]

Sometimes it's like hills.

[Russ Frost]

It's like where the toys are kind of.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

This is a Game Gear ad for Joe Montana football. Oh, the TV tuner for the Game Gear classic.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

And this is the way you're funding it, right? Is you're getting some money from game. It's from Sega.

[Justin McElroy]

We got some startup cast.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

I've got the two controllers embedded here.

[Russ Frost]

And which controllers? Those look like eight Bitdo's.

[Justin McElroy]

Then I carved some holes in the foam for those guys.

[Russ Frost]

The honest description, it looks like a laptop in a case.

[Griffin McElroy]

It looks kick ass.

[Russ Frost]

It looks very, very cool. I'm very impressed by the logistics of all.

[Justin McElroy]

Just to show you the inner workings here. This is a battery. That white thing you see deep in the case.

[Russ Frost]

Okay.

[Justin McElroy]

I got a Raspberry PI 5 Velcroed to the top of that. Right. And then I've got the two controllers paired with, with Bluetooth to this. And then I've got this monitor that's a 5 volt charge running off of the battery too. So I'm able to power both of these devices with the same battery.

[Russ Frost]

How big is that monitor?

[Justin McElroy]

Huh?

[Russ Frost]

How big is that monitor?

[Justin McElroy]

14 inches. I sized it to the case. Right. I bought the case first and then I found a monitor that would work. The only thing that's tricky is the. The HDMI ports on the side. I had to find a 90 degree HDMI port to make that all work, but other than that, it's great. And I can actually play for about six or seven hours. I got. We got the Raspberry PI 5. You could do up to like Dreamcast PS2 pretty, pretty confidently for six or seven hours.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah. Wow.

[Justin McElroy]

That. Yeah. But yeah, if you charge it up before you head out, then you can run it for about eight hours off this. I got another. I've got two other controllers in here, so you could do four player if you wanted to. But yeah, that's the thing. I've spent most of my time trying to get going.

[Russ Frost]

Wowza. I'm like intimidated by trying to set up Android. And this is. You're running circles around me with your little workshop there.

[Justin McElroy]

I don't think of it as a competition, Russ. I think the fact that you see it that way is a little sad. That's who I am speaking of though. I'm running Oblivion on my Android device here. You should check it out. It runs so smoothly.

[Griffin McElroy]

Wait, is that Remastered?

[Justin McElroy]

Oblivion, yeah, Remastered.

[Russ Frost]

That's streaming though.

[Justin McElroy]

It's perf. No, man, I got it up and running on this Android. I had to move around some ones and zeros, some bits and bytes, but I did get it up and running. Todd called me and he was like, j man, I heard something.

[Griffin McElroy]

What was that device?

[Russ Frost]

Why don't we save it for next week? Because I'm also testing that device, so I think we.

[Griffin McElroy]

Well, I don't want to be the only one without a device.

[Justin McElroy]

Tell you about it after. Griffin, you didn't even. You didn't even. Spoiler for the listener. Griffin didn't even have his fucking camera on. And then he saw my cool Game Boy.

[Griffin McElroy]

He's like, cool Game Boy now.

[Russ Frost]

It's also funny. You don't even have a device. Griffin. Griffin.

[Griffin McElroy]

I have a lot of devices.

[Russ Frost]

Huh?

[Justin McElroy]

It's the Retroid Flip 2.

[Russ Frost]

We will talk in depth about it next week. As I've spent. I need to spend more time with it.

[Griffin McElroy]

But are you still able to buy one of these without paying $100,000?

[Russ Frost]

Probably not, because it would need to ship and land in the United States before I think May 4th is the cutoff. And certainly for the people listening, you're going to even have less time. I would not be optimistic. This might be the last China manufactured handheld for quite some time that we can actually get on the shores for reasonable dollar amount.

[Justin McElroy]

I refuse to let that reality infect this podcast. The device will be taken on its own.

[Russ Frost]

I mean, realistically, here's what's going to happen is these Chinese companies will find manufacturing companies that aren't in China and then just ship them to America once that works out. But we live in a world of chaos, so who fucking knows?

[Justin McElroy]

Great. Cool. What are we doing next week?

[Russ Frost]

Wait, I want to know what the name of your handheld is. Your portable. Sorry, it's not a handheld, it's a portable.

[Griffin McElroy]

Oh, yeah. Have you named it the Portable?

[Justin McElroy]

No. It's based on a design called the Adventure PI that I saw that was based on a 4. It's a Raspberry PI 4. That creator, if you look that up, his name escapes. But he also had a configuration for a joystick sort of setup that you could do alternate to the. To the controller.

[Russ Frost]

Can I suggest something?

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, please.

[Russ Frost]

What about the just box?

[Griffin McElroy]

No, you can do better than that.

[Justin McElroy]

No, that was real. I mean, uniquely bad. Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

Okay. Go on. Go beat the just box.

[Justin McElroy]

Oh, I don't. I don't have to.

[Griffin McElroy]

The juice. The juice drive.

[Justin McElroy]

You can't. That's a false.

[Russ Frost]

Juice drive is pretty good actually. I like Juice drive.

[Griffin McElroy]

Juice box. Juice box.

[Justin McElroy]

I mean, it's the juice box.

[Russ Frost]

Oh, no, it's the juice box. I was so close.

[Justin McElroy]

What's cool about it is you can find a different. Like, I could have different. It's just based on the SD card that's in a pie as to like what it is. So I could put in a different SD card with like a different suite of games or different setup or themed differently, whatever. It's pretty easy to find.

[Russ Frost]

Have you done like, how much, like, when you start a new device, how much work do you have to do over again? Or have you gotten it to a point where you've like, have the baseline settings?

[Justin McElroy]

I mean, I have all my stuff organized to like drag games on. I used to be more fixated on, like, I want to try to play everything on this one thing. Now it's more like what makes sense on this thing. And I'm trying to take more of a curation approach. So, like, the setting it up is like the reason I'm doing it, you know, like, that's the part that is.

[Griffin McElroy]

Making the LEGO part.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, that's the part that I. That I enjoy. And then. Yeah.

[Russ Frost]

And honestly, like from a pricing standpoint, maybe not in the future, but for right now, kind of comparable to Lego pricing.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, sure.

[Justin McElroy]

I modded a cabinet too. An arcade one up cabinet. I sent Griffin a video that off pretty cool.

[Russ Frost]

I think we've done it. Congrats. I wanted to thank the patrons [e-mail] thebesties we love you. You can buy gifts for people. If you know someone in your life that would enjoy a patron subscription, you can go to patreon.com thebesties gift and do that, which is very cool. Some members to thank. We have Dustin, we have Jennifer, we have Mark, and we have Lindsey. Thank you for being new patrons of the Besties. We really appreciate you. We appreciate everyone else who is patrons of the besties. You all have a new Resties episode which is already up. You also have a bracket battles episode which is coming up on Tuesday. That is the best video game. Grunts. So.

[Justin McElroy]

Oh, that was funny.

[Griffin McElroy]

Cannon fodder. Enemies. Not like we're not like saying like, yeah, we're not.

[Russ Frost]

Not those.

[Griffin McElroy]

We could do one on that. Yeah, that'll be like most iconic efforts.

[Russ Frost]

Yeah, that'll be next.

[Justin McElroy]

That'll be next time.

[Russ Frost]

The next Besties week. What are we playing, Justin?

[Justin McElroy]

We're gonna be doing some.

[Russ Frost]

You don't have.

[Griffin McElroy]

It's on the thing.

[Russ Frost]

You could just read it, but I'm.

[Justin McElroy]

Not looking at it right now. Okay. So if I was looking at it, okay, we're going to be doing the Oblivion remaster and we're going to talk about Skin Deep, the new Blendo game that I've been talking about for literally years on this show. And I can't believe it's finally out.

[Russ Frost]

Their last game came out 10 years ago.

[Griffin McElroy]

Was that jazz Quadrilateral.

[Russ Frost]

Quadrilateral Cowboy Holy years ago.

[Griffin McElroy]

Christ.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, it's crazy. I've had that thing wishlisted for. I mean, literally. I mean, I think it's eight years. That's gonna be next week. Be sure to skin next time for the besties because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games.

[Russ Frost]

Besties?