The Short Game

Spooky season is upon us, and we've got a round table of seasonal suggestions for those short-on-time-big-on-vibes!
In addition to macabre mysteries, pumpkin patches, interactive fiction scares, and faves from our back catalog, we dig into identity crises, 2026 horror movies, and why Nate is a nightmare for haunted house workers.
Visit our Discord for the full list of Halloween appropriate games from our last 460 episodes. (That's a scary big number.)

We're back with our 2nd IFComp Episode, this time focusing on community picks from our discord!

The Short Game is listener supported on Patreon. Check out the Patreon and links to join our discord at www.shortgame.fm.

The Short Game kicks off its 2026 IFComp coverage with a new three-episode format, along with a brief chat about custom IF engines and the comp's new AI rules.

• 0:00 - Intro and IFComp Basics
• 5:00 - How We Are Covering IFComp This Year
• 10:54 - 9 Days in a Van with Your 3 Best Friends by Nathan Leigh
• 25:55 - Sidetrack: Custom Engines, AI, and IFComp
• 29:41 - Forensic Necromancy: A Murder in Nineveh by Daniel M. Stelzer
• 45:10 - Ryan Veeder's Agatha Christie's The Murder on the Orient Express
• 57:39 - Wrap Up

• (00:00) - Intro and IFComp Basics
• (05:00) - How we are covering IFComp this year
• (10:54) - 9 Days in a Van with your 3 Best Friends by Nathan Leigh
• (25:54) - Sidetrack about custom engines, AI, and IFComp
• (29:41) - Forensic Necromancy: A Murder in Nineveh by Daniel M. Stelzer
• (45:10) - Ryan Veeder's Agatha Christie's the Murder on the Orient Express by Ryan Veeder
• (57:39) - Wrap Up

Shane and Laura played The Incident at Galley House, Evil Trout's remake of William Rous's TypeHelp. Before the spoiler break they discuss the game's deduction interface and some gameplay highlights, then they had so much to talk about they needed TWO spoiler breaks: one for "what's going on", and one for Act III's shift into **************************.

• (00:00) - The Incident at Galley House
• (00:05) - Intro
• (01:16) - Elevator Pitch
• (04:34) - Development History
• (22:20) - Spoiler Break & Patreon
• (22:30) - Story Discussion
• (44:14) - Act 3: Modern Timeline
• (01:04:41) - Outro

This week, Nate, Laura, and Shane play Pizza Possum — a chaotic arcade game that's stealthy and snackable. We talk about the gorgeous Italian countryside, dog cops, difficulty spikes, and the little bits of polish and shine that make this one sing. Plus possum stories, pizza tales, and a literary return of What's Making Me Happy.

• (00:00) - Pizza Possum
• (01:55) - Pizza Possum Background
• (04:08) - The Basics
• (10:03) - This game didn't have to go this hard (on the polish)
• (14:33) - The little details
• (20:33) - Replayability
• (23:44) - Have I told you guys about when a possum got in my house?
• (26:43) - More possum stories!
• (27:49) - We've discussed possums, let's discuss pizza
• (33:16) - What's Been Making Us Happy (Besides Pizza)
• (41:42) - Outro

We return to you with our extended coverage of indie phenomenon Deltarune, now in it's 5th episode.

This week, Shane and Laura talk about some Short, and Not So Short Games.

• (00:00) - Grab Bag: Short Games and Not-So-Short Games
• (00:06) - Intro
• (00:58) - Hermit and Pig
• (07:59) - Little Guardsman
• (10:02) - Split Fiction
• (12:51) - Dispatch and Hugo Video Game Nominees
• (18:11) - Map Map
• (22:45) - Dorfromantik
• (26:02) - The 7th Guest Remake
• (32:48) - Fallout: New Vegas
• (33:40) - Death Stranding 2
• (35:06) - Sky Rogue
• (38:00) - Minish Cap
• (39:30) - Outro

Think you're good at chess? That might not be helpful in this troll bridge troll chess game made by a solo dev. Nate & Laura break down why this game is fun, frustrating, and worth your time (~2 hours), even if it doesn't always feel like it.

The Short Game is listener supported on Patreon. Visit our patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theshortgame, and join our Discord for free at: https://discord.gg/XrwERANC

Also, play Nate's daily word puzzle game at: https://crossonym.com/

Turns out if someone hands us a haunted CD-ROM, we are playing it. This week, Laura once again tricks the whole podcast into playing solitaire, only this time it's *Forbidden*. OooooOOooooOOO.

Forbidden Solitaire was made by Grey Alien Games and Night Signal Entertainment, and should take about 4-7 hours depending on your solitaire prowess.

• (00:00) - Forbidden Solitaire
• (39:38) - Spoiler Break

Titanium Court. An absurd game that refuses to explain itself. Winner of the 2025 Whoever McSomeone Grand Prize.

This week we're talking Skate Story, a skateboarding game where you're a demon made of glass and pain on a mission to eat the moon. We open with skaterboi stories before kicking into the game's large arsenal of tricks, vaporwave soundtrack, and surprisingly difficult boss fights. Curse you, The Eternal Centipede!

• (00:00) - Skate Story
• (02:00) - Skater Bois and Girls
• (09:36) - Skating in Video Games
• (14:55) - Aesthetics
• (16:45) - In praise of Bizarre
• (19:33) - Mechanics
• (22:33) - Late Night Gaming
• (24:00) - It's tricky, tricky, tricky
• (25:34) - The Camera Angle
• (30:21) - Yes, This Game has Boss Fights
• (33:39) - The Skater's Dream
• (35:34) - Controls
• (38:52) - Shattering into a Million Shards
• (40:25) - Final Verdict
• (41:26) - Outro

This week on The Short Game, we're toodling around bicycle Valhalla in Wheel World, the open-world cycling game from the developers of Nidhogg. Laura and Shane explore beautiful Italian landscapes, customize bikes, and discuss why this might be the most relaxing racing game we've played.

This episode was recorded way back in the summer during our long hiatus. Hopefully you'll feel it holds up!

• (00:00) - Wheel World
• (41:35) - What's Making Us Happy
• (41:42) - Shane's New Bike
• (48:43) - Laura Talks Movies
• (58:18) - Wrap Up

In this episode of The Short Game, Nate, Laura, and Shane dive into BALL x PIT, a roguelite block breaker published by Devolver Digital. Recorded a couple of months ago, the episode comes out in time for the release of a free DLC adding new content to the game. The discussion covers the game's unique blend of ball-firing mechanics, character abilities, and city-building elements. Does BALL x PIT respect your time? Maybe, maybe not, but it's a good time either way.

A voice is saying your name. A WWII-era machine, long hidden in a church basement, whirs to life. Through a crackling speaker, a man asks you to find a stolen book. He only knows the title. Time is running out.

Inkle has made a Database Thriller. An Interface Game. Or are we just calling these SamBarlow-likes? And it's a taut 4 hours, and just $7, which is also five bucks.

• (00:00) - TR-49
• (45:34) - Spoiler Break
• (01:09:37) - Wrap-up

This week we are talking about Absolum, a roguelike beat 'em up from Streets of Rage 4 developers Guard Crush Games and publisher Dotemu. This was one of those games that would probably have been near the top of our 2025 GOTY list if we'd managed to all play and discuss it before the end of the year. It combines the incredible beat 'em up mechanics from Streets of Rage 4 with Hades-style progression mechanics. It really kicks ass. There's also one of our classic slightly too long digressions about the Steam Deck and Linux about 33 minutes in. Sorry, and you're welcome.

• (00:00) - Absolum
• (26:21) - Digression about Steam Deck and Linux
• (33:24) - Back to Absolum
• (52:42) - Wrap up

We're continuing to shake the cobwebs out of the podcast, and this week we're bringing you our coverage of IFComp 2025. Normally we cover the whole competition with multiple episodes as its running, but this year we didn't quite manage that. We couldn't escape 2025 without talking about the comp some though. In this "lost" episode (recorded in late October 2025) we discuss some of the games we had time to check out this year, including a few of the top winners.

We'll be releasing a patron exclusive "what's making us happy" episode next week (join us on Patreon!) followed by an episode on Absolum. See you in 2026!

• (00:00) - Intro & Welcome
• (00:52) - What Is IFComp?
• (04:45) - How We’re Covering IFComp 2025
• (06:12) - Detritus by Ben Jackson
• (19:48) - Lady Thalia and the Case of Clephan by N. Cormier
• (26:44) - The Wise-Woman's Dog by Daniel M. Stelzer
• (34:59) - The Secrets of Sylvan Gardens by Lamp Post Projects
• (48:43) - A Visit to the Human Resources Administration by Jesse
• (53:08) - The Little Four by Allyson Gray
• (59:11) - The Witch Girls by Amy Stevens
• (01:03:24) - HEN AP PRAT GETS SMACKED IN THE TWAT by Coral Nulla
• (01:08:44) - Wrap Up

It's been a weird year, but we're ready to round up the best Short Games of 2025! We're also awarding our other highly prized honors like Dirtbag of the Year and Most "Little Guy who Goes Around."

This might be the last episode of 2025, but it's also the first episode of The Short Game Season 2. We figured 444 episodes was enough for Season 1, and we are changing up our format slightly. We're looking forward to a great new year!

• (00:00) - Short Game Game of the Year 2025
• (10:08) - Dirtbag of the Year
• (15:37) - Most Little Guy Who Goes Around
• (22:54) - Best Galerius
• (33:25) - Best Mario
• (38:26) - Late to the Party
• (44:35) - Best game that nearly killed the podcast
• (48:37) - Gaming Moment of the Year
• (58:04) - Best Rerelease
• (01:01:22) - Shout out to games ineligible for GOTY
• (01:02:40) - Game of the Year 2025
• (01:08:31) - Wrap-up

After a somewhat unplanned summer break, the Short Game crew is returning to talk about the fourth chapter of Deltarune!

• (00:00) - 444: Deltarune Chapter 4
• (03:17) - Surprise! Structure is Different!
• (10:32) - Picking up right after Chapter 3
• (11:19) - Going to Church!
• (19:29) - Noelle's House
• (30:30) - You'll Never Make Me Play The Dark Route
• (35:56) - Back to the Church
• (49:23) - Climbing is Fun!
• (53:20) - Now we're going to spoil Nate
• (01:15:21) - Outro
• (01:17:17) - Outro

The Steam Deck is the number one console(ish) platform for playing ILLEGAL GAMES that Nintendo doesn’t want you to play! This week we’re talking about games that STEAL intellectual property from the RICH FAT CATS at Nintendo and their cronies and remix it into FREE GAMES for the PEOPLE.

• (00:00) - 443: Fan Games on Steam Deck
• (03:42) - What Counts as a Fan Game?
• (06:20) - Explaining Steam Deck Desktop Mode
• (16:38) - Where do you find fan games?
• (24:34) - The (Fan) Games
• (25:26) - Celeste: Strawberry Jam
• (33:42) - Other Fan Games of Indies
• (36:06) - Sonic Fan Games
• (38:36) - Sonic Robo Blast 2
• (41:24) - Sonic and the Fallen Star
• (44:14) - Sonic Triple Trouble 16-Bit
• (50:33) - Link's Awakening DX HD
• (01:09:16) - Streets of Rage Remake
• (01:21:37) - Lightning Round
• (01:22:24) - Zelda3
• (01:24:01) - Dungeons of Infinity
• (01:24:55) - ZIIAOL
• (01:26:11) - Decomps - Ship of Harkinian
• (01:27:38) - AM2R & Metroid Planets
• (01:28:51) - Wrap-up

Toby Fox is back, and it’s TV TIME!

Previously:

• Episode 320 – Chapter 1
• Episode 324 – Chapter 2
• Episode 65 – Undertale
• Episode 66 – Undertale Spoilers

• (00:00) - 422: Deltarune Chapter 3
• (14:37) - Remembering Chapters 1 and 2
• (26:50) - Spoiler Break - Chapter 3 Story Spoilers!
• (54:40) - Wrap Up