Playing Games with my Heart

Episode 26- Boyfriend Dungeon

Love is a battlefield, and sometimes the most powerful weapon is...your heart. And also a talking sword that turns into a hunky guy. Kelly Nugent (Teen Creeps, Exile) returns to talk about our favorite dungeon crawler meets dating sim, where the player dates weapon-people and battles their deepest fears! We also get into some of the controversy around the game's release, but don't worry we're mostly here to be thirsty about the gorgeous people who are also knives and stuff.

 

Content Warning: Discussion of online mobs/harassment, stalking, manipulation, abusive relationships

Episode 25 - Love Spell Written in the Stars

Let's face it, most of us are one reckless night out with a magic notebook away from accidentally casting a love spell. At least that's the case for the protagonist of Love Spell Written in the Stars from Great Gretsuki Studios, a strange, silly, sometimes cursed and sometimes delightful game about love, figuring out your passion in life, and magic with an expiration date. 

This game has it all! Talking penguins, a likeable lead, and all the classic romance tropes from uh oh weird power dynamics to boring childhood best friends. Kelly Nugent joins to discuss enjoying problematic fantasies, becoming a mob wife, and Archaeology textbooks you just CAN'T put down.

 

Content Warnings: Guns, organized crime, drinking, professor/student relationships 

Episode 24 - Cute Demon Crashers

Happy Valentine's Day, gamers!!! This week I'm joined by Adrienne (game developer, cartoonist, animator) to discuss a game that was formative for both of us: SugarScript's Cute Demon Crashers! 

Join us as we discuss visual novels, the creative process behind making games, and how a consent-centered smut game helped us both learn a lot more about ourselves as human beings! 

Note: Some technical issues cropped up with the audio on this one, but I hope you'll bear with us and enjoy the conversation anyway. Be back next time! <3 

Episode 23 - SCP: Doki Doki Anomaly

We're BACK! Hello 2022, are you ready for some CHAOS? Henry Galley and Meg Tuten (Less is Morgue) join as we cover the survival horror dating game Doki Doki Anomaly. This game has it all: deadly matching games, offputting character designs, and a reptilian femme fatale we're ready to risk it all for. And by "it all," we do mean our very lives. It's time to Secure, Contain, and Protect your heart with a truly wild pairing: The SCP Foundation meets a dating sim.

Note: this episode has some noise pollution on my end thanks to a neighbor's badly-timed vacuuming, so sorry for that! Won't let it happen again! 

Content Warnings: Death, violence, murder, cannibalism  

Episode 22 - Crimson Spires

It's October and we are getting DARK with what is definitely the most intense game we've ever played on the podcast: Crimson Spires. This horror mystery gothic romance follows an FBI agent trapped in a small mining town after the appearance of a circle of strange red towers that kill anyone who tries to walk past them. While trying to solve the mystery of two missing teens, and maybe escape the town, she finds herself falling in love with some vampires, a possible (probable) serial killer, or a very cute but troubled lesbian. 

Kelly Nugent guest hosts as we get INTO it: how this game leaves us no choice but to be toxic as hell, the undeniable raw sexuality of each problematic love interest, and a genuinely compelling mystery that makes us go "WHAT???" and "OH MY GOD". 

 

CONTENT WARNINGS: This episode contains discussion of death, murder, homophobia, right wing conspiracy theories, violence, incest, drug and alcohol addiction, and apocalyptic dystopia. 

Episode 21 - Cinderella Phenomenon

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there was a video game podcast. One day, the podcast found a special game about fairytales, curses, kindness, and royal intrigue. The game was called Cinderella Phenomenon. Kelly Nugent joins as we discuss the free fantasy indie visual novel about a kingdom plagued by Fairytale Curses, and the world's meanest princess learning to care about others. We're talking child magicians! 90s fashions in an old timey kingdom! Goth dolls! And a broom we wish we could romance! Listen now, it's the only way to break the curse and spread peace through all the land.

 

Content warnings: this episode contains some discussion of emotionally abusive parents

Episode 20 - When The Night Comes

Lunaris is a town filled with danger, intrigue, monsters, and a bunch of eligible hotties. Don't get too distracted by the dating scene, you're still here to solve a series of supernatural murders. Val Petrone (writer, editor, podcaster, production coordinator) joins to discuss the sexy fantasy murder mystery When the Night Comes. Listen in as we talk about polyamorous romance routes, a surprisingly thoughtful storyline, and perfect slutty little fur coats. Also, Addison is in love with most of the characters in this game and it's fine, it's fine, we're all being normal about it.

 

Content Warnings for discussion of: Murder, death, sex and sexuality

Episode 19 - Pinewood Island

There's something in the air at the remote, beautiful Pinewood Island. It's Love, but it's also...MURDER! Kelly Nugent (Teen Creeps, Exile) joins to discuss Pinewood Island, a murder mystery romance visual novel that can be as cursed or as non-cursed as you want it to be. You can fall in love, solve a murder, or have a very uncomfortable romance with a guy who is DEFINITELY THE KILLER OH MY GOD. This place has got it all: wild roses, venomous snakes, and a bunch of college students way too willing to do homework at a literal crime scene. This episode contains SPOILERS for Pinewood Island!!! 

Content Warnings for discussion of: Death, murder, sexual harassment, stalking, and substance abuse 

Episode 18 - Monster Camp

Monster School's out for Monster Summer, so it's time to head out to the woods for Monster Camp! Let's sit around the campfire, go on a hike, and choose someone to have a summer fling with! JV Hampton-VanSant (AHB 76, JV Reads the T) joins as we discuss this delightful sequel to Monster Prom. Listen in as we chat about an abundance of sexy demons, cursed cocktails, and Mothman's ass. 

 

Content Warnings: this episode contains discussion of sex, alcohol and drug use 

Episode 17 - Monster Prom

It's the most incredible night of any young monster's life! The blood punch is flowing, the music is blasting, and you're going to ask that cute werewolf to slow dance. It's the prom, it's the Monster Prom. Vanessa Guerrero (G4TV, Kicking and Screaming) joins to talk about the best horror comedy dating sim set at a high school inexplicably filled with creatures in their 20s. Whether it's a hipster vampire or a party-loving ghost, there's a monster for every type of player in this game and they're all waiting to go to prom with you (or reject you in a public, devastating fashion).

 

Content Warnings: This episode contains discussion of sexuality and recreational drug and alcohol use