When is video game lore good? When is it bad? This week, the Triple Click gang talks about Skyrim books, Elden Ring item descriptions, Destiny guns, and all the other delectable morsels of plot that exist underneath the stories of video games.  One More Thing: Kirk: Heavenly Creatures (1994) Maddy: Tales of Kenzera: Zau Jason: Eiyuden Chronicles LINKS: Mossbag’s Hollow Knight Lore video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XDiWYFGGqY Triple Click LIVE in LA! Saturday, June 8, 6:30PM at the Teragram Ballroom: https://teragramballroom.com/tm-event/triple-click-podcast/ Preorder Jason’s Book! h ..read more

Eight years after it first came out, Stardew Valley is still getting patches. But what's the deal with this one-man-developed farming simulator? How was it created, and what makes it so appealing? Allow us to explain! One More Thing: Kirk: Children of the Sun (Steam) Maddy: Wingspan (board game version) Jason: Fallout (Amazon Prime) LINKS: Search Engine: “What are we gonna do about all these cats?” https://pjvogt.substack.com/p/whatre-we-gonna-do-about-all-these Triple Click LIVE in LA! Saturday, June 8, 6:30PM at the Teragram Ballroom: https://teragramballroom.com/tm-event/triple-click-podcas ..read more

It's the 200th episode of Triple Click, and to celebrate, it's time for a mailbag! The gang answers listener questions such as "could we ever see gambling in video games?" and "are games really a waste of time?" One More Thing: Kirk: “Behind F1’s Velvet Curtain” by Kate Wagner  Maddy: Sailor Moon Jason: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett LINKS: “Behind F1’s Velvet Curtain” by Kate Wagner, preserved in archive form: https://web.archive.org/web/20240301170542/https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a46975496/behind-f1-velvet-curtain/ and at Escape Collective: http ..read more

What is "friction" in video games? We've got a taxonomy, of course! This week, the Triple Click gang talks about how Dragon Dogma 2 tries to push players away, the necessity of video game friction, and what it means when a game is impenetrable. One More Thing: Kirk: Girls5Eva (Netflix) Maddy: The Holdovers (2024) Jason: Secrets of Grindea LINKS: Triple Click LIVE in LA! Saturday, June 8, 6:30PM at the Teagram Ballroom: https://teragramballroom.com/tm-event/triple-click-podcast/ Tim Rogers’ “In Praise of Sticky Friction,” 2010 https://kotaku.com/in-praise-of-sticky-friction-555816 Preorder Jaso ..read more

Balatro is one of the best games of 2024 so far — and certainly the most addictive. This week, the Triple Click gang dives into the new poker roguelike and dissects what makes it so great. They talk about the three phases of Balatro players, the appeal of randomness, and the thrill of this game's parade of interesting decisions. One More Thing: Kirk: Dragon’s Dogma 2 Maddy: Princess Peach Showtime! Jason: The Last Murder at the End of the World (Stuart Turton) LINKS: Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/ Support Triple Click: ht ..read more

Happy MaxFunDrive! This week, the Triple Click gang opens up the mailbag and takes some listener questions: Are libraries ethical? How bad will ads in video games get? And when does a game developer know if it's time to cancel a project? One More Thing: Kirk: FF7 Rebirth Piano Minigame & Music Notation Maddy: Shogun Jason: Dragon’s Dogma 2 LINKS: Hearthstone’s Ben Brode on Search Engine: https://pjvogt.substack.com/p/how-do-you-make-an-addictive-video Tantacrul’s incredibly good video about music notation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq3bUFgEcb4 Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hache ..read more

Jason, Maddy, and Kirk pull up their strategem monitors and dive into Helldivers 2. They share their favorite memeable moments, talk about the game's unique story, and dive into what does and doesn't work about the hit new game. One More Thing: Kirk: Home Safety Hotline (PC) Maddy: The Insurrectionist Next Door (2023) Jason: Unicorn Overlord (Current Consoles) LINKS: Featuring Johan Lindgren’s Helldivers 2 theme Joel the game master: https://www.pcgamer.com/we-have-an-actual-person-with-the-title-of-game-master-a-single-helldivers-2-dev-named-joel-is-pulling-the-strings-on-its-galactic-war-lik ..read more

Kirk, Maddy, and Jason travel back in time and make their way up Mt. Nibel for a deeper look at the stellar Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a game about traveling the world and playing animal soccer. One More Thing: Kirk: Our Last Best Hope (Magpie Games) Maddy: True Detective: Night Country (Max) Jason: The Dynasty (by Jeff Benedict) LINKS: Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/ Support Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/join Buy Triple Click Merch: https://maxfunstore.com/search?q=triple+click&options%5Bprefix%5D=last Join the ..read more

Kirk, Maddy, and Jason return to the world of buster swords and moogles to hunt Sephiroth, trying not to get too distracted by all the minigames along the way. It's time for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake. How good is it? Let's discuss! One More Thing: Kirk: Oppenheimer in 70mm Maddy: True Detective S3 Jason: Balatro LINKS: Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/ Support Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/join Buy Triple Click Merch: https://maxfunstore.com/search?q=triple+click&options%5Bpr ..read more

Xbox recently announced plans to bring four games to PlayStation and Switch. But why? What's Microsoft's gaming strategy? And why are they even bothering to keep selling consoles? The Triple Click gang discusses. One More Thing: Kirk: Helldivers 2 (PS5, PC) Maddy: Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (Naomi Klein) Jason: Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect (Benjamin Stevenson) LINKS: Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/ Support Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/join Buy Triple Click Merch: https://maxfunstore.com/search ..read more