Side Story

Welcome to the inaugural Main Story Awards, Side Story's end-of-year sendoff to the games and topics that captivated our attention this year. Look forward to a new short episode Every Day This Week! Today you'll be hearing from Sylvi and Jack, who are bringing us the Feel the Love Award. Show Notes moon: Remix RPG Adventure moon Soundtrack: Heads in the Clouds Featuring Jack de Quidt and Sylvi Bullet Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Welcome to the innaguaral Main Story Awards, a week long showcase where we make up awards to give the games and topics that really took center stage for us this year, and which we felt like deserved a little more attention than they already got on the show this year. It's not a traditional game of the year, but we did try to restrain ourselves to a single game or topic each, which means that there are definitely some things that were big that didn't get included.   We'll have a short episode every day, normally, but not always, covering one game or topic suggested by a member of the cast. Not everyone had topics or was able to record during this window, so I will say that Ali's game will be covered in a spoiler cast, hopefully in January! Today's award, presented by Austin (me), is the Clockwork World Award!  Enjoy! Show Notes Earthborne Rangers Many Nights a Whisper Featuring Austin Walker and Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to friendsatthetable.cash to support us!  Today we explore a bevvy of different worlds: 2.5D fantasy realms, alien FMV planets, and a land of climate apocalypse and raw nerve paranoia. Wait, that last one is... it's kind of sounding familiar. Oh well, get in, buckle up, and make sure to bring your favorite childhood food, because we've got places to go. Games discussed this episode: The Octopath Traveler series,  Blippo+, No, I'm Not a Human, Horses (and the other games of Santa Ragione) Show Notes "I Hope You Get To Live Your Entire Life As A Human Being," Harper Jay's essay on Horses Studio Oleomingus Announcement Chapters 00:00 Introduction 03:01 Octopath Traveler 0 01:06:22 Blippo+ 01:26:45 No, I'm Not Human 01:54:31 HORSES Featuring Austin Walker and Jack de Quidt Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Mysterious internet occurances abound this week on Side Story. Mysteries like "What is the dark secret of the famed Roottree family, Pittsburghian candy magnates" and "Why did Austin's connection totally fall apart before we could reach the second half of the podcast?" Like all good mysteries, the twists and turns are just as exciting as the answer, as a stunning second segment appears, drawing the listener (you) in closer... closer... ever closer, until it is too late. Support us on Patreon! Show Notes Granny Cream's Hot Butter Ice Cream - Hypnospace Outlaw Ad Jingle by Hot Dad Eurogamer Arc Raiders Review Level-5 Inazuma Eleven AI Presentation Run Button Arctic Alive Let's Play AMCA KOTOR II Let's Play Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:27 The Roottrees Are Dead 21:45 "AI" in Game Development 47:14 Back to The Roottrees Are Dead General Impressions 01:09:18 The Clock Tower Series Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, Keith Carberry, and Jack de Quidt, Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt

Between the barter system and the coin, there were other currencies. Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid Empire, which would one day stretchout from the Iranian plateau as far west as Egypt and north as the Aral Sea, used silver bullion when this-for-that wasn't an efficient enough means of trade. Could you decide who's paying for lunch on a flipped silver bar? Unsure. Perhaps, slightly later, the 'knife money' of the Zhou Dynasty or Old Chosŏn would be better suited for such chance game. Perhaps they tossed them straight up, wagering on them as they fell, to see if they'd stick in the ground. Yes, binary action is better for bets, but is the blade balanced for even odds? And so, let's give thanks to the Anatolian kingdom of Lydia, their electrum mines, and their little coins, discs with lions and stags punched in, begging to be flipped. Show Notes Tom Walker Coin Stream 1 Tom Walker Coin Stream 2 Autopsy Pile for Anthology of the Killer Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:01 Unfair Flips 21:47 Q-Up 01:01:18 Anthology of the Killer 01:24:22 Digmon Story: Time Stranger 01:29:06 Poco 01:31:58 Vein Featuring Austin Walker, Jack de Quidt, and Sylvi Bullet Produced by Austin Walker Cover Art by A Liang Chan  Music by Jack de Quidt