Break This Week

HAE Stack Interview

I was lucky enough to sit down with Jake Rabinowitz, the solo developer of HAE Stack, a game about Surveillance Capitalism with a bold message. Join us as we chat about the inspiration behind the game, how this is game is reflective of real world technologies, and how our phones are spying on us. This chat was so fascinating so I hope you enjoy it too! Interview - 00:49 Game Summary - 07:51 Why Real Instead of Parody? - 13:41 UI Design - 19:08 How Did the Playtest Affect Your Game? - 26:54 Will There Be a Conclusion? - 37:43 Are We Heading In a Bad Direction? - 41:10 Thank You Jake! - 51:51 Visit the HAE Stack site here: https://haetechnologies.com/ [https://haetechnologies.com/]  Check out HAE Stack on steam [https://store.steampowered.com/app/4485060/HAE_Stack/]! Check out https://www.startmenu.co.uk/ [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/] , an awesome site Brandon is now writing for! And check out his latest review of Pragmata [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-pragmata-fly-me-to-the-moon]! If you leave a review of the podcast on an app, screenshot it and send it to me via DM on any of the socials, I’ll enter your name into the Pizza Raffle! One lucky winner every month will get sent a digital gift card to a pizza spot of their choice! If you are experiencing any sort of mental health distress, or just need someone to talk to, please call 988 contact some of these resources gathered on https://www.nimh.nih.gov/ [https://www.nimh.nih.gov/]  Feel free to message us with suggestions for games or questions at our socials and we’ll respond to your question on the upcoming pod! Be sure to follow us on socials like Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@MindControllersPod], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mindcontrollerspod/], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/brandoncraw.bsky.social], Twitter [https://x.com/mindconpod], and Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/mindcontrollerspod].  Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast listening app! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/MindControllers [http://patreon.com/MindControllers] and get a thank you sticker! Tracks are:  "We Decide" by Tatami Podcast Art by @_forza_art [https://www.instagram.com/_forza_art/] on Instagram ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Pragmata Spoilercast

*Heavy Story Spoilers for Pragmata* Joe and Brandon reunite for the spoiler heavy discussion of Pragmata, a game both of them loved! Then we wrap it up with some discussion of what games we're next looking forward to playing. Come hang out with us as it's been a while! If you leave a review of the podcast on an app, screenshot it and send it to me via DM on any of the socials, I’ll enter your name into the Pizza Raffle! One lucky winner every month will get sent a digital gift card to a pizza spot of their choice! Pragmata Discussion - 01:16 Secret Ending - 14:18 Most annoying Enemy - 36:11 What Game Will You Play Next? - 51:42 Destiny Says Goodbye - 01:01:06 Wrapping Up and Thank You - 01:05:43 Check out https://www.startmenu.co.uk/ [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/] , an awesome site Brandon is now writing for! And check out his latest review of Pragmata [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-pragmata-fly-me-to-the-moon]! If you are experiencing any sort of mental health distress, or just need someone to talk to, please call 988 contact some of these resources gathered on https://www.nimh.nih.gov/ [https://www.nimh.nih.gov/]  Feel free to message us with suggestions for games or questions at our socials and we’ll respond to your question on the upcoming pod! Be sure to follow us on socials like Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@MindControllersPod], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mindcontrollerspod/], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/brandoncraw.bsky.social], Twitter [https://x.com/mindconpod], and Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/mindcontrollerspod].  Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast listening app! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/MindControllers [http://patreon.com/MindControllers] and get a thank you sticker! Tracks are:  "We Decide" by Tatami Podcast Art by @_forza_art [https://www.instagram.com/_forza_art/] on Instagram ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Scatterbrained - Mixtapology

Slight Story Spoilers: Mixtape Brandon and Tim reunite to talk about the nostalgia-filled game: Mixtape! And the past is the theme of today’s episode as we chat about all of the retro consoles/games and try to answer the question: Why do we care about nostalgia? And I have another post credit surprise, courtesy of Tim. It’s a fun one! If you leave a review of the podcast on an app, screenshot it and send it to me via DM on any of the socials, I’ll enter your name into the Pizza Raffle! One lucky winner every month will get sent a digital gift card to a pizza spot of their choice! Retro/Nostalgia Discussion - 02:01 Mixtape - 44:36 Wrapping Up and Thank You - 01:00:39 Games we talked about this week: Mixtape Check out https://www.startmenu.co.uk/ [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/] , an awesome site Brandon is now writing for! And check out his latest review of Pragmata [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-pragmata-fly-me-to-the-moon]! If you are experiencing any sort of mental health distress, or just need someone to talk to, please call 988 contact some of these resources gathered on https://www.nimh.nih.gov/ [https://www.nimh.nih.gov/]  Feel free to message us with suggestions for games or questions at our socials and we’ll respond to your question on the upcoming pod! Be sure to follow us on socials like Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@MindControllersPod], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mindcontrollerspod/], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/brandoncraw.bsky.social], Twitter [https://x.com/mindconpod], and Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/mindcontrollerspod].  Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast listening app! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/MindControllers [http://patreon.com/MindControllers] and get a thank you sticker! Tracks are:  "We Decide" by Tatami Podcast Art by @_forza_art [https://www.instagram.com/_forza_art/] on Instagram Check out Whisp band HERE [https://whisp.band/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Break This Week

Been a busy week and we will be back next week for more! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Scatterbrained - Digging Roguelike Expert

Slight Story Spoilers: Saros Brandon and Courture are at it again, ranting way too much about our home city! Brandon tells us all about his time with Saros, the latest bullet-hell from Housemarque. Then Courture chats about his expertise in Digging based Roguelike games. We wrap it up with a quick Star Fox trailer check-in. No Article of the Week this week. Come hang out with us! If you leave a review of the podcast on an app, screenshot it and send it to me via DM on any of the socials, I’ll enter your name into the Pizza Raffle! One lucky winner every month will get sent a digital gift card to a pizza spot of their choice! Dome Keeper - 06:04 Saros - 19:38 Outworld Station - 37:40 Star Fox Switch 2 - 47:15 Wrapping Up and Thank You - 55:23 Games we talked about this week: Dome Keeper, Saros, Outworld Station, Star Fox Check out https://www.startmenu.co.uk/ [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/] , an awesome site Brandon is now writing for! And check out his latest review of Pragmata [https://www.startmenu.co.uk/home/review-pragmata-fly-me-to-the-moon]! If you are experiencing any sort of mental health distress, or just need someone to talk to, please call 988 contact some of these resources gathered on https://www.nimh.nih.gov/ [https://www.nimh.nih.gov/]  Feel free to message us with suggestions for games or questions at our socials and we’ll respond to your question on the upcoming pod! Be sure to follow us on socials like Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@MindControllersPod], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/mindcontrollerspod/], Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/brandoncraw.bsky.social], Twitter [https://x.com/mindconpod], and Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/mindcontrollerspod].  Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast listening app! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/MindControllers [http://patreon.com/MindControllers] and get a thank you sticker! Tracks are:  "We Decide" by Tatami Podcast Art by @_forza_art [https://www.instagram.com/_forza_art/] on Instagram ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.