We discuss whether this is (or should be) the last generation of consoles, what the meaning and role of difficulty and adaptive difficulty is in games, and why Soma (Frictional Games, 2015) is such an intriguing game from a philosophy of mind perspective.

We discuss creepypastas in, about and as games, and what empathy means, how it relates to and works within games, and why it’s important to think about. Hosted by Dom Ford, who is joined by Nina Patricia Houe and Miruna Vozaru.

When is a bunch of pixels an object rather than a picture of an object? Can I unpack these digital objects into a series of homes and apartments? Find out now, as we discuss Jesper Juul’s latest playable essay on videogame objects, and Witch Beam’s charming new game Unpacking.

Ever wondered what’s going on with doors? We try to collect all the different doors in Stefano Gualeni’s recent playable essay, and talk about the sedentary VR escape-the-room spy game I Expect You To Die 2.

We see how the early stages of the UK (and international) videogames industry came to be by following Alex Wade’s account of eccentric media mogul and fraudster Robert Maxwell, and talk about the weird and wonderful hit game, Inscryption.

Why do we study games? What is the field of ‘game studies’? How does research into games help us better understand the changing nature of games in times of chaos, such as the global pandemic?