On this week’s episode, Nathan, Chris, and Riley convene one last time to close out 2025, a notably horrible year for the world but a pretty solid one for Aftermath. We begin by talking about a controversy that was unexpected, to say the least: Larian, riding a wave of goodwill by making perhaps the ultimate example of a big game for people and by people in Baldur’s Gate 3, ran right off the road by openly embracing AI. The studio’s CEO, Swen Vincke, has spent the past several days both digging his heels in and doing damage control, but the furor continues. Will the studio change its ways? Or will those of us opposed to AI have a difficult decision to make when Larian’s next and apparently biggest game, Divinity, comes out in… probably still a lot of years? Then we hand out our first ever Stuff Of The Year awards to the games, trends, events, people, cats, nontroversies, and everything else that defined our 2025. Finally, we come up with a rock-solid concept for Aftermath Muppets.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Riley MacLeod

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Gita, Riley, and Chris talk about many games that came out recently that will never win a Game Award, and what our attitudes about the event are.

First, the enigmatic Ys-alike Angeline Era, a beautiful game with thoughtful design. Second, the toe tapping Rhythm Doctor which feels like it takes cues from Rhythm Tengoku and iNIS games like Ouendan.

Then we discuss Skate Story, Faustian Tony Hawk with an incredible soundtrack that reminds us of Arctic Eggs. We give a shoutout to Demonschool, which has surprisingly good combat. Finally we discuss Shadow Labyrinth, the Dark Pac-Man game (announced at The Game Awards) that came out over the summer and has shockingly deep roots in UGSF lore.

Lastly, we shout out Nightreign as one of our favorite games of the year and talk about its freaky new characters. We also answer your questions about peppermint treats, the NY game dev scene, AI and more!

Credits

- Hosts: Chris Person, Gita Jackson, and Riley MacLeod

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan, Gita, and Chris are joined by the one and only John “Super Eyepatch Wolf” Walsh, YouTuber extraordinaire and, now, author of The Bizarre World Of Fake Games, a book about exactly what it says it’s about: meticulously crafted settings and rule sets for games that don’t actually exist. Walsh explains his fixation with fake games and how, as he sees it, they broaden the landscape of who can create and imagine games in the first place. He also gives us a history lesson about proto-fake games like the almost unnervingly strange Codex Seraphinianus. Then we discuss more modern, regrettably AI-driven fake game trends like Bird Game 3, which has become a bonafide TikTok sensation. After that, we move on to the week’s biggest video game news: Horses, an otherwise off-the-beaten-path art game from a small indie studio, got banned on Steam for reasons that remain unclear, causing a series of cascading impacts on other stores like Epic and Humble. What does it mean for a single storefront to essentially have sole say over what and what does not constitute acceptable art? And why is everyone losing their minds over a game that, according to Chris, is actually pretty tame? Lastly, we share our wild animal horror stories.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, Chris Person, & special guest Eyepatch Wolf

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.