Word Play is an ingenious new puzzle-roguelike that crosses the streams of Balatro and Scrabble. The result is a compelling little game with big potential.

In the roundup: Cipher Zero, Haste, Driftwood, Ritual of Raven, Time Flies, Death Standing 2, Wheel World, and more.

Here's that video of the Word Play dev talking about making his game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKRWmfcMBw

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It's the Year of Kong! Nintendo's first "proper" (don't @ me, Mario Kart fans) Switch 2 blockbuster is here, and it's one for the books. Donkey Kong is now a fully realised modern Nintendo mascot as he smashes, dances, and chomps his way through a series of wonderfully designed, multi-layered levels that are simply a joy to experience. A couple of minor-ish quibbles stop it from being an unreserved 10/10, for me at least — but that doesn’t detract from the headline: it truly is Donkey Kong’s time.

In the roundup: Cipher Zero, Wildwood Down, Wheel World, Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson, The Drifter, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Indie Quest guest appearance: https://indiequest.buzzsprout.com/1425403/episodes/17508234-episode-115-keep-on-questin-indie-people-with-john-of-gaming-in-the-wild

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Thanks to boss tier patrons KingChamp and ShyGuy — and thanks for listening!

This week's pod is a roundup episode featuring Blade Chimera, Midtris, and Death Stranding 2. In the roundup: Tron Catalyst, Tiny Garden, Preserve, Wheel World.

I also talk about moving the podcast's hosting away from Spotify, given the unforgivable actions of the CEO, and discuss removing GITW from Spotify completely. For the record — Pocketcasts does it just as well; and YouTube Music has you covered if you have a YT Premium subscription.

Links mentioned:

My Grapevine cover story: https://grapevine.is/mag/feature/2025/07/04/the-summer-ring-road-around-iceland-in-12-days.

The latest Gaming In The Wild YouTube videos: http://youtube.com/gaminginthewild.

Support me on Patreon for bonus episodes, Discord, blogs, and more: http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild.

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Thanks for listening!