Welcome to Loading Screen.

A seasonal series where Tristan Jung and Raza Retiwala explore the various fields of video games.

In Season One, we will be deep-diving into different types of video game genres to help our listeners understand why are these genres important, why people find them fascinating, and some of the history and main games within them.

We will be releasing 8 episodes, 4 of which will be research episodes where we do a deep dive into a genre, and the other 4, which will be interviews with studios that have developed games within these genres.

We dive into the traits that make up simulation games (farming, construction, and management), and some of the notable games that have defined it (The Sims, Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and more).

Next week, we will be speaking with Thunder Lotus about their Simulation game: Spiritfarer.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

For the first episode of Season 2, Tristan and Raza talk about Role-Playing Games. How we define the genre, why people play the games, and our recommendations.

Loading Screen's recommended RPGs:

• Witcher 3
• Skyrim
• Final Fantasy
• Shin Megami Tensei / Persona
• Pokemon
• Mass Effect
• Disco Elysium
• Divinity: Original Sin
• Dark Souls

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

In Episode 2 of Season 2 of Loading Screen, Tristan and Raza talk about Single-Player Narrative Games. How we define the genre, why people play the games, and our recommendations.

Loading Screen's recommended Single-Player Narrative Games:

• Uncharted series
• God of War (2018)
• The Last of Us
• Metal Gear Solid
• Tomb Raider (2013)
• Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

In Episode 3 of Season 2 of Loading Screen, Tristan and Raza talk about Tactical Shooter Games. How we define the genre, why people play the games, and our recommendations.

Loading Screen's recommended Tactical Shooter Games:

• Valorant
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• Battlefield series
• Escape from Tarkov
• Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
• Squad
• Insurgency: Sandstorm
• Arma 3

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

In Episode 4 of Season 2 of Loading Screen, Tristan and Raza talk about Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games (MOBAs). How we define the genre, why people play the games, and our recommendations.

Loading Screen's recommended MOBAs:

• Pokemon Unite
• Dota 2
• League of Legends
• League of Legends: Wild Rift
• SMITE

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

For the final episode of Season 2 of Loading Screen, Tristan and Raza is joined by Eric Farraro/Slothwerks (Meteorfall, Krumit's Tale) to talk about Roguelike Deckbuilder Games. How we define the genre, why people play the games, and our recommendations.

Loading Screen's recommended Roguelike Deckbuilder Games:

• Slay the Spire
• Inscryption
• Meteorfall
• Monster Train
• Vault of the Void
• One Step from Eden
• Dicey Dungeons
• Krumit’s Tale

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

Welcome back. Loading Screen is back for our third and final season!

Over 5 episodes, Tristan and Raza will being talking two gaming phenomena that has fascinated us: why are classic games not fun to play in the modern age, along with how the perception of video games have changed over time. It will be a deep dive into various topics in the video gaming field, and we're so excited to share them with you.

There will be 5 episodes, released every week. See you soon.

Welcome to the first episode of Loading Screen Season 3. Over the next three episodes, Tristan and Raza will be discussing the gaming phenomena of why classic games aren't that fun to go back and play. This episode will dive deep into what makes a classic game.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

Welcome to the second episode of Loading Screen Season 3. Tristan and Raza are continuing to discuss the gaming phenomena of why classic games aren't that fun to go back and play. This episode will dive deep into how to access classic games.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

Welcome to the third episode of Loading Screen Season 3. Tristan and Raza wrap up the discussion of the gaming phenomena of why classic games aren't that fun to go back and play.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

Welcome to the second gaming phenomena we will discuss in Season Three! Raza and Tristan will take you through the history and debunk/validate various ideas that have come up as the perception of video games have changed over time. In this episode, we will be discussing the history of gaming perception.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

This week we welcome Nicolas Guérin from Thunder Lotus Games to talk about their latest game: Spiritfarer, a cozy management game about dying. We deep-dive in the motivations behind the game, how the team built it, and the fun stories along the way.

Games plugged by Nicolas:

• Disco Elysium
• Umurangi Generation

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

Welcome to the second gaming phenomena we will discuss in Season Three! Raza and Tristan will dive deeper into the various gaming perceptions we brought up last episode to debunk the pros and cons of gaming.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

That wraps it up for Season Three of Loading Screen! We wanted to give a quick update on the future of this podcast and where you can find us going forward.

For our second genre, we talk about City Management games. Some of the games that we explore include: The Sumerian Game, SimCity, Caesar, Moonbase, Tropico and Frostpunk.

Next week, we will be speaking with The Wandering Band about their City Management game: Airborne Kingdom.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

This week, we welcome Zach Mumbach from A Wandering Band to discuss their city management game, Airborne Kingdom.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

This week, we deep dive into Dating Simulator games: the history, main games, evolution, and perception.

Next week, we will be speaking with Rocket Adrift about their Dating Sim game: Raptor Boyfriend.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

This week, we chat with Lindsay Rollins from Rocket Adrift to talk about their Dating Simulator game, Raptor Boyfriend.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

This week, we talk about Rhythm Games. The different types (peripheral, controller, movement), the history and arcs, and the perception.

Next week, we will be speaking with D-Cell Games about their Rhythm Game: Unbeatable.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

For the seasonal finale of Loading Screen Season 1, we chat with Andrew Tsai, RJ Lake, and Rachel Lake from D-Cell Games about their rhythm game, Unbeatable.

Intro/Outro music by Mosab (https://twitter.com/mobrosab)

Podcast art by Weiwei Xu (https://twitter.com/peevishpants)

Welcome back to Loading Screen!

A seasonal series where Tristan Jung and Raza Retiwala where we help you, the listener, discover new video game genres.

In Season 2, we will be deep diving into RPGs, Narrative Action Adventure Games, Tactical Shooters, MOBAs, and Roguelike Deckbuilders. We will share why these games are fun to play, along with a list of recommendations for you to jump into.

There will be 5 episodes, released every week. See you soon.