Side Story – Details, episodes & analysis

Between the barter system and the coin, there were other currencies. Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid Empire, which would one day stretchout from the Iranian plateau as far west as Egypt and north as the Aral Sea, used silver bullion when this-for-that wasn't an efficient enough means of trade. Could you decide who's paying for lunch on a flipped silver bar? Unsure. Perhaps, slightly later, the 'knife money' of the Zhou Dynasty or Old Chosŏn would be better suited for such chance game. Perhaps they tossed them straight up, wagering on them as they fell, to see if they'd stick in the ground. Yes, binary action is better for bets, but is the blade balanced for even odds? And so, let's give thanks to the Anatolian kingdom of Lydia, their electrum mines, and their little coins, discs with lions and stags punched in, begging to be flipped.

Show Notes

Tom Walker Coin Stream 1

Tom Walker Coin Stream 2

Autopsy Pile for Anthology of the Killer

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:01 Unfair Flips
21:47 Q-Up
01:01:18 Anthology of the Killer
01:24:22 Digmon Story: Time Stranger
01:29:06 Poco
01:31:58 Vein

Featuring Austin Walker, Jack de Quidt, and Sylvi Bullet

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

This episode contains an extended conversation about the death of a pet. See the chapters below for time stamps.

What makes a city good? Is it walkability? A wide variety of dining options? A good chance that while you're on your way to work, you'll bump into between five and seven little creatures, teaming with elemental power? Well if it's that last one, we've got the city for you. Rent may be high, but so are the Pidgeys.   

Show Notes

Skyehoppers' Pokemon video essays: Pokémon Black & White Asks the Impossible and Pokémon's Riskiest Game
 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
00:50 Pokemon Legends: Z-A
01:16:58 Absolum
01:46:32 Dealing with Pet Death / Dissociating via Video Games
02:12:44 More Absolum Talk

Featuring Austin Walker, Andrew Lee Swan, and Keith Carberry

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

After promising not to talk about the Summer Games Fest for too long, Janine, Keith, and Austin spend a full hour chatting about the event's resonance with various ongoing malaises and maladies affecting games culture. Then, finally, they dig into Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. Has she also stolen their hearts, or is their dream game just a fantasy?

Show Notes

Unearthed Treasure Room Showcase

New Virtual Influencer Is Unbelievably Bad - Jarvis Johnson (Anna Indiana context)

Janine's Fantasy Life Witching Hour LP Playlist

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:40 Summer Games Fest & the Green Games Showcase
01:09:46 Break
01:09:52 FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time
02:07:08 Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma
02:10:15 Elden Ring: Nightreign

Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Keith Carberry

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

Today we dive deep into the mysterious manor of Mt. Holly as Austin, Sylvi, and (for the first time on Side Story) Keith talk at length about Blue Prince, the first-person puzzle game by Dogubom. We talk favorite puzzles, end-game secrets, and the strengths and weaknesses of the game's narrative about familial affection, political intrigue, and spending your childhood getting lost in big houses.

Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to friendsatthetable.cash to support us! 

Show Notes

Betrayal at House on the Hill

Clue: The Great Museum Caper

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist

'Does Blue Prince Never End?' by Chris Person

Bluff City Season 1 on Patreon

Bluff City Season 1 on YouTube

Featuring Austin Walker, Sylvi Bullet, and Keith Carberry

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

Look, over there, at that tower. What sort of secrets could it hold? Perhaps some terrible Multiplayer Activities to waste your time. Or, no, wait, maybe it's one of the good towers, the kind you can zipline down or hover-grapple your way up,  the kind with an loot... or even better, an agility orb on the top! No... no, wait, what's that number on the front?? Why is it counting down? And why does this whole thing smack of the French?

Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to friendsatthetable.cash to support us! 

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
02:40 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
56:14 Echo Point Nova
01:18:32 Infinty Nikki Boycott & Multiplayer Update
01:28:43 Arc Raiders
01:42:08 Despelote
01:47:13 Questions

Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Sylvi Bullet

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

Would you leave an NPC so broken hearted that they just clam up for the rest of the game? Would you trade the AAA flash of 2025 for the animated FMV flair of 1992? Would you get upset if you engaged in hijinks so chaotic that you ended up slipping on a banana peel you put on the ground to begin with? Or would you understand that sometimes, the player getting what they want looks a little bit like the player not getting what they want? These questions and more answered on this episode of Side Story...   

Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to friendsatthetable.cash to support us! 

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
05:24 Fields of Mistria
01:02:49 Skin Deep
01:30:21 LUNAR Remastered Collection
01:43:55 Upcoming Farm/Life Sims (Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time)

Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Ali Acampora

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

What would you do if you were a little digital guy, running around in a Tron or Reboot style game world? Would you solve puzzles and investigate the myserious of the mansion-that-would-be-your-inheritence? Would you stalk the bogs of Britain, evading authoritarian robots and hunting for giant batteries? Or perhaps you would commit yourself to the noblest of goals, God's One True Task: Repeatedly raising and lowering all four windows of your Hyundai IONIQ 5, one at a time, while repeatedly taking selfies...

Games Discussed this episode: Blue Prince, InZOI, Closer the Distance, Orwell, Atomfall

show notes

Inzoi's 'Smart Zoi' AI system sounds great on paper but seeing it in a live demo didn't exactly wow me by Christopher Livingston

BDS Calls for a Boycott of Xbox Due to Microsoft's Partnership with Israel

Side Story only exists because of support from listeners like you. Go to friendsatthetable.cash to support us! 

Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Jack de Quidt

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

Around these parts, it isn't April Fools Day, it's April Truths Day, and today's big truth: Friends at the Table has a new podcast for you. It's about games and the stories they make us tell. It's that simple. It's hosted by Austin, with guests from the rest of the main show's cast.  It's going to come out every two weeks, probably on Mondays. Today was an exception. Because of the holiday. 

Oh, and for $10 Patrons, it means the beginning of an exclusive Let's Play, the first episode of which is available right now (and hey, we'll put this one out for free). 

Wanna know a little more? Check out this post on our Patreon page for a little more into the creation of Side Story!

show notes 

Valnet Blues: How Online Porn Pioneer Hassan Youssef Built a Digital Media 'Sweatshop'

CWA games union

Media Club Plus

Cover art by A Liang Chan

Soul Frame Preludes 9 notes

explosions update repo

Support us on Patreon!

Featuring Austin Walker, Janine Hawkins, and Jack de Quidt

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

The ocean is draining. Where is it going? Is there a drain down there? Is someone drinking it? Wouldn't they be getting very thirsty? I guess there are lizardly astrologists and coral-covered automatons, so maybe there is someone who can drink the sea. Hard to say. Hard to say.

This show wouldn't be possible without your support. Please consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/friends_table.

Show Notes

Endless Legend 2 UI/UX Next Steps

Endless Legend 1 Screenshots

Endless Legend 2 Screenshots

Janine's Comparisons

Keith's Edit

Skill Trees

Additional Notes

Media Club Plus

Run Button Metal Gear Solid Let's Play

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
03:28 Endless Legend 2
01:04:10 Break (On the Nature of Time)
01:09:16 Civilization Revolution
01:11:08 Longest Played Demos
01:15:44 Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
01:20:27 The JRPG Zone: Star Ocean: The Second Story R, the Octopath Series, and Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
01:28:17 The Coin Zone: Unfair Flips and Q-Up
01:30:39 Phantasy Star Online
01:40:18 The Outro Begins

Featuring Austin Walker, Andrew Lee Swan, and Keith Carberry

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt

Take a deep breath in. Can you smell it? That's right, the summer is finally behind us, and we can turn to the finer things of the autumn: Genetic splicing, cursed relics, and hobby-kit helicopters. Make a warm drink and settle in. The crisp air of the fall is going to take us many places.  

Show Notes

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
08:30 The Saboteur
11:31 Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion
01:03:23 Strange Antiquities
01:29:44 No Man's Sky: Voyagers
01:39:30 Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
01:49:03 Hollow Knight: Silksong

Featuring Austin Walker, Jack de Quidt, and Sylvi Bullet

Produced by Austin Walker

Cover Art by A Liang Chan 

Music by Jack de Quidt