TALK THIS: It's Dangerous to Podcast Alone

Talk This! is a weekly podcast about video games, old and new. Each main episode, hosts Emma and Madelyn Paquette have a lively debate about two random video games (one old and one new) and then subsequently make up their own by mashing together the best elements of each.

Special Episode: Eff Off, 2025 01/04/2026

Special Episode: Eff Off, 2025 In this special episode, Madelyn and Emma reflect back on the year of 2025 in gaming and how amazing that it's been approximately a century in vibe-time since we did the previous one of these. Also featuring the slop machine, unbridled greed, and inadvisable financial decisions. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39600560

Side-Quest 226. The 2048 Baby 12/28/2025

Side-Quest 226. The 2048 Baby In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about their last six weeks in gaming including various airplane seatback games. Also featuring a new hatred of cacti, the influence of Yakuza games, and the vile Kotaro. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39541560

Episode 229. Road to SOMA 12/21/2025

Episode 229. Road to SOMA In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss SOMA and Road to Empress and exactly how those teleporters in Star Trek work. Also featuring perspective choices in horror games, one day blinding stew, and what makes something a biopic vs RPF. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39485260

Side-Quest 225. Get Schooled 12/14/2025

Side-Quest 225. Get Schooled In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about schools in video games and how to gamify putting together a lesson plan. Also featuring the lack of YA-marketed video games, the changing lives of high schoolers, and shipping your students. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39399340

Episode 228. Domain of PEAK 12/07/2025

Episode 228. Domain of PEAK In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Binary Domain and PEAK, and Madelyn shows off all the kidspeak she knows. Also featuring new genre names, the Steam Chunk, and poor voice recognition software. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39307665

Side-Quest 224. Mon Dieu, Les Jeux 11/30/2025

Side-Quest 224. Mon Dieu, Les Jeux In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about video games and France since Madelyn just returned from her world travels. Also featuring the love of mimes, multiple France worlds in Kingdom Hearts, and the power of tax breaks. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39209330

Episode 227. Euro Truck Dating 11/23/2025

Episode 227. Euro Truck Dating In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Euro Truck Simulator (mostly 2) and Date Everything! and come up with something truly problematic. Also featuring bad rhymes, political maps, and Madelyn calling Europe a country at some point. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39127875

Side-Quest 223. Katamari Desperation 11/16/2025

Side-Quest 223. Katamari Desperation In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about their last six weeks in gaming and there's a second Katamari fix of the year so Madelyn's getting greedy. Also featuring slightly too late updates, games that grab your brain lobe, and control scheme hot takes. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/39047110

Episode 226. Drag x Terraria 11/09/2025

Episode 226. Drag x Terraria In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Terraria and Drag x Drive and go into the potential of a pickaxe controller peripheral. Also featuring damaging expensive equipment, the downfall of modding, and reinventing Civilization. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38960675

Side-Quest 222. Monstrous Implications 11/02/2025

Side-Quest 222. Monstrous Implications In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about monster and creature design in video games and what happens when your game monster gets too smart. Also featuring unloaded environments, women, and how limitations have shaped design. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38873740

Episode 225. Destiny of the Sea 10/26/2025

Episode 225. Destiny of the Sea In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Destiny and Sword of the Sea and whether flow states can be insidious. Also featuring out of context poetry, how everything is Thoreau's fault, and extreme high pressure Jenga. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38782370

Side-Quest 221. Cross Generational Bonding 10/19/2025

Side-Quest 221. Cross Generational Bonding In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about developing games across console generations and where to get a Switch 2 dev kit. Also featuring the power of Mario Kart, the creature called the PlayStation 3, and what gamers want: the 4DS. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38631205

Episode 224. Lost Soul Undertale 10/12/2025

Episode 224. Lost Soul Undertale In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Undertale and Lost Soul Aside and the difficulties of making a dream game. Also featuring save point features, the awesome power of fandom, and taking inspiration from other games, you know, like a mash-up. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38550785

Side-Quest 220. Eating Onions and Feeling Sick 10/05/2025

Side-Quest 220. Eating Onions and Feeling Sick In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about their last six weeks of gaming and also some other random stuff like TGS. It's gaming related. Also featuring driving good, getting scared, and some overall gender stuff. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38469165

Episode 223. Chibi-Robo Life i 09/28/2025

Episode 223. Chibi-Robo Life i In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Chibi-Robo and Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time and think about what makes a good checklist. Also featuring domestic issues, starting from scratch, and expected alien invasions. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38381525

Side-Quest 219. Trailer-Made Hair Flips 09/21/2025

Side-Quest 219. Trailer-Made Hair Flips In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about custom-made cinematic trailers and whether all games should be required to show their menus instead. Also featuring capturing the essence of a game, changing contexts, and why marketing teams should consider a funny little song instead. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38295410

Episode 222. MindsEye OverDrive 09/14/2025

Episode 222. MindsEye OverDrive In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Sunset Overdrive and MindsEye and the different scales of mistake. Also featuring ground beef reviews, what makes a Spiderman, and the dying screams of all video games and cars. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38212310

Side-Quest 218. Kicking the Silksong Nest 09/07/2025

Side-Quest 218. Kicking the Silksong Nest In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about when to release your game and the high-octane impact of Silksong on everything. Also featuring wishlist numbers, thinking about movies, and the disappearance of marketing avenues. It's possible I forgot to remove a moment where we get distracted by a dog being cute in the background, but honestly that'd just be a bonus for you listeners if true. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38117385

Episode 221. Jack Frost's Soccer Autobiography 08/31/2025

Episode 221. Jack Frost's Soccer Autobiography In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army and Despelote and how many things would be improved by adding a katamari. Also featuring soccer fandom, the mascot appeal of Jack Frost, and Rasputin also for some reason. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/38034180

Side-Quest 217. Congrats Silksong Fans 08/24/2025

Side-Quest 217. Congrats Silksong Fans In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about their last six weeks of gaming and honestly don't talk about Silksong, I just feel like it needs to be acknowledged. Also featuring corny mechanics that hit, alternate mobile game universes, and comparisons to fanfiction. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37933070

Episode 220. Strap a Rocket to This Duck 08/17/2025

Episode 220. Strap a Rocket to This Duck In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Rocket League and the Duck Detective series and ponder how many kids still watch Miss Congeniality. Also featuring statistical analysis, Shakespeare plays, and the mysterious existence of salami. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37850605

Side-Quest 216. Adult Content, Credit Cards, and You 08/10/2025

Side-Quest 216. Adult Content, Credit Cards, and You In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about content moderation on gaming storefronts from the influx of AI slop to the pressures of credit card companies to remove adult content. Also featuring how to design good UI, the myth of the benevolent censor, and whether there are too many games. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37747615

Episode 219. Bloom & Tamagotchi: Corner Shop 08/03/2025

Episode 219. Bloom & Tamagotchi: Corner Shop In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage and the joy of mindless repetition in childhood. Also featuring teenage band skills, consoles for kids, and Labubus on rockets. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37650670

Side-Quest 215. Celebs in Computer Games 07/27/2025

Side-Quest 215. Celebs in Computer Games In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about their Hollywood celebrities in video games and how to identify a true gamer. Also featuring Mario 64 references, the appeal of acting in a game, and what star power can do for you. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37563500

Episode 218. Her Split Fiction Story 07/20/2025

Episode 218. Her Split Fiction Story In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Her Story and Split Fiction. That's a lot of women and a lot of fiction right there. Also featuring what FMV stands for, movie backgrounds, and fantasy land cops stuff. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37469780

Side-Quest 214. A Dream, A Salvation 07/13/2025

Side-Quest 214. A Dream, A Salvation In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about their last six weeks of gaming and looking super cool in-game and irl. Also featuring last act twists, Lumines-style meditation, and bad TV adaptations. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37388700

Episode 217. Clair Lumines 07/06/2025

Episode 217. Clair Lumines In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Lumines: Puzzle Fusion and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the terrifying reality of your thirties being old. Also featuring all kinds of blocks, swollen batteries, and remembering the era of the Walkman. Sorry for Madelyn's quietness, we used the same mic, and she was not close enough. Did my best to boost her sound where I could! /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37293215

Side-Quest 213. Let Me In Your Magic Circle 06/29/2025

Side-Quest 213. Let Me In Your Magic Circle In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about games that include the player in its story and pick up the concept of the magic circle. Also featuring tutorial talk, deep invasions of privacy, and save data as a diary. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37176200

Episode 216. Kerbal Space Skin 06/22/2025

Episode 216. Kerbal Space Skin In this episode, Madelyn and Emma discuss Kerbal Space Program and Skin Deep and all the things that can go wrong in space. Also featuring deep hatred of science, Looney Tunes vibes, and the ubiquitous indie troublemaking cat. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37102765

Side-Quest 212. Growing Up to RPG Mentor Age 06/15/2025

Side-Quest 212. Growing Up to RPG Mentor Age In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk about aging in video games and when we'll see developers being nostalgic for their thirties. Also featuring new FIFA mechanics, buffing and debuffing factors, and 3D models vs real life humans. /episode/index/show/talkthispodcast/id/37014795

TALK THIS: It's Dangerous to Podcast Alone

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