TheBesties
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Two indie games that couldn't have less in common
🕑 Added 2025-04-22 04:01:01 +0000 UTC
This week, we chat about two games plopped at the furthest ends of the indie game spectrum. First, Frush shares Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, a story-heavy blend of Metroidvania and Souls-like built by a studio full of designers, coders, artists, and storytellers. After that, Plante shares his feelings on Consume Me, the latest winner of the Independent Game Festival's Seamus McNally Grand Prize. Over the past seven years, a team of two made most of this biographical mini-game collection.
Both games have beautiful art and take big swings at narrative... and that's about all they have in common.
A heads up for the second-half conversation: Consume Me is a game about the overwhelming anxiety of an eating disorder. Plante talks about his teenage experience with an eating disorder and how those memories mixed with the game's "goals." It's a delicate and thoughtful convo, but we want to let folks know before they listen.
Games discussed:
Movies and TV discussed:
Comments
Kyle Balmer
lone wolf and cub is also in british libraries š . bizarre universal!
Michael Cummings
Iām late catching up on the episodes, just wanted to say incredible talk about eating disorders. Iāve had struggles with this my whole life and have rarely talked to anyone but my wife about it. I think a lot of people underestimate how prevalent it is in young men, as Plante said. I joined the Marine Corps in my early twenties and was bulimic throughout. I think since I present as a bigger āmasculineā veteran, the few times Iāve attempted to talk about it have been brushed off. A big part of recovery from that has been being able to read/listen about other men that have undergone the same thing. Long winded way of saying I appreciate how open youāve been and Iām glad youāre doing well!
Jessica
Really appreciate the frank discussion on eating disorders -- totally took me by surprise when it came up on my favourite gaming podcast, but the discussion on those areas of the internet and the mental gymnastics that go into disordered eating and the general mental exhaustion were relatable in a very valuable way. I'm not sure if this is a game I'll ever actually play (probably not!), but I'm glad it exists and I'm glad I got to hear y'all talk about it.
Bee Money
Justinās portable gaming device should be called the āJustin Caseā
Little Mel
Hey if you guys have not talked about it yet, have you tried out, "That's Not My Neighbor"? Indie 2D "job simulator" Horror game. Apologies if you've talked about it, and I'm forgetting!
