The Pocket Gamer Podcast

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The Pocket Gamer Podcast - from the makers of PocketGamer.com

  1. 4d ago

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 91 - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit, anime adaptations, and mobile controller emulators

    Are you a fan of mobile adaptations of your favourite anime shows? How do you feel about reliving "iconic scenes" from the franchise, or about the roster of characters you want to collect? It's a shameless celebration of all things JoJo in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where you might just hear two different perspectives on the new RPG from fans and non-fans alike. Iwan gets right to it with the launch of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Spirit, and if you've been a regular listener to the podcast, you'll know that both Will and Iwan are massive fans of the IP. For me, as a newcomer to the franchise, I wasn't sure how to feel about the very narrative-driven approach to the RPG, but we do all agree that the visuals are fantastic and that the RPG is really well made. Iwan and Will then get into the heart of the matter about whether or not it's a good idea to introduce the series at a certain point in the arc, and Iwan airs his grievances about the roster of characters currently available. Despite our apparent complaints, the truth is that we all very much enjoy the game, to be honest! And if you're looking to get into it as well, we've got a beginner's guide and a Hall of Trials guide to help you get started. Moving on before we get too deep into JJBA, something that also caught our eye this week is the 8BitDo FlipPad, which is an interesting little peripheral that essentially turns your mobile phone into a GameBoy-esque handheld device. It leads our conversation into emulators and how well these mobile innovations may go, including a potential Nintendo-based set of old-school retro games and Iwan's previous review of the similarly built GameSir Pocket Taco. You can listen to the podcast below, through the Spotify embed, or head over to our Spotify Page. If you fancy giving us a follow, you'll actually get the new podcasts pushed to you as they're uploaded (which means you can give them a listen before we've even got the story live on the website).  Plus, we've been teasing more ways of getting it to you for the past months, and now the time has finally come. You can catch us on Amazon Music or on Apple Podcasts too - because life is hard enough already, and we wouldn't want you to struggle with finding us!

  2. Aug 11

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 90 - Survivors-like ducks, My Hero Academia United Survival, and AI buying games for you

    How would you like an AI assistant that makes seamless purchases for you? Would you have enough self-discipline, or will your in-app purchases spiral out of control? We ponder the consequences of automated sales in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we tackle everything from morbid geese to duck mafia. The big topic for this episode is mobile monetisation via AI agents, in which we shed some light on what the future might look like if AI assistants could make automatic purchases for you within games. It's all about removing barriers and making things as immersive and seamless as possible, which might not turn out so well if you're easily swayed by tempting offers. It's the hilariously perfect segue from AI into Cluck Survivor, as the premise for this Survivors-like stems from an AI data centre exploding. It does offer a charming set of visuals for the genre, which reminds Iwan of his experience playing both My Hero Academia United Survival and The Walking Dead Aftermath. There's an interesting dichotomy between the two despite being in the same genre, but the bottom line is that presentation matters more than you might think. It's why the gacha element in both CookieRun: Kingdom and CookieRun: Crumble is so memorable, after all! Will also recalls his time playing Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Survivor, before we segue into other quirkier takes on the genre, including a Loopy Ducky and some ducks in a top hat, before we wrap it all up with an innocent goose being boiled alive in Goose RPG: Honk to Survive. Oh, and we're looking forward to the aptly titled Warhammer Survivors one too, which is another take on the genre and is being developed in cooperation with poncle themselves!

  3. Aug 4

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 89 - Wish Upon A Cat, Shelter From the Storm, and watching ads to stream Xbox games

    If a game tells you to expect an ad every hour, does that make it less disruptive? How do you feel about watching ads for games you already own? We try to get our bearings upon Iwan's return in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we tackle everything from promotional materials for an office supply chain to more mobile monetisation mayhem. Will jumps right into the big topic for this week, which is that Xbox has announced that it'll be testing this new ad-based system for its games streaming service. This means that you'll be streaming games with ads being shown every hour, which raises a lot of questions about how disruptive these will be during each gameplay session.  Mobile has been doing this for a while now, hasn't it? This brings to mind one of the recent games I've had the pleasure of playing, which is Wish Upon A Cat. This point-and-click adventure, from the very beginning, tells you that it'll show you five ads across the entire experience, and knowing that, it actually made me feel less annoyed with ads, mainly because I was expecting them. Does that mean being aware of the ads makes them less intrusive? Iwan and Will then discuss the pros and cons of applying ads that are more relevant to the actual game's universe, as well as what exactly it means to be shown ads that add value to the player. Will it make more sense for ads to be integrated seamlessly into games? For instance, in Shelter From the Storm, could a document you're supposed to read perhaps be sponsored by an office supply chain? But that'd just be weird for something like Genshin Impact, wouldn't it? We throw a lot of random suggestions out into the ether, including having a banner at the bottom of the window (which definitely takes away from the verisimilitude, as Iwan puts it), asking people what kinds of ads they want to see, or having ads run on loading screens. There's also this interesting suggestion Will makes about having hidden codes inside the ads to reward players who've seen it, while Iwan counters that idea with having an IRL coupon you can use to get a free burger somewhere. It all boils down to how players are going to respond to this, because on mobile, this kind of ad strategy is already pretty common. What do you think about this "new thing" Xbox is trying, though? Send us a carrier pigeon and let us know!

  4. Jul 29

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 88 - Netflix Games, Amazon Luna, and phones as controllers

    How do you go about your regular game night? And what counts as a "mobile game" these days? This week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is once again a duo discussion between Will and me, where we go from Batman to He-Man and everything in between. Will takes us right into it with the recent trend we've been seeing, which is mobile games launching on TV. It's not as bizarre as you might think, because Eterspire will soon be playable on Apple TV (although that does raise questions about how its controls are going to go). If it's going to be mirrored onto a bigger screen, how good your hand-eye coordination is will determine how well you play. But if it's using your phone as a controller, how would that work? This brings to mind one of the mobile peripherals our editor-in-chief Dann reviewed called Playtiles, which sticks an adhesive onto your phone's screen to give it a more tactile controller feel. That said, we use Netflix's Unhinged as a good example of a creative way to use your phone as part of the actual game you're playing on your TV. It's a tool you use as an actual phone to get through the game, and it's an interesting concept that we may or may not see more of in the future. In terms of couch co-op, using phones as controllers might have a Switch-esque purpose, especially with the likes of Batman: Caped Crusader - Chronicles, where you team up with your friends to help solve crimes in Gotham City. Does it still use phones as peripherals more than as actual platforms? You be the judge! Before we end, though, we wrap up with Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite, which, this time, uses a mobile game as a tie-in to a film. It's another kind of approach that's different from the previously mentioned projects - we just wish there was some way to grab an in-game code from the film after watching it on Amazon Luna. We can dream, can't we?

  5. Jul 21

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 87 - Torchlight Infinite, video game conventions, and the unsolvable power creep problem

    Have you ever tried coming back to a game you've abandoned for so long? How do you feel about end-game content and live ops in general? This week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast is a duo discussion between Will and me about everything from messy user interfaces to problematic power creep. As I was away last episode due to TorchCon, I kick things off with a quick recap of everything that went down in Shanghai for the weekend - the highlight of which was the Torchlight Infinite devs lining up on stage to take questions from the audience. The players wasted no time in grilling them on the RPG's issues, but they bravely took it all in stride, which is extremely admirable. Will shares his own experience playing the RPG when he reviewed it three years ago, which inevitably leads to the issue of how challenging it can be for developers to balance end-game content to keep things fresh for veteran players with newbie-friendly quests to keep barriers to entry low.  We segue into cluttered menus and the difficulty of cramming UI elements into a small screen, with references to World of Warcraft, Diablo Immortal, Warframe, and Black Desert Mobile. Mobile optimisations and ports flow into the conversation, before the omnipresent problem of power creep, well, creeps in. I talk about returning to Last Cloudia again after five years and feeling lost and overwhelmed, while Will shares his experience coming back to Raid: Shadow Legends and beating the main campaign. Before we wrap up, though, we ponder the ins and outs of developers holding their own conventions for their franchises, and we end with the lovely thought of devs working passionately for these games with as much love as the players have for them too.

  6. Jul 15

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 86 - Mario Kart Tour end of service, Square Enix mobile woes, and a possible Nintendo peripheral

    Have you been a recent victim of one of your favourite mobile games shutting down and leaving you in the dust? How do you feel about a possible Nintendo peripheral you can attach to your phone GameBoy-style (patent pending)? Iwan and Will launch into an in-depth conversation about all things Nintendo in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where they go from pondering an Apple Arcade-esque subscription service to throwing out a product proposal into the ether. Will wastes no time diving into the heart of the matter with Mario Kart Tour shutting down in September, which means a lot of fans will soon have to look for other ways to feed their fandom before then. This leads Iwan to bring up his recent op-ed on Square Enix's own recent shutdowns on mobile, as he goes into the ins and outs of the studio's JRPGs and mobile ports through the years. Will then sheds some light on Nintendo's strengths when it comes to retro adventures, and explains just how the e-shop and the company's online subscription work. It's all incredibly detailed, so if you've always been curious about the inner workings of the subscription, Will and Iwan both have you covered. Inevitably, the discussion flows into how Japanese companies work, Xbox layoffs, Iwan's coverage of 2024's Tokyo Game Show, and a shoutout to his review of the GameSir Pocket Taco. All this talk gives birth to a novel idea about a new Nintendo peripheral, which they probably should patent while they can? Suffice it to say, it's a fun little back-and-forth between the two, proving they don't really need me around! But if you're curious about where I've been, our coverage of TorchCon 2026 and Torchlight: Infinite's Afterlight season should give you an idea!

  7. Jul 7

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 85 - Love and Deepspace controversy, Tears of Themis, and Bloons TD 6

    There's really no right way to come out of controversies unscathed, but have you been keeping up with the recent Love and Deepspace issue, and how do you feel about the community backlash? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where, despite the serious nature of the topic, we still steer the discussion towards lighter and brighter things as the episode ends. Now, if you're not exactly in the know about everything that's been going on in Love and Deepspace, we do talk about it in great detail this week, so just giving this episode a listen should tell you everything you need to know. It's obviously got a few more sensitive issues in there too, and we'd love to know what you personally think. Here's something to ponder, for instance: do we need some way for the female lead to reject any unwanted advances, perhaps? Can you think of other "solutions" to this problem? Have you played any other otome games, though? How about Tears of Themis, HoYoverse's romance detective sim that I personally love? In any case, we somehow manage to shed light on how to install an Eject button on a spaceship before we move on to the golden era of Flash games, and before the episode ends, Bloons TD 6 gets a special mention since it went on sale on Google Play last week for a very, very low price.

  8. Jun 30

    The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 84 - Call of Duty Mobile x The Boys, Songs of Conquest, and Persona 5

    Is there really such a thing as the Persona 5 collab curse? And do you prefer turn-based combat or real-time action? We dive into a healthy back-and–forth on all things mobile in this week's (New and Improved!) Pocket Gamer Podcast, where we ponder the mysteries of Boomers playing mobile games and Homelander possibly professing his love for candy. The big discussion for today is the apparent return of turn-based strategy as a trend in mobile games, where Songs of Conquest features prominently in the topic. We also shed light on overgamification and overstimulation and whether or not turn-based strategy can actually be incredibly relaxing. This reminds me of just how much I've been enjoying Grabby Crab recently, a premium puzzler where you can take your time and strategise the best movements to clear each stage. Will and I chat a little bit about developer Tepes Ovidiu and his previous works, Is This Yours? and Almost Out of Mana, before Iwan segues into the new Call of Duty Mobile crossover with Persona 5.  Now, apparently, there's this supposed curse that's been going on where games tend to shut down shortly after doing a collab with Persona 5 - is this a real thing, or does the franchise just have incredibly terrible luck? We'll find out soon enough, I suppose, if COD Mobile will indeed be the next casualty. Although, it's not likely that it'll go down any time soon, especially since it's also done a crossover with the popular TV show The Boys. Our very own Iwan got to sit down with Erin Moriarty (Starlight), and if you're curious about how it all went down, you can check out his interview to get all the deets. In any case, did you know, by the way, that Google Play actually holds big discounts on premium games from time to time? I definitely didn't, so I've probably been living under a rock all this time (although, to be fair, Iwan does mention that both Google Play and the App Store have a knack for failing to advertise their sales as much as Steam does).

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About

The Pocket Gamer Podcast - from the makers of PocketGamer.com

Information

  • Creator
    PocketGamer.com
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    94
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © PocketGamer.com
  • Show Website
    The Pocket Gamer Podcast