Flow State

Matt Horton
  • 5.0 (1)
  • VIDEO GAMES

A show about the games we get lost in

  1. FEB 18

    2025 was a weird year for games...

    It was a weird year for video games, but here's my favorite moments among the mess. (00:00) - - It was a weird year... (01:01) - - and Roger (01:48) - - Extra: Persona 4 Golden (03:00) - - Dispatch (05:15) - - The Séance of Blake Manor (06:11) - - Unfair Flips (07:20) - - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (08:54) - - Extra: Octopath Traveler 2 (09:56) - - Fretless (11:13) - - Fighting Games (13:36) - - Q-Up (14:45) - - Known Mysteries (16:47) - - Citizen Sleeper 2 (19:19) - - The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Support my work at ko-fi.com/matthortondotzip's and Roger episode - https://share.transistor.fm/s/570f6f40Brendon on YouTube - ‪@itswavelengths‬ Stephen on YouTube - ‪@MemoryCardManuscript‬

    23 min

  2. FEB 18

    It's time to admit it. Demonschool is disappointing.

    After 14.5 hours of Demonschool, it’s time to admit that I’m disappointed. (00:00) - - Demonschool is disappointing (01:14) - - Demonschool's original sin (02:45) - - A game that does it better (03:22) - - It's not just expectation Support my work at ko-fi.com/matthortonDemonschool on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/19...

    6 min

  3. FEB 18

    THIS is how you make a detective game

    (00:00) - - The Séance of Blake Manor (01:26) - - Irish AF (02:14) - - Deduction in Blake Manor (03:09) - - The art Support my work at ko-fi.com/matthortonThe Séance of Blake Manor on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/13... It's two days before Halloween, and Declan Ward has been invited to Blake Manor to investigate the disappearance of a woman named Evelyn Deane. She and a number of guests are at the manor ahead of the Grand Séance, an attempt to speak directly to a spirit rather than through a medium. As the player, we navigate Ward through Blake Manor to solve the mystery of Miss Deane's disappearance, yes, but also to discover smaller, personal mysteries.

    4 min

  4. FEB 18

    The Hottest Game Mechanic of 2025 🪙

    The hottest game mechanic of 2025 is... coin flipping. (00:00) - - Flip a coin with me (02:19) - - Number goes up (12:11) - - The concept of 20% (14:41) - - The "ladder" (17:57) - - "Meme games" (19:27) - - Commenting on humanity with a coin (22:39) - - Committing to the eSports bit (26:21) - - Simultaneous invention To watch the developer interviews, subscribe monthly at https://ko-fi.com/matthortonUnfair Flips on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/39...Q-UP on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/37...Music from the original soundtracks of Q-UP and Cobalt Core At this point you’re probably aware of the game, Unfair Flips, where you flip a coin with the single goal of getting 10 heads in a row. Northernlion has played it. I’ve already made a Short about the game. The game has reached a meme status that often leads to financial success for these smaller, simpler games. And in the latest Steam Next Fest, a demo for another coin flipping game has come out. Q-UP is a completely different take on flipping a coin, as impossible as that sounds. Where Unfair Flips is stripped down to only the slightest amount of mechanic on top of the basic probability of a coin flip, Q-UP puts that simple game of chance into the context of eSports. This is a video game that straight up looks like Apex Legends or Overwatch or Marvel Rivals. You have seen a video game UI that looks like this. The design is Fortnite maximalist, including a shop, messages from the developers, a carousel of fake news hits about the game, and even daily challenges. You can actually, really queue up with your friends for coin flipping matches. It is a tongue-in-cheek take on eSports that actually does have an interesting game within it, even if the coin flips themselves are completely random. These games are wildly different takes on a goofy idea, and the distance between those takes leads to thematic differences that I find really interesting. Yes. The two games where you flip coins both have things they’re trying to say. I promise.

    28 min
  5. Losing Control in Consume Me

    09/24/2025

    Losing Control in Consume Me

    Consume Me is an auto-biographical story of a young girl and the untenable pressures she feels to be a success, whatever that means. It is serious, but it is goofy. The game has sad moments, but it’s not somber. Far more often, it’s really funny, chronicling Jenny’s young adulthood through a series of WarioWare-style mini-games. They are chaotic and funny and messed up in all the ways that real life can often be. (00:00) - - A goofy game about real stuff (02:19) - - Consume Me's big mechanic (04:22) - - What even is this game? (06:03) - - It starts out fun... (08:42) - - The breaking point (12:46) - - The broken ways we seek control (16:08) - - Consume Me is extremely well-made Consume Me releases Sep 25, 2025: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/Consume_Me/Music in the video is by Ken "coda" Snyder, including some music from Consume Me Support my work at https://ko-fi.com/matthortonRead more at https://matthorton.live

    17 min

  6. 08/26/2025

    It's A Miracle Fretless Got Made

    Subscribe to Flow State: https://youtube.com/@flowstatecrit (00:00) - - Fretless has a magic (01:41) - - What is Fretless? (02:42) - - Getting QTEs just right (09:15) - - The musical theme of Fretless (16:27) - - The game is great! And that's it. (19:32) - - Fretless almost didn't get made There’s a magic in the game feel of Fretless, and it’s immediately noticeable. Quick-time events in battle form the foundation of this game's incredible game feel. The wild thing, is that despite being a musical RPG from the very beginning of development about 8 years ago, these quick time events weren’t present until about a year before its release. This is a game that had so many chances to fail or be something much lesser. But the team at Ritual Studios were relentless, and they’ve made something special.Fretless on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2429050/Fretless__The_Wrath_of_Riffson/ Support my work at ko-fi.com/MattHorton Read more of my writing at https://MattHorton.live

    25 min

  7. 08/05/2025

    The Puzzle Game Where a Minotaur Starts a Union

    Hoard's LLC: Limited Labyrinth Corporation is a block puzzle game about a minotaur who wants to unionize his workplace, a corporate dungeon. I sat down with Cephalopod Ink, the developer of Hoard's LLC, to learn just what kind of team makes a game like that. (00:00) - - NO BENEFITS (02:09) - - Meet Cephalopod Ink (06:10) - - A corporate dungeon??? (07:47) - - The inspiration for the game (08:59) - - The games industry is a nightmare for workers (11:23) - - Cephalopod's experience with unions (15:43) - - Scoping down to find success (19:13) - - Keeping it light (21:56) - - The art is great! (23:23) - - How do you market a game like Hoard's LLC? (25:54) - - Can games actually make change? (27:28) - - How will Cephalopod Ink be better? (31:21) - - They said the name of the show Support my work at ko-fi.com/MattHortonRead more of my writing at https://MattHorton.live Listen to my podcast at https://cantletitgo.gay Listen to Lex's podcast - The Legend of Podcast: Trails Through Trails - https://trailspod.transistor.fm/

    32 min
  8. Finished Expedition 33? Play these next.

    06/10/2025

    Finished Expedition 33? Play these next.

    Expedition 33 is just one of many great turn-based RPGs released in the last 10 years. Here's a bunch of RPGs that you should play when you're finished with Clair Obscur. 0:00 - JRPGs never died2:12 - Turn-based RPGs are killing it4:25 - High-fidelity 3D graphics6:11 - Art Direction7:21 - World Maps8:23 - Combat11:02 - Characters & Social Sim13:11 - A Message14:56 - Turn-based RPGs aren't ancient history Find me elswhere:Support my work at ko-fi.com/MattHortonRead more of my writing at https://MattHorton.liveListen to my podcast at https://cantletitgo.gayMy video on the end of Expedition 33 https://youtu.be/J_gfIx5VIqY?si=bv2Uvhpjpp_uK5tC Lex's podcast!!! The Legend of Podcast: Trails Through Trails - https://trailspod.transistor.fm/ Credits----- https://youtu.be/p00EF6_b5pI?si=rl5eCMgy3MqMHQihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i87Bk7OqAUkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8azSzG-Flshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkm1I7ngQb0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCuaejfDvR0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-6Aa3_86Lohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVLEPdSX8DYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6daXBKYT6N4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asf4DmuukZAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz0g9hxq7L8https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=2&v=j_-dPgRy4LIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEo9rB4WmCMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV5rIW1Qumshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsdxLwqUH6ghttps://youtu.be/LUNL-Pey7BU?si=00AE5Gf1r6vtchsQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raWYLdIqy5Ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Wj5bpID80https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgtBM23ltuwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPcwMFWZksQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=off7_MX4eZkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-v6DRmerschttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgKMcrpvQNQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P7obXHM3EQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhzR5SzvRshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF96tpchinkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB4WyHe-HRMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T85-Obx9iE8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWWy7V9rCrAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKpSpvFCZRwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsMvSZeiKmwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIIPXA2A6cMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXi0yQD9F1Yhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tavPnYeFrV4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T22wNvoNiUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plwpzrXQoUwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQPk4cVrU_whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1s&v=f5IWiqGKcQghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd9j_NWZGG8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XTozylrz-Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJL0-lDuJn8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMtDNA_kiZ4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdkyi7Myg-chttps://youtu.be/ADaRsEhTB70?si=p_GKjqgqUDcswLwfhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dwFNq06bQkhttps://youtu.be/pKRvc2HADUw?si=lR_ymsDfzwlrup0Jhttps://youtu.be/lgmLN1NHXyE?si=Xlk-u4Gbyxlmn-C1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmi8KrntszIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVbqM_O2kcIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7trBUIkyO1Ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqbNaxO82ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWXAxOKdQ6chttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTOAd2fq740https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZ_Z1diuighttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7zjsM5nQAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goj8hyy_L0Mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KES40VdEtQghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVP_nCK0tXUhttps://youtu.be/jjiyzoII06I?si=8bS0E2shLrS7O9zfhttps://youtu.be/7lM8fVR_oZw?si=l45fTQsf7eXp78Tyhttps://youtu.be/srvV0riIgXU?si=Qe-DWMTlZRlsb3Qihttps://youtu.be/iNwMvTVPq2E?si=HlZ1fYaCdRzxmiF4https://youtu.be/Vofkw9-O18c?si=gzQ_ZGqawbwgIbcLhttps://youtu.be/iEGniXc7Xtc?si=eh_t4hodQFix3UtZhttps://youtu.be/-1LDIPBWjtU?si=pp_KiOifoEejX2VJhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORpKwkq5z-4https://youtu.be/qFs8-qGaoHU?si=Vj3TRiyLFQmkOFgYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyprCbJwWsEhttps://youtu.be/Woz3mS9Ao5k?si=sJGQru1pFn8iMg7zhttps://youtu.be/yvSWRg_oPyw?si=nAKsR0Voifbny0JB

    16 min
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About

A show about the games we get lost in

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Horton
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Matt Horton
  • Show Website
    Flow State