79 episodes
Pixel Therapy Pod Pixel Therapy Pod
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- Leisure
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4.7 • 30 Ratings
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Pixel Therapy Pod is a monthly podcast and Let's Play YouTube Channel queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers. We believe that games can serve as tools for understanding ourselves, each other, and the world around us— and we want to celebrate gaming in its many contexts: as a hobby; as an art form; as therapy.
Learn more on https://www.pixeltherapypod.com/
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Struggle and Sisterhood in 1000xResist with Sunset Visitor's Remy Siu and Pinki Li
We do not choose what we inherit, but we can choose what we carry. This week we're joined by sunset visitor 斜陽過客 Creative Director Remy Siu and Narrative Designer Pinki Li to chat about their journey as indie devs bringing 1000xRESIST to life -- and the resonance that has been deeply felt by players within and outside of the Asian diaspora.
Hailed by PASTE Magazine as one of the best games in the genre AND one of the best games of the year (agreed), 1000xRESIST is a thrilling sci-fi adventure where a disease spread by an alien invasion keeps you underground. You are Watcher, dutifully fulfilling your purpose in serving the ALLMOTHER -- until the day you discover a shocking secret that changes everything.
1:11 - Patreon shoutouts
2:21 - Welcome Pinki and Remy!
11:29 - 1000xResist conversation begins
52:34 - 1:01:45 - SPOILERS!!
1:05:42 - 1:13:15 - MORE SPOILERS!!
Read the essay '1000xRESIST is a game for a post-2019 Hong Kong protest generation of diaspora children that doesn't exist yet' by kastelpls: https://cohost.org/highimpactsex/post/5960606-1000x-resist-is-a-gam
Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/YIubeBZyPbM
Side Quest
tinyurl.com/opolivebranch
Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.
About Pixel Therapy
We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod -
CRYPTMASTER Keeps the Craft (Un)Alive
This week on the podcast we're chatting about Akupara Games' CRYPTMASTER -- a bizarre dungeon-crawling adventure where words control everything. It's like Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, but with more necromancy. And we mean that in the best way possible.
0:55 - Patreon shoutouts
3:22 - We're going to PAX West!
6:28 - Cryptmaster conversation begins
Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/RT775n2Zep4
Side Quest
tinyurl.com/opolivebranch
Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.
About Pixel Therapy
We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod -
Little Goody Two Shoes: A Sapphic '90s-Era Shoujo Folk Story!
This week we're joined by AstralShift's Kira (António Lopes / @kirariinn) to talk everything Little Goody Two Shoes -- a lush, gorgeously detailed horror-adventure-visual novel following Elise, a rebellious young woman daring to build a better life for herself in a deceptively peaceful small town. The game expertly explores the queer subtext beneath the horrors of witch hunts and religious ostracization, and we had an absolutely lovely time unpacking it with the game's lead artist and co-director!
PS - there's still time to enter our giveaway of a Steam key for Little Goody Two Shoes! Just visit patreon.com/pixeltherapypod and sign up as a free or paid subscriber! The winner will be notified on Patreon by this Sunday, May 5th. Thanks, AstralShift!
0:52 - Patreon shoutouts
3:04 - Introduction of Kira
7:19 - Discussion of Little Goody Two Shoes begins
Side Quest
tinyurl.com/opolivebranch
Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.
Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/wp8zS3TyjX8
About Pixel Therapy
We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod -
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother(s Remake)!
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, originally released in 2013 to critical and fan acclaim, transformed the way many people thought about what games could be and laid the groundwork for director Josef Fares' later explorations in cooperative mechanics (y'all may remember his title It Takes Two won Game of the Year in 2021!). Lovingly remade by Italian developer Avantgarden, critics have been torn on Brothers 2024 -- but we sure aren't! Join us as we re-traumatize ourselves on this heartbreaking adventure while Spencer recaps their experience at GDC 2024.
For real though: Content warning for discussions of gameplay involving depictions of attempted suicide and death.
0:58 - Patreon shoutouts
3:09 - Spencer went to GDC
34:58 - Brothers conversation begins
1:07:27 - Content Warning: Mention of Suicide
1:10:35 - End of Content Warning section
1:17:09 - SPOILERS for Brothers
1:35:10 - End of Spoilers
Side Quest
tinyurl.com/opolivebranch
Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.
Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/Etg-ZgICP-g
About Pixel Therapy
We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod -
Love, Death + Ghosties in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Join us as we break down DON'T NOD's spiritual Vampyr successor, the doomed love story of ghost hunters Red and Antea in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.
0:45 - Patreon shoutouts
3:05 - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
9:10 - Showtime's The Curse
16:51 - discussion of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden begins
Side Quest
tinyurl.com/opolivebranch
Operation Olive Branch is a grassroots collective effort to amplify Palestinian voices and their GoFundMes – visit the link to learn more or visit their Instagram page at @operationolivebranch.
Watch the live recording of this episode on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/live/Cppl6h4hWh8
About Pixel Therapy
We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod -
Story Craft: A Conversation with In Stars and Time's Adrienne Bazir
This week, we're so excited to welcome cartoonist, animator, and game developer Adrienne Bazir (she/they) into the studio to talk about their 2023 timeloop RPG, In Stars and Time!
In Stars and Time is a turn-based RPG that follows a group of adventurers at the end of their journey to defeat a king slowly freezing the land in time. It's also a game about found family, snacks, cosmic indifference, and the power in knowing where you come from and embracing who you are. Safe to say it has us in a chokehold.
0:57 - patreon shoutouts
2:07 - introduction of adrienne
6:53 - discussion of In Stars and Time begins
Learn more about Adrienne and In Stars and Time:
https://www.insertdisc5.com/
https://www.instarsandtime.com/ - available now on Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch!
Side Quest
https://www.instagram.com/anat.international/
Salma Shawa (@anat.international) is a content creator pushing followers to think critically about Palestine. Give her a follow on Instagram!
About Pixel Therapy
We're a podcast queering and transcending video games for all kinds of gamers and those who love them--get cozy with us! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) and subscribe! Want more? Join for free or unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod
Customer Reviews
The Podcast That Made Me Rediscover What Gaming Can Do For Us
As someone who has been playing video games since they were only 5, they were actually kind of a big part of who I was, until one day I sort of put down the controller and never picked it back up — it just sort of faded away as a hobby, I guess.
Recently, I played a story-based, AAA video game (just like the ones I mainly used to play) for the first time in years, and I remembered why I used to be a “gamer”. I liked the feeling of getting lost in something but also having the control to decide exactly how to get lost in it.
My partner has been playing a lot of video games — nothing super crazy but definitely more than he normally would. Today he came to me and told me that he was struggling and the reason he was playing so often was because it was something else to focus on that gave him an opportunity to stop ruminating on the things that were difficult. Partially because of this podcast, and partially because of my own experiences, I was able to tell him I completely understood.
I love the insightful yet slightly controversial recurring question of “do you identify as a gamer?” to guests — always prompts a reaction! I always find myself laughing with Spencer and Jamie — I can hear their friendship through the speakers 😌
Came here from Cozy Robot :)
Love this pod. I can’t stop listening!
Much Needed Diverse Voices In Gaming
I heard about this podcast through The Cozy Robot Show and I love what I’m hearing. In this realm that is rampant with white male stereotypes, it’s a breath of fresh air to hear from other voices about the gaming industry, games, and the impact these games have today. Being a white straight male, I’m looking forward to learning and growing through the stories shared here so we can make gaming more inclusive and accepting. Thank you for this podcast!