Use Your Items‪!‬ useyouritems

This time we go over Frictional Games Horror masterpiece, Soma. We explore the nature of horror, the design of this popular studio, and some heavy philosophical discussions.
CW: euthanasia
Spoiler free for the first 50 minutes or so
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
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Join the conversation on Discord
Email us at: useyouritems@gmail.com
Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com
Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter
Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads
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Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke

We launch a possible new segment called Item Bags! Where we gather ideas for various ideas we have regarding the industry, genre, and freeform discussion. Less research and more chatter. Let us know what you think on our discord! Link below:
Skill Up interview with Yoshi P
Games Discussed:
Dark Cloud (more mentioned tbh)
Dragon's Dogma 2 (and 1 technically)
Cyberpunk
Rogue
Nethack
Skyrim
FF1, 2, 7, 16
CoD MW2
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord
Email us at: useyouritems@gmail.com
Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com
Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter
Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads
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Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke
 
 

This week we discuss Signalis, a surprise hit for us from rose-engine, and the meaning of meat, madness, reality, love, connection, and what it means to be human.
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
Links and notes:
The King in Yellow free online
Signalis OST
del Toro YT Video
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Join the conversation on Discord
Email us at: useyouritems@gmail.com
Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com
Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter
Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads
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Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke

Our first guest episode featuring Dr. Dillon Ludemann discussing Toxicity in Gaming! Join us for this special sidequest in the anthropology, philosophy, and design of video games.
Dr. Dillon Ludemann is a professor of anthropology with a focus on online communities at the University of South Carolina
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
Links and notes:
https://www.thegamer.com/helldivers-2-the-least-toxic-online-game-ever-played/ perception of toxicity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnOWBrY2BQs&t=0s
https://www.raisinggoodgamers.com/
Liu and Agur 2023: “‘After All, They Don’t Know Me’ Exploring the Psychological Mechanisms of Toxic Behavior in Online Games” Games and Culture 18(5)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_hypothesis
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord
Email us at: useyouritems@gmail.com
Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com
Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter
Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads
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Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke

Episode 9 discussing Maddy Makes Games hit Celeste. We touch on accessibility, friendship, anxiety, depression, and overcoming goals.
TW/CW: Anxiety, Depression, Drinking, Gender Dysphoria, etc.
0-1hrish non-spoiler
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord
Email us at: useyouritems@gmail.com
Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com
Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter
Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads
----------------------------
Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke

Episode 8 and we get into 1 bit graphic design, a bit of Said's philosophy, the correct mouse sensitivity, and the making of a mystery. All our resources are noted below.
 
Listener, a heads up from Jason: I apologize for an error I made in misremembering and labeling the royalty on board as Fujianese instead of Formosan. I was recalling my previous writings on the game and did not do enough research. I will do better in future episodes and am sorry--Jason
 
0-44 non-spoiler , non-engineering discussion
44- 51:52 engineering discussion on pixels and shaders
51:52-1:15:45 remaining non-spoiler discussion
1:15:45-2:27 SPOILER TERRITORY
Francisco is a game designer and engineer, while Jason brings a scholarly, literary background to each game analysis as they piece together the why and how of our favorite games. If you'd like to support the show please join us on Discord or leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts-we've love to chat!
1-bit shader tutorial
Lucas Pope's creation blog
----------------------------
Join the conversation on Discord
Email us at: useyouritems@gmail.com
Read us at: useyouritems.substack.com
Chat us at: twitch.tv/useyouritems
Follow Jason at: @dancingfroggame on twitter
Follow Fran at: @el_frantastico on threads
----------------------------
Art by Francisco Martin
Theme music by William O'Rourke