July 25, 2012 Please firmly affix your paperboard keyboard overlay (included) for an easy overview of all options made available during this podcast. Q: Witness Chris experience Dota 2 for the first time, W: Discover which games secretly co-exist in the Silent Scope universe, A: Wrestle with what makes games exciting as a medium, S: Toggle shield configuration (forward, rear, or balanced).

Games Discussed: Fez, Dota 2, Driver: San Francisco, Skate, Demon's Souls, Burnout Paradise, Journey

July 18, 2012 As the dancing creature leaps out into the open night air, its rucksack billowing in the wind, you hear a metallic clank by your feet and look down. A gold-plated slide for your Tec-9. You remember the words of Anton Chekhov -- "A gold gun part found behind a closet door in act one must be used to kill everyone, immediately" -- pocket it and move on.

We're back, again! Also, we have now become one: The podcast that is "Idle Thumbs" now includes the original 51 Idle Thumbs episodes as well as all 13 episodes of the Idle Thumbs Podcast, together under one roof. That's why this is episode 65.

Games Discussed: Max Payne 3, Spec Ops: The Line, Armed Heroes Online, Torchlight II, Diablo III, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Far Cry 2

March 13, 2012 Picture a podcast which is itself made up of a series of smaller podcasts. Now, stop picturing, and start listening to our GDC wrap-up episode, featuring a series of quick interviews with Christina Norman (Riot Games), Tom Francis (PC Gamer/Suspicious Developments), Derek Yu (independent), and Bennett Foddy (independent), as well as our closing thoughts on GDC 2012. Support our Kickstarter campaign: http://idlethumbs.net/kickstarter

Things Discussed: Bastion, PoleRiders, Johann Sebastian Joust, GIRP, MegaGIRP, Gunpoint, Spelunky, Games, Development, Atmosphere

March 6, 2012 Idle Thumbs starts to wake up, both literally and figuratively, with our first special episode from GDC 2012. We attended some sessions, we played some games, and we made up excuses to talk about all sorts of things together for the first time in years. With special guests all of us, and all of you. Support our Kickstarter campaign: http://idlethumbs.net/kickstarter

Things Discussed: GDC Indie Games Summit, Atom Zombie Smasher, Sissy's Magical Ponycorn Adventure, Grim Fandango, Will Wright, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, QWOP, DOTA 2, StarCraft II, Super Black Bass, Super Metroid, Major Havoc, Syndicate (SNES), SimEarth, Kane & Lich

March 10, 2011 Another GDC come and gone, another Conf Grenade rolls down a hill. We're joined by bonus guest, Media Molecule's James Spafford. In the tradition of GDC episodes, this one has some slight audio wonkiness in places, so get ready for that.

Things Discussed: Maquette, Inside a Star-Filled Sky, Mantra, Failure, Will Wright, Raid on Bungeling Bay, Peter Molyneux, Peter Molyneux 2, Populous, Bastion, Amnesia, Super Meat Boy, Monaco, Brian Moriarty, Loom, The Jonas Brothers, Epic Mickey, PAX East

March 5, 2011 Game developers confer, and we are there. Chris, Jake, and Sean discuss video games in these dynamics cast.

Things Discussed: Nidhogg, Flywrench, Bastion, Clint Hocking, Far Cry 2, B.U.T.T.O.N., Nintendo 3DS, chrome demons, You Don't Know Jack, Kangaroo Jack, The Great Gatsby

September 8, 2010 Recorded in front of a live audience at PAX 2010's Wolfman Theater, Idle Thumbs presents what is either its third "final episode," or its first "reunion episode," available to the public for the first time in MP3 form. Hear us intermittently forget the audience exists as we share impressions of PAX's finest offerings, fear an exploding microphone, sing songs, and tell the tale of handling Germany's finest wines. With special guests Sean Vanaman and Steve Gaynor.

Games Discussed: Torchlight 2, Duke Nukem Forever, Dante's Inferno, Little Big Planet 2, Weinhändler, Imperial 2030, Far Cry 2

August 26, 2010 As Chris packs for Boston and we switch off the lights, the Idle Thumbs Podcast finishes up with a bunch of talk about video games, interspersed with loosely related distractions and stories. Thanks for listening!

Games Discussed: BioShock Infinite, Fallout 2, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, BioShock 2: Minerva's Den, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Fruit Ninja, Imperial 2030

August 9, 2010 Don the Silken Goku. Enthusiastically pore over our collection of galactic maps, carefully curated battle decks, and lushly rendered hexagonal tiles, while we try to tell you about game development, girls, and sports.

Games Discussed: Civilization V, BioShock 2: Minerva's Den, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Jagged Alliance, Metal Gear Acid 2, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Achievement Unlocked 2, 2010 FIFA World Cup, Mass Effect 2

July 31, 2010 In this far-flung cyborg future of video game discussion, nobody known where the cast ends and the break begins, when your last shred of humanity gives way to a robot soul, or why you're full of ants. One thing is for sure, though: you will pay to click a cow.

Games Discussed: StarCraft II, Cow Clicker, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken X StarCraft, Red Dead Redemption, Toy Story 3: The Video Game, SimCity (iPhone), SimAnt, Darkspore, Deus Ex 3, Singularity, Back Into Samuel L. Jackson's Arm, Kitty Tap HD

July 24, 2010 Though the above choices may seem limiting, we feel they'll be sufficient. Also discussed: space marines, branching narratives, childhood and the human condition. With special guest Sean Vanaman.

Games Discussed: Limbo, Alien Swarm, Dead Space 2, Rayman: Origins, Moonbase Alpha, Transformice, The Adventures of WIlly Beamish, Alpha Protocol, Mass Effect, Dragon Age 2, Far Cry 2, Rock Band 3, The New York Times Crosswords

July 15, 2010 In video games, you can trust no one. Everyone is in on it, everyone but you. In video games nothing is real. Or, if it is, we're pretty sure you're seeing it via the visions of a comatose police officer, through the projection of genetic memories hurtled into your brain through time at tremendous speed, or in the dreams of a sleeping cartoon dog. With special guest Sean Vanaman.

Games Discussed: Assassin's Creed 2, Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands, Portal 2, Snoopy's Flying Ace, Driver San Francisco, Alpha Protocol, Crackdown 2

June 14, 2010 As E3 approaches, as the music genre splits to offer the ultimate fantasy or the ultimate reality, as the future of games prepares to descend in a storm of cameras and holographic children, we talk about a bunch of things with little to no bearing on E3. For now, at least. With special guests Sean Vanaman, and a tape recording of Nick Breckon.

Games Discussed: Rock Band 3, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Red Dead Redemption, Alpha Protocol, Neptune's Pride, Hearts of Iron 3, Civilization Revolution (iPhone)

April 30, 2010 A minicast of rambling awaits you within. Activision continues to cut its baffling path through the industry, as Chris and Steve discover that an enemy never forgets. With special guest star Video Games.

Games Discussed: Halo: Combat Evolved, Splinter Cell: Conviction, The Operative: No One Lives Forever, No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way, A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way 2: The Operative, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Deadly Premonition

April 15, 2010 Special guest Sean Vanaman joins us on a slow motion journey through strategy and space as we talk about the Infinity Ward kerfuffle, the most honest week in StarCraft history, and how from the outside, bullet time looks really fast, and dumb. We think it will pique your magic, in an interesting way.

Games Discussed: StarCraft, Flotilla, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, Red Dead Redemption, Oops! All Bullet Time, Neptune's Pride, Imperial 2030, The Impossible Game, Dark Void Zero, Team Fortress 2, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, Mr. Bucket, and Far Cry 2 as Alice