November 24, 2016 Join us on a grand circle tour of massive-scale architecture, both real and imagined. In Planet Coaster we step through the mouth of Dot Gobbler himself, crossing the threshold into Thumbsland, the park that never closes, the park whose rides never end (because they are incomplete). Did you hear that? It's the sound of San Francisco, California, without a bus or train in sight. Sounds like someone needs to fire up Cities in Motion and get to work. The last leg of our journey will take us along the rim of the Grand Canyon, care of Google and Alphabet Incorporated. Please remain standing so we don't have to stream in the canyon floor at high detail.

Also, Nick played Dark Souls. Happy Thanksgiving!

Discussed: Planet Coaster, Cities in Motion, Dark Souls, Google Earth VR

November 17, 2016 This week you are beset by waking nightmares and cannot continue. Giant insects pour from the sky and from the walls, hungry for blood, or maybe bones. A funny man screams out again and again for meat, for any meal, and you know he will not die because your voice says so; he is now in a state of infinite hunger, living on old fruit and dirty water. A popup window appears above your head, which reads "Everything is okay, none of it is real. You are part of an elaborate simulation built to entertain Steve Gaynor." You dismiss the popup and sleep soundly.

Discussed: Dishonored 2, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair, Hitman (2016), Transport Fever, MiniMetro, Titanfall 2

November 10, 2016 Feeling like the world's driving you up a wall? Life's out of control, galloping over a cliff? Everything you thought you could achieve is just on the other side of the glass, out of reach? Fortunately we have video games, where all your wishes are granted. Join us as we scale the walls of Titanfall 2, rein things in and take control of Battlefield 1, and discover that no matter what you try in Hitman, maybe the game IS rigged and you just can't win.

Discussed: Titanfall 2, Halo, New Super Mario Bros., Battlefield 1, Owlboy, Abuse, Trine, Hitman (2016)

November 3, 2016 Are you guys ready to do The Fun Cast? Your employment agreement stipulates that you're are, so let's go! This week our hosts Shmirkin Burpin and Minion 600 check out Owlboy, finally released after nine years in development! Then, Nick Breckon, confused as to where he is, drives a tank up a hill and back down. Finally, an update on the new intra-organization subway service. Thanks everyone, back to work.

Discussed: Owlboy, Shovel Knight, Battlefield 1, Battlefield 1942, MiniMetro

October 27, 2016 The fog clears, the blazing guitar solo ends and echoes off the walls. You crack your knuckles and slam Sim Ant into the SNES; your oppoent, Gilgamesh, really starts to sweat. Black ants overtake the yard, leaving a sea of red in their wake. "Please, I'll give you anything," Gilgamesh pleads. Before his colony is fully destroyed, you switch inputs, drop your GameCube onto the table (by its handle) and load up Pikmin 2. "No more, no more," he begs, his eyes watering, hands shaking. You can't stop.

Discussed: Civilization VI, Sim Ant, Nintendo Switch, Waluigi Land, Cities: Skylines

October 20, 2016 The future arrived and for once, we liked it. This is very confusing, but it's definitely happening now. This is really when it's happening. Nick and Jake get their hands on PlayStation VR and play the heck out of it. Chris, who prefers a more traditional immersive themed environment, visits the immaculately produced Tokyo DisneySea and can't contain himself. Where does VR sit next to the rest of gaming? Is there space for the player in stories that aren't about them, especially in a medium fixated on literally putting players in the heroe's shoes? What does this have to do with a fictional New York in the middle of Japan, with a janitor who, when your back is turned, starts emitting cartoon sound effects and giving high fives to everyone around him? Find out moments from now. Step into this pod, press play, immerse yourself, and please tell a friend about what you experienced here.

Discussed: PlayStation VR, Super Hypercube, Job Simulator, Batman Arkham VR, Thumper, The Playroom VR, Wayward Sky, The Future, The Entertainment, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tokyo DisneySea, Sour Flush

October 13, 2016 Welcome to episode 4186-0000-028C-E9F8! We bring you word from a simpler time. A better time, before the mess we're in today. A time when you played World of WarCraft. Join us in this life until Chris Remo returns from Japan and tells us of what he saw there.

Discussed: Virginia, World of WarCraft: Legion, Nidhogg 2, GameMaker, Nintendo NX

October 6, 2016 Before Chris boards a plane to Japan we take a trip to Hitman Con 2016, where there are no talks, and no one wears a badge, but the cosplay game is off the charts. Join us for a brief look at the most recent two Hitman episodes, talk of episodes yet to come and episodes that will never be (outside of our dreams).

Discussed: Hitman (2016): Bangkok, Colorado, Convention episodes, Japan

September 29, 2016 Slap on your 3D scanned face, check your latest upgrades, don some really expensive stupid sunglasses, and hit the streets: it's time for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Then, slap on your 3D scanned face, check your latest upgrades, don some really expensive stupid sunglasses, and hit the streets: it's time for NBA 2K17. We do all of these things, and tell you how it went.

Discussed: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Deus Ex: System Rift DLC, NBA 2K17, BioShock Remastered, Resident Evil 4

September 22, 2016 Hey, over here. Yeah, it's me. My friends call me Wide Boy. You can call me Wide Boy 64. So where's that other goatscaver? What? It's just you? You uncle-terder. You wod head. You goat-jashiping crassmicker. Fine. Let's get going. Take this pill, put on this nice mask. Try to blend in. Look happy. And hey, clotwizard: if you get caught, you're dead. I'm not coming back for you. You marfing barfo.

Discussed: We Happy Few, NBA 2K17, Super Mario Run, Far Cry 2, Wide-Boy 64

September 15, 2016 If your controller has a hamburger button, you should press it. Chris pressed the hamburger and watched as his copy of Halo traveled in time from his Xbox 1 to his Xbox One. We also pressed the hamburger button in our minds, mentally transporting ourselves to the mid '90s with Obduction, the latest from Cyan. Meanwhile, Nick, starting up his third new game studio in as many years, demanded his employees add hamburger buttons to all their latest product in Software Inc.

Discussed: Anno 1080p, Xbox One S, Halo: Combat Evolved, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Obduction, No Man's Sky, Software Inc.

September 8, 2016 High up in the clouds, the best pilot you've ever flown with leads you to your next target, a target the two of you cut through like it's made of tin foil. You're the front gunner, pretty new to the job, but already you two are working like clockwork, knocking fighters out of the sky left and right. "I'm hungry," says the pilot over text chat. You see he's named Nick. You're hungry too. Maybe there's somewhere to eat, maybe the two of you will go together like the great friends you've become? You look up and Nick has left the pilot seat. You're alone. The mountain fills your viewport and you wish you'd joined Jake and Chris at PAX instead. (Despite what we say at the start this truly is Idle Thumbs 279, not 280.)

Discussed: Battlefield 1, Arena Gods, Thimbleweed Park, Burly Men at Sea, Lumines, Hitman (2016), Scratch and Sniff, Credit Cards

August 31, 2016 Beef Chief [3/5 stars] We visited Thumbsland this weekend, and while riding Beef Chief I had fun with my son! So many ghosts every time I go down there! (Which is certainly not a problem.) I heard that burgers are real. I heard they're from burger church. I think about Thumbsland in my head, and it hurts, so I don't think about it for many years. Anyway, enough with the pleasantries! Come to our PAX meetup! (Saturday at 7pm at The Diller Room.)

Discussed: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Planet Coaster, trailers, ethletes, the catacombs of Paris

August 25, 2016 Finally, time for video games. You settle down for a long night of cyber-hacking and theme park design. This is going to be so immersive, you think. But the experiences are fleeting, fractured. Not quite what you expected, in ways you can't pin down. Your memories feel...misplaced. No wait, they're just in that drawer over there. You can't help but feel there's a more complete version of this, if you could only focus. You close your eyes, but they blink back open against your will. Now you are dunking a basketball—blink—you are sorting ever-taller stacks of hats—blink—you are button mashing for your very life. Over it all, a haunting piano repeats a single note. Coming soon.

Discussed: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Deus Ex: Go, Planet Coaster, Hidden My Game By Mom, Multibowl, Frog Fractions, RimWorld

August 18, 2016 With tens of thousands descending on Seattle's Key Arena to bathe in the spectacle and drama of The International 6, and hundreds of thousands more barreling towards the uncertain center of No Man's Sky, ears are ringing and plugged in equal measure as hype, anticipation, uncertainty, and excitement fight to drown each other out. We are joined by Sean "Famous" Vanaman to try and talk it all through, to figure out what we think.

Discussed: The International, Dota 2, No Man's Sky, RimWorld, Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray