This week on The Free Cheese, I'd like to try increasing fun.

Will you make the next great game for the Senga Exodus? Did your last effort fail to impress the magazine reviewers? Maybe you'll do better after hiring Shigeto Minamoto.

Game Dev Story lets us start our own studio and see what it's like to manage a team of people making video games. We put them out to the market, receive review scores, and chase sales over several console generations.

This week on The Free Cheese, we recommend playing this episode at 2X speed.

We celebrate the history of speedrunning just in time for Summer Games Done Quick 2023. We look back at the beginnings of speedrunning, share some of our favorite runs, and offer insight into the games we would consider running.

This week on The Free Cheese, shoutout to all the horses!

We discuss our favorite companions in video games, both on and off the screen. We share the friendships we've built through games and what makes a bad in-game companion.

This week on The Free Cheese, jump, man.

Donkey Kong returns in 1994's Game Boy release, making its debut on The List in this episode. We talk about the game, its creation, how it created new moves for Mario, and where it ended up.

This week on The Free Cheese, take my hand. 

We wake up in a castle and find a girl in a cage. We don't speak the same language but it won't stop us from escaping. During our journey this week, we'll solve puzzles and strike at shadows as the PlayStation 2 classic, Ico, joins the list.

This week on The Free Cheese, business is business. 

We survive an earthquake and spend six days trying to help others through the aftermath. We make new friends, say goodbye to others, and find a lot of compasses and backpacks. 

This week on The Free Cheese, the best of our best. 

We each share the span of years we identify as our “golden era” of video games. We identify the platforms we played on and the games that stand out from the era. 

This week on The Free Cheese, we're shopping at SUS.

Grab your Sidekick and hit the scene in New York to take over one fight at a time. We're playing the sequel to Def Jam: Vendetta, watching the evolution of WWF No Mercy take its new form.

This week on The Free Cheese, g-g-g-ghosts!

Gear up and make way into the haunted house of the day with us. We investigate paranormal activity and try to make it out alive in Phasmophobia as we celebrate our 500th episode.

This week on The Free Cheese, welcome to Berlin!

We roll the clocks back to 1980 and play Rogue, adding it to our list in the process. Naturally, we discuss the game's influence and try to break down our understanding of the many different definitions of what it is to be a roguelike.

This week on The Free Cheese, when the eggs hatch.

While the world revels in another Resident Evil series remake this week, let's go back to the beginning. We recant our first memories of Resident Evil 4, offer thoughts on how our most recent session played out, and discuss the various ways we've interacted with the game through the years. Then, we rank it on The List with the rest and the best of them.

This week on The Free Cheese, the most detailed lips on the Game Boy Color.

Another month, another handheld adventure, but our first Gaiden on the list. What happens when you take survival horror and give it to the developers of Mary Kate and Ashley: Winner's Circle? Zombies on a boat, it turns out.

This week on The Free Cheese, what's your frequency?

Harmonix have repeatedly made its name one to remember with every new franchise. In this episode, we take a look at the studio's sophomore release for PlayStation 2.

This week on The Free Cheese, drop that pizza in some soup!

At long last, a Hideo Kojima game makes it onto the list. We did that already? Well this one predicts the future! Join us in conversation about Snatcher and help save the world from invasion.

This week on The Free Cheese, gotta go wide open.

This is the first episode where we are ranking something that not one person nominated but rather we all enjoyed together and felt like the game deserved its own episode. Sonic Team created something special for the Hedgehog's thirtieth anniversary. Where does it stack against other Sonic games and more importantly, where did we feel it ranked against our list.

This week on The Free Cheese, no the other one.

We check out 2000's Metal Gear Solid for Game Boy Color and see how Konami was able to translate its PlayStation counterpart into an alternate sequel for the MSX original.

This week on The Free Cheese, run to the hallway.

Did you know the PlayStation 2 had a headset? Did you know there was a game where the headset was your controller? Join us and Rio as we scour the hallways of a space hotel in search for aliens and weak spots.

Can you hear us? Are you there...?

This week on The Free Cheese, Congratulations.

The October Labor Lottery is complete. Your name was pulled.

This week on The Free Cheese, we’re making another list.

It's our first ranking of consoles episode where we have 6 minutes to discuss and place each console entry on a list.

This week on The Free Cheese, a trench coat and a baseball bat.

We're going wrestling outside of the ring with WayForward's Game Boy Color answer to the Attitude Era.

This week on The Free Cheese, one to a party.

After years of thinking this game isn't for us, we learn the truth. We play and rank Undertale after we each take a different path to its ending.

This week on The Free Cheese, SquisherZ are really cool.

Go to sleep and browse the internet while we patrol your nightmares. We revisit our 2019 Out of Time Award winner, finally giving this game the attention it deserves.

This week on The Free Cheese, what does yours say?

It's time for your and our favorite episode of the year. Hang out with us and look back at what we thought might happen in 2022, then hear what we think is coming in the next year.

This week on The Free Cheese, the end is the beginning is the end.

Join us for the final episode of Season 10 as we look back on the 45 games we played and ranked this year. We reflect on 2022 and the games we played and loved the most. Finally, we take one last look at The List ahead of our next season and where every game ended up.

This week on The Free Cheese, it's about what's on the inside.

Our final game of Season 10 started out as Final Fantasy VII and turned into something entirely on its own. Let's head to New York City and help Aya Brea to stop the end of humanity before it's too late.

This week on The Free Cheese, oh no, I'm stuck.

Let's check out Eri—Bomberman '93 as it returns to the TurboGrafx-16. We talk about how Bomberman brings us together and how the Wii truly changed the future of emulation for the better.

This week on The Free Cheese, press the dedicated pill button.

Everyone is after us and there's only one way forward. We return to Remedy's roots and celebrate Christmas in New York.

This week on The Free Cheese, a fireside chat—hold the fire.

We share some of what video games have made us grateful for and just hang out for a bit.

This week on The Free Cheese, my Shepard.

We're putting a team together to save the universe, wanna come? BioWare's sequel to Mass Effect sends us around the known universe to gather a ragtag group of heroes willing to fight to the end to stop the Collectors.

This week on The Free Cheese, everything is always wet.

Even if they took Sega from the title it can't stop us from celebrating the history on display in this 2012 kart racer. We share our favorite Sega moments from the game, discuss what Nintendo could learn for its next Mario Kart game, and lay our sights on some new Sega franchises.

This week on The Free Cheese, avoid going outside when it is raining.

Grab your coffee and get ready to take a drive across town as we investigate a strange murder in a small town. We’re playing and ranking Deadly Premonition after finding it to be quite the surprise title on our list.

This week on The Free Cheese, we only come out at night.

Happy Halloween! We take a break from our usual game ranking episodes this season and focus on the greatest holiday of the year with some topic questions and mini games for the panelists.

Questions asked this week:

• What is the best horror video game film adaptation?
• Have you ever dressed as a video game character for Halloween?
• What video game would you give copies of to trick or treaters if money were no object?
• What is your favorite horror-adjacent game that you wish more people would play?
• Which video game character is due for its own Luigi’s Mansion?

This week on The Free Cheese, get on your mask and kill. 

On its tenth anniversary, we're revisiting Dennaton Games' Hotline Miami and ranking it on The List. Does the blood-soaked, neon glow of a ten year old indie hit still punch as hard? Tune in to find out.

This week on The Free Cheese, there's zero escape.

Wake up, it's time to die. You're in a room and it's filling with water. There's no way out but there are a bunch of keycards. Maybe they mean nothing, maybe they mean everything. We revisit a DS classic this week and rank it with the rest of our games this season.

This week on The Free Cheese, bad crystal combo. 

We're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Blinx: The Time Sweeper by adding it to The List. We also talk more about the launch of the Xbox and the games that made it.

Article referenced at the top of the show: The Alternate Timeline

This week on The Free Cheese, we're going backwards.

After ten years of this podcast, we have a lot of memories to share. We look at some of our favorite episodes and ahead at what we hope for in the future.

This week on The Free Cheese, we're driving up a wall, apparently.

Midway brings us one of the final games from Boss Game Studios and it's not surprising that this team would eventually build the beginnings of the Forza franchise. We explore some of its contemporaries and check in with what nostalgia can truly do to your memory.

This week on The Free Cheese, stick your tongue out.

We’re playing one of Nintendo 64’s many 3D platformers in the form of Chameleon Twist 2. We compare it to the original title and see how it lines up with other games of the era.

This week on The Free Cheese, we're fighitng ourselves!

Let's reach back to an era where superheroes were all the rave and dreams of seeing our favorite comic book characters on the big screen were becoming a reality. No, the time before that. Yeah, the one before that.

We play and rank 1995's Genesis exclusive X-Men 2: Clone Wars. Despite its licensed contemporaries that often left us wishing for something more, Clone Wars goes a long way in making itself stand apart.

This week on The Free Cheese, 2007 is gonna be a weird year.

Nintendo's not-so-trapped-in-Japan-any-longer collaboration with Treasure makes its way onto our list this week. Sin and Punishment explores a dystopian future through the journey of two characters fighting to save it. At times evocative of Metal Gear Solid and Evangelion, this shooting game sure did have a lot to say in 2000.

This week on The Free Cheese, the Midway Knuckle®.

How do you reinvent an arcade game for the end of a console generation sitting right on the edge of always-online gaming? Midway Studios San Diego attempted with 2005's Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows. Playing as one of the four core classes from the original Gauntlet, we play through several stages fighting waves of enemies, destroying the generators of their origin, and defeating one of the titular Sorrows.

This week on The Free Cheese, oh, I get it.

We add another shooting game to the list with Konami's parody of its own Gradius. We talk about how other games were born from the Parodius series and wonder why there has yet to be a modern collection. We weigh the difficulty of enjoying an arcade game both on a console and for ranking on a weekly podcast, and dream of new characters for an inevitable Apple Arcade release.

This week on The Free Cheese, there's like, a hole in your head.

Just in time for QuakeCon 2022, we add Quake to The List. While we've all been into id Software games and have played a range of games inspired by Quake, we've yet to play all the way through the original campaign. This episode changes that as we learn the secrets within, revisit the history made with Quake, and learn how to rocket jump.

This week on The Free Cheese, we should always fear shrimp.

What happens when the Ace Combat team makes a Star Fox game? We take on the Aparoids to save the galaxy as Team Star Fox in the Namco-developed Star Fox Assault. We talk about the history of Star Fox games and how many reboots the series has endured so far, and of course wonder where it will go next.

This week on The Free Cheese, time to check the list!

We break our list of games from this season into 4 categories and reflect on the choices we’ve made so far. As we revisit each game, the chance of the list changing entirely rise. Will the list look different in the end or did we get the rankings right the first time?

This week on The Free Cheese, it tastes different than Sprite!

We return to an age of mascot platformers with one of the most recognized of the era. Then, we wonder what happened to all of the mascots. Finally, we design video games for mascots who never got the green light.

This week on The Free Cheese, let’s save daddy. 

Take to the skies and space as Lucia steals a ship and races off to rescue her kidnapped father. This once relic of Mega Drive obscurity is now readily available and it’s time we rank it.

This week on The Free Cheese, is that a gnome on your desktop?

We celebrate the joy of random satisfaction in Peggle, comparing its multiple releases and sharing experiences we’ve had with other games like it.

This week on The Free Cheese, get Diddy Kong in the back there for a giant banana.

We add another GameCube game to the list and our first kart racer. How does the change to gameplay hold up for Mario Kart all these years later? Does this game have the best course list in the series?

Find out the answers to those and more, and be sure to listen in for Matt's eSport Tips® for dominating every track.

This week on The Free Cheese, we need to find the car keys.

Stranded on a strange planet, we take control of three lost adventurers and a fleet of tiny creatures to discover cell phones, trash, and delicious fruit. We revisit Pikmin 3 for the Wii U, talk about how it's changed on Nintendo Switch, and of course, rank it with the rest of the games this season.

This week on The Free Cheese, there goes another customer.

We explore a sequel to an arcade classic in Paperboy 2. Within, we discover ghosts, break windows, and trap strangers beneath cars. We also compare the multiple versions of the game and of course rank it against the rest of the games from this season.

This week on The Free Cheese, he's on fire.

Right alongside the NBA Finals, we're checking in with an arcade classic that made its way home across a number of platforms. A sequel to NBA Jam and a bonafide hit in its own right, NBA Hangtime let us continue the 2-on-2 arcade basketball that we first fell in love with in Jam.

This week on The Free Cheese, an event has started in Dogenzaka.

When all that remains of Japan's metropolis are its buildings and wild animals, everyone is just trying to survive. As we play Tokyo Jungle, we're also celebrating the class of games that you could only find on PlayStation Network in the PS3 era. We look for other games that try something similar (there aren't many) and discuss how the developers took an unconventional approach to building this game.

This week on The Free Cheese, gonna be a big man someday.

Tape up those sticks and lace up your skates, it's time to hit the ice in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's NHL Stanley Cup. We discuss the title's use of Mode 7 to bring hockey into the third dimension and stack it up against its Genesis counterparts.

This week on The Free Cheese, t h i s w e e k o n T h e F r e e C h e e s e.

What do you get when the team who made Bayonetta didn't know they would make Bayonetta and still worked at Capcom and wanted to make a 2D beat 'em up? Viewtiful Joe 2! But before that, they had to make Viewtiful Joe so we could talk about and rank it this week.

This week on The Free Cheese, get your Expansion Pak ready.

We're here to shoot mines and save aliens and we're all out—Oh, I guess we've got everything we need. Perfect Dark is the product of experimentation on tested ideas from the talent that redefined first-person shooters on the Nintendo 64. Does it exceed its predecessor or remain in obscurity?

This week on The Free Cheese, we're going down.

Our first mobile game makes the list this week as we explore the roguelike Downwell. Strap on your gunboots and jump in as we try to build the highest combo and make the best upgrade selections we can.

Episode Timestamps

06:50 - Downwell

49:35 - What games have you liked more than their inspiration?

59:05 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, can I be your memory?

How much damage can we create? It's time for Burnout 3: Takedown and a return to arcade racing, the likes we have not seen in quite some time. We also discuss the era of video game rentals and those games we never owned but loved renting.

Episode Timestamps

07:01 - Burnout 3: Takedown

47:11 - What games felt unobtainable to own but you loved renting? Why?

56:25- The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, it's got Bob Burnquist.

The (probably) first skateboarding game for PlayStation 2 is here and we're going for gold. We also figure out what games defined the PS2 era and beyond. Where are we at now? Tune in to find out!

This week on The Free Cheese, it's all in your head dude.

We're journeying midway through the first decade of the new millennium to revisit a game lost to time. In addition to a stellar special features section, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy brings together superpowers and third-person shooting like no one else.

06:04 - Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

31:58 - What other games are lost to time?

43:28 - Demo Disc

55:51 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, why do you have so many controllers in your lap?

It's more than just a week to talk about Rez Infinite, we talk about all of Mizuguchi's games and reflect on the impact they've had on us, the industry, and the future of video games. We also finally figure out how to pronounce "Lumines."

Episode Timestamps

06:23 - Rez Infinite

01:07:00 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, where did Kane come from?

Can a wrestling game from more than twenty years ago still be great? Yes. We're playing and ranking WWF No Mercy this week as we also figure out which names are those of professional wrestlers and those of horses. We also find out who of us deleted the save data from rental cartridges.

This week on The Free Cheese, and I’m all outta Gatorade. 

We play and rank Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, discussing its legacy and breaking down some of our favorite details. We reach the end of the bracket and declare Video Games’ Greatest Sidekick and share our favorite Game Over screens.

Episode Timestamps

10:47 - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

49:41 - Lightning Round

01:02:55 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:21:33 - What’s the Best Game Over Screen?

01:31:15 - Patched

01:45:42 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, banana on the floor.

We're playing and ranking a classic PC Engine title that just recently came to Nintendo Switch. We also imagine how to revive the Valis series today, carry forward our bracket of sidekick showdowns, and spend other people's money.

Episode Timestamps

7:07 - Valis III

36:40 - How would you revive Valis today?

46:54 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:07:23 - PC Engine Game or Sailor Moon Episode?

01:18:40 - Shopping for Somebody Else

01:29:09 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, rejected jokers will always lose. 

Our month-long bracket elimination continues as we uncover the greatest sidekick in video game history. The Trivia Dungeon awaits our adventurers with some topical questions as we discuss and rank The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and rank it among the rest of this season's games so far.

Episode Timestamps

8:00 - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

37:27 - The Legend of Zelda Franchise Celebration

56:41 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:14:55 - Trivia Dungeon

01:30:10 - Demo Disc

01:39:48 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, we take The JNCO test. 

Let’s explore one of Insomniac’s non-PlayStation exclusives this week and rank Sunset Overdrive on The List. We also kick off the start of a month-long bracket to decide the best sidekick in video game history.

Episode Timestamps

05:02 - Sunset Overdrive

26:48 - Many Years Ago Today

46:47 - Who Would Win in a Fight?

01:14:36 - Roundtable Question

01:21:12 A Proper Sequel

01:26:29 The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, oooooooo.

They really don't make them like they used to back in the PS2 era. We save the world with our dog and our friends using the power of music. We then build the sequel to Gitaroo Man that never happened and discuss games that change key right before the ending.

Episode Timestamps

7:07 - Gitaroo Man

28:11 - A Proper Sequel

36:40 - Shopping for Somebody Else

01:02:40 - Roundtable Question

01:11:35 - Trivia Dungeon

01:31:52 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, a revolution.

Our game this week launched the Nintendo Wii and truly became a household name. We talk about Wii Sports and its legacy, our own memories of the game, and how it holds up today. Additionally, on the tenth anniversary of the PlayStation Vita, we look back at our highlights with the game, discuss its entrance into the marketplace, and where it stands against the 3DS.

Episode Timestamps

4:44 - Wii Sports

29:38 - PSN Recommendations

48:48 - Many Years Ago Today

01:11:20 - This or That?

01:19:32 - A Game By Its Trophy

01:38:13 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, Blinx, go deep!

How well do you know your arcade hardware by name? What were the launch prices of consoles entering the market? If you know these, you might survive this week's Trivia Dungeon. We also build a football team from Nintendo and Sega characters and review ESPN NFL Football from Sega.

Episode Timestamps

03:36 - ESPN NFL Football

27:06 - Who Would Win in a Fight? Super Bowl Edition®

50:38 - Trivia Dungeon

01:05:32 - Demo Disc

01:17:14 - Lightning Round

01:31:21 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, building the Twisted Metal soundtrack.

Extreme sports used to be the center of everyone's attention and it seemed like there was no shortage of video games to coincide with every major sport. With those days sadly long gone, we revisit SSX Tricky and see how it holds up twenty years later. We also figure out which video games need new mascots and help them to find the face of the franchise.

Episode Timestamps

05:02 - SSX Tricky

24:16 - Patched

33:38 - Many Years Ago Today

48:07 - Snowboard Trick or Hot Sauce?

59:40 - Who's that Pikachu?

01:16:49 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, water bed body.

The journey through the Trivia Dungeon reveals more mysteries and asks more questions of our adventurers. We create new Demo Discs to give away with qualifying purchases. Finally, we discuss Valve's 2011 Portal 2 and find out where it ranks among the rest of the games from this season.

Episode Timestamps

05:12 - Portal 2

26:43 - A Proper Sequel

39:14 - Demo Disc

55:17 - Trivia Dungeon

01:11:19 - What video game needs a Mother 3 Handbook?

01:21:55 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, final boss only on Genesis!

Season 10 continues with a journey into the world of demonic pinball. We play Compile's classic virtual pinball title, Devil's Crush, read through some headlines from ten years ago to see how they hold up today, and build the ultimate crossover game. More inside!

Episode Timestamps

06:09 - Devil's Crush

26:47 - Many Years Ago Today

51:14 - What three companies would you combine for the next Project X Zone?

01:05:00 - Shopping for Somebody Else

01:24:05 - A Game By Its Trophy

01:52:02 - The Ranking

This week on The Free Cheese, good morning!

We begin Season 10 with a discussion and ranking of one of the first major exclusive titles from SEGA on the Nintendo GameCube. We also discuss what a perfect sequel would be, take a stroll through the Trivia Dungeon, and cast our dream actors to bring this game to the silver screen.

06:28 - Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

30:17 - Trivia Dungeon

47:42 - A Proper Sequel

01:05:34 - Fantasy Cast

01:12:51 - If Nintendo contracted remakes of NES Black Box games, who would make them and what would they be?

This week on The Free Cheese, what’s the Game of the Year?

We have decided to change up our regular end of the year show to fit our style a bit better. The three of us have never been able to play the same games each year. We miss out on a lot of releases in a single year because we play games from so many different platforms and eras. With this in mind, we opted to look back through 2021 and talk about some of the games we played that made an impact on us. In some cases, these games introduced us to new genres or took us back to something that we had long forgotten.

To follow along with our list or read write-ups about some of the games, check out the 2021 - Year in Review post.

This week on The Free Cheese, future's bright man.

Let's commence 2022 with a recap of last year's predictions and a look ahead to the next twelve months. We also share stories of trivial aspects of video games that turned us off. Finally, we each share our personal idea of what 2022 will mean for our gaming habits.

This week on The Free Cheese, the only remaining TV show confirmed.

We share our plans for Season 10 of The Free Cheese and what 2022 has in store. We take a deep dive into when games take deep dives into themselves. Last, we discuss where the three major platforms stand at the end of 2021.

This week on The Free Cheese, Mario is a cop.

We uncover the best Navi in video games, guess each other’s top five, and figure out the video game equivalent of the worst Christmas song ever written. All that and more as we near the end of this podcast season.

This week on The Free Cheese, the next Halo promotional tie-in announced!

We talk about how modern platforms have reduced the number of differences between consoles and handhelds. We bring Game of the Game of the Year to a close and play a game of “Who said this?”

This week on The Free Cheese, we’re porting games to Switch.

We discuss HD remasters, from the origins to present day and contemplate what makes a necessary port. We add one more game to our Game of the Game of the Year list before completing it and we talk a bit more about our fun with Halo Infinite.

This week on The Free Cheese, we save you from your aunt's mistake.

What happens when someone buys you the wrong console for the holiday? We give you game recommendations for those untimely mishaps. We also check in with Halo Infinite and offer yet another solution for in-game rewards. Finally, we talk about moments in a game that made us shout, "Nice touch!"

This week on The Free Cheese, a few boxes turned twenty.

We celebrate the twentieth anniversaries of Xbox and GameCube with twenty questions. We canonically murder Pokémon. Finally, we talk a lot about Halo Infinite and why playing video games shouldn't feel like going to work.

This week on The Free Cheese, say sorry to the Wii U.

Is Wii Sports the most beloved game ever made? Will Forza Horizon 5 win Game of the Year? These questions and more answered inside! We also hear first-hand experience with Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda and decide which game we never want to see remade.

This week on The Free Cheese, what year is it?

We add two more games to our Game of the Game of the Year list and then look ahead to predict the winner of Game of the Year 2022. We check back in after a full week with Pikmin Bloom and imagine what games would make great demakes.

This week on The Free Cheese, tell 'em you're playin' Pikmin!

We talk about Darkest Dungeon 2 and discuss the best games that could benefit from going Rogue. We wander around to grow flowers in Pikmin Bloom and wonder what's next. Finally, we rewrite history by adding one mechanic to a game.

This week on The Free Cheese, April fools!

We approach the end of our Game of the Game of the Year list with another title added. We talk about when gameplay from spin-offs finds its way back into the mainline series and then share stories about when box art led us astray or led us to play.

This week on The Free Cheese, gimme fuel, gimme five.

We talk about the best fifth games in a series and see how many collectibles it takes before we break. 

We explore the depths of Metroid Dread and talk about how Back 4 Blood has changed since it’s initial beta.

This week on The Free Cheese, preparing for the hurt.

Konami?

Just ahead of Metroid Dread we talk about playing through classic games with modern conventions and contemplate when that goes too far. We share the least requested characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and figure out what gets us in the mood for the respective games we're playing.

This week on The Free Cheese, ruining birthday parties since 1996.

We make some new changes to our Game of the Game of the Year list and reminisce on another from the best in 2016. We talk about revisiting PlayStation games in new ways and how the right combination of mechanics and systems can create an endless gameplay loop.

We make our final predictions for a new Super Smash Bros. fighter and lament the end of a long journey through one developer's library.

We celebrate the 35th anniversary of Castlevania with some talking points around how to replay your favorite games and still keep them fresh. We let the Rot carry us deep into Kena: Bridge of Spirits and discuss (again) why PlayStation 2 is still the best of video games. Oh, and we're all playing Magic: The Gathering.

This week on The Free Cheese, delete your social media.

Our video game marketing discussion continues with a conversation surrounding how marketing instills a fear of not being part of the club and if we aren't there at launch, we missed something. We talk about where this can benefit us, like visiting Final Fantasy XV years after its release.

We also check out the newest set in Magic: The Gathering and the mechanics it brings to the game for the first time, while opening up more on card games and when it's fun to gamble in video games.

This week on The Free Cheese, heaven is a place on Earth.

We wonder when marketing goes too far and what we want in the lead to a new game release. We try to find the balance between leaks and corporate condescension as we prepare our guidelines for how to market your video game.

Ahead of new card game releases, we design our perfect trading card game and realize it's probably a board game. Finally, we go home.

This week on The Free Cheese, the road to XV begins.

It’s the annual Sonic Amateur Games Expo and we’ve played a bunch of submissions from the community. We talk about our favorite interactive elements in video games. Then, we check in with Pokémon Black and Sonic Colors Ultimate.

This week on The Free Cheese, who else should go in the monkey ball?

After a new update to Phasmophobia we discuss the difference between changing and fixing a game, as well as our favorite bugs in games. We talk about weird origin stories for getting us to play one thing in particular. We share stories of the first video games we remember buying with our own money and put a final word on our discussion surrounding remasters. It's a big show and we fit in time to rank NieR: Automata on our Game of the Game of the Year list.

This week on The Free Cheese, chicken nuggets in costumes.

We unpack our discussion on remasters yet again after the rerelease of Quake and the announcement of BloodRayne Betrayal: Fresh Bites. Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare leads a discussion surrounding how the aesthetic of a game can draw us into it. We use the surprise of time spent in Pokémon Unite to talk about games we've gotten lost in without realizing it. Finally, we figure out what PlayStation's Halo could be.

This week on The Free Cheese, who's that Pokémon?

We begin by turning the clocks back one year to see where we were then. We spend some time considering how to remove microtransactions from games and imagine how Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls will play without them. Finally, do we get more excited for a remaster than a sequel?

This week on The Free Cheese, please don't kill George Clooney.

We celebrate the 35th anniversary of Metroid the only way we know how. Marc shares tales from the Back 4 Blood beta, Matt details the changes in the Pokémon Unite meta, and Joe uncovers the truth behind Dark Souls et cetera.

This week on The Free Cheese, the doctor is dead.

Marc is knocking on Death's Door while Matt ranks up in Pokémon Unite and Joe is reborn in NieR: Re[in]carnation. We catch up on delays from the week and how we're progressing in Dark Souls, while offering the future of old video games to you for free.

This week on The Free Cheese, mouth tattoos.

With the release of Pokémon Unite, we've each taken our first steps toward The Pokémon International. Marc checks out The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD to see if it works with buttons. Matt begins the quest for another Dark Souls platinum. Joe finds branching paths in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

We outline a semester in video game school and give you your required reading list. Finally, we share more games from 2008 that should be brought back from the dead.

This week on The Free Cheese, delays and surprises.

We talk about the recently announced Nickelodeon All-Stars Battle Royale and how Square Enix sold out of a digital game. We discuss Valve's Super Nintendo Switch, and take a guess at what 7 Persona announcements are imminent.

This week on The Free Cheese, Shigeru Miyamoto took a bath 40 years ago.

We weigh in on the newly announced Nintendo Switch OLED and reflect on other handhelds that may or may not have used OLED technology. We also explore video game's best party as we wonder what happened to Ridge Racer.