This week Nate and Laura cover Jusant, somehow our second 2023 tower game and our second 2023 climbing game — but micro-genres aside, Jusant’s got plenty of charms of its own. Don’t Nod, the creators of Life is Strange, blend a rock-solid control scheme with scenic vistas and meditative vibes. Expect it to take about 4-8 hours, depending on your route planning and completionism.

We’re a little late, but it’s time to talk about The Short Game’s Game of the Year! As with previous years we’re also handing out many superlatives, including returning awards like Dirtbag of the Year.

Patrons also get access to our unedited, recorded planning meeting where we hashed all of this out. Support us on Patreon if you want to hear that nonsense!

You’re here to slay the princess. Don’t believe her lies.

This horror adventure (visual novel?) sets you a simple if trope-reversing task right in the title, then blows the doors off with an extraordinarily wide branching structure. There’s a lot to talk about with this one!

We continue our coverage of IFComp 2023 with a few more games AND THEN WE GET KICKED IN THE NUTS!!!!

Gordy and the Monster Moon is a bite-sized exploration-driven game about a pumpkin astronaut going on spooky adventures. It’s also a tiny part of the Frog Fractions extended universe, brought to us by Jim Stormdancer. It’s made entirely in Pico-8, and is available on Steam and itch.io for $4.

It’s a great short game that made for a quick conversation, so Shane also brings us a seasonally appropriate game from IFComp 2023: Dr Ludwig and the Devil by SV Linwood. It’s a mad scientist puzzle parser game that’s full of character and humor, and also Satan.