The Two Vague Podcast

Cheyenne joins Ben this week to talk about the myriad changes they both have been going through since his last appearance on the show. After a little bit of work-centric catch-up, they switch it up by front-loading the program with the video game chat a little earlier than usual. Cheyenne has been playing Fields of Mistria, Ben has been playing HAMSTERMIND, and they both have thoughts they are eager to share about these titles. The...

We have double the guests for you this week for a show so special that it inspired a new and spicy 2VP T-shirt design—available on Andrew’s TeePublic storefront! In the first segment, Ben sits down with a visiting “aunt of the pod,” Norah, to discuss her first impressions from playing the demo of Black Jacket on the Steam Deck. The second segment features Jakub, the associate producer of this wonderful offering from Mi’Pu’Mi Games....

Mango the pod-cat, joins Ben this week to meow about his favorite word, his upcoming appearance in Andrew’s latest zine, and other assorted nonsense. Ben’s grasp of the feline language is a little rusty, but he does his best to keep up. After Mango gets bored of chatting, he provides a little ASMR-inspired purring to close out the show.

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00:00:20 - Mee Meow Meow Meowcast introduction, meow-meow me…...

Autistic stand-up comedienne Holly Huff joins Ben this week to talk about her comedy club experiences, her future plans for utilizing her writing talents, and her thoughts on Batman movies. After an exchange of pleasantries and a discussion about Holly’s background and ambitions, they dig into the definition specifics and Ben’s favorite Google feature! Next, they take a brief detour through the subject of ice cream novelties before...

Karen Morrison, program director of virtual events at the International Game Developers Association Foundation and narrative designer at Soda Den, joins Ben this week to talk about her adventures in Argentina and all of the wonderful things she and her peers do at IGDA and the IGDA-F to help passionate folks gain entry into the video games industry. After a quick Argentinian-flavored travelogue compliments of Karen, Ben talks about...

Andrew joins Ben this week to celebrate their penchants for approaching things from a different angle. Lack of perpendicularity aside, they discuss the abundant number of neurodiversity irons Andrew has in the proverbial fire, along with strategies to navigate creative blocks and coping skills for mental burnout. Before doing a deep dive into Andrew's ADHD Coping Skills deck and how they navigate their emotions, they pit Brian Eno’...

Norah joins Ben this week to close out the last 4 games in our 2025 pile of review codes. These games revolve around a diverse assortment of actions: smithing, plundering, angling, and foraging. There’s sure to be a game to pique your interest here, so get cozy, sit back, and relax.

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Blades of Fire by MercurySteam SL - published by 505 Games

00:00:20 - Cozy game disclaimer, amazing details, and Ben...

We have a combo episode for you this week centered around the amazing game StarVaders. In the introduction segment, Ben describes his game experiences to Norah and answers her questions. Spoiler alert: by the end of the conversation she is sold, so now she just needs to get a Steam Deck. In the second segment, Ben showers the StarVaders game designer Eddie with praise before getting into a fascinating discussion about a sandwich-ce...

Ben has lots to say about his last day at PAX this year, from meeting an actual Larian Studios cosplaying brand ambassador on the streets of Seattle to another first-time purchase. He even conducted an interview that was so much fun, he forgot to press the record button! Ben also had a chance to talk with an assorted variety of folks: developers, PR specialists, CEOs, Twitch streamers, and a ghostwriter of mysteries turned game des...

If your question right now is, “Hey Ben, what did you see and do at PAX West on day 3?” then this show is for you! The short answer—he saw two of his favorite games of the entire four-day show and played a handful of others. Starting off the episode with the favorites, Ben describes his experiences playing the outrageously goofy meat-centric 3rd-person shooter SWAPMEAT and the skiing-themed rhythm game Fresh Tracks. Next, he moves ...

Ben’s schedule on the second day of PAX West was packed with game demos, time loops, interviews, and… time loops. Ben talks about playing a large assortment of demos, including Fractured Blooms, Project ATOM, ATMOSFAR, Bakudo, OPUS: Prism Peak, Anthem#9, Unyielder, and Aether and Iron. Other conversations he had on Day 2 of the show were with Hank: Drowning on Dry Land game director Jakub Lisinski from My Next Games, Blocks for Bab...

Ben went to the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this year and has a ton of stuff to share, so much so, in fact, that we had to split the episode up into four parts! In this episode, Ben talks about escaping his first room or whatever (Tomb Raider themed, of course), chatting with artist extraordinaire Dan Paladin, trying out the latest demo of friend of the pod Christian’s Rogue Climber, experiencing the incredibly nostalgic “martian ...

Norah’s back to assist Ben with reducing his game review backlog before he heads out to Seattle for PAX West 2025. The games discussed this week are Antro by Gatera Studio, The Precinct by Fallen Tree Games, and Revenge of the Savage Planet by Raccoon Logic. 

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Antro trailer - https://youtu.be/wjgHmfYvA6g?si=DgqE4EDU6643M7eo

00:00:20 - Running with rhythm, the promotional materials description...

In an episode inspired by a game review code we received, Andrew returns alongside Ben, who’s been buying a single movie multiple times for SOME reason. Ben has given up on “Sucky Assassin's Creed” for now, but he sees promise in an “FRPG” game he’s been playing recently. Andrew has been doing something incredibly constructive with his pent-up frustration from the consistent misrepresentation of autism by the Department of Health a...

Ben STILL has too many review codes, so Aunt Norah is back to help him get through the backlog. Norah watches the trailer, Ben plays the game, and they discuss their impressions. This episode contains three conversations themed around the games Ben has been playing for review purposes. Topics and games covered this week include the following: the impact of vector graphics featuring Stratogun, the nostalgia of GBA-style adventure ga...

Christian from Imaginary Game Studios joins Ben this week to talk about a word that is very dear to him. In addition to being a component in the name of Christian’s game development company, imagination is something that both of the hosts love to use in their day-to-day lives and in all of their creative endeavors because it brings them so much joy. As one would expect from the topic of imagination, the conversation goes many fasci...

Ben has TOO MANY game codes, so Aunt Norah is here to help! This back to back episodes… episode contains two conversations themed around the games Ben has been playing for review purposes. In the top half, they talk about the representations of the mental ailments in the games Next of Kin and RATSHAKER™. In the latter half, they talk about the handling of the animal protagonist in Spirit of the North 2. 

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