Image: RelootedThis week, The Resties case the new heist game, Relooted. Set in the distant future, you play as a squad of thieves determined to retrieve artifacts once stolen from across the African continent, now locked in museums and private collections throughout Europe and North America.
(If you'd like to hear Plante talk with the Relooted's Creative Director and Narrative Director, who run the South African...
2026-02-10 08:01:10 +0000 UTC View PostFor the back half of next week's Resties, we'd like to answer your questions! Drop them in the comments.
2026-02-05 17:08:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Do you ever wish you could escape from all the stresses on Planet Earth? For this Besties Battle Bracket, the four best friends determine the best hub world. You're familiar with these spaces, typically the central starting point of an adventure. From the hub world, new stages and realms branch outward. Hub worlds are often safe, comforting reprieves from the thri...
2026-02-03 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The Resties share their annual gaming resolutions. Will these goals help them make the most of their favorite hobby? Or will they lead them to ruin? We also revisit our resolutions from 2025 to see how they impacted our gaming decisions. In the back half, we chat about Big Hops, a new indie game that blends the past two decades of platformers.
The Resties need your help to decide the outcome of the 2025 predictions. If you've listened to the most recent episode, you will know both Resties made arguments in defense of predictions that could be interpreted as both right and wrong. So, we thought it would be best to leave that interpretation up to you.
Here are the predictions and the corresponding evidence:
Plante: Ubisoft (or a host...
2026-01-13 05:02:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The Resties reflect on the past and predict the future in their annual predictions episode. Who won last year's predictions? (Spoilers: we'll need your help deciding.) And what does the crystal ball forecast for gaming in 2026?
Visit patreon.com/postgames to vote in the poll to determine the winner of 2025's predictions!
Would dogs and cats have a shot for "best pet" in a universe filled with chocobos, owlbears, and whatever is the least offensive plural form of Seaman? Maybe if the dogs are mytholigical beasts and the cats are classically trained chefs! In this Besties Battle Bracket, the world's best friends pick the world's best best video game pet.
Which pet would be easier to take care of?
[Update: All snowballs have been distributed. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Happy holidays!]
It's time for the second most important awards show in video games: The Resties Rest of the Best Awards! This marks our second time awarding supleratives to gaming's most important releases, trends, and moments. It's officially a tradition!
Biggest outstan...
2025-12-23 08:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
As has become tradition, this holiday, we'll be sharing one of our Patreon Besties Battle Brackets on the Besties' main feed. We'd love your help picking the bracket episode that you feel the broader Besties audience will most enjoy.
If you have a moment, please vote in our poll!
Image: Skate StoryUPDATE: ALL 5 BANANAS HAVE BEEN CONVEYED TO THE REQUISITE PARTIES. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION IN THIS MATTER.
The year of "too many games" comes to a climactic close with a pair of indie delights, plus one existential insect we nearly missed. To start, we travel to the underworld with Skate Story, a hangout ...
2025-12-09 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
We’re recording our next bracket episode soon and the topic will be best pets in video games. Naturally, we’d like to hear some of your favorites before we debate!
2025-12-07 23:59:07 +0000 UTC View PostJust letting y'all know that we recently had a scammer pop into the comments of the $10 tier launch post with the profile name of "The Besties Podcast Author" telling people to enter a raffle on Telegram or something of the sort. We had a number of you report it, and we really appreciate the heads up.
We've obviously blocked the offender and put in some additional safeguards to keep something similar from happening again, but wanted to remind y'all that we'll never ask you for money beyond the very generous donations y'all al...
The Besties Battle Bracket returns... and so does Monster Factory! To celebrate our favorite show about the pleasures and terror of character creation, and to honor the vote in our listener poll, we're selecting the best character creator in video games.
... 2025-12-02 08:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostImage: Fallout 4We're ending 2025 with a special present: a Monster Factory x Besties crossover event. Yes, just in time for the return of Monster Factory, your Besties buds have come together and picked the best character creator. What makes a character creator great? What magnificent creations have we brought into the world over the years? Has the world forgotten about Spore? We answer those questions and many more!
Let’s try this again with a Google Form that actually works!
‘Tis the season to pick the Besties Besty of 2025!
Every year, The Besties run the best games of the past 12 months through a 16-seed bracket. Like last year, The Besties will once again select 12 contender...
2025-11-30 23:17:08 +0000 UTC View Post
In a year of oddball video games, this episode's collection may be the most surprising: a soccer RPG that's more interested in the team's drama than the action on the field, a roguelike in which your characters will die no matter what, and a Sega Saturn-style shmup inspired by the most iconic PlayStation 1 game.
Video games are everything all at once!
Image: Escape from DuckovThe Resties haven't been the biggest fans of the extraction shooter genre, mostly due to its intense demands on our gaming time. But Escape from Duckov knows how to adapt the genre for the elder gamer: make the campaign single player and replace the military dudes with adorable ducks. We also chat about Lumines Arise, the Tetris Effect-ification of a beloved PSP-era franchise.
Image: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time via NintnedoLufeThis week, the Besties answer the age-old question: why play the main game when we can play the game within the game? Yes, friends, it's time to take a break from grand adventures and spend some quality time with a deck of cards, a fishing rod, or a cute animal in need of parenting.
As of this week, both of The Resties have entered their 40s. What's it like growing older alongside video game culture? Frushtick and Plante reflect on the four different gaming eras of their life.
Speaking of walking corpses: the pair shares their thoughts on the latest version of Frankenstein!
Stuff discussed:
Thank you for submitting ideas for future bracket episodes! We've selected the top contenders, but now we need your help prioritizing our bracket calendar. Which episode would you like to hear first?
Vote in the poll! (Voting ends Sunday at 11:59PM PT)
2025-10-24 15:55:35 +0000 UTC View PostIt's been a while since we did this the last time, but we'd love to hear your suggestions of what y'all think would make for good topics for future Bracket Battles episodes.
This is not the formal poll where y'all pick, this is just for dropping some fun ideas in the comments. We'll circle up and narrow the list down before doing the formal poll with Patreon subscribers on what topics we're gonna do next.
Thanks folks! You rock!
2025-10-14 18:34:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Sonic's kart racing games have long drafted behind the popular Mario Kart series. Until now. Sonic has made an aggressive move to cut ahead of his longtime rival. Sonic Racing's focus on competitive races and balanced difficulty is a welcome alternative to Mario Kart World's beautiful, rubber-banded marathons.
Plus: Need an SNES-s...
2025-10-14 07:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Image: Crazy TaxiThis week, the Besties answer the most important question in video games: which iconic gaming vehicle would help us run our errands? What began as "the best vehicle in video games" devolved into "what will get us through for the grind of everyday living." We are embracing our true middle-aged selves.
The vehicle that would be most useful in day-to-day life
The vehic...
2025-10-07 07:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Abiotic Factor looks like Half-Life, but plays like Subnautica. This summer, the game's creators released the official 1.0 edition of the game. Now, Russ Frushtick deciphers what makes this survival game tower above so many others. Plus, Plante dives into three new games from up-and-coming indie publisher Critical Reflex.
Hey Besties supporters!
Since we launched our Patreon, we have heard the same request: launch a totally ad-free version of the show. For many complicated and tedious reasons, that wasn’t possible. Until now.
Today, we’ve launched a $10 Patreon tier that includes everything from the $5 tier, plus every episode of the show ad-free. All in one feed. As with m...
2025-09-11 18:53:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Has a year of video games ever included so many interesting entries in the "ninja" niche? Only a few weeks ago, we shared our warm feelings for Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. A few weeks from now, we'll slice our way through the big-budget Sony sequel Ghost of Yotei. But listener, today, let's savor the present. We have the brilliant Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. With all of these ninja games available for you to play, The Resties differentiate a truly g...
2025-09-09 07:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Everybody needs a little video game break now and then. Amidst the chaos of modern life, the most reliable, universal sanctuary is the humble bathroom. So, with today's bracket, we want to help you make the most of your precious toilet time. Because when it comes to #2, you deserve #1.
Which game is more conducive to toilet time
Which game makes you want to go to the toilet more
W...
2025-09-02 07:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Stick It to the Stickman2025 has been stuffed with big, important, and thoughtful video games. You can hear about them on the dozens of episodes we've already published since January. But today, The Resties want to tell you about something else: a throwback to a simpler time when a browser game starring stick people could entertain you for weeks.
Stick It to the Stickman is an arcadey action game that invites you to climb t...
2025-08-26 07:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey all, this is Russ. Remember when I had a shower dream about making a soulslike parody towel and it kept selling out?
Well it's back in stock. For now. We haven't really publicized the new stock so y'all can get first dibs since you're members (and since I forgot to plug it in the last main feed episode).
Wheel World is an open-world game without the open-world obligations. Hop on a bike, zip through beautiful landscapes, and enjoy a few races at whatever pace you prefer. Speaking of interesting riffs on the cozy game formula, Everdeep Aurora scraps combat. Instead, you dig through everyone's business. Literally.
This week, The Resties discuss these delights...
2025-08-12 07:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
