Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 55: Cerebral Puzzle Showcase and Thinky Direct
1 Playsin 1 day
In this episode, host Alan is joined by Mairi Nolan (Cerebral Puzzle Showcase) and Joseph Mansfield (Thinky Games) to discuss the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase 2026 and the recently premiered Thinky Direct!
Discussed games include:
The Land Forgotten
Dittori
868-BACK
Lock In
Some Puzzles
Red Frame
Mimic Meadows
Servant of the Lake
Hello Again
Schrodinger's Cat Burglar
Map Map - A Game About Maps
Rita
Looking for Fael
Timebound
EMUUROM
Echo Weaver
Light of Atlantis
Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School
Funeral for the Sun
Clover's Quadrants
Outpour
Trifolium: The Adventures of Gary Pretzelneck
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Drakknack and Friends
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome to the Drakknack and Friends official podcast, where we peel back the curtain on puzzle games and the people who make them. I'm Alan Hazelden, the head Drakknack at Drakknack and Friends, and today we're joined by Mari Nellan of Drakknack and Friends, who helps organize the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase.
00:00:40
Speaker
Hi, I'm Mari. So as Alan said, I'm the studio manager at Dratnik and Friends, but I'm also the organizer of the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. So I've been helping on that for about three years now, I think. And it's mostly me who kind of goes through the long list of games and decides who goes where and on what pages and kind of sets up the bundles and the live streams and everything and so on. So yeah,
Introduction of Joseph Manfield and Thinky Direct
00:01:00
Speaker
that's me. Nice to meet you.
00:01:02
Speaker
And we're also joined by Joseph Manfield of thinkygames.com and one of the organizers of Thinky Direct. Yep. Hello. Yeah. And as Alan said, we're we've just done the Thinky Direct.
00:01:15
Speaker
ah Very exciting. we have a team that helps out. So thank you so much to the team. We also do many other things at thinkygames.com, if folks don't know. We cover like news and reviews of all the games that are great, like puzzle games that coming out.
00:01:28
Speaker
We've got Discord. We've got various other events. Just check out the website. There's loads stuff on there. YouTube, streams, all that kind stuff. Yeah. I basically use the website of like start of the weekend. What am I doing this weekend? I'll check and see what Joe recommends. Nice.
Recording for Cerebral Puzzle Showcase
00:01:45
Speaker
And speaking of YouTube, um if you normally listen to this podcast in your podcast ah app with your with your regular human ears, well, um we have a special treat this week because this episode is being recorded as a video to go out live on Cerebral Puzzle Showcase streams.
History and Structure of the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase
00:02:05
Speaker
um So you can either watch this ah during the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase on the very first night or it is on our YouTube channel,
00:02:14
Speaker
forever afterwards um so if you would prefer to look at our faces while you listen to our voices yeah you can do that people listening don't know what just happened and why we're laughing
00:02:30
Speaker
okay ah so Mari talk to us about 3.4 puzzle showcase Well, where to begin? We've been running the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase for many, many years. Five years, in fact, to be more specific than that. And essentially, it is the annual biggest, I say in inverted commas, showcase of Thinky Puzzle Games on Steam every year. So what we have is we um have a bunch of upcoming games available as demos. We have a bunch of games that will be discounted. We have a bunch of bundles combining ah loads of different games in sort of similar genres or similar vibes that you might like.
00:03:06
Speaker
And yeah, as part of that, we also have a very exciting live stream event that runs for the first four days of the showcase.
Opening of Thinky Direct Trailer Event
00:03:13
Speaker
So this year, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, from 5pm UK time onwards, you'll be able to see a bunch of Thinky Puzzle streamers streaming various different games. And very excitingly, this year and last year, this live stream event is being opened by Thinky Direct, which is my favorite trailer event of the year. And i'm going to throw that to Joe to explain a little bit more about what that is. Good segue.
00:03:36
Speaker
um Yeah, so Thinky Direct, we did our first one last year and this is the second time. Very glad to be back with it. um It is a video showcase of loads of great upcoming Thinky games.
00:03:48
Speaker
um trailers, exclusive reveals, announcements, all that kind of stuff. ah So if yeah, if you want to see like what's coming up that's exciting, I think watching the Thinky Direct is a great way to find out. um Yeah, loads of great games lined up. I mean, I guess it's already happened at this point. Those are great games to see. And ah you'll also find that they are ah featured in the c Cerebral Puzzle Showcase as well. So you can find them there if you are already looking at the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase page.
00:04:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, if you scroll along, there's a couple of tabs running a lot along the top. um There is a tab that says Thinky Direct. If you scroll there, you'll see every single game that was featured in Thinky Direct to this year. So you can check those out, give them wish lists, play demos. All 40 of them.
00:04:30
Speaker
40? Yeah, there are a lot. I think we like doubled the size of the Direct from last year. We'll figure out whether that is that too many. I don't know. I mean, it's a good lineup. Well, people have just watched them so they can literally tell us in the YouTube comments what they thought about it. Yeah, exactly. And like even selecting 40, we had so many tough decisions. There's like so many other great games as well. um So yeah, it's like there's plenty of games to be excited for. I guess the good thing is like it's a whole variety of different kinds of games. So, you know, um yeah most people won't necessarily be like, i I'll play all of them, but they'll they'll have a particular type. if you like detective games or Soapman games or whatever, there's like there's something in there for everyone. So um yeah, it's a nice mix of
Evolving Categories and New Genres
00:05:16
Speaker
games.
00:05:16
Speaker
Yeah, definitely spans the ah all all the genres, all all the all the good types of game, which are thinky games. Thinky games is just synonymous with a good game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Goodgames.com.
00:05:31
Speaker
I mean, you should get that if you, I'm sure i'm sure somebody's already got that demand. I'm sure you can outbid them. So, yeah, I mean, i think, Mari, you were on the Cerebral Public Showcase podcast last year, I think for scheduling reasons. So it's probably been like almost two years since we last had you on the podcast to talk specifically about Cerebral Public Showcase.
00:05:58
Speaker
I think it is not an understatement to say that we could not continue to run this event without you.
Organizational Process for the Showcase
00:06:05
Speaker
You've been so integral to keeping it going every year.
00:06:10
Speaker
So yeah do you do you want to talk a bit about like the behind the scenes stuff? of Like what does it actually look like to this event? How did we get like submissions this year? Um, yes, ah closer to a thousand. We were really, we were pushing right up to almost having a thousand. So we didn't get a thousand, but it was well over 900 submissions this year.
00:06:32
Speaker
And to be fair, this is my favorite part of my job. Um, so the rest of the year I just do Dreknek and Friends, but for these months I get to the cerebral puzzle showcase. And you mean, what do you mean? I get to pay thousand thinky puzzle games.
00:06:43
Speaker
ah That is a dream come true. um But yeah, no, it is a lot of work. We start organizing the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase probably basically at the start of the year, pretty much. So we have the form open all year round. So if anyone is listening, even now, for example, and they want to submit for the next one, that form is live if you want to put your game in now.
00:07:02
Speaker
um And then, yeah, in a couple of months in the lead up, we start going through the list. We start figuring out like, okay, what are going to be these categories we're featuring? What are we not featuring? um Where did the games that have been submitted fit into that? um Some games, it's very easy to kind of very quickly go, yes, like like big big name games that are releasing near the showcase um for sure.
00:07:23
Speaker
ah Some games, it's very easy to immediately say no to, namely if they're not puzzle games, like people submit some very strange stuff. Yeah, we had some very interesting games submitted this year. um And I did play them all.
00:07:36
Speaker
So I can tell you all about them. Maybe not on air. But yeah, no. So we we break them down into sort of yes, noes, maybes, strong maybes, less strong maybes. And then from that point, almost when we've got a really big list of maybes, the wider Cerebral Puzzle Showcase selection committee plays them um and kind of goes through them and we're looking for like yeah are they thinky are they puzzly are they ready so like ah is this game sort
Live Streaming and Game Bundles Setup
00:08:02
Speaker
of five years out from launching maybe it's not a good fit for the showcase this year kind of thing um can it discount any clashes that kind of thing and then once we've got that lineup we basically start building out the page so we work very closely with steam the steam team to do that um they set us up in the back end and then we go through and as you see on the home page we've got a ton of categories those categories change pretty much every year so
00:08:25
Speaker
we decide what are the big categories. So like sometimes there's brand new categories of like, for example, in the three years I've been doing it kind of like, I call them fill in the blanks, but you're like golden idol, like games have kind of really not exploded, but there's a lot of really strong games in that genre now. So now we have that as a whole separate category that's kind of distinct from detective games. um And yeah, we basically figure out what are the categories, what is the ordering of the page, what kind of bundles we want in as well. So as I said before, like um try and prioritize games that have recently launched and put them into bundles of like, if you like this, we think you'll like these other three or four games. um Get those organized, pop them up. And then yeah, the live stream, which is one of
Showcase Goals and Personal Interests
00:09:05
Speaker
my favorite things to organize as well, because I get to chat to loads of really cool streamers and talk about cool games going on. And yeah, put on events like
00:09:11
Speaker
this which is the live stream podcast so you get to see our lovely faces um yeah it is a lot of work but it's really good fun i love the cerebral puzzle showcase and at the end of the day like our whole goal with this thing is basically to get more people playing more more like puzzly games was about to do a freudian step and say play a more escape room games so that's my secret motor oh my gosh because I love escape rooms. But play more puzzle games in general. we want people to like and appreciate. let's say Same as thinky games, right? We just want more people to know about the cool games that are out there. We've got the same vision here. If I look at this year's Surreal Showcase and it's like 50% escape room games, I know what's so that's happened. I've been so good this year. i have been so diligent about When I say play every single game, most of them I play for like, I don't know, sort 15, 20 minutes. The escape room games is a time sink. I blink and two days have passed. I played three escape room games and they're fantastic.
00:10:06
Speaker
um Yeah. Shout out to the escape room category. Yeah. But yeah, that's that's kind of what goes in behind the scenes at Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. And now all the hard work is done. We get to enjoy this weekend, this this week coming. And then, yeah, start organizing. hard work is not done for you. like as this As this goes out, Mari is like sitting at a computer, ah yeah like looking like managing the live streams, cross-fading between them as they change out. That's not so hard, but the hard part is I have to have multiple computers running because my laptop's not great and I don't trust it's going to stay working. I love how that process hasn't changed from when I was helping do this. through fossil showcase so That's all exactly the same. There are probably better ways to do that, but oh well. We just keep doing it the same way. it works. yeahp
00:10:52
Speaker
I love to watch people stream. This is great. And im I'm in the comments. I'm in the chat, like engaging. Yeah, i guess if you're moderating anyway and like chatting with people, like it makes sense to be there. It's good fun. Like it sounds like hard work, but what you're telling me is I get to sit through like eight hours a day of like the loveliest people in the world playing puzzle games and I get to like
Growth and Partnership Reflections
00:11:08
Speaker
be there and engage. That's so fun. And yeah, Joe, you you helped out with the very first Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. What's it been like like seeing it evolve since you were involved?
00:11:19
Speaker
It's been cool to see that it still exists. Like we're still doing it every year. keeps coming back. um And yeah, cool that like we're now able to like partner with three will Puzzle the Showcase for the Thinky Direct.
00:11:30
Speaker
ah Yeah, it's it's great. It's like it's easily when you said this, Mari, you said like inverted commas around biggest. I think like especially in terms of like events that have to do with like like discounts on great puzzle games where like the thinky community and people who just like love puzzle games and puzzles in general actually care about this easily the biggest thing, right? Oh, I agree. I just meant, I think Steam sometimes runs a puzzle festival of their own and I'm sure they will like to claim that that is the best. I don't know. I don't know. But ours is, ours is cooler. If Steam wants to compete with us, then they can run their puzzle event yearly, which they're not doing right now. uh...
00:12:12
Speaker
um i ah Just a random side note. um You mentioned like you've you've got a separate category for fill-in-the-blanks games. ah I think it's very likely we'll be adding that as a genre to the Thinking Games database
Expanding Genres in Thinky Games
00:12:24
Speaker
soon well. Because like we're also kind of going like, okay, this like database... Sorry, not database. This is a detective genre in the database. ah it's like It's got a lot of stuff in it, and they're not all that... They've got similarities to them, but there's definitely differences. So yeah, it's it is interesting to note that There's been like such an increase in those kinds of games that we're now having to be like, okay, how do we split these up? And we're both thinking about that problem. Yeah, totally. Even this morning, I was looking through your database literally to try and find exactly that. And I think I used a combination of tags, like, like I think it was like, was a deduction tag and detective and a logical tag, something. And I was literally trying to like pass out exactly that, what I was looking for. We need to break it down a bit more. as Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:08
Speaker
Cause even if you consider things like you've root trees are dead and golden idol, yeah, same genre, but what you're doing is very different. And then you could even go a step further and say, oh I don't know, like something like I'm getting ahead of myself, but like map map, you're like filling out a map, right? Like that's still filling in the blanks. Like how I want to see professionals, AKA you guys put a border around that category. Um, right. The blank can be anything you like. Yeah. blank. that's the trouble you end up in these you end up being so reductionist about what you mean with the terms that suddenly every genre applies to every game and like so i i help out with some the categorization for three ball um but i've got increasingly like more unhinged about like but i don't i don't know i don't care just it's fine it's fine whatever fine this reminds me of the category i think i called it snakes and worms and you were like what and i I was like, yes, it works. I mean, I get what it means. And then we were debating, do we add other long animals to this category or do we cut off snakes and worms? But it's, yeah, it's funny because like, ah ah Room to Grow is not in that category, even though like, it's like kind of a similar thing. And yeah it doesn't, there's a lot of path finding games that like are similar, but like they don't have wo worms and snakes, so they wouldn't belong in this category. Like is Spooky Express a worm, like railway track is a worm, right? That has trains running around. And I think we've we've we've had these
Audience Expectations and Event Significance
00:14:43
Speaker
conversations like in an ongoing capacity over the years of like, what what do people browsing through Ebook Publish Showcase even want from their categories? Mm-hmm.
00:14:52
Speaker
i And I think that there's maybe an argument that like worms woms and snakes, like it's a cute category, but it doesn't actually help people like figure out like, oh, well, I liked this game, so I'll like that game.
00:15:06
Speaker
Unless they're a massive fan of worms. Like to some degree, I do feel like those games have a... certain kind of feel to play them, certain kind of problem solving aspect to them that if I was like, oh, I really liked some other games in that style. Like, I think I, at least that's for me, I guess it's hard to think about what is it like for somebody who maybe doesn't know the space like as much as we do. Yeah, who knows? I think that's one of the things is we end up with a category like pathfinding and for whatever reason, the way it's shaken out that year, we might have sort of, we might have 30 games in that category and that's just too many games in a category. so you have to take a step back and be like, okay, how can we cut this in half? Or how can we cut this into thirds? Which is how you end up with a category like snakes and worms, which I should say, by the way, is only on demos. I don't think that's a homepage category if anyone's scrolling the homepage right now and be like, I don't see snakes and worms. Yeah. And the other thing to say is that, yeah, we've got the games that we've highlighted for the main page, but we've also got like like four or five times as many games participating in the sale. um So yeah, the main page is very much curated. Like here's his's the best of the best. um Here's like if you if you could only play like three games from this subgenre, like what what what what should you play? um But like there's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of games are participating with demos available on the demos page or they're currently discounted. And you can look on the sale page.
00:16:34
Speaker
And we also have a tab for... um the hidden gems um for the games with fewer reviews, but that deserves to have more reviews. so Yeah. And those ones are specifically filtered out by fewer reviews, but positive. I think it has to have over 90% positive rating.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, they're going to be very much hidden gems. It's not just like, oh, no reviews because it wasn't that well received. It's a great category. Highly recommend. When anyone asks me for recommendations, I'm like, go to this one because they need more love.
00:17:07
Speaker
uh yeah let's talk more about thinky direct joe second year running it how how different to the last time has this felt how different is it like producing it um uh i mean it's similar in many ways we've got the same team working on the direct um great team please at the end of the direct if you find it on youtube you there's credits and you can see everybody that's involved um i guess one of the kind of cool things is um because we launched our thinky dailies last year i like I thought I listed so many things at the start when we started recording this, but like actually there's even more things to add on. Because we started doing Thinky Dailies in December, which is our daily puzzle game where you get a different kind of puzzle every single day. It's very cool. ah We now have this kind of like world of
00:17:53
Speaker
Thinkie games, like characters and places and an aesthetic beyond just like our brand, whatever. um And it's been it's been fun this year to incorporate that into um the Thinkie Direct. So like our key art for the Direct is like a new location that might come up in the future season of Thinkie Dailies. You heard it here first.
00:18:15
Speaker
And um yeah, it's been fun to to to do that kind of stuff. um in terms of like like the the process for actually putting together thinker direct is quite similar to cerebral palsy showcase in in a sense in that like we open up submissions a few months ahead um and usually if you're submitting to either the thinker direct or the cerebral palsy showcase we have like cross references to say like oh you should also submit to this thing so yeah i think you know not 100 of people did i think We had some people who submitted to 3Rule. Yeah.
00:18:46
Speaker
i mean I mean, I guess there is a difference in the like, because the Thinky Direct is about upcoming games and the 3Rule Puzzle Showcase is mostly focused on games that are either out or have demos. um So there is a difference there. But yeah, there's quite a big overlap between folks that are submitting to one and the other.
00:19:04
Speaker
um think we got like over five, it's like 550 submissions we got from the Thinky Direct. ah um And I guess a slight difference with the Thinky Direct is because we have to like put together this video that goes out, ah which requires a whole bunch of editing and we've got to record like the host segments and everything. So it's me and Rachel hosting it again. We hosted it last time as well. um ah like getting that all together, we have to be doing it fairly in advance. I mean, wasn't that far in advance. But like we've got to make sure, at the very least, we know like everything that's included, what all the trailers are going to be, what they're announcing, all that kind of stuff, ahead of schedule so that we're not like panicking towards the end. um I know that with a Surreal Puzzle Showcase, that you do try and be as far in the advance as possible, but sometimes there is a bit of a last minute scramble. like Maybe it's different these days.
Submission Process and Importance of Schedules
00:19:58
Speaker
A little bit. No, a little bit. These years, we generally don't have any super last minute additions. um Okay, that's good. We're more disciplined there. you improved over when I was doing it. So the first time we ran it, because we didn't have open submissions, yeah we were just reaching out to people we knew. yeah And then we announced it.
00:20:22
Speaker
And then we got a bunch of people getting in touch saying, oh, this sounds cool. It's happening in ah in a month. Like, oh, can I be in it? I'm like, well oh, your game does look cool. Your game look cool. And that's that's what we get about. But these days, like, if you didn't hear about us enough in advance to submit, well, like, sorry, but we've been doing this for five years, so. Yeah, I guess, like, with the Thinking Direct, were whaler we we can't be that flexible because we we just have to have all the trailers, like, way in advance. Joe, is there a game?
00:20:59
Speaker
yeah That is so exciting to you in theory that if they reached out, like, ah like say, like, just before you recorded the presenter segment.
00:21:17
Speaker
ah Uh...
Fairness in Thinky Direct Submissions
00:21:19
Speaker
Official answers, no. Okay. That's a very wide official answer. Yes. Yeah. Official answers, no. And I think I would be pretty, we've had some people reach out that where I was like, this was a really cool game. um But it's it's just too late. um Yeah, we've had a like a couple of those. And so, so far, i've i've stuck to that. And I i like hope that I do continue to stick with that. Because like the process is important. And it makes it fair for the other developers who didn't get their game in and whatever.
00:21:50
Speaker
So yes, officially no. And hopefully, practically no as well. yeah But if it ever happens, you won't admit it. And nobody will be any the wiser. Nobody will know. Yeah.
00:22:03
Speaker
um Yeah, some some great announcements.
00:22:09
Speaker
Do we want to go around and pick some games? um So the format we we've we've used in the past for this is we we've all written down a list of games that we're particularly excited to talk about.
00:22:21
Speaker
And we go around and pick games from other people's lists to see, oh, why are you interested? What? What? What? what What grabs you about that project? So um I guess i will start.
00:22:36
Speaker
um Mari, what grabs you about The Land Forgotten? Ooh, The Land Forgotten. So this is a thinky puzzle game about deciphering a language and it is an absolutely gorgeous hand painted, hand illustrated world.
00:22:54
Speaker
And I feel like it's been on my radar for ages because the developer um whose name escapes me, um oh, she's fantastic. What's her? Daria, that's it. Daria has done a couple of talks um over the years um about this game. So it's been on my radar for a really long time.
00:23:09
Speaker
And yeah, looks like it is as close to close to coming out. But yeah, it's very Chance of Sena. And actually from the trailer that we just saw, I didn't know it was based on like a Mongolian writing system. So that's really interesting. So think there's actually- It's more learned about this game. I think there's multiple languages in there. So I think in various sections of the game, learning about different real world languages. So the Mongolian one is part of Yeah. I don't think the game itself makes a big deal of like, oh, this language you just learned from this wizard culture is actually this real life language. But all of the languages in the game are based in some way on real languages from us. So cool. Yeah. But above all, it's just gorgeous. Everything about these games. different numbering systems, I think.
00:23:55
Speaker
Yeah. Which is so cool. as well Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. I mean, I loved games like Chance of Sun and Heaven's World and stuff. So this is going to be my new obsession as soon as it comes out. And I cannot wait.
00:24:07
Speaker
um Yeah. Can't wait to play it. Right. Let me throw it to let me throw it to Joe. Joe, I'm going to be self-serving. I want to ask about Dittery. I'm also happy to hear somebody say the name of the game because I wasn't sure whether it was like Dittory or Dittory or whatever. So like when we recorded the Dingy Direct, we we were like, oh, we're not sure how to pronounce this and we'll just not specifically mention the name. Oh no. Yeah. I mean, both of the conversations are very similar to each other, but yeah, it's true. So yeah, I mean, i've i I've known about this game for a while because Bluckstein is a community member that's been in the Thinkie world for a long time um and has made which a bunch of cool s stuff.
00:24:52
Speaker
And then when I saw the trailer that you sent through to us to put in the Thinkie Direct, I was... like mind blown by how good it looks like oh my god it looks really good uh and like i'm already like a sucker for soccer band games but then they're all like i guess is it i mean yes it's certainly in the space yeah soccer band kind of thing yeah um and ah And as soon as they look like look that gorgeous, I'm like, this is great. like I love those games having like such a high level of polish on them. I was actually kind of curious, has if you're willing to talk about this, like
00:25:29
Speaker
um like has your the usual like drag neck team been involved in like polishing that game or is it like all like block signs work or no it's uh mostly mostly him um so the art director from monster expedition adam has like advised um them like a little but like only a little like Almost all of the like creative direction and art style and artistic choices are coming from Luke and the rest of that team. so this Yeah, super impressive. um
00:26:03
Speaker
Also, i get very strong, like there's a bit in the trailer where they're like the characters are wandering around the kind of castle-y environment. I don't know the specifics of it. And there's like like a whiteboard with like notes on it. And I was like getting like Tunic vibes from there. There's this's a world to explore and secrets. I don't know. I don't want to say, don't know. Very, very interesting to hear somebody say that Tunic looks like a reference. I couldn't possibly comment.
00:26:34
Speaker
But happy to have other people making that kind of association. It's very positive association. cool um And obviously, we just released a demo for this game at the same time as announcing it. So, ah yeah, if you are you, the listener, are intrigued by the world of Dittery, you can play it.
00:26:55
Speaker
You can poke around. So it's a short demo. It's great. Probably not any secrets in there. ah All right. I'll pass it over to you, Alan. What should I pick for you?
00:27:11
Speaker
We'll come back to the Dragneck and Friends games. um Let's go 868 Back.
00:27:19
Speaker
eight six eight back Yeah, out today as of the podcast releasing. um and actually last week's episode of the podcast um is an interview with Michael. So that was great to catch up with him and chat about the game and his approach to making games. We also talked a little bit about Crypt. Yeah.
00:27:43
Speaker
ah But yeah, 8.6.8 back. um it It's ah another great roguelike from Michael. I played quite a lot of 8.6.8 hack, but this is like really ramping it up to 11. It's...
00:27:58
Speaker
um it's ah Yeah, like there's so much there. And ah it's like, i it's it's a bits it's a bit overwhelming for me because like i if I pick started playing it like 10 years ago after playing it since 8 hack a lot, then I would be like, was that, bye. It's 868 hack plus so many extra layers of complexity and depth and strategy that it's very exciting, very good. I really hope that it finds a a large audience because it really deserves to.
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah, um I guess the thing with like Michael Brose games is that they have that like depth and complexity, yet every single like design decision feels like it's been thought about like so deeply. You're like, yeah, this like all makes sense, and it makes the strategy make sense, and like the puzzliness of it like really work. Yeah, like there's no decision, and it's just like, oh, I guess it just does that whatever. like, no, everything's been thought through very carefully. Yeah.
00:29:06
Speaker
I'm excited for it too. Let's keep going around in a circle. um Mari, two games from FLEB. Lock in and some puzzles.
00:29:17
Speaker
Oh, I have so much to say. i love Fleb. Fleb is listening to this. I'm number one fan. um I'm also a big fan of escape rooms. So when I saw the trailer for Lock In and it was like, this is an escape room like game about like locks and stuff. Oh my God. Absolutely incredible. I think I let out little scream. was like, oh my God. um Yeah, news to nobody. Love escape rooms. Love a good lock. It doesn't look like an escape room. I'm talking about lock-in specifically now. It doesn't look like an escape room. But to be honest, that's a bold statement. But I don't think any of Phleb's games look like anything. I can't draw any comparison. It's surreal. Like, they're really odd. They're really odd. But you know I love the charm of a FLEV game and I love the kind of puzzles they put into the game. So I'm sure that both of these going be really interesting.
00:30:04
Speaker
um Lock-In especially. But yeah, the other one, some puzzles. I don't really know what to say about this one, except it looks really weird. So I literally know nothing about this except what we've just seen in the trailer. And it sort of opens to a desktop screen and FLEV's like, oh, there's some windows and you can resize them and you can look at everything. I know nothing about the puzzles, but I just have to trust blindly that there's going to be some really cool puzzles in there. And it's just called some puzzles. So you also get nothing from that either. It's just like, yep.
00:30:35
Speaker
Absolutely. Funny kind of like behind the scenes of the Thinky Direct is that we obviously, we got those trailers through and I knew what the trailers would be like, because i know I've seen Fleb stuff before. Um,
00:30:46
Speaker
But by the scene, some of the the team were like, is this like the like what we're expecting from for this game whatever? It's like, no this is exactly what we're expecting for this game. This is what these trailers should look like. They sound weird. They look weird. So weird. 100% what we wanted. um also another reference to throw in here also a bit of a plug is last year at thinky con fleb did a talk about making like puzzle objects like like basically he thinks of his games as like puzzle objects um i think that is maybe a good way to frame it because like they are unusual games and i think the idea of being a puzzle object like the game is
00:31:27
Speaker
The game is the puzzle is like a good way of thinking about it. They often feel like that. Never thought about that before, but that's so true. That's so interesting. Yeah.
00:31:37
Speaker
I mean, what an object. it's just In a weird way, it reminds me of like those sort of like ah wooden boxes you get sort of puzzle boxes, yeah and but a much more digital version of that. And yeah, thinking about like the very little I know about lock-in. Yeah, it's all sort of arrows and sort of following things and what clue leads to which lock and stuff. And like, it's often like it like goes like meta places or breaks the fourth wall. Yeah. I mean, literally the trailer broke the fourth wall.
00:32:06
Speaker
Yeah. He like screwed it up and he was like, no, don't look at that. Yeah. Yeah. This is good. Yeah. And like so impressive, like, oh yeah, making making one game object at a time not good enough for you. Oh, you have to you had to do two? Yeah. Sure.
00:32:24
Speaker
There was some discussion about whether to have the trailers together or not. We ended up putting them as separate things. that They're near each other, um but we ended separating just so that it's clear there are two separate games there. Mm-hmm. um but yeah i mean when he said oh i've got two games it's like we we definitely have to include both of them especially because like fleb style with the trailers is to like make very short snappy trailers so yeah it it ends up working well there's space for both yeah do we know anything about the launch dates or anything on these two or no no just ah go ahead and wish list very exciting intriguing
00:32:57
Speaker
Okay, right. I will continue the circle. i will go to Joe. Joe, I would like to hear about Red Frame, please. Okay, cool. um Yeah, I've been very intrigued by this game for a long time. um Because when I was at GDC, when was that? Three years ago now? Something like that? i met developer. 22 or 23 sounds about right. Yeah. um And um got to play an early build of the game then. And then was sent a build and tried it then and got to play a bit more of it. um
00:33:34
Speaker
If you've seen the trailer, you'll know it has this kind of um you know like mist or blueprints, like you're exploring a house and it's like a kind of realistic setting, like a kind of lived-in world and you're learning about the characters that lived here. um The central premise of the mechanics is that Around this world, there are red frames. And if you are looking through a red frame, you can interact with the objects on the other side of the red frame. And that can be different. Like quite an unusual thing about the game is you get different kinds of puzzles.
00:34:09
Speaker
um It's not like they're all the same kind of thing. There are some that are about like moving objects to create shadows that will like affect the way some plants grow or whatever. And then there are others that are bit more like escape roomy type puzzles where like it's like, like figure out the right order of these things or a combination of these things. Um, the thing I'm like, but I guess a couple of things to say, like, um, yeah, one of the things I'm most interested about is to see like, where did they take it since the last I played it was years ago. um and I think there's like a lot they can do with that, that concept of solving puzzles through these red frames. Um, um,
00:34:44
Speaker
ah But also like to mention, i think it like uses like photogrammetry techniques for the environments. So they've like scanned real environments. Or maybe not real. I don't know exactly how they've done it. But like the game looks really good because of the techniques that they've used to make it. So yeah.
00:35:01
Speaker
Yeah, i it's just one of those games where as soon as I see that world and the puzzles, I'm like, OK, I want to go explore this. um Yeah, that's that's Red Frame. Very excited for it. Alan, back to you.
00:35:14
Speaker
um Let's go to Mimic Meadows. i I knew this game was in development, but seeing the trailer for it made me really excited for it. Yeah, the trailer's good. this is based on a Pico 8 game from a while ago. It's called Mimic, I think.
00:35:36
Speaker
yeahp um And the premise of that is like it's a puzzle game where you are a little creature creek critter slash creature um and you are in a world and you can see these other creatures moving around.
00:35:52
Speaker
And if you can copy the movement pattern of another creature, you can transform into that creature, and which will let you access different parts of the world. And I think that the premise of this is it's that but open world.
00:36:05
Speaker
And I love me an world puzzle it's It's certainly bigger. It looks like i'm from the trailer, could see there's loads of stuff going on that wasn't in the original. It seems seems like you're this, like, alien creature here. like the new art. It's really cool. um Yeah, it looks very intriguing. i i just I just want to get my hands on it. I want i want to see what it's doing. And, like, that...
00:36:36
Speaker
That idea, like i think yeah there's a lot of potential there for like hiding secrets or non-linear exploration. um Yeah. I i want to know more.
00:36:53
Speaker
Mari. um Rusty Lake superfan. ah you at all hyped for Servant of the Lake?
00:37:03
Speaker
You know what? did It hadn't even crossed my mind. Seven of the Lake who? Okay, no no, I'm kidding. I am so kidding. I'm such a huge Rusty Lake fan. Oh yeah, this is another game I've been following from the moment they announced it. And even before they announced it, because they put all kinds of teasers in their earlier games for it. And I was like, oh, I know about this game.
00:37:24
Speaker
Um, I, yeah, I, I can't wait. that I mean, what is that even to say about Rusty Lake? Rusty Lake kind of does the same thing in most of its games, but it does it incredibly well. And it's this very creepy kind of David Lynch-esque world of point and click puzzles ah populated by animal headed ghosts.
00:37:43
Speaker
people and it's sort of you never know if what you're playing is real or if it's like in someone's memory there's a lot of sort of weird time and space oddness going on there um and just sort of random violence but in a weird and artistic cool way um no i i expect much of the same from servant of the lake um beyond watching the trailer and stuff i don't really know what to expect but i know it'll be great and And as Joe knows, I've written a very extensive article for Thinky Games about the lore of Rusty Lake. And I'm very excited see- was also going to mention this. Like, as soon as I play this game, I'm going to add an addendum to that article and be like, oh, we've discovered some new things about these characters. I must expand my lore document. Yeah, because they're all connected to each other, right? Like, they all either exist within one another there are sequels or whatever. Yeah, there was this fantastic um graphic I found on, I think it was some, the the Reddit threads go very deep. People are really into this. And someone had put all of the games in chronological order, ah but they all sort of reference each other. So some are sort of referencing a ahead in time and some and back in the past. And so you can either play them in the order they released or in chronological order. And both gives you such a weird little interesting... um read of the universe and yeah this new one off the top of my head i cannot tell you where it fits in exactly and which characters it features but it's sure to be it's sure to expand upon and i'm like being so coy here i'm like oh what spoilers do want it's it's not really being coy it's like how much nerdiness do you want do you want me to go but i think i think for fans of rusty lake this is going to be a very rewarding game and i cannot wait i will be playing it on launch day um
00:39:27
Speaker
yeah i'm just a huge fan i don't i don't even know what to say i'm just like getting giddy talking about it i'm so excited about this game um so yeah servant of the lake um i'm i are you guys excited for it or is this just a me and my weird i have not played any of these games i've played some of them um but i'm not like that deep into them so i mean i'd keen to check it out i'll certainly play it stream and search yeah But is this the best ah intro? Like, really, really, if I'm going to play this, I should play like every single one. Yeah. Yeah. can play any of them at any time. You can play any of them. And if you play more, you'll see that Easter eggs in between. But really, you can start anywhere and do any of them. One of them's um co-op as well. I would really recommend that one because that's a really nice introduction.
00:40:17
Speaker
um because that one is a little bit lore-like. It just is puzzle-heavy, and they do some really interesting things with the co-op. Alan, maybe you should do a ah YouTube series where you play them all in chronological order, according to that idea. Yeah, maybe.
00:40:33
Speaker
yeah I think so. um yeah servant of the like very excited um okay well let me oh i see one on your list joe that i'm very excited to talk about uh hello again tell me about hello again cool yeah so another one that i played a build of a while back um very cool uh i mean great to have it featured in the thinky direct um So Hello Again, it's ah cartoony, quirky, lots of fun characters.
00:41:07
Speaker
And it's very much like a um like time loop, like Outer Wilds style time loop, like Groundhog Day situation where you're like, the day keeps resetting and you wake up on the beach and then you go exploring, you have to interact with all these characters. um And yeah, like I think Outer Wilds is it's definitely a great comparison, even though vibes wise, it's very different. um But it's, you know, you're exploring, talking to characters, finding like cryptic messages and symbols written in caves and all this kind of stuff, and just gradually trying to figure out what's going on and like how to fix things. um And ah yeah, it's like got all the fun stuff that you expect from a game like that of like, oh, it turns out if I'm like here with this particular item or with this particular character, I can like open the secret
00:41:59
Speaker
passage to this other thing like it just becomes an expansive thing of like discoveries um i guess you call it a metroid brainia um if you want to know about metroid brainias there's also a great article on the thinking games website about that uh so yeah um it's just it's also just cool and um like the art style's fun and music and it's just very playful and silly it's got a lot of character yeah a lot of character indeed um yeah so i love a timely that time a good great premise for a game yeah especially a puzzle game indeed ah who am i throwing over to now alan again um so let's go to schrodinger's cat burglar
00:42:45
Speaker
Yeah, ah finally come out. Exciting. um i i mean, i've I've been chatting to the developers of this game for years and years and years. And for a while, i was like,
00:43:03
Speaker
It was like a cool concept, but it it it took a while to like find the direction it needed to go in to be the best version of itself. And I feel like a couple of years ago, they figured that out. is that when the camera system changed? Yes. yeah And um as as of the time this podcast comes out, the game's out.
00:43:24
Speaker
It's out. You can play it. And ah I really hope that people like it. um You can, yeah, so it's you are this cat burglar um doing doing a little heist and things go wrong and you get a trapped in machine that then lets you, ah gives you the power to split yourself into two and do quantum stuff and solve quantum puzzles. And yeah, some some kind of unique gameplay ideas that relate to that and then some more traditional puzzle solving stuff. um But yeah, really...
00:44:00
Speaker
really well executed, fun, good puzzles, the version that I played. i haven't played a build for a while, but yeah. ah I played the demo recently. And um ah like, honestly, some of the puzzles were quite tricky as well. There's quite immediately like um like secrets of like,
00:44:22
Speaker
um i There was like one puzzle that I encountered that I know is a bonus puzzle. I think maybe it involves taking things between puzzles or something, but I never figured it out while i was playing the demo. um So yeah, there's all all that kind of like bonus secret puzzles and stuff to find. And I guess all of the silly stuff around the puzzles as well, like like riding around on the Roomba-style robots and ah like hacking the computers. You have to like tap in the cat while we're doing this, like trying to hack these computers. Yeah, it's just another very fun, playful, well-made game.
00:44:58
Speaker
Sorry, mario what you going to say? No, I was going to, I mean, you kind of just said it there, but I was going to say, Alan said, you're a cat burglar, but I need to place the emphasis. You are a cat. yeah I feel like no one mentioned this. you You play a cat, which is fantastic. The controls are fun. Yeah. It's really good fun to play cat.
00:45:15
Speaker
Yeah. like I think the like the the comparisons will be things like like Stray meets Portal or whatever, other things like that. Because it's portal-like puzzles, like those kind of sequencing puzzles where you've got like various doors and gates to open and buttons to press and they figure out the order. But because you like are able to split in two and you've got all the quantum shenanigans happening, like it gets yeah it goes to very different places.
00:45:41
Speaker
Let's chat about one of the games from the Dratnet New Voices puzzle grant last year that's also just released, Map Map, a game about maps.
00:45:52
Speaker
Ooh, this one's on my list. Map Map, yeah. Again, one of the Dratnik New Voices Puzzle Grant games. I'm so proud of them that they have just released. and This is a really sweet little game where you play a cartographer and you have ah basically a map various different islands to explore and you have lots of cartography tools as well. So sort of, this is where my knowledge of cartography gets tested, but you know, sort of... of Those metally things and compasses and protractors and things. yeah Yeah, you know, more than that, they've got like all kinds of interesting things about like levels and stuff, um depending on how far into the game you get. I think I was chatting to to one of them about this. So like the term compass, like means both a, in English, it means both a thing that points to north. Yeah.
00:46:40
Speaker
and the tool that you use to inscribe a circle. yeah And I think in German they maybe have different names. So that's like a kind of awkward thing for them. It's like, oh, here's these two tools and they'll be English speakers.
00:46:55
Speaker
Call them both compasses. how like Yeah, so am in MatBab you've got compasses and compasses. Yeah, yeah. Kampai, right? Kampai? I don't know what the plural compasses is. don't know. Is it Latin or is it Greek? Yeah.
00:47:08
Speaker
um But yeah, no, it's a really sweet little game. It's very it's very accessible, very charming, but very thinky towards some of the later levels. so And they also have this one of my favorite features ever. As you're on the map, you can freehand draw. So if you see a cool thing out in the world, you can actually go into the map with your like sort of mouse and draw in what you've just seen as well.
00:47:29
Speaker
um Yeah, it's charming. I don't also say other than it's charming. I think i've I've played through quite a lot of this game already in various situations. Yeah, it's definitely going to be a a highlight. Yeah. And and the core gameplay of like, oh, here's a thing, figure out using these
Hidden Puzzles and Gameplay Depth
00:47:43
Speaker
tools, where on the map to put it is like, cool. But the The trailer implies there's also some level of hidden stuff too, and like bonus puzzles aren't like um immediately obvious, and stuff you need to like like realize is a puzzle, which is also really exciting. Yeah, in the demo, there definitely were some of those. can't remember exactly how they worked, but I remember there were some puzzles where like you had to realize that something in the environment was a clue to to something you could find on one of the islands. Yeah.
00:48:13
Speaker
Yeah, i think i think it was just like, yeah, if you see one of these clues, you have to like go, oh, that must mean something. And then you just follow it and say that leads anywhere. Yeah, that was definitely the bit of the demo where I was like, oh, yeah, there's cool stuff going on here. Awesome. Yeah.
00:48:28
Speaker
um Right. Let me continue running the circle. um Joe, I'm going to ask you about a game that's on both of our lists, but i want to hear you talk about it. Tell me about Rita. Rita, um I played a demo of it a few months ago and fell in love with it immediately. um It's not like a brutally hard puzzle game or anything like that, which is often what I'm playing. um It's very cute. It's about a chick that hatches and starts exploring the world.
00:48:58
Speaker
it's... like I guess the the core thing is that you're exploring this world collecting letters. So in a sense, it has a kind of collect-a-thon vibe to it. You're collecting these letters. And then you can use those letters to fill in crosswords that you've collected.
00:49:11
Speaker
um And as you fill in words in the crossword, ah you... make the corresponding things in the world suddenly appear. So like one of the first words you get is there'll be a clue and the answer is ramp.
00:49:25
Speaker
And when you type in ramp into the crossword, the ramps suddenly appear. And then you can start walking up these ramps and going places. and then you get like more and more things. They might be objects in the world. They might be things that affect your abilities as the character. um And the thing that I loved about it was just how much it felt like the game just like loves puzzles.
Rita: A Creative Crossword Game
00:49:47
Speaker
It was just like, I don't know, just every moment, because it incorporates not just crosswords, but other kinds of puzzles as well. Every moment just felt like, yeah, this is like a love letter to puzzles in general.
00:49:59
Speaker
And yeah, like, again, i don't think it's, I don't know how where it goes beyond the demo, but like, um I think it will be a fairly gentle game, but it's just very playful and creative. And even in the demo, even if it's not like,
00:50:12
Speaker
like difficult as such there were some very clever little puzzles where you're like oh I like what they've done there kind of like um reminding me a little bit of like Phlebs games of like kind of creative think outside the box do something a bit um bit different um yeah Rita is going to be very cool I mean sorry yeah because it's so that theory Rita was in the Thinky Direct and the release date was announced as well so very excited for that coming out yeah great game Let's go the opposite way around. switch to the rounds?
00:50:45
Speaker
Okay. Awesome. Wait, so now I'm picking Mari? Mari, we get to ask from. Yeah. and um So, Mari, ah let's go to let's go to looking for Fael?
00:51:00
Speaker
Fael? Fael, I think it is. Looking for Fael. um No surprise anyone. This is what I would call an escape room game. Yeah. I really like the look of it. um I've been somewhat excited for this one for a while, not knowing much about it other than the early marketing bit. Like, oh, it's very escape roomy. um I think it's Swing Swing Submarine.
00:51:22
Speaker
And the premise is, if I understand it correctly, is you are... You are not Fael, you are looking for Fael. I know the name is a giveaway, but I think there's like this premise that Fael is lost in the house and doesn't know their way out. And it's very sort of House of Leaves-esque, if you've ever read that book of like, oh, this building, this house ends up being a lot bigger on the inside than the outside. And you've got this little, ah really kind of looks like a Game Boy and you can kind slot it into different areas of the house and play a sort of mini game. And if I understand correctly, that mini game is unlocking things and letting you into new areas. um
00:51:59
Speaker
Very escape roomy, very gorgeous art and design and layout design from the looks of it. And very unique, just gorgeous concept, gorgeous design. It's like an escape room, but much more interesting. I often think this about escape rooms. It's like, why make what you could do a physical thing, just transpose it into a digital space. But it really looks like they're like pushing the boundaries in quite interesting ways and what you can and can't do in this space.
00:52:23
Speaker
um and making it a little bit sort of uncanny as well. And they're like, oh, someone's lost, but they're here, but they're not in the same plane of existence as me. I don't know. im I don't have a full sense of what this game is about. I just know that I'm very excited. It's very arty. It's very arty. So yeah, big fan of that one. um Can't wait for this game. Can't wait to play this game.
00:52:44
Speaker
um Yeah, looking for Fa'iel. Do you guys know much about it or about the same thing? Oh yeah, how did you find the demo? Yeah, I mean, it's ah it's it's an escape room thing. Yeah, like there's... a like and the the The interesting thing about the Game Boy thing is like, it's very much, yeah, reconfiguring reality. Like this this apartment is like multiple overlapping apartments with different layouts and your you're like ah solving puzzles even just to get access to different layouts of this apartment. And yeah, each each apartment is its own little like little mini escape room.
00:53:20
Speaker
It's also cool to see Swing Swing Submarine doing something that's quite different to their previous titles as well. Like this is, is this the first 3D, like first person game? Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:31
Speaker
Very cool. Very cool. And they've done great games in the past. So if that's anything to go by, that would be great. Yep. Nice. All right. If we're going the other way around, let's go to Alan. Alan, could you tell me about Timebound?
00:53:47
Speaker
Yeah, I really like this game. um It is, you are a little guy exploring some ruins, and some parts of these ruins have this floor, which if you walk it on it too long, will like reset you to somewhere else.
00:54:08
Speaker
And that... is the core puzzle mechanic. And then it just goes a bit metroid brainier with it too. um Exciting. So yeah there's, there's some like,
00:54:24
Speaker
it's It's not a time loop, but it feels kind of a time loop where like you you've only got so far that you can move along the thing before you can, before it reset you. But then you can use that power to like, oh, deliberately move something around or to deliberately move you around. Yeah. All the while, while you're like triggering switches to toggle doors or putting button, creates some buttons. um And then, yeah, there's also...
00:54:49
Speaker
and I don't know how much of this is going to be past the demo, but like the implication is lots of this kind of stuff. But yeah, like at the end of the demo, it's like, oh, here's this new mechanic that unlocks a whole like parallel set of puzzle mechanics that you weren't even really thinking about. And they do that just a few more times. And you know, they're cutting and cooking with gas. It looks lovely. The art style is gorgeous.
00:55:14
Speaker
um Yeah, really excited for this one. Yeah, it looks great. um Okay. And Joe,
00:55:26
Speaker
I know you're excited about this one. Emurom. Yes. So Emurom will be out at the time this is going
Emurom: A Non-violent Creature Scanning Game
00:55:33
Speaker
out. um How would I describe it? It is a exploration platformer ah where you are...
00:55:43
Speaker
scanning creatures around the world so they're describing it as like a non-violent game um because you're yeah you're going around scanning creatures and learning about those creatures and then using those creatures to help you explore further um so in some ways like i really enjoyed animal well but like i think this is doing things that i was expecting i might get from animal well but i i didn't like this idea of like like learning the rules of this world and the the the animals that are in there. um So I'm really excited for that aspect of it. I guess that's a little similar to Tokitori 2 is about that as well, like exploring and finding animals and how they how their their rules work and learning those rules.
00:56:25
Speaker
um Yeah, I mean, just anything that's like kind open world exploration, ah like discovering the rules, I'm interested. And so funnily enough, Emry Ram was in last year's ThinkyDeep Direct as well. And at that time announced its release date as being 2025. So then ah when they reached out again this year, I was like, I mean, it will be fun to have you again.
00:56:51
Speaker
ah could Like to be like, oh, okay. We said 2025, but actually it will be now basically. um So yeah, very glad to have them. in I mean, at the time of recording this, it hasn't released yet. There's still time. It's true. and those No, you know it's definitely out when you're listening to this. Yes, exactly.
00:57:10
Speaker
um Yeah. andurals Awesome looking game. um so should we should we do quick fire any others of our own that we haven't yet talked about very very quick fire okay allll i'll i'll a couple echo weaver and light of atlantis both are these metro brainier things of doing doing the same thing of like oh you could have done this thing the whole game but we're only going to show you part way through Echo Weaver is very much of a time loop game as well. um That one's a bit more um action and platforming focused, um but still very thinky. Whereas Light of Atlantis, um more puzzle focused. Both of them, yeah, really promising.
00:57:58
Speaker
I've got two on my quick fire. um Cannot not shout out Escape Academy 2 back to school if we're talking about escape rooms. This is also just had a little feature in Thinky Direct. Fantastic. um Currently playing through the first one.
00:58:10
Speaker
Brilliant. If you like escape rooms, flawless. what What is that? What to say? And the other one. is Funeral for the Sun, which I think is by a solo dev or a very small team. And it seems to be very sort of Golden Idol, Rue Trees-like, fill in the blanks, as you were, um but over a longer stretch of time. So there seems to be like an interaction of like, um oh, this is the same person, but sort of 50 years apart, which is a very interesting mechanic. I like that a lot.
00:58:37
Speaker
So those are my two on Quickfire. Jo? um I mean, I could just... I've three others that I had on my list. They're all grid-based games that I'm very excited for. Clover's Quadrants was originally UDLR Modify on Itch. It's getting a full release as Clover's Quadrants. It looks...
00:58:58
Speaker
Very pretty. ah The art style has been completely revamped. i I'm sure it will have like plenty more puzzles, potentially new mechanics and things. I'm not sure. But the the ah ah the original game on the was great. I played the whole thing. Loved it. And so this will be awesome as well. Clover's Quadrants. ah Outpour.
00:59:16
Speaker
Sokoban game is another one of these like beautiful Sokoban games. um like It just looks great. It's an interesting mechanic. You're like a gargoyle. um And I believe the goal of each puzzle is to position yourself such that the water is flowing out of you as a gargoyle. um And it's got like all these mechanics to do with the water level, and that kind of which also makes me a little bit terrified. Yeah.
00:59:43
Speaker
Like that's the kind of mechanic that's like, how complex could that get? i get, like, hopefully it's like simplified to such a degree that you can think about it like logically, but the game looks great. um And then finally Trifolium, um The Adventures of Gary Pretzelneck, which is another grid-based game, more of a like a line drawing game ah where you are a very long giraffe, like,
01:00:07
Speaker
ah stretching around the world, just like infinitely stretching around this world, solving puzzles as you go. um And it explores like interesting mathematical concepts to do with like drawing lines in 3D space. I'll say no more than that. But yeah, it's, I played the demo of that and it was, it was great. It has a, even though you're like this giraffe, like stretching infinitely, it is, it's,
01:00:30
Speaker
um It's also got this like ominous vibe to the whole thing, which is just a cool mashup of vibes. Yeah, that's mine.
01:00:42
Speaker
Awesome. oh Thank you both. We are at time. um We have talked about many of the games ah that had trailers in Think Direct, but that was that was barely half.
Final Comments and Where to Find Mari
01:00:56
Speaker
There's many, yeah so many great announcements, great games being worked on great games launching into Cerebral Puzzle Showcase that we did not have time to cover.
01:01:06
Speaker
um But yeah, for now, that will have to do it. um Mari, where can people find you? I mean, at the moment, the one thing I want to push is Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. Go to the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase if you're not already on it and go find some cool games. Otherwise, my name is Mari Spaceship Online. Everywhere online as Mari Spaceship.
01:01:27
Speaker
Joe, anything you want to plug? I'd mostly say just follow me through Think Games related things. We're on, ah of course, like a lot of the social media platforms and on Discord and all that kind of stuff. I'm pretty much always around.
01:01:39
Speaker
so yeah um yeah, just have look at those things. if And also, if you're interested in like ah like a list of what's been included in the Thinky Direct. It's on the website, so you'll you'll find a link to the Thinky Direct from there, and there'll there'll be a list where you can easily see what games were included and what they were announcing and all that kind of stuff.
01:01:59
Speaker
Yeah. Great stuff. Thanks both. And thank you for listening to the Drag Naked Friends official podcast. Our music is by Priscilla let Snow. You can find ghoulnoisemusic.com.
01:02:10
Speaker
Our podcast artwork is by Adam DeGrandis. Our podcast is edited by Melanie Zawodniak. Please rate and review us on your podcast service of choice and be sure to tune in next episode for more interesting conversations.
01:02:28
Speaker
The