The Two Vague Podcast

Zine maker and brand new friend of the pod Sully (aka Kaiju Cabal on the socials) joins the program this week for a wrap-up of Ben’s PAX West 2026 attendance shenanigans! It’s rather serendipitous that Sully keeps a list of words, loves to pick things apart, is genuinely curious, and has tons of questions about stuff. After an introduction to Sully focusing on their late-age autism diagnosis and their chosen artistic medium, they explore the stacks of Polaroid photographs and piles of tchotchkes Ben collected for each day of PAX this year. *** 00:00:20 - An introduction to Sully from the hotel studio, wet spiders, and a mom draws a line00:04:05 - Diagnosed as autistic, food and spoons, invitations to engage, and Andrew’s project 00:11:14 - Sometimes making connections takes work, curious brains, and humble PAX origins00:14:54 - Piles of stuff, Polaroid photographs, weirdly shaped potatoes, and pictures of dinner00:17:57 - Clowntown time traveling, wanting to punch someone, and going on a no-fun run00:21:56 - Appreciating the concept, fun allergies, Jackbox inspirations, and being whimsical00:25:36 - Pandemic party game popularity, required skillsets, and feeding the hippopotamus 00:29:30 - Let’s talk about thumb drives, taking down the RIGHT system, and a miscalculation00:34:18 - Ben’s audible, Blocks for Babies summary, some CPS concerns, and the Cenobites00:40:07 - EpiPen for fun, War of the Western Deep, the Don Bluth style, and player choices00:43:03 - Ether or Aether, Car Wars combat, Ben’s delayed answer, and meeting the team00:52:40 - Reviewing day 2 materials, misidentifying an olive, and meeting some game legends00:56:32 - Pinball legality, Dr. Pepper story, sailboat pinball, and niche Halloween costumes01:01:06 - Super Cucumber, a husband and wife duo, collaborations, and being the arbiter01:04:31 - The Fallout pinball machine, watching the show, the art, and testing the mechanics01:09:44 - That never happens, not Mannequin, the Pinball 2000 concept, and George Gomez01:12:52 - Intrigued by cult paraffinalia, Ladder Lad trailer impressions, and ladders on stairs01:17:29 - Johnson and Dan, a BYOCRT console, and teasing the best business card winner01:21:49 - Verb names, Sully’s description of Ty’s business card, and working-class symbols01:23:55 - DESOLUS, architecture and portals, a layman’s trailer critique, and angel accuracy01:26:59 - Flamecraft, Monster Couch’s focus, cute artisan dragons, and you had me at cats *** Follow Two Vague on…Our website: https://www.twovaguepodcast.comOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/two_vague_podcastOn YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twovaguepodcastOn Substack: https://twovaguepodcast.substack.com/On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/twovaguepodcast.com For show appearances and other inquiries, contact us at [email protected] …for all of your PRI and 2VP merch, check out the Partly Robot Industries store at TEEPUBLIC!https://www.teepublic.com/user/partly-robot-industries *** References, Links, and Tags Clowntown from Batterystaple Gameshttps://store.steampowered.com/app/3680200/Clowntown/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwtlgTF55-0 Blocks for Babies by BunkSoft Interactive LLChttps://store.steampowered.com/app/2776770/Blocks_for_Babies/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVhTiO8xdXo War of the Western Deep by Sunsgrove Studioshttps://store.steampowered.com/app/2976440/War_of_the_Western_Deep/https://youtu.be/fbnTH5nK6tU?si=h7KwLMPRM2hCrqIW Aether & Iron by Seismic Squirrel https://store.steampowered.com/app/1836560/Aether__Iron/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYkoQo3lJPE Super Cucumber by Cubicorn Gameshttps://store.steampowered.com/app/522290/Super_Cucumber/https://youtu.be/xaHBX25uFNc?si=XJBf7EK5egZzk3Na The Fallout pinball machine by Stern Pinballhttps://www.sternpinball.com/game/fallout/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SquqtbOZRw Ladder Lad by BUCK Games and Antfoodhttps://store.steampowered.com/app/3871300/Ladder_Lad/https://www.youtube.com/watch?

How’s it going, eh? Prepare yourself mentally and physically for Andrew and Ben to drop a lot of movie quotes this episode. You have been warned! After a little improvisational bit where they channel their inner Bob and Doug McKenzie, Andrew fills us in about his latest creative efforts and the recent suspension of his feud with Christopher Nolan, which he commemorated using a delivery of bark mulch to cover the former location of a rat-infested shed. Next, Ben talks about two very different games that he completed recently: Pragmata and Mixtape. When they FINALLY get into the word, they talk about the movie Strange Brew and how the story was inspired by a particular Shakespearean tragedy. To close the show, they reminisce about their former jobs at local and not-so-local coffee shops before Ben talks about playing the pumpkin spice latte-inspired game Strange Brew, developed by Electric Monk Media. *** 00:00:19 - Thrown by the buddy, all the bowling alleys, 24 hrs of productivity, and funding news00:02:59 - The PAX octagon, Elvis Costello, finishing the anthology, and a guy has a meat hand00:06:48 - A suspended feud, a little slapdash, wrangling snakes, on a list, and The Odyssey00:09:53 - Palindromes in film, Robert Patterson, and the Christopher Nolan Feud Memorial00:12:52 - Helen of Troy, sleepy noise, poems, stop yelling, and Andrew’s late rat shed update00:18:04 - Ben finished Pragmata, pregnancy trends, and how video game electricity works 00:25:32 - Mixtape thoughts, internet opinions, an uninteresting trailer, and coming of age00:32:47 - The Artful Escape, to a lesser extent, masquerading as nostalgia, and an impression00:36:48 - Andrew tops off, Ben bought an electric kettle, grits, and a beer book for Andrew00:38:56 - False expectations, fractions of caffeination, Cheyenne cheers, and Google changes00:41:52 - Straight to Merriam-Webster, take that robots, and fomenting or contriving coffee00:43:37 - Possibly offensive to verbs, generationally appropriate songs, and the theater kids00:47:16 - As if, vending machine coffee, Ngram theories, amazing tees, and Strange Brew00:53:25 - Percent Canadian, Clif and Marty’s Talking Pondo, and Shakespearean connections00:59:53 - Using all the drinking water in Utah, the Claude AI incident, and meat-body bound01:03:16 - Enough with the steeping, brew bros, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, and Mel Blanc01:06:45 - The electric monk, a particular coffee place, and sometimes it’s just a mermaid01:09:03 - Barista stories from Cuppuccinos, all the vaccines, the MacGuffin, and reasonable 01:15:08 - Andrew’s thoughts on the trailer, customer service, and pumpkin spice zombies01:17:38 - Perpetuating your apathy, Andrew’s favorite game right now, and gamification01:20:55 - Rolling dice in day-to-day life, the tea tannins, final quotes, and the joy of Biscoff01:25:22 - More positive jazz numbers, Uncle John, and a baby CJ cuteness sign-off *** Follow Andrew / Partly Robot Industries on…His website: https://partlyrobot.com/On Instagram: https://instagram.com/partlyrobotOn TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@partlyrobotOn Substack: https://partlyrobot.substack.com/On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/partlyrobot.comOn Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/partlyrobotOn Microcosm Publishing: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/artist/andrew-coltrinOn Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/partlyrobotAnd his TREE o’ LINKS: http://linktr.ee/partlyrobot Check out Andrew’s latest book and supplemental card deck here…The ADHD FAQ: Understand and Embrace Your Brain, from Diagnosis to Everyday Life - https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/62918ADHD Coping Skills Deck - https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/decks/69501 Follow Two Vague on…Our website: https://www.twovaguepodcast.comOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/two_vague_podcastOn YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twovaguepodcastOn Substack: https://twovaguepodcast.substack.com/On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/twovaguepodcast.com For sh

Faith joins Ben this week to discuss the premise of the latest book she has been writing, which involves a pandemic-era social media scrolling phenomenon. The two Gen Xers talk about her origins in an assortment of social need-based therapy disciplines, her career development and research activities, and how she is working with Microcosm Publishing to help amplify neurodiverse voices and perspectives. They wrap up the episode with an exploration of the game Ultimate Grandma Simulator, a quick chat about how games have the potential to subtly teach in addition to providing entertainment, and a couple book recommendations. *** 00:00:20 - Twelve-year-old boy humor, Faith’s introduction, promises made, and promises kept00:04:34 - Back when we funded things, conversion, community services potpourri, and books00:09:46 - Connecting with Andrew, lived experience, ragtag band, and focus of the new book00:12:43 - Moral injury forms, betrayal, indigenous ancestral origin, and liberation psychology00:17:49 - Supporting community as a coping strategy, and focusing on what you can change00:21:04 - The Intimacy Doctor, reframing shadow work, and keeping San Antonio quietly cool00:26:25 - Dictionary choices, airplane fears unlocked, the 90s were amazing, and ticket costs00:33:09 - Echo and the Bunnymen, angry philosophers, and the nuclear war fear of the 1980s00:40:43 - Finding hope, piles of books & cats, and does doom get better or worse with age? 00:45:06 - A fond memory of critical thinking, simulating grandmothers, and avoiding vacuums 00:48:34 - Therapist feedback, a joke in a joke, learning from games, and a book suggestion00:52:44 - Fiction is lying, Ben remembers, there IS cussing, people know, and a BONUS bit *** Follow Two Vague on…Our website: https://www.twovaguepodcast.comOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/two_vague_podcastOn YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twovaguepodcastOn Substack: https://twovaguepodcast.substack.com/On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/twovaguepodcast.com For show appearance and other inquiries, contact us at: [email protected] …for all of your PRI and 2VP merch, check out the Partly Robot Industries store at TEEPUBLIC!https://www.teepublic.com/user/partly-robot-industries Follow Andrew / Partly Robot Industries on…His website: https://partlyrobot.com/On Instagram: https://instagram.com/partlyrobotOn TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@partlyrobotOn Substack: https://partlyrobot.substack.com/On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/partlyrobot.comOn Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/partlyrobotOn Microcosm Publishing: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/artist/andrew-coltrinOn Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/partlyrobotAnd his TREE o’ LINKS: http://linktr.ee/partlyrobot *** References, Links, and Tags For more information about Faith Harper and her wonderful books (wherein she isn’t afraid to drop an f-bomb or twelve)…https://www.faithgharper.com/https://microcosmpublishing.com/ For more information about Ultimate Grandma Simulator, developed by Circo and PlumPointTwo and published by We Don't Have A Studio… https://store.steampowered.com/app/3511870/Ultimate_Grandma_Simulator/https://youtu.be/A8fKlNNy_vM?si=ewSwZAcf8ARopOG9 #Podbean #DIYPodcast #ApplePodcast #VideoGames #Trivia #Comedy #Talkshow #2VP #TwoVaguePodcast #PodernFamily #InterviewShow #GamersofThreads #Gamer #PartlyRobot #PartlyRobotIndustries #TeePublic #MicrocosmPublishing #TheIntimacyDoctor #FaithGHarper #UltimateGrandmaSimulator #Circo #PlumPointTwo #WeDontHaveAStudio

Christian from Imaginary Game Studios joins Ben for a conversation involving a very important aspect of video game promoting, advertising, and audience connections. To start it all off with a proverbial BANG, Ben talks about a couple of games that he has been playing recently, Monday Syndrome and RACCOIN, and Christian professes his undying love for Japanese coin-pusher machines. Next, the fellows discuss the recently announced DLSS 5 technology, how the “message” was received by gamers and developers, and the resulting spin from Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang. FINALLY… they explore the topic word as it relates to pop culture, Christian’s chosen line of work, censorship, various forms of art, advertising in a global economy, inducing laughter, and the unique games of SUDA51 and Grasshopper Manufacture. *** 00:00:20 - Various Gabbos, Schrödinger’s coming soon, early access, and NOT Constantinople 00:03:33 - Palpable excitement, props for an AI disclosure, and Ben didn’t enjoy his Mondays 00:06:41 - Perk and power tradeoff, Clippy’s replacement, game design love, and coin-pushing 00:11:39 - Better arcades in Japan, games for parents, falling pennies, and pushing marbles 00:17:02 - Cold hard cash, towers of coins, DLSS 5 technology, and the stuff of nightmares 00:22:23 - Addressing the wrong audience, an ill-advised CEO response, and a pair of TLDRs 00:30:37 - Excellent timing, Christian invents a definition, unknown origin, and spot reduction 00:35:02 - ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US, churning SIMS, and localization services 00:39:56 - The unspoken cost, censorship, dubs and subs, and anime and manga parallels 00:45:51 - Pixar localizations, Wuxia genre fails, missing tutorials, vigor, energy, spirits, and chi 00:50:59 - The biggest Dynasty Warriors fan, 1 vs.1000 soaps, and the California pizza chicken 00:54:05 - Eating your digits, a resurrection elixir, no movement, touching birds, and sucking 00:56:41 - Pondering purpose, art as a product, Ben’s job and the Street Fighter name swap 01:00:51 - Everyone’s favorite Darkstalkers character, Ben’s Dreamcast tip, and Scott Pilgrim 01:05:00 - The games of Goichi Suda, playing a patchwork quilt, and Shadows of the Damned 01:10:10 - Romeo is a Dead Man, growing bastards, and can game mechanics be localized? 01:14:22 - Ben always knew, the result of heating up water, and localizing in semaphore *** Follow Two Vague on… Our website: https://www.twovaguepodcast.com On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/two_vague_podcast On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twovaguepodcast On Substack: https://twovaguepodcast.substack.com/ On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/twovaguepodcast.com For show appearance and other inquiries, contact us at: [email protected] For all of your 2VP merch, check out the Partly Robot Industries store at TEEPUBLIC! https://www.teepublic.com/user/partly-robot-industries Follow Andrew / Partly Robot Industries on… His website: https://partlyrobot.com/ On Instagram: https://instagram.com/partlyrobot On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@partlyrobot On Substack: https://partlyrobot.substack.com/ On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/partlyrobot.com On Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/partlyrobot On Microcosm Publishing: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/artist/andrew-coltrin On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/partlyrobot And his TREE o’ LINKS: http://linktr.ee/partlyrobot Follow all the shenanigans of Imaginary Game Studios here… On their website: https://www.imaginarygamestudios.com/ On their Discord: https://discord.gg/YyDD7ECtdJ On their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@caxtnova Check out the Rogue Climber trailer here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZbTXcHa3is Rogue Climber on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2673440/Rogue_Climber/ *** References, Links, and Tags For more information about Monday Syndrome, developed by hyesmo and published by Brightika, Inc, and Blackburne Games Studio FZ LLC... https://hyesmo.com/ https://br

Erik from Imaginary Game Studios joins Ben this week for, to Norah's chagrin, a math-free conversation about curved paths. After discussing a little game design philosophy as it relates to the games Ben has been playing (Stellar Wander DX and the Pragmata Sketchbook Demo), chatting about Erik’s first viewing of the 1983 movie Brainstorm, and dispensing with the miscellaneous “what have we been up to” pleasantries, they move on to the definition accompanied by a brief homophone detour. In the video games segment, they apply the Kübler-Ross model for processing grief to Ben’s experiences with the multiplayer third-person extraction shooter developed and published by Embark Studios, ARC Raiders. To close out the program, Erik asks Ben to share the life lesson he learned from the 300+ hours he invested in playing the game. *** 00:00:20 - Germ factories, the next project, cosmic horror gardening, and a dumb memory joke00:05:45 - Getting older, an unorthodox method for attracting bats, and stale game mechanics00:07:56 - Ship combat, pastry mining, lengthening, pushing buttons, and minimalist games00:13:28 - Getting out of hand, Ben’s thoughts on the Pragmata demo, and production costs00:17:57 - Crayon fingers, different big daddy, compact level design, and accidental purchase00:22:01 - Douglas Trumbull’s divorce from major film directing, and renting a laserdisc player00:28:39 - Tackling concepts in relatable ways, way too high, CQ, and not choosing favorites00:32:16 - It’s a sled, a math-heavy definition, stocks, Canadian energy, and the homophone00:40:04 - Watch-along videos, misunderstanding the premise, and lucrative retirement plans00:44:25 - They prefer sandwiches, SURPRISING NO ONE, copyright law, and arc versus arch00:48:46 - Erik’s excitement, Billy has depression, texts from Ben, and the Kübler-Ross model00:52:27 - Denial, anger, 65 minutes versus 300 hours, Warframe, and exploring and collecting00:56:27 - Erik gets Ben back on track, bargaining, industrial plumbers, and on to depression00:59:34 - Acceptance, Buddhism, psychological healing, the Hairpin Bandit, and matching01:03:04 - B.F. Skinner, public service message, back to bargaining, and session improvements01:06:14 - ARC Raiders life lesson, Erik’s retort, a beefy Nicolas Coppola, and nothing positive *** Follow Two Vague on…Our website: https://www.twovaguepodcast.comOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/two_vague_podcastOn YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twovaguepodcastOn Substack: https://twovaguepodcast.substack.com/On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/twovaguepodcast.com For show appearance and other inquiries, contact us at [email protected]…for all of your PRI and 2VP merch check out the Partly Robot Industries store at TEEPUBLIC!https://www.teepublic.com/user/partly-robot-industries Follow Andrew / Partly Robot Industries on…His website: https://partlyrobot.com/On Instagram: https://instagram.com/partlyrobotOn TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@partlyrobotOn Substack: https://partlyrobot.substack.com/On Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/partlyrobot.comOn Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/partlyrobotOn Microcosm Publishing: https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/artist/andrew-coltrinOn Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/partlyrobotAnd his TREE o’ LINKS: http://linktr.ee/partlyrobot Please consider helping Andrew out with a pledge for or a purchase of Nerd Emergencies ...And Other Misunderstandings: A Comix Showcase of Neurodivergent Perspectives, his latest zine offering featuring the creative comic musings of dozens of neurodivergent artists and allies: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/partlyrobot/nerd-emergencies *** References, Links, and Tags Follow ALL the shenanigans of Imaginary Game Studios… On their website: https://www.imaginarygamestudios.com/ On their Discord: https://discord.gg/YyDD7ECtdJ On their YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@caxtnova Check out the Rogue Climber trailer here - https://www.youtube.com/watc