On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: After hearing about the horror that is the false hydra, Nathan started thinking about rectifying player knowledge versus character knowledge. If you know how to combat a monster that is imperceivable by normal means as a player, should your character prepare to fight it accordingly? Dungeon Dad explains the False Hydra - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PydSva7lHdk What is happening with Embracer Group? First they buy up a bunch of game companies,...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Nine years ago we released the 1st episode of Delve, a podcast about game mechanics. On this episode we revisit some of our early topics from the show. What are some of the RPG skills that don't get represented in games? Can you build small machines or mediate a discussion between others? We talk about the skills that are often not listed in the player's handbook. We just keep going back to hit points. It's a problem and we understand that. Today...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:   To celebrate March Madness and our very good understanding of sports ball, we are talking about sports IN games. Namely, how could we create competitions in a role-playing game. And what D&D classes would be best suited for our fantasy Olympics.   Sometimes, even a straight-forward board game can have mechanics that derail the action and discourage new players. Nathan discusses a few he encountered when playing Catan, Carcassone and Ticket to...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Should we worry about RPG campaigns that are focused on storytelling? An article shared with one of our long-time friends of the show discussed an experience where plot dominated the agency of the players. We discuss the legitimacy of this concern and also talk about how we disagree with the conclusion. Realm Builder Guy - https://www.realmbuilderguy.com/2023/10/why-storyline-plot-driven-campaigns-are.html Hey folks, let's go battle a church! No,...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: After seeing the end of joy that was Willy's Chocolate Experience in Glasgow, Scotland, Nathan felt inspired to make his own version of a trainwreck with "Super Awesome Dungeon". While it may not have oompa loompa at home or AI image promotion, it may have three goblins in a trenchcoat. The Chocolate Experience that wasn't -...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: What if you went to the Van Gogh Museum and came away with a painting of Pikachu? Crazy, right? Anyway, that was an actual possibility in 2023 and is possibly going to happen again. So, let us discuss Pikachu in Grey Felt Hat and brand integration with museums. Pokemon x Van Gogh - https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/collaborate/van-gogh-museum-brand-licenses/collaboration-license-partners/van-gogh-museum-x-pokemon Pikachu makes a comeback -...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: It’s Steam Next Fest 2024 and KlaytonClaix rejoins us to tell us some fun games he played as the plethora of demos fell upon us. He takes a second look at Folklands, gets his tactics on in Sword of Convallaria, does some resource collecting in Isometria, builds a better skeleton in Necrosmith 2 and makes a sweet gun in NIMRODS. Alex also played demos during Next Fest and had some titles worth discussing. We find out what Voxlands actually is,...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Bethesda had a Developer Direct showcasing 5 games coming out in 2024. We will discuss these as well as talk about how they relate to the leak from September on their roadmap of content and what this means. Developer_Direct 2024 Microsoft documents leak new Bethesda games, including an Oblivion remaster Baldur’s Gate 3 is a very good game, but Nathan had a nagging problem 10 hours in that needed to be addressed with the one mod he had to use....

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: KlaytonCalix joins us for a special Palworld episode as we have each played it for more than 50 hours. There must be something great about this game to hold our attention this long. What did we love about this game and what itches did it scratch for us as gamers. If you take the good, you take the bad. Those are the facts of life. Palworld is not without issues. Some of them are technical, but others are by design. Others still are trappings of...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: We have reached 500 videos on YouTube! Well, 506 or so, but we’re late to the party. It sure feels like we should do something to celebrate, so let’s look at a mathematically constructed list of the 500 greatest games of all time. What were the best of all time? More importantly, what were the least best of all time? A very official list of the best games - The Mathematically Derived 500 Best Video Games of All Time - an IGN Playlist by RuFiOoo -...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: It’s that time of year again when we do Save, Bury, Reboot. What games do we keep, which do we throw away and which ones need a makeover? Better listen to find out. The Steam Awards happened and we smell some shenanigans. Trolls apparently got into the mix and voted for some unlikely choices for nominees in these game categories. So, let’s talk about Labor of Love and Most Innovative Game. Although it was a fantastic year to play games, it...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Some games deserve a second chance. Nathan talks about some of the games he plans on giving this chance in 2024 and what he hopes to get out of the experience. We are not a news program. However, we are hoping to revisit old news stories that fell by the wayside. What ever happened with the OpenGL or Unity stories? What happened to the bad games that got apology jpegs? Probably subjects worth exploring. It’s the beginning of the year and so...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Nothing gets Nathan in the holiday spirit like Die Hard. On this episode, we become John McClane and create a quest to stop an assault on a wizard’s tower. Is it part of a campaign or a one shot? How does our party get there? How do they stop the fantasy terrorists? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? All that and more on this festive episode. When Frank Capra made It’s a Wonderful Life, he could only imagine that one day we would use the premise to...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Sometimes you need an expert to teach you the basics. So, we looked at Will Wright’s Masterclass on writing game mechanics to see if his 5 tips are worth taking into consideration. Then, we try to parse numbers 3 and 4 to make it make sense. The Masterclass article - Will Wright’s 5 Tips for Writing Game Mechanics So, what is the difference between linear and emergent gameplay? Can a chatbot give us half-way decent examples of games that use...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: There are many gaming mysteries, from glitchy pokemon to unattainable chests to questions about who kicked off a nuclear war. However, we have avoided discussing these things on the show. And now we explain the reason why. We were once told we were bad at reviewing games. This is particularly weird since we do not review games. So, let’s discuss what we are apparently very bad at doing. Drama alert? Not here. While we talk about industry...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: The Game Awards announced nominees for 2023. Now, we here at TPK care so deeply for award shows that we almost forgot it was even happening. However, eagle-eyed viewers asked us about it, so we are going to look through some of the categories and see if we even know what these games are. What will win? You can vote for yourself here - The Game Awards | Streaming Live December 7, 2023 Every time a game asks you to build your own base, a variety...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Big things are happening at The Escapist. Or I should say, big things used to happen at The Escapist before the staff left. We are talking about what happened with Nick Calandro and all the staff that followed him out the door. We also discuss what the future holds for Escapist ex-pats, most notably Yahtzee Croshaw from Zero Punctuation. The Second Wind intro - An Introduction to Second Wind with Nick and Yahtzee - YouTube) Blizzcon happened...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Midnight Acres promises a unique combination of farming sim and tower defense game that seemed like a good idea when Nathan originally picked it up. Oh, how innocent we were… Perhaps there are genres that were never meant to go together and we are going to talk about it on this episode. The act of playing tabletop games can be represented in video games, both through games that emulate the systems themselves and the ones who theme adventures...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: So, you’re adventure party is outnumbered and outgunned. Now they have to choose to fight or surrender. Can you explain the statistically small odds of them succeeding? Can you save them from near-certain death? We look at a Reddit question to offer some unsolicited advise. The Reddit post for those who wish to see the discourse - Potential TPK for level Level 13 party : DMAcademy (reddit.com) Breathedge is what happens when you try doing...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Steam Next Fest hit us with tons of game demos and trials to play, but not many piqued our interest. However, we have four titles to discuss today, as well as our overall impressions of the offerings we saw. Have you ever gotten the urge to tattoo Van Gogh’s Starry Night on your forehead, but were too afraid to do it because all your co-workers are Klimpt stans? Well, that’s what video games are for. But Alex has a question as to why there are...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Have you ever tried a game that you thought you’d hate, only to heartily enjoy it? Well, Dadam asked this question of us a couple months back and Nathan had a couple games that fit that bill. Which ones? Are they the ones you’re thinking about right now? Probably not, but watch to find out. Redfall hit a low of 3 concurrent players in October. Before the recent update, there had been a 4 month period of having no fixes for the poor state it was...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Palia is an interesting MMO that takes place in a world similar to Stardew Valley. Can a cozy game work as a multi-player online experience? Does it make sense to apply the trapping of such an online experience to a cozy game? Well, do we have stuff to say about that. If you want to check out Palia yourself, it is free to sign up at - Palia – Welcome Home Seasons change and so do we, but should they go through changes in your game? We often...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Epic has laid off nearly 900 members of it’s staff, 16% of it’s entire workforce. We’re going to talk about that and also do a little math on how much Tim Sweeney makes. Fun times. Epic Games is reportedly laying off around 900 employees | Eurogamer.net There’s an island full of kings and tyrants. Will you free them? Nathan ran across an interesting mission in Starfield called Operation Starseed and imagined a little adventure hook based on...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: What is happening with Embracer Group? First they buy up a bunch of game companies, then they lose 40% of their stock value, now they are selling off or shuttering the same game studios they bought. Let’s go over a timeline of unfortunate events and a cautionary tale of what large corporate investments could entail. Embracer Group Stock Drops 40% After $2 Billion Mystery Deal Self-Destructs (forbes.com) Embracer Group's Partner Who Walked From...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: We got a request to react to a video about creating a World of Warcraft expansion using AI, so that’s what we’re doing. Echoes of Azeroth is not actually an expansion to WoW, but how close to a real one does it get? I Made a World of Warcraft Expansion with AI - YouTube Nathan has been playing a little indie game by the name Starfield. The latest in Bethesda’s line of epic RPGs, it shares many similarities with previous games from BGS, but...