One of our most esteemed guests, the designer of Subnautica and new miniature RTS game Moonbreaker, Charlie Cleveland stops by to talk about the design process, his long term goals and experiences as a designer, following up on the success of Subnautica, and how to deal with valid criticisms on a release. You can check out his new game Moonbreaker in Early Release on Stream. Join us for a great conversation about how games are made! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perched high in their AC-130, Mike and Adam revisit the subject of Call of Duty’s legacy through the night-visioned lens of one of the franchise’s greatest entries. Hard truth bombs get dropped! Friendly fire gets briefly tolerated! But will Modern Warfare finally breach the fortified walls of the Celestial Hard Drive? Join us on this special mission and find out.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brian Brushwood of Modern Rogue and the World’s Greatest Con podcast pops on a headset and bumps virtual fists with your fearless heroes as they come together to cover Valve’s pinnacle VR experience! Before the G-Man stuffs them all back into stasis, they’ll finally determine whether there’s a viable path forward for the medium or it’s just a passing fad that gives most people motion sickness. VRoooooom! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What? Back-to-back Half Life? That’s right Shipheads, we know what you like and this Halloween we decided you deserve a treat. Mike and Adam are joined by Mark Lentz, a video game developer who worked on the recent indie hit Cursed to Golf, to discuss the towering legacy of one of video games’ most beloved sequels, Half Life 2. Will Mike finally finish mocking the Smoking Man? Will the boys forgive the sequel’s profound refusal to clarify the story? Will we ever get tired of using the gravity...

Grab your crowbar and conveniently pre-charged HEV suit Shipheads, cause we’re tearing down the fabric of reality and changing the course of human (and gaming) history! Join Mike and Adam as they talk about the enormous legacy of Half Life, the series’s unfinished story, and whether it holds up by modern gaming standards. (Spoilers: Adam played Half Life for the first time a month ago).  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shh! The 1Ups boys and Gamefully Unemployed’s own David Christopher Bell are huddled up trying not to get Xenomorphed. Actually, you know what? Just get in here. It’s safer, plus it smells like dude. We’ll talk about Alien: Isolation, a seminal survival-horror adventure and potentially the greatest film-franchise-to-video-game adaptation of all time. Well, Dave thinks so, anyway. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our heroes are joined by their longtime friend and collaborator Tom Reimann to discuss the second installment of the space horror/action RPG franchise, Dead Space. It’s an undeniably polished and action-packed sequel, but does that make it better than the original? What exactly does the Marker want, and does it matter if that’s clear to the player? Did the franchise take the right direction by toning down the scares? Will Tom rip Adam’s arm off and use it to spear this game onto the celestial...

Seriously, what the hell is this game? That would be an appropriate question to ask, dear listener.  So appropriate, in fact, that our hosts were still asking it weeks after they’d finished the game.  Join Mike and Adam as they discuss this devious and spooky little deckbuilding game that transcends the boundaries of video game development, storytelling, and even the file structure on your personal hard-drive to become…one of our favorite games of all time? Wow, really? Huh. I guess that’s...

Joined by returning guest Maggie Mae Fish, the 1ups crew explores yet another ChoreSim/faRmPG game designed by one brilliant, determined, and decidedly strange person. But can this adorably weird indie game keep up with the big boys like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, or will it take a couple swings, get tired, and have to sleep at like 10am? Strap on your listening tools and dive into the videogame mines with us. Yes, the game has mines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our courageous gamerbois brave alien technology, uncertain terrain, and the wrath of the internet as they discuss the first entry in Bioware’s beloved Mass Effect franchise. Sure, it’s important, sure it’s monumental, sure Wrex is one of the greatest characters in videogame history, but does it belong on the drive? Find out if our hosts went Paragon or full Renegade on this special episode! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam and Mike tackle the surprisingly lurid and dangerous world of an insurance claims adjuster who’s investigating the mysterious reappearance of a lost clipper ship. What happened to the crew? Is the Captain actually John Wick? Will this 1-bit indie darling actually change Adam’s AAA ways? Will Lucas Pope submit to our heroes' shameful shilling and be on a future 1upsmanship episode? Unfortunately our magic timepiece doesn’t tell the future, but we feel pretty sure about this prediction:...

Gotta go fast, sure. But AGAIN?! The blue blur returns in what's widely considered the most important 2D Sonic adventure. We already know Swaim's onboard, but will Ganz grant sahnic entry onto the vaunted Celestial Hard Drive? Start spinning up your impossibly-jointed helicopter tails, because we're going in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The co-captains of the S.S. 1Upsmanship steer us into indier waters, taking a closer look at adorable and surprisingly tough Zelda-like Tunic. Will its mute fox hero win over our cold-hearted hosts? Or will they take turns laying into it for daring to have minor annoying imperfections? Only a listen will tell the tale! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam and Mike take a break from antagonizing each other and rank the heroes and legends who did it best. It's time to announce our Top Ten Video Game Antagonists of all time! Predict the picks, root for your favorites, and scream obscenities aloud when we inevitably rank wrong. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this banjo-playing, space-exploring, puzzle-solving episode our heroes contemplate such expansive subjects as the heat death of the universe, the human need for eternity, the value of a simplified narrative conclusion, and why are there giant fish in space? Mike and Adam probe the depths and heights of a meticulously crafted puzzle and traversal indie classic, Outer Wilds, all in the service of preserving its joys and pains for future generations. Of aliens, to be clear. We’re not getting...

It's a big one. Some might say the biggest one of all. And to mark the occasion Adam and Mike slip on their iron boots and plumb the depths of one of 3D gaming's early masterpieces. So grab your bloated time flute and play along as our heroes consider important questions like "What was the Deku Tree's plan for Link anyway?", "Does Legend of Zelda have a memorable story or not? and "F**k the Water Temple, right?" Can the hard drive's destiny really depend on such lazy boys? Yeah,...

On a very special 1Upsmanship, Adam and Swaim introduce the shipheads to Tyler Maitland, indie dev extraordinaire and recent winner of the Rogue Games Game Jam for his project SeaFrog. Hey kids, let's learn about how games are made! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Open wide for a fresh 1Up, baybeh! What starts as a deep dive into the latest installment in the Borderlands franchise ends up becoming a wide-ranging debate on the state of the modern looter-shooter, not to mention an object lesson in how to fight about video games then make up. Hooray emotional growth! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam and Mike address a classic indie darling and it answers only in the form of weird time-bending platform mechanics and a story that's either about a breakup or nuclear holocaust. Did the boys dig Braid? Smash that play button and you'll be one step closer to that forbidden knowledge. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Backlog Episode! Adam and Michael turn a stupid shooting game into a shockingly deep conversation, as they are wont to do. It's kind of crazy. Topics include Call of Duty, propaganda in narrative, free speech versus empathy, verisimilitude and historical obligation, and zombie mode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh out of their ripperdoc's basement, Mike and Adam turned around and stumbled right back in for a second snip. They felt their anger levels about the terrible launch of this game could use some cyber-reduction, and maybe a fresh pair of Kiroshi optics might help them evaluate the game in it's "finished" state . So they played the whole thing. Again. But did they enjoy their latest trip to Night City or are they blue-pilling Keanu's Silverhand back into irrelevant oblivion? Or...are they...

Aloy's pushing her way ever-deeper into what we're pretty sure is a tiny-sized representation of the contiguous United States, and we're right along for the ride! Michael and Adam welcome long-time friend Jason Pargin back to the show to discuss the follow-up they've been explicitly waiting for ever since Zero Dawn dropped. Did the promise they sensed from this franchise pay out? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our heroes explore an empty and definitely scary house in the woods only to discover one of the most compelling love stories in video game history!! Joined by returning and celebrated guest Vanessa Guererro, the gang bonds over the depth, storytelling, and nostalgia in this little indie classic. It got real y'all. There's even some open-mouthed crying and a plan to dye each others hair that was... unfortunately cut for time. But it happened. Trust us.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Ever play a videogame and think "I would LOVE to have a grappling hook in this"? Adam and Mike go back and forth sharing their favorite videogame mechanics and why they should be featured in more games. Smash that play button to see if YOUR favorite mechanics make the list!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the Citizen Kane of cover-based first-person shooters with robust multiplayer and vehicles! Adam and Mike take on the original Halo, and trace its impact through Destiny and all the way to Destiny 2, if you can believe it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.