As the old saying goes, "When the Chris is away, Jake and Nick will play... the demo to Prey." "Specifically," the saying goes on, "the demo of the 2017 version of Prey, not the previous Prey or its demo, or the other two demos for unreleased Prey games." The saying is unpopular and fails to convey how good the Prey 2017 demo is. We're joined by James Spafford to talk about exploring creepy old houses, the experience of skiing down a hill with no one else around, and, yeah, some more...

"Now boarding all rows, all groups." Lemore was running late. Stepping up to the gate, he presented a creased boarding pass. The crisp sound of denial emanated from the machine. "I'm sorry, Mr. Macklemore, but this is telling me you've already boarded." Fist clenched, Lemore stared down the tunnel in disbelief. "It's Lemore," he said under his breath in a defeated tone. "Professor Mack Lemore." But it was no use. Once again, he'd been had. Discussed: Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Legend of...

All three Thumbs are still playing the new Zelda, and still having just as much of a blast. And some readers have a variety of Trespasser reactions to follow up Nick's recent playthrough. Plus: Jake gets confused about his own life. Discussed: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Fallout 4: Sim Settlements, Trespasser

It's a week of ambition, both realized and failed. All three hosts continue their journeys through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but Nick Breckon goes the extra mile by slogging through the entirety of the oft-maligned Trespasser: The Lost World. There, he discovers moments of brilliance years ahead of their time, and also a lot of broken dinosaur animations. Discussed: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Trespasser: The Lost World - Jurassic Park

An old man sits in the dark, alone, waiting for a hero to arrive. The old man has lived a full life; he has seen things you wouldn't believe, but the world has changed around him, without him. "Were you able to get the files to download? I bought the game but nothing showed up," he says to no one in particular. "I was having a lot of trouble." He continues to wait for help. Discussed: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mac shareware, ResEdit, Nintendo Switch, Bloodborne,...

Enjoy this bonus episode drawn from our Idle Thumbs Patreon Ruination Online! Each month, we do a livestream where all topics have been posed by high-tier backers of our Patreon campaign: patreon.com/IdleThumbs Due to popular demand, we're releasing the audio of that stream to the main podcast feed for easier listening. Discussed: The hype cycle, making movies, death robots, music listening habits, World of Warcraft and missing the boat, The Legend of Zelda series, Jake Rodkin, robot...

You peek over the edge of the hill to confirm — good, they're still there. One of them gets up and walks away from their friends. You inch forward to get a better look and, yep, that one saw you. Their weapons come out, they call for help. You ready a grenade, turn to throw it, run into a rock you didn't see, and drop the grenade at your feet. It rolls down the hill. The hill is on fire, the tree is on fire, you're on fire, you accomplished nothing, and it was wonderful. Discussed: The...

Look, I'm gonna level with you: this Mario thing goes deeper than we thought. We uncovered a cache of classified information in a stack of floppy disks we picked up in an EB at the mall, but now we're hearing time travel's involved too? You'll be airdropped into the Mushroom Kingdom for a BLOPS reconnaissance mission. And hey, there's one more thing. That Mario guy? We think there's two of 'em now. Discussed: Mario, Dr. Mario, Mario Is Missing, Mario's Time Machine, shareware, Bloodborne,...

On this week's Idle Thumbs, enjoy the first full episode of "Important If True," our newest podcast (surrounded by some dumb Idle Thumbs pre-roll and post-roll in classic fashion). We hope you enjoy it! If you do, head to importantiftrue.com to hear more—the second episode is already live. And never fear: next week is Idle Thumbs Episode 301. Join us! Want to support Idle Thumbs and hear the rest of Important if True ad-free? We have a Patreon campaign for that!

You look around the table and see faces that comfort you. Maybe they don't look exactly how you expect, but in their presence you feel safe and at home. More faces appear on a big screen in the corner you didn't notice before—faces you haven't seen in ages, not in this room at least. This isn't what you expected. As face after face fills the screen, you feel something growing in your throat, and realize it's an overpowering sense of nostalgia as you get to spend time hanging out with a bunch...

Your burning questions were so white hot they melted through the mailbag, through the table, and through two stories of floor and ceiling. Join us three floors below the earth in the Idle Thumbs underground bunker (now with mail-shaped skylight) as we get down and dirty with what's left of your letters. Discussed: Donkey Kong Jr., Solar Jetman, Super Metroid Rotation, Dwarf Fortress, Skyrim, Dr. Mario, Doctor Mario (D. Cronenberg, 1992), League of Legends, Freecell, Animal Crossing

It's Reader Mail! Episode 300 is looming big on the horizon, but we pushed it back a ways so we can live in this moment together and enjoy what we have. Join us in delaying the inevitable, with an all-reader-mail, all-video-games podblast. Discussed: Spyro the Dragon, Minecraft, Myst, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Donkey Kong Country

Somebody once told me the following on a podcast: Somewhere a moth is happily driving a car around a room, hunting for things that smell nice. Something deep in a crocodile whispers "you could have been a bird." Somehow these are the things that interest us. Hey, everyone needs a hobby. Discussed: The Idle Thumbs Podcast, Mouth Moods/Mouth Sounds, the evolution of dinosaurs and birds, Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World, cyborg moth cars, Bubble Tape, XOR, hobbies, cooking, cocktails, Dark...

This week we talk about two fictional metropolises, both invaded by strange, small men intent on messing up the lives of regular folk just trying to get through their day. Also we met Jeff Goldblum. Discussed: Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, Super Mario Odyssey, Batman Returns, Donkey Kong Jr., Bubble Tape, Toxoplasmosis, Robots

It's rainy, it's cold, and you have nothing to do, or maybe too much. Sometimes you just need to curl up with the old classics, and their sequels, and their sequels' sequels. Discussed: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Jurassic Park III, Star Wars, Star Wars: A New Hope, The Witness, Tales of Monkey Island, clowns

You're not sure how it got this bad. The descent was slow, but then suddenly it seemed the world had changed. Our heroes became villains, twisted, corpulent, ruling from a golden throneroom in a palace above the town. A palace you built them. You go to talk to him, but Super Mario looks past you, out into the world he has made. Mario doesn't see you, and doesn't care. Discussed: Hollyweed sign, Super Mario Run, Super Mario World, anime robot in a jar, Glittermitten Grove, Frog Fractions 2

Let's cast out 2016 and make room for whatever it is that's coming next. Join us as we look deep, deep into the future and... actually never mind that, Nick's just fired up Diablo 1 and managed to connect to the late '90s version of Battle.net. See you all next year! Discussed: Diablo, Diablo 2, Diablo 3, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 3, Time Commanders, Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard

As the year draws to a close, things get a little out of hand. What starts as a discussion of Super Mario Run quickly gets away from us and leads us deep into the worlds of sound editing disasters, mascot shoplifting, the history of gaming retail chains, and how to tell when a store might be laundering food stamps. Discussed: Super Mario Run, MARIO, Super Mario, Bay-Mission Market, Portal, The Mummy

Chris buys a cup that he thinks looks like a piece of human anatomy, and against all odds, it leads to an unexpected and completely impromptu look back at some of our favorite games of the year. Discussed: Hitman, Super Hypercube, Planet Coaster, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Super Mario Run, Super Nintendo World, Catacombs of Solaris

This week we take your questions, line them up, and knock them down. Yes, it's mailbag week! After Nick takes a wager in Dark Souls that will change his life forever (and Chris digs a hole in the ground) we go deep into the Idle Thumbs Reader Mail inbox. Discussed: Dark Souls, Planet Coaster, The difference between game genres and genres in other mediums, The Secret of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, The Stanley Parable, Friends you only connect with inside video games, StarCraft II, ICQ,...

You are not locked in a prison of your mind, this is what you want to be doing. This is what needs to be done. Trees must be planted, more trees. The guests love trees. This boss won't beat himself. You know you can do it, but you can't talk; everyone is asleep. If you don't sleep, the world will stay just as it is.

Join us on a grand circle tour of massive-scale architecture, both real and imagined. In Planet Coaster we step through the mouth of Dot Gobbler himself, crossing the threshold into Thumbsland, the park that never closes, the park whose rides never end (because they are incomplete). Did you hear that? It's the sound of San Francisco, California, without a bus or train in sight. Sounds like someone needs to fire up Cities in Motion and get to work. The last leg of our journey will take us...

This week you are beset by waking nightmares and cannot continue. Giant insects pour from the sky and from the walls, hungry for blood, or maybe bones. A funny man screams out again and again for meat, for any meal, and you know he will not die because your voice says so; he is now in a state of infinite hunger, living on old fruit and dirty water. A popup window appears above your head, which reads "Everything is okay, none of it is real. You are part of an elaborate simulation built to...

Feeling like the world's driving you up a wall? Life's out of control, galloping over a cliff? Everything you thought you could achieve is just on the other side of the glass, out of reach? Fortunately we have video games, where all your wishes are granted. Join us as we scale the walls of Titanfall 2, rein things in and take control of Battlefield 1, and discover that no matter what you try in Hitman, maybe the game IS rigged and you just can't win.

Are you guys ready to do The Fun Cast? Your employment agreement stipulates that you're are, so let's go! This week our hosts Shmirkin Burpin and Minion 600 check out Owlboy, finally released after nine years in development! Then, Nick Breckon, confused as to where he is, drives a tank up a hill and back down. Finally, an update on the new intra-organization subway service. Thanks everyone, back to work.