About the show

A video games podcast where Dave Jackson and guests break down and discuss the games they play. Each episode looks at one game in depth, focusing on mechanics, story, music and other aspects, with no spoilers until a clearly marked spoiler wall in the middle.

Tales from the Backlog on social media

Episodes and Blog Entries

  • 18: Death's Door (with Brian and Ryan - List Off!)

    Episode  |  February 16th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 52 mins
    acid nerve, game review, indie games

    Dave is joined by both of the hosts of the List Off! podcast to discuss Acid Nerve's 2021 indie darling, Death's Door.

  • Dark Souls Bosses Tier Rankings (with Jack Allen)

    Episode  |  February 14th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 36 mins
    dark souls, fromsoftware, tier list

    The Furtive Pygmy Jack Allen returns, as we put every boss in Dark Souls into a tier list.

  • 17: Dark Souls (with Jack Allen)

    Episode  |  February 9th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  3 hrs 11 mins
    dark souls, fromsoftware, game review, soulslike

    Dave is joined by Jack Allen to talk about the perfect Valentine's Day game- Dark Souls. Don't give up, skeleton!

  • 16: A Short Hike (with Ryan Delaney)

    Episode  |  February 7th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  56 mins 50 secs
    game review, indie games

    In the fourth edition of the Lazy Sunday Series focusing on short indie games, Dave is joined by Ryan Delaney to discuss Adam Robinson-Yu's charming hiking game, A Short Hike.

  • 15: Hitman 2 (with Scott Danielson)

    Episode  |  January 31st, 2022  |  Season 1  |  3 hrs 48 mins
    game review, hitman, immersive sim, io interactive, stealth games

    Dave is joined by Scott Danielson for part 2 of their own personal Hitman World of Long Podcasts Trilogy.

  • 14: The Messenger (with Alfredo - The Dukes of Gaming)

    Episode  |  January 24th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 18 mins
    game review, indie games, metroidvania, sabotage studios

    Dave is joined by the Duke of Education himself, Alfredo Takori of the Dukes of Gaming podcast to discuss Sabotage Studio's 2018 retreaux action platformer, The Messenger.

  •

    13: Disco Elysium (with Rick Firestone - Pixel Project Radio)

    Episode  |  January 17th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  3 hrs 44 mins
    crpg, game review, indie games, rpg

    Dave is joined by Rick Firestone of Pixel Project Radio to discuss ZA/UM's 2019 classic, Disco Elysium.

  •

    12: Florence (with Heather Siddiqui and Nick Greenberg)

    Episode  |  January 10th, 2022  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 10 mins
    game review, indie games, mobile games, mountains

    Dave is joined by Heather Siddiqui and Nick Greenberg to discuss the 2018 interactive visual novel by Mountains, Florence.

  • 11: Hollow Knight (with Jim Rodeman)

    Episode  |  January 3rd, 2022  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 13 mins
    game review, indie games, metroidvania, team cherry

    Dave is joined by anthropomorphic centipede Jim Rodeman to discuss Team Cherry's legendary metroidvania, Hollow Knight.

  •

    2021 In Review

    Episode  |  December 31st, 2021  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 14 mins
    break from the backlog, year in review

    Dave discusses his year in gaming, including the top games he played for the first time in 2021, each game he played that was actually released in 2021, and eventually naming his top 3 games from 2021 in the process.

  • 10: Silent Hill 2 (with Adelaide Lohkamp)

    Episode  |  December 27th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 13 mins
    game review, horror games, konami, ps2, silent hill

    Dave is joined by Adelaide Lohkamp (she/her), who emerged from the endless fog to discuss Konami's pillar of the survival horror genre, Silent Hill 2.

  • 9: Gone Home (with Jake Anderson)

    Episode  |  December 20th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 53 mins
    fullbright, game review, indie games, walking sim

    In the second entry in the Lazy Sunday series focusing on short indie games, Dave is joined again by newly typecasted Walking Sim enthusiast Jake Anderson to talk about Fullbright's groundbreaking hit, Gone Home.

  • 8: Death's Gambit: Afterlife (with Moonborne)

    Episode  |  December 13th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 51 mins
    game review, indie games, metroidvania, soulslike

    Dave is joined by stylish combat enthusiast Moonborne to discuss White Rabbit's incredible entry into the 2D soulslike genre, Death's Gambit.

  •

    7: Dragon's Dogma (with Adam Rivera)

    Episode  |  December 6th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 6 mins
    capcom, dragons dogma, game review, rpg

    Dave is joined by professional griffin rider Adam Rivera to discuss Capcom's uncanny western RPG, Dragon's Dogma.

  •

    Happy 20th Smash Melee + GameCube Games Tier List

    Episode  |  December 3rd, 2021  |  Season 1  |  49 mins 55 secs
    break from the backlog, gamecube, super smash bros, tier list

    In a very special bonus episode, Dave talks about good memories playing Smash Melee and then tier ranks 42 other GameCube games.

  • 6: SOMA (with Ryan Delaney)

    Episode  |  November 29th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  2 hrs 2 mins
    frictional games, game review, horror games, soma, walking sim

    Dave is joined by Ryan Delaney to discuss SOMA.