208: Death Howl (with Bryan Skursha - Pixelated Playgrounds)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

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Join Dave and guest Bryan Skursha as they deep dive Death Howl (The Outer Zone, 11 Bit Studios, 2025) on their journey through the underworld to find out what the hell a soulslike deckbuilder even is. Brutal turn-based combat, a story about grieving and a mother's love, and all the fucked up guys a gamer could ask for. Listen in to find out more!

Guest info: Bryan Skursha (he/him)

Check out Pixelated Playgrounds https://www.pixelatedplaygrounds.com/
Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/bsushi.bsky.social

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:18 Introductions
5:39 Our Histories with Death Howl
10:50 Top-Level Thoughts
15:42 Story Setup
23:58 Dreamy, Hazy Visuals and Sound
40:01 Combat Basics and Deckbuilding Strategy
54:58 Is It Soulslike?
1:05:00 Open-Ended Structure and Side Quests
1:10:22 Combat Depth
1:16:40 Who Should Play Death Howl?
1:19:00 Pixelated Playgrounds
1:22:55 Spoiler Wall & Patron Thank-Yous
1:24:58 Spoilers- Favorite Areas, Bosses, Decks
1:41:00 Spoilers- Final Area and Final Bosses
1:55:46 Spoilers- Story Discussion

Music used in the episode is credited to Chris Bjørumslet & Malte Burup. Tracks used: Death Howl, Olvi, Shadows of Rot, Cantharsis, Meadows of Delusion, Moon Eel, Ever Since Your Heart Stopped Beating

Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

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106: This War of Mine (with Alex - First Five)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 00:00:00 -0500

This War of Mine, by 11 Bit Studios is often labeled not only as a good game, but also as an important game, especially as countries are invaded and lives are turned upside down in the same ways, over and over again. Because of how forever relevant this game is, and with a little pushing from friend of the show Randall on our "Games in Real-World Settings" episode a few months back, I was eager to give this a try- and it ended up winning a poll on Patreon! I was also lucky enough to be joined by Alex, host of the First Five YouTube channel. You should check out his channel for wonderful gaming content, including The Time-Strapped Gamer's Guide to Life Sims, and helping you find what games you should try from that giant itch.io bundle you bought.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:25
Story Setup/Setting/Bleak Tone 14:36
Gameplay Mechanics 39:29
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 1:16:45

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Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages

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Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “11 Bit Studios”

208: Death Howl (with Bryan Skursha - Pixelated Playgrounds)

106: This War of Mine (with Alex - First Five)