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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111: Balatro (with Matt aka Stormageddon & Aaron Klaassen)

Dave Jackson — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0400

SURPRISE! Balatro comes for us all. Developed by solo developer LocalThunk and published by Playstack, the poker-themed roguelike deckbuilder has singlehandedly caused productivity to drop by 7% worldwide since its 2024 release. Thank you to Playstack and LocalThunk for providing me with a review code so that I could become a statistic! Joining me to talk about the game, its strengths and weaknesses, our favorite strategies and beginner tips are Matt aka Stormageddon ("Fun" and Games, Reignite, Screen Snark podcasts) and Aaron Klaassen (SuperPod Saga). Check their shows out, they are worth your time!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:43
SICKO SHOP TALK WALL 56:01

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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 “Deckbuilder”

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

111: Balatro (with Matt aka Stormageddon & Aaron Klaassen)