Tales from the Backlog - Episodes Tagged with “Horror Games”

187: Fear & Hunger (with Adam Bucceri)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

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Sometimes a game's reputation precedes it in a way that makes you question whether you want to play it at all, and Fear & Hunger (Miro Haverinen, 2018) certainly fits that bill. Punishing difficulty, harsh teaching, extreme content warnings and more put me off from playing the game for a while, but I'm glad to have played it now, and all of that made for a great conversation.

Content warnings for Fear & Hunger: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/17804

Guest info: Adam Bucceri (he/him)

Check out Adam's games https://boocherry.itch.io/

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:15 Intros
6:03 Our Histories with Fear & Hunger
9:55 Should We Play Fear & Hunger 1 or 2?
11:27 Opening Thoughts About Fear & Hunger
17:24 Content Warnings
26:15 Game Setup and Character Selection
31:15 Difficulty and Learning How to Play
44:55 Player-Hostile Design and Pressures
58:34 Immersive Sim Elements, Experimentation and Emergent Narrative
1:07:47 Combat
1:21:36 Visuals and Sound Design
1:27:20 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations
1:34:20 Adam's Games and Creative Works
1:37:18 SPOILER WALL and Patron Thank-Yous
1:39:18 Spoiler Section- The Girl, Le'garde and Fun Discoveries
2:26:35 Spoiler Section- Endings

Music used in the episode is credited to Miro Haverinen. Tracks used: Fear & Hunger, The Four Apostles, Pulse & Anxiety, Ancient City, Tomb of the Gods, Everyday Schoolday

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

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186: Silent Hill 3 (with Kaye Ross)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

It's been a real joy working my way through the Silent Hill series alongside doing this show, starting all the way back in episode 10(!) with Silent Hill 2. Today, I'm playing the sequel to Silent Hill 1, which is NOT Silent Hill 2...it's Silent Hill 3, and I've brought on the perfect guest to discuss what many fans to agree to be the last truly good Silent Hill game for many years.

Guest info: Kaye Ross (she/her)

Check out all of the wonderful Duckfeed podcasts https://duckfeed.tv/
Check out Kaye's horror game streams https://www.twitch.tv/duckfeedtv

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Title Card
0:28 Intros
4:56 Our Histories with Silent Hill 3
10:35 Opening Thoughts About Silent Hill 3
14:51 Story Setup
21:53 Aesthetics and Horror
30:25 Sound Design and Music
37:14 Heather As a Protagonist
43:37 Puzzles and Riddles
50:32 Tank Controls and Combat
1:03:49 Final Thoughts and Recommendations
1:06:36 The Many Podcasts at Duckfeed.tv
1:11:09 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-You's
1:13:11 Spoiler Section- Heather & The Cult
1:36:39 Spoiler Section- Heather & Harry

Music used in the episode is credited to Akira Yamaoka. Tracks used: You're Not Here, End of Small Sanctuary, Breeze- In Monochrome Night, Something Long Forgotten, Sickness Unto Foolish Death, Hometown

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156: Mouthwashing (with Ash Parrish)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ, 2024) is a rare horror game that gets scarier after you finish the game. Its nonlinear structure, reality-blurring presentation and subtle (at times) storytelling leave you to put the pieces together yourself. Once you do that, you'll find a strikingly real story where the most unbelievable thing is the fact that it takes place in outer space. We had a great discussion on the show about what this game says about certain types of leaders, what "taking responsibility" means, analogues to the games industry and much more!

Guest info: Ash Parrish, journalist and critic for The Verge.

Find her work here https://www.theverge.com/authors/ash-parrish
Follow her on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/adashtra.bsky.social
Check out the Insert Credit Show https://www.youtube.com/@insertcreditshow

Content warnings for Mouthwashing: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/1312968

TIMESTAMPS

Title Card 0:00
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:16
Story Setup/Themes Overview/Presentation 9:30
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 30:54
SPOILER WALL 37:50

Music used in the episode is credited to Martin Halldin. You can purchase the soundtrack on Steam. Tracks used:

Main Theme
Medium Rare
The Windows are Plastic
Dragonbreath Theme
Heroes

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93: Signalis (with Chris Coplien & Shane Selterre - Retro Hangover)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Signalis, by rose-engine is a game that seems to inspire everybody who plays it to jump at every chance to talk about it (or record nearly 3 hour podcasts about it, in our case). From its undeniable aesthetics calling back to the 32-bit era of Resident Evil and Silent Hill to its dreamlike story about android replikas in a cosmic horror/space sci-fi setting, Signalis leaves an impact. Luckily for me, Chris Coplien and Shane Selterre of Retro Hangover were kind enough to join me for a theorycrafting session for the ages. You should check out their podcast for some fantastic retro gaming episodes, including some of the games that inspired Signalis!

TIMESTAMPS
Intro/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:41
Story Setup 14:49
Visuals/Music 33:32
Gameplay/Combat/Puzzles 48:24
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations 1:17:39
SPOILER WALL 1:28:27

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92: Dead Space (2023) (with Chris aka Vertigo2Hell)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Put another tally in the "Dave is covering a game on the podcast that he swore he'd never play" list- life came at me fast, I suppose. Dead Space (2023), Motive Studio and EA's remake of the original Dead Space from 2008 is an incredible visual upgrade on already great gameplay, though it does wear out its welcome as it seems to run out of novel gameplay ideas well before the story has wrapped up. Joining me to discuss Dead Space is Chris aka Vertigo2Hell, a Twitch streamer who specializes in horror game streams. You should give him a follow on Twitch and check out his streams!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:45
Story Setup/Visuals/Music/Was it Scary? 13:00
Gameplay/Combat/Boss Fights 43:30
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations 1:11:52
SPOILER WALL 1:21:05

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75: Dredge (with Jill Grodt - The Indie Informer)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 31 May 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Dredge, the 2023 cosmic horror fishing game by Black Salt Games, marries the explore-gather-craft-explore gameplay loop with cosmic horror. You want to stay out late to gather as many materials as you can...but the night is dark and full of terrors. I'm joined by Jill Grodt, who helms The Indie Informer, a fantastic website for all things indie gaming. Check it out!
Thank you to Black Salt Games and Team17 for providing a review code!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:23
Story Setup 13:18
Gameplay 21:30
Visuals/Music/Closing Thoughts 48:15
SPOILER WALL 1:01:43

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52: Prey: Mooncrash (with Adam & Kiaran - The Good, the Bad & the Backlog)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Prey (2017) is one of those widely acclaimed games that not many people seem to have played. Take that same idea, but take that up another level and you've got Prey: Mooncrash, the 2018 roguelike DLC for the aformentioned Prey, by Arkane Studios. Prey: Mooncrash got some increased buzz not when it released, but when Deathloop released and comparisons were drawn. And the verdict is in- for many people, myself included, Prey: Mooncrash is what Deathloop should have been. I was lucky enough to be joined by Adam and Kiaran from The Good, the Bad & the Backlog to discuss it! Pardon my voice in this one, I was beginning to come down with Covid! Fun!

Check out everything that Adam and Kiaran are doing by following this link!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:30
Story/Gameplay Setup 22:17

SPOILER WALL 1:14:53

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51: Prey (2017) (with Nick & Will - Friday Night Gamecast)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Prey (2017) takes the immersive sim worldbuilding, level design and freedom of expression that Arkane Studios had been honing through the years, transfers it to a sci-fi space station full of shapeshifting aliens, and sets you loose to figure out what the hell is going on. The result is....peak video game, as far as this host is concerned. And to help break it all down, I've enlisted the help of both hosts of Friday Night Gamecast, Nick and Will. This was a wonderful conversation, and we hope you enjoy it!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:35
Story Setup 24:00
Immersive Sim Gameplay 44:10
Combat 1:07:20
SPOILER WALL 1:36:22

Check out Friday Night Gamecast wherever you listen to podcasts, or by going through this link!

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49: The Quarry (with Liv Beyer - Between 2 Gamers)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0400

After being bamboozled into playing Until Dawn earlier this year despite my dislike of scary games, I unexpectedly found myself a big fan of that game, so when The Quarry was released, it was an easy choice to play, and it didn't disappoint! Direct comparisons to Until Dawn are unavoidable, and this game improves on a lot while maybe missing some of the secret sauce, in my opinion. I was lucky enough to be joined by Liv from Between 2 Gamers to discuss our experiences!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:45
Story Setup/Characters/Acting/Voice Acting/Choices 13:05
Gameplay/Final Thoughts/Housekeeping 38:16
SPOILER WALL 54:55

Find everything that Between 2 Gamers are doing HERE!
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48: The Last Door (with Adelaide Lohkamp)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Two genres that I don't normally play mashed together- horror games and point-and-click adventures, with a heavy dose of Lovecraft. The Last Door was a game that wasn't on my radar until my special guest Adelaide Lohkamp (she/her) suggested it to me, and seeing that it was made by The Game Kitchen really got my attention. Some issues with gameplay aside, this game excels aesthetically and tells a story that really displays an understanding of why Lovecraftian horror continues to fascinate.

Note- Adelaide was going by a different name at the time of recording, so that's why I refer to her as Jamie. Please respect her choices, as always

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:49
Story Setup/Aesthetics 9:08
Gameplay 25:44
SPOILER WALL 44:06

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47: Parasite Eve (with Michael Berger - Bits of Time)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0400

The concept of a hybrid survival horror/JRPG has been fascinating to me ever since I first heard about Parasite Eve and Koudelka, and Parasite Eve blew my expectations out of the water. It's got a fun combat system, a goofy story that appeals to my biology background, and it looks great! This was a blast to play, and it was a blast to discuss with Michael from Bits of Time.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:15
Story Setup/MITOCHONDRIA/Visuals/Music 8:52
Combat/RPG Systems 35:34
Final Thoughts/Housekeeping 48:02
SPOILER WALL 54:35

Check out Michael and his brother Larry on Bits of Time on your favorite podcast app, or find handy links HERE

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46: Resident Evil 4 (with Michael Mays)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Continuing the run of trying out critically and nostalgic...ally loved games way too late, this week it's Resident Evil 4! It took literal years of convincing to get me to play a Resident Evil game due to my horror game aversion, and I think I picked the best one for me. This game is barely even a horror game. What it actually is, is a kind of stepping stone between arcade shooters and modern 3rd person shooters with some of the goofiest characters and dialogue out there. I thought I would hate this, but this was an absolute blast, and I was lucky enough to be joined by Michael Mays to discuss it!

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 1:10
Story Setup/Gameplay 12:39
Melee Combat/Escort Missions 42:56
Visuals/Music/Remake 53:53
SPOILER WALL 1:13:14

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41: The Last of Us (with Ben Robinson - Play Along Podcast)

Dave Jackson — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Some games are released, garner acclaim and fans, and fade into our Nostalgia centers. Some games, however, keep growing until they are something much bigger. The Last of Us is a trend-setter, influencing the direction of Sony's first-party titles of the past decade, while also being remastered AND remade before spinning out into a multimedia franchise. But does it deserve the hype and continuing obsession? Is it truly one of the greatest video games ever made?

Dave is joined by Ben Robinson of Play Along Podcast to discuss the original PS3 release and the PS4 remaster.

TIMESTAMPS
Intro/Personal Histories 1:03
Story Setup/Stealth/Survival Gameplay 15:29
Combat 47:43
To Remake?/Final Thoughts 1:06:18
SPOILER WALL 1:26:31

Check out Play Along Podcast!

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