Pac-Man's Search for Meaning is a show where two friends (and occasional guests) talk about video games and try to sort out what certain video games are trying to tell us. What are the themes? How are game mechanics used to convey those themes? Who was Video James? What unique tools can games use to tell stories and explore ideas? What are the ethical implications of the branching stories that games can tell? How many funny little guys does something need to have to be called a "video game"?
**SPOILER WARNING**
This show will absolutely spoil any game being discussed, along with other games in the same series, other games made by the same studio or creative team, movies and tv shows that are related to or based on the game (or based on the same source material), movies and tv shows that are vaguely related to the game of the week. Pretty much anything that comes up is likely to be spoiled.
**Disclaimer**
We are not experts. We're just trying to have a conversation about stuff we think is interesting. Think we totally misunderstood something? Tell us about it via pacmanssearchformeaning at gmail, or on instagram, or PMSFMPOD on twitter.
S1E7 - Citizen Sleeper: Labor-intensive Impoverished Gay Space Capitalism, The Game
SPOILER WARNING: I usually do this further down, but this is a relatively new, relatively short game, and I think it's real good and everyone should play it. And we very much spoil all of it in this episode.
So here's Citizen Sleeper. It's a lot like like a TTRPG, but it's on your computer or tv. Also, unlike some TTRPGs, it has some really wonderful art. And, unlike all TTRPGs that I've ever heard of, it has a killer soundtrack. It has a lot to say about capitalism and how much it sucks.
11 Feb 2023
S1E6 - Papers, Please: Could There Be Negative Aspects of Border Security?
Papers, Please (2013) is arguably the most straightforward game we have discussed so far. It's a game where you play as an immigration inspector at a border crossing, and, believe it or not, the game explores the nature of that work, the ethical questions one might face when working in such a position, and the ethics of closed borders in general. Other cool themes include: the dehumanizing effect of bureaucracy, totalitarianism, and revolution. Or at least that's the stuff we think the game is about. List to us ramble about it and let us know where we got it right or wrong.
SPOILERS just for this game, and the outcome of the Cold War
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4 Feb 2023
S1E5 - Celeste: Mental Illness Is Hard and So Is This Game
Alright. Enough with the games about gruff badasses. It's time for some more down-to-earth indie games. First up, we have Celeste, which was way harder than I expected but was otherwise a very lovely experience. Check it out if you like hard things, or if you like to think about depression and anxiety.
SPOILERS for just Celeste I think?
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4 Feb 2023
S1E4 - The Witcher 3 pt 2: A Game About Surprising Outcomes
More witcher talk. Guaranteed to be 20% smarter than pt 1.
Obviously more SPOILERS for anything witcher related
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4 Feb 2023
S1E3 - The Witcher 3: A Game About Dads
"the witcher is a video game adaptation of that movie pitch from always sunny about a scientist who can smell crime"
-@kelibacy on twitter
Yes, we're starting with the third game in a series. It's just that this game is much better than the first two. It's also just as much about being a dad as it is about being a witcher.
**SPOILER WARNING FOR:
pretty much anything about the witcher, including all games, some of the books, and the netflix series
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4 Feb 2023
S1E2 - Metal Gear Solid Pt 2: Starting to Suspect That There Might Be Some Politics Here
There's too much happening here for just 1 episode, so here's pt 2. Tune in to see if we can understand the mind of Kojima, and understand all of his funny little tricks.
Spoilers
Again, we talk freely about the plots of all of Kojima's games
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4 Feb 2023
S1E1 - Metal Gear Solid: The Least Politcal Game Ever
It's our first episode, and we're starting with one of the greatest games of all time: Hideo Kojima's masterpiece Metal Gear Solid. This game is packed with big ideas from one of the greatest developers to ever... develop. Tune in.
Spoilers for Kojima's entire body of work, and a bunch of other stuff
Support Pac-Man's Search for Meaning by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/pac-mans-search-for-meaning (https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/pac-mans-search-for-meaning)
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Apple Podcasts (US)
3.7 / 5
3 ratings
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