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The Crate and Crowbar — Games & Hobbies
The Crate and Crowbar

A group of friends who work in the games industry meet up once a week to talk about PC games over a drink. “Off-the-cuff” is a polite way to say “unprofessional”, right?

Copyright: © The Crate and Crowbar

Latest Episodes:

Roguelikes: A Lock-in at the Crate and Crowbar May 27, 2022

Show notes

Graham, Jamie and Alex delight in being terrible at traditional roguelikes. Recklessly quaff an unidentified potion, dodge the snapping maw of an ASCII eel, and join us as we plunge into the unknown, die horribly, and rise again.

This is a pod about the more closely related descendents of Rogue! E.g…
Brogue! The Community Edition is found here and is necessary for playing the same seed that Jamie and Alex have been dying in: 27052022. Enjoy!
Shiren the Wanderer
Jupiter Hell
Angband and its offshoots, like Zangband
Nethack
But this is NOT a pod about roguelite or distantly related games, even though they may carry on concepts of repetition or permadeath, e.g. Slay the Spire, Into the Breach, Hoplite or Michael Brough’s games like Cinco Paus. Sorry, those games.
Spelunky was Jamie’s way into the genre.
Kieron Gillen, the inventor of games journalism and an inspiration to us all.
Diablo is just realtime Angband! Get over yourselves, Blizzard!
Dwarf Fortress‘s Adventure Mode is more or less a trad roguelike.
Tales of Maj’Eyal
NEO Scavenger
Stoneshard has very granular wounding, Graham’s favourite thing!
Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman
Caves of Qud
John Harris, aka RodneyLives on Twitter, wrote a book called @Play and it is good
Roguelike Celebration
Tonehack, a Nethack streamer
BlindIRL, a Dwarf Fortress streamer
Roguelike Radio podcast
Here are some articles by Graham about roguelikes: on Dwarf Fortress’s Adventure Mode, on boozing in Brogue, and on roguelike level generation.

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

Episode 397: Lethal Barry’s Super Speed Wings May 20, 2022

Show notes

Tom S is joined by Jamie and, I believe, a blackbird to chat formative gaming experiences, co-op caving in Deep Rock Galactic, oddly named leggings in Injustice 2 and the many delights of the Steam Deck.

Jamie cut his teeth on games like SpaceQuest and Monkey Island.
Defunct game mag of yesteryear: PC Zone.
It rubs the lotion Spelunky on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
The Binding of Isaac – melding compulsive roguelike session game with dark psychological themes.
Chris likes the screaming meatboys of medieval melee Mordhau.
Jamie and Tom have been playing the co-op space-dwarf bug-blaster Deep Rock Galactic, accurately pitched as “Minecraft and Left 4 Dead smashed together”.
Vermintide and Chivalry 2 are games cut from a similar blood-soaked cloth.
Hunt: Showdown is a very stressful co-op FPS about shitty cowboys and cursed swamps.
Tom has fallen off the Space Horse of Destiny 2.
Injustice 2, the DC comics beat-em-up from the makers of Mortal Kombat.
Some of Tom’s favourite fighters are found in the Guilty Gear series.
Valve’s chunky handheld: the Steam Deck!
Some games Jamie’s been playing on his Steam Deck: Darkest Dungeon, The Binding of Isaac, Noita, Jupiter Hell, Sniper Elite 4, Spelunky, Elden Ring.
The suspend function makes it easy to garrote people during your lunch-break. What a convenience!

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

The Batman: A Lock-in at the Crate and Crowbar May 13, 2022

Show notes

Graham, Tom S and Marsh have somehow found the time to watch, then rewatch and even discuss The Batman, the recent bladder-bursting film directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson.

Obviously, we spoil the film. Don’t listen or read below if you have yet to see the film and wish any of its surprises preserved.
Who’s in this film then, eh?
Robert Pattinson as The Battinson
Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman
Paul Dano as Riddler
Colin Farrel as Penguin, amazingly
Peter Saarsgard as the DA Glen Gonnasplode
John Turturro as Carmine Falcone
Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon
Con O’Neill as Pete 2, with his wonderfully distinct voice
Barry Keoghan as Unnamed Arkham Prisoner who is obviously the Joker
Batcomics mentioned: Frank Miller’s supermacho libertarian fantasies, and The Court of Owls.
Other Batfilms briefly discussed:
The 90s continuity courtesy of Tim Burton and then Joel Schumacher: Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997)
The Christopher Nolan era: Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
The Snyderverse: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Justice League (2017), Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
And, tangentially, if we must, Joker (2019)
David Fincher’s excellent serial killer films – Se7en and Zodiac – clearly lend a lot to both the feel and content of this film.

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

Episode 396: The Fisher-Price Squirt ‘N’ Dash May 06, 2022

Show notes

Tom S, Chris and Marsh gather to discuss wedding whoopsies, monkey winkies, Weird West’s wonkiness, Nobody Saves the World’s classy class combos and Bloodhunt’s world of darkness warzoné.

Congrats to Tom S and Emma! May your union be unmarked by further calamity.
Embracer Group acquire Eidos, associated studios and their IP from Square Enix for a mere $300m.
Raiders of the Lost Ark still stands up. You know what else stands up?
Don’t huff the Pope-smoke in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt.
Nobody Saves The World is a fun, convention-breaking ARPG.
The immersive sim and twin-stick shooter collide chaotically in Weird West.

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

Severance: A Lock-in at the Crate and Crowbar Apr 24, 2022

Show notes

In which Jamie Brittain, Tom Francis and Alex Wiltshire convene to discuss the excellent Apple Plus existential workplace comedy drama Severance. All spoilers are off from the start with this one! But it’s great, so you should def watch it!

Severance is on Apple Plus
Meta employees are called ‘Metamates’, ewwww.
Escape at Dannemora is another excellent Ben Stiller helmed show.
The Outlaws is the disappointing show with Walken in Bristol.
Devs.
Black Mirror: White Christmas is incredible.
Interstellar is a bore.
Severance’s incredible title sequence is done by Oliver Latta: www.instagram.com/extraweg/

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

Licorice Pizza: A Lock-in at the Crate and Crowbar Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Jamie and Marsh enthuse about Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, Licorice Pizza – an energetic and uplifting tale of an eccentric romance set against the backdrop of 70s LA. Watch it, it’s fab.

The 94th Academy Awards! Licorice Pizza woz robbed! Maybe?
Billy Crystal getting covered in gob
Who’s in this film then, eh?
Alana Haim as Alana
Cooper Hoffman as Gary
Alana Haim’s entire actual family as Alana’s family
John Michael Higgins as Jerry
Skyler Gisondo as Lance (also seen in the excellent Righteous Gemstones)
John C Reilly as Fred Gwynne, playing Herman Munster
Harriet Sansen Harris as the talent scout
Sean Penn as Jack Holden, based on William Holden
Tom Waits as Rex Blau, based on Mark Robson
Bradley Cooper as Jon Peters, a real-life hairdresser, hollywood mogul and, apparently, maniac who wanted Superman to fight a giant spider
George Dicaprio
Benny Safdie as Joel Wachs, and one part of the Safdie Brothers – who are not, as per Adam Sandler’s tremendous acceptance speech, homeless rabbis.
Maya Rudolph has a cameo during one of the casting calls. She’s a tremendous actor who should be in more things, not necessarily shitting herself each time – but she is very good at that, as Bridesmaids attests.
Andy Jurgensen is the editor and long-time collaborator of PTA. Here’s an interview with the fella.
Licorice Pizza draws from some of the life experience of Gary Goetzman, former child actor, waterbed salesman and co-founder of Tom Hanks’ production company.
Other films and filmmakers we mention:
PTA’s previous films: Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, Inherent Vice, The Master, Phantom Thread
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The Safdie brothers’ Good Time and Uncut Gems are panic attacks masquerading as films. They’re excellent. They should have both been in our Top 50 probably. Apols!
Mank is a film saturated in nostalgia and reverence for an era that is inaccessible without a lot of shared knowledge.
Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright also get name-checked for their playful cutting and framing which I find increasingly insufferable.
PTA interviewing Robert Downey Senior about getting sexy with a monkey.

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

Episode 395: Palace of the Cars Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

Tom S, Alex and Marsh graft themselves into a singular mass of thrashing limbs and return to Elden Ring’s shattered land, get lost in the knot of Tunic’s shortcuts and enjoy the drizzle of Gran Turismo 7.

Be wary of lore, in short, hole ahead: Elden Ring.
Homage to Zelda games of yore, Tunic.
The wonderfully, wilfully unglamorous, and yet somehow pompous, car game, Gran Turismo 7.

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

The 50 Best Films Since the Millennium: A Lock-in at the Crate and Crowbar Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Jamie and Marsh compile a list of 50 movies, released across the last 22 years, which are dead good. Are they the deadest good? Decide for yourself! They certainly contain all manner of blood-drinking, cow-kissing, custard-selling, marmalade-making, bestiality, incest and murder.

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

Episode 394: A Strong Track Record of Freaky Dogs Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

Chris, Tom S and Marsh deliver the world’s very first takes that anyone has ever had about Elden Ring. Salute the skill of Bumbo, fear the knife-eagle’s fire-bollock, regret the crafting system and wonder, “Why is it always behind?”

Are show notes even necessary for this episode? Elden Ring is the new game from From Software, at least partially attributable to Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin. From Software also made Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Dark Souls III, Bloodborne and Sekiro – games which share many hallmarks with Elden Ring. But Elden Ring’s got a horsey.
That’s the show note. Farewell!

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

Rebecca and Brighton Rock: A Lock-in at the Crate and Crowbar Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Jamie offers Marsh a cinematic serving suggestion: a pairing of Hitchcock’s classic 1940 adaptation of Rebecca with the 1948 version of Brighton Rock starring Richard Attenborough. Discussed: hauntings, Hell and the occult origins of beef tea.

You can watch both of these films for free on The Inter-Net! Rebecca is on Youtube and Brighton Rock is on archive.org.
Rebecca (1940)
Joan Fontaine as the second Mrs. de Winter
Laurence Olivier as George Fortescue Maximilian “Maxim” de Winter, owner of Manderley
Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers, housekeeper of Manderley
George Sanders as Jack Favell, Rebecca’s first cousin and lover
Florence Bates as Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper, employer of the second Mrs. de Winter
Du Maurier’s novel is available for free in this typo-ridden pdf and elsewhere as scans.
The battle between producer David O. Selznick and director Alfred Hitchcock for control over the picture is described in this half-hour documentary on Youtube.
Intertexts for Rebecca include the legend of Bluebeard and Jane Eyre. The recent movie adaptation of Jane Eyre, starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender is worth seeing too.
Rebecca has recently been re-adapted by Ben Wheatley, starring Lily James, Armie Hammer and Kristin Scott Thomas. It’s on Netflix. It has its moments and star turns, but the epilogue deserves to be scuttled off the Cornish coast.
Anne of Green Gables is a novel which offers a redemptive arc to an austere matronly figure.
The twist in Arrival has something to do with this hypothesis.
Lisa needs braces! Dental plan!
Brighton Rock (1948) – released in the US as Young Scarface
Richard Attenborough as Pinkie Brown
Hermione Baddeley as Ida Arnold
Carol Marsh as Rose Brown
William Hartnell as Dallow
Harcourt Williams as Prewitt
Wylie Watson as Spicer
Alan Wheatley as Fred Hale
“Just a little Bovril adds the concentrated goodness of beef.” No.

You can hang out with us and our community on our Discord channel. If you have a question for a future episode, send it to us at questions@crateandcrowbar.com or tweet us @crateandcrowbar. You can also listen to it on YouTube, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you like.

The Crate and Crowbar is kindly funded by our Patreon backers. If you’d like to know more about supporting our podcast and its spinoffs, click here.

Our intro music is by The Mandibles from their track Clambake. Many of the band members now tour as Count Bobo And The Bullion.

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