- I think a new rule we should instate is that five-year-olds, just one for one year, five is the bad year, where you have to do all adult chores. You go to work, you cook for Thanksgiving, you're in charge of cleaning the house, so that you get a taste real early of, eventually you will have this kind of responsibility, so maybe enjoy it for now? 'Cause you can't possibly know it without the context of what comes after. - That's true, that's true. - Just from the ages of five to six, let's make child labor legal again. - Yeah, just for a little buy. Well, we've earned it as a treat. - Send it to the minds. - Yeah, or maybe the children learn for the minds. (laughing) Maybe we have them host their own, there's like a second Thanksgiving. - Baby Thanksgiving. - Sure, yeah. Baby Thanksgiving, that's just for them. No adults allowed. (laughing) - Yeah. - Famously, children cooking without supervision is like a really good call. - It goes well. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hello Muppet.zip, the podcast about big games and small packages, my name is AJ. - My name is Kim. - And I'm Chase. And it's the new millennium. Welcome to 2025. - I'm new millennium. - They start 'em, they know they start 'em on 25 now. - They start 'em on 25 now? - Yeah, yeah. - So they redefined it. - Yeah, this is actually the-- - Everything keeps changing. (laughing) - Today we are talking about - It's my 3K this time. (laughing) - Yeah. Sorry. - I'm trying to think how three fits into 2025. - Yeah. - Two plus two is four, five is nine, divided by three is three, Y3K. (laughing) - Bless you. - I'm allergic to math. (laughing) - Today we're talking about Minami Lane developed by Butte, and I haven't said this out loud. Blee Bloop. - Yeah. - Man is this game a little, a little reprieve, because presently we have been, we're still in 2024 recording this. - Yeah. - And we have just been recording a gauntlet of what I would call upsetting games. (laughing) - Yeah. - And this has been a true delight. - We made a list of games to play, and we just sort of kept playing the ones that were like spooky horror games that are like, what does it mean to be alive and to have a body and to live in this horrible, brutal world? - Right. - And Minami Lane's like, what if there was such a cool street? (laughing) - What, of course, a really sick street that everybody lived in harmony. There was a shop for every type of person. - Can you pet all the cats? - Yeah. (laughing) - Kim, we've already touched on it a little bit, but what is Minami Lane? - Yeah, Minami Lane is a management sim where you were managing just like one street. You build the residential houses there, you build shops, you manage what is in the shops, like what their products are, essentially, and try to make them so that everyone in the village is sort of happy with the products there. And yeah, it's just like a nice relaxing, fun time. I played it in an afternoon, and it was just like a little sweet treat. One of the things that you can make as a boba shop, and I was like, I gotta make some boba while I'm doing this. And so I mean, I have like instant boba-type packs, made that a perfect afternoon, if I do say so myself. - Yeah, I played this like in the middle parts of moving and in bed, which was just a delightful experience. I wound up popping the controllers of the switch-off and just mostly using the touchscreen controls, which I was in our private chat. I had said, why isn't this game on my phone? And I think that's something I'm gonna talk about later, but just a delightful experience. It was so, so nice. It was really nice kind of come down, but also enough direction that I was like, yeah, like I know what I'm doing, you know? - It's like a very stripped down version of SimCity, in a way where like, you're just trying to build and keep people satisfied, but like the variables that you have control over are so minimal. But it still feels like you have enough influence. Like you can't just like set it and forget it and come back and be like, the game beat itself, like that's not gonna happen, but it's really nice to not have to like agonize over like what to do or how to build it or anything like that. - Yeah, yeah. - And there's, you get a nice little Tanuki guide named Emma to kind of walk you through, which is very nice. - Yeah. - I was like very impressed with, if the design felt very tight to me, where it was like at any given time, there was enough for me to be doing that it wasn't like, you know, boring to like sit there and like watch the, you know, see the day play out essentially, 'cause it's like, you know, you, there's a cycle of like, at night you like change, you can add, add buildings or remove them or, you know, change the recipe of the ramen shop or whatever. And then you like watch the day play out, see like how, you know, how the people respond to the things you've done. And like that never felt like boring, but at the same time, it is like to your point chase, not overwhelming in what it's asking you to do. And it feels like it walks this really, really fine balance in like a perfect way, very fun. - Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. I just had a really nice time playing this game. I am, it's on Switch and it's on PC. What did you guys play it? - I played it on deck. - Yeah, I also tried it on Steam Deck and then played it a little bit on PC as well. - Okay. - Yeah, I had played it through it on the Switch, which I guess to get right into it. I mean, I think, I think mechanically, I want this game on a touchscreen very badly, which is why I liked it. I did wind up enjoying it on the Switch, but I looked for it on the App Store 'cause I was convinced it had to be there. And it autofilled when I went to type it into the App Store, which means other people have been searching for this as well because it feels like such a perfectly crafted little phone game in every way. Like you said, Kim, like the friction was just enough that it was like, I feel like I'm doing stuff. Like I had said earlier, like I had the guidance I needed to like, here's what you need to be working toward, like all that kind of stuff. And it just feels like one of those games, like not to oversimplify it, but just like, you could candy crush this game where you just keep adding levels forever and ever and ever. - Yeah. - And it would keep being enjoyable. I think eventually like the mechanics and the overlapping stuff would get to be a lot and you would have to kind of mix that up in some ways, which is totally fair. But where it is now, like these seven missions or six, whatever it is, it's just so tightly tuned. And I just desperately want a version of this on my mobile phone device. - Yeah. - It's kind of cool that they don't make it a forever game. - Exactly, yeah. - Totally. - Yes. - Just like, that's, I feel like every other game would do that. You know? Of like here, these very good mechanics that, you know, we're gonna stretch out into 800 levels or something like that. And you have to wait five minutes between ads to play one of the levels, you know? And like, you know, hey, get your bag. But like, you know, that can be kind of a painful experience. And so I sort of appreciate it that it's like, all right, it's four dollars, five bucks, whatever. And you'll play it for probably two hours, you know? Like it does have a, like a sandbox mode so you can continue playing it. But I do think that the levels that have like goals to them are the ones that I'm definitely drawn to. And you know, unless it's the same city thing where it's like the game is expansive and so you're gonna be playing it for a long time to be like, you know, upgrading your city and getting better buildings and shit like that, like it's not, it's sort of like that, but the loop of that is very short. - Yeah. - And so like, you know, I appreciate the nearly radical approach to be like, you can just beat it. And then that's it. - Yeah, totally. - Yeah, absolutely. - I like that. - Yeah, I totally, I think it is like great that this is such a succinct and like the experience is what the experience is and it's exactly what they intended it to be, I mean, assumedly, you know, I can't really say for sure. But like, you know, in a world where a phone game would not instantly be bastardized into how can we make as much money off of your eight cents every day, I would take that version, you know? But I do think there is, you know, a lot to feel nice about about a game that just like comes in does what it does in leaves. And I think that is also kind of just like partly the initial conceit of this show a little bit of like, we wanna play games that like, you know, they're small and they have like, you know, like we've said a whole bunch is like, they have one idea and they execute it very well. And this one feels like they wanted to take a management sim, something like SimCity and make it like, how can we pair this down but still have it be, you know, what it is? You know, they just, they did it really well. - Yeah, I think the, at the end it said that they, these two devs made this game in six months, which is very impressive. But like, I think also speaks to like the philosophy that might have happened there where it's like, we're just gonna like make this one little thing. And I, like, I'm not a person who plays a lot of management sims on like some people in this call. So this felt like, like in some ways, like my introduction to the genre, I guess, like someone just like gently took my hand and was like, here, isn't this nice? Isn't it satisfying when, you know, the Tanookis are like picking up trash for you and, you know, all of these people are happy because they got their favorite ramen recipe and all these cats are showing up because you made the lane so beautiful. I love that cats show up because it's pretty, is a very funny mechanic. And yeah, it feels like, if you're interested in like trying this genre for the first time, there could not be, I feel like a more perfect, like way to ease yourself in who knows, maybe I'll become a management sims sicko after this. - Yeah, even so, even like being like quote unquote, like babies first, like it has everything that a quote unquote, like fully fledged management sim would have like even to the granular control of like the songs you have in the karaoke bar and how much it costs to sing those songs. Like I feel like they could have taken another layer off to make it even like the barrier to entry even lower, but even where it is, it's like you adjust stuff by $1 basically, and then that's enough for people to be like, this is a fair price. Like it's not like you're really fine tuning. I think it's like the exact perfect amount of management that it needs to be. But as you called out, Chase, you play a lot of these types of games. Where do you like, I guess, yeah, what is your like feelings on the game through that lens of like looking at it through kind of like a satisfactory kind of situation? Yeah, I mean, there's two different genres. I think that satisfactory in habits. One is management and one is automation. Yeah. Of like making sure that things are going correctly and like your resources are being smelted and processed and shit like that. When I think about like management stuff, I think, like I said, more about like SimCity or like Sim theme park or, you know, the more modern ones like Planet Coaster or like the, what is it? Like let's school or the hospital shit like that. And I like, I have no problem with the like simplified version of that so long as it's like capturing what is fun about that genre. And I think this one totally does where like, there's not as much that you have to manage, but the satisfaction of stopping the day, looking at what you've got, adjusting a few knobs and dials and then maybe building something new. Like that's still the same shit. Similar to like the satisfaction of playing something like a Final Fantasy versus like a Paper Mario or something like that. It's like, it's very simplified, right? But like the stuff that's fun about an RPG is still in both of those. It's not like they have removed all of the appeal of it. It's just one you can play as a, you know, seven year old and be like, I like this video game or you could play it as a 34 year old and be like, I also like this video game. And so like, I think a weaker game would oversimplify and take away the stuff that isn't super fun about it. But this one does not. I think it's like a, still a very good version of a management sim without just like dumping information onto you, which a lot of those games do, you know? I think it's pretty rare that you get like a competent tutorial in any of those games, like I think for part of them, like either they assume a certain amount of knowledge already or that they're like, listen, you're a freak. You're gonna read through the connects, right? Like, yeah. And I am not like, I am, my brain needs something to grab onto. And so like this game kind of just teaching you by being like, hey, you need a Boba shop and you need people to be satisfied. That's enough for me to go on to be like, I can figure this out 'cause there's like three buildings I can build and one of them is a Boba shop and there's like three actions I can take on that. - Yeah. - Which I really appreciate. - That is a big part of like why it works so well. I think is the way that it slowly introduces these, all of these different mechanics and elements. And then by the end, it's like, okay, your final level is like combining everything that you've learned into creating the perfect street. It's a really clever way to like ease you into it, which it sounds like it's not typically how these are done. - No, I've played a bunch of these, right? And like some of them have good tutorials. Like I think a Frostpunk is having a pretty good tutorial. So like game where you're trying to like live in a crater and it's like-- - A new year winter. - Yes, yeah. And I think smartly that one has a pretty good tutorial but the game is incredibly difficult. So it like allows you to know most things about it but it's still really, really hard which I think is a good balance that they hit. But like something like factorial which is much more on the automation genre. That one gives you almost nothing. Like you crash lands on a planet and it's like, here you go. And I'm like, excuse me? Like what do you want me to do here? Or even something that is like, I think well, more well regarded like Stardew Valley, they don't tell you to do very much. You show up and they're like make a farm. And you know, I remember the first time playing that being like, how? Like what do you want me to do here? And I think for some people that that is a fun experience when a game is like just go out there and do it, you know? - See you're ready. - Yeah, I think there's a line for some players that borders on trust and ambiguity where like they trust that you are smart enough to figure it out. I think about something like Dragon's Dogma where it is very hands off. It's like the things that you get are somebody telling you as a dragon in a forest milieu and then you have to like figure it out, right? But that's a pretty subjective line for people because like I am somebody who needs a little bit more direction. - Totally. - And so, you know, to enjoy something like Dragon's Dogma usually have to rely on like, all right, well, I gotta go like Google what to do here or like figure out a little bit more. But that's, yeah, it's objective. And so I think like with a game like this, it is more on the line of tutorialization and holding your hand a little bit, but I think that that offers a good entryway for people who are not familiar with the genre, right? Similar to, there's a game I played earlier in the year called Shapes 2, which is like a, it's an automation game like the nth degree, but it doesn't make you do a bunch of the shit that most automation games do. Like you can copy and paste stuff. You don't really have any resources that you need to be worrying about. It's literally just like build a good factory. That's the thing that you need to do. And so like I know some people would be like, this is an easy game, but I think that for people who aren't familiar with the genre that they might be like, well, this is just the fun part, like just the automation part. - Right. - And so like that offers a doorway into the genre for people that I think are not as familiar with this. So, you know, if at some point Kim, you end up playing city skylines or something like that. You might see like, okay, I've played something like this before and I can kind of rely on that pre-existing knowledge. - Yeah. - Yeah. I think it's really like the, it's, I feel like I've just been saying this over and over again of like, it's like so finely tuned. It's like has exactly what it needs and exactly what it doesn't. But like it, it tutorializes enough stuff or like tells you exactly the stuff that you need to do. But then there are moments with like, the first time I opened the bookshop and you get to choose the three books out of the six and you know, the satisfaction's going up or whatever. And then you kind of plateau 'cause the prices are all good and whatever. And then it's like, oh, I'm still only at a seven out of 10 on the like selection. And so then it's like, okay, well, is it kind of a guessing game? And like it kind of is, but like if you're paying attention and you're playing the game and doing what the game has told you of like seeing what people are saying when they come out of the bookshop. Like I love that they had this novel here. I love the price of the travel guides. And then you'll have other people coming out be like, I bought two things that I like. And so then you're like, okay, well, people like the novels and the travel guides and they bought two things, which means that third thing is probably wrong. And so I should probably, you know, cycle that out and see what's up. And then it also got to a point where it's like, well, $2 people think is a low price, which they like, but also they think $3 is a fair price, which is perfect. And so then when I'm putting a new book in, I'm putting it at $3 because I know that people will think that's a fair price. You know, so like you're still learning stuff organically and figuring stuff out outside of the things that the game is directly tutorializing for you, which is just, it's just great design. It's just really, really good. But do we have feelings about the like subtext of this game at all? - I was thinking about that while I played and I feel like it's maybe a bit of a stretch, but there is, you know, you could tease something out that's sort of about like the design of a good like city or town or whatever and how like, you know, it's about serving the community with like the things that meet their needs, but also at the same time, there is like value in things that are beautiful, in things that are recreational, like, you know, these things sort of like build community. One of my favorite things is like the little, like characters as they walk around will like talk to each other sometimes. They have like, if you click on them, you can see what they're thinking, which is how you figure out like, whether they liked or disliked the, you know, Bova recipe or whatever. But it also, like before they've interacted with anything for the day, you just sort of see their thoughts, which is like, oh, I'm having a good day today or I'm not having a good day. But things more detailed than that, but like the writing is very clever and funny if you seek it out a lot of the time. Yeah, I, you know, I think it certainly has something to say in that regard, at least to the extent of like the design of a place matters in terms of like how its people feel. I think that like most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about civil engineering and like this is sort of an invitation to think about it a bit more. Yeah. What do y'all think? I think part of this is the youthful dream of having a walkable city. I'm sure is more real for some people than others. Like famously, it's just like not really a thing that exists very much in the United States. You know, we've got a couple of places that are walkable and like that's really it, you know, like most, I would say most of the country you need a car to, you know, exist and like have life be a manageable thing rather than like, you know, walking three miles to the grocery store and then walking back or whatever. I think that the game presents a like, I would call this like almost Japanese-y in the kind of like aesthetic that it's showing. Yeah. And it's also a game, the developers are out of France. And so like it's kind of taking on that aesthetic, but like, you know, France is not an unlockable place at all. They have a lot of like good public transit there. And so I think it's kind of synthesizing two places that you can exist if you just walk other places and like, it's such a compelling fantasy for people who don't have that in their life of just like, I have on my street, a place that I can have fun and a place that I can get food and a place that I live, which is just like simply not the case for I would say the vast majority of like United States citizens or United States people. And so like it's, there's a lot there, right? Like what the game is actually saying. I think A, like you said, Kim, it's sort of a way to convince the person who is playing it. Like, look at how cool this could be. It's like the opposite of a power fantasy, right? Like it's not like you have power over somebody else. It's you have power. A community fantasy. Yes, yeah, exactly. It's, I mean, it's similar stuff that like Animal Crossing relies on, right? Of like, all my neighbors live within five minutes of me. And nobody really has to work. And we all just kind of hanging out catching bugs and shit like that, which is also in a way a bit of a, I don't know if radical is the right word there, but like in a world that is characterized by work and overwork and stress and a lack of empowerment politically, like something like this, I think is soothing, not just because it's slow and calming, but also because it presents a version of the world that is not always attainable for people. And I think that is like very relaxing to a pretty fair amount of Westerners. Yeah, I think there's also an angle of, I mean, it's basically in the same vein, but of just like if places like this existed, people would live there until they died. And then like their spirits would also enjoy hanging around, like because this place is so beautiful and nice and like has all the people that they love on the same street, you know, like I think this, it is just this kind of, I hesitate to use the word utopic, but it's this kind of utopic representation of like a walkable community with like everything and everyone that you need. And even to like, to read into like what we are doing as the player of like slightly adjusting things. So it's perfect for them. Like have a, we could extrapolate that out to be like, oh, business owners will listen to you. If you're like, hey, I would love if you guys put more noodles in your ramen or whatever. And then they'll believe, yeah, sure, but we might have to put the price up a dollar. And you know, it's this kind of like, it's this space where you like want for nothing and also fear no interactions between other people because, you know, you know, everybody's so well or whatever. It's like, oh, the guy who owns the Robin shop was like the kid that I grew up next to. And so like we have this kind of rapport or whatever, you know, I think there's a lot you can kind of fantasize about in that vein. - Yeah, yeah. But yeah, it's a, it's a little summer housey. - In totally, in kind of the way that we discuss that game of you can sort of reflect what I think you would want in this space. I think Summer House is much more open than this. Like notably, this game has like three decisions. You can make it a given point. But I still think it is a, it's a game that's asking you to reflect like what looks pretty here? What do I think would like aesthetically match this space? Which is, yeah, it's compelling to me. - Yeah. You had said Summer House on my first thought was like, it's like Summer House with objectives, which then I realized Kim is kind of tiny Glade where they give you like a daily build. - Yeah, yeah, a little bit. - Build this kind of house. And then you kind of just like build a nice castle or whatever. But anyway, I think it's time we move on to big takeaways. - I think so. - I think so, yeah. - Because there's simply nothing to spoil in this game. - Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, we have talked about the entirety of the game. So congratulations, you've not been spoiled. Maybe you've been spoiled on some subtext, but that's also kind of right there immediately. So. - The fact that there are cats. Sorry. - There are cats, that's true. Well, you can see in the very beginning, you can, there's like cat goals that are just like, oh, you can't do this yet. I think my big takeaway from this video game is that I want to get back into management sims. I think I need to think personally for me. I was never into proper management sims, I suppose. Like I played SimCity 2000 when that came out, but I was like eight. And so I was like, it's fun to build a cat, like build a skyscraper and then summon a tornado because I can do that. And then like I played the SimCity on my phone mobile that came out like, I don't know, 10 years ago or something. And I got to a point, I got to a point in SimCity mobile that I had a perfectly laid out grid of everything. Everybody's needs were met, power was good, money was good. When you build in that game, it was like you would build blocks of places. So it's like, okay, this next block has, I'm putting these buildings in it. And I had no extra space in any of the blocks. Like everything, I perfected it. And I was like, well, the game's over now. I'm not gonna fuck this up. So I played it really hard for like 10 days and then stopped because I perfected it. But then like outside of that, you know, I played, and these aren't really, these are totally, a totally different genre, but I think still kind of for me scratches the same itch of like RTS games, like Warcraft 3 or something, where you're like building up armies and you're building specific types of buildings so that you could get certain types of units so then you can go and destroy your enemies place because you have the correct units or whatever. But like I loved Warcraft 3. I played the shit out of that game. And just like it's been such a long time since I have gotten into a game like this. And you know, this show gave me excuse to play a game that I didn't even realize going in was going to be this type of game. Like from the trailers and stuff. And I had only kind of like passively watched it because I was like, this looks cute and nice, but it doesn't look like the kind of game I would want to play because looking at it, it looked like to me, you just be endlessly kind of building a city street and like making this like really pretty street and kind of just like, you know, it's kind of like, like you said, a summer house kind of game where you're just kind of chilling, you're building a pretty street and whatever. And then Chase, when you pitched this game for the show, you had said like, oh, it's like a city or a, you said it has more objectives. And I was like, oh, there's objectives in this game. And then noticing that there were levels in this game, I was like, oh, this is a completely different type of thing than I thought it was going to be. And I loved it. And so now I'm like, well, I have Frostpunk 2 'cause I got, or Frostpunk, the original, I got it for free on Epic. So like, maybe I just download that and I start playing Frostpunk. It's good, you know, it's a good one. So this is a wake-in something that was dormant in you. I think it's a thing that I've kind of channelled into other areas because I love to build out a Discord server we have. - I love the first thing I thought of when you said that. - I love to make specific channels for specific types of conversation and do threads and manage roles and stuff. Like, I love doing that shit. So if I could do that for fun instead of like, like making spaces for my friends to hang out, which, you know, is fine, but I don't need more spaces to hang with my friends to be totally candid, that would be nice. So that's my big takeaway is that I love management and I will be playing more of these games. Thank you. - Nice, so yeah. I think for me, my big takeaway has something to do with the like tightness of the design here and knowing that this game was made on, I don't know if they intended to make it in six months or if that's just like, you know, how it worked out. But like, clearly there was a sort of concise vision and a like channeling of resources into pursuing that vision. And the product is like a mechanically, just like perfectly harmonious game. And I like, I'm just so impressed by how well it all comes together. And yeah, I think that that's a lot of the time I feel like we talk about how, oh, you know, having a smaller scope for games means that there may be fewer resources and few, you know, like that it's almost like a constraint and here it feels like there was sort of a deliberate goal of creating something that was so just like, what's the word I'm looking for? Like, like a cabin in its scope. And it's fantastic. It's so cute. I could see myself like replaying these levels someday when I just like wanna like chill and, you know, enjoy like a nice, another nice afternoon like that. - Yeah, that's what I was gonna say too. It's like, I definitely see myself eventually going back to this game just to like chill. Like, I mean, it's gonna stay installed on my Switch because A, it's so small, but also just like, it's just such, it's just a nice experience, you know? It was great and it was tight and it was good. - Nice, let me see. I feel like I'm a person who is like, the overton window affects me. - For sure. - I know it's sort of a bizarre place to start here, but like, wow, not a thing I thought was going to be evoked in this episode, but let's go to the safari side. - Yeah, it's unexpected. Overton window jumpscare. (both laugh) - Which, I use that word. I hope everybody knows what it is, but just like it's the like essentially range of permissibility in politics of like, what is a normal thought on either end of the political spectrum? And like, I think I get caught up sometimes in like, what is politically possible rather than like what people should be striving for, right? - Mm-hmm. - You know, pragmatism maybe is the closer word there, but like, when thinking about shit that, you know, I want to make, happen in sort of the political space, I am, my brain usually restricts itself to like, okay, well here is something that is possible, right? Of like, you know, say, I don't know, climate change, right? Like, okay, what is actually something we can do right now of like, all right, well let's try and shift some resources over to like, I don't know, maybe making nuclear a little bit more a better of an option or, you know, developing kind of better batteries or something like that. But like, my brain rarely goes to, why don't we just fix the fucking problem wholesale, right? And that's like, I think it's because I want to do smaller things to have an effect, but also I think losing the forest from the trees sometimes like can be kind of a demoralizing situation because like, I forget the bigger goal. And so like, to attach this to something more specific, right? Like, building a succinct and satisfying community to live in is something that like, I hear a lot of people talking about and something that I myself am like, I would really love to make that happen. And, you know, a lot of the times that is like, public transit, building enough like, trains and shit like that, or pushing for policy that like, allows mixed zoning housing and shit like that, so that you can have like a grocery store not that far from a house, right? It's not all single family housing units and shit like that. My wife is a transportation engineer, so like, this is close to things, sort of know a little bit of-- - Can you fix us? - She's trying, she's trying. But yeah, I think that like, I sometimes lose that big dream stuff. And I think that this game is a opportunity at least to like kind of dream big in that moment. Like again, in sort of a, it's kind of like medicine right now 'cause I know that we're gonna go into a time where like, just simply trying to make sure the wheels don't fall off for the next four years is kind of like a thing that I'm like trying to do. And so dreaming big sounds kind of scary, but I think that that's also like, it's kind of an antidote to feeling hopeless and you know, doom and gloom as a default. And so I think A, this game reminds me that like, we should not sort of lower our goals because like the other side is a group of demons and wants to like vaporize things that are good. But that also like, just because like the political party that I typically like align myself with is also kind of tepid in its approaches. Like that that should not define the things that I am pushing for too, right? Like so much of the country had voted for like, you know, 10, 15 years ago, like we want high speed rail across the entire country. Why the fuck isn't that built by now? Like, I'm sure there's a reason, but like, I don't really care. Like let's do that thing that we said we are going to do to like materially change how people perceive the place that they live, right? Like that's a pretty significant material change of if I could get to a different state or if I could take the train from Seattle to Sacramento in like a couple of hours, that would be significant. That would be life changing, right? And it's something that we also want to do. And like for whatever reason, and you know, there's a lot of reasons, but like it just hasn't happened. - I think Big Oil probably has a big-- (laughing) - Big role in that. - Yeah, they love to drive, right? And I think that that's like an unacceptable state. And to like call that out as unacceptable, right? Of like we all wanted this thing and somehow like because some of the people that we voted for are taking money from like Big Pharma and Big Oil, suddenly it's like, well, we can't get that done actually. No, fuck that. We should fix this, right? Like if the people who are doing this are not like perfectly aligned with the shit that we want then get them out and replace them with someone who will do that. Like, I'm just really tired of the half measures that, you know, putting things more succinctly that Democrats have settled for for a long time, sure. And it's bizarre that a city sim has gotten me to that feeling, but it has, right? And like, yeah, I just feel like this game reframes my perspective on like what to push for and what I want out of like political endeavors. Yeah. Chase, 20, 28. I don't want the fucking trains all day. Fill the trains and let me live on a little street where I can just walk down to the corner shop and get some boba. Yeah. And the only two kinds of people we have are youths and owners and elders. Youth elders and eventually, Yokai. Yokai is what, yeah. Which for Americans, I guess, cryptids for us, sure. I would love to live next door to a moth, man. I was nice to say, yeah. I welcome it. We'll see how you feel about the screeching at 2am, everything. I welcome that, too. I love that me and AJ's takeaways were like, game fun. Chase has been a re-radicalized. Radicalized, yeah. Very fun. Yeah. Video games. Game is fun, and I said, Mark's was right. Let's fix the fucking problems. Hey. What a dot zip. Yeah, incredibly extremely dot zip energy. Yeah. Great way to start the new year. We are delighted to-- we actually-- we're talking about the implications of our zodiac, like, oh, we only recorded for six months and somehow we made a three-hour episode or whatever that, however long that ended up being. What's going to happen? We have to record for a year. So yeah, I don't know. We'll see. Anyway, happy 2025. I hope you're all taking care of yourselves. And hey, thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast. If you want to pick up Menami Lane, those links are in the show notes. If you, listener, would like to suggest a game, you can go to our website.zip.online and click the "suggest a game" button. You can also join the worstgarbage.online discord with plenty of channels in it, including one-- what if I just named a totally random channel that was not related to the channel? Including three bean poop, including three bean poop and manga. There's a dot zip channel there where you can talk about your ideas or your ideas. Your thoughts about this game are any of the games you talked about or just kind of-- Tell us your ideas. Tell us your dreams, your aspirations. There's also channels in there for the other shows on the network. Shows like "Can't Let It Go," "Frog of the Week," "Girl Mode," "Into the Aether," "Paws and Claws," and "Video Game Potomism," as well as the blog/video contents of FlowState, "Manmarie Card Manuscript," and "Wave Lengths." That is all available, like I said, on dot zip, dot online. I cannot remember how to spell the website, Chase. Help. I got you. It's d-o-t-z-i-p dot online. Handcrafted website by our very own Chase here on the podcast. Thank you for that website. There you go. Shout out to our other collaborators as well. My beautiful wonderful partner, Tara, for the show art that you see every week on the show. Thank you to Amaranthan for our theme music and to bokeh/Brennan Bigly. They are the same person for spoilers, for the system sounds that you hear throughout the episode. Once again, thank you so much for listening. And finally, my friends, Chase and Kim in the year of our Lord 2025. Thank you for making this podcast with me. You are so welcome. Thank you for making this podcast with me. And I love the way you paused before Lord, like-- I was trying to think about this. I didn't know what to do. I was like, why like God? What are our stance on God this year? Thank you for making this podcast with me. And I'm going to go try and fix my computer from Y3K. It's going to not know what to do. Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. We'll be back next week with more podcast. Until then, bye. Bye. Bye. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
