187: Fear & Hunger (with Adam Bucceri)

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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