A rip roaring good time. Like hanging out with the buds at a poker night if they were all also reading the same book for grad school. You’ll never guess what they have to say about the social vis-a-vis it’s exclusions

The only complaint is that when you read from a book or a text, you read it way too fast; the content is usually dense so I’d appreciate it if you’d slow down to match the pacing of the rest of the show’s cadence. You’re both funny and clearly love nerding out in the best ways possible. I shall join the $5 Patreon soon!

I don’t know why but I started listening to this while completing my masters degree in computer science. This podcast is way more fun than grad school

Just listened to the episode on My Tiny Life, it was great. Needs more dinosaur facts.

One star for Michael + One for CMRN + Three for Michael’s Printer = Five Star Podcast

Michael and Cameron are reading the massive tomes of game studies so you don’t have to. If I hear about a book that may help in my research, but am on the fence about, I check to see if Michael and Cameron have done an episode on it. This has led me both to great time savings, but also some indispensable additions to my library. Also 10/10 cathartic dunking on the ever-tiring Huizinga and on Flow - worth listening just for that. Thanks for the great show!

It’s weird the “Summer of Games” has lasted 11 years.

As the title implies, I work a very long, grueling job and these podcasts help me learn about game studies and philosophies I would never had crossed paths with otherwise. Thanks Ranged Touch! As an added bonus, I sound like a genius next to my Fox News educated parents. ;)

Why did Mike Davis call his book City Of Quartz and not The SoCal Is Predicated On Its Exclusions?

It took me a long time to start listening to this because I assumed I was too dumb, but it turns out I’m exactly the kind of dummy this show is for!

As a non-academic, I started reading along for this podcast at the start of 2020 (only read the intros for a few 😕). It was fruitful but absolutely unsustainable, what with my job and other media club podcasts I was watching along for. Anyway, I just listened to the episode on Peterson’s The Elusive Shift, and I’m ready to give it up. Just in time to listen to the summer of classics in September 2023, which has def been a part of summer 2023!

Definitely sub to the Patreon…the notes are worth it and sometimes they too are funny. Horizon-expanding. Will be going in my dissertation acknowledgements if I get there.

After a decade and a half of podcasts one man listing the names of tools has finally compelled me to leave my first review.

The perfect balance between being entertaining and educational. I've been catching up on the backlog while doing farm chores. Every day my chickens seem a little bit wiser. I also highly recommend Just King Things, whether you're interested in Stephen King or not. Cameron's impression of the lobstrosities lives rent free in my brain now.

It's taught me a lot.

now whenever i boot up a video game i think about how i’d rather be playing lego racers

It's not the one where you get to learn about FBOY Island so it's not a true five star, but a 4.9 rounds up

The word “derridean” sounds like it should be the demonym for a minor alien species from Star Trek. “We are receiving a distress call from a Derridean freighter” could be the cold open of a TNG episode.

This is the perfect podcast for anyone who likes to think about media rigorously, but doesn’t want to be trapped in an abandoned lime works where you’re tied to a chair and forced to listen to an aging man whispering inaudible noises in your ear for decades, all the time not knowing whether the sounds you’re hearing are madness or genius, only that it can all only end with your eventual violent demise. Drop out of grad school and listen to this podcast instead!

This podcast is perfect for gamers who like books but don’t want to read!

It's a Great Podcast!

smart show

Last winter, my brother took a game studies class in college. I’ve been begging him for the syllabus ever since. He still hasn’t given it to me, but this podcast has filled the void extremely well in the meantime. If you like hearing people talk about academic texts in a funny, accessible way, this is the podcast for you. A , highly recommend.

Check this out and if ya like it, the rest of the ranged touch podcasts as well, they’re all super good! A lot of work goes back into making Extremely accessible and laid pack academic discussion.

I went to “graduate school” and yet learned nothing about Marxism OR ska. Play your cards right and Michael/Cameron will teach you everything you need to know about both

The guy who sells fancy homemade vinegars at my local farmers’ market was delighted by my Jacques Rauncière shirt, which I own thanks to this podcast. Listen to Game Studies Study Buddies. Delight *your* local vinegar purveyor.

…especially if you like listening to academic stuff while doing chores, which I do. Great vibes, in-depth discussions, and helps me with my thesis. Thank you guys!

1 star for having to repeat “game studies study buddies” at least twice whenever I recommend it. “Game… studies… study buddies”. Then 4 more stars for how much I like the name. This show is so my jam. I’m a game designer, and it feels very niche, but the increasing depth of the catalog has not only broadened my understanding of games and play, but I can recommend individual episodes to folk when particular topics come up in conversation.

My boys Sweet Michael and Cam are always expanding my mind with interesting discussion and how I think about games in both general and specific ways in regards to design and approach. Also, I’m always doing my part to spread the word about it. I tell everyone to give it a listen because theres topics for everyone. Most recently, I recommended the pod to a cast member of riverdale. Please do a riverdale podcast

I started listening just so I could sound smarter when talking about books I haven’t read, but I actually learned things and read more now!! Wonderful podcast, buddy excited to listen through the backlog!!

So, I've been listening to GSSB since the beginning and today is the day I finally leave a review for this amazing podcast. I know of no greater compliment than this: GSGB is so one-of-a-kind terrific in its fascinating discussions of Game Studies that I, an android listener, just spent 20 minutes recovering my ITunes password and re-installing Itunes just so I could leave a review. I'm middle aged: 20 minutes is a lot of lost time. But sincerely, I have learned so much from these folks that helps me be a better scholar in historical game studies. They will open your perspectives about games! They even are interesting when they digress -- the digressions are that good! Give it a listen!

Books on tape are popular but what if it was a book club on tape and they picked books your aunts have never heard of.

I mean it 😤

my college doesn’t offer any dedicated games studies courses so GSSB has acted as both a preliminary syllabus and an introduction to discourses around the texts that has allowed me to guide my studies from there. great work Cameron and Michael and thanks a bunch.

Truly, what is a podcast if not a lecture you can listen to while doing the dishes. For real though, I appreciate how rigorous the readings are and the approach to the readings! Always great to hear from people who really know their stuff.

Great podcast; sometimes I can even follow what is being discussed! ;) I love listening to specialists speak in jargon, and listening to two PhDs go into fine-grained discussion of the philosophical, social, cultural, and academic implications of a newer field of study is a rare treat. Cameron and Michael are funny and have great chemistry, so even when the particulars go over my head, I still feel like I’m learning via osmosis. Keep it up, my dudes.

i’m mckenzie wark’s daughter so it’s a little odd for me when they mention her but ive always been interested in game studies and this is good as a more-or-less accessible way to learn about it! i also like these guys’ homestuck podcast- it was a comic that was very formative to me as a teen and it’s kind of bizarre to see people.. taking it seriously

It’s good!

i appreciate how this podcast is much cheaper than graduate school and also i don't have to do any of the actual readings. thanks guys.

I’ve been a fan of this podcast since it started and it’s always been a lovely listen. I appreciate how it’s made me re-examine and analyze video games like I’ve never done before. The hosts are wonderful and do a great job breaking down concepts and terms not often seen day to day. Highly recommend!

You’ll never believe how everything comes back to hamlet and how he is on the holodeck

Never expected to come across a podcast that approaches video games from a genuinely academic perspective. Super interesting!

A fantastic resource for anyone who wants to enrich their understanding of video games.

They’re the best around. Nothing ever keeps them down.

Cameron and Michael both excel at explaining and pulling apart the arguments made in the games studies texts they read and discuss on this podcast. I’m not in games studies at all and they make the material engaging and coherent, something the books they pick often struggle to do on their own. try an episode! the episode on Flow is really fascinating as it is apparent that a lot of games people really haven’t engaged with that text at all, while using flow as a buzzword.

As a dropped-out academic it’s been wonderful to have a podcast like this to help use that part of my brain that wraps around theory, history, art and other topics like this. Plus I love the banter between the hosts.

These guys make me wish I had picked an artsier major in college or had gone to Grad School. Deep takes on all kinds of subjects. It’s the only podcast I know of that has to bring up Derrida every single episode (even if I keep forgetting exactly who Derrida is). Somehow they always sneak in a discussion of Shakespeare too. If you’re looking for really interesting views on what gaming and play actually are and mean, this is your podcast.

This is not an exaggeration: this podcast has made me smarter. BIG BRAIN. HUGE BRAIN. Sometimes, I listen to podcasts because they are white noise I can vibe to at work. GSSB is not one of those. I often relisten to segments because it is so dense with knowledge that my mind isn’t able to parse it all at once. That’s the type of thing that makes me realize: Ha ha ha! Ho ho ho! I am learning! I love to learn, and so should we all.

Excellent podcast featuring detailed discussions of game studies books. The two hosts have great chemistry and I find myself laughing and learning in equal measure with every episode. Check it out!

Just some chills dudes talking game studies. Didn’t know it was a thing before this pod. It’s fascinating and illuminating.