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Podcasts similar to Idle Thumbs

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After about 7 months of binge listening to Idle Thumbs I have finally caught up to present day.

This has left me with a dilemma. When binge listening to Idle Thumbs, I would typically do so durning long bus rides, while playing games, or while programming. Now that I am done, I have nothing else to listen to. I could listen to music, but when a task is not super engaging, I prefer a podcast over music.

Are there any other podcasts you thumbs would recommend? Preferably with the same poop joke to intellectual discussion ratio?

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The non-specific purely gaming podcasts I listen to other than Idle Thumbs are Video Games Hot Dog (literally as close to Idle Thumbs as you can get, what with them being recorded in the same office) and the Giant Bombcast.

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Daft Souls is also good. It isn't about Dark Souls. Even though the host occasionally opens the show by saying its the Dark Souls podcast. 

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They probably won't all be similar to Idle Thumbs, but just in case you missed this thread there are loads of recommendations in there.

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I like Daft Souls, but I feel that sometimes Matt isn't as intelligent as he'd like to be, and that his points maybe aren't that well considered or constructed, and that they don't go into as deep an analysis as I'd like them too. Saying that though, I do really like the podcast, and Matt is a lovely guy.

 

I also really like the Bit Socket podcast. Really funny show with two scottish hosts. It's really funny.

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I'll second the Video Games Hot Dog recommendation, it's quite funny, and the hosts have a perspective on games and game development that's pretty unique. Three of the hosts work on a mostly text-based browser mmo that has been running since 2003 and still makes enough money to employ a handful of people. The fourth host is the guy that made Frog Fractions. 

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The 2012 Bombcasts are packed to the gills with conversation about stuff that isn't video games

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I think I recommended it in the thread above, but the closest podcast I know of that is like idle thumbs and about video games (but not that close since Idle Thumbs is so unique) is One Life Left. Ste plays a lot of chiptune, and some of the segments are very cheesy (but they are short)

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I like Daft Souls, but I feel that sometimes Matt isn't as intelligent as he'd like to be, and that his points maybe aren't that well considered or constructed, and that they don't go into as deep an analysis as I'd like them too. Saying that though, I do really like the podcast, and Matt is a lovely guy.

 

I agree. I don't think it's necessarily that Matt isn't intelligent, because it's hard as hell to tell that just from hearing someone talk with their friends for half an hour, but I definitely feel that he shares the same mentality and tendencies as his friends (and increasingly collaborators) at Shut Up & Sit Down, insofar as having a good time is the most important thing about a game (and most worthy of discussion) and a deeper critique is only necessary if you feel like you should be having a good time but aren't. The terrible (lack of) discussion about Papers Please a few episodes ago is a great example of this in action. I don't have a real problem with advocacy being the primary goal of a critical work, but it definitely keeps that work from being too high in my stable.

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My favorite thing about Matt is that when he gets really focused he can tell an amazing story in which I completely lose myself.

 

My least favorite thing about Matt is that he so very very rarely achieves this.

 

The best Matt story I've encountered was on Regular Features (the comedy podcast he does with frequent Daft Souls guests Steve, Gav, and Log, or at least some combination of two of them). And it really wasn't that funny. But it was about a game! One of those live-actor games where you're part of the show but aren't allowed to talk and you follow people around, and man the way he told that story.

 

Still, I love Daft Souls a lot a lot, as Some People know. I agree that it doesn't dive as deep as Idle Thumbs can, but that's part of why I like it.

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Still, I love Daft Souls a lot a lot, as Some People know. I agree that it doesn't dive as deep as Idle Thumbs can, but that's part of why I like it.

 

Yeah, I love Daft Souls a lot, too. It's my favorite gaming-related podcast after Idle Thumbs (undisputed for second place ever since Isometric took a nosedive off of my list). I just feel like Matt himself has some big weaknesses when talking about games, which doesn't keep him from fostering conversation and getting good guests.

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Already recommended, but I'll throw another vote in for Crate & Crowbar. It's quite good and has a very similar feel to Idle Thumbs, although the hosts talk over each other much less.

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