Episode 142 - Deck from The Two Vague Podcast

The Two Vague Podcast

Ben Cheknis

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Episode 142 - Deck

1 hour 1 minutes Posted Dec 21, 2025 at 2:21 am.

Norah’s trailer impressions, additional research, and previous deck-builder games

Jumping the gun on describing game mechanics, and various trailer approaches

StarVaders according to the Pengonauts website, and more details the game loop

Mech types, an introduction to DOOM, junk cards, and a tremendous variety

Norah’s question, the mysterious Overseer, level boss diversity, and the true ending

The “grid,” Ben describes some boss encounters, Norah’s brain, and satisfaction

Joystick Ventures, only on Steam for now, like playing chess, and LocalThunk teaser

Introducing game dev Eddie Kai, Ben loves StarVaders, and thanking LocalThunk

Some Rogue Climber talk, unlocking the beach DLC, and getting great reviews

On to the definition, sunbathing, not a baseball guy, and a couple of two-plankers

Skis on ice, no memory of old media, packet of cards or narcotics, and decoration

Old-timey verbs, origin mysteries, and a fictitious deli honors Eddie’s gaming legacy

A sandwich called “The Burger,” rogue-like, defining a game, and playing burgers

Definitions of food items, a Portal into game design, and the narrative condiments

Dead authors, Ben’s burger discussion equivalent, and preferred genres of media

Card collection and tabletop games, and Monopoly—deck builder or engine builder

Extreme specificity, differences in instructional approaches, and being a blacksmith

Art or product, traditional card games, the Star Wars bread, and changing rules

Chopsticks, floating nausea malls, baseball haircuts, and Eddie’s final thoughts

Literally, Parks and Recreation, Ben’s final thoughts, studio names, and Pengo

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Show notes

We have a combo episode for you this week centered around the amazing game StarVaders. In the introduction segment, Ben describes his game experiences to Norah and answers her questions. Spoiler alert: by the end of the conversation she is sold, so now she just needs to get a Steam Deck. In the second segment, Ben showers the StarVaders game designer Eddie with praise before getting into a fascinating discussion about a sandwich-centric philosophical debate on video game design and the odd assortment of definitions for the topic word.

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Pre-show discussion and review of StarVaders with Norah

Interview with Eddie, creator of StarVaders and all-around good guy

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References, Links, and Tags

Check out Pengonauts’ official page and StarVaders on Steam

https://pengonauts.com/

https://star-vaders.com/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2097570/StarVaders/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgEh9mWKrdo

#Podbean #DIYPodcast #ApplePodcast #VideoGames #Trivia #Comedy #Talkshow #2VP #TwoVaguePodcast #PodernFamily #InterviewShow #GamersofThreads #Gamer #PartlyRobot #PartlyRobotIndustries #TeePublic #StarVaders #Pengonauts

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