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[FEEDBACK] Test Pilot for New Indie Recommendation Series (Patreon)

Published:
2025-11-07 16:34:05
Imported:
2025-11

Content

Hey folks!

We've got a new test pilot for you to take a look at and provide feedback on!

You've probably noticed Bytesized has been pretty slow on releases. It's a show we love obviously, but 3 Minute Reviews were primarily run by freelancers back on The Escapist who didn't have other daily responsibilities like the team does on Second Wind now.

So we've struggled with being able to do them as often as we like. If I'm not wrong, the main reason people like them is mostly because they just get to learn about new games, rather than for the actual "review" portion of it.

This is a test pilot for a potential replacement series that prioritizes highlighting new games for you, but in a format that's not super time heavy for us and a bit more free form.

It's a mix of both edited material and unscripted conversation, hopefully mixing the best of Bytesized with what we've occasionally tried with Discovery Queue or Topical Punch, but in a much more digestible format (8 - 10 min).

Give it a watch and we'd love to get some feedback before taking it public on YouTube.

Files

We Recommend Absolum and MotionRec

From the team behind The Escapist, we're excited to introduce you to our new employee-owned and fully independent outlet, Second Wind. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SecondWindGroup Second Wind Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/second-wind https://sharkrobot.com/collections/second-wind

Comments

GayMountainBear

I started playing Dragon's Crown Pro (remaster of an old Vanillaware game) to prepare him to play Absolum. He's been enjoying it, so my hopes are high

noggin-scratcher

Like the format, would agree that a lot of the value is in the simple "this game exists, it's neat". Would suggest aiming for a bit more polish in the presentation of the unscripted portion - felt a noticeable shift of pace at the beginning of Nick's where it went from the scripted statement to more "Umm, uh, this game, like, I think there are..." Solved potentially just by having your thoughts more in order before recording.

GayMountainBear

Oh, yeah. I like the format! Short, informal, and easy to digest what you like and don't like about the game alongside actual gameplay to give a better understanding of why you like it.

Ultraczar

I really like this format. Especially if it means you can do more game coverage with less production cost/time per game. And it would be nice to do a year end staff listing of games they recommend for that year. Even if the lists vary in size.

Abir Vandergriff

The pace of the unscripted section with all the ums and uhs was definite pretty rough to watch through for the first minute or so.

Kai

Me likey. Always a fan of the discussion formats so quick "bytesized" chats (oh ho) like this always work well for me. Not 100% sure about the auto-animated little characters (ZPTubers? eh? eh???), they're a little erratic, maybe some tuning could smooth them out - but I'm sure it wasn't a huge focus for a format test lol. But yeah, I like it. Thumbs up.

Second Wind

Yup. That was more down to Marty and I trying to figure out what this format is like. Do agree the unscripted part could use some editing clean-up and some more structure.

Jason Ferro

I liked bytesized and think this could be a decent substitute. I do wish there was more of a structure to the conversation, there was a lot of "um" and uncertainty in how to continue the conversation. Even something as simple as: intro, what the game does well, questions and comments, what the game struggles with, and finally why it hooked you. Marty did a great job of explaining a lot about the game, I enjoyed that. I'd like the secondary person to ask a couple questions to prompt the main speaker to answer some potential common questions. I would've preferred a more natural transition from Nick between the opening and him talking (though I'm guessing that was the first take, so I don't blame you). I'd be interested to see Jacks take on this format. I can see him opening with "So you really like Hades and other rogue likes, I think you'll enjoy this game" followed by an explanation of why, what the game does well and why it hooked him.

Dread Pirate Mittens

I like it. I think it would be fun if you mixed up the 2 "reviewers" between episodes. Maybe one episode is with Nick and Marty and then the next one is with KC and Jack. Get some uncommon pairings in there.

Samantha Yost

I like it a lot! Seeing the gameplay is the important thing for me on whether or not I know I'll enjoy a game. I think each game could be shorter as well; I had already decided I wanted to to play both of those games by about a minute in, so I think each section could have been about a minute or two shorter and still conveyed the same thing.

Nathaniel Solyn

Good format ; with bytesized I would usually accumulate 5 or 6 of them in my watch later playlist and then unpile them all in a row. On this format I would almost let each individual game prez be shorter if there's not much to say beyond "if you like this, then check this game out, and here are the highlights we liked". Also adding chapters to let us skip ahead to the next game would be nice 🙂

Carson Anderson

I like the idea. I'm not sure the avatars are needed though. Just the names of the reviewers might be enough. I find the animated characters a bit distracting. Also you might want to overlay the name of the game the whole time so we don't have to scroll back in the video to get the name.

Trubie Turner

I know you want to have the post-processing overhead at a minimum, but I do think the discussion portion could use some editing to cut out dialog pauses and the "umm"s and "ah"s. Should help make the discussion feel a bit more "snappy".

shadowscribble

I like the format. And the animated characters help give a vibe it's more like a conversation in the same room and not a glorified podcast snippet.

Second Wind

That is the plan if we move forward with this.

Ryallen

I like the format, putting two people in a "room" so to speak and having them just sort of let loose on their thoughts rather than curating them could lead to more organic conversations. A lot of people are bringing up that you and Marty tended to use a lot of "um" and "ah" during your discussion and while I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, it adds to the organic feel of the video, a good way to mitigate this issue is to have a bullet point list of general discussion topics. Not so much as making sure to bring up graphics, gameplay, etc. every conversation but to sort of make a list of stuff that stuck out to you, like feelings or small design choices, before recording, if that makes any sense

Matthew Parmeter

I'll say the same thing I said in the youtube comments: If this were my show to run, I'd cut it down to what you liked about the game, why you liked it, and what mechanics were cool and/or interesting about the game. Anything more I'd leave in a podcast or other deep-dive format. Keep it sweet and short. Nothing more.

HardRevenge

My parasocial senses are tingling

Blindman

Hey, I like it. If you want to highlight two games, I think each should be given equal time. The animated characters were a nice touch, good with it if everyone gets a little avatar. Finally and this may just be a me thing, either say both prices at the start or the end. I was wondering if the second game was free or not. As for a name I liked Bytesized maybe keep the byte like 2-byte games?

Damien Lawardorn

I like having the dialogue between team members in a snacky format, but agree with a lot of the other comments that the conversation needs a little tightening, a little structure to pep it up. Maybe a bit of attention to the transition between the games. That felt really abrupt. I also appreciate having the animated characters on screen. Ties it to the channel personality.

Jeremy Claybrook

i liked it, just need some polishing up dialogue wise, i.e less uhhh and umms and more of a true back and forth

Nidarom

I like it, I agree with some of what has already been said. I like the dialogue back and forth, but do think it would benefit from a little more structure. Not an entire script or anything, just having bullet points to go down as you go over what you like/dislike about the game. And for what it's worth I like the ZP/AiN style avatars in this, it gives it a distinguished Second Wind brand feel. If it was just Nick and Marty on camera, it would feel like I'm watching more of a Livestream highlight reel. One question I have is, why group both of these together in one video instead of two separate videos? I don't mind it either way, but was curious to know how that's decided.

Kieran is King

If this does go ahead, Playback feels like a nice (if very retro) name for it.

Omer Hagai

Yes! I love this format

PatentPending

I like it! I think the concept of a 5min 'show and tell' is a good one. Personally I'd prefer webcam over animated avatars for this kind of off-the-cuff conversation, but from the other comments it sounds like I'm in the minority on that.

TooManySpreadsheets

I like the casual format of this, and if it's less work-intensive than Bytesized for y'all to produce, then I'm in favor. I'm also in favor of just focusing on why you like each game, rather than going through a standard checklist of features.

Mopman43

The conversation was a little stilted, especially at the start, but overall this worked well. For the name: Something like 'Watercooler Recs', trying to capture how this is the sort of game chatter you'd have around the stereotypical workplace watercooler?

Matthew McGuire

Here's an idea... you have two basic cases, reviewing a game and previewing a game. All your full length review shows have the review part covered for you. So you don't need to touch anything on that side. You are however drowning on the preview side in the overabundance of games to preview. So how about this... keep 3 Minute Reviews and Hey, Have you Seen This shorts, as something that Indie devs can use to work with advertising their games via your channel. That let's them handle the content while you handle the distribution side of it. Have them pick from a stable of potential freelancers you have on tap for that sort of thing. Then curate those rather than produce them. That gives you the best of both worlds. Now about the format above... this isn't bad. It's a mid point between a teaser like the 3MR or a HYST provides. That could work, but I think any schedule you set for it is going to run into the same basic issue. The team is already stretched a touch thin to add another regular release. The simplified format helps a lot though and is honestly better than the previous variation. Using the AiN character style for avatars is an excellent decision as well. That will let some of your more camera shy peeps participate more if they have an avatar to use. All that said, if you could somehow blend the two ideas above so as to distribute the workload somewhat it could end up being a sustainable Preview show of sorts. For example, entry level the Indie picks a freelancer to do the bit. Then for premium level, the indie gets a video with the new casual format. Food for thought. PS: I don't know why people don't use Preview for non-spoiler coverage, and Review for spoilerific coverage. The word is right there! :-)

Dan McAlister

I actually am most interested in the review component of the Bytesized videos, so I’d be sad to see that go. Still, glad to see y’all are experimenting and hope you land on something that feels more manageable.

JC

Like the format - would love to see this :) - it's a bit rough around the edges due to the conversational nature - some minor editing for brevity would be good - It's s short-form format, so let's keep to the tldr : "it's a rogue lite fighting game with elements from a and b, and combat like c" - unless it's doing something really unique which warrants a discussion. - what makes this game stand out to you guys, and why should i buy it? story / art / unique mechanics ? - chapters - that way i can get the tldr in the first 30s, and if I know this game's not for me i can skip to the next game

Ando

This was fine. I think the idea of covering multiple games is a good one. I always look forward to videos like the NextGen recaps where the team hit many games, so changing Bytesize to a multi-game review show is good. Heck, I would be happy with a regular many-game quick-hit roundup like those NextGen recaps. Don't need to get too in-depth: some visuals, what the game is, what works for you and what doesn't. TBQH, I could take or leave the conversation part - it was alright, and getting a good mix of team-members could keep it fresh. However, this sort of chat feels like something that is already well-served by the long-form shows/podcasts, and I suspect it might also limit the games you can bring as it will only work /well/ if both participants have played the game.

Klisstoriss

Great to see you going at it with a new format. I feel like it may be a bit lenghty for a preview format, but I'm guessing that with some light editing, and without Nick's intro and outro telling us about the testing phase, it'll be tighter. I know YT is gonna maybe screw you if the video is too short? If that's a concern, would it be possible to condense the discussion and to do more than 2 games at a time? Kinda like your NextFest recommendations, or your demos recap that go longer I think? I don't know how well these performed for the channel but I personnally loved them. I realize I'm contradicting myself, saying that it feels too long, but maybe you should do more games too at the same time. And this comes from the fact that I absolutely love the rapid fire way of showing us several games for those other videos tied to demo releases or sales event on steam, but I also adore the feeling that I'm listening to a snippet of the Firelink podcast, when you talk about the games you played this week. So finding a balance for the viewers and the algo would be ideal, but I'd personnally welcome, for the video format, a more condensed & maybe edited conversation, and going up a game or two for keeping the format a bit long.

Second Wind

Yea there won't be as long as a preamble for the next one. I think we'll condense the introduction to be introducing both games at the front, and then going straight to the discussion with a short transition between the two. We wanna hit the 8-10 min mark on these as that'll generate additional ad revenue for them. So, we'll probably keep the same length, but we'll add in chapters so you can easily get to which game you want to hear about.

Second Wind

With the discussion format we are targeting our core audience which doesn't really partake in the livestreams or podcasts, so unless we go back to scripting those full segments, which would defeat the purpose of the format, we will be sticking with that! Appreciate the feedback!

ben kay

Love it, highlighting indies is always welcome. There's so many cool and quirky games that deserve some spotlight. The conversational roughness of it all has charm and fits the theme, but I wouldn't mind a bit more focus either : )

Antiphar

The unscripted conversation is exactly what I like to hear from you guys. this is a perfect way to hear about stuff I might not get elsewhere. I hope this one is the winning formula!

Tristan

Admittedly I did like bytesized mostly to discover new games. But the problem is I can pretty much immediately tell when a game isn’t for me, and that’s true well over half the time. So what’s left to keep me watching? I like hearing your opinions, but patience wears out pretty quickly when I know I will never play the game regardless. This format feels too long to me.

Wilhelm Svenselius

What I liked: Reviews or hints for games I might want to play is one of the types of content I come to SW for, so seeing more of it is obviously something I welcome. I like the idea of spotlighting a few games in a short, digestible format. I also like the conversational format. What I didn't like: For a short and digestible format 8-10 minutes is actually a bit too long for my liking. I think you could cut this to 4-5 minutes and I would still get the same amount of value out of it. Just make sure your conversation stays on topic and apply some light editing if necessary.

karl

My view is similar to already mentioned ones: I like that you show new games I never heard of before and shortly present what makes them great. A quick go over what impressed you and why you recommend it. Maybe something that could be always included for the games are dealbreakers or things that might put people off. Not to go fully negative, but to give us a better view on if we could like it or not. Like the "functional but basic story" for Absolum. Regarding the discussion: if it makes it easier for you to produce, I'm not against it. But it needs to be around the game and needs to feel natural. If you plan to make a short and concise presentation for each game, then all that time should be focused on the game (like the part about its music composers), not on the history of beatemups, that is better to enjoy in the podcasts. Somehow the first part for Absolum felt a bit forced to me, maybe its just the left in pauses. The second part about MotionRec had a better flow to it. For the 8-10 minute mark, maybe it would be good to present 3 games, depending on how much you can talk about each. As another commentator mentioned, I also like your Steam NextFest videos, those are exactly the kind of video I want to see for released indie games as well, which are not big enough to get a full video by themselves.

Nathan Ehlers

This felt like two bytesized/3mr vids glued together. I love the idea. I actually picked up both games because of this vid. I haven't heard of them before. Maybe if you're going for a 10 minute format, you should do more games like the digests you do out of the major conventions?

Matt L.

I prefer the shorter reviews - I don't need 10 minutes to be sold on a game. I just need to know that it exists, and what about it is good or interesting. So maybe this idea but just a less-scripted 3-5 minutes?

Jeffrey

I like the format of 2 of you talking about the game. I would like the game title to persist on the screen so that when i realize I like it i don't have to rewind the video (or reshow it at the end). I would also like another line or two to try to sell the game before breaking into the freeform. I also agree that the freeform is a little too long.

Bj Last

I like the short format. I thought discuss of the 2nd game worked better because it was more focused on the game vs. history of the genre. I think Nick not being familiar with the game at all helped drive that. Might be interesting to structure the discussion a little where 1 person gives the short structured pitch/overview and then it is 2nd person asking 1 - 3 questions that come to mind about it.