2025's scariest game recreates the site of a real tragedy (Piotr Surmacz) (Patreon)

I was stunned when I first saw Cave Crave, a VR game in which the player squeezes through dark tunnels, the gaps so tight that the character must hold their breath, causing red light to pulse. As your virtual lungs empty, you see the blood vessels in your eyes

To my surprise, the dark, suffocating caves of Cave Crave were just the beginning of both its terror and its depth.

This week on Post Games: A trip into a real cave that became a tomb

Act 1: The game that traps you in a dark, tight hole

Act 2: Recreating the infamous Nutty Putty Cave

Patreon Bonus: A history of the Steam Machine and the “living room” PC

Act 3: News of the week

[Edit note: At the end of the episode, I mention a Patreon bonus segment about AI and reviews. I scrapped that section to produce and prioritize the history of the Steam Machine following its announcement.]

Act 1: The game that traps you in a dark, tight hole

Cave Crave (Steam)

This One Hits Different! Cave Crave Review on Quest 3 & PSVR2 (Gamertag VR)

The 4 Types of Players | Bartle Taxonomy of Player Types | How to Design Games  (Fomo Ludens)

Cave Crave Review – Father Of The Year (Nerdy Bird Games)

Cave Crave Review: All The Thrills Of Cave Exploration, Minus The Danger (UploadVR)

Act 2: Recreating the infamous Nutty Putty Cave

You can explore Nutty Putty Cave again — but only in virtual reality (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Nutty Putty Cave accident: How John Jones got stuck and never came out. (The Salt Lake Tribune)

15 years after a man died in the Nutty Putty Cave, his family and rescuers still struggle to escape the darkness (KTVZ21)

Caver trapped forever | The Nutty Putty Tragedy (Fatal Breakdown)

The Last Descent - Official Theatrical Trailer (Excel Ent)

A Virtual Tour of the Nutty Putty Cave with Caver/Rescuer Brandon Kowallis (Brandon Kowalis)

Exploring NUTTY PUTTY Cave In VR! (JustinWiebVR)

Patreon bonus: A history of the Steam Machine and the “living room” PC

Steam Hardware Announcement (YouTube)

Hands-On With Steam Machine: Valve's Beautiful PC/Console - Specs, Impressions And More (Digital Foundry)

We play with the Steam Machine, Valve's game console of the future - 2013 (The Verge)

Gabe Newell Isn’t Really Here (Polygon)

Xbox is screwed (Polygon)

Valve enters the console wars (The Verge)

Valve's Next-Gen Steam Machine and Steam Controller — the Big Interview (IGN)

Act 3: News of the week

Valve's Steam Frame VR Headset: Hands-On + Impressions, Specs + Tech Breakdown (Digital Foundry)

The Steam Frame is a surprising new twist on VR (The Verge)

Rockstar's controversial dismissal of 31 employees is such a big deal, it's made its way to UK Parliament (Eurogamer)

220 Rockstar staff sign letter to management calling for "immediate reinstatement" of fired workers (RPS)

The Rockstar Workers Fired Before They Could Finish GTA 6 (People Make Games)

Egging On (Steam)

This week in video game links

‘We were effectively props’: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’ (The Guardian)

The Art Of Playing The Damn Video Game (Aftermath)

What Did Men Do to Deserve This? (New Yorker)

When Xbox 360 Helped Me Grieve My Dad (I Was Lost) (My Retro Life)

Playdate Update #8: 11/06/25 (Panic)

The Workers Fired Before They Could Finish GTA 6 (People Make Games)

John's 2000s Retro PC Set-Up Is Becoming A Cultural Icon (DF Clips)

Pentiment's medieval setting remains the perfect backdrop for a detective tale focused on faith and truth (Gamesradar) 

Lumines Arise is the cure for our cynical world (Polygon)

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond delivers the series' trademark gameplay in spades, but I fear one very annoying addition might derail the whole thing (Eurogamer)

Free game of the week: Tiny Mario

From the itch.io description: "Besides the challenge of creating a game in a 4 x 100 pixel scene with no color and limited characters, this time I wanted something more difficult. So, Tiny Mario reimagines the classic Super Mario Bros as a side-scroller with a low-fi, text-rendered style. Your goal is to collect the most coins and reach the flag while avoiding pits and enemies before time runs out. Again, the rendering mainly uses Unicode Braille cells (e.g., ⠤ ⠥). But now, the player can move in all directions, even going down to an underworld through one of the “pipes.” (Via Warpdoor)

What else I’m enjoying

Death of the Author: An Alan Wake Series Retrospective (Noah Caldwell-Gervais)

Stinking, Spongy, Dark, Huge: A Spider Web Unlike Any Seen Before (NYTimes)

What's the deal with the filibuster? (Jamelle Bouie)

53 maps that explain the Midwest (Phil Edwards)

PREDATOR - Original Suit with Jean-Claude Van Damme (Stan Winston School)

From Portal to Predator | Dan Trachtenberg Breaks Down His Most Iconic Shots (CineFix)

Guillermo del Toro on the Origins of Film Noir (Criterion)

if Korn wrote "SOMEDAY" by Sugar Ray (mac glocky)

An Edgar Wright interview (Talk Easy)