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Submit Your Question (And Something That's Always Fun) For The MinnMax Show Podcast (Patreon)

Published:
2026-07-14 19:14:41
Imported:
2026-08
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Content

This week for community questions on the podcast, we'll have Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and special returning guest Kyle Bosman. It's your turn to make the show better by leaving a question, news story, BetterQuest goal, or anything else for us to read on the show as a comment below! We’ll choose our favorite and iam8bit will ship out the great prize below for the winner! We'll stop pulling questions around 8am Central on Wednesday.

On this week’s episode we’ll be talking about...

The Big List Of Things That Are Always Fun In Games (Please submit your own!)

Denshattack!

Realm of Ink

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Everybody at the Backstage Pass tier can watch us record the show live on Wednesday at 1:30pm Central, with an exclusive pre and post show. The unedited archive will be available to view after the fact. You could do us a favor by subscribing to the audio version of the podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, telling a friend, leaving a review, and subscribing to our YouTube channel!

https://apple.co/3lRbzbE

https://www.youtube.com/minnmax

You can also find the Alien Isolation item for sale in iam8bit’s online store, and you can use the promo code SUMMERDAZE for 10% off everything under $100. Psst… please don’t post that promo code anywhere else on the internet. It’s a MinnMax-exclusive thing. https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/all

Files

Comments

Neal McMahon

Hey MinnMax, Over the years, video game graphics have improved in so many different ways. If you had to rank them from best to worst, what areas do you think developers have truly mastered, and which ones still need the most work going forward? For example, I feel like we’ve basically nailed snow and water effects at this point. Games like Horizon Forbidden West also make me think foliage, trees, and plant life are getting very close to photorealistic. On the other hand, one area that still stands out to me is hair. Even in great-looking games, hair can still look unnatural or behave oddly. How would you rank the major graphical elements from “solved” to “still needs improvement”?

Travis in Fargo

What all would you plan for your own wake and funeral?

Bill

Something that is always fun in games is forcing enemies to hit each other with their own attacks. e.g. Dishonored using time stop to position enemies in front of their own bullets, Heat Signature swapping with an enemy as they shoot at you, Tactical Breach Wizards and Into the Breach pushing enemies into each other's paths. What makes this mechanic so fun?

MakeItUnclear

Controversial opinion, but I think sliding around on ice is the most fun thing you can do in a game. Snow/ice levels are my favorites by a mile because of all the unique physics.

Owen S

Always fun: Good vehicle destruction

Bob Buel

Always Fun: Hitting the 9999 damage cap in an attack. Question: what’s your favorite type of toothpick? Frilly? Umbrella? Those little plastic swords?

Travis in Fargo

Would you rather have to say “hell yeah, 69!” anytime you saw the number 6 or 9 OR explain your stance on the Oxford comma anytime someone asks how you’re doing, or how it’s going?

Fancygraham

What game has the most inviting box art yet is incredibly difficult? It’s gotta be Tunic, right? Thing that is always fun: climbing up something high and jumping/gliding off. Probably my favourite game to do that in is a Short Hike.

Steve Bellegarde

Hey MinnMax, Something’s that’s always fun is unlocking a cool outfit/weapon/item for completing all of a certain quest line or collectible. My question is what is your favorite example of this. Mine is the special robes you can get for completing all the tomes in Assassin’s creed 2.

Volunder

Parrying! yummy

Thom Blackburn

Thing that's always fun in games: physics What game has the best "cautionary tale"?

Aging_Poorly

I thought Ben and the cohorts’ horror and devastation regarding the Xbox layoffs last week was a great listen, and I’m also quite bummed for everyone affected. But I feel like last week’s conversation, and those like it, are incomplete without a discussion of how the problem can realistically be solved. Some sobering numbers here: Jason Scherier reports that the average overhead for a AAA studio, per employee, including salary, benefits, taxes, office space, etc., is $15-20,000 per month. I have no reason to doubt Jason, and additionally, this matches my own experience advising companies in similar industries. Taking the low end of that $15-20,000 range, and taking a studio like Arcane Lyons, which has approximately 225 employees, per publicly available data… that means that Arkane Lyons spends just over $*40million* per year on salaries. That used to work in a world when AAA games were developed relatively quickly. If Arkane Lyons takes 6 years to make Blade, that means that they must realize $*243million dollars* in sales to pay for their employees’ salaries accrued over development time. Nearly a quarter *billion* dollars. And that’s just salaries alone. That does not take into account other non-salary costs associated with running a studio, which can be tens of millions per year, and does not include any amount that Arkane Lyons would have to pay Disney for the rights to the Blade IP. Look. I’m largely against every major decision Xbox and Microsoft have made in the last decade. But Asha Sharma is right. This cannot continue. Arkane cannot take 6 years with 225 employees to develop Blade. The math simply doesn’t math. While big-budget Rockstar and Naughty Dog hits of the world can hope to hurdle a quarter billion dollars, the vast, vast majority of AAA studio games cannot even dream of realizing that much after expenses. So the question is: what does the AAA side of the industry do to save itself? And the answer can’t be “nothing”, because the status quo clearly isn’t working. Must we have quicker development times, even if that means crunch? Is the answer smaller or leaner or uglier games from most AAA studios? Is it significantly smaller salaries and benefits per employee? Or fewer employees? Or fewer games? Or some combination? Is AAA simply too risky for all but a very few developers?

Matt West

Always fun: Spinning.

Ampex

Top 8 favorite fun things in no particular order: 1. Instant restart button during a time trial 2. Objects on screen moving to the beat of the soundtrack 3. Chaining traversal abilities together to reach a platform 4. Tactile feeling interactions with (preferably retrofuturistic) objects 5. When information usually conveyed by UI is delivered in-world or through audio 6. Ridiculously big chapter title cards or location names when entering a new area 7. Parrying something that makes no physical sense and would have absolutely obliterated you if you had missed the timing 8. Becoming overpowered in the final 5 minutes before the end credits and exacting retribution upon the enemies that have been bullying you throughout the entire game up to this point

Blazingscourge

An all destructible room. DK Bananza really cornered the market on that activity but any time when going to a room or area that has little to no purpose beyond breaking stuff is just pure serotonin.

Travis in Fargo

Of everything you’ve ever learned, do you think you’ve forgotten or retained more information?

Nate Voris

If you had a band and the band name had to be a version of "[your name] & the [blanks]" what would your band name be?

Tarje Hellebust Jr.

Hey from Norway! As someone who just recently and subsequently watched both seasons of Nirvanna the band the show, does the panel have any similar recommendations to shows or other media that scratch the same itch (insert car honk sound effect)? Thanks and hope you guys have a great summer!

Piet van Rosmalen

Thing that’s always fun: discovering a small, seemingly insignificant cave entrance that suddenly opens up into a huge dungeon. I’m playing Hell is Us right now, and I keep stumbling across these.

Tortolia

Gamers often find out about interesting or new games from streams or podcast coverage, but how about the reverse? Are there games you have discovered or played based on community discussions and "What are you playing" type polls of those following your work?

MeatCastle GameWare

I believe almost no one would be able to name or identify an ocarina without the existence and popularity of "Ocarina of Time." What's another otherwise rare or obscure item (at least within your culture) that you can only easily recognize now thanks to playing a video game?

Lucas S

Hi MinnMax What is one game you think would be a better experience if you removed all combat from it completely? Would you replace the combat with a different mechanic?

Noah

I'll say it, grappling hooks or anything equivalent is always fun. Great for traversal as well as combat!

PhillyYeetSteak

Something that is always fun is when you are in a car and can press a button to jump. Hey Minnmax & Mr. Bosman, We get a ton of legacy sequels in film but not as much in games. Why is this, and what are the best examples of legacy sequels in games?

Daniel May

I have something that's always fun in games which I want to know your favorite of: what are some of your favorite musical related moments in gaming? This can be as simple as the games' soundtrack/song during a particular moment (one of my favorites is "The Only Thing They Fear is You" from Doom), to incorporating music into the gameplay (a la Guitar Hero), to even how something gaming related used a particular song relevant to the source material (I Really Want to Stay at Your House from CyberPunk EdgeRunners) etc..

Jacob Mazanowski

With the gaming news being so negative, it’s hard to listen to gaming podscasts because I just get sad by the overwhelming amount of negative vibs. I still like to stay informed but try not overdue how much I take in and listen per topic. I.e. when the news is bad, I listen to you but skip KFGD or GB pods for when they go over the topic. Do your numbers go up or down when the gaming news seems consistently bad week to week?

Frostphorus

Always fun: the ability to boop, kick, push, or fus-ro-dah people off cliffs

itdontmatter

I'm going to go on a cross country trip from East to West in the USA and besides Skyline Chili and THE Pocahontas County Iowa Kaleidoscope Parks, what else should I hit up?

Pelicanman

A grappling hook is always fun in games. I defy you to name one where it isn’t. A grappling hook would also improve virtually every open-world game.

tbird5000

FLYING IS ALWAYS FUN. BUILDING FORTS- ALSO ALWAYS FUN.

Travis in Fargo

I take a certain sense of satisfaction when I see celebrity gossip, like a famous couple splitting up, and I have no idea who either of them are. What’s something you’re glad to be “out of the loop” on?

Jacob Mazanowski

Kyles GI airport gaming lounge video got me thinking. What are good games to pick up and play on a Public or friend’s console? Solo and/or multiplayer

DeRR1ck19

Always fun in games: PROXIMITY CHAT!!

SlyCut

Hello all, Something that is always fun in a competitive multiplayer game is getting accused of cheating/hacking. What a compliment!

Jump On Everything

Here's something that's always fun, demos!Have you ever enjoyed the demo for a game more than you enjoyed the full game? I love Resident Evil 4 remake but I was absolutely hooked on the chainsaw demo they released before the full launch.

Wajora

Something that's always fun for me is movement momentum! If you put ways to build and keep momentum in your game I'll probably have a great time with it. This is of course especially important for (3D) platformers but even in games where movement isnt the focus it always enhances the experience for me like bunny hopping in source games or dashing and sliding around in Cyberpunk

resnet

Always Fun: dyeing clothes and armors! Question: Hi MinnMax! What's your favorite beverage to have while watching sport? I've been knocking down bottles of Germany's own Fritz Cola while watching the World Cup.

BigTony

Do you put your peanut butter spoon in the jelly jar or do you put your jelly spoon in the peanut butter jar? You only have one spoon.

Kyle Silva

With 6-7 being the most popular meme of last year, it made me think about how memes related to numbers just have more staying power. 69, 420, Over 9000, “9+10=21” If you had to pick a number to defame so you can be internet famous, what number would you pick and how might you make it a meme?

Michael Leone

MinnMax, Thanks for the always excellent content! What video-game activity has the highest fun-to-misery ratio between doing it in a game and doing it in real life? I’ll happily spend an hour organizing an RPG inventory, but packing for a weekend trip makes me resent the entire concept of possessions.

JessHawk

Doing extra damage to an enemy, whether it's a headshot, a weak spot, or a critical hit. More damage then usual always feels good and is more fun....unless it's pokémon and you KO a Pokémon you're trying to catch. Nothing quite like finding a flaw in your case as you're saying it, also always fun 🙃

Infinite

My question and my fun thing are the same: Trying to find a game to buy/rent, picking one based on how cool the cover art is, and falling madly in love with it. For me, it was Grandia II, what games have the cohorts picked and loved just based on the cover art?

saibher (cyber)

Always Fun: when you can ride or drive in action/shooter games (like titans in Titanfall, warthogs in halo, jets in Battlefield, Palamute in MH Rise, Yoshi in Super Mario) Question: the Pew Pew Bang girlies got stranded on a deserted island and then escaped. In this straight to DVD sequel, its the BOYS TRIP! - What gimmicky danger is on the island for the sequel? (Dinosaurs, zombies, storms, twisted SAW-esque Survivor challenges? All of the above?) - How would Ben, Jacob, Kyle & Kyle survive? - who would get eaten first?

PoorAndCurly

Spider-Man's web swinging. It was fun in 2004 and it was still fun in 2023.

L Stockler

Always fun: Leveling up! Question: What is a niche subgenre of games/books/movies that always get you? For example, the niche subgenre "grumpy man with child in danger" for Last of Us or Logan or "black man with racist inlaws" for Shrek 2 or Run!.

Jonathan McDonald

something that is always fun in games: breaking pots or other enviromental objects. Throwing clay pots in zelda games, shooting crates and computers in goldeneye, toppling lawn jockeys or garbage cans in paperboy, and their modern equivalents.

Travis in Fargo

What do you think makes certain sounds or types of music inherently creepy or suspenseful? Like in a biological, evolutionary sense?

Richard Hayes

Recall the last movie you watched and the last video game you played. In an alternate reality, the movie you watched instead becomes a video game you played, and the video game becomes a movie you watched. In this alternate reality, which one did you like more the movie or the game?

nerd

Something that is always fun is breaking everything in an area. Like boxes and vases. Question What's a book you have read that you would like to turn into a video game?

Richard Hayes

Something always fun in games: having an epiphany

McCracKenway

It’s always fun when enemies fall to their death. Whether you throw them off, or dodge their charge, or break something they’re standing on, if they fall, and then they’re done, it’s very satisfying. Extra points if it’s a boss and it ends the fight. If an enemy doesn’t die, like in some recent assassins creed games, it’s always a disappointment.

Swansonge

I really appreciated Ben and Janet discussing the World Cup on Bonus Pod a few weeks ago, as I have also been swept up in the cup fever. If video games could have their own World Cup, what games do you think would be the best for a team-oriented, bracketed style competition? What country would be your fantasy pick to win?

Michael Nickley

Hi MinnMax: Dual Kyles Edition, What’s the most outlandish room you would genuinely enjoy adding to your home if given unlimited budget and legal free rein? I think I’d have to install an aviary full of ridiculous tropical birds.

Arturo Perez

Hi Minnmax! What is your take on the aphorism "if buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing"? Do you sail the seas some times? have a great day ps. If I could, I would download a house

Chris Gillar

On last week’s show Ben referred to Janet as the “mirror” cohort. It got me thinking, what are the rest of the cohorts’ monikers (a la fullmetal alchemist)?

Nathan Ryer

Hey MinnMax! Who is the greatest heroine from either a horror game, film, or book? (The correct answer is Shanoa from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia but there are plenty of good runner ups) Also, using a whip is always fun in games. (Castlevania, Mina the Hollower, Indiana Jones, etc.)

Juniper Cain

Hi all! Are there any game franchises that just aren't 'supposed' to look graphically impressive to you? I've been enjoying the AC: Black Flag remake, but perhaps because I tended to play these sorts of open world collectathons growing up, some odd part of me keeps getting caught off guard, like this Sort Of Thing isn't meant to look all pretty and modern.

Kanchilla

Always fun - swinging a melee weapon in midair

J.Vaso

It's always fun to run on something that isn't the ground (wall, ceiling, etc.) If a gommage-like event happened but instead of ages the paintress eliminated everyone with a specific first name, what name do you think would take the longest for people to notice?

downwithfun

Always fun: hitting a perfect counter/parry Question: I've recently started playing Okami for the first time after hearing how great it is for the last two decades. There's a lot to like in the early goings aesthetically, but I'm surprised by how rough the pacing is with Not-Navi chiming in every five seconds to tell you extremely obvious hints or the worst flavor text in the game (why are they horny?) and it has me thinking about how rough the new Ocarina of Time remake might be if it is a 1:1 recreation with all its systems and gameplay. My question is, why did nobody tell me Okami had this character? Just kidding, the actual question is: who is the most annoying companion character you can think of?

Sky Fellowship

Part shoutout and part question, I'm visually impaired and never ever get good screens, purely from a cost standpoint. But for my birthday this year, purely because of Ocarina Of Time being remade, I finally got my dream setup. Getting 1 QD-OLED for PC/consoles and 1 Ultrawide WOLED monitor for PC/4K Movies The litany of tech issues I have encountered as a result of setting all this up and making sure my PC and my consoles played nice, truly was a ton of effort, made way waaay easier by the MinnMax community, I truly cannot thank everyone enough for all the support in the discord. Appreciate all of y'all 💚💜 Which brings me to my question, when you upgrade something for the pretty side of things, be it a new graphics card or monitor/TV, what's your goto? Do you go straight to a new game you've been holding off playing until you could experience it in all its new glory? Or jump into your favourites to see the glow up? While I wanted these for Ocarina, it isn't out yet so I've been jumping from game to game to game before finally settling on Alan Wake 2 as my first replay and wow! Just, wow!

Rayme C Vinson

Hey folks, A decade or so ago there was a flash game where you could play through Super Mario Bros as Mario or one of many other NES characters - who all kept their sprites & moves from their own games. You could be a Contra guy, Simon Belmont, Megaman, and others, making your way through 1-1 and more. (EDIT: found it! https://www.smbgames.be/smb-crossover.php ) So. From any era, what playable protagonists would you like to play in which game worlds? DK & Pauline from Bananza in Dark Souls? Ezio in GTA? Hornet in NSMB2?

matteo

Something that’s always fun Not in games: getting a big group of friends together in the dark to play manhunt

Caleb Edwards

Always Fun: Cutting grass in games, think Zelda (2D especially) or farming games. Question: What are some brands or names of things that have a hidden double meaning that took you forever to figure out. Embarassingly, I realized why MinnMax (Min with two N’s) is named that way, both for min maxing your build in a game AND that the MINN is short for Minnesota! Another example is Grinding Gear Games (GGG) that makes Path of Exile, its logo shows gears grinding together, but it’s also the core concept of the POE games where you grind for better gear.

LivingZombie00

Have any of you ever thought about "remastering" an older video idea that you had before you had the audience for said idea?

Wajora

Imagine this: After GDQ ended and the world saw it's first completion of Sekiro Jacob % the speedrunning hype is at an all time high and you are now in charge of curating a list of little speedrun challenges for a "Nintendo World Championships NES Edition" style game. What system would you choose and what levels or setpieces would you include?

Christian Jimenez

Hi: Always fun: digging a hole! Did you see the Digger trailer with Tom Cruise?

Michael Berry

I recently saw Backrooms and I loved it. There is something fascinating to me about something being infinite but indoors, endless but claustrophobic, that really gets my brain doing backflips. Portal 2 and Stanley's Parable are a few of my all time favorite games and they similarly scratch that itch in my brain. If you had to pick of these universes to be stuck in, Backrooms, Portal, or Stanley Parable, which one would you choose to endure?

Douglas Bryant

What's your biggest food hear-me-out? Something that's always fun in games is running into a waterfall to discover there is a secret cave behind it, I would go so far to say that you make the base of the waterfall somewhere the player can reach, and you decide not to put a cave behind it, you should be tried at the Hague.

Neil Brown

The most fun you can have in any videogame is when you ragdoll. It can turn any frustrating moment into a silly time with the right ragdolling. Question: What's yalls go to recipe for a potluck? Got any secret recipe that blows away the competition?

NateDogg

Something that’s always fun is shooting or parrying a bomb into a boss’ mouth. They chew it, or look like they ate something terrible, it explodes and they turn red and smoke comes out of their nose: perfect.

Brandon Ray

Always fun: wall running

BearCommando

Something that is always fun in games is jumping off the top of a waterfall and splashing into the water below!

K-Ham

From me: a character that levitates instead of walks From my partner: finding a chest behind a waterfall!

Jack Tillman

Hi MinnMax! Went to my first GDQ last week, after years of forgetting to buy a ticket - it was a blast. MinnMax meet-up next year? I am not a speedrunner but I love watching them (and I saw Gellar Done Quick streaming today!) - my question is if you woke up magically with speedrunning ability, what game would you speedrun?

thejjuan1

Can we get a pissy zone segment for Kyle Bosman. For DK Bananza not being on the two tens 2025.

aaaChandler

I think everyones first thought will be rolling through boxes So I'm going to say when a game has a bow and you pull the trigger to pull the bow back and release it to fire. Very basic but always more satisfying than just using a gun imo Question: what genre are you?

Fancygraham

What do you like for question of the year so far?

Random Oil Man

I have a friend who had never played videogames until the pandemic. During which he played and completed Elden Ring. He has since completed it half a dozen more times. A few weeks ago he started his second game Nier Automata. He seems to be enjoying it. What do you think his third game should be?

Michael Nickley

Always fun: •Exploding barrels •Double jumping •Turning a corner cleanly when driving at high speeds •Finding a completely broken character build •Second playthrough with cheat codes, max level, equipment carryover, etc. •Exploring a real-life location you are personally acquainted with that has been remade in-game (even better with a twist such as post-apocalypse) •Making up your own objectives just for fun/novelty •Getting the most elaborate revenge possible on annoying/rude NPCs •Playing a character build with polarized stats (e.g., 1 intelligence, 10 charisma)

Brian Martinez

Hi Ben! Baldurs Gate 3 story update! While it was awesome to play that game with my cousins and we had a ton of fun it was also stressful! I play DND and games so they're asking lore questions about Gods and also "what is a dexterity?" I had to play on controller so I could explain controls to them, sooo many fights were started because they don't understand video game language like how a red chest means you're stealing something. Also we're all in our 30s none of our parents care or want to hear these stories 😂 It was fun enough to start our adventure on the Sea of Thieves though before we hit Divinity Original Sin 2. One cousin is playing Claire Obscure on their own (she last played FFX) while another makes his way through the new God of Wars! (He tapped out on PS3). Something that's fun in video games is comboing Status or Field effects like Wind/Fire in Zelda and Wet/Frozen in BG3!

Grey Lotus

1. Setting a trap in a pvp game and then getting a notification that you got a kill way after you've forgetten about it. 2. Clearing an entire area of enemies and casually picking up all the loot before moving on to the next area even though it wasn't required.

Luca Alberti

Since The Incident at Galley House just launched (shoutout to JeffM's #1 for this year), one of my big Always Fun in games moments is deduction and character traits associations: there's something about having a list of characters/pictures and needing to figure out their names or what happened to them that will always make my lizard brain happy.

Leif Dion

Things that are always fun: Physics destruction, I LOVED Battlefield just for the destruction, and that love leading to trying games like Teardown, Noita, and Red Faction Guerilla. Now playing through Bananza and loving the mix of destruction puzzles mixed with platforming.

Internet.Levi

Hey MinnMax, Have you ever seen the Milky Way with your own eyes? I think experiencing the game version of something you've seen in person is always fun. Big or small, It could be a city you've visited, a car you've driven, a pallet jack, a Monster can, or a completely accurate night sky. I always love seeing these highly detailed digital versions of things from real life.

Ryan Bone

Inspired by Bosman being on the show - what piece of physical media would you bury in the woods to commemorate the death of the PlayStation disc?

Doc

Hello MinMaxx, I'd like the panel's take on: should we as the consumers expect games to be cheaper over time? Corollary: do Nintendo first party games get a pass? As for always fun things: pressing start on a new game. That little heart race when the scene or music changes, a cut scene starts, or a fade to black voice over sets the tone on your next journey.

Andrew Burleigh

Always fun: landing a headshot on an enemy

Chree McGee

A move that is always fun in video games: The Drop Kick! Something about your character putting their whole weight into a move just feels nice. Thinking of you, Smash Ultimate Bowser

pork bun powered

Things that are always fun: When the numbers get comically big or they have to use exponents (balatro, cookie clicker). When you are a lot stronger and can easily defeat an enemy that use to give you a lot of trouble. When you defeat an enemy and they ragdoll. When they let you put any cosmetic on any character model. When you set a stupidly large explosive trap and then a mob or boss walks into it. Question for the group: We all love a good remake, but what's a game that you think will still shine if given a DEMAKE? Think the "UFO 50" version of your favorite game.

mantaguy

Question: Hey MinnMax! Have you cancelled your Playstation Plus subscription yet? I heard late last week that enough people cancelled their subscriptions that Sony is offering 50% off every existing member's renewal if they don't leave. Interesting fact: Playstation would genuinely be $1.8 billion in the hole year-over-year if PS Plus didn't exist. They don't sell enough games or consoles to stay in the black; the only way they stay afloat is by doing landlord cosplay and charging rent, which is probably a big reason why they don't feel the need to keep making physical games in the first place. You know what to do, people... Always Fun: Time-slowing abilities, especially in Bayonetta, the only series that remembers to make you invincible when it's active for some reason.

ACValiant

Always Fun: Fall down crit stabs. Bonus if there are several different animations. Question: For Kyle Bossman, why did he pick Imagine Dragons Loom specifically to bury in the woods?

Reed

Using a missile/rocket launcher is always fun! It's something that most of us will never do IRL, remaining a fantasy. The combination of considering travel time, maybe guiding it as in Half-Life 2, and hitting a target is satisfying. Visual and audio effects of the explosion and damage add the joy of destruction. And it can be versatile enough to take down a tough opponent or a group of enemies. Limited ammo in most games makes it a special treat.

Jason Wojnar

I’m continuing to sell just about everything me, my brother and mother have ever owned. We already sold all of my late dad’s 500+ vinyl records along with tons of movies and etc. I love physical media but nobody owns a house, I live abroad, and my mother wants to travel. Have you ever really done a deep cleansing of things you own and sold them? Was it difficult to see them go?

Forrest With Two Rs

Always fun: mix combo melee and shooting. In Dead Island 2 I would shoot at a guy and then sprint at him and drop kick the last little bit of health, or impale him on my electrified wolverine claws I made in the garage of a rich person beach house and it was always, always fun.

Andres

Hit stop. Always feels good on any sort of heavy or big attack. I need a cigarette when landing a fully charged great sword attack on a sleeping monster in monster hunter

beebat

Justice for Haley! I asked some friends about the debate y’all had regarding whether Leo shooting 3 bullets for GTA 6 in the Six Shooter duel was fair game. They unanimously agreed that they would’ve thought 2 was the max. Can she please play the game now?

Sam Worms

Something that’s always fun: opening shortcuts in Metroidvanias

p9xm

Something always fun: when games do unexpected environmental jumps! Recent examples include the training mission in 007, the crazy backdrop changes with random stock photos in Rhythm Heaven... a not so recent example but seen with Jacob Geller's appearance on Giant Bomb, Jumper's occasional assassinations off of random tall structures - they were strange but always fun! Question: In the year 20XX, MinnMax has reached an international popularity so extreme that Netflix is buying it out. As part of the arrangement, Netflix is giving MinnMax a blank check to license one media character to join the MinnMax crew on a rotating podcast basis. What character would be the best fit? Please do your impression of them reacting to industry news

Forrest With Two Rs

Question: Your long term partner gets really mad at the grocery store and a tiny dragon ball-like laser beam comes out of their mouth. Luckily it doesn’t hit or hurt anyone, but it does seem to make the part of the grocery cart it hit very hot. They have no idea how they did this, and it doesn’t seem primed to happen again. Would you, in a safe environment, want them to try to make a laser beam again later?

WUMBOL0GY

I don't know if you're planning on mentioning the popular rerelease of Black Ops 1 and 2 on ps4/5 in this episode, but there's some conjecture I've noticed from other outlets and as someone who bought bo1 so far with a lot of hype specifically for how it was released there's some stuff people are missing. I can pretty much guarantee I'm the biggest fan of these games specifically in the series in this whole community and there's a 0% chance I would've bought these games if they were "enhanced" even the slightest bit more than how they were released. If they changed anything about it there would be doubt in my mind what was rebalanced or "fixed" and to me that's the game. It's how every weapon felt, the visibility of enemies in certain sightlines, the speed of unlocks and methods of earning the non-purchasable currency for unlocks. If it wasn't conserved, it would be a different game entirely. The only thing they really changed was bumping resolution from sub-720p to 1080p which to me is the only thing I might actually have a problem with. I never cared how it looked, have no interest in smoothing out any of its rough edges and I don't have any fondness for the "experience" like most games that I'd want remastered. All I wanted was to be able to play that game with a community refresh for unlockable progression without cheaters and modded profiles alongside a developer that maintains its current state. They've already shown they plan to maintain it to some degree. From online communities it seems like all of this is the usual take, too. It's not just me, and I wanted to make sure there was some awareness of this perspective.

Joey Crundwell

Hi MinnMax with two Ns! Does a game automatically go on your backlog when you buy it? Or do you have to intend to play it sometime in the near-ish future? I buy a ton of games and intend to play them all in the long term. But are they ALL on my backlog? Or just the ones I intend to get to sooner rather than later?

Adam Cohen

Breaking boxes or crates in games is always fun. I've probably done it over a million times at this point, but I always go out of my way to break them.

McGreevy

Sorry to all the haters because I know they are out there. Parrying is always fun in games.

Kunib3rt

At what point in a game are you most willing to do side quests / side content? At the very beginning when everything still feels new and you are excited for everything the game has to offer? At the end, when you have the whole toolset the game has to offer and the biggest challenges await? Or somewhere in between? Personally I usually do all the rat-killing, flower-picking Sidequests in the beginning of a game and then am fatigued by the time I reach end game where all the actual fun stuff usually awaits you

Oliver Smith

In honour of Denshattack: Drifting in games is always the most fun, and in my opinion perfected by Screamer with the drift-on-command right stick

Orange Wedge

Always fun: swinging a melee weapon against a wall or object has a quicker animation than swinging in the air. I'm mostly thinking about the crowbar for the original half life here, but when Gabe mentioned ( im paraphrasig here) that interactions should always be fun even without a progression purpose in the noclip doc on half life a few years ago it changed how I think about mechanics and gameplay!

Cath

Thing fun: sorting things (inventory or your store ahah) and when there’s a female option for the hero My question: because if haley I’ve been in a cleaning/sorting move and been playing Thrify Business. Why can’t I stop playing? I’ve told myself « one more day «  and spend two more hours? How do the dev do that ?

Joe Valdez

Something always fun is when games have a moment where you play with one of the antagonists in your party, even if it’s just for a short period like having Sephiroth in your party for the Nibelheim flashback in FF7. It simultaneously gives an opportunity for storytelling through gameplay while also making you feel like “this shouldn’t be happening but it’s so cool that it is.”

Limp Bizquick

If you were a video game boss, what information would the protagonist use to take you out/exploit a weakness of yours?

Joe Kafchinski

Something that's always fun in games: when you're climbing up the wrong side of a ladder and the character flips over to the right side when you reach the top.

Clayton Dexter

What would you say is on the list of “must watch” MinnMax episodes?

MegaRaphix

What's always fun is rigging your vehicle with explosives, driving it full speed into a group of enemies and jumping out at the last possible second before the most satisfying multikill of your life. Extra points if you drive it into anything explosive.

Tom Brien

Always fun: Smashing UI elements. Persona 5, Devil May Cry and Hearthstone all have screens and icons that get smashed to pieces by powerful play, and it rocks

Spencer P

Favorite thing in games has to be when the soundtrack brings in the song with the lyrics. It goes crazy as either a big celebration (Mario Odyssey) or as a final boss/final credits thing (Nier Automata/Ace Combat/ tons of JRPGs). Bonus points if it is using musical motifs from the game already and adds in lyrics on top (FFXIV). Another musical one is a song that adds on in complexity as you get further in the game (Civ 6) or music that combines the themes/motifs from different characters into one song.

Chris Pelley

Bosman has a saying while streaming: "gamers go left." What's always fun in videogames is going wherever you're not supposed to go. Sometimes rewarding for a secret, always rewarding because you have that kind of freedom in books/movies

Chris Pelley

Question of the week: how many of you could procure a shovel quickly, easily and cheap if you needed to... for something like doing a YouTube video segment? What one album, movie or game would you want to bury in the woods just because?

Tanner Hoisington

Always fun: Scoring a goal (Rocket League, Pyre, Rematch, any EA sports game). A feat us nerds rarely accomplish that maps so well to video games. Question: The top longplays on YouTube of 007 First Light has over 3.1 million views with commenters flaunting how they didn't have to buy the game. Is it really cool that full playthroughs without commentaries can live on YouTube? This doesn't fly with movies or tv shows.

Mike Lynch

Best Thing To Do In A Game: Find an area in the game developers didn't intend for you to get to. Then brute force your way there. Then stand around because there's nothing to do there.

Malcolm Holliday

Something that is always fun is landing a combo in an actual match after practicing it in training mode for a really long time!

Tokyo Game Life

What’s your favorite Doughboys bit? I love it anytime they bring up the bayou.

Machine Gun Keeley

Hey Minnmax, In what specific ways do you think the world would be different if, at the onset of the interent, paid advertising had been made impossible?

Catpurrnicus

Bosman, how was your experience SF6 tornament experience? Did Shine share any tips that us mere mortals could learn from? Also, could you defeat Ben in SF6 for control of the MinnMax show?

Joey Smith

Always fun: shooters where you can get in and out of vehicles really quickly like Halo or Battlefield 1942. Question: I recently started playing Caves of Qud because I saw people draw comparisons to a book series I really like (the Book of the New Sun). So far, it's really fun! And I have definitely caught some references to the books. What's the most oblique way you've gotten into a videogame?

Virgil B

It’s always fun to dress your character or change into an alternate outfit. How do you feel about finding the fun in a game? Some games don’t challenge the player enough to engage with all the systems it offers. And some games have an optimal way to play where playing differently means nerfing yourself. How do you find the balance between playing the intended way and playing your way for fun? P.S. I really enjoyed seeing Kyle Bosman compete in a SF6 tourney. I appreciate him putting himself out there as a relative new player competitively. He did amazing!

Josh Lamm

Which weirdo Disney sidekick character would make a great Pokémon? My pick is the Jason Alexander pig gargoyle from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Jack Seage

Always fun - This may be a bit broad, but is there anything better than when a long-term plan finally comes together?? When you solve that one puzzle that allows you to solve the six you've been one step away from solving, when you find the item that makes your build work, when you wipe the enemy team by combining the ults you'd been hoarding. Simply euphoric! Question - What is the best Big Spider Boss in a video game, and is the current amount of Big Spider Bosses in games: A. Too Much B. Not Enough, or C. Just Right

Vilis

Always fun in games: when an NPC gets annoyed because the player keeps talking to them or comments on the irrational behavior of their character. This also encompasses things like Warcraft 3 when you keep clicking on a unit and they start talking back at you telling you to stop. Even something as simple as later Assassin's Creed games when you'd go to climb and a civilian would say "If he falls, I will not help him." just someone in the world acknowledging you're doing a weird thing.

TheMightyEthan

Thing that's always fun: wallrunning. Sprinting towards a wall, jumping at just the right angle, and continuing to run along it... never gets old.

Andrew Eikum

Drifting a vehicle. Car, kart, futuristic race machine, whatever. Drifting is great.

mapleviolet

any of you considering playing league of legends classic?

CaffeineDad

Hey gang! Obviously the most fun thing to do in a video game is dress your character in new clothes or a new skin. I spent days doing a low-level dungeon in FFXIV just so I could get a piece of armor that would complete my outfit, and it was more fun than anything else I did in that game.

Shoes

IT'S ALWAYS FUN to do the co-op door lift/push. Specifically, the moment where you and an NPC companion strain together to heave open a massive, decaying stone or wooden door, slip through and then the top of the door or cave breaks, completely blocking the path behind you. It's the ultimate "point of no return" that leaves you trapped in an exciting, new section of the world where no one can follow.

Adam Castellanos

There is nothing more fun than performing a perfectly timed spike off the stage in super smash bros. Nothing makes me feel more alive. What is everyone’s favorite WTF is happening moment experienced in a video game. I am playing through esoteric ebb right now and that game is full of those moments.

TheSunIsMyDad

Something that’s always fun: Going really fast, especially if it feels like a bug you’re exploiting. Question: If you could clean yourself like a cat and be just as clean as you would from a shower, would you prefer that?

John

When are you all bringing back house hunter rise? Asking for a friend/wife. Smashing things in a lego game is always fun.

GreenMountainState

Hey MinnMax, Something I always find fun in games: pushing other players around, and ideally off a map, while they're AFK.

Tess

Hey MinnMax! If a list of the best 100 games was made, what percent do you think would come from the past 10 years? I don't care about legacy or influence or any of that, just games that are the best if you play them for the first time now.

Gérard Depar-duh

Keza McDonald’s book has an anecdote about Nintendo leadership realising that competing to expand development scope for new games would ultimately be unsustainable for business due to the increased team sizes and budgets required, and that the novelty of better graphics and bigger game sizes would wear off for players. Does GTA VI prove that they were completely wrong?

Graham Jones

After last weeks discussion on big video game companies, I start thinking about EA... Are they still an evil company or have they gained some good will? Also, for things that are always fun... Attacking an enemy from above

Luke Wise

Armor/Outfit/Costume Hunting is ALWAYS fun. No matter the game, I want to look good saving the world. Nothing scratches my brain more than unlocking/finding a new outfit from a merchant, a questline or a secret chest. Same goes for dyes/swatches of course. Ghost of Yotei outfit hunting was my favourite part of the game. Changing loadouts/outfits depending on the mission did wonders for my dopamine and secured Yotei as my favourite game of 2025.

CptCobblePot

Always Fun in Games: In-game economies! Let me build up my empire from a small store to a large empire. Weighing those options of quickly building income or improving character stats. An efficient build in the end makes the journey even more enjoyable.

Bryce Blackmore

What would you want to see from a modern Jurassic park? Rip Sam neil

CptCobblePot

I’ll say it: Bionic Commando (2009), one of the best grappling hooks in gaming

Rene Nunez

Technically, it's better for you to drink room temp water when you're hot because of some sciencey nonsense about heat exchange in your body. What "right way" do you disregard because you prefer the "wrong way"?

CptCobblePot

Always fun in games: Finding a poker game or distraction on the side. Read Dead, Yakuza, Deadrising 2, Mario 64 DS

Giovanni Toledo

Hiya MinnMax! My partner and I have been watching Twin Peaks for the first time and we've been absolutely loving it. We were thinking how it would make a great game as well, and then we remembered that Alan Wake was a thing. There is also Silent Hill and plenty of others games that borrow heavily from the show. My question is: What movie or show do you think has had the biggest impact on modern games?

Noah

Hello minnmax! When dining out with friends or family, do you feel embarrassed if everyone at the table orders the exact same thing? I went to Italy with friends last year and if I found out someone was getting the same thing as me I’d change my order. This led to a fair amount of mockery, but to me it’s common sense especially when on vacation in a foreign country where the goal is to have novel experiences. Inversely I made fun of them if they all ordered identical entrees and called them picky eaters for not wanting to be more adventurous. It got to the point where every dining experience became a mini prisoners dilemma; they started refusing to say what they were going to get before the waiter took our order to stop me from changing mine, which then led to me always wanting to order last and sometimes even picking something completely random off the menu at the last second without knowing what it was if they ordered my original choice. Is it insane to value trying something different OVER getting what seemingly appeals to me most on the menu? Does it make you a picky eater if you never consider sacrificing your first choice for the sake of variety? I’m curious if this has ever come up during the travelogs and if so what the consensus has been.

Rodrigo Aoun

Always fun : dashing. Also : jumping incessantly instead of walking. It's the simple things, lads.

Kevin Kuper

Something that is always fun in games is when you try something thinking it won't work but then it does or going somewhere you shouldn't and their being a little reward from the devs for being creative.

Ryan K

Always fun: double jumping, especially combined with air dashing

Onlinesquid

Always fun: game lets you be overpowered for a short segment, especially when it's by removing cool downs Question: What is your favorite type of speed run to watch? I always like a glitch less shooter. The movement and skill tend to be insane

Steven Nelson

I do love a little playable homage section in a video game. The one that comes to mind for me is the Final Fantasy/turn based combat segment of Life is Strange True Colors. -Steven

SuperThisWay

Something always fun: being able to jump when talking to an NPC and also double jump. Speaking of which: would you want to double jump if it meant you had to do it at least once an hour while you’re awake?

Kajkacz

Always fun - when games hide game elements in UI, like in there is no game or inscription . Also there's no better way than carrying your team in Left 4 Dead or some other coop game. For the question: There's often the question of what animal you'd like to be, but what plant would you like to be if you could? Or fungi I guess

LlorchDurden

since JeffM "Lego Story" last week, I've been thinking. Crew, Would you go to space? let's assume it becomes "commercial" and eventually it's like a hotel on the Moon / in orbit regular people go on vacation. Kinda like a week abroad. Would we get a MinnMax Travelogue? Thank you all (xbox will never win o7)

Rick Kelly

Always fun: hacking into every computer and reading everyone's emails.

Julian Magee

something that's always fun in games is finding ways to reach heights that the developers didn't account for or give no obvious indication that you're able to reach them. elden ring's lovely janky platforming comes to mind

Greg Lovell

Thing that's always fun in games (and obligatory in my view) - holding a button to slide down a ladder. Wheee! Quick question: I was told by a friend that the movie Obsession was so scary they couldn't sleep for two days. So before I saw it, I got myself really scared in anticipation - thinking how I might be scarred for life after watching it. Loved the actual film, but it was nowhere near as scary as my pre-scare scare! When's the last time you used up your emotional response before actually doing / seeing / playing something so the real thing had much less impact?

Andrew Clabaugh

Hey Minnmax crew and the Dark Prince! In honor of Summer Games Done Quick, if you could dedicate yourself to becoming a speed running pro at any single videogame, which would you choose and why? And something that’s always fun in a videogame: rolling in a Zelda game

Cody A

Always fun: double jump + air dash Question: which console start up sound is the best?

Nate

With some games having a ton of save slots, what game have you created the most save files for and why?

CaffeineDad

Hey gang! Who’s the most lovable video game character? My toddler saw me play Super Mario World for the first time this past weekend, and she went wild when she saw Yoshi. I told her who she was and she spent the entire time just chanting “Yoshi! Yoshi!” Is the answer to my question just Yoshi?

Josh LaBaw

Where is Home? Is it different from "where you are from?" Or "where do you live?" ?

Brooke Gossard

Good Morning, Minnmax! My question this week is inspired by the Alien Isolation Vinyl prize (thanks to iam8bit), what is your favorite jump scare of all time in a video game? I remember streaming Alien Isolation one time for friends and not seeing the alien for ages. Then my friend suggested to shoot the nearby oxygen tank "for fun". I did and immediately the alien popped out from a vent just ahead of me and I died instantly. I have never screamed and laughed so hard at once before. As for something that is always fun in videogames, I'd say grinding levels in RPGs to the point that you curb stomp the super hard boss qualifies.

Max Malavenda

Always fun: rag doll physics! Secret behind a waterfall!

Joshua Shelvock

Greetings cohorts! I recently watched Doc Lightning - what a positive and heartwarming collection of films! In the doc ‘To A Woodlouse’, the narrator indicates there are hundreds of regional names for Roly-polys! Now is the chance to add to the list- what unique name would you give to a potato bug?

Thorn23

Hey MM, Is there game you played in the past that for one reason or another (work, new releases, life) u never got to finish; but u really connected with or liked it so much, that it never fully leaves ur mind? - Intending/hoping that you will one day get that achievement, see that story through, and/or beat that last boss.. For me that game is the original Hades. I was so consumed by it, I geeked out to anyone that would listen, to the point, I swept 2 work colleagues up in my fever, they too bought and started playing it. But at some point (and over the course of 175 hours, across 2 platforms) I got so burnout by the melee gameplay, despite being admittedly varied and customisable, providing near endless combat combinations with each run, that I had to step away - but have always wanted to get back to it, to finish every remaining character arc and the overarching narrative… These characters were too exquisite not to Regards T-23

tbeeks15

Hey Ben, Jacob, and the 2 Kyles! So I assume most of the time when someone else on the internet is talking about you, someone from the community tags you and lets you know. But has there ever been a time when you were listening or watching something in the moment when your name unexpectedly came up? Is that jarring or weird? Thanks for all the great work you all do!

giuliano

Hey Minn Max! I went to the Chicago Meetup and it was awesome! Thanks for organizing that. MinnMax meet ups are always fun :D I had a couple long drives this week and I listened to the entire Mario Kart World free roam soundtrack. It had me thinking. That game is really more of a soundtrack than a game. The music really transcends anything that the game is doing. Do you have a game like that? A game that you appreciate more for the soundtrack than the actual game?

Mike R.

Hi Ben and crew, if god/architect exist, then who or what created god? This question freaks me out a little bit for some reason and I'm not a religious person.

Colton Westbrooks

Something that is always fun in games is pulling off that clutch, low percentage chance of success, attack/ability. Question: With Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey releasing this week as the first ever film shot entirely on IMAX thanks to the newly designed and quieter cameras, what would a gaming equivalent advancement be? What’s the next big step in gaming technology that lets games do something they can’t do now?

Jeff D

If we made a world cup tournament for game development where each country and their arsenal of game developers would face off against one another, who would the final match up be? Who would be #1 and #2 game development countries. Which country is the peppy underdog that wins the hearts of everyone in the tournament and we all secretly root for them.