In this episode, Sarah and Barnaby dive into difficulty settings. When they're included by game creators, difficulty settings help a game reach a wider audience so that more people can enjoy all aspects of a game from story, to exploration, to combat. But what does that mean for the games intended experience? How do settings enhance or reduce what a player can get out of a game? And why does what difficulty setting you use seem to matter so much? Please check the podcast chapters below for spoiler warnings. (Not the auto-generated chapters!)Podcast Chapters:[00:00 - 06:23] Hello and what are we playing?! (Banishers & Silk Song)[06:23 - 11:09] Why do games have difficulty settings?[11:09 - 21:26] Reducing difficulty[21:26 - 26:53] Increasing difficulty[26:53 - 30:00] Game play style as difficulty[30:00 - 33:37] The one time Sarah completed a brutally hard game[33:37 - 35:12] Flow state and the reward of challenge[35:12 - 37:20] Why some games don't offer difficulty settings[37:20 - 41:12] Platformers and difficulty[41:12 - 43:46] Arcade games & the rise and fall of difficulty in home gaming[43:46 - 49:20] Vocal opinions on difficulty settings[49:20 - 53:41] SPOILER Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth anecdote (we discuss the ending)[53:41 - 55:13] Enjoy your games![55:13 - 57:30] Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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