We dive deep this week into the Wholesome Snack showcase, which aired on December 9 and was, per the usual, packed with absolute delights from beginning to end. From thrift store shop simulators and bug dating sims to summer camp as experienced through the eyes of non-verbal kids, Wholesome Games continues to champion some of the most meaningful indies in the space today.

Bonus: The last ten minutes are basically Colette losing her shit over the Rhythm Tengoku series AGAIN and forcing Matt to endure it.

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Valve surprises us (again) this week as we discover it's been nurturing the ingredients for a long-term plan that could potentially bring Steam games to every possible platform, including your phone. How it found time to do this while developing an entire ecosystem of new hardware, we'll never know. TL;DR - Gabe for president, please.

We also discuss Colette's very first foray into the vast universe that is Stardew Valley mods and whether it feels like fun or bad fanfic. Finally, for those of you unable to peel your eyeballs off Arc Raiders, Matt presents his thesis on the popular extraction shooter, which prominently features multiple cat tails. It can't be explained - only WITNESSED to be believed.

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With this year’s Golden Joystick Awards in the books and Sandfall Games winning a slew of awards for Expedition 33, as well as Megabonk’s dev “John Megabonk” withdrawing himself from a nomination, Matt and Colette dive deep into the “indie” darlings to question what exactly an indie game is, and what separates it from a traditional title. Is it still indie if there were angel investors or a trust fund backing the game’s creation?

We also discuss Vampire Crawlers, the newest chapter in what Matt has rightfully deemed the Poncleverse. Is mashing Vampire Survivors with the old dungeon crawlers of yore pure genius, or just a way to keep gamers interested in Luca Galante’s delightful brand of Italian gothic?

Finally, Matt realizes he can get Jeni’s ice cream at the drugstore and experiences a revelation. Tune in to hear it in real time!

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/5xz84B9RRJ

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Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! HaveEnteredTheChat@gmail.com

Follow and subscribe to Colette:

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/