The MinnMax Show

We'll DM you a Steam code for Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 from Strange Scaffold if you support MinnMax on Patreon before 8/11/25, you can also upgrade your tier to get the game. https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, and Jacob Geller assemble for the first time together in the MinnMax Studio! We talk about the emotional simplicity of the new game called And Roger, the 2D action thrills of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, and the similarities to Dead Space in Bloober Team's Cronos: The New Dawn. Then we answer questions submitted on...

Get a Steam code for Lumines Remastered (overwhelmingly positive reviews) by supporting MinnMax at even the $2 tier on Patreon before 8/4/25. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Haley MacLean, and guest cohort Kyle Bosman unpack the biggest Nintendo Switch 2 reveals from the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, Ben talks about playing Battlefield 6's multiplayer, and Leo talks about Wildgate from Dreamhaven! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on...

Win Donkey Kong Bananza, Xenoblade Chronicles X, or Squeakross! Subscribe to The MinnMax Show and review us on Apple Podcasts (including your social media handle), we're randomly choosing three winners on Monday, July 28th. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-minnmax-show/id1484599827

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Kelsey Lewin, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, Jacob Geller, and guest cohort Kyle Bosman pile in to unpack our thoughts on Donkey Kong Bananza for the Nintendo Switch 2. Then we talk about Shadow Labyrinth, the new dark and atmospheric Pac-Man metroidvania from Bandai Namco and how to keep arcade franchises around...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and guest cohort Kyle Bosman debate the 5 greatest 3D platformers of all time. Which five games will we let into the club? Will any of them be hit by a poison shuriken? As we prepare to dive into Donkey Kong Bananza on the Nintendo Switch 2, we look back on the classics like Super Mario 64, Astro Bot, and Jak and Daxter. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting...

Get a PS5 code for the great game Despelote if you support MinnMax on Patreon (or upgrade your tier) before Monday, July 14th. We have 50 PS5 codes, North America only. We'll post on all social channels if we run out. https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Sarah Podzorski, and guest cohort Kyle Bosman share their picks for the game of the summer. Is it Mario Kart World on Nintendo Switch 2? Death Stranding 2: On The Beach? Tamagotchi Plaza for some reason? Kelsey makes the case for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. Then...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for the excellent Despelote if you support MinnMax on Patreon at any tier before July 7th, 2025. 200 Steam codes available, we'll post on social media if we run out.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, and Haley MacLean are joined by MinnMax's guest cohort for the month of July: Kyle Bosman! We run through every game confirmed for a 2025 release and load our six-shooters for a deadly duel to see who gets to claim which game. We also talk about Microsoft's brutal layoffs and studio...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Support MinnMax on Patreon to keep The MinnMax Show going for another 300 episodes and to unlock the early and ad-free version of the show!

We've hit 300 episodes of The MinnMax Show and cannot thank you enough for sharing the show! MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and Haley MacLean to unpack our spoiler-free thoughts on Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding 2 (codes provided by PlayStation). Then Jacob Geller raves about the DLC called Lies of P: Overture before Sarah Podzorski joins the festivities to talk about the delightful thrills...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Leo Vader, Haley MacLean, and Kyle Hilliard unpack all of the fun details revealed in the Nintendo Direct all about Donkey Kong Bananza and his new best bud Pauline before we talk about our experience with the Nintendo Switch 2 weeks after the system's launch. Then Leo, Haley, and JeffM explain why The Alters from 11 bit is such a unique, incredible, and stressful experience. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit and directly support independent games media

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Janet Garcia, and Jacob Geller share their full thoughts on Summer Game Fest 2025 and share their picks for the "Game of the Show". They got to experience behind-closed-doors gameplay demos for things like Resident Evil Requiem, Ninja Gaiden 4, and more! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting...

We'll DM you a Steam code for the excellent Star of Providence (overwhelmingly positive reviews) if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier on Patreon! Offer ends 6/9/25, we'll post on all social media if we run out of codes. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

On this episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, and Jeff Marchiafava gather in the MinnMax Studio to unbox their feelings on the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 after their first day with the system. We talk about Mario Kart World and debate the quality of Welcome Tour. Then we...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, and Kyle Hilliard, are joined by GameSpot's managing editor Tamoor Hussain to talk about Summer Game Fest as we share our biggest predictions for the summer reveal season. Then Tamoor and Kyle talk about playing From Software's Elden Ring Nightreign and we unpack the unfortunate cancelation of EA's Black Panther game and studio from former heads of Monolith and Shadow of Mordor. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for Spirit Swap: Lo-Fi Beats to Match-3 To if you support MinnMax on Patreon or upgrade your tier before 5/26/25. 200 Steam codes to give away, we'll post on social media if we run out.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava share some hidden gems from the first half of 2025 by talking about games like Starvaders and Shotgun Cop Man. Then we talk about the surprising tactics based based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a destruction-focused delivery game from Konami...

We'll DM you a Steam code for the great game Tchia if you support MinnMax at the $10 Backstage Pass tier before 5/19/25 - 100 codes available, check social media for availability. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, Leo Vader, and special guest Charles Harte talk about Remedy's new co-op first-person shooter set in the Control universe called FBC: Firebreak. Then we get whisked away by the wonder of the soccer-centric game about Ecuador called Despelote and unpack Id's new entry in the iconic franchise with Doom: The Dark Ages. Then we...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by the huge crew of Kelsey Lewin, Haley MacLean, Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, Jeff Marchiafava and returning champion Ana Diaz to talk about Grand Theft Auto VI's new trailer, Polygon, Giant Bomb, and the state of games media, indie publishing agreements, and good new games like Deep Rock Galactic Survivor and Revenge of the Savage Planet. Ana Diaz was previous a cohort at MinnMax, we're excited to have her jump on again here and there for content - in the same way Charles Harte does. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the...

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Delayed Input's  @KyleBosman  rolls in as guest host this week to turn MinnMax's Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, Haley MacLean and Leo Vader against each other with a violent debate on the top five Switch 1 games of all time. Then, Leo fundamentally disagrees with extraction shooter Arc Raiders and obviously adores goofball immersive sim Skin Deep. We also get into Kyle Hilliard's beloved Apple Arcade jigsaw puzzler Puffies before answering Patreon community submitted questions!

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and Jeff Marchiafava rave about the new RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (join The Deepest Dive!) and unpack their nostalgic memories with the surprising release of the remaster for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. We also talk about the new puzzle platformer Bionic Bay, the experimental tabletop/video game hybrid from former Blizzard developers with Sunderfolk, Capcom's big remaster of Onimusha 2, and a whole lot more. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard unpack the highlights and hot takes from the new Nintendo Direct covering Mario Kart World before we share our biggest surprises from playing the Nintendo Switch 2 at a recent event in LA. Then we leave Nintendo world behind and Leo Vader gushes about Rematch from the developers of Sifu and Wildgate. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting a...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Directly support independent games media and unlock a benefit, like an ad-free and day-early version of The MinnMax Show.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, Jeff Marchiafava, and Leo Vader get together in the MinnMax Studio for a fun episode unpacking our spoiler-free thoughts on Blue Prince, a review of Xbox's South of Midnight, Inzoi trying to top The Sims, the GTA-esque fun of Schedule 1, and a whole lot more! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win...

We'll DM you a Steam code for Lorelei and the Laser Eyes if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier before 4/7/25! We'll post on social if we run out of codes. https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller, and Leo Vader unpack all of their thoughts and emotions on the big Nintendo Direct all about the Nintendo Switch 2. We talk about From Software's reveal of The Duskbloods and how closely it resembles Bloodborne, break down gameplay for Mario Kart World, and go gaga over the new 3D Donkey Kong game...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Haley MacLean, and Kyle Hilliard talk about the miraculous revival of Game Informer magazine and Kyle's return as its executive editor, the PlayStation-published new first-person party shooter called Midnight Murder Club, more thoughts on Assassin's Creed Shadows, and former Blizzard developers getting together to create the sci-fi Sea of Thieves-esque Wildgate. Then Game Informer's editor-in-chief Matt Miller joins the podcast to answer community questions about the magazine's return and more. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Leo Vader, and special guest Charles Harte share their full thoughts on Ubisoft's incredibly important release of Assassin's Creed Shadows before we unpack Rebellion's new IP Atomfall and more. Then Sarah Podzorski and Haley MacLean join to share highlights from GDC 2025, including Sarah's panel about marketing Fields of Mistria. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting a question! https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit and directly support independent games media

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jeff Marchiafava, and Jacob Geller are joined by former cohort Suriel Vazquez to talk about the new trailer for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Wanderstop, and the game Suriel just shipped as the narrative lead: Merchants of Rosewall! Then we're joined by Kelsey Lewin and Charles Harte to talk about some of the high-level enjoyment and frustrations in Monster Hunter Wilds. We also talk about the fusion of Balatro and Mahjong that (believe it or not) JeffM...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, and Jeff Marchiafava share their full thoughts on Hazelight's co-op follow-up to It Takes Two called Split Fiction, which has two authors platforming through the sci-fi and fantasy world from their books. Then we finally weigh in on the early hours of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, gush about Two Point Museum, and share some optimism for Lost Records: Bloom & Rage's second half. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski talk about the huge release of Capcom's Monster Hunter Wild, follow-up on the fun to be had in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and finally rave about The Roottrees Are Dead. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting a question! https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

Watch and share the video version - https...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard to look back at our predictions from last year and make bold, new predictions about games in 2025. From GTA 6 to the Nintendo Switch 2, we predict it all. Game Over. Then Leo Vader joins the show to talk Keep Driving, Aloft, A Game About Digging A Hole, Rift of the NecroDancer, and then we return to Obsidian's Avowed to get Janet's full thoughts. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon...

https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax Subscribe to MinnMax's channel or unlock the podcast version and we'll DM you a Steam code for Cryptmaster if you support MinnMax on Patreon before 2/17/25, we're out of codes when we hit 5,700 paid supporters.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, and Haley MacLean rave about Obsidian's new RPG Avowed and Leo checks back in on the overlooked RPG Eternal Strands with JeffM. Then Janet Garcia joins the fun as we break down the best reveals and trailers from PlayStation's State of Play featuring the reveal of Housemarque's Returnal...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Directly support independent games media AND we'll DM you a Steam code for Tetris Forever if you support before 2/10/25, we run out of codes when we hit 5,600 paid supporters and we'll message that we're out on all social media.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, and Haley MacLean run down their most-anticipated games of 2025 and share everybody else's picks as well from the full MinnMax crew. We talk about GTA6, whether Hollow Knight: Silksong is actually releasing this year, and predict the success of Monster Hunter Wild. Then we return...

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On this big episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson and guest cohort Alanah Pearce rotate through a full crew of Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Janet Garcia to talk about some of the great new games released so far in 2025 like Dynasty Warriors Origins, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, and Eternal Strands. We also talk about playing 3 hours of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Shadows! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Sarah Podzorski, and special guest cohort for the month Alanah Pearce break down the highlights from Microsoft's big Xbox Developer Direct with the big reveal of Ninja Gaiden 4 and a ton of information on Doom: The Dark Ages from id, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and South of Midnight. Then Jacob shares his thoughts on the excellent sci-narrative/tabletop-inspired Citizen Sleeper 2 before we dive into questions submitted by the community! Unlock a benefit and directly support independent games media over on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and Haley MacLean are joined by the new Guest Cohort (surprise!) for a month Alanah Pearce! Her journey through IGN, Funhaus, Sony Santa Monica, and the narrative on her new game Layers Deep has made her incredibly insightful on the game industry and we're honored to have her join us on content for the next month. On this big episode, we break down the reveal for the Nintendo Switch 2 and unpack the current state of Ubisoft and how Tencent might lead to some radical changes at the publisher behind Assassin's Creed Shadows...

See of all our personal top 10 favorite games of 2024 here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/everybodys-top-118319548

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, and Leo Vader get together to talk about what they played over the holiday break, give Indiana Jones and the Great Circle the follow-up conversation it deserves, and run down the MinnMax community's hive-mind picks for the greatest games of 2024. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us...

This is the final debate from MinnMax about Game of the Year for 2024. On this episode, Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski debate the correct order for the top 20 games of 2024... or The Two tens, as we call it. What will win MinnMax's Game of the Year? We hope you enjoy the grand debate and thanks so much for supporting MinnMax and making all of this possible! Unlock the 5.75 hour extended version of this discussion (and The Pissy Zone) by supporting MinnMax at the $10 tier on...

MinnMax's full crew of Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski kick off our Game of the Year debate that we call The Two Tens... in honor of the two Ns in MinnMax and Minnesota. We build up a list of our favorite games this year and then boil it down to the Top 20 entries. Sorry, that was a typo. We mean to call it The Two Tens. What will make the cut? Dragon's Dogma 2? Pacific Drive? Balatro? Kunitsi-Gami: Path of the Goddess? Tune in to find...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Directly support MinnMax and unlock our Game of the Year debates weeks ahead of the public.

MinnMax's full crew of Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Sarah Podzorski celebrate gaming in 2024 by nominating and debating winners in prestigious categories. The categories of course are: Best Thing, Dumbest Thing, Biggest News, Best Game We Didn't Play, Best Moment, and the Greatest Work Of Art Of All Time For 2024. This is a big one, so thanks so much for listening and sharing...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava unpack their full thoughts on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from Machine Games and Bethesda and JeffM makes the bold claim that Diceomancer is better than Slay the Spire. Then Kelsey Lewin and Sarah Podzorski freshen up the place by raving about Infinity Nikki and Starstruck: Hands of Time. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and submitting a question...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit, listen to The Two Tens early, and directly support independent games media

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and video editor Charles Harte unpack their favorite game music from 2024 (with tracks from Metaphor, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Stellar Blade) before Kelsey Lewin joins to talk about Monster Hunter Wilds and more. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for Lynked: Banner of the Spark (Hades meets Animal Crossing, 92% positive reviews, directed by Steven Spielberg's son Max) if you support MinnMax on Patreon at any tier before the end of 11/29/24

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Jacob Geller share their picks for the most underrated games of 2024 before we talk about Grunn, Crypt Custodian, and Metro Awakening in VR. Then for community questions we're joined by Jonah Abraham, who is a generous donor from our big charity stream where you all raised...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Sarah Podzorski, and Jeff Marchiafava prepare for the big Game of the Year debates by sharing their final picks for games that other people should check out and will be relevant during The Two Tens. The full list of games we mention during this segment is below. We also talk about The Rise of the Golden Idol, Dragon Quest 3's remake, and the roguelike Shogun Showdown. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Unlock a benefit and directly support independent games media

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Leo Vader rally for a huge episode covering all of the latest games. They talk about the new interactive documentary from Digital Eclipse called Tetris Forever, Kyle and Janet weigh in on Mario & Luigi: Brothership, we debate why LEGO Horizon Adventures (code provided by Sony) isn't a great game but we can't stop playing it, then Leo Vader joins to slide into a cool chat about Slitterhead from Bokeh Studios...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, and video editor Charles Harte are joined by returning fan favorite Haley De Boom to unpack the big release of Bioware's Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We also touch on the Castlevania DLC for Vampire Survivors before Kelsey Lewin and Sarah Podzorski join the show to share their full thoughts on the Monster Hunter Wilds Beta... and Shadow the Hedgehog. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon...