The MinnMax Show

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for the excellent Lumines Arise if you're a new Patreon supporter at the $5 or above tier. Offer ends 8/31/26

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, and Jeff Marchiafava gather together in the MinnMax Studio in Minneapolis to react to the big gameplay reveal for GTA 6 from Rockstar Games. Then Jacob unpacks his feelings on From Software's The Duskbloods on Nintendo Switch 2 and we debate Horizon Hunters Gathering more before we jump into the XCOM-like Star Wars: Zero Company. After that, we run through...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard unpack the lay of the land for our 2026 GOTY before the onslaught of games releasing in September. Then we discuss the Bloomberg story about Guerrilla Games rebooting the multiplayer Horizon Hunters Gathering based on poor feedback and Jacob shares some praise for the new Elden Ring-like Mortal Shell 2. Then things get deadly serious as we bring freelancer extraordinaire Hayes Madsen in to dissect everything revealed about D23 about Kingdom Hearts IV. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, and Kyle Hilliard are joined by production assistant Nick Stefanacci and former cohort Suriel Vazquez for the ultimate fighting game discussion on PlayStation's Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. We also unpack the wave of N64 throwback titles with Agent 64: Spies Never Die and Wild Blue Skies' take on Starfox. Then we're joined by Sarah Podzorski, Haley MacLean, and Jeff Marchiafava to celebrate the launch of Fields of Mistria 1.0 and dive deeper into sims with Moonlight Peaks and Pokopia's underwater DLC. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Switch 2 or Steam code for Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector if you're a new supporter at the $5 tier or if you upgrade to the Backstage Pass tier. Offer ends 8/10/26.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Kelsey Lewin, Jeff Marchiafava, and Jacob Geller kick off the big show by raving about their puzzle-solving adventures in the new open-world exploration game Big Walk. Then we unpack the biggest surprises in the Nintendo Direct for Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave on the Switch 2, boot up our old PC-brains with Desktop Explorer, weigh the...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Janet Garcia, and Jacob Geller kick off a huge episode by talking about Splatoon Raiders on the Nintendo Switch 2. Then Jeff Marchiafava joins us to rave about the twin-stick roguelike Pathogenic and Janet explains why she was so impressed by playing a preview build of Silent Hill Townfall. The fun doesn't stop there, as Haley MacLean and Kyle Hilliard join for a huge final discussion about the Steam Machine and to rave about...

We'll DM you a Steam code for Forestrike, upgrade your tier or support MinnMax at the $2 tier or above (new supporters) before Tuesday, July 28th. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, and Janet Garcia are joined once again by Lucy James! The cohost of the Summer Game Fest Showcase and formerly of Gamespot, Lucy just launched a newsletter all about helping you find new, indie games called LookingFor.Game. On this episode we each share our picks for 2026 games that deserve more love, you can submit your picks on the next...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and special guest Kyle Bosman celebrate the finer things in gaming by creating a big list of things that are always fun in games: from the double jump to the drop kick. Then we talk about the excellent new train-centric game called Denshattack! and Kyle Hilliard talks about replaying through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and what he wants from the remake. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, and Jeff Marchiafava unpack the huge news that PlayStation is ending production on discs for their games presumably for the PlayStation 6 in 2028. We even out the bad news by raving about Rhythm Heaven Groove on the Nintendo Switch and Meccha Chameleon before diving into the disastrous layoffs at Xbox and the ramifications of their big studio "reset". Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller, Haley MacLean, and Leo Vader run down the full game release calendar for 2026 and duel to determine who wants to play each game the most. Leave a comment below for who you think ended up with the best list. We talk about GTA VI, Marvel's Wolverine, Orbitals, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Control Resonant, Splatoon Raiders, and a whole lot more! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jeff Marchiafava, and production assistant Nick Stefannaci review Star Fox on the Nintendo Switch 2, talk about the price reveal of GTA VI, weigh the pros and cons of the Steam Machine, and gush about some upcoming indie games via Steam Next Fest. 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...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and special guest Bloomberg's Jason Schreier unpack the chaotic news out of Xbox that Double Fine, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, and more studios are in a state of flux and might be shut down if they can't find another buyer before July. Then things take a turn for the positive as we unpack Square-Enix's new HD-2D Team Asano ARPG The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Tales. Sarah Podzorski and Haley MacLean then join the...

We'll DM you a Steam code for Sifu if you're a new supporter joining at the $5 tier or if you upgrade to the Backstage Pass tier on Patreon before June 18th, 2026. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and special returning guest EllieJoyPanic unpack all of the exciting announcements from Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase, and the Nintendo Direct. They also talk about attending Summer Game Fest's Play Days and getting to play Control Resonant, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and more. We share our picks for Game of...

We'll DM you a Steam code for Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny if you support MinnMax at the $2 tier before Monday, June 8th, 2026. Offer for brand new supporters only. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, Leo Vader, and Kyle Hilliard share their favorite games and reveals from the big kick-off to the summer gaming reveal season with Sony's State of Play. The big talker is a new God of War game from Santa Monica Studio starring Kratos' wife Laufey in the afterlife. We also unpack Insomniac's Wolverine, Ace Combat 8, Rayman Legends Retold, and...

We'll DM you a Steam code for Town To City if you support MinnMax at any tier before Monday, June 1st, 2026. The city-builder with overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam just went 1.0! Offer for brand new supporters only. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, and special guest (and former MinnMax cohort) Suriel Vazquez rave about 007 First Light from the developers of Hitman and explain why it's the best Bond game yet. Then Kyle Hilliard joins the show as we review Mina the Hollower from Yacht Club Games, debate how "Arkham"...

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Jeff Marchiafava, and Kyle Hilliard get in the summer mood by attempting to predict Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest Showcase and the biggest reveals from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo. Then we celebrate the release of Subnautica 2 in early access and share early impressions for Alabaster Dawn from the creators of CrossCode. Oh, and JeffM has a new roguelike inspired by chess to share called Gambonanza. 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...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, and Janet Garcia head to Japan (digitally) to talk about the upcoming game from the creators of Yakuza/Like A Dragon called Stranger Than Heaven and review Forza Horizon 6. Then Kyle Hilliard and Jeff Marchiafava join the show to share early impressions of Mina the Hollower from the creators of Shovel Knight, get hands-on with the new Steam controller, and talk about the fantastic 90s PC vibes of Forbidden Solitiare. After that...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Support MinnMax at the $5 tier on Patreon and we'll DM you Steam codes for EVERY Deconstructeam game: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, Many Nights A Whisper, Gods Will Be Watching, Essays on Empathy, and The Red Strings Club. Offer ends 5/11/26. We'll update this description if we run out of codes.

We include a bonus snippet of Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, and MinnMax's production assistant Nick Stefanacci's reaction to the new Star Fox game on Nintendo Switch 2 before diving into the main show that has Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and special...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier or higher before Monday, May 4th. This offer is for new supporters only.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Sarah Podzorski, and Janet Garcia talk about the most exciting games they've been playing recently - which includes a hands-on preview event for 007 First Light from the creators of Hitman! They also talk about Moves of the Diamond Hand, Eternal Love, Double Fine's new multiplayer game Kiln, and more. Then we answer questions submitted on...

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This week on The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava rave about Housemarque's new action roguelikes for PlayStation called Saros and discuss how the game compares to Returnal. This is a spoiler-free discussion and codes were provided by PlayStation. Then we talk about the excellent Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors and share the first hands-on preview impressions for Virtue and a Sledgehammer. Then Haley MacLean and special...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava unleash thoughts on Capcom's new moon-focused IP called Pragmata, explain why Minos is worth checking out, and weigh the pros and cons of Super Meat Boy 3D. Then we're joined by Sarah Podzorski and Haley MacLean as we revisit The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and get cozy with Hozy. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Leo Vader, and Kyle Hilliard share their thoughts on new game releases like the admirable but flawed Samson: A Tyndalston Story, the impressive musical-JRPG People of Note, Monster Hunter Stories 3 on the Nintendo Switch 2, and more. Then Kyle Hilliard talks about returning to play Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault on the GameCube as we discuss the best path forward for our favorite Nintendo pilot. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - We'll DM you a Steam code for Skate Story if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier before Monday, April 6th. New or returning supporters welcome. We'll update this description if we run out of codes.

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, and Kyle Hilliard are joined by former MinnMax Guest Cohort Alanah Pearce as she launches her own production company called Charred Pictures that focuses on adapting video games to TV and movies in a way that's friendlier to independent developers. We then attempt to build a list of 25 essential...

We'll DM you a Steam code for the great new game Perfect Tides: Station to Station if you support MinnMax at any tier on Patreon (or upgrade your tier) before Monday, March 30th. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Kyle Hilliard unpack the messy, open-world glory of Crimson Desert and rave about the new arcade racing game Screamer. Then Haley MacLean joins the show to share spoiler-free thoughts on wrapping up Pokopia and Ben longs for the multiplayer of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Fox Hunt. Then we answer questions submitted...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, and Janet Garcia are joined by legendary game writer Erik Wolpaw (Portal, Portal 2, Psychonauts, Half-Life: Alyx) to celebrate the release of Mega Crit's Slay the Spire II and explain how it's the incredible sequel to one of the greatest games ever made. Then we talk about Janet and Jacob's trip to the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, follow up on Mewgenics, revisit The Division II, and share some...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, Kelsey Lewin, Jeff Marchiafava, and Haley MacLean gather to celebrate the unbelievably fun Pokémon Pokopia on the Nintendo Switch 2. We also talk about the glowing reviews for the cRPG Esoteric Ebb, share early impressions of Slay the Spire 2 in early access, Kelsey talks about her preview trip to play Big Walk at Panic, Sarah can't stop playing Valve's Deadlock, and unpack the big reveal for XBOX's Project Helix from its n...

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MinnMax's guest host Haley MacLean is joined by Leo Vader, Jacob Geller, and Kyle Hilliard to share first impressions on Bungie's Marathon and how it compares to Arc Raiders in the extraction genre. We talk about Highguard being taken offline and the thrills of Pokémon Winds and Waves before Leo Vader regales us with torrid love affair with Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PC and Kyle Hilliard regales us with his tepid like affair w...

MinnMax's Haley MacLean, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava talk about Capcom's latest triumph with Resident Evil Requiem. Then Kelsey regales us with tales of PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse and JeffM sits us down to talk about Insider Trading. After that, it's all hands on deck with unpacking the most exciting demos from Steam Next Fest like Replaced and Denshattack. 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 - Unlock the early, ad-free version of The MinnMax Show and other benefits by directly supporting independent games media

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jeff Marchiafava, and Janeet Garcia unpack the surprising release of a 2D God of War prequel called Sons of Sparta before Kyle regales us with the painful wonder of the Virtual Boy. Then we rundown our favorite reveals and games from the big State of Play revealing the roadmap for the PlayStation 5, we show some bloody love to Crisol: Theater of Idols, and JeffM takes us to the...

We'll DM you a Steam code for Consume Me if you join MinnMax at the $5 tier before Monday, 2/16/26. New supporters only. We'll update this description and post on social if we run out of our 200 codes. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava unpack the wild, new game from Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture called Romeo Is A Dead Man. Then Janet Garcia joins the show and we debate the direction of one of PlayStation's biggest brands with the reveal of the co-op game Horizon Hunters Gathering from Guerrilla Games...

We'll DM you on Patreon with a Steam code for the fantastic game Sektori if you support MinnMax at the $2 tier before Monday, February 9th. This is for NEW supporters only, not returning or upgrading. 200 Steam codes available, we'll update this description if we run out. https://www.patreon.com/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, and Kyle Hilliard are joined by Jeremy Parish (who you might know from Retronauts or 1UP back in the day) as we each share picks of some of the weirdest Nintendo games of all time. From Hudson's take on Donkey Kong...

Donate here for Giant Bomb and MinnMax's ICE Out charity stream this Friday at 5pm Central on Twitch and YouTube - http://bit.ly/iceoutminneapolis

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Jeff Marchiafava, and Jacob Geller rave about the new mountain-climbing game Cairn before diving into Cyberpunk 2077 and the history of reevaluating games years after they released. After that we have a fun discussion about whether Playground's Fable launching later this year can compare to the original game, defend Highguard, and JeffM gets weird talking about trading babies. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community...

We'll DM you a Steam code for Sword of the Sea if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier on Patreon before Monday, January 26th! New supporters only. We'll post on Instagram and Bluesky if we run out. https://www.patreon.com/c/minnmax

MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, and Jacob Geller share picks for their most-anticipated games of 2026 in this big episode of The MinnMax Show! From big games like GTA VI and Resident Evil Requiem to smaller, more promising games on the horizon like Orbitals and Ontos. Then we talk about the new release...

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MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, and Kyle Hilliard gather together for the 5th year in a row to check in on their predictions from the previous year AND accurately predict every big game and enormous piece of gaming news from 2026. Then we talk about the approchable roguelike deck builder called Dogpile before Triple Click's Maddy Myers joins us to talk about launching her new gaming site called Mothership! Then we answer...

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On this episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, Jeff Marchiafava, and Jacob Geller share the community's ranking of the best games from 2025 before launching into discussions on some impactful games that they missed from the year before like Many Nights A Whisper, Wednesdays, Fulcrum Defender, and Rhythm Doctor. Kelsey also talks about her ongoing journey with the great, new RPG Octopath Traveler 0. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit...

Unlock the hour-long post-debate airing of grievances we call "The Pissy Zone" by joining the $10 Backstage Pass tier. https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-to-145988285

It all comes down to this. Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, and Sarah Podzorski debate the final ranking for MinnMax's Game of the Year list for 2025 and crown one game with the #1 spot. Will it be Hollow Knight: Silksong? Ghost of Yotei? Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Despelote? Tune in to find out!

Watch and share the video version - https://youtu...

Unlock the full Game of the Year debate weeks early, including our hour-long post-debate airing of grievances we call "The Pissy Zone" by joining the $10 Backstage Pass tier. https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-to-145988285

We're officially kicking off MinnMax's 2025 Game of the Year debate, which we call The Two Tens! We've gathered the full crew of Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, and Sarah Podzorski to create a list of our favorite games from the year before we start hacking away to get the list down to...

Win 150 Steam codes by subscribing to The MinnMax Show and leaving a podcast review that includes a social media handle. We're randomly picking one winner from Apple Podcasts on 12/22/25. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-minnmax-show/id1484599827

Welcome to The MinnMax Awards! On this big episode, Ben Hanson, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, and Sarah Podzorski debate nominees and winners for the year of gaming in 2025. We determine the Best Moment, Biggest News, Dumbest Thing, and more. How many categories will Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 win in THIS show...

https://www.patreon.com/minnmax - Get a Steam code for Shinobi: Art of Vengeance by supporting MinnMax at the $5 tier on Patreon before 12/15. This offer is for brand new supporters only. We'll post on Instagram and Bluesky when we run out of codes.

For the last episode of The MinnMax Show before our end-of-year awards, guest host Haley MacLean invites Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller and Leo Vader for one last grab bag of 2025 indies before bringing in special guest Santa Claus to evaluate whether everyone has been naughty or nice little gamers this year.

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Guest host Kyle Bosman completes his trilogy of episodes with a discussion on the incredibly long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 with Kyle Hilliard! Then they team up with Jacob Geller, Charles Harte, and Leo Vader to listen to a wide variety of the most incredible game music of the year. After some fun community questions, we reveal the episode's Twerp, and it's not who you think...

To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...

00:00:00 - Intro

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MinnMax's official Usual Guest Host Kyle Bosman teams up with fellow Kyle Kyle Hilliard to unpack Nintendo's whelming Fall offerings, with Sarah Podzorski diving into her latest favorite shopkeeper sim Strange Antiquities and Leo Vader also in the mix providing an undefinable je ne sais quoi. Then the crew answers some all-bangers community questions before revealing who was this episode's Twerp!

To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...

00:00:00 - Intro

00:05:00 - Kirby...