Pynchon Pals is now available on YouTube! We're in the process of uploading our back episodes, but all of our discussions of V. are up now. (Note that this does NOT mean we're becoming a video podcast -- you don't need to watch us frantically flipping through pages) youtu.be/F4ufgp8gfk0

Pynchon Pals Episode 01 (V. Chs. 1-2)

YouTube video by Pynchon Pals

youtu.be

July's Bonus Episode! We talk about 1933's King Kong -- and also kinda about 2005's King Kong, and also a little bit about 2024's Godzilla x Kong. Oh, and about Thomas Pynchon, too. Listen here: www.patreon.com/PynchonPals/...

Very glad to be featured here this week! This piece really emerges from my childhood disappointment realizing that roadside signs for "video gaming" did NOT mean I could play Marvel vs. Capcom while my parents bought gas. www.patf.io/gambling-a-r...

Gambling, a Review

I recently had to opportunity to try Gambling on a trip to Vegas. How was the "Fun Factor"? Gambling is a long running live service game that's recently seen a slate of updates in the form of smartph...

patf.io

Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · 2w ago

This week: Let's get historical, from past to present to future: critical-distance.com/2026/07/19/j...

The roguelite genre sure has gotten crowded as of late, but the live service stalwart Gambling still packs a punch, especially for fans of the genre! Newcomers should prepare, though, for some nasty difficulty spikes. Read Critical Theorycraft's exclusive review: www.patf.io/gambling-a-r...

Gambling, a Review

I recently had to opportunity to try Gambling on a trip to Vegas. How was the "Fun Factor"? Gambling is a long running live service game that's recently seen a slate of updates in the form of smartph...

patf.io

Remember the internet before Google, before algorithmic feeds, before monolithic social media corralled us onto the same handful of apps? When small, *personal websites* and webrings linking them together reigned supreme? Time to bring it back.

Introducing Warp Point, a Web 1.0 gaming blog directory built for 2026

It's a webring! And a website!

readonlymemo.com

The Backrooms frustrated me. It's a movie with a lot of big, interesting ideas that feel disconnected from the real, human stakes of its characters. www.patf.io/the-backrooms/

The Backrooms' Style Sends Its Substance to the Background

The Backrooms has something to say about capitalism. But what, exactly? Spoilers to follow. I had a good conversation with a friend the other day centered on what Wunderkind director Kane Parson's sm...

patf.io

uhh just one more thing…

this is Tyrone Slothrop

derek guy@dieworkwear.bsky.social · 3mo ago

this is what some of you look like in short sleeve button-up shirts

Hey, first feature of the newsletter in @critdistance.bsky.social! Read more at www.patf.io. Very happy to be placed alongside an excellent essay from @gracemachine.bsky.social and @bpmonthly.bsky.social.

Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games?@critdistance.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This week: Nostalgia. And lots of other things, to be sure. But, like, a *lot* on nostalgia: critical-distance.com/2026/05/17/m...

"The Runner is from an empire, of a kind, but of no nation in particular. Home is nowhere." @gracemachine.bsky.social on Marathon, up now. bulletpointsmonthly.com/2026/05/13/o...

hell yeah it is www.patf.io/marathon-is-...

Marathon Is a Heist Game, Actually

True to Bungie's promise, the end-game map makes the game click. It's taken us a few weeks, but my buddies and I finally earned our way into Marathon's end-game raid map, the Cryo Archive. Our first ...

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Marathon isn't a game about runs, it's a game about building to THE run. Finally unlocking Cryo Archive, I realized how much of Bungie's MMO know-how has gone into making each extraction shooter match feel like a piece of a bigger, more interesting puzzle. The secret ingredient, I think, is time.

Marathon Is a Heist Game, Actually

True to Bungie's promise, the end-game map makes the game click. It's taken us a few weeks, but my buddies and I finally earned our way into Marathon's end-game raid map, the Cryo Archive. Our first ...

patf.io

New for Patreon subscribers! We have a great time talking through Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space, a zany riff on The Crying of Lot 49's "woman caught in a postal conspiracy" plot. Maybe the adaptation that best captures Pynchon's vibe? Find out: www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

Are water splashes really all that important? Ran a class discussion featuring @pippinbarr.bsky.social's always cool "v r 3" water museum recently and started thinking about the cottage industry of videos angrily comparing "little details" and "immersion" across games. www.patf.io/this-is-not-...

This Is Not Water

Does it matter when a game says something doesn't matter? This week in my "Video Games and Language" class, we read from Pippin Barr's The Stuff Games are Made Of (available open-access!). It's an ex...

patf.io

Thomas Pynchon, circa 1974: The Wisconsin delegate for the Pulitzer committee says he hates the book! Do you think I'll ever win the Prize? His buddy: You? Never. Did the “Kenosha” kid? Listen to the new episode of Pynchon Pals! redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

This is a nutria! You can learn more about them in our first episode on Gravity's Rainbow! Listen to Episode 14: In which the Pynchon Pals, in their arrogance, thought they could talk through more of the book in three hours (Gravity’s Rainbow Episodes 1.1-1.7) now: redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

Woo! Paul Thomas Anderson! One Battle After Another! And if YOU would like to listen to one PODCAST after another -- all about this mysterious "Thomas Pynchon" PTA keeps shouting out, give us a listen at pynchonpals.com! We're reading every Pynchon novel -- in release order -- for the first time.

Pynchon Pals

Listen to Pynchon Pals on RedCircle

pynchonpals.com

Conspiracies are, if not unravelled, then at least tugged at in Pynchon Pals Episode 13: In which we wonder, what if this book was, like, six times as long? (The Crying of Lot 49 Ch. 6). Listen here: redcircle.com/shows/3c4720... See y'all in London, 1944, next time!

Up from the spray of thy ocean-perishing—straight up, leaps thy apotheosis!

At what point, over 11 years and at least half that many restarts, do you decide a game just isn't for you? Asking for a friend. www.patf.io/after-more-t...

After More Than a Decade, I Finally Saw a New Cutscene in The Witcher 3

I have a habit of setting games down and restarting them. No game have I played less of longer than this. I came of age in what now appears like the nadir of the so-called computer role-playing game ...

patf.io

Pynchon Pals' first Patreon-exclusive bonus episode is up! We watched Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER (2012) and talked about its relationship with V.. Kilroy, is that you? www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

Can we talk about the mail? We've been dying to talk about the mail. Pynchon Pals finally hits The Crying of Lot 49! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

can't believe they made that one maria bamford joke into a real thing

angela yang@angelayang.bsky.social · 6mo ago

so i talked to one of the bushes at the super bowl www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...

anyone else get the feeling "nothing doing" caught on in American sports commentary following the spike in popularity of F1?

Hey look, new post! Read how playing Rock Band with friends made me realize how much I missed not just Rock Band, but what Rock Band kinda stood for. www.patf.io/the-song-at-...

The Song, At Least, Remains the Same

You know what still hits? Rock Band. I turned 30 to find out why. 18 years ago, I woke up on Christmas morning to find Rock Band—like Guitar Hero before it, just a few years prior—under the tree. It ...

patf.io

If you'd like to directly support the work we do at Pynchon Pals and get access to monthly bonus episodes like future Q+A's, movie discussions, and whatever else we come up with, you can join our very own Whole Sick Crew for $5 a month at the brand new patreon.com/PynchonPals! Thanks for listening!

Pynchon Pals | Patreon

A podcast about finally reading Thomas Pynchon

patreon.com

It's Pynchon Pals' V. Q+A episode! Thank y'all so much for all the great questions -- we had a blast answering them, and we can't wait to jump into The Crying of Lot 49 in a couple of weeks. Also, we have an exciting announcement! redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

That's a wrap on V.! Last call to send in your questions for our Q+A episode, after which, we'll be zooming right along to The Crying of Lot 49. Listen: redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

game recognizes game. shout-out to Paul Thomas Anderson shouting out Thomas Pynchon (that's with a "y," Google) at the Golden Globes