How Did This Get Played? Takes On the Bad and the Weird of Video Games

Earwolf

First there were podcasts. Now podcasts have spin-offs.

Many people are familiar with podcast How Did This Get Made?, which reviews the worst-ever movies. It’s filled with riffs and just all around poking fun. How Did This Get Played? is the same concept, but with video games—Heather Anne Campbell and Nick Wiger make the commitment to play through games that are either the absolute worst or just very odd.

We have seen this concept before, but in video format: Angry Video Game Nerd popularized the trend of playing poorly made video games. There is just a weird sense of gratification when you watch someone suffer through terrible media, and I was excited to check out this podcast because there are a million video game podcasts that are just about reviewing the latest games. Don’t get me wrong—there are some wonderful video game review podcasts, but nothing is more enjoyable than listening to people react to bad games.

Heather and Nick both have a background in comedy in some fashion, and at the beginning of the show there is typically a short skit that is themed after the game they are reviewing. Some are pretty funny. A recent one about Yakuza 0 and cutting off the . . . wrong body part. I did giggle a bit because it seemed like it was improv, and I really appreciated the off-the-cuff comedy. Others can be a huge miss and just make you cringe. The next transition is a short segment about a game that one of the hosts played that they actually enjoyed. (Heather is a huge fan of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.) Then it’s the meat and potatoes: the gaming experience.

One would assume that they mainly play vintage games, the era of bootleg and shareware games. However, that is surprisingly not the case. Most of the episodes focus on games that came out in the 21st century and aren’t necessarily objectively bad. Again, the most recent was Yazuka 0; this is a well-received game, but weird as hell. However, they also played Contra Rogue Corps, which is bafflingly bad. The hosts seemingly sink a good chunk of time into these games—Cyberpunk 2077, Death Stranding, and Eternal Champions aren’t short games. They even do a series focusing on Hideo Kojima games, and we know none of those can be beaten on a Sunday afternoon.

The amount of enthusiasm the hosts have is what keeps the show going, along with a rotation of guest each week. I wish I had a fraction of energy that Heather has. It’s impressive how long the conversation that just pours out of the hosts in each episode. Plus, it’s not always about misery: 70 Minutes in Heaven is a segment they have every once in a while about games that they enjoy.

My biggest complaint is one that keeps becoming more and more of an issue with podcasts in general: the ads. The amount of ads in podcasts these days is ridiculous. I understand that shows need sponsors, but three to five ads breaks for a 70-minute show from a service I pay a subscription for is overkill. I can probably quote multiple Manscape ads at this point. It’s like the better the production quality, the more ads you are going to get. The only other complaint I have is the cringy skits, but it’s not enough to keep me from listening to the show.

How Did This Get Played? is a light and fun podcast. It mostly involves talking about experiences within the game and not necessarily reviewing them. It’s an organic show with people who have experience in the realm of comedy. The energy is there throughout; I just wish the ads weren’t. It’s always fun when people suffer at the hands of bad video games, and this show is worth your time.