The Motherlode Podcast

S1E3 - Moonlight Peaks, Stardew Valley, and Farming Sims

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 13:00:00 -0000

In today’s episode, we reflect on one of our favorite types of games - the farming sim. We unpack our working definition of a farming sim (hint: it’s absolutely not games with titles like Farming Simulator), and then consider the unlikely origins of Stardew Valley’s success in 2016, a year in which nothing interesting happened at all, actually. Rebecca provides an early review of a newer entry into the genre, Moonlight Peaks. Throughout, we try to understand what keeps us coming back to these types of games, and why we think Costco could never be Jojamart.

Links:

On the reactions to the Magic the Gathering Stardew Valley card designs: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/stardew-valley-comes-to-magic-the-gathering-and-fans-arent-taking-some-of-the-new-artwork-well/
Moonlight Peaks: https://www.moonlightpeaks.com
Fields of Mistria: https://www.fieldsofmistria.com

Motherlode is produced by Rebecca Egger and Ashton Merck. Original music by Andy Stack. Find us online at motherlodepodcast.com or on Instagram @motherlodegamepod.

S1E2 - Titanium Court

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 04:00:00 -0000

In today’s episode, Ashton's deal is to convince Rebecca to play Titanium Court, which naturally ends up with Rebecca convincing Ashton to try Inscryption. We talk about why we like games with demos that let you continue, and why it feels good to play weird games that are weird because they are made by humans. Also, you should take a shower in Titanium Court.

Links:

Aftermath review of Titanium Court https://aftermath.site/titanium-court-demo/
Rock Paper Shotgun review of Titanium Court https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/titanium-court-is-a-play-a-match-three-and-strategy-game-a-dream-and-a-nightmare-and-deeply-compelling
Mewgenics https://store.steampowered.com/app/686060/Mewgenics/
Inscryption https://store.steampowered.com/app/1092790/Inscryption/

Motherlode is produced by Rebecca Egger and Ashton Merck. Original music by Andy Stack. Find us online at motherlodepodcast.com or on Instagram @motherlodegamepod.

S1E1 - Welcome to the Motherlode

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 19:00:00 -0000

Motherlode is a show about women and games, hosted by two women who play a lot of games. In this episode, we start off by introducing the show, who we are, and the games that defined us over the years. Along the way we get distracted by biology facts, why we love games with demos, and which Pokémon starter is the best.

Links:

On women and peripheral vision
Paddle Paddle Paddle , the game with a 2 hour Steam demo https://www.polygon.com/steam-refund-policy-paddle-paddle-paddle-friendslop-reviews/

Motherlode is produced by Rebecca Egger and Ashton Merck. Original music by Andy Stack. Find us online at motherlodepodcast.com or on Instagram at @motherlodegamepod.