It's back to back bangers here at Beat of the Month with another deep dive for a highly successful game of 2024 - this time taking a look at Balatro! With an average playtime for each of our crew exceeding 50 hours, we take a look at what keeps bringing us back to play more of this poker themed rougelike. From jokers that radically change the way you play every game, leveling up your hands with planet cards, altering your deck with tarot cards, boss blinds that apply restrictions - there's a ton to talk about.

We also recap an in-person poker night we had where the stakes were big and the trash talk was bigger. Who of the Beats crew came out on top? As usual, we round things out with some card based trivia - will you ace the questions or end up a joker? So roll up your sleeves, grab your sunglasses, and join us - for this deep dive on Balatro!

Sony's 30th anniversary celebrations are underway and what better game to have an episode about than Astro Bot - a love letter to all of Sony's franchises! We dive into all the things that make the new Astro Bot game great - the cameos, the levels, the bosses, and more. We also discuss whether or not Astro will cement himself in Sony's legacy as well with a Game of the Year award.

In addition to the latest game in the series, we also talk a bit about the earlier games in the franchise. Most are likely familiar with the PS5 pack-in game Astro's Playroom, but did you know there was a Playstation VR exclusive game before that? And did you know that there was another VR exclusive mini-game compilation before that? And did you know there was something even before that??? The little robot's legacy ran deeper than we realized! So grab your headphones and your jet pack, booster...hover...thing - and join us, on this Astro Bot Deep Space Dive!

We're a week out from Thanksgiving and soon we'll all be enjoying a feast of turkey with all the fixin's. Since our ancestors filled their Thanskgiving table the old fashioned way via hunting and fishing, we decided to have an episode focused on those topics as well - in a digital format of course. Well maybe not entirely digitally since some of the crew does have background with the outdoor arts.

For the rest of us, we settle in and talk about games such as Dave the Diver, Dredge, Cabela's Survival; Shadows of Katmai - and more! We also throw in a dash of semi-related games like Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and completely unrelated stuff such as Lies of P and Time Crisis 4. As usual we wrap things up with trivia - can you guess what system had 11 bass fishing games on it? So grab your rod and reel and join us for this episode on hunting and fishing games!