Sid Meier's Civilization V

At this moment, writing something topical and entertaining seems to be the last thing my brain wants to attempt. Having just finished my working day, my thoughts are littered with fragments of code, all swimming through a sea of tabs, keywords and semicolons, battling for my attention. They will not get it now but their time of rest is some way off. Developers are weird.

In this episode we discuss our old game making endeavours (again), Unity, New 3DS, Twitch, Quantum Break, Pokken, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, Gamergate, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Starbound, Kerbal Space Program, Batman: Arkham City, Civilization V, Mario Kart 8 and there's also our "now fast becoming a regular feature" bit where Zac gives FTL advice.

Aren't colds the worst? A cold is the illness that mocks us the most. Even if a particular strain has the decency to force you into bed for long periods you are still left with a lingering cough, taunting you every time you think you are well. Grow up, colds.

This week, if you can hear us through Rob’s sudden expulsions of air, we talk about Nintendo, King, Rogue Legacy, Starbound, Beyond: Two Souls, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Antichamber, Guild Wars 2, Pinball FX 2, Pokémon, Civ V and more!

Introducing an exciting new brand of consumer products from the minds at happysalad and The SaladCast. RobCo announces a number of amazing products that will steal your mind and blow your heart. Listen to this episode for all the life changing revelations.

Also this week we talk about GTA V, Awesomenauts, Valve stuff, iOS7, the District line, Awesomenauts, Civilization V, Hotline Miami, Vita TV and more.

As we draw ever closer to the "reveal season" some news just can't contain itself and slips free. This way it gives us something to talk about before the noise of E3. The games are coming and we must be ready for them.

This week there’s DmC, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (and whether or not it’s racist), Bioshock Infinite, EA and Star Wars, Gran Turismo 6, Burnout Paradise, Star Trek, Half Minute Hero and Crysis Warhead.

Greece should have won Eurovision clearly.

Winter and the holiday season makes it tricky to get the team team together but the 3 week gaps do give us a lot to talk about.

This week there's plumbing, cars, shoes, Halo 4, Call of Duty, Planetside 2, Burnout Crash, Civilisation V and more!

Bringing in the new year in the best way possible, like any other week, it's time to start tackling that backlog. It's like plumbing that you never fixed properly and gurgles to you in the night, tormenting you into submission with the stench of guilt. I hope that's guilt...

For a game we're still a tiny bit 'meh' over we don't half talk about it a bit. Skyrim is indeed mysterious in its ways. Dan gets in on the discussion this time as Zac tries to figure out how you play the game sensibly. Rob finishes up on Timeshift, gushes about Sonic Generations and questions the direction of L.A. Noire. Dan wraps things up with some cardcasting in Magic: The Gathering and goes in circles with F1 2011.

Christmas (or the "festive season") is nearly upon us so we decide that we won't really talk about it much. Save that for next week. That'll be special, just you see!

For now Zac will take you through the first Golden Sun game for 6 years and some breakout clonage in Shatter. Rob finishes up with the metal lords of Brütal Legend, begins on Bioshock 2 and targets TF2 again. Dan gets squeezed out a little again but does drop some nuggets on Super Meat Boy, Halo Reach and Batman.