Episode
Lost In The Backrooms
- Podcast
- Aftermath Hours
- Published
- Jun 5, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5094
- Processing state
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Summary
On this week’s episode, Nathan and Chris are joined by musician, writer, and game developer Liz Ryerson hot on the heels of counterprogramming Summer Game Fest with the second annual Unearthed Treasure Room showcase. The basic idea? SGF is made up of nearly 20 showcases of games yet to come—too many, frankly!—but there are countless already-released games that deserve another shot. We discuss why it’s important to counterprogram something as commercialized as SGF despite a relatively tiny viewership, as well as what games can look like when they’re less constrained by the bounds of specific genres. Then we get lost in Backrooms , the film sensation based on YouTube videos (that were in turn based on a 4chan meme). How does the movie draw on video game aesthetics to create something that feels fresh? And is this new crop of YouTubers turned filmmakers—as also demonstrated by Obsession —the injection of new life Hollywood has been looking for? Or is this another, perhaps slightly more subtle example of popular people and properties being squeezed into tired molds? Lastly, in honor of God Of War ’s magnificent new gelatinous cube, we discuss other shapes we’d like to see anthropomorphized in games. Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and special guest Liz Ryerson - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath ! About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too…