Andy, Bret, and Bryce dive headfirst into a wide-ranging, unapologetically nerdy conversation about dinosaur and paleo-themed video games that shaped their childhoods and still live rent-free in their brains. After opening with their now-standard “fourth favorite hat” introductions, the trio quickly establishes common ground as lifelong gamers and pivots into a deep appreciation of Dinosaur Adventure 3D, a 1999 educational game that unexpectedly proves to be both mechanically challenging and scientifically thoughtful. Andy leads much of this discussion, recounting how rediscovering the game turned into an all-night marathon with Bret and Bryce, complete with inside jokes, mispronounced dinosaur names, Bryce’s ongoing struggles with certain minigames, and genuine admiration for how seriously the developers treated paleontological accuracy for a kids’ title.From there, the episode sprawls outward into a broader tour of dinosaur games across eras and platforms and reflect on titles like Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Zoo Tycoon with the Dinosaur Digs expansion, and more obscure entries such as Dino Defender and Battle of Giants. Bryce in particular leans into anecdotes about emergent chaos and moral ambiguity, including feeding disgruntled zoo guests to T. rex enclosures and ruling virtual parks as a capricious god. Throughout, the hosts repeatedly return to the tension between scientific accuracy, childhood imagination, and how early game portrayals permanently shaped how they visualize certain dinosaurs even when they know better now.

The conversation gradually drifts, as intended, into adjacent fandom territory. Fossil Fighters, Dinosaur King, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, Digimon, Warhammer, and even long-defunct card games like Chaotic all get pulled into the orbit, usually through debates about whether something “counts” as a dinosaur and how far fictionalization can stretch before it becomes annoying. Andy frequently plays the role of self-appointed fact-checker, inserting “from the future” corrections to rein in exaggerations or clarify paleontology versus pop culture. Bret often anchors the discussion with broader media context, while Bryce supplies the most chaotic energy, embracing absurdity and leaning into dark humor and deep-cut references.By the end, the episode is less a structured list of games and more a freeform oral history of how dinosaur media imprinted itself across an entire generation of gamers. The hosts close by inviting listeners to share their own favorite dinosaur games, especially obscure or free ones, reinforcing the core theme of the episode: dinosaurs are cool, games are formative, and it is perfectly acceptable for both to live permanently in your vocabulary.

Etude 13 LaSalle by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Blue Dot Sessions⁠⁠⁠⁠

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