Two Giant Men, 20 categories, dubious rules! Time for another draft episode, this time on the subject of video game soundtracks. Vote for the winner in the announcements channel of the Discord.

Most of the music used in the episode is credited in real-time, but the track in the break is an orchestral Phoenix Wright arrangement by Noriyuki Iwadare.

Here are the categories we select from:

Album Categories

1. RPG

2. Indie game

3. Shooter (FPS or otherwise)

4. Platformer

5. Game soundtrack where music plays a key role in the gameplay

6. Fighting game

7. Bleep bloop (retro game soundtrack - 16 bit or earlier)

8. '90s as fuck

9. Cult favourite

10. Free pick

Track Categories

1. Theme tune that rips

2. Battle theme that rips

3. Earworm of any description

4. Features lyrics

5. Ambient open world or world map music

6. Rhythm action favourite

7. The Yoko Shimomura category for a piano absolutely popping off

8. Boss theme that rips

9. Free pick

10. The Game Over category (this must play at your funeral)

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Matthew speaks to one of his favourite authors, Stuart Turton. Hear about his exhausting creative process (seriously, you won't believe it), and what it takes to write a novel – including his latest, The Last Murder at the End of the World. Then, in part two, hear more about Stu's love of video games, which runs incredibly deep.

Samuel is away for this one. Matthew gets the name of the podcast slightly wrong at the start, but don't hold it against him.

This week's music is from the Return of the Obra Dinn soundtrack by Lucas Pope.

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This week's guest is IGN Managing Editor Rachel Weber, who probably has the most varied and fascinating career in games media of anyone who's appeared on the podcast so far. Hear about her transatlantic journey from OPM during the PS3 launch days to GamesIndustry.biz, Rolling Stone's Glixel channel and GamesRadar, before she landed at IGN.

This week's music is from the Lost: Via Domus soundtrack by Michael Giacchino.

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27 listeners' game purchases go on trial before the morally dubious Judge Castle. Can the defendants' even more compromised lawyer, Samuel Roberts, get them off (not in that way)? The worst format in British podcasting returns.

This week's music is 'PIMP' by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, as well as the Games Court theme by listener Adam Saucier.

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Two top 10 lists of the best games of 2003, and loads of bullshit about Matthew's mini-fridge and Samuel's week of work experience in the fire brigade. The games chat starts at 1 hour and 27 minutes if you'd just like the lists without the nonsense.

This week's music is from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker soundtrack by Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi and Koji Kondo. 

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Former PC Gamer Senior Reporter Steven Messner is our guest this week! Hear about his epic reports of goings on in EVE Online and other MMOs – and that time the bastard Samuel Roberts betrayed him.

This week's music is from the Harvest Moon 64 soundtrack by Tsuyoshi Tanaka.

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Matthew played 70 hours of FF7 Rebirth, while Samuel played a measly 14 hours. How's it going so far? Expect mostly spoiler-free chat in this episode – we explain how we approached spoilers right at the start to put your mind at ease.

This week's music is from the FF7 Rebirth soundtrack by Mitsuto Suzuki and Masashi Hamauzu.

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This week's guest is former Edge editor Alex Wiltshire. Hear about his era of the magazine, as well as his time working at Hello Games and Mojang.

This week's music is from the New Super Mario Bros soundtrack by Asuka Hayazaki, Hajime Wakai and Koji Kondo.

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