208: Death Howl (with Bryan Skursha - Pixelated Playgrounds)

About this episode

Dave Jackson and guest Bryan Skursha explore the game Death Howl, discussing its mechanics, story, and visuals.

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog Join Dave and guest Bryan Skursha as they deep dive Death Howl (The Outer Zone, 11 Bit Studios, 2025) on their journey through the underworld to find out what the hell a soulslike deckbuilder even is. Brutal turn-based combat, a story about grieving and a mother's love, and all the fucked up guys a gamer could ask for. Listen in to find out more! Guest info: Bryan Skursha (he/him) Check out Pixelated Playgrounds https://www.pixelatedplaygrounds.com/ Follow on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/bsushi.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Title Card 0:18 Introductions 5:39 Our Histories with Death Howl 10:50 Top-Level Thoughts 15:42 Story Setup 23:58 Dreamy, Hazy Visuals and Sound 40:01 Combat Basics and Deckbuilding Strategy 54:58 Is It Soulslike? 1:05:00 Open-Ended Structure and Side Quests 1:10:22 Combat Depth 1:16:40 Who Should Play Death Howl? 1:19:00 Pixelated Playgrounds 1:22:55 Spoiler Wall & Patron Thank-Yous 1:24:58 Spoilers- Favorite Areas, Bosses, Decks 1:41:00 Spoilers- Final Area and Final Bosses 1:55:46 Spoilers- Story Discussion Music used in the…

People in this episode

Host: Dave Jackson

Guest: Bryan Skursha

Topics covered

• Death Howl
• soulslike deckbuilder
• turn-based combat
• grieving story
• game mechanics
• visuals and sound
• combat strategy

Keywords

• Death Howl
• soulslike
• deckbuilder
• turn-based combat
• gaming
• 11 Bit Studios
• grief
• game design

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pixelated Playgrounds, 11 Bit Studios

Products: Death Howl

Books & works: The Outer Zone

More episodes of Tales from the Backlog

• 218: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (with Claire - Date With Us) · June 10, 2026 · 2h 54m
• 217: Many Nights a Whisper (with Flora Merigold) · June 3, 2026 · 2h 36m
• 216: Isles of Sea and Sky (with Jesse Guarascia) · May 27, 2026 · 1h 44m
• 215: Kingdom Hearts (with Leah Haydu) · May 20, 2026 · 2h 32m
• 214: Cairn (with Rachel Watts) · May 13, 2026 · 2h 42m
• 213: Hitman 3 & Freelancer Mode (with Scott Danielson) · May 6, 2026 · 3h 10m