This month is one of my favorite video game podcasts published a trio of mega-episodes that totaled 24 hours. (A whopping 6.5 hours of that was devoted entirely to an exhaustive discussion of the Nintendo GameCube library.) I had accepted that I, a grown man burdened by the endless obligations of adult life, would never finish this audio marathon.
But then an angel came down from heaven. And by heaven I mean “the furthest reaches of space.” And by angel I mean “giant cyborg frog carrying a laser cannon.”
Earth Defense Power 6 (EDF6 for the sickos) is the latest installment in the iconic mid-budget series that sees you defending Earth from giant insects, robots, UFOs the size of skyscrapers, and yes, giant cyborg frogs. You start out as a soldier armed with a puny pair of machine guns and slow-loading rocket launchers, but within a few hours you’ll unlock the tools to fly atop a factory, unleash half a dozen drones, drop a heat-seeking nuke, and deploy a mech suit to dive deeper into the chaos.
Image: Sandlot/D3Publisher
EDF 6 is Also the latest addition to a burgeoning canon of “podcast games.” This micro-genre is distinguished by shameless repetition, spectacle, and the ability to enjoy it with the sound off — without fear of missing a deeply dramatic beat. Rather than challenging your brain with complex ideas, podcast games reward the most minimal of achievements with a hit of dopamine and serotonin.
Popular podcast games include: Vampire Survivors and its spawn, along with every free game you keep on daily errands. When I look at you, Zenless Zone Zero.
Every level of Earth Defense Power 6 follows a podcast-friendly formula: pick a soldier, equip them with ridiculously powerful weapons, take down a few dozen aliens (and probably some buildings too), and collect the weapons and upgrades that fall into the rubble. There’s no on-screen text or in-game narration to read (the series is popular with people who buy Japanese games online but don’t have Japanese language skills). There’s no guidebook to read or complex strategy to devise. All you have to do is kick some ass and survive until the screen says Level Complete.
Image: Sandlot/D3Publisher
Think of the “podcast game” as the equivalent of fiddling with a sensory toy during a meeting, or doodling on a notepad during a long lecture. The podcast game paradoxically and persistently provides a small, new distraction that allows your brain to sustain its interest elsewhere for longer.
At best, the podcast and the podcast game form a mutually beneficial relationship.
Despite the many sequels over decades of development, the Earth Defense Force series’ gameplay hasn’t been refined to the point of creating a lifelong addictive habit. Levels drag on a bit too long, like 20 minutes or so. And there’s no narrative reward for your adventure. You play the game to unlock cooler weapons, so the more weapons you unlock, the more fun you get. There’s an incentive loop, but there’s also plenty of friction. Wandering from one end of a city to the other, collecting weapons from the decimated remains of office buildings and spaceships, gives you plenty of time to think. About anything, really. Even if it’s just the forgotten JRPGs of the Nintendo GameCube.
Image: Sandlot/D3Publisher
Don’t confuse my case for the podcast game with an attack on the podcasts or games that fit into this category. Like a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, they’re both great solo. But combined, they achieve the divine.
A week on the road with Earth Defense Power 6I listened to 14 hours of video game conversations and unlocked the space cannon that kills dozens of giant robots in a single airstrike. If you have a podcast you’ve been wanting to catch up on for a while, I can’t recommend Earth Defense Power 6 enough. And if you’ve already begun your fight to save the planet from the worst the universe has to offer, then you might enjoy Into the Aether. The latest episode of the best games of the 00s takes almost 16 hours.
Earth Defense Power 6 was released on July 26 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC. The game was reviewed on PC using a code from D3Publisher. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.