Michael likes story-driven games with lots of contemplative moral quandaries and inventory management. Adam likes action-driven FPS games with gorgeous graphics and no down-time. Together, their friendship is constantly on the verge of ruin! But you can watch it all crumble before your very ears on 1Upsmanship, the pod where two lifelong gamers run one game an episode through the crucible to determine if it belongs on the Celestial Hard Drive. GAME ON.
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
1Upsmanship: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Feat. Cody Johnston)
Vwoom and jedi-leap your way through Respawn’s latest with Adam, Mike, and special guest Cody Johnston! Will this jedi survive to the end of the episode, or even score a
Jun 19 2023 1 h 03 min
1Upsmanship: L.A. Noire
Possibly Rockstar’s most divisive open world experiment, 2011’s hard-boiled noir film homage gets the once-over by your favorite creative investigation duo. But beneath t
Jun 12 2023 57 min
1Upsmanship: Legend of Zelda - A Link To The Past (Feat. Danielle Radford)
We’re back, fresh from the barren, content-less Dark World, and we’re starting this season with a bang! This week we warp into the 2D Zelda that perfected the formula, an
Jun 5 2023 1 h 10 min
1Upsmanship: No Man’s Sky (Feat. Cody Johnston)
Host of Some More News Cody Johnston sits in with Adam and Mike as they tackle a game with ambitions as vast as a galaxy and a launch scandal to match. Has Hello Games do
May 1 2023 1 h 06 min
1Upsmanship: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Join the chorus, new one. Voices clash and clamor in the never-ending quest to recover our lost souls from the dark places they may wander. In this episode, your stalwart
Apr 24 2023 51 min
1Upsmanship: Katamari Damacy (Feat. Starline Hodge and Hana Michels)
Ship Heads, prepare yourself for maximum fun, because our illustrious host has teamed up with two stellar guests, Starline Hodge and Hana Michels to talk about a game tha
Apr 17 2023 55 min
1Upsmanship: Callisto Protocol (Feat. Tom Reimann)
Stranded in a cold, dark, and surprisingly poop-covered future, our 1upsmanship crew battles its way through Callisto Protocol. Joined by longtime colleague and friend To
Apr 10 2023 58 min
1Upsmanship: Atomic Heart
Your original 1Ups Boyz are back in the USSR! Michael officially returns from some time away, although we air episodes out of order so that’s not actually useful informat
Apr 3 2023 48 min
1Upsmanship: Diablo 2 (Feat. Abe Epperson)
Slap on your controversy armor Ship Heads, because this episode’s got some scorching hot takes that are gonna do some real AoE damage to looter fans. Joined by longtime p
Michael and Adam are joined by Ubisoft host and producer Youssef Maguid to discuss a huge turning point in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and, dare we say, history? A li
Mar 20 2023 1 h 10 min
1Upsmanship: Stray (Feat. Vanessa Guerrero)
Adam is joined by longtime guest, first time host, Vanessa Guerrero (Twitter: @nessguerrero) to talk about Stray, the 2022 beloved indie cat caper. The conversation gets
Mar 13 2023 53 min
1Upsmanship: Forspoken
Bounding across the barren video game landscape in search of digital treasure and probably our parents, it’s 1upsmanship! This time our boys take on the recently released
Mar 6 2023 58 min
1Upsmanship: Friday the 13th (Feat. David Bell)
Bar your doors and hit the floor Shipheads, cause this game’s about to rip off your jaw - in a good way! Joined by fellow maniac David Bell (Gamefully Unemployed), our he
Feb 27 2023 1 h 00 min
1Upsmanship: Favorite Video Game Companions
Mike and Adam take a break from their relentless celestial campaign to discuss their favorite video game companions. But this ain’t no escort mission! Both gamers hold th
Feb 20 2023 1 h 24 min
1Upsmanship: F-Zero (Feat. DJ Danl)
Start your engines shipheads, because 1Upsmanship is taking on its first ever racing game and they picked a classic! Co-piloted by special guest co-host DJ Danl, our boys
Feb 13 2023 1 h 04 min
1Upsmanship: Among Us
Your stalwart hosts test the very fabric of their friendship – even moreso than usual! It’s not just an argument about a video game, it’s an argument about arguments. Rev
Feb 6 2023 55 min
1Upsmanship: Arcaxer (Feat. Anthony Graceffa and Aaron Lutes)
Shipheads, meet Anthony and Aaron, VR devs with a new game to show off and fascinating insights into the unique space in which they work. Arcaxer is VR’s first turn-based
Jan 30 2023 58 min
1Upsmanship: Mega Man X (Feat. Seanbaby)
Joined by the internet’s own Seanbaby (@Seanbabydotcom) of 1900-Hot-Dogg and Cracked notoriety, the celestial debate continues with a deep dive on everybody’s favorite su
Jan 23 2023 1 h 00 min
1Upsmanship: Dishonored
Our heroes zip rooftop to rooftop over the grim streets of Dunwall, discussing all the important questions raised by one of the most creative franchises in recent video g
Jan 17 2023 56 min
1Upsmanship: Celestial Hard Drive Update 2.0
It’s that time of the year again! Michael and Adam decided to kick 2023 off with a bang and discuss the State of the Drive. In this special once-a-year extravaganza they
Jan 9 2023 1 h 15 min
Chart trend
Position in the Video Games chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#101#200JunSep
#93
all-time peak
1
day in the top 100 since Nov 2024
Chart positions
Where 1Upsmanship ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 25, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
The structure of the show is really tight, but it’s free enough to allow for banter and improvisational riffing. It never gets self indulgent because of that good structure always keeping them on the subject. The show opens with a “speed run“ where the hosts take turns or allow the guests to briefly recap the game. Sometimes this means the story sometimes it gets into the world building or gameplay, but basically they do a good job, setting the necessary context to understand their next section called “rants” were they just just go off on the games most notable features to them. This is what makes the subsequent discussions great is because they’re not going through a checklist where they analyze parts of the game the same every time they’re just analyzing the most notable features positive or negative. They get deeper into that discussion in the “game on” section. And finally they have “keep or delete“ where they imagine a kind of voyager, two spacecraft or permanent computer, hard drive or whatever and they have to decide whether this game should be one of the top one or 200 that represent all games. it’s just a truly great format that allows their personalities and opinions to shine, but allows the analysis to stay center stage. I truly hope they make some more of these.
Mehitchcock · Mar 2024
These guys are brilliant, hilarious, good-nature, deep thinkers who also happen to be kids at heart. Do you know how hard it is to find that combination of qualities in video game podcast hosts!? There are so many truly lame, nearly unlistenable video game podcasts out there. This one stands head and shoulders above everything else. The energy, professionalism and depth of thought they bring to each topic compels me to listen to eps on games I've never played and have no interest in. Their special guests bring (almost) always fascinating counterpoints to the discussion.
Adam and Michael, please keep making episodes! This nerdy video game fan needs more content. You guys are the best and your show makes me happy. You're clearly awesome humans, and your hard work is deeply appreciated.
IG: @travisandersonphoto
Travis in MN · Dec 2023
I love the analysis and discussion about the medium, the narrative structure of the games, and each game’s place in the larger context of gaming. JRPGs are tragically under represented on the hard drive, though. I eagerly await the Chrono Trigger episode, maybe a discussion on the FF franchise?
gus blunderbus · May 2023
Michael and Adam have such a great dynamic between their differing viewpoints that it creates some truly meaningful exploration of video games as an artistic medium. I found this podcast back in June and I’m finally almost caught up, so worth it. I’ve gone back to a few games I already loved and played them with a fresh perspective, also have discovered some games I might not have played.
Just finished listening to the Mass Effect episode and you guys should check out the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Liu Cixin. It’s so good and comes at the question of life in the universe from a unique perspective that I found fascinating. Anyways, love your work!
Isaac D.K. · Oct 2022
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