The Left Right Game: Complete Series
May 1, 2021 8:40 AM - Subscribe

Alice Sharma (voiced by Tessa Thompson) is an idealistic young journalist trying to make a name for herself by following a group of paranormal explorers, obsessed with a seemingly harmless pastime known as the Left/Right Game. The journey takes her into a supernatural world that she and the other members of the expedition can neither handle nor survive.

Co-starring W. Earl Brown. A podcast from QCODE. In pre-production as a TV series for Amazon Prime. Adapted by Jack Anderson from his popular serialized story on Reddit's /no sleep forum, Has Anyone Heard of the Left Right Game?
posted by DirtyOldTown (5 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is a great story. It uses the oft-done trick of fiction podcasts to focus on an NPR type reporter, but for a really cool cosmic horror idea, pretty well-executed. And the cast (not just Thompson and Brown, but several other I Know That Person! character actors) is terrific.

I heard about this on the blue, then went through the podcast and the /nosleep story more or less at the same time. I think the podcast's frame story is a huge improvement. The only downside--and many people have noted this--is that the QCODE/Sonos team gets a little overly confident in their ability to convey action with sound late in the series, so much so that it can occasionally be hard to follow. At those moments, I let the /nosleep version clear things up.

I think this may be a terrific TV show. It would have been cool if Alice had remained Alice Sharma, an Indian British character, rather than becoming Alice Sharman to accommodate Thompson. But I get the feeling her name and production power got this thing made and set it up to be a TV show, so that is cool, I guess.

I'd say this was similarly gripping to the better parts of Limetown, but actually had a story plan, rather than just a hook they hoped would sell stuff in different media.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:34 AM on May 1, 2021


Thanks for posting! I really enjoyed this story, and it does a good job of balancing the loads of both the story arcs, and manages to pull a satisfying conclusion out of what seemed , in the penultimate episode, maybe ready to fall on its face.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:13 PM on May 1, 2021


I enjoyed this, although I did have to stop listening to it while driving...

Lots of engaging performances and a pretty good job at maintaining an internally consistent universe. I do agree that it gets a bit murky to follow towards the end and I also had to use the text version to work out some of the action.

I think another good reference point (in terms of mainstream biggish-budget podcast scifi drama) is the first season of Homecoming (the one with Catherine Keener).
posted by bcwinters at 8:55 AM on May 2, 2021


My sister told me about this a while ago, and we both enjoyed the audio version and eagerly await the tv show (if that's still happening).

Some of it, especially the sinking car scene, reminds me of some of the better parts of The Tommyknockers (the book, not the show).
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:36 PM on May 2, 2021


Ugh missed the edit window by a lot. The Langoliers, not the Tommyknockers.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:58 PM on May 2, 2021


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