Arcade Games in Isolation, with Nikita Mikros and Josh DeBonis

Nikita Mikros and Josh DeBonis created the original field game Killer Queen, before adapting it into the venerable indie arcade esport institution that it is today. They were a bit less involved in the home game adaptation, Killer Queen Black, since to them, Killer Queen was a fundamentally face-to-face experience, communitarian to the point of being politically radical in its own way.

But then the world went all weird. So now Nik and Josh are working on a new, single-player game for Killer Queen fans in the time of COVID-19. ABS vs THE BLOOD QUEEN [which was later retitled ZOMBEEZ: A Killer Queen Remix] is a way for Killer Queen aficionados to keep their skills sharp while staying home, sure, but it's also a vivid creation in its own right, sticking with the same world while tonally shifting to a sort of frantic horror that can't help but feel like a product of our strange, strange times through and through.

They're also making the thing fast, but they did take some time to stop by and talk about the new project (as well as the legacy of Killer Queen more broadly) with us.

You can play Killer Queen at an arcade maybe-near you once the world is a shade less insane. [UPDATE: The game was retitled ZOMBEEZ: A Killer Queen Remix. You can get it on Steam.] You can get Killer Queen Black on Steam and Switch. You can also follow Nik, Josh, and Bumblebear on Twitter. ——— • For more on Killer Queen Arcade, give a listen to our episode with Alan Dang, and for more on Killer Queen Black, check out our episode with cs wallace.

• Here are Jackbox Games' most recent charitable endeavors.

• And here's Killer Quarantine TV (which does indeed include cooking shows, cosplay-adjacent makeup, and lots else besides). ———

"All The People Say (Season 3)" by Holly Hyperion. Some fanfare from Killer Queen Arcade. Some bossa nova by Gilbertos Job, as featured in the ABS vs THE BLOOD QUEEN trailer. And then a whole bunch more Killer Queen Arcade music.

Logo by Aaron Perry-Zucker, using Icons by by Llisole, Dávid Gladiš, Atif Arshad, Daniel Nochta, Mike Rowe, Jakub Čaja, Raji Purcell and IconsGhost from the Noun Project.