Since time immemorial, man has challenged his tastebuds to withstand ungodly amounts of heat. Chicken wings were doused in buffalo sauce. Sriracha was combined with mayonnaise for an unholy union of aioli. Homer Simpson had to chug candle wax to best the Merciless Peppers of Quetzalacatenango. Unfortunately, for Jessica Chobot, Malik Forte, and I, there was nary a Yankee Candle in sight when we listened to Hot Pepper Gaming’s siren song. Like Odysseus lashed to the mast, we let their sweet strains enter our ears, convincing us that eating blisteringly hot peppers and then attempting to review a video game — on-camera — was a great idea. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. The first video in this triumvirate of mouth-based torture is Jessica Chobot, who you can catch talking about Watch Dogs over at Hot Pepper Gaming today.

Still, we couldn’t just let sleeping dogs lie, could we? Revenge is a dish best served cold… especially after having turned your mouth into an inferno. So, we did what any sane, logical, red-blooded American would do: we invited the Hot Pepper Gaming crew for a little experiment we’re calling Cold Pepper Gaming. More accurately, though, it’s Brain Freeze Gaming, as we challenged Vernon Shaw, Erin Schmalfeld, and Jared Rosen to chug down 7-Eleven’s finest Slurpees and then fill their mouth with cruelly cold ice cubs as they attempt to review Rayman Legends. The results speak for themselves.

Be sure to subscribe to Hot Pepper Gaming so you don’t miss any of the awesome Nerdist x HPG collaborations, and revel in the Scoville scale schaudenfreude coming your way.