One must learn as a child that just because something is difficult does not mean it isn't worth doing. Sometimes we here at SVWAG feel that the corollary for adults is that just because something is difficult doesn't mean it is worthwhile. Some hard things should just be avoided. It's hard to drive a nail through your own skull, but it doesn't follow that it's necessarily a prime opportunity for self-improvement that ought to be pursued. Unrelatedly, Vital Lacerda games.
Games Played Last Week: -Street Masters: Aftershock 2m32s (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2019) -Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King 6m11s (Andreas Pelikan & Alexander Pfister, Lookout Games, 2015) -The Resistance 7m40s (Don Eskridge, Indie Boards & Cards, 2009) -Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire 10m25s (David Sanders, Games Workshop, 2017) -Food Chain Magnate: The Ketchup Mechanism & Other Ideas 13m49s (Jeroen Doumen & Joris Wiersinga, Splotter, 2019) -Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North 21m36s (Joanna Kijanka & Ignacy Trzewiczek, Portal Games, 2019) -Pretense 24m13s (Jason Tagmire, AEG, 2015)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Pay extra for early access to Kanban EV? 28m42s -Brick and mortar retail for Renegade early access? 31m36s -Walker wonders about Wonderland's War 32m58s -SHUX 2020: Oct. 16-18 36m06s -Marvel United 37m08s -Mindclash's Perseverance 38m43s -Nuremberg Toy Fair 2020 miscellany 39m20s
Feature Game: On Mars 41m19s (Vital Lacerda, Eagle-Gryphon Games, 2020)
My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.
Games Played Last Week: -Guards of Atlantis II: Tabletop MOBA 6m38s (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designaa, 2020) -Las Vegas Royale 11m13s (Rudiger Dorn, alea, 2019) -Tiny Epic Tactics 12m59s (Scott Almes, Gamelyn, 2019) -In the Hall of the Mountain King 16m20s (Jay Cormier & Graeme Jahns, Burnt Island Games, 2019) -Die Macher 21m06s (Karl-Heinz Schmiel, Spielworxx, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -More toys for Era: Medieval Age 26m58s -Kickstarter Police: Wherefore art thou? 27m56s -Banning Golden Bell, that's where 29m39s
Rarely has a game been as deeply, frighteningly cynical as Imperial. We are sadly inured to the notion of vast military conflicts; and we are sadly inured to the corrupting influence of enormous wealth; but never before has a game combined the two and posited the Schlieffen Plan as a gambit to improve the marginal rate of return of someone's portfolio. Oh, my RRSP is Russian firepower, by the way.
Games Played Last Week: -Papillon 1m42s (J.B. Howell, Kolossal, 2019) -Talon 3m47s (Jim Krohn, GMT Games, 2016) -On Mars 7m20s (Vital Lacerda, Eagle-Gryphon, 2020) -Deception: Murder in Hong Kong 10m34s (Tobey Ho, Grey Fox Games, 2014) -Principle Dilemma 12m37s (Joe Tanowski, Self-published, 2019) -Las Vegas Royale 21m14s (Rudiger Dorn, alea, 2019) -Sushi Roll 23m22s (Phil Walker-Harding, Gamewright, 2019) -Cthulhu: Death May Die 25m43s (Rob Daviau & Eric M. Lang, CMON, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Wiz-Kids' Clash of Cultures 28m23s -Grimslingers Two 30m14s -Marvel United 31m39s -Hansa Teutonica Big Box, Eventually? 33m01s -Tortuga 2199 34m24s -Truffle Shuffle, for some reason 35m03s
Eventually a charge becomes so tired and rote that it becomes accepted without critical thought--but so often these hackneyed claims are false. Knizia games are themeless is a good example. Canadians are polite is another. The one that rears its ugly head this week is Walker's insistence that he is bullied, which has definitely got to count as attempted gaslighting at this point. On the plus side, a New Year's resolution is made and then immediately fulfilled in the same episode! That is efficiency.
AYURIS: Gaslands 5m23s (Glenn Ford & Mike Hutchinson, Osprey Publishing, 2017)
Games Played Last Week: -Blue Moon 8m32s (Reiner Knizia, KOSMOS, 2004) -Barrage 11m08s (Tommaso Battista & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2019) -Corporate America 14m54s (Teale Fristoe, Nothing Sacred Games, 2013) -Papillon 16m34s (J.B. Howell, Kolossal, 2019) -Secret Hitler 20m53s (Mike Boxleiter, Tommy Maranges, & Max Temkin, Goat Wolf & Cabbage, 2016) -Reavers of Midgard 22m40s (J.B. Howell, Grey Fox Games, 2019) -Cthulhu: Death May Die 29m49s (Rob Daviau & Eric M. Lang, CMON, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Repos Productions Swallowed by Asmodee 32m43s -Smooth Rollout for CMON's Time Machine 33m06s -From the Root Team, Oath 34m04s -Foundations of Rome 34m40s -Breakout in TO: March 20-22 35m19s -Star Realms Goes Huge 35m49s -Société des Auteurs de Jeux on Bernard v. Mythic Games 36m48s
Better late and wrong than never wrong, am I right? Wait, that doesn't make sense. Suffice to say that we wanted to be as certain as we could this year, as past years offered rather significant asterisks on our best-of lists--but this year, with only minor exceptions, we're pretty confident we played the games most likely to make the cut. I'm sure this sense of certainty and comprehensiveness will last perhaps as long as late January.
Games Played Last Week: -Blood Rage 2m09s (Eric Lang, CMON, 2015) -It's a Wonderful World 4m40s (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019) -Battle for Biternia 8m03s (Chris Faulkenberry, Stone Circle Games, 2018) -Istanbul 12m58s (Rudiger Dorn, Pegasus Spiele, 2014) -Marvel Champions: The Card Game 15m30s (Michael Boggs, Nate French, & Caleb Grace, FFG, 2019) -Codenames: The Simpsons 16m06s (Vlaada Chvatil, CGE, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Kemet 2.0: Blood and Sand Updates 19m01s -Mixlore and Prospero Hall 20m13s -Cosmic Encounter Two-Player? 21m01s -FFG's RPG Last Gasp: KeyForge 22m07s -Traintopia: All Trains, All the Time Is Back! 22m45s -Pascal Bernard v. Mythic Games 23m27s -Kolossal Games' Ongoing Eclipse Shenanigans 24m25s -Riot Games to Publish New Boardgames 29m31s -Patreon News: Presents! 30m16s
Topic: 2019 in Review Extravaganza Personal Top 10s 32m12s SVWAG Game of the Year 2019 54m34s Other Categories 56m42s
Look, it's hard enough to remember games without them injecting too many dates into their titles. Claustrophobia 1643 I keep misremembering as 1648 (Treaty of Westphalia), Ausburg 15whenever is as forgettable as the game, Pulsar 2849 barely sticks in my mind, and now Caylus 1303. I'd be tempted to just try and parse the game as "Caylus 13XX," but it's not about trains, now, is it?
Games Played Last Week: -Karate Tomate 3m01s (Reiner Knizia, AMIGO, 2018) -Telestrations: 12 Player Party Pack 5m10s (Uncredited, USAopoly, 2011) -The Shipwreck Arcana 6m59s (Kevin Bishop, Meromorph Games, 2017) -Yellow & Yangtze 9m22s (Reiner Knizia, Grail Games, 2018) -Marvel Champions: The Card Game 10m05s (Michael Boggs, Nate French, & Caleb Grace, FFG, 2019) -Maracaibo 14m42s (Alexander Pfister, Capstone Games, 2019) -Aristocracy 21m09s (Reiner Knizia, Tasty Minstrel Games, 2019) -Flotilla 23m24s (J.B. Howell & Michael Mihealsick, WizKids, 2019) -Era: Medieval Age 24m46s (Matt Leacock, eggertspiele, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Rococo Deluxe 27m17s -Kanban EV 27m59s
Feature Game: Caylus 1303 29m01s (William Attia, Space Cowboys, 2019)
The Holidays are upon us--Christmas very soon, Hanukkah is ongoing, Kwanzaa around the corner--but today on SVWAG, as it is on most days, we celebrate Festivus. On Mark's insistence, we forego the Feats of Strength, as the outcome would be certain and humiliating; O, but the Airing of the Grievances! Canadians have much to complain about, what with one mess of a fulfillment after another. And complain we do.
AYURIS: Too Many Bones: Undertow 3m15s (Adam Carlson & Josh J. Carlson, Chip Theory Games, 2018)
Games Played Last Week: -Mechanica 6m37s (Mary Flanagan, Emma Hobday, & Max Seidman, Resonym, 2019) -One Deck Galaxy 11m25s (Chris Cieslik, Asmadi Games, 2020) -It's a Wonderful World 13m02s (Frédéric Guérard, La Boîte de Jeu, 2019) -Yggdrasil Chronicles 17m35s (Cédric Lefebvre, Ludonaute, 2019) -Yokohama 21m09s (Hisashi Hayashi, Tasty Minstrel Games, 2016) -Cthulhu: Death May Die 21m56s (Eric M. Lang & Rob Daviau, CMON, 2019) -Res Arcana: Lux et Tenebrae 26m25s (Thomas Lehmann, Sand Castle Games, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Best of 2019 coming, just possibly not in 2019 29m09s -Wherefore art thou, Reavers? 30m12s
Perhaps it would be inevitable that there would be juvenile comments about the components in Catan: Starfarers. This is, after all, the gaming series that brought us endless unfunny remarks about wood and sheep. Perhaps the sculptors for the pieces knew what they were doing and, in turn, laughing at us. I suppose we must be thankful that Klaus Teuber remained high-minded--one shudders to imagine what the satirical outlook of, say, Vlaada Chvatil would have done with the same material.
Games Played Last Week: -Street Masters: Aftershock 2m18s (Adam & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2019) -Big City: 20th Anniversary Jumbo Edition! 4m51s (Franz-Benno Delonge, Mercury Games, 2019) -Wavelength 7m46s (Alex Hague, Justin Vickers, & Wolfgang Warsch, Palm Court, 2019) -Warfighter: The Private Military Contractor Card Game 10m32s (Dan Verssen, DVG Games, 2019) -The Shipwreck Arcana 15m42s (Kevin Bishop, Meromorph Games, 2017) -Yggdrasil Chronicles 17m26s (Cédric Lefebvre, Ludonaute, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Tokyo Game Market 21m39s -Matagot Makes Pronoun Progress 22m00s -Spycon (Where Everyone Is a Spy) 23m46s -Warhammer Underworlds Digital 24m33s -Airship City in English 26m00s -Expanding Spheres of Influence 27m00s -Flotilla 29m07s
There are times when immediately upon finishing recording, one or both of our hosts immediately feel the tremendous regret of having forgotten The Thing. But, alas, the moment has passed, and they cannot now mention The Thing. The only redress available is this episode description, which sadly no one but you reads. We salute you, hyper-literate outlier! This week, The Thing is Wavelength--recently-released masterful filler and wonderful fodder for holiday gaming in mixed circles. Rest assured the host feel pretty stupid most of the time, but doubly stupid for neglecting to mention Wavelength.
AYURIS: Sentinels of the Multiverse 1m45s (Christopher Badell, Paul Bender, & Adam Rebottaro, Greater Than Games, 2011)
Games Played Last Week: -Amun-Re the Card Game 4m47s (Reiner Knizia, Super Meeple, 2016) -The King's Dilemma 7m41s (Hjalmar Hach & Lorenzo Silva, Horrible Guild, 2019) -Pandemic: Rapid Response 16m32s (Kane Klenko, Z-Man, 2019) -Yokohamma 18m10s (Hisashi Hayashi, Tasty Minstrel Games, 2016) -Street Masters: Aftershock 20m23s (Adam & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2019) -Gugong 21m51s (Andreas Steding, Game Brewer, 2018) -Barrage 25m29s (Tommaso Battista & Simone Luciani, Cranio Creations, 2019) -Warhammer Underworlds: Beastgrave 31m43s (David Sanders, Games Workshop, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Award for Kane Klenko 33m22s -Rangers of Shadow Deep Deluxe 33m55s -Knizia does Legacy with My City 35m18s -Barkham Horror (sigh) 35m56s -Frosthaven 36m58s -Collectivism in Red Outpost 37m17s -Thank you for your support! 38m22s
Black Secret was an expansion to Ghost Stories where you played as vicious, frenetic shoppers trying to ascertain what were the best hidden deals on Black Friday. I think. If nothing else, one can appreciate the fact that online shopping might one day prevent the trampling deaths that accompany this uniquely retail "holiday." The end of brick and mortar retail will surely be a great loss, and one that hurts our hobby a great deal, but come on--that inevitable b-roll of crazed bargain hunters year after year is a psychically damaging indictment of our culture.
Games Played Last Week: -Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan 2m27s (Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini, Hans im Gluck, 2019) -Catan: Starfarers 7m39s (Klaus Teuber, KOSMOS, 2019) -Neuroshima Hex! 3.0 11m39s (Michal Oracz, Portal Games, 2006) -Caylus Magna Carta 14m59s (William Attia, Ystari Games, 2007) -Vindication 20m56s (Marc Neidlinger, Orange Nebula, 2018)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Ticket to Ride with Alexa 22m23s -So Much Sakura Arms! 24m56s -Christmas Card Roll-and-Write from Dice and Ink 27m48s -The King is Dead (Long Live Osprey Publishing) 28m33s -Fantastic Factories 29m28s -Warning: Chinese New Year Always Wins 30m08s
Feature Game: Last Bastion 31m28s (Antoine Bauza, Repos Production, 2019)
Walker introduces a new feature, the LIGHTNING ROUND. Destinies are determined and legends are forged in the lightning round, or at least they could be if it were not merely the pretext for his trolling. Someone should translate "I'm not saying, I'm just saying" into Latin so he can make it his family credo.
AYURIS: The Voyages of Marco Polo 2m00s (Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini, Hans im Gluck, 2015)
Games Played Last Week: -The Menace Among Us 5m06s (Jeff Gum, Smirk & Dagger, 2019) -Wayfinders 9m18s (Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance, Pandasaurus Games, 2019) -Paranormal Detectives 12m41s (Szymon Maliński, Adrian Orzechowski, & Marcin Łączyński, Lucky Duck Games, 2019) -Barenpark: The Bad News Bears 17m44s (Phil Walker-Harding, Lookout Games, 2019) -Modern Art 19m54s (Reiner Knizia, Hans im Gluck, 1992) -Gaia Project 21m41s (Jens Drögemüller & Helge Ostertag, Feuerland Spiele, 2017) -Wavelength 25m13s (Alex Hague, Justin Vickers, & Wolfgang Warsch, Palm Court, 2019) -Babylonia 29m56s (Reiner Knizia, Ludonova, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Don't you know that Scott Pilgrim is the best fighter in the province? 33m01s -Uwe Rosenberg tries some fairies 33m31s -Excellent SVWAG website: https://tekeli.li/svwag/ 34m09s -Car Wars again, and again 35m42s -Hollandspiele Sale 37m11s -Canadian fulfillment woes: Reavers of Midgard, etc. 38m43s
We puzzle over the practices and intentions of game designers this week as though we were archaeologists trying to divine the practices of ashen Pompeiians. Why did these authors insert this mechanism into their artifact? Was it a mating ritual? Was it an obeisance to some vengeful, long-dead god? Was it to shoehorn in player interaction? Or was it to placate a Kickstarter audience? Oh, sorry, that one is redundant with the obeisance to a god thing. Also the mating ritual thing, if you think about it.
Games Played Last Week: -Wavelength 1m12s (Alex Hague, Justin Vickers, & Wolfgang Warsch, Palm Court, 2019) -Carcassonne: Gold Rush (Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, Hans im Gluck, 2014) -Unmatched: Battle of Legends 12m56s (Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, & Justin D. Jacobson, Restoration Games, 2019) -The Menace Among Us 15m41s (Jeff Gum, Smirk & Dagger, 2019) -Barenpark 19m19s (Phil Walker-Harding, Lookout Games, 2017) -Vindication 20m41s (Marc Neidlinger, Orange Nebula Productions, 2018)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Fallout: Shelter--from promotional money-sink to... ? 30m39s -Wiz-War NINTH 31m50s -Inis in SPAAACE 32m27s -Hansa Teutonica Big Box MIA at Spiel 33m43s -DEI: Divide et Impera 34m17s -Titan is, actually, kinda BIG 35m35s -All the best to Chad Jensen 36m53s
Feature Game: Cloudspire 37m44s (Josh J. Carlson, Adam Carlson, & Josh Wielgus, Chip Theory Games, 2019)
You can replace the Mark and Walker voices with lovingly-rendered miniatures with the SVWAG Host Minis add-on, which you can have for $35, but only if you pay for it before you know what they look like and before you know the content of the episode. You can also buy the SVWAG playmat, metal coins, realistic resources, microphone first-player marker, and custom insert. This is a free podcast that can cost you a zillion dollars. Decide now, though!
AYURIS: Root 2m02s (Cole Wehrle, Leder Games, 2018)
Games Played Last Week: -Warhammer Underworlds: Beastgrave 3m41s (David Sanders, Games Workshop, 2019) -Era: Medieval Age 8m23s (Matt Leacock, eggertspiele, 2019) -Ghost Blitz 12m03s (Jacques Zeimet, Zoch Verlag, 2010) -Menara 13m23s (Oliver Richtberg, Zoch Verlag, 2018) -Unmatched: Battle of Legends 14m01s (Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, & Justin D. Jacobson, Restoration Games, 2019) -The Menace Among Us 19m38s (Jeff Gum, Smirk & Dagger, 2019) -Hit Z Road 22m01s (Martin Wallace, Space Cowboys, 2016)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Infinity Defiance defies innovation? 25m35s -Beyond Humanity: Colonies has glowy bits 28m30s -Vengeance: Director's Cut 30m35s -Small World of Warcraft 31m16s -Blacklist Games' Hour of Need 32m54s -More Teotihuacan (with better titling) 35m11s -More Karl-Heinz Schmiel with Tribune 36m26s
Fatherhood is the overall theme of this week's episode. Imagine Harry Chapin's Cat's in the Cradle, except with the father played by Vladimir the Great and the son by Svyatopolk the Accursed. "When you coming home, dad?" asks the Accursed, to which the reply is "I don't know when. But we'll get together then, son." And then, the son allegedly murders several of his siblings in a vicious power struggle. Just like in the song! Folk music of the seventies is more bloodthirsty than many people recall. Remember that Cat Stevens song about the wars of the Diadochi? It was even better than his acoustic rendering of the murder of the Romanovs.
Games Played Last Week: -Letter Jam 4m01s (Ondra Skoupý, CGE, 2019) -Codenames: Duet 8m22s (Vlaada Chvátil & Scot Eaton, CGE, 2017) -Spirit Island 9m57s (R. Eric Reuss, Greater Than Games, 2017) -The Crusoe Crew 13m02s (Shuky, Makaka Editions, 2019) -UGO! 15m28s (Ronald Hoekstra, Thomas Jansen, & Patrick Zuidhof, IELLO, 2013) -Carcassonne 17m49s (Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, Hans im Gluck, 2000) -Undaunted: Normandy 20m56s (Trevor Benjamin & David Thomspon, Osprey Games, 2019) -Cloudspire 23m14s (Josh J. Carlson, Adam Carlson, & Josh Wielgus, Chip Theory Games, 2019) -Era: Medieval Age 26m42s (Matt Leacock, eggertspiele, 2019) -Terraforming Mars 31m26s (Jacob Fryxelius, Stronghold, 2016) -Ulm 32m15s (Günter Burkhardt, R&R Games, 2016)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Pharaon Afterlife Prepping 34m19s -Patreon Content Galore 35m34s -Scared by High Frontier 4 All 36m01s -Square Off NEO & SWAP 38m07s -Valkyrie Outrage 39m34s -Francis Tresham Obituary 41m33s
Feature Game: Rurik: Dawn of Kiev 43m10s (Stan Kordonskiy, PieceKeeper Games, 2019)
SHUX has passed, but the memories have not. Your hosts give a final rundown of some of the goings-on during the august October event. Mark asserts that no one is less competitive than he, no one by a long shot, he is much less competitive than you and if you disagree he will fight you. Unless you are a child or infirm, in which case he will still fight you out of a grudging sense of duty and respect, but he will pull his punches. Some of them. Editorial note: the hosts neglected to repeat that Air, Land & Sea was a review copy received from the author. They apologize for the oversight.
Added SHUX dig: The Quacks of Quedlinburg 2m18s (Wolfgang Warsch, Scmidt Spiele, 2018)
AYURIS: Yellow & Yangtze 5m38s (Reiner Knizia, Grail Games, 2018) and Tigris & Euphrates (Reiner Knizia, Hans im Gluck, 1997)
Games Played Last Week: -Durance 8m05s (Jason Morningstar, Bully Pulpit Games, 2012) -Aftermath 10m33s (Jerry Hawthorne, Plaid Hat Games, 2019) -Mysthea 13m09s (Martino Chiacchiera & Marta Ciaccasassi, Tabula Games, 2019) -Guards of Atlantis II: Tabletop MOBA 15m57s (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2020?) -Blood on the Clocktower 19m19s (Steven Medway, The Pandemonium Institute, 2019) -Sine Tempore 27m43s (Luca Bernardini & Andrea Colletti, Ludus Magnus Studio, 2018) -Air, Land & Sea 33m27s (Jon Perry, Arcane Wonders, 2018) -Mr. Lister's Quiz Shootout 35m24s (Uncredited, Big Potato, 2015) -SiegeStorm: Siege Mode 38m34s (Kamil 'Sanex' Cieśla & Marcin Świerkot, Awaken Realms Lite, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Barrage Expansion 40m50s -Erica Bouyouris' Scott Pilgrim and Steven Universe Offerings 42m16s -Calico Cuteness 44m13s -Arkhipov Day on October 27th 44m29s
We are live (on tape)! With special guest Quintin Smith aka Quinns from Shut Up & Sit Down. Also featuring guest appearances from French Canadian snack cakes, passive aggression, wonderful prizes (none for you, sorry, all gone), and the man who saved your life, Vasili Arkhipov! Also some feedback and noise from the megagame next door. Oh, well.
Games Played Last Week: -Irish Gauge 8m34s (Tom Russell, Capstone Games, 2014) -Mandala 10m39s (Trevor Benjamin & Brett J. Gilbert, Lookout Games, 2019) -Warband: Against the Darkness 15m20s (Micah Fuller, Dyskami Publishing Company, 2015) -Ragusa 18m29s (Fabio Lopiano, Capstone Games, 2019) -Flash Duel 22m43s (David Sirlin, Sirlin Games, 2010) -Cowboy Bebop: Boardgame Boogie 27m17s (Josh Derksen, Thomas M. Gofton, & Aron Murch, Jasco Games, 2019) -Glory to Rome 29m37s (Carl Chudyk, Cambridge Games Factory, 2005) -Labyrinthos 31m07s (Lindsey Rose, Dog Might Games, 2020) -Quacks of Quedlinburg 36m03s (Wolfgang Warsch, Schmidt Spiele, 2018) -Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea 42m22s (Mark McLaughlin & Chris Vorder Bruegge, GMT Games, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Boardgame anime! 48m24s -Kemet 1.5 in English 50m38s -Cooper Island 51m17s -Arkhipov Day on October 27th 51m36s
The saturation point is the point at which you can no longer dissolve a deck of cards into a bottle of water. I am told that in summer, it feels hotter than it is really is because of all the board game particles diffused throughout the air. It gets really hard to breathe sometimes--my cousin nearly choked on a cube, once. The dewpoint, I think, is the temperature at which a full copy of Catan will coalesce out of nowhere. Join us for our podcast about science.
AYURIS: Thunderstone Quest 2m22s (Mike Elliott, Bryan Reese, & Mark Wootton, AEG, 2018)
Games Played Last Week: -Teotihuacan: Late Preclassic Period 4m06s (Rainer Ahlfors, Andrei Novac, & Daniele Tascini, Board2Dice, 2019) -Tigris & Euphrates 6m07s (Reiner Knizia, Hans im Gluck, 1997) -Cockroach Poker 8m36s (Jacques Zeimet, Drei Magier Spiele, 2004) -Sidereal Confluence 10m22s (TauCeti Deichmann, Wizkids, 2017) -Slide Quest 12m27s (Nicolas Bourgoin & Jean-François Rochas, Blue Orange, 2019) -Obscurio 13m24s (L'Atelier, Libellud, 2019) -Mental Blocks 16m49s (Jonathan Gilmour & Micah Sawyer, Pandasaurus Games, 2019) -Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit 19m17s (Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, Justin D. Jacobson, & Eric Solomon, Restoration Games, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Time Machine, Redux 22m42s -Tajuto: Fresh Take on Buddhism 25m58s -Pfister's Bizarre Rewriting of History, Again 29m15s -Doesn't he know that Scott Pilgrim's the best fighter in the province? 31m31s -Warhammer Underworlds Beastgrave: Pre-Made Decks 32m33s
The cube trundles onward, marching inexorably--if haltingly--towards its ultimate destination. It is told it must explore, and so explore it does. The other cube conquers, but that is not this cube's concern. They met once at a party. It seemed nice, but that was long ago, and the cube must explore, not mingle. Sometimes it does not explore; sometimes it scores for some quantity of non-explore things. These things it does not understand, but it knows that points are good, and so it does those things. The explore cube also cares about farms, for some reason, and mushrooms. Near the end of its track, it pauses--not for lack of mushrooms, this time, but out of an uncharacteristic self-doubt. Why does it do these things, it wonders. What mad god intersperses these random tasks so? And down from Olympus comes the pronouncement of the cube's controller--perhaps that very mad god, or perhaps merely a lesser divinity in thrall of some yet more powerful, some yet more capricious deity--"BECAUSE THEME."
Games Played Last Week: -Shards of Infinity 2m38s (Gary Arant & Justin Gary, Stone Blade Entertainment, 2018) -The Bridges of Shangri-La 4m33s (Leo Colovini, Uberplay, 2003) -Vengeance 9m22s (Gordon Calleja, Mighty Boards, 2018) -Slide Quest 12m03s (Nicolas Bourgoin & Jean-François Rochas, Blue Orange, 2019) -Gaslands: Refuelled 14m02s (Mike Hutchinson, Osprey Publishing, 2019)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Walker deploys facts, CMON travels in time 18m00s -More Warhammer Underworlds 21m58s -More Sidereal Confluence 24m20s -Foundations of Rome 25m44s -Mark must resist Obsidian Protocol 26m07s -Blacklist Games' Hour of Need 27m19s -Root RPG 28m34s
Mark thinks it is colossally unfair that he gets so much flak for speaking French when mediocre game designers get to throw around a word like "tableau." Then again, Mark and Walker can't quite agree on what a tableau constitutes. Mark seems to define it the way that American judge famously defined pornography--he knows it when he sees it--whereas Walker is more conspiratorial about tableaus (Tableaux? Tableausies?), seeing them everywhere and lurking behind every player board or suite of special powers. Nothing seems to inspire disagreement among geeks like a taxonomy.
Games Played Last Week: -Attribute 5m27s (Marcel-Andre Casasola Merkle, Z-Man Games, 2002) -Pax Pamir: Second Edition 7m33s (Cole Wehrle, Wehrlegig Games, 2019) -Air, Land & Sea 9m57s (Jon Perry, Arcane Wonders, 2018) -Shadows of Malice: Revised 2nd Printing 13m27s (Jim Felli, Devious Weasel Games, 2019) -Undaunted: Normandy 17m10s (Trevor Benjamin & David Thompson, Osprey Games, 2019) -Infinity 21m44s (Gutier Lusquiños Rodríguez, Corvus Belli, 2005)
News (and why it doesn't matter): -Root's solitaire expansion 23m54s -Donning more Purple 24m42s -Mark pleads for strength in the face of Aeon Trespass 26m27s -John Company 2nd edition: Mo JoCo Fo Sho 28m14s
Anmelden
