So Very Wrong About Games

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 28m34sFeature Game: Tapestry 29m06s (Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games, 2019)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. AYURIS: Street Masters 2m17s (Adam Sadler & Brady Sadler, Blacklist Games, 2018)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 28m14sTopic: Tableau-Builders 29m10sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adorable little pudgy robots soar through a blazing pink sky, stubby arms outstretched as they speed towards their destination--a yellow planet in the distance. "GIVE ME YOAR COOOBS" bellow the aliens upon arrival. "POINTZ 4 COOOOBS." A robot obliges, and a sonorous "cha-ching" resounds through its programming. But the robot is now a drifting derelict, its home ship long gone. It is now doomed to tumble through inky pinkness until its energy reserves burn to nothing. It begins to wonder, "Why have I done this? What is my purpose? What is this all for?" And the cosmos replies with a whisper, "It is for 1-4 players."Games Played Last Week: -Hellboy: The Board Game 2m03s (James M. Hewitt & Sophie Williams, Mantic Games, 2019)-Mech Command: RTS 4m37s (Chris Gabrielson, Bad Crow Games, 2018)-Modern Art 8m06s (Reiner Knizia, CMON, 2017)-XenoShyft: Dreadmire 10m21s (Michael Shinall, CMON, 2017)-Among Thieves 12m32s (Floyd Pretz, Indie Boards & Cards, 2019)-Barenpark 15m58s (Phil Walker-Harding, Lookout Games, 2017)-Pax Renaissance 19m35s (Phil Eklund & Matt Eklund, Sierra Madre Games, 2016)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Walker getz Dized 21m50s-Kemet 1.5 22m49s-Terra Mystica expands, why no Gaia Project? 24m32s-Vengeance: Director's Cut 25m35s-Co-op Trick-taking 27m38sFeature Game: Black Angel 28m26s (Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, & Alain Orban, Pearl Games, 2019)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We return to games of weeks past, for the most part, to see if our initial impressions persist. We were young and foolish in past weeks, of course, whereas now we are older and foolish. Whether our errors mature like fine wine or spoil to the vinegar of harsh insight is up to you. One thing is certain, though--our metaphors certainly aren't getting any sweeter.AYURIS: SEAL Team Flix 2m09s (Pete Ruth & Mark Thomas, WizKids, 2018)Games Played Last Week: -Kobayakawa 5m46s (Jun Sasaki, IELLO, 2013)-Black Angel 7m25s (Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, & Alain Orban, Pearl Games, 2019)-Human Punishment: Social Deduction 2.0 9m05s (Stefan Godot, Godot Games, 2018)-Teotihuacan: Late Preclassic Period 12m40s (Rainer Ahlfors, Andrei Novac, & Daniele Tascini, Board&Dice, 2019)-Import/Export 17m52s (Jordan Draper, Dark Flight, 2017)-Rangers of Shadow Deep 21m37s (Joseph McCullough, Self-published, 2018)-Horizon Wars 23m13s (Robey Jenkins, Osprey Publishing, 2016)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Vague intimations of important podcast news-Evil Dead 2 made whole? 25m26s-IGA Nominations announced 27m07sTopic: Card-Driven Games 28m24sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Card Crafting System returns once more, its heaps of mylar inserting into our gaming life. I would say it darkens our door, but the things are mostly transparent, so the idiom doesn't quite fit. One wonders whether and how one could sleeve a Card Crafting game, given that the games largely consist of sleeves already--but once one has witnessed the recursive horror that is sleeve sleeves, you cannot doubt the persistence and ingenuity of the Cult of Sleeves. They will, like life, find a way--perhaps sleeving each insert before inserting them into an ur-sleeve that will smother us all. The horror.Games Played Last Week: -Tiny Epic Mechs 1m32s (Scott Almes, Gamelyn Games, 2019)-Yokohama 2m45s (Hisashi Hayashi, Tasty Minstrel Games, 2016)-Risk: Mass Effect Galaxy at War Edition 7m43s (Andrew Wolf, The OP, 2013)-Pulsar 2849 10m37s (Vladimír Suchý, CGE, 2017)-Antidote 13m06s (Dennis Hoyle, Bellwether Games, 2013)-Human Punishment: Social Deduction 2.0 14m33s (Stefan Godot, Godot Games, 2018)-Villagers 18m21s (Haakon Gaarder, Sinister Fish Games, 2019)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Sidereal Confluence expansion? 20m12s-New Orleans (gotta have a campaign) 21m11s-More Steding: Gugong expansion 23m16s-Pandemic system offshoots staying in print 23m53s-Successors Kickstarter launched 25m40s-Jagged Alliance expansion 27m59sFeature Game: Edge of Darkness 29m10s (John D. Clair, AEG, 2019)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are happy stories. Stories of social serendipity, where you like them and they like you, and all opinions are as one and there is harmony. Where no awkward conversations need be had and no unfortunate lines drawn. Where no one is annoyed, and no one is harassed, and no one must bury their preferences so as to placate another. These are not these stories.AYURIS: Food Chain Magnate 1m37s (Jeroen Doumen & Joris Wiersinga, Splotter Spellen, 2015)Games Played Last Week: -Gugong 3m50s (Andreas Steding, Game Brewer, 2018)-Infinity 4m37s (Gutier Lusquiños Rodríguez, Corvus Belli, 2005)-Slide Quest 7m34s (Nicolas Bourgoin & Jean-François Rochas, Blue Orange, 2019)-Rhino Hero Super Battle 11m41s (Scott Frisco & Steven Strumpf, HABA, 2017)-Tiny Epic Mechs 13m40s (Scott Almes, Gamelyn Games, 2019)-Horizon Wars 16m50s (Robey Jenkins, Osprey Publishing, 2016)-Calimala 20m39s (Fabio Lopiano, ADC Blackfire Entertainment GmbH, 2017)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Hansa Teutonica Big Box! 21m52s-After the After the Empire Kickstarter 23m00s-Blacklist Games goes 8-bit with Bomberman and Contra 24m15s-Asmodee bought something again (again) 25m27s-Mark Rosewater “Why Diversity Matters in Game Design” 26m41shttps://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/why-diversity-matters-game-design-2019-08-19 Topic: When, Why and How to Exclude People 27m32sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So. Many. Games. Even after careful curation and surgical editing, Mark and Walker talk about thirteen different games they played last week, not even counting the feature game. It was truly a good week. New games! Old games! Co-ops, minis, dexterity, wargames! Come join us at the cornucopia of amusement that is this week's SVWAG.Games Played Last Week: -Beasts of Balance 1m29s (George Buckenham & Alex Fleetwood, Sensible Object, 2016)-Teotihuacan: City of Gods 3m32s (Daniele Tascini, NSKN Games, 2018)-Obsession 4m19s (Dan Halladay, Kayenta Games, 2018)-Star Trek: Conflick in the Neutral Zone 6m31s (Mike Elliott, WizKids, 2019)-Pandemic: Fall of Rome 11m10s (Matt Leacock & Paolo Mori, Z-Man, 2018)-Pandemic: Rapid Response 12m25s (Kane Klenko, Z-Man Games, 2019)-Concordia 16m18s (Mac Gerdts, PD-Verlag, 2013)-Pulsar 2849 19m26s (Vladimír Suchý, CGE, 2017)-Lords of Hellas: Dark Ages Expansion 25m01s (Adam Kwapiński, Awaken Realms, 2019)-Just One 28m06s (Ludovic Roudy & Bruno Sautter, Repos Production, 2018)-Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan 28m41s (Matt Calkins, GMT, 2011)-Tannhauser Revised Edition 31m22s (Daniel Clark, J. R. Godwin, William Grosselin, & Jeff Tidball, Fantasy Flight, 2010)-Core Worlds 34m22s (Andrew Parks, Stronghold, 2011)News (and why it doesn't matter):-https://www.patreon.com/svwag-Puerto Rico reprint 35m43s-How to earn success with Successors 36m57s-Gloomhaven digital early access 38m51s-Those without SEAL Team Flix, you have failed 39m28s-The Tiny Epic brand goes Ultra Tiny 40m21s-A Tapestry of distribution 41m01sFeature Game: Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Warcry 42m33s (Uncredited, Games Workshop, 2019)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is gaming other than an outlet for vicarious experiences and thrills? To enjoy the simulacrum of killing, adventure, high finance, and impressing feudal lords? We can thus assert with great sincerity that ours shall be the very best GenCon coverage, in that we didn't go. Why trust the easily-misled first hand accounts? We know from both philosophy and science that sense data deceives. You can put your faith in our reflections, completely unbiased by any experience.AYURIS: Kemet 1m15s (Jacques Bariot & Guillaume Montiage, Matagot, 2012)Games Played Last Week: -Kemet 3m57s (Jacques Bariot & Guillaume Montiage, Matagot, 2012)-Tower of Babel 5m41s (Reiner Knizia, Hans im Gluck, 2005)-Q.E. 10m09s (Gavin Birnbaum, Boardgametables.com, 2019)-The Ares Project 11m53s (Brian Engelstein & Geoff Engelstein, Z-Man, 2011)-Mech Command RTS 14m28s (Chris Gabrielson, Bad Crow Games, 2018)-Import/Export 20m14s (Jordan Draper, Dark Flight Games, 2017)News (and why it doesn't matter):-How many Cyperpunks does one need? 25m05s-An actual Eric Lang joint: Ankh 25m33s-More Fiasco 26m51s-Everyone can relax, Mark has been made whole 28m28sTopic: What We Would Have Done at GenCon 30m39sLou Zocchi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXZbdZNuRIw&t=5sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Failure can be a fortuitous thing, which is very good for Mark, as he is well accustomed to failure. While this week's review of Pax Renaissance is certainly not on the scale of, say, penicillin, it did give him the opportunity to play one of his top 20 games more. As to whether Walker profited or suffered from this development is a deep and abiding mystery solvable only by listening to this week's episode.Games Played Last Week: -Gaslands 2m29s (Glenn Ford & Mike Hutchinson, Osprey Publishing, 2017)-Space Hulk 3rd edition 4m56s (Richard Halliwell, Games Workshop, 2009)-Horizon Wars 7m37s (Robey Jenkins, Osprey Publishing, 2016)-Time of Crisis 10m30s(Wray Ferrell & Brad Johnson, GMT, 2017)-Q.E. 12m30s (Gavin Birnbaum, Boardgametables.com, 2019)-Lords of Hellas: Dark Ages Expansion 15m12s (Adam Kwapinski, Awaken Realms, 2019)-Getaway Driver 16m12s (Jeff Beck, Uproarious Games, 2019)News (and why it doesn't matter):-Goodbye to Richard Berg 18m17s-Spyfall through time 19m35s-The unfolding Golden Bell situation 20m28s-Walker shills his auction 23m53sFeature Game: Pax Renaissance 24m14s (Phil Eklund & Matt Eklund, Sierra Madre Games, 2016)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We can pretend that our adult pastimes are more sophisticated and evolved from the trivialities of mere children, but really, let's admit it--it's all the same. We can't claim any degree of superiority when compared to the antics of ankle-biters. Let's be mature about it and lean into the juvenalia, shall we? My doll is better than your doll. My doll has the Plasmanator Meltotron. You can't hit my doll, it has an invisible everything shield! AYURIS: Keyflower 1m58s (Sebastian Bleasdale & Richard Breese, R&D Games, 2012)Games Played Last Week: -Pax Renaissance 4m25s (Phil Eklund & Matt Eklund, Sierra Madre Games, 2016)-Root 4m27s (Cole Wehrle, Leder Games, 2018)-Neuroshima Hex! 3.0 6m46s (Michal Oracz, Portal Games, 2006)-Modern Art 8m30s (Reiner Knizia, CMON, 2017)-Quadropolis 12m30s (Francois Gandon, Days of Wonder, 2016)-Lords of Hellas: Lord of the Sun 14m03s (Adam Kwapinski, Awaken Realms, 2019)-Men at Work 17m53s (Rita Modl, Pretzel Games, 2019)-Rhino Hero Giant Edition 18m57s (Scott Frisco & Steven Strumpf, Sugorokuya, 2018)-Piratenbillard 20m36s (Reinhold Wittig, ABACUSSPIELE, 1959)-Joraku 22m47s (Iori Tsukinami, Tasty Minstrel, 2015)News (and why it doesn't matter):-CMON's "Teburu": The future? 25m17s-Mental Blocks at Gencon 30m47s-Real-time medical follies with Rush M.D. 32m07s-More Carl Chudyk in the Aegean Sea 33m09s-Dragonball Zed 34m58s-Spiel des Jahres winners 35m51s-More Aristeia! 36m56sTopic: Tabletop Miniatures Gaming 38m03sAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices