Episodes
Tuesday Jan 29, 2019
Book Discussion: The Three Body Problem Part 2: The Dark Forest
Tuesday Jan 29, 2019
Tuesday Jan 29, 2019
Marc, Orion, and Matt continue their discussion of this incredible sci-fi trilogy. This time they're talking about the 2nd book, which is probably the most divisive but also the most tightly constructed. As always, major SPOILER WARNING! We're spoiling it all. If you have any interest, we recommend you read the books first. There's sci-fi concepts in here as good as anything Asimov ever did.
1:36 - Translation differences
3:14 - Cinematic feelings
6:21 - Not for the last time, we bring up scope
8:00 - Wallfacers
17:59 - Cosmic sociology
22:32 - Human sociology
28:00 - Droplet
33:50 - Dead man's switch
35:54 - Matt's gripes
41:21 - The dark forest
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Tuesday Jan 22, 2019
Ep 45: A Conversation With Peter McPherson
Tuesday Jan 22, 2019
Tuesday Jan 22, 2019
Marc talks with Peter McPherson, designer of the upcoming Tiny Towns from AEG. What was it like working with a publisher for the first time, what was the design process for this family-weight construction euro, and what can we expect from Peter in the future?
1:58 - What was your entry point to modern board games?
4:57 - Designing and developing Tiny Towns
6:51 - Mandatory digression on "The Mind"
10:16 - The part where I remember to actually have Peter describe the game
14:49 - PAX Unplugged experience
15:57 - The publishing experience
26:22 - Other designs Peter is working on
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Thursday Jan 17, 2019
Book Discussion: The Three Body Problem Part 1
Thursday Jan 17, 2019
Thursday Jan 17, 2019
Join Marc, Matt, and Orion as they discuss a truly wonderful sci-fi series: The Three Body Problem. Here they discuss the first of this trilogy, looking at memorable moments and thematic elements of interest. A lot of what we find here will carry over into the broader second and third installments.
2:15 - Pre-spoilers: should you read this book?
9:14 - Spoilers ahoy!
9:48 - The "three body problem" in physics
12:39 - Cultural revolution and science in society
15:17 - Two great early scenes
21:56 - The VR game
23:03 - Okay, we're spoiling everything, for reals, now
27:35 - Underestimating scope and human scrappiness
32:34 - Tripwires and pessimism
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Friday Jan 04, 2019
Ep 44: Aesthetics
Friday Jan 04, 2019
Friday Jan 04, 2019
Marc, Matt, and Orion, three people who typically don't care very much about the look of the games they're playing talk about the games that do have remarkable visuals and design. What games' aesthetics are so good or so bad that they affect our rating of them? What is it about those games that make them truly stand out? Also we talk about buckets.
6:08 - We stop talking about sports
8:43 - Ryan Laukat's games - selling the setting
12:53 - Forbidden Desert/Sky - the toy factor
18:47 - Rising Sun and Lacerda - abundance of detail
25:54 - Wingspan and Stonemaier
27:20 - Fog of Love, Tokaido, and others - clean looks
31:29 - Go and Chess - the look of history and myth
35:35 - Orion talks about buckets
45:18 - Our top games where the aesthetics significantly improve our rating of the game
1:04:47 - The wargame aesthetic
1:06:08 - Games we want to get a deluxe remake
1:10:17 - Lamenting about the lack of tangents in the conversation, which is in and of itself a tangent
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.