The Thoughtful Gamer Podcast

PAX East expanded to 4 days from 3, and that means we got even more games played this year, including an absolute GEM of a game from CGE. We also rant about Jimmy Johns and, frankly, get extremely silly. Also, the debut podcast appearance from our good friend Lindsay!

3:12 - First Impressions of PAX East 2018

11:15 - Tabletop Tournaments

15:34 - Expo Hall

22:21 - The Grimm Forest

23:24 - High Heavens

27:21 - Wallet Games by Chip Beauvais

32:15 - Downforce Expansion

37:34 - Tokyo Metro

41:48 - Faza

44:15 - Panel On Game Balance

50:48 - Jimmy Johns Sandwiches and Bad Design

56:09 - Merlin

1:01:12 - Munchkin CCG

1:04:15 - Civilization: A New Dawn

1:08:32 - Dice Forge

1:11:27 - I don't even know what to call this. You're just going to have to listen to it.

1:14:00 - The Shipwreck Arcana

1:22:06 - El Grande

1:29:56 - London

1:33:45 - Nusfjord

1:39:28 - Pulsar 2849

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

 

I've got a wide assortment of topics today, from rulebook pet peeves to disappointing card games to an exciting livestream announcement. Happy Friday!

0:29 - Problems With Rulebooks

6:19 - Consider Supporting Meeple Like Us

7:11 - Great Resource: Stonemaier Games' Blog

8:18 - The Mind

9:46 - Deep Sea Adventure

11:37 - Castles of Burgundy: The Card Game

14:44 - Top 100 Games Podcast Livestream Announcement

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

Ever feel like you're just not doing as well as you should at games? Want that secret sauce so you can beat your friends? Marc, Orion, Matt, Matt's secret brother Dave, and another Matt who we call Bubba are here to help! We're sometimes not bad at games and we have a variety of tips to help you out.

4:17 - Find The Bottlenecks

9:06 - Understand Resource Values

15:30 - Identify Action Loops

22:23 - Digression - Who Is This Advice For?

23:32 - FOO Strategies

33:34 - Be Aware Of Remaining Time

42:58 - Always Draw First

44:31 - Sports Digression

45:05 - Deck Efficiency

53:22 - Figure Out If You Should Differentiate Or Follow

56:31 - Disguise Your Strength

1:01:35 - In Co-Ops, Maximize Your Offense

1:04:50 - Leave Your Options Open

1:16:16 - Subvert Common Expectations

1:22:34 - Reverse Engineer From The Victory Condition

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

Marc and Orion sit down to talk about all they played at the Granite Games Summit in Nashua, NH. It was a wonderful convention and we played some truly awesome games! Except one. Prepare for a good old-fashioned rant.

Paramedics Clear!: 2:31

Clank! In! Space!: 7:04

Dominant Species: 13:38

Rising Sun: 18:57

Deck Construction (prototype): 43:38

Here I Stand: 46:45

Lisboa: 55:32

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

 

I chat with Matt from Mountaintop Games about his first game design: The Primary, which is a light area control game based around the US primary election system. It launches on Kickstarter tomorrow, right here: https://goo.gl/hcSz79

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

Marc, Matt, Orion, and Ben join up to talk about two of their favorite real-time games: Space Alert and Captain Sonar. What makes them so captivating? How do their differences highlight their respective strengths and weaknesses? Will Marc ever be able to end the podcast, or will it forever spiral into more and more increasingly irrelevant tangents? Only one way to find out!

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

Greetings! I'm here with another quick update on what games I've been playing recently and what's in store in the next couple of weeks. Get my first impressions on Terraforming Mars, The Gallerist, and the new Netrunner meta.

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

This week's podcast is a wonderful discussion with Jason Perez, a psychotherapist from the Every Night Is Game Night podcast, about depression and mental health. We talk about what it means to be depressed, why if you think you might be struggling with depression you should seek help, and Jason talks about 10 things you can to do help break out of a delf-defeating depressed cycle. Board games can play a role in that!

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.

Longtime listeners will know that Matt frequently tries to sabotage this podcast by talking about hockey. Well, back when me, Orion, and Matt were doing our "listener question" podcast, we got into a very long discussion about sports that I didn't include in that podcast. I then forgot about it for a while but have dug it up for your enjoyment. Spring training is about to start and the hockey season is in full-swing, so hear what we have to say about those games and the games played around them.

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Join Marc, Orion, Matt, and Wes in a hidden movement cage fight! The old Fantasy Flight standard goes up against the new hotness. Which one is better? Only one way to find out.

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.