The Thoughtful Gamer Podcast

I'm by myself talking about solo games. I got a bit experimental with this one. I hope you enjoy.

0:32 -- A note on silence
3:43 -- Solo games
6:10 -- Arraial
7:35 -- My thoughts on the Fantasy Flight Arkham games
15:37 -- Arkham LCG
24:30 -- Unbroken
32:40 -- Nemo's War
44:26 -- Spring emerges, literally and figuratively

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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I was delighted to sit down with one of our most interesting historical and conflict game designers, Cole Wehrle. The discussion starts with talking about the second edition of John Company (on Kickstarter right now) before wandering to the the rest of his designs as we talk about the ways games can portray history or make interesting arguments. One of my favorite conversations yet.

1:00 -- John Company 2nd Edition
10:00 -- Inspiration for John Company
14:06 -- Connections Between John Company, Pax Pamir, and An Infamous Traffic
17:42 -- Handling Tough Themes
28:40 -- John Company's Success
32:29 -- Game Aesthetics and Kickstarter Expectations
44:58 -- Resolving Conflicts Between Simulation and Fun
1:04:56 -- Cole's Future Game Plans

Find more from Cole at https://wehrlegig.com/ and https://ledergames.com

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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

Marc, Orion, and Ben have been playing all sorts of 18xx games over the past year, and they're here to compare and contrast the five they've played the most. How much variation is there within this sub-sub-genre of game? What kind of dynamics do different rule variations create? Which is the best starter game? What makes 1817 "bananas-insane"? Find out this and more.

If you do not have any experience with 18xx games, we recommend checking out Episode 52 for more of an introduction to the genre.

1:44 -- Plug for 18xx.games
4:41 -- 1846
13:53 -- 18MEX
29:10 -- 1889 and 18Chesapeake
48:35 -- 1817

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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

I sat with Sean Chappell from Ramstar Games to talk about their first release: Hivernation. We discuss the design process for this abstract game as well as the challenges of being a first-time designer and publisher. Hivernation will be on Kickstarter April 13th.

1:01 -- A little about Hivernation
3:23 -- Origins of the design
7:20 -- Experience with co-designing and publishing
13:55 -- Constructing a Kickstarter campaign
21:46 -- Development and polishing process
30:31 -- Sean's history with modern board games
33:32 -- The unique joy of playing games in-person
41:47 -- Release info about Hivernation
46:25 -- Future games in the works for Ramstar

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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

I sit down with Kimberly, one of the co-organizers of the excellent Granite Game Summit, to talk about how to run a great board game convention. And, now that everything is necessarily virtual, how do you continue to keep that community alive?

1:01 - Origins of the Granite Game Summit
9:10 - Keeping a convention safe and welcoming
14:36 - Going virtual
30:40 - That unique "feeling" of a good convention
34:26 - Scaling up without losing the spirit of the thing
40:04 - Creating convention comfort
46:51 - Improvement hopes for the future

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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

We're getting in touch with our feelings with this one. What can board games do to evoke a sense of adventure? Can board games do this, or is it a poor medium for the concept? How is adventure distinct from narrative? Marc, Matt, Ben, and Amber discuss these questions and more.

3:01 - Introducing the idea of adventure
4:33 - Which games evoke adventure best?
12:35 - Above and Below/Near and Far enter the conversation
18:48 - Strategic discovery process as adventure
21:32 - Throwing Pandemic Legacy into the mix
28:10 - It's not like he didn't warn us: Matt talks about MtG
39:25 - How would we design an adventure game?
52:32 - The role of art
57:22 - How digital tools can aid or hinder adventure

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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

This is it, the best of the best! Will Gloomhaven retain its top spot? What new entries have catapulted their way into the top 33? Marc and Orion discuss, with only occasional interruptions from the new (very talkative!) kitten. His name is Mouse.

Spoilers below.

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2:28 - #33: Modern Art
5:02 - #32: Nusfjord
6:54 - #31: Food Chain Magnate
8:34 - #30: Agricola
9:12 - #29: The Crew
13:01 - #28: Suburbia
13:35 - #27: Pipeline
18:05 - #26: SpaceCorp
21:38 - #25: Tak
23:43 - #24: Lisboa
26:22 - #23: Terra Mystica
27:36 - #22: War of the Ring
28:25 - #21: Sidereal Confluence
31:25 - #20: Vinhos
33:52 - #19: 7 Wonders
35:09 - #18: Fire in the Lake
35:32 - Brand new kitten interruption!
39:44 - #17: Codenames
39:59 - #16: 1862
47:08 - #15: Concordia
48:04 - #14: Here I Stand
48:26 - #13: Brass Lancashire
50:14 - #12: Castles of Burgundy
51:22 - #11: Space Alert
52:09 - #10: Dominion
52:42 - #9: Through the Ages
54:25 - #8: The Resistance
55:11 - #7: Android: Netrunner
56:14 - #6: Mage Knight
59:12 - #5: Dominant Species
1:00:27 - #4: Twilight Imperium
1:01:52 - #3: Twilight Struggle
1:05:39 - #2: Gloomhaven
1:07:43 - #1: Spirit Island
1:10:59 - Best designer, best publisher, and other random data from the list

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 are back with the second of three installments discussing Marc's top 100 games of all time! This episode brings the most contention and disagreement yet as Marc and Orion's tastes diverge and become more clear. Plus, we get an account of an old Jenga-related trauma, emerging from deep within Orion's memories. Spoilers below

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2:04 - #66: Liberty or Death
5:14 - #65: Fog of Love
5:38 - #64: Mysterium
6:24 - #63: For Sale
8:09 - #62: Downforce
10:30 - #61: Decrypto
12:48 - #60: London (2nd Edition)
15:44 - #59: Catch the Moon
17:42 - Orion relives a Jenga-based trauma
18:14 - #58: Innovation
20:08 - #57: Pictomania
22:08 - #56: Great Western Trail
23:45 - #55: Let's Make A Bus Route
25:01 - #54: Dune
28:08 - #53: Captain Sonar
29:54 - #52: Tiny Towns
31:32 - #51: Go
33:53 - #50: 1822CA
35:47 - #49: 7 Wonders Duel
36:43 - #48: Battle Line
39:44 - #47: Magic: The Gathering
41:12 - #46: The Gallerist
41:30 - #45: Falling Sky
43:17 - #44: Inis
46:07 - #43: Imperial Struggle
48:14 - #42: Tzolk'in
48:33 - #41: Galaxy Trucker
49:37 - #40: Sprawlopolis
50:57 - #39: 1846
53:00 - #38: Pax Transhumanity
54:31 - #37: Stephenson's Rocket
58:39 - #36: Battlestar Galactica
59:49 - #35: Pax Pamir (2nd Edition)
1:04:39 - #34: Pulsar 2849
1:06:08 - Recapping the list

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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

WE'RE BACK!

After an unplanned hiatus during the chaos times we're back with a new iteration of the top 100 games of all time! 44 of the games are brand new to the list, so there's lots of movement and surprises. Here's the first third of the list.

Spoilers below!

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0:08 - We're back!
1:12 - Introducing the top 100
7:48 - Boy it's been a weird few months
11:34 - #100: Air, Land, and Sea
14:22 - #99: Star Wars Armada
16:47 - #98: Mechs v. Minions
17:07 - #97: Sushi Go! Party
18:15 - #96: Friday
18:31 - #95: Forbidden Desert
18:45 - #94: 18MEX
22:57 - #93: Die Macher
23:56 - #92: Stay Cool
25:33 - #91: Roll Player
27:40 - #90: Keyflower
27:51 - #89: Three Kingdoms Redux
29:33 - #88: Gaia Project
31:46 - #87: Pandemic Legacy Season 1
34:11 - #86: Goat 'n Goat
35:33 - #85: CO2
37:08 - #84: Irish Gauge
40:42 - #83: Robinson Crusoe
40:53 - #82: Son of Dr. Esker's Notebook
43:41 - #81: Viticulture
44:55 - #80: Triumph and Tragedy
46:08 - #79: Carcassonne
46:19 - #78: Coimbra
49:06 - #77: Magnate
51:32 - #76: Caylus 1303
54:15 - #75: El Grande
54:57 - #74: A Distant Plain
57:52 - #73: Power Grid
58:17 - #72: Tokaido
58:25 - #71: Churchill
58:56 - #70: Brass Birmingham
1:02:12 - #69: Harvest
1:02:58 - #68: Lost Cities
1:03:59 - #67: Roll for the Galaxy

Matt and Marc are back at it with wild speculation about the new Magic set. Since we rambled on forever, making this a very difficult podcast to edit, the set has released already and we're already regretting some of the things we said (black and simic seem much stronger than we gave them credit for, for instance.) Still, I don't think we're wrong about everything. Haven't been able to get an Izzet deck together, though...

4:08 - Set mechanics
6:00 - Companion
13:46 - Cycling
17:25 - Keyword Counters
19:33 - Mutate
23:47 - White
32:57 - Blue
49:58 - Black
1:01:06 - Red
1:15:45 - Green
1:26:33 - Colorless
1:29:14 - Mulicolor
1:54:40 - Rares and Mythics

Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction

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