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A conversation about tabletop games
Episodes
Wednesday Feb 06, 2019
Wednesday Feb 06, 2019
We've been playing abstract games all month and we're here to tell you about it! Marc, Matt, and Orion go in depth about five different abstract games, both classic and new. We've all fallen in love with Go, and Tak was a pleasant surprise. What's so compelling about these games that some have survived for millennia? We've gotten a taste of it.
3:57 - What actually is an abstract game?
10:28 - Go
26:52 - Chess
46:30 - Santorini
55:01 - Onitama
1:01:18 - Tak
1:13:28 - Lines of play
1:16:46 - The unique beauty of abstract games
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
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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
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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
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
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.
Saturday Dec 22, 2018
Saturday Dec 22, 2018
Marc and Amber sit down to talk about their time at PAX Unplugged. We played some new games, some old games, and some that aren't even released yet. What are the highlights? What do we think of Keyforge? Why is Marc such a tough critic of games he playtests? The world may never know. Except you, if you listen to this.
5:10 - Expo Hall
9:58 - Inhuman Conditions
15:06 - Tiny Towns
18:38 - Pirate Tricks
20:16 - Digression on Language
24:38 - Alchemists
28:50 - Spirit Island
32:00 - Prototype Playtesting
35:49 - Megagames
37:53 - Ivion
39:20 - MtG and Keyforge Tournaments
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Thursday Nov 29, 2018
Thursday Nov 29, 2018
We're delighted to sit down with game designer Isaac Shalev to talk about a variety of things, from the designs of Ryan Laukat to Isaac's history with board games, to his current project creating an encyclopedia of game mechanisms. Don't miss this one.
2.54 - Empires of the Void II
22:19 - Isaac Shalev: The Man, The Myth
27:10 - Seikatsu
38:57 - Cataloging design patterns and language in a general sense
1:11:40 - Juicy bits about The Mind and Hanabi
1:22:09 - Games criticism
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Wednesday Nov 07, 2018
Wednesday Nov 07, 2018
Marc and Amber talk about their gaming life, from childhood to the present. A trip down memory lane.
1:22 - Childhood
15:28 - Video games
24:08 - College
32:02 - Post-college to present
43:26 - Back to childhood
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Friday Nov 02, 2018
Friday Nov 02, 2018
I'm looking for your feedback--what interesting board game things should I do while in Philadelphia after PAX Unplugged? What monthly themes should I focus on each month in 2019? Also, I give some first thoughts on three eminently interesting games I've been enjoying recently.
0:22 - PAX Unplugged and Philadelphia
1:37 - Give me monthly theme ideas!
3:15 - Brass
5:41 - SPQF
7:59 - Innovation
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.
Friday Oct 26, 2018
Friday Oct 26, 2018
After a bit of a break, we're back! Marc, Matt, and Orion talk about area majority games with an emphasis on their recent play of The Expanse. What separates these games from the more broad category of "area control"? What makes them work or not work?
Music: Sailing The Solar Wind by Abstraction
Like the podcast? Want to watch it being recorded, live? Consider supporting it on Patreon.