Draft Mechanic

Latest Episodes:

#50: The Summer of Hot Games begins! Flipships, The Fox in the Forest, Rococo on tap and tons more! Jul 17, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 50: The Summer of HOT GAMES begins! Flipships, Fox in the Forest, Rococo on tap, Listener Q&A, Giveaways

Episode 50! That's half of a hundred! I'm not really sure how we made it this far, but nothing left to do but keep going! We're fresh back from our trip to Dice Tower Con, and boy howdy did we play a big ol' pile of games. Such a big stack of games, in fact, that we've got too many to talk about in this episode… or two, or three, or… well. You see where this is going. So, with the monumental Episode 50 under our belt, we're launching The Summer of Hot Games with WEEKLY episodes through Gen Con where we look at the latest and greatest and get you ready for the spectacle in Indianapolis. Today we're talking about Flipships and The Fox in the Forest; we've got a kickstarter preview of Star Scrappers: Cave In, we discuss a pair of Felds, put Rococo on tap, answer listener questions and do a giveaway for a fun game from Green Couch Games! And to think, this is only the start of the Summer of Hot Games… you're gonna need some sunscreen for your meeples!

Intro

02:13 Con Watch: MegaMooseCon!

03:52 Con Watch: Gen Con 50!

06:02 The Summer of HOT Games! Double the Draft Mechanic!

08:35 Kickstarter Preview: Star Scrappers: Cave In

18:12 Recent Plays: Flipships

24:58 Recent Plays: Notre Dame, 10th Anniversary Edition

34:02 Recent Plays: Bora Bora

42:07 Recent Plays: The Fox in the Forest

48:09 The First Ever Draft Mechanic Listener Q&A!

76:31 On Tap: Rococo

82:46 The Beer Primer: Kvass

93:10 A Giveaway?!

95:04 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our theme music is "Superpower of Choice" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen! And now, you can listen to the full album on our website!

Thanks for listening! Please game responsibly and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

#49: Yamatai v Five Tribes; Five Tribes on tap; The Lost Expedition; TIME Stories: Lumen Fidei Jul 03, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 49: Yamatai v Five Tribes; Five Tribes on tap; The Lost Expedition; TIME Stories: Lumen Fidei

To be honest, we planned on doing Yamatai as a six-pack review, but the more we played it the more we realized it would be a perfect candidate for our "Variants" series, where we pit a game up against another that shares enough similarities to warrant the comparison. What's our comparison point for Yamatai? Well, look no further than designer Bruno Cathala's prior design for Days of Wonder, Five Tribes! Both fit that highly produced, mid-weight 2-4 player niche, but what are the benefits of each? Find out in today's feature segment! Also, we're putting Five Tribes on tap with beer pairings for each of the tribes. We're also going to discuss recent plays of The Lost Expedition, Parade, and the latest TIME Stories scenario, Lumen Fidei. Don't worry - there's no spoilers here! In our beer segment this episode, we'll take a look at some America-themed beers for the Independence Day holiday. So sit back, relax, grab a pint and enjoy the show!

Intro

01:00 Show housekeeping, upcoming events

04:12 Beer News: "Independent Brewer" seal

08:11 Games News: MAP Policies expand

10:25 Games News: Pandemic Legacy: Season 2

13:06 Recent Plays: Parade

19:43 Recent Plays: The Lost Expedition

26:26 Recent Plays: TIME Stories "Lumen Fidei" and TIME Stories overall discussion

36:20 Variants: Yamatai v Five Tribes

61:43 On Tap: Five Tribes

66:30 America-themed beers for Independence Day

72:18 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our theme music is "Superpower of Choice" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen! And now, you can listen to the full album on our website!

Thanks for listening! Please game responsibly and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

#48: Near and Far six-pack review and on tap, Thrash and Roll, Secret Hitler, Jaipur app Jun 19, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 48: Near and Far six pack review & on tap; Thrash & Roll; Jaipur app; Secret Hitler; Skull

Today's episode of Draft Mechanic comes to you from a great distance! Well, thematically. We're in the same studio as always, but today's game is quite the journey: Near and Far from Red Raven games! We give it the full six-pack review, and it's a doubleheader as well as our game on tap. In recent plays, we talk about Thrash & Roll, Secret Hitler, Jaipur, Skull and more! Also, Jake takes over the beer segment to dig into the controversy surrounding a partial 'investment' into the community beer rating website RateBeer. Hope you've got comfortable shoes on; let's go on a journey!

Intro

01:00 Show housekeeping

04:16 Kickstarter: GameTek: The Book

06:48 Recent Plays: Terraforming Mars & Scythe

09:42 Recent Plays: Thrash & Roll

18:50 Recent Plays: Secret Hitler

24:16 Recent Plays: Jaipur on iOS

33:42 Recent Plays: Skull

37:25 Six Pack Review: Near and Far

38:24 Near and Far: Gameplay Run-through

43:15 Near and Far: Discussion

64:24 Near and Far: Final Thoughts

66:08 Near and Far: On Tap beer pairings

72:04 RateBeer investment controversy

80:35 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our theme music is "Superpower of Choice" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen! And now, you can listen to the full album on our website!

Thanks for listening! Please game responsibly and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

#47: Fields of Green v. Among the Stars; Coldwater Crown on tap; Honshu; Pocket Mars; Shahrazad Jun 05, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 47: Fields of Green v. Among the Stars; Coldwater Crown on tap; Honshu; Pocket Mars; Shahrazad

I'll be up front about this one - I'm sorely disappointed that Episode 47 doesn't contain a single Star Trek reference. But now that I've got that off my chest, I'm very proud of what we put together here, including the debut of a new segment! In our new feature, Variants, we're doing the compare and contrast treatment for Fields of Green and Among the Stars - two games with the same foundation that go in different directions, both from designer Vangelis Bagiartakis and published by Artipia/Stronghold Games. We get back on the boat with our on tap featured game Coldwater Crown, and also discuss recent plays of Honshu, Pocket Mars and Shahrazad. Finally, Danielle has put together a beer segment for those headed to Origins Game Fair as she tracks down the best craft beers local to the Columbus area! So sit back, relax, grab a pint and enjoy the show!

Intro

01:00 Show housekeeping

03:30 A new project?

04:09 Introducing… Punchboard Media!

05:48 Kickstarter: Zero Hour

07:10 Kickstarter: TORG Eternity

07:52 News: Asmodee exclusive with Alliance

14:53 Recent Plays: Honshu

24:43 Recent Plays: Pocket Mars

32:54 Recent Plays: Shahrazad

40:43 Variants: Fields of Green v. Among the Stars

62:35 On Tap: Coldwater Crown

66:12 Craft Beer Options for Origins Game Fair

74:14 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our theme music is "Superpower of Choice" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen! Listen to full songs on our website!

Thanks for listening! Please game responsibly and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

SPOILER EPISODE EPSILON: T.I.M.E Stories, Expedition: Endurance May 24, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic: Spoiler Episode Epsilon

T.I.M.E Stories: Expedition: Endurance, 1914 NT

WARNING! This episode contains MAJOR, MASSIVE, COMPLETE SPOILERS for the T.I.M.E Stories scenario "Expedition: Endurance." After nearly a year, we dive back in to Spoiler Epsiode territory as our debriefings from the fifth T.I.M.E Stories scenario see the light of day. We have half an hour of discussion from Team Alpha, and then Team Beta returns after the break to join us after their run. Things went much differently for the both of us and there was definitely a lot to pick apart. With scenario six, Lumen Fidei, looming on the horizon, it's time to jump back into the cassions for another round!

Intro

01:30 Team Alpha discussion

29:33 Team Beta discussion

57:55 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also very active on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our spoiler episode theme music is "Rinse/Repeat" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen!

Thanks for listening and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

Special! Introducing... Punchboard Media! May 24, 2017

Show notes

On today's special episode, we're here to introduce Punchboard Media, a new collaborative network we're launching with a great group of board game media content creators.

Visit the new website at punchboardmedia.com, and join us on social media!

Twitter: @punchboardmedia Facebook: /punchboardmedia Instagram: @punchboardmedia

Punchboard Media - Where we all bring something to the table!

#46: Ethnos six-pack review; Blood Rage on tap; CMON Expo round-up May 22, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 46: Ethnos six-pack review; Blood Rage on tap; CMON Expo games review; The Beer Primer: Pilsner

Oh, hello there! We just got back from Atlanta, and boy, are our meeples tired! (laughter) But seriously, last weekend we got to play a ton of games at CMON Expo and we're here to tell you all about them. It tied in nicely to our featured game for this episode's six-pack review - Ethnos - the new area control game from CMON that's got the industry buzzing. And while we're at it, let's take a look back at one of CMON's biggest smash hits as we put Blood Rage on tap with some legendary drinks that you can enjoy while pursuing Valhalla. Danielle wraps up our episode with a Beer Primer on the Pilsner style of beer, and why it's deserving of your respect. So sit back, relax, grab a pint and enjoy the show!

Intro

01:00 Show housekeeping

03:33 Kickstarter: Diceborn Heroes

06:13 Unlock! watch, Spoiler Episodes and a Special Announcement

11:36 Going to CMON Expo

13:19 Recent Plays: Dojo Kun

18:04 Recent Plays: SherLook

21:54 Recent Plays: Council of 4

26:56 Recent Plays: Gekido, Bot Battles

31:20 Recent Plays: BloodBorne, the Card Game

35:45 Recent Plays: Modern Art

40:09 Recent Plays: Dogs of War

47:03 Six Pack Review: Ethnos

48:10 Ethnos: Gameplay overview

50:14 Ethnos: Discussion

67:09 Ethnos: Final Thoughts

67:54 On Tap: Blood Rage

73:56 The Beer Primer: Pilsner

86:03 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our theme music is "Superpower of Choice" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen!

Thanks for listening! Please game responsibly and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

#45: Six-Player Six Pack; Las Vegas on tap; Barcelona; Mystic Vale; Betrayal at the Brewery on the Hill May 08, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 45: Six-Player Six Pack; Las Vegas on tap; Barcelona; Mystic Vale; Betrayal at the Brewery on the Hill

Welcome back to another episode of Draft Mechanic, fresh off the tap! Today, we're sharing a six-pack of games that play six (or more!) but still have some meat on their bones! We're putting Las Vegas on tap with some lucky brews, and we're discussing recent plays of Barcelona, Mystic Vale and Orleans. We also look at some exciting titles announced for Origins release this year. And sadly, we've got a recurrent topic in our beer segment as we talk about Lagunitas and local favorites, Wicked Weed, selling out to Big Beer. Sit back, relax, grab a pint and enjoy the show!

Intro

02:15 CMON Expo this weekend!

03:45 Upcoming: Five Tribes, Whims of the Sultan

05:20 Upcoming: Onitama, Sensei's Path

06:15 Upcoming: Century: Spice Road

07:47 Upcoming: Flatline

08:36 Upcoming: Fields of Green

10:28 Upcoming: Bohnanza: The Duel

12:43 Kickstarter: Gloomhaven finishes #24 of all time

14:01 Recent Plays: Barcelona, The Rose of Fire

26:46 Recent Plays: Mystic Vale

34:18 Recent Plays: Orleans

39:55 Six Pack: Six Player Games

53:44 On Tap: Las Vegas

59:04 The Betrayal at the Brewery on the Hill

69:00 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our theme music is "Superpower of Choice" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen!

Thanks for listening! Please game responsibly and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

#44: Anachrony six-pack review and on tap; Fugitive; Valeria Card Kingdoms; Veggie Garden Apr 24, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 44: Anachrony six-pack and on tap; Fugitive; Valeria: Card Kingdoms & Veggie Garden

So, buckle up for a wild temporal ride! Danielle wraps up this episode with a discussion about how beer tastes can change over time! In the news, we've got some new app implementations and a video game coming to board games. We're also going to talk about some recent plays: Fugitive, Valeria: Card Kingdoms and Veggie Garden. Today, we dive in and do double duty with our six-pack review and our on-tap feature. It's a big hefty euro that features time travel as a major mechanic - quite the headache! Though, that's what you get when you're reviewing a game like Anachrony. Bear with me, this is going to be a confusing one. In today's episode, we've got quite the paradox!

Intro

01:00 Intro / Housekeeping

02:40 International Tabletop Day

03:45 App Gaming: Terra Mystica

05:27 App Gaming: Race for the Galaxy

09:01 Upcoming: Super Mario Level Up!

11:09 Kickstarter: Brass, Lancashire & Birmingham

14:28 Recent Plays: Fugitive

20:35 Recent Plays: Valeria Card Kingdoms

27:23 Recent Plays: Veggie Garden

33:26 Six Pack Review: Anachrony

33:53 Anachrony: Rules Walkthrough

41:55 Anachrony: Discussion

65:49 Anachrony: Final Thoughts

68:10 On Tap: Anachrony

73:37 Changing Tastes over time

79:49 Outro

We hope you enjoyed today's episode! Send us some feedback at draftmechanic@gmail.com and visit us on the web at draftmechanic.net!

Join us at the local, our BGG Guild (#2470)!

We're also on Twitter and Instagram - follow us at @draftmechanic! Also, Like us on Facebook!

Our theme music is "Superpower of Choice" by the Liberation Jumpsuit - thanks to Drew and Jeff for making it happen!

Thanks for listening! Please game responsibly and we'll see you back here again soon for another round!

#43: Coldwater Crown review; Sagrada on tap; Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft Apr 10, 2017

Show notes

Draft Mechanic Episode 43: Coldwater Crown six-pack; Sagrada on tap; Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft

Welcome back to another episode of Draft Mechanic! Today, it's all about interesting themes rich with color. Our big feature is a six-pack review of Coldwater Crown, the recent release from designer Brian Suhre and Bellwether Games. On tap today we have Sagrada, an awesome new dice-drafting game that sets a new standard for gorgeous. In recent plays, we talk about receiving mysterious packages, rolling for railways, racing for evidence and real-time dungeon delving! We hope you enjoy today's episode, drop us a line on BGG or social media to let us know! And now… on with the show!

Intro

01:00 Intro / Housekeeping

02:30 Travel: Chicagoland Dice Dojo

03:57 News: Scythe, The Wind Gambit

06:30 Kickstarter: The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast

08:51 Kickstarter: Matryoshka

12:21 Recent Plays: The Mysterious Package Company

17:26 Recent Plays: 30 Rails

22:04 Recent Plays: Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft

31:25 Recent Plays: 5-Minute Dungeon

37:24 Six Pack Review: Coldwater Crown

38:13 Coldwater Crown: Rules Walkthrough