Every Night is Game Night

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Episode 112: Recent Hotness and Gaming with a Newborn Around Nov 09, 2018

Show notes

Jason is quasi-back from exile with a whole new, post-baby episode. It's only Jason this time because real life and scheduling both suck. Anthony will definitely be back next week. But we're going to make the most of this week with reviews of some great games, as well as Jason sharing a bit of about himself and the trials and tribulations of having a newborn around. Jason says it in the pod, but it bears repeating - thank God for solo gaming! A perfect blend with a newborn in the home. First up is My Little Scythe (8:05), the children's version of Scythe that was originally released as a My Little Pony print and play game. Stonemaier Games picked up it and gave it some truly gorgeous production, but does it stand up as an enjoyable game for kids and for adults? Next up is 1066, Tears to Many Mothers (17:20), an asymmetric card-based historical war game that plays in 30-45 minutes. It's a Hall or Nothing game, and Tristan Hall loves his solo modes, so we got one here as well. Then we get into Dice Settlers (30:04), the latest from David Turczi that's chock full of custom dice and resource management. He has yet to make a flop, so a new one from him will always get attention from this pod. Finally, Jason shares his thoughts about gaming with a newborn. Of course, you'll be apart from your game group for a bit. But, how long should a parent wait to game again? And what can a game group do to support?

ENGN Episode 111 - Lunchtime Games Nov 02, 2018

Show notes

Liz from Beyond Solitaire rejoins Anthony and Jason to talk about some games to while away your lunch hour at work. First, we chat about Hero Realms (3:26), a variant of Star Realms with a fantasy theme. We love the original, but is this one possibly better? Liz then breaks down Multiuniversum (12:43), a puzzly card game about scientists closing portals which has a neat solo mode (even if the rulebook doesn't advertise it as such). Finally, Jason chats about a game in the Duelist line from Level 99, Professor Treasure's Secret Sky Castle (19:11). For our discussion this week, we turn to the fans! If you have not joined our Facebook group, please check us out. A member of the group, Harrison Guzman, asked us to talk about games that would fit into someone's workday during lunch. Rather than just talk about it ourselves, we invited him and his girlfriend to join us and chat about how lunchtime games differ from regular old short games, and also give some tips and suggestions to draw people away from their computers.

ENGN Preview Series 41 - Swordcrafters w/ Adam Rehberg Oct 29, 2018

Show notes

Guess what? It's Anthony! With a special preview series episode featuring Swordcrafters designer/publisher Adam Rehberg.

This episode was recorded a couple of weeks before Essen so there are a handful of references to the upcoming show. You can look for the full release of Swordcrafters in mid-November.

Swordcrafters has some of the best table presence we've seen to date, and it was well worth discussing with the designer how it was built, what kind of hiccups come up during development of such a sweeping game, and how its family-friendly mechanisms played early on.

Join us for an interesting discussion about the genesis of a game, and how you can find Swordcrafters as it hits retailers in November. Adam also gives us a sneak peek at some of his upcoming Kickstarter projects for us to look out for, including a very interesting sounding abstract game Anthony will check out soon.

ENGN Episode 110 - Kickstarter Roundup: Rescue Polar Bears, Holding On, Champions of Hara, Archmage Oct 26, 2018

Show notes

Liz, Jeremy, and Jason geek out and go gaga over more delivered Kickstarter projects! Jason begin by gushing over the uberly cute Rescue Polar Bears (7:19 - is that a word? it is now!). Rescue Polar Bears is a family weight cooperative game that evokes Flash Point: Fire Rescue. In other words, right in Jason's wheelhouse! Liz then chimes in with Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr (16:59). This cooperative game about giving palliative care to a dying man has caused quite a stir since being announced. Liz and Jeremy share some thoughts about the hype. Jason leaps back in to talk about Champions of Hara (31:53), an adventure game with hand management that evokes one of the truly great solo games of all time... well, you know. Finally, everyone jumps back in to talk about the adventure themed Euro game, Archmage (42:59). This is another beautiful (and on time!) production from Starling Games/ Game Salute.

ENGN Preview Series Episode 39 - Street Masters: Aftershock with Adam and Brady Sadler Oct 23, 2018

Show notes

Adam and Brady Sadler are back! Two of our favorite personal designers of solo/ coop games return to the show with the new expansion for Street Masters, Aftershock.

We love Street Masters here on ENGN. However, we recognize that some gamers encountered barriers when approaching it. We ask the Sadlers how they designed Aftershock not just for pure awesomeness, but to answer some of the criticisms that folks have had, including player scaling/ downtime at four players, rules issues in some scenario interactions, and lack of easy entry points for new players.

Aftershock promises to address some of the issues and present the best possible product for you to check out.

Episode 109 - Kickstarter Roundup: Expedition, Sailing Towards Osiris, End of the Trail, Tiny Epic Zombies Oct 19, 2018

Show notes

Liz and Jeremy are back! The creative minds behind Jambalaya Plays Games (https://jambalayaplaysgames.com/) and Beyond Solitaire (http://www.beyondsolitaire.net/) are here to share about their continuing and terrible KS acquisition disorders! For the Kickstarter preview this week, we talk about a game that's already out and whose expansion is (or, at least, should be) live as we drop the episode - Expedition (4:17). It's a card-base RPG that has an app, as well as tons of fan-created content. These are not things that every gamer looks forward to! They break down whether this project integrates those things in ways that folks might find appealing. We then turn to some recently delivered games. Jeremy tells us about Sailing Toward Osiris from Daily Magic Games (13:03), a gateway-level worker placement game from the same publishing house as the Valeria line of games. Liz then shares about End of the Trail (18:54), a clever little card game with some bluffing and negotiation that also has a solo mode. Finally, for our main event, Jason lets everyone know what he thought of Tiny Epic Zombies (23:25) while Jeremy pitches in with his opinions about the overall Tiny Epic project.

ENGN Preview Series Episode 40 - Anomaly with Brenna Noonan Oct 17, 2018

Show notes

PWe welcome back Brenna Noonan from Starling Games to talk about their newest 1 vs. many game, Anomaly, live on Kickstarter on October 21, 2018.

This project was formerly called Ø: Fear Nothing. However, it struggled out of the gate, so Starling decided to pull the plug, repackage, offer a lower price point, and present the same game with a different name - Anomaly. Jason gives a bit of context for the campaign relaunch before presenting the episode.

After the preamble, we present the former episode in its entirety. Where you hear the name "Ø: Fear Nothing", please translate that in your head as Anomaly. We get into where the (former) name came from and also how Anomaly distinguishes itself mechanically from similar 1 vs. Many games like Specter Ops. Anomaly probably has a bit too much interaction here to support solo play, but fans of high level, above the table cooperative play might be very interested in what it has to offer. Finally, somewhere in the episode, Jason gets on his soapbox and beseeches gamers everywhere to give companies a chance!

ENGN Preview Series 38 - Dreams of Tomorrow with Carla Kopp from Weird Giraffe Games Oct 15, 2018

Show notes

Liz Davidson joins Jason to welcome Carla Kopp to the show, who is the founder and CEO of Weird Giraffe Games. Our original intention is to review Dreams of Tomorrow, which is live on Kickstarter on the day this podcast drops. We eventually get to that, after we have some fun chatting about random stuff first .

Dreams of Tomorrow is a 1-6 player light card game whose main selling point is a rondel system where players interact with one another to take actions, get cards, make sets, and mess with their neighbors. We get into mechanism talk, of course. Carla also lets us peek behind the curtain for a very interesting story about how Dreams of Tomorrow dodged quite a bullet, in terms of its theme.

Episode 108 - Scythe: The Rise of Fenris Director's Commentary with Jamey Stegmaier Oct 12, 2018

Show notes

Welcome to an episode that, as of about a week ago, Jason never intended to record! Over one weekend, Jason banged out a full solo campaign of Scythe: The Rise of Fenris. It was so good that it merited an immediate podcast about it. Jason rides solo this week for a non-spoiler chat about Scythe: The Rise of Fenris (3:48), specifically what the different modules offer and whether it's a must for Scythe players (it is). After that, Jason gets into the two most recent modules for TIME Stories, Estrella Drive and Brotherhood of the Coast (18:30). SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS We clear yet? Now that we are in spoiler-ville, we invite Jamey Stegmaier to come along for the ride to chat about The Rise of Fenris (23:08). Are you the type of person who, after they watch their favorite TV show or movie, wants to gobble up all the extras, including the DVD commentaries? We have a treat for you! Jamey pulls back the design curtain on The Rise of Fenris and gives us details about mods that were left on the cutting room floor, design challenges and regrets, and ultimately pulling off a full, 8 game, thematic campaign. Guys, seriously, this interview is amazing. Go play The Rise of Fenris and check out this conversation, right now! .

ENGN Episode 107 - Fun for the Family Oct 05, 2018

Show notes

For our final installment of GenCon reviews, we are dialing it back a bit and talking about some light, family weight games. In a way, we thought it was fitting since that's at the heart of what GenCon releases are all about - games meant to hit a lot of tables and where lots of families and groups can have a good time. Anthony leads off with a beautiful card game that masquerades as a worker placement, Everdell (4:20). Starling's parent company, Game Salute, has a negative reputation around the board gaming world, yet games like Everdell seem to promise a new era for the company. Jason jumps in next and talks about The Big Score (15:09), a drafting game with a solo variant from our friends at Van Ryder Games. Anthony then tells us about Petrichor (24:14), a game about... rain? It certainly has a unique theme, and Anthony will let you know whether it has mechanisms to match. Finally, and as a fitting capstone, Jason breaks down one of the hottest, most anticipated games of the con - the newest Forbidden game from Matt Leacock, Forbidden Sky (33:27).

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