Every Night is Game Night

Latest Episodes:

ENGN 86 - Books and Games with the Board Game Librarian May 11, 2018

Show notes

We are happy to welcome Jenn Bartlett, the Board Game Librarian, to the show! She is a contributor to Board Game Breakfast on the Dice Tower, where she shares her passion for games inspired by books in her weekly segment, From the Page to the Table.

We chat about three such games in this episode. First, Anthony talks about his recent plays of Dinosaur Island (5:18), which was based on a movie that was based on a book! That counts, right? Second, Jenn shares about a light war game from Academy Games, 878 Vikings (17:41). Finally, Jason shared about a family weight game with a mischievous spirit, The Grimm Forest (27:18). We end with a discussion of how libraries could fill vital roles in our gaming lives. So, if you are looking for an alternative place to gather, play games, try games, and all of that good stuff, Jenn talks all about how your library could be a good resource (or, if it isn't how you could advocate and make your library a good resource).

**Programming note - We did the best we could with a subopitmal sound setup, We apologize for that and hope you enjoy the show.

ENGN 85 - International Table Top Day Diary May 04, 2018

Show notes

April 28th, 2018 was International Table Top Day, the once per year event where we celebrate board games, RPGs, and all things that bring people together around the table.

Jason spent the day at the Portal Gaming Store in Manchester, CT, where they held a 24-hour event for one of the best board gaming meetup communities in the country. Many games were played, three of which we fully review in this pod: -

-The Shipwreck Arcana (11:30) -Herbaceous (25:35) -Sunset Over Water (39:30)

Also, we hear audio clips from folks at the store throughout the day, including some fellow content creators from the Dice Tower Network. Jason had a great Table Top Day experience; we hope you did, as well!

ENGN Preview Series 27 - Gem Rush with Jeremy Lennert Apr 30, 2018

Show notes

This week, we chat about Gem Rush, a Victory Points Game from 2012 which is the latest to get the "Premiere Line" treatment. That means out with the pizza box and the sooty tokens, and in with a new, beautiful edition! We welcome Jeremy Lennert on to the show to talk about the new edition, what has changed from the first edition (and whether it's worth it for fans of the old edition to take a look), as well as the app that 's being developed along side of it.

Gem Rush Second Edition: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/567823005/gem-rush-second-edition?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=gem%20rush

ENGN Preview Series 26 - Overlight RPG with Sara Erickson Apr 27, 2018

Show notes

As we announced last week, we are taking a break from the regular episodes this week after the MEGA two parter that we dropped last week. If you have not done so, please check out the Fantasy Adventure Designer Roundtable we did with a bunch of really cool folks. We will be back next week with a regular episode.

For now, though, we have another kickstarter preview which represents something of a left turn from the products we usually feature. We are happy to bring to you an interview about a brand spanking new RPG system called Overlight, currently running on Kickstarter. This represents the first foray into RPGs for Renegade Game Studios, which will serve both as a standalone product as well as a backdrop for a number of Renegade game products moving forward.

Sara Erickson, Renegade's Director of Sales and Marketing, drops by the show to talk about the development of the system and what it offers that's different from other similar products. And, of course, since Jason is a massive RPG geek, he presses Sara for details about mechanisms, potential enemies in the world, what adventures look like in the system, and assorted other nuts and bolts.

Check out Overlight on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/165626423/overlight-rpg-a-roleplaying-game-of-kaleidoscopic?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=overlight

ENGN 84 - Fantasy Adventure Designer Roundtable with Isaac Childres, Frank West, and Tristan Hall - Part Two Apr 20, 2018

Show notes

We are calling an audible! We originally intended to release Part Two of our fantasy adventure discussion one week after Part One. However, why wait? We've decided to just give you double the content for the week, instead. Because of the double content week, we are going to give you Preview Series episode next week, then get back to our regular series of episodes one week after that.

In Part Two of our conversation with Isaac, Frank, and Tristan, we talk about mechanisms that did and didn't work in their games, as well as designers they get excited about and where they see the industry going in the future.

The City of Kings is now in Kickstarter! - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcokgame/the-city-of-kings-ancient-allies-and-vadoran-garde?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=the%20city%20of%20kings

And also check out Tristan Hall's latest project, Lifeform - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tristanhall/lifeform-the-sci-fi-horror-board-game-for-1-4-play?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=lifeform

ENGN 83 - Fantasy Adventure Designer Roundtable with Isaac Childres, Frank West, and Tristan Hall - Part One Apr 20, 2018

Show notes

Here at ENGN, we always have fun when we bring a special guest on to share about their projects and their passion. For this episode, we have tripled down and brought together three designers whose passion led them to producing three massive, exciting fantasy games. We are happy to have the designers of Gloomhaven, The City of Kings, and Gloom of Kilforth, respectively, talk about their love of fantasy games and some interesting aspects to designing and producing them. Not only that, we took the majority of the questions from fans who were good enough to respond on Facebook and BGG. Thanks to all who helped out!

This episode will be Part One of Two. In this episode, we get to know their backgrounds as fantasy gamers as well as the importance of rich, original theme.

The City of Kings is now in Kickstarter! - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcokgame/the-city-of-kings-ancient-allies-and-vadoran-garde?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=the%20city%20of%20kings

ENGN 83 - Fantasy Adventure Designer Roundtable with Isaac Childres, Frank West, and Tristan Hall - Part One Apr 20, 2018

Show notes

This episode will be Part One of Two. In this episode, we get to know their backgrounds as fantasy gamers as well as the importance of rich, original theme.

The City of Kings is now in Kickstarter! - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcokgame/the-city-of-kings-ancient-allies-and-vadoran-garde?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=the%20city%20of%20kings

ENGN PS 25 - Lifeform with Tristan Hall and Mark Chaplin Apr 16, 2018

Show notes

Many solo and cooperative gamers love Legendary Encounters: Alien. However, for as good as that game is, it doesn't replicate the emotions of the original movie - the suspense, the dread, or the desperation to survive. Lifeform, currently on Kickstarter, aims to bring you just that.

It is a one vs. many game where an unstoppable alien being has boarded your mining ship, and you have to scramble out of the ship as best you can. We get into some design questions about the one vs. many aspects of the game, as well as the solo mode that you can get separately with the Kickstarter.

KS page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tristanhall/lifeform-the-sci-fi-horror-board-game-for-1-4-play

ENGN 82 - Beyond the Hotness and FOMO Apr 13, 2018

Show notes

We welcome Kevin Erskine back to the show to continue... not talking about the current hotness! Last week, we went back and looked at a classic in the genre. This week, we look at more older games that we like, but which may have slipped under your radar.

First, Jason takes a look at a stealth based cooperative game set in World War II called V-Commandos (3:27). Anthony, of course, sees Jason's thematic cooperative game and counters with an older Euro - Troyes (7:52). Kevin jumps into the fun with a cooperative tower defense game, King's Armory (14:02), then Jason rounds it all out with a review of a post-apocalyptic, resource management game called Salvation Road (22:10).

Finally, we talk ourselves off the ledge with regards to the Fear of Missing Out (28:58) - that is, how do we manage not getting games we really want, managing our budget, why FOMO might not be as easy to resist as we think, and other issues.

Preview Series 24 - Graphic Novel Adventures from Van Ryder Games Apr 09, 2018

Show notes

Unlike most preview series episodes where we interview the designer or publisher, we were not able to get AJ Porfirio of Van Ryder Games on the show due to his being incredible busy. However, two good friends of the show stepped up to have a great chat about this product - Official ENGN Kickstarter correspondent Liz Davidson, as well as Wendy Barlow from the Singlehandedly blog.

Did you love choose-your-own-adventure novels as a kid, or adventure video games like Broken Sword or Monkey Island? The Graphic Novel Adventure series, currently live in Kickstarter, takes those experiences and presents them in a whole new way! Wendy, Liz and I were fortunate to be provided preview copies Captive, the first of five novels available for backing. We talk about the books as a whole, compare them to similar games and products, and also our spoiler-free impressions of Captive. Stay tuned after the outro music if you want to hear us go full bore on spoilers, as well!

Graphic Novel Adventures on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vanrydergames/graphic-novel-adventures

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